Break

Thinking about the eye tooth
the first break
the song before
emerging

Poetry Buffet Reading: Joel Dailey, Brett Evans, and Murray Shugars

Here's a poem from Joel Dailey who read yesterday at the Poetry Buffet held every first Saturday of the month at the Latter Library. Joel Dailey publishes the infamous Fell Swoop Journal in old school pseudo-mimeograph style. He has a new chapbook Surprised by French Fries, (Ugly Duckling Presse) that gets a review in the October issue of Entrepot. When Joel is not trying to spread internet viruses in order to shut down social networks, he can be found  giving a poetry reading every five years before bursting into flames. As I can't even find a picture of Joel Dailey on the internetz, I'm not really sure he exists. His daughter has been babysitting our 3 kids for about 8 years now, so I forgive him all proclivities.








Joining Mr. Dailey was poet Brett Evans who let me run off with a copy of his Pisa Can 74 (Fell Swoop, #109). Basically, as Evans describes, it's a shucking away of the interior guts of the Pisan Cantos (by Pound, do I need to say that?) as one would a mirliton in order to stuff it with delicious seafoody centers. In this case, the seafood stuffing is a mix of New Orleans history, tragedy, obscure references a la Poundian influence and a bit of raunchy flair as in the opening line:
"symbols and tits/ enormous tragedy of the wild country dream/ punc'd by Milano heels/ heels to the ceiling/ where in history's hide and seek/ will you find it?"

I love the dovetailing of the New Orleans imagery:

"lunch of: po-boy paper spread
 on flipped lid  
 
                                   Of the pick-up truck
                     tailgating with platonic oysters
                       soldiers taking their clothes off
                            Quick n Dirty boat building content"

Covers done by the amazing collagist, Tracey McTague. Let's hope this series continues, and I'd like to see the various New Orleans dialects and spoken languages creep in about the edges as well. Evans is also hard at work on a never ending project about how much he loves this American Life.

You can catch both Brett Evans and Tracey McTague reading a new collaboration they wrote this summer at 17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series, October 27th along with features Lewis Warsh and Marilyn Kallet.



(Brett reading at 17 Poets, 2004)


Rounding out the Poetry Buffet offering yesterday, Vicksburg poet Murray Shugars reading from his book, Songs My Mother Never Taught Me (Dos Madres Press). He will be reading at the Maple Leaf today. Host of the Poetry Buffet,  Gina Ferrara is a big fan of Shugars' collection and brought him to New Orleans to share his work with us. Be sure to check out November's Poetry Buffet on the first Saturday, Nov. 5th with special guest host Jonathan Kline.

Gina Ferrara will be over at the Healing Center signing books as part of the annual Ladyfest New Orleans along with poets Lee Meitzen Grue and Valentine Pierce at the new Maple Street Bookstore Branch in the Healing Center 11-2pm.

Reviews, Chapbooks, Readings, and Book Prizes

My review of Kate Eichhorn's Fieldnotes, a forensic is in the new issue of Rain Taxi (Fall 2011).

I've been ecstatic about receiving in packages of two or three a day a collection of Dusie Kollective Chaps. The author's have been so generous, and I love their notes as much as I do their willingness to share their chapbooks with me. I'm having to collect all the notes, chaps and envelopes together, so I can keep them as I discovered them from the mailbox.

Black Widow press has just released Niyi Osundare's City Without People, and I have been reading and rereading it for an upcoming review in October's issue of Entrepôt.

We also had a wonderful reading by Louisiana Poet Laureate Julie Kane last night at 17 Poets! She read a beautiful crown of sonnets (sonnet corona) for artist and coffee shop owner Bob Borsodi. He was quite a remarkable person, and Nathaniel Turner has a wonderful collection of tributes to him here.  

Trembling Pillow Press has just opened its first Bob Kaufman Book Prize in poetry. Submissions are open now through Nov. 15th with judge poet Bernadette Mayer. You can find out more and enter here. 

A note from 17 Poets!

AMAZING HISTORI-CITIES...New Orleans e-ART-h Community News

 

EXTRA! EXTRA!...A LOOK BACK!

 

Read all about it further below under DIDYA KNOW?

 

* * *

 

Dear Friends,

 

As Louis Armstrong says, "Everything I've ever done is dedicated to the cause of HAPPINESS!"

 

And so we tip our hats to you, and to the fine spirit of Louis' credo, and thank you dearly for your vibrant support in celebrating New Orleans culture!

 

Please join hands with us at 17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series. Be a part of our first ever fundraiser! You can help us continue to provide FREE world class POETRY EVENTS in the New Orleans community; go here:http://www.indiegogo.com/17-Poets-Literary-and-Performance-Series

 

We have succesfully raised $295; however, this is well short of our goal.

 

We only have (7) DAYS LEFT to the conclusion of this fundraising campaign.

 

DIDYA KNOW?

The host venue for 17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series, the Gold Mine Saloon, is an essential part of the French Quarter's cultural tradition of Poetry & Jazz reaching back over FIFTY YEARS. In an earlier period, at the very same location (705 Dauphine Street), the establishment was called The Tunnel Bar. One of the more memorable JAZZ POETRY sessions took place at 3:00pm, Sunday, December 21, 1958. The event was produced and hosted by New Orleans' cultural visionary and poet BOB "Rainey" CASS featuring performances by poets JACK MICHELINE, celebrating his first book of poetry (RIVER OF RED WINE, Troubadour Press 1958), and RAINEY CASS accompanied by the ALEX "DUKE" BURRELL TRIO. Admission for that show was $1!

ABOUT US

17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series is a vital center for poets, artists and musicians to share their works in New Orleans community, www.17poets.com.

 

We are entering the eighth year of the program. Please support our continuing efforts however generously you can.

 

Our weekly Thursday night program is an important locus for visiting poets worldwide and for emerging voices of our region.

 

100% your proceeds are SHARED honorariums given to each featured poet for their performance and reading.

 

---FALL 2011 season will include featured programs---

 

Thurs, Sept 15: Louisiana Poet Laureate JULIE KANE

 

Thurs, Sept 22: poets JOHN SINCLAIR and SIMON PETTET

 

Thurs, Sept 29: poets MARK FOLSE

 

Thurs, Oct 6: poet ANNA RABINOWITZ

 

Thurs, Oct 13: JAZZ POETRY SESSION featuring LEE GRUE, FELICE GUIMONT et al

 

Thurs, OCT 20: poets DARA WIER, JEN TYNES and JEN DUNROW

 

Thurs, Oct 27: poets LEWIS WARSH and MARILYN KALLET

 

Thurs, Nov 3: poet NIYI OSUNDARE

 

Thurs, Nov 10: poet ALISON PELEGRIN and KRISTIN SANDERS

 

Thurs, Nov 17: poets BERNADETTE MAYER and PHILIP GOOD

 

Thurs, Dec 8: TULI KUPFERBERG: A Celebration of His Life & Works

 

Thurs, Dec 15: poets JULIAN SEMILIAN, LAURA SEMILIAN and ANDY FOREST

 

John Sinclair in New Orleans this weekend

John Sinclair's SONG OF PRAISE   Homage to John Coltrane
Available now for digital download from CDBaby, but the album or download songs.

Download the album or songs. 

John also has a new book by the same name from Trembling Pillow press, available through SPD books or Amazon or visit: www.tremblingpillowpress.com


Flying in from Amsterdam, John Sinclair will be here this weekend. He has a bevy of appearances over the next two weeks, including this one on Saturday.

John will be playing this Saturday, Sept. 10th at the Big Top with Carlo Ditta
9:30 PM-12:30PM


The Big Top 3 Ring Circus

1638 Clio St. 1 block off St. Charles Ave.

New Orleans, LA

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/johnsinclairandthebluess2

I'm spending Tropical Storm Lee's constant and yet not consistent rain storms deep in contemplation about a little chapbook called Surprised by French Fries. The next issue of Entrepôt will have a review of this chapbook. You can get your copy here:
Ugly Duckling Presse

Entrepôt is now available at Crescent City Books if you're in New Orleans and we'll have a subscription link up soon over at Trembling Pillow Press.

Thanks, TS Lee, it took me three days to write and post this.

In other news, Michael Tod Edgerton is over at the Truck blog asking some serious questions for a really interesting project: http://halvard-johnson.blogspot.com/

Solid Quarter, Issue 1: Free Download

VisitIssue one of Solid Quarter (Summer, 2006) published by Trembling Pillow press in New Orleans, edited by Megan Burns is now available as a free download:
http://issuu.com/tremblingpillowpress/docs/solidquarter1

Poets:

Noelle Levy
Thaddeus Conti
Kim Csizmazia
Bill  Myers

Cover art by Dave Brinks

Visit Trembling Pillow Press for information on current issues and submission information.

Entrepôt: New Orleans' Newest Literary Monthly

Entrepôt is New Orleans' newest literary monthly featuring contributing articles from Dr. Jerry Ward, Jr., Bill Lavender, John Sinclair, and Dennis Formento as well as contributions from Publisher Dave Brinks, book reviews by Megan Burns and edited under the helm of Editor-In-Chief Geoff Munsterman. Articles discuss New Orleans history in poetry and publishing including a look at journals such as Climax, Les Cenelles, and publications from Loujon Press, such as their Outsider journal. John Sinclair examines the history of music in New Orleans looking at early jazz contributors including Buddy Bolden and Edward 'Kid' Ory.

Information about Trembling Pillow Press' first Bob Kaufman Book Prize in Poetry can also be found in Entrepôt as well as online at Trembling Pillow Press.

More information on Entrepôt including ordering information and submissions of article ideas can be found at the Trembling Pillow press website: www.tremblingpillowpress.com

17 Poets! Fall 2011: Poetry in New Orleans Celebration

17 Poets! Presents its fall 2011 season celebration

Doors open early at 7:00 PM for viewing and discussion

"Magazines have come and gone, people have come and gone, and so much of what we were intensely into has become only a flickering memory."

-- Tom Dent

Thursday, September 1, 2011 at 7:00PM, the GOLD MINE SALOON and 17 Poets! Literary & Performance Series will host an OPEN DISCUSSION and EXHIBIT featuring dozens of "original" NEW ORLEANS LITERARY publications (books, magazines & other epherma) relating to the Crescent City's HISTORICAL contributions to ARTS & LETTERS.

Discussion Participants Include:  KALAMU YA SALAAM, LEE MEITZEN GRUE, DENNIS FORMENTO, DR. JERRY W. WARD, RODGER KAMENETZ, MONA LISA SALOY, JOHN CLARK, NANCY HARRIS, JOHN TRAVIS, RALPH ADAMO, BILL LAVENDER, NANCY DIXON, JIM CASS and many others from the New Orleans community.

This event will be followed by a poetry reading featuring GINA FERRARA (celebrating her b-day!) and OPEN MIC hosted by Jimmy Ross. 

Also, fresh off the presses: New Orleans' newest literary monthly newspaper: 

Entrepôt featuring articles by contributing editors Dr. Jerry Ward, Jr, Bill Lavender, John Sinclair, Dennis Formento, as well as book reviews by Megan Burns and essays from publisher Dave Brinks. For more info: www.tremblingpillowpress.com

---Some of the NEW ORLEANS RELATED PUBLICATIONS featured in this EXHIBIT will include:

NOLA (1840's)

CREOLE VOICES ed. by Edward Maceo Coleman, 1945; A Centennial Edition celebrating LES CENELLES, the first African-American anthology of poetry published in New Orleans in 1845, ed. by Armand Lanusse.

NOLA (1850's)

Mysteries of New Orleans by Baron Ludwig von Reizenstein, 1854-55.

NOLA (1870's)

Old Creole Days by George Washington Cable, 1879.

The New Orleans of Lafcadio Hearn featuring illustrated sketches from the Daily City Item.

NOLA (1880's)

Gombo Zhebes by Lafcadio Hearn, 1885.

Chita, A Memory of last Island by Lafcadio Hearn, 1888.

NOLA (1890's)

The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar, 1899.

The Grandissimes by George Washington Cable, 1899.

NOLA (1910's)

KRAZY KAT: The Comic Art of George Herriman, 1913.

NOLA (1920's)

Double Dealer, Issue 2; ed. by Julius Weis Friend and Basil Thompson, 1921.

NOLA (1930's)

Blues: A Bisexual Monthly ed. by Parker Tyler and Charles Henri Ford, 1933.

NOLA (1940's)

Iconograph, Issue 3 and Supplement; ed. by Kenneth L. Beaudoin, 1946.

NOLA (1950's)

Old French Quarter News ed. by Bruce Lippincott, 1950.

New Orleans Poetry Journal Press ed. by Maxine Cassin, various titles 1954-1982.

CLIMAX: A Creative Review in the Jazz Spirit, Issues 1 and 2; ed. by Robert Cass, 1955-56.

NOLA (1960's)

Outsider, Issues 1, 2, 3 and 4/5; ed. by John and Louise Webb, 1961-63, 1968-69.

A Touch of Recognition by Maxine Cassin, 1962.

Order and Chaos by Henry Miller, Loujon Press, 1966.

No Big Thing ed. by Eugene "Yictove" M. Turk, 1967.

The Free Southern Theater ed. by Tom Dent, Richard Schechner and Gilbert Moses, 1969.

NOLA EXPRESS ed. by Darlen Fife and Robert Head, 1969.

After Word Comes Weird by Darlene Fife and Robert Head, 1969.

Dancing by Al Young, 1969.

Groove, Bang, And Jive Around by Steve Cannon, 1969.

New Laurel Review founded by Alice Claudel and ed. by Lee Meitzen Grue, 1960's to present.

NOLA (1970's)

Insomnia or The Devil at Large by Henry Miller, Loujon Press, 1970.

Magnolia Street by Tom Dent, 1972.

The Black Collegian ed. by Kalamu ya Salaam, 1974.

nkombo, Issue 9; ed. by Kalamu ya Salaam and Tom Dent, 1974.

Why I Live in the Forest by James Nolan, 1974.

Barataria, Issues 1-4; ed. by Louis Gallo and Ralph Adamo, 1974.

Distaff: Forum for Southern Women ed. by Mary Gehman, 1975.

Sadness at the Private University by Ralph Adamo, 1977.

French Quarter Poems by Lee Meitzen Grue, 1979.

NOLA (1980's)

Southern Black Cultural Newsletter, Issue 1; ed. by Tom Dent, 1980.

What Moves Is Not the Wind by James Nolan, 1980.

Quilt, Issue 1; ed. by Al Young and Ishmael Reed, 1981.

Blue Lights and Other River Songs by Tom Dent, 1982.

Fell Swoop ed. by Joel Dailey, 1983 to present.

Songbook by Everette Maddox, 1982.

NIGHTSEASONS by Peter Cooley, 1983.

Charlemagne: A Song of Gestures by John Gery, 1983.

Exquisite Corpse ed. by Andrei Codrescu, 1987-2005.

Maple Leaf Rag Anthology ed. by John Travis, 1980 to present.

Autopsy by Kay Murphy, 1985.

BODY AND SOUL by Julie Kane, 1987.

Contours for Ritual by Martha McFerren, 1988.

A History of Women and New Orleans ed. by Mary Gehman and Nancy Ries, 1988.

Blue Print by Yictove, 1989.

The Ape Woman Story by Nancy Harris, 1989.

Portals Press ed. by John Travis, various titles, 1989 to present.

Mesechabe: A Journal of Surregionalism ed. by John Clark and Dennis Formento, 1980-90's.

NOLA (1990's)

Word Up: Black Poetry of the 80's from the Deep South ed. by Kalamu ya Salaam, 1990.

The Missing Jew by Rodger Kamenetz, 1992.

Magic City by Yusef Komunyakaa, 1992.

WOMEN IN CARS by Martha McFerren, 1992.

The Jew in the Lotus by Rodger Kamenetz, 1994.

Poet-Chief: The Native American Poetics of Waly Whitman and Pablo Neruda by James Nolan, 1994.

New Orleans Review: The Other South vol. 25, no.1-2; ed. by Ralph Adamo, 1995.

The Free People of Color of New Orleans: An Introduction by Mary Gehman, 1996.

New Orleans Review: An Other South vol. 21, no.2 ed. by Ralph Adamo, 1999.

Rogue Wave ed. by Beth McCormack, 1996-2004.

Southern Journey: A Return to the Civil Rights Movement by Tom Dent, 1997.

Trouble the Water: 250 Years of African American Poetry ed. by Jerry W. Ward, 1997.

All Saints: New and Selected Poems by Brenda Marie Osbey, 1997.

Ain't No Spring Chicken: Selected Poems by Ahmos Zu-Bolton, 1998.

360 Degrees, A Revolution of Black Poets ed. by Kalamu ya Salaam, 1998.

From a Bend in the River: 100 New Orleans Poets, ed. by Kalamu ya Salaam, 1998.

Belief Blues by Kay Murphy, 1998.

rogue embryo by Camille Martin, 1999.

I Am New Orleans and Other Poems by Marcus B. Christian; ed. by Rudolph Lewis and Amin Sharif, 1999.

Lower 48 by Joel Dailey, 1999.

Lavender Ink ed. by Bill Lavender, various titles, 1990's to present.

NOLA (2000's)

Frozen Embraces by Biljana Obradovic, bilingual, English and Serbian, 2000.

Fattening Frogs for Snakes by John Sinclair, 2002.

Another South: Experimental Writing in the South, ed. by Bill Lavender and Hank Lazer, 2002.

Pages from the Book of the Sun: New and Selected Poems by Niyi Osundare, 2002.

Rhythm & Booze by Julie Kane, 2003.

All Fires the Fire by Andy Young, 2003.

Words of Fire: An Anthology of the Dragon's Den Poetry Night, ed. by Heidi Peite, 2003.

The Altar of This Moment by beverly Rainbolt, 2003.

If Books Were Bricks by Jimmy Ross, 2003.

Jayne Mansfield's Dog by Alex Rawls, 2004.

YAWP: A Journal of Poetry & Art ed. by Dave Brinks, 2004 to present.

Appetite by Jean-Mark Sens,, 2004.

Red Beans And Ricely Yours: Poems by Mona Lisa Saloy, 2005.

Xavier Review vol. 25, no. 2; ed. by Richard Collins, 2005.

MEENA: A Bilingual Literary Magazine, Arabic and English, Issues 1-3; ed. by Andy Young and Khaled Hegazzi, 2005 to present.

New Orleans Review vol. 31, no. 2; ed. by Christopher Chambers, 2006.

Blind Visionz by Michael "Quess" Moore, 2006.

What Gets Into Us by Moira Crone, 2006.

Simpatico Press ed. by Daniel Kerwick, 2006 to present.

Solid Quarter ed. by Megan Burns, 2006 to present.

Geometry of the Heart by Valentine Pierce, 2007.

Roach Opera by Christian Champagne, 2007.

University of New Orleans Press, ed. by Bill Lavender, various titles, 2007 to present.

All Mothers Are Boats by Herbert Kearney, 2008.

aepoetics by Thaddeus Conti, 2008.

Memorial + Sight Lines by Megan Burns, 2008.

Constance, Issues 1-2; ed. by Patrick Strange and Eric Kiesewetter, 2006, 2008.

The Katrina Papers by Jerry W. Ward, 2008.

Olympia Street by Michael Ford, 2008

The Richard Wright Encyclopedia ed. by Jerry W. Ward and Robert J. Butler, 2008.

Spherical Woman: Collected Poems by Kysha Brown Robinson, 2009.

The Caveat Onus by Dave Brinks, 2009.

The Parade Goes On Without You by Andrea Boll, 2009.

TRANSFIXION by Bill Lavender, 2009.

My Name Is New Orleans: 40 Years of Poetry and Other Jazz by Arturo Pfister, 2009.

Slosh Models by Brett Evans, 2009.

Etheral Avalanche by Gina Ferrara, 2009.

The Loup Garou by Moose Jackson, 2009.

NOLA (2010's)

What Can't Be Lost ed. by Lee Barclay, 2010.

Unsolicited Poems by David Rowe, 2010.

Dorado, Issue 1; ed. by Peter Anderson, 2009 to present.

A Howling in the Wires ed. by Sam Jasper and Mark Folse, 2010.

According to the Drunken Elders of My Past by Geoff Munstermann, 2010.

Downtown by Lee Meitzen Grue, 2011.

SONG OF PRAISE: Homage To John Coltrane by John Sinclair, 2011.

The War of the Pews: A Personal Account of St. Augustine Church in New Orleans by Rev. Jerome G LeDoux, S.V.D., Margaret Media, 2011.

100 Thousand Poets for Change: New Orleans

Poets, Musicians, Artists, and People for Change join this worldwide event in New Orleans

Location: Alcee Fortier Park on Esplanade and Grand Rte. St. John

Date and Time: September 24, 4 PM

Organized by Dennis Formento

Event page on 17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series website:

http://17POETS.COM/Poets_for_Change.html

New from Trembling Pillow Press: John Sinclair's SONG OF PRAISE

Pre-Order at Trembling Pillow Press

Available September 10th:

John Sinclair's newest collection SONG OF PRAISE Homage to John Coltrane

134 pgs, $19.95

ISBN-13: 978-0-9790702-59

CD also available: ($15.00) featuring verse and music by John Sinclair and His Blues Scholars (Kosmic Cow Productions)

John Sinclair pays poetic tribute to jazz musician John Coltrane in a collection of Sinclair's poems along with jazz album reviews and concert reviews from the 60s as well as edited and refined earlier works spanning decades of Sinclair meditating and reflecting on the influence of Coltrane and his music. As stated in the afterword by poet Dennis Formento, this collection reveals Sinclair to be in the lineage of the great Beat poets who were moved by the culture and the influence of Jazz in the 60s.

It can truly be said that John Sinclair has walked the talk. He was THERE, in the middle of the Rev, not standing and nodding on the side, but there in the forefront. Part scholar, part encourager, part organizer, part Activist, part poet, part chronicler— John Sinclair looms tall and vibrant and strong in the centuries he straddles, demanding that we KNOW, that we DO RIGHT, and that we PRESERVE OUR CULTURE, and somehow, at the same time, CONFRONT the depredations of poverty, racism, lack-love, cruelty and the "creeping meatball." All hail, John Sinclair, and his book of praise for John Coltrane! - Ed Sanders

John Sinclair’s writing about “The Music” has always been well informed and inspiring, from his early Detroit-hip days. So it’s important to gather this writing to show where he and we have been, and the great period of American Classical Music we lived through and particularly the marvelous revelation that John Coltrane provided everybody who could hear. –Amiri Baraka

Poet, activist, major jazz head, John Sinclair’s SONG OF PRAISE is a wild outward/ inward ride through time like any of Trane’s great solos. It’s a surge of time travel from the ‘60s breakthroughs & breakdowns as reflected in the revolutionary free jazz awakening as well as in the political uprisings of that time that changed the world.

–David Meltzer

Trembling Pillow Press Books are available through SPD Books and Amazon. CDs are available through Amazon and digital downloads are available through CDBaby and iTunes.

Five from Dancing Girl Press (Part Two)

{Part two of a look at five chapbooks I bought this summer from Dancing Girl Press: Dancing Girl Press, edited by Kristy Bowen was founded in 2004 and publishes several handmade chapbooks a year by female poets in limited editions of 100 or so.}

The History of a Lake Never Drowns by Julia Cohen (2008) with cover art by Alexandra Brokalakis offers nine poems brimming with stark images and a curious pairing of the natural world wound round the human body. The initial poem begins: "If I had two cell walls it could be easy/ I so snuggly fit in your back/ Hiking away from the saintly glass vacuum" Is the speaker in this case amoebic? Amorphous? References to the body and its structure tumble around language referring to the natural world with the final synopsis: "I think I was a body-shaped hole in the clouds" Cohen continues to collect images and throw them up against references to flesh, fists, feet in dazzling combinations that create a cacophony of aural delights: "Capillary action, it is nothing like cold rain" The body is excised from nature, lined up against it and called out in its disparity; the "I"of these poems is tinged as well with a sense of longing: "I'll widow, I'll always form a body to mourn" Line after line, Cohen cuts to the quick with surprising comparisons and passionate reflections boldly declared by the speaker of these poems.

Check out Julia Cohen's other works and enjoy her "poetic" banter and intriguing photographs at her blog: http://onthemessiersideofneat.blogspot.com/

The Calculus of Owls by Sarah J. Gardner (2009) with a cover by Elisabeth Pellathy is the second chapbook DGP has published by this author. How to Study Birds was released in 2006. I remember reading it two summers ago, but my impression from this chapbook was much stronger. The cover is probably, in my opinion, one of the best covers in my DGP collection. Here, Sarah Gardner presents 22 poems in three sections. These poems are largely narrative, clear in their descriptions and structurally coherent on the page. Gardner's gift lies in her word choice, stunning pairings and striking collisions occur as she dredges the word pool to populate her poems with phrases like: "rutted hinges of leaves" or "purse-heads of grasses." Visually, she piles up images to inhabit nebulous emotions as in the poem "An Explication of Loneliness" where we are told "Because a train is long sentence with a single verb." This litany reveals to us in layers and from different angles the facets of loneliness ending with the conclusion that, "none knows as the heart knows/ the difference between nectar and venom" Birds haunt this text, the wise owl, the symbolic feather that wraps the speaker and even the crow who has lost its voice; often the subject is tempered by the natural world as the speaker grasps to wrestle with complex emotions by returning to contemplate nature's quiet response: "What/ is most needed you have often seen: a field/ a single tree at center, a question/ that even leafless does not shrink from answer"

Check out all the chapbooks from Dancing Girl Press here: http://www.dancinggirlpress.com/

Five from Dancing Girl Press (Part One)

Dancing Girl Press, edited by Kristy Bowen, has been publishing chapbooks since 2004 in handmade editions of about 100; each chapbook features a female poet. Every summer, you can stock up on some of these well-made chaps during their summer sale.

This summer I got Danielle Vogel's Lit (2008), [picture above]. The deep brown cover with the simple line drawing belies the dense language and music hidden between the pages of this slim chap. The author notes that this is part one of an "exploration in dislocation." And yet, from the first page, the poems begin to pile up in images and inquiries; the "i" of the poem searching and redefining that which should be familiar. Within this extended meditation, the speaker examines stillness and back of that, all the movements within that stillness, every day words takes on new shapes: "where the edges are not sharp yhell o mm hoon sspire hull and as the sounds touch the shape i can see the image of these things for the first time" These prose poems have an inner intensity as they push and pull their way through understanding and assembling what it means to be conscious, what it means to be bodied, what it means to be rounded and formed by sound and letters. Lit is a beautiful jumping off into a discovery that I want to see more of from this author.

Claire Hero's Cabinet begins with a curious poem called "A Note on the Collection." It provides an interesting subtext for the following poems in that it neither reveals the author's intent per say nor does it fall short in its exotic array of images thrown together to elicit a catalogue of mystery and surprise. All of Hero's poems do this; they mystify and they surprise as they try on words and craft juxtapositions with the light handed tone of one laying out patterns for some grand scheme. We've been invited to the fitting, but the pieces are in process, being assembled before our eyes: "a hoard of doorknobs from each emptied room,/ a skin rough-cut by every last touch. Later,/a city turning to sand, a mouldering eagle gorgeous with prey." In this collection, items emerge in numbered titles, doors open to reveal the smallest bones of the ear or a fairy tale swerves: "But O!/ the voyage, the voyager" Hero's poems never let you down; they marvel in the fantastic, the fetish, the furious conjunctions that tempt and torment us.

Emma Bolden's The Sad Epistles has a striking cover image also by the author. This chapbook consists of ten epistles between an unknown sender and receiver. The epistles establish an intimate dialogue as they attempt to explain and defend precarious emotions such as "Epistle III An Answer to the Question Why Are You Shaking": "Because I'll search to destroy, spider slicing its web, duck peeking its warm nest of eggs/ I would weave nests for you. I would hatch myself whole." "Epistle VIII" begins more objective, reading as an equation but it quickly dissolves into a searing confession. Promises to adhere to a certain standard are thrown out and in all these epistles, there is the sense of fleeing a burning building. The metaphoric heart is caught chest-deep, a cage of its own making perhaps or a stopping place before the bird flies through the bones.

Two New Chapbooks from Horseless Press

Horseless Press has released two new chapbooks Deseret by Kirsten Jorgensen and SEWN by Nathan Hauke, and they are beautifully done. They both have cover art by Michael Sikkema, which involves these strange juxtapositions and collisions. The chaps themselves are made on thick paper with a nice font, stapled and bound with a thick cover. Jorgensen's poems are grounded in some cases with these ethereal shapes hovering just at the edges of the words. The effect mimics the subject of these poems, mostly inspired by the landscape (Utah), but one of the images also reminded me of hurricane shapes out in the Gulf. I guess in some ways rock and water collide and speak in similar tones. The text too recalls that dismal McCarthy post-apocalyptic story, but I couldn't even watch the movie version while I greedily devoured Jorgensen's text: "I'd dig a tunnel/ through my bones to yours/ wide kind palms pressing into the floor"

Where Deseret is shaped by land, SEWN is shaped by psychological distances. Lines are displayed and then crossed out, Rowlandson's captivity narrative echoes her unyielding faith, and the grain of the table thrums. Nature is relayed as both trapped and alive with activity, a nice metaphorical parallel to the nod to Rowlandson: snow catches, leaves shake on the edge of dropping and the sparrow is mute. It's the moment before movement caught in these lines recorded and caught on the "tape," forever stilled in their momentum: "It's thirty degrees near the maple tree/ While I concentrate on a brown leaf shaking on its branch/ With a little terror in my throat- some kind of hesitation" The text also draws from Stanley Cavell's The Senses of Walden, a book I am not familiar with, but nature is easily the pivotal point upon which this text turns.

Get both chapbooks here: http://horselesspress.com/

New Online Edition of Summer Stock

Check out the premier issue of Summer Stock available online now for your reading pleasure.

There is a beautiful introductory tribute to Akilah Oliver by Jai Arun Ravine.

I particularly love a series of collages by Kathrin Schaeppi.

There is a plethora of amazing writers collected in this edition including the haunting tones of Danielle Vogel, lyrical rearrangements of Elizabeth Guthrie, erasures and letters of Abbey Pleviak and the illegible translated tales of Ella Longpre. I'm thrilled to be included with this stunning group of writers, and I hope everyone savors their opportunity to dive into this delicious collection so wonderfully weaved together by the summer stock editors.

Check it out here:

http://www.summerstockjournal.com/

Reading John Sinclair

Trembling Pillow Press is set to release the newest collection from John Sinclair, hailed by his contemporaries as the "hardest working poet in show business." His new collection SONG OF PRAISE: Homage to John Coltrane is a collection of poems as well as reviews of albums and concerts all written in response to the force that was John Coltrane and his musicians opening up the field of jazz in a way that mirrored the opening up and expansion of cultural norms and views throughout the sixties. Sinclair was there in the audience and he captured all of those moments in this work in order to continue doing what he does best, which is to be the container for the histories and the stories behind the music.

If you're not familiar with John Sinclair, shame on you. Remedy that immediately. But even if you think you know him or his works, there is a lot to this living legend. I won't try to pin down all his works, but I can lead you to places where you can educate yourself, as they say. A full listing of his collected writings and recordings can be found in the back of his newest collection, SONG OF PRAISE: Homage to John Coltrane due out in September from Trembling Pillow Press (www.tremblingpillowpress.com).

You can start by checking out John's site: http://johnsinclair.us/

Here's a great collection: Fattening Frogs for Snakes: Delta Sound Suite (Surregional Press, 2002) 15.00

Nearly 200 page of John doing what he does best: capturing the legends of blues and rehashing the myths, the stories, the inspiration, and he does it all with his sincere amazement and joy at being allowed ears to hear such wonders

The back of this book contains a great cross reference sections for the reader who wants to explore further as well as a discography if you would prefer to listen further. It also contains a fantastic intro. by Amiri Baraka, who proclaims how rare and necessary John is, "Especially, if you know that many people think JS is, no shit, WHYTE!"

It's All Good: A John Sinclair Reader (HeadPress, 2008)

This is a great collection of John's poetry as well as essays, as he states in the beginning of the book: "forty-four years as an American poet and journalist." It includes, for example, John interviewing Irma Thomas, Dr. John as well as a discussion about the Mardi Gras Indians. His New Orleans roots shine through in this collection as brightly as his poems on Monk and Coltrane. As with many Sinclair collections, there is CD that accompanies this text, so you can hear Sinclair in all his passion tell you how the blues was born.

Guitar Army: Street Writings/ Prison Writings

Originally published in 1972, this collection features John's early writing for the Ann Arbor Argus and Detroit Sun among others as well as writings he did while imprisoned on his "ten year for two joints" charge including transcripts from the trial, letters to his wife and an interview he gave while imprisoned. This is a brightly colored array of manifestos, protests, and revolutionary writings as well as intimate insights into Sinclair's thinking as he sits behind bars thinking about freedom and activism. It ends with a reading and listening list. It's an incredible snapshot of this period.

Also, check out John Sinclair's Documentary:

20 to Life: Life and Times of John Sinclair (2007)

Dancing Girl Press Chapbook Sale

Dancing Girl Press is having a chapbook sale: Get 5 books for 25.00.

I jumped on it last night and they have a generous title list. I snagged:

Claire Hero's Cabinet,

danielle vogel's lit, (cover pictured here)

Emma Bolden's The Sad Epistle,

Sarah Gardner's The Calculus of Owls and

Julia Cohen's The History of a Lake.

There are another 5 I want to go back and get as well. Kristy Bowen who edits Dancing Girl Press has this beautiful gift for the visual, both her website and her blog are so visually appealing. I love to look at the images that catch her eye and check in to see what new projects she is in the midst of making.

Support DGP for their many years of putting out great chapbooks with this great sale.

http://www.dancinggirlpress.com/

Another Beautiful Tsatsawassa Poetry Reading

We've just returned from the annual Tsatsawassa Poetry Reading at Bernadette Mayer and Phil Good's house. It was a smashing success, and we brought our 18 month old Issa. And while US Airways tried to put a damper on all things lovely by rerouting us for a third layover in Charlotte (U Suck US Airways!) we did make it back to New Orleans in one piece. And later, around midnight our bag full of poetry books made it home via courier service.

Some people who called in to read at the Annual Poetry Reading:

Ed Sanders from Woodstock

Andrei Codrescu from the Ozarks

Nicole Peyrafitte and Pierre Joris from France

Rodger Kamenetz from New Orleans

And live in person, hosted by Poet Dave Brinks:

Poets included Bernadette Mayer, Phil Good, Brenda Coultas, Phil Johnson, Megan Burns, Brendan Lorber, Tracey McTague, Peter Gizzi, Tom Gizzi, Dara Wier, Shafer Hall, Paulette Swatzfager, Susan Deer Cloud, Geronimo, John Roche, Michael Ruby, Deborah Poe and others who I either can't remember at the moment or I missed as I chased Issa around the house and through the yard. My apologies if you are not here, just comment and correct me. It was fabulous, and I will upload pictures once I transfer them from one device to the other.

In addition to Poetry, Bernadette took Dave and I to see the Cohoes falls. We also ate at a fancy Italian Restaurant called Gregory's House or La Perla. And the weather was much more friendly than the 100+ degrees that we returned to in New Orleans.

Horse Less Review #9

Do yourself a favor and read the new Horse Less Review online here:

http://horselesspress.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/hlr9.pdf

It's full of great poems, but some of my favorite pieces include Carrie Olivia Adams's from Operating Theater, Brooklyn Copeland's Rivalry, and Tony Mancus's Lens Cap. It's not only incredibly cool to be published next to so much great work, but it is always fun to discover new writers. They did a great job on this issue, so check it out.

Launching a Fundraising Campaign for our fall 2011 Season

17 Poets! Literary and Performance Series is launching a fundraising campaign to fund the fall 2011 Season. We have a great line up of performers and poets coming and we need your help to aid in defraying the cost of transportation and housing for our artists. We hope you will support us in our endeavor. We promise to always keep 17 Poets! free to the community.

Thanks,

Megan Burns

Event Coordinator 17 Poets!

Visit our campaign on IndieGoGo:

http://www.indiegogo.com/17-Poets-Literary-and-Performance-Series