Never Mind the Beasts

While examining dildos and butt plugs and books on the female orgasm at Adam and Eve’s, I met a colon cleansing salesman. He claimed a lot for his kit. The price was steep. The colon was an obsession growing up.…

A message from Aaron McCollough: Dear Kind Hearted Readers of GutCult: I’m pleased to announce the release of the Summer 2005 issue of GutCult (www.gutcult.com). I hope you will come by and spend some of your psychic capital on getting…

This just in from Del Ray Cross: SHAMPOO issue 24, the FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY EXTRAVAGANZA, is now hot off the shelf and ready for your shower. Rinse and repeat and repeat with poetry by Alli Warren, Amanda Laughtland, Anselm Berrigan,…

Polyurethane vs. Ester 1. Greater stability in humid environments. Dampness promotes ester foam disintegration. 2. The different raw materials used to manufacture Polyurethane foam usually cost less than those used to manufacture Ester foam. 3. Ester foam’s rough, scratchy surface…

I know one of the arguments against avant garde (and post-avant) poetics is when it’s disjointed or fragmented or mucks with syntax it’s all surface or the poet is a misunderstood genius. I’ve thought it was a silly argument. I…

You are Percy Bysshe Shelley! Famous for yourdreamy abstraction and your quirky verse,you’re the model “sensitive poet.” Avegetarian socialist with great personal charmand a definite way with the love poem, youremain an idol for female readers. There aredozens of cute…

Doing a three step process with a new ms (with the tentative title of Narcoleptic Lawn). 1st step: Moleskin notes. Phrasings. collages, diagrams, and quotes 2nd step: organizing the notes, fragments into tentative lines on an old PC laptop 3rd…

Electronic ink is a new material that will have far-reaching impact on how society receives its information. Electronic ink is a proprietary material that is processed into a film for integration into electronic displays. Although revolutionary in concept, electronic ink…

Three Cheers for Patrick Hero(n), The Internationalist, Carrboro parks and Recreation, Open Eye Cafe etc. So amazing people at THE poetry Festival. Philip Nikolayev was funny and gorgeous. Lyric in an interesting and strange way. It was really nice to…

Here’s a nice little write-up about the NC poetry scene by Ken Rumble. Although there is an inaccurate lumping of: Black Mountain poets, Randell Jarrell, UNC Greensboro’s MFA program, Jargon Society. I think the rhetorical strategy of the piece is…

When does the use of advertising language, for example, simply reinforce the advertising culture? Or, to go back a bit, did our man Andy W. challenge the status of low/high art via soup cans etc. or reinforce those distinctions? Performance…

This program looks amazing. Just what interests me: writing in the context of the arts (mixed media, performance etc.) check out the quicktime video: Performance Writing

Reading some great essays on Tom Raworth (Removed for Further Study from The Gig) and some really amazing performance/sound/shamanistic poems of Maggie O’Sullivan (Palace of Reptiles also from The Gig). Recently heard Redell Olsen on the Penn Sound site. I…

Historians claim that the holiday of Mother’s Day emerged from the ancient festivals dedicated to mother goddess. In the ancient Greek empire, Rhea, the wife of Cronus, and mother of Gods and Goddesses, was worshipped. In Rome too, Cybele, a…

Just got back from Durham with some goodies. Picked up: 1) Ed Dorn’s Gunslinger Book III The Winterbook (Frontier Press) 2) Rodrigo Toscano’s The Disparities (Green Integer) 3) Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictee 4) Lauren Fairbanks’ Muzzle Thyself (Dalkey Archive…

Before I went home to Ireland last Christmas I had a recurring dream/nightmare that Ireland had been coopted by Las Vegas. All the green fields changed into a desert of neon lights. While the dream was certainly personal in its…

I’ve been thinking over my thoughts about why writing matters. Publication and ego boosts and smoozing are all part of it. But perhaps, at least for me, not the core. The large claims of syntactic disruption advocated by some of…

Lee Ann Brown and Carl Martin read last night to wrap the 2005 Desert City reading series. Carl Martin read first: rich sounds, density, surrealist touches, a head well squared on the body. I am was really impressed with the…

I am really fascinated by the intense relationship between Olson/Creeley and how they created an institution for the reception of their work. Not quite traditional marketing but perhaps marketing nonetheless. In thinking about why I write (poetry or whatever) I’ve…

I am reading a book right now called _Career Moves_ by Libbie Rifkin. Rifkin analyzes the making of an American Avant Garde community via Creeley, Olson, Berrigan, and Zukofsky. I am only a little ways into the book, but it…

I am really amazed by the output of Clark Coolidge. I read Own Face, Alien Tatters and I just finished The Crystal Text. I loved these books so much I want to read everything Coolidge has ever written. But that’s…

The soon to be knighted Sir Rumble braught Lisa Jarnot to my intro to poetry class yesterday. The class was standing room only (word got around) and most of the students were a tad shy. Lisa was friendly and intimate.…

My friend Adam sent me this link (we need more of this reporting): Bedtime Story

This review really hit it for me. I recently read Maurice Scully’s _Livelihood_ and Geofrey Squires _Untitled and Other Poems_ is on deck (I love that baseball term. It is baseball, right?) I think this is from The Nortre Dame…

I’ve been reading Poetry On & Off The Page by Marjorie Perloff and I am really enjoying it. Perloff is so lucid and engaging. One of the essays in her book, The Music of Verbal Space, really got me thinking…

Announcing the Second Carrboro (International) Poetry Festival May 21 & 22 The 2005 Carrboro Poetry Festival will feature readings from 40 poets during the two day event Saturday May 21 and Sunday May 22. Hundreds of people attended the first…

some interesting experiments with s+7 in my intro to poetry class: intro to poetry

Lester sent a great link to a music video celebrating the wonders of America. Check it out: America You Must Go ON Lester also sent this quote: “Of course we welcome, and I welcome, dissent and debate,” [CondosleezaRice] added.  “I…

This hot new journal sounds very very promising. A focused eclectic (much needed as opposed to so many unfocused eclectics like Fence etc.) Here’s the notice (and open call) from editor Tony Tost: Here’s an open call I’m hoping to…

some really fresh cod and cold Stella last night at Fishbones. A nice little birthday celebration with some Greensboro buddies. My good friend Dan got me a gift certificate to Gate City Noise and returned from AWP with some books…

The second airing of My Vocabulary this Sunday. Last week’s show was great. Some wonderful Robert Creeley poems and tributes. Check it out this Sunday. Here’s the message from one of the hosts Matthew Shindell: This Sunday on My Vocabulary…

Wow. Tiffany surprised me with a 20gb ipod for my birthday today. I’ve never used an ipod. It’s charging right now. Can’t wait to load it up with some tunes (and maybe a few pics). Those things are bloody expensive.…

so I am turning 31 tomorrow. it’s a strange number. the only significance being 10 years older than 21 (the age of drinking in the U.S.). In other news, I am fully enjoying Alien Tatters by Clark Coolidge. I tried…

Patrick Heron sent this link to the Lucipo folks recently. A really well done music video. Here’s the synopsis: Protesting U.S. foreign policy, the Norwegian rap group Gatas Parlament created this video entitled “Kill Him Now.” Under pressure from the…

re-read _Pieces_ last night and it moved me greatly. There’s so much packed into the book. Philosophical meditation on the “I” and death and the world body. This book really enacts the old “form is never more than an extension…

I am excited to check out Stockholder’s work at the Weatherspoon. Just came across this brief interview and it perked (peaked) my interest: Klaus Ottmann: What are the most important issues in your work? Jessica Stockholder: My work developed through…

A very intense dream the other night. don’t know if any of you out there ever feels a bit of despair over becoming wormfood, but lately the cycle has been a bit on the downside. Hence a dream to release…

In case you don’t know already there’s a great new mag in town. Adam Good (of DC poet fame) has organized a very impressive first issue. Editorial vision (this is not a Fence mag) check it out: YOUR BLACK EYE

I am laughing and gasping and all in all envious of Mayer’s Midwinter Day. The “NY School” has so much boundless and boldness. What generation is Bernadette Mayer anyway? She mentions Ted and Alice so I am assume that’s Ted…

great st. paddy’s day party last night. some pics of noses and mouths. soon I will get inside the ear.

The idea of audience and language has been on my mind for quite a few years (perhaps always but I talking consciously here). Quite a few of my professors over the years have spoken of “limiting your audience” via the…

Chris Vitiello instigated a great discussion on the Lucipo listserv. He asked about our conception of open/closed text while composing/writing. His bloghas some fascinating talk of late (audience, plays etc.) I am still thinking through this issue. But here is…

Just picked up Medeski Martin and Wood’s Notes From The Underground. I am liking it a lot so far. What a range! I have found music without words works best when I am writing. Or perhaps words in another language…

Dry spells hurt. Resurrections are good (poetry doesn’t want immortality but ressurection) or insurrection? It’s good to plug back in. Listening to Jazz contemplating, dancing, and writing with IT. I really dig Brian Parker’s All That Jazz. Really gets me…

If you like sound (birds, dialects, Princess Elizabeth talking to children during WWII) check outThe British Library Sound Archive

If you’re ever in Chapel Hill, NC you must visit The Bookshop. I have yet to find a better used bookshop for poetry. Turned in a small box of poetry books and got $86 in credit. Picked up: 1) North…

Red Juice by Hoa Nguyen Originally uploaded by postpran. Handsome, well-made chap. Demotic and personal and eliptical and chiseled. Music that stays fresh all year. Lot’s of interesting poems about/around motherhood. I now know about FAM and I want to…

Etruscan Reader VI Originally uploaded by postpran. These Etruscan Readers really rock. I want them all!

tom raworth essays Originally uploaded by postpran. Ordering this soon from The Gig Editions.

tom raworth’s collected Originally uploaded by postpran. This is my true reading project. He is in my top five poets of all time.

lew daly’s nemesis Originally uploaded by postpran. about to try and read this Apex of the M fella again. I’ve read parts and put it away.

maggie o’sullivan’s palace of reptiles Originally uploaded by postpran. Can’t wait to get this in the mail

This article makes me want to re-read some Ashbery. I often give up on him. I didn’t make it through Three Poems or Flow Chart. There is so much Ashbery. I need someone to recommend certain books. Or perhaps I…

1) when is the new commodified: a) at the moment of its conception b) when air enters its lungs c) after it leaves the hospital 2) which best describes your view of the sun: a) there is nothing new under…

PART ONE: HOW TO RECLAIM AGENCY IN LANGUAGE? 1) break the language to see what’s underneath. Allow for paradox and competing representations. 2) speak clearly and efficiently. Less clouded than political speech. less abstract than academic discourse. While both propositions…

I taught a little Kamu Brathwaite in my intro to poetry class today. Mostly we listened to to Kamu Brathwaite on Leonard Schwartz’s Cross Cultural Poetics. I was especially fascinated in hearing words as percussive. Some notes from listening: –…

My good friend Jake DeCola will be showing fifteen new sculptures in steel and bronze at the Durham Art Guild (120 Morris Street, Durham, NC) beginning this Thursday, February 24. The opening at the gallery is from 5-7 this Thursday.…

Hugo Ball

Cole Swensen and Joe Donahue Originally uploaded by postpran. Joe reads to Cole from his palm (reopen pic with a photo editing program. zoom/isolate Joe’s palm to read his poem)

Laura and kathryn Originally uploaded by postpran. At the Blue Door. Smiles all around.

Another very interesting reading last night at the Internationalist. Chris Vitiello projected live fish swimming on an overhead projector and slides and ran a text loop with a film projector. In other words, a collage with real live animals. He…

Ken Rumble’s Desert City Reading Series kicks ass! Here’s the annoucement from Mr. Rumble: Cole Swensen & Chris Vitiello This Saturday, February 19th Please spread far and wide……… Who: Cole Swensen, Finalist for the 2004 National Book Award in Poetry…

while the energy of words are difficult to measure, I do find myself drawn toward the fast-paced, high energy performances of Miles Champion, Rod Smith, and most of all Tom Raworth. I just ordered Tom Raworth’s collected poems. I am…

todd and laura Originally uploaded by postpran.

todd at the Irish monument in Philly Originally uploaded by postpran.

1) Ken Rumble dropped Tessa Joseph on her head three times. However, he is one hell of a swing dancer. Tessa didn’t mind. It was part of the dance. 2) Ken Rumble took us well into the night sampling Philly…

fab time last night. fun lucipo (lucifer poetics) reading at the flea last night. Todd sold some Lucifer Poetics t-shirts. 3 sets of 3 readers with two breaks after… The reading went like this, near as I can recall… After…

Publishing venture to seek profit in poetry By Sheila Farr Seattle Times art critic Charlie Wright, son of art patrons Virginia and Bagley Wright, is starting a new venture. Seattleites already know Wright as chairman of the family business: timber…

*** INSTITUTE FOR ANARCHIST STUDIES’ SOAPBOX SOCIAL *** Dear Friends and Supporters, old and new, The Institute for Anarchist Studies warmly invites you to our Soapbox Social, to be held at the al-Alwan Center for the Arts, just a stone’s…

Just finished reading Antidotes for an Alibi by Amy King. Lots of surprising twists and turns that often reminded me of Tomaz Salamun. Certainly there are a lot of young poets influenced by Tomaz Salamun (just look at all those…

when people say personal in relation to poetry they often say: “the use of the personal” how can we know if the personal is using us? By this I mean to make a distinction between the personal and us. or…

( +speaking+) a voice reading neither film nor mirror. the lake a question. the gift a symbol. among the sparks. with thick eyes descending. fascination for fools. of dried apples. a sack in the woods. with thick eyes descending. on…

a good start to the semester. Some interesting and intelligent responses to Mallarme on the class blog. check it out: intro to poetry blog

II. SHEMSHAM “It is only a few who reach the edge of the world where its mirror /image begins” (Peter O’Leary) “shem was a sham and a low sham and his lowness creeped out first via foodstuffs” the sniffers were…

Another great Desert City reading on Saturday. Poems by Marcos Canteli (read in Spanish then translated by Rachel Price into English). A very refreshing bestiary from Mr. Standard Schaefer. Great intros by Ken Rumble. Blue door reading/performance by Tanya Olsen.…

Standard Schaefer and Kathryn Standard read some great bestiary poems. In this pic, he is saying some very naughty things to poor wee Kathryn. Blogged via Fotola.com.

some bloody drink Blogged via Fotola.com.

patrick Heron LOOK INTO MY EYES!!!!! Blogged via Fotola.com.

three of the evenings readers/performers Rachel Price, Marcos Canteli, and Tanya Olson Blogged via Fotola.com.

the rumble Mr. Rumble's own private disco after some great desert city and blue door readings Blogged via Fotola.com.

at Belfast city hall the cold alters the relation between rain and puddle.the heart fills with hellium. voice a soggy pitch. in this place the pattern is meager but the means whistle. a three-legged dog chasing its tail.and therefore memory…

I just received my copies of Backwards City Review. Some cool poems and comics (I haven’t looked at the fiction yet). Tony Tost does some complex sleep, Kent Jonhson does some strangeness with “poetry blogs in Zurich,” Kasey Mohammad does…

Most people are tired of paramilitaries. And the militaries. Us versus them everywhere. In Portadown. In Belfast. The murals are everywhere. How about a new story now.

I received some genuine sheepskin slippers in the mail today. I just wish it were cold around these parts. Ah well, it does make me feel cozy. It’ll be damp sheepskin most of the time with the humidy around here.…

at the Buffs in Belfast. after twenty-four years. no ark for flood. no balm for ear. (liquid filling into liquid). horses on the telly. lust of memory. and the larynx of that place. at the table his hand on my…

Picked up some Peter Riley while I was in London. Haven’t read much of him except Untitled Sequence (a chapbook from Wild Honey Press) It’s strange being back. It took me ten years to get back to Ireland for a…

Reading a little James Monaco for the class I will be teaching on film a week from today. He has a little chart. The spectrum from least abstraction to most: 1) practical: design 2)Environmental:architecture, sculpture 3) Pictoral: painting, drawing, graphics…

strange being back in America. Got back late last night. My body says it’s 1:38AM and I want to sleep, but must push through the jet lag. Great time in Dublin, London, and Belfast. Met my biological father (Reggie). Haven’t…

leaving in 1 hour to fly to Boston then on to Dublin. 5 hour layover in the Boston airport however. Printed out Silliman’s Demo and Rod Smith’s Protective Immediacy to read. Also some Art in America mags and a lots…

never listened to Matmos before. really working me good this morning. sounds of old elizabeth with some serious drums and creative electronica (an eerie base giving me the chills) These fellas are the cream all right: Matmos is M.C. Schmidt…