Well, there wasn't any poetry at Acquired Taste. A.T. is a reading series meant to highlight literary food writing, which last night featured two fiction writers (including one who was supposed to be a poet, I thought, Mark Brazaitis) and a rock band performing a short rock opera. The rock opera was my favorite part, everyone's skill was tight and they distributed a libretto so you could follow along with the lyrics.
The Band was Tecumseh EQs and the opera was "Bonnie Wipes It All Clean" which was I think about some guy's psychic girlfriend causing the apocalypse. There were some rocking tracks and the lyrics were pretty excellent and dare I say poetic at times:
"I thought it was over. I thought she'd turn herself in.
But she put on her shoes, unplugged the toaster, and just started walking.
She doesn't get tired like me, glad I've got my bike bro.
We spent the night in the office of an ice cream cone factory.
Somehow the old credit card trick really worked. She was holding my hand.
You know how it goes."
-- from [That Tune], 4 tracks in. (Everything was sung faced paced and with varying pitches and levels of enunciation, the libretto helped.)
The set ended with a cover of "Moonage Daydream" which was sped up and lacked the guitar solo and was not as good as Bowie. The opera was cool because the lyrics were less psychadelic than Moonage Daydream, more narrative, but it still managed to capture Bowie's frenetic energy which was pushed through by the the band's hard-line musical effort.
///////
After Tecumseh EQ wound down me and the other Webb twin biked across half the city to get to Runaway Studios, which was featuring some art by Josh Lopata, in an exhibit titled "Nowhere Specific". "Nowhere Specific" was composed of a series of tribal-imagery, paintings, sculptures, and masks, which featured bright colors Lopata traces back to Doug Mahnke's The Mask. Everything was on sale and was reasonably priced for college students, $10-$40, including some large and ornate pieces. There were so many young and beautiful people there! I networked for an hour before heading to a bar and drinking half a yuengling while talking about girls. --poetryburgh@gmail.com
you should probably check out Lopata's vimeo of stop-motion even though this too is not poetry, poetry in motion maybe? not to stretch the term too thin... lord knows it's hardly credible as is
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Thursday, May 28, 2015
The Hour After Happy Hour
The workshop finished a couple minutes ago, Lot 17 has wifi so I'm still here. The Hour After Happy Hour is a Pittsburgh writing workshop, it started a few years back with a handful of grads who didn't wanna pay for grad school. There were 16 people this time, gender split was 3:1 men. Every week they workshop two writers, fiction or poetry or both, give an hour of analysis to each. Age group is Late 20's - Late 30's, the exception being myself, this time.
It's a friendly group, not without some tension, some people willing to argue and discuss points that are usually resolved with humor. Being here makes me think I have to bone up on my analysis and vocabulary, there was a good level of insight. "The true struggle here isn't the speaker's problems with traffic laws but rather his own judgement of himself" (heavily paraphrased).
I'm going next week... Have to put together 1hr's worth of material for these people... it'll be a nice little introduction. --poetryburgh@gmail.com
It's a friendly group, not without some tension, some people willing to argue and discuss points that are usually resolved with humor. Being here makes me think I have to bone up on my analysis and vocabulary, there was a good level of insight. "The true struggle here isn't the speaker's problems with traffic laws but rather his own judgement of himself" (heavily paraphrased).
I'm going next week... Have to put together 1hr's worth of material for these people... it'll be a nice little introduction. --poetryburgh@gmail.com
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Drinking Too Much w/ Members of "The Haven"
I process alcohol slowly so I've woken up somewhat drunk... Writing this while sipping an 'herbal detox' tea over at the Staghorn Home & Garden Cafe... They have wifi and my friend Cameron works there, it turns out... also, they host occasional poetry events.
Talking with members of The Haven at Lou's Little Corner Bar last night. First we had some "Apples to Apples" writing prompts, wherein we'd write about the adjective/noun matches we'd get from playing the game. (Here's my personal favorite, of mine). Then we got way more drunk and talked about why and how Daniel Parme was going to become Dictator of America. Later we got even more drunk and talked about the Pittsburgh literary scene.
I talked about my anxieties re: the scene. I'm worried about there not being enough poetry in PGH, about getting in touch with "the right crowds", and with just talking/meeting people in general. The Haven people talked me down: "because it's Pittsburgh, no one's going to have a problem with you asking to get involved." They also critiqued my attitude to the scene: "You're trying to see what you can find in Pittsburgh, instead of asking what you can contribute."
I do think they've got a point; I've been holding this imagined community of artists above the heads of everyone I meet here, trying to see if anyone matches up to it. It's a strange thing to do to people, comparing everyone to some made-up ideal; and if I care so much about the ideal, isn't it my responsibility to achieve it?
Communities are strange! Do you look for the right community, or do you create it? Perhaps similar to the difference and similarities between writing and reading... you may write the work you've always wanted to read, but you can also maybe find an approximation of this ideal somewhere... "There's nothing new under the sun."
One of my greatest social desires is to have people to share these kinds of discussions re: art, literature, with... the Haven people were interested, educated and invested in art, they give me a lot of hope/joy about these prospects.
[The Haven is a group established in 2012 that meets regularly every other Tuesday at Lou's and workshops "words" together, primarily fiction. They're looking sometime in the near/distant future to establish a coffee house/ writer's space in Pittsburgh which will offer workshops, classes, and provide an alternative to a creative-arts education from a university. To wit, all four of these people I saw last night had creative-arts educations and worked food service; "you shouldn't have to get a college degree to write" (paraphrased!). ]--poetryburgh@gmail.com
Talking with members of The Haven at Lou's Little Corner Bar last night. First we had some "Apples to Apples" writing prompts, wherein we'd write about the adjective/noun matches we'd get from playing the game. (Here's my personal favorite, of mine). Then we got way more drunk and talked about why and how Daniel Parme was going to become Dictator of America. Later we got even more drunk and talked about the Pittsburgh literary scene.
I talked about my anxieties re: the scene. I'm worried about there not being enough poetry in PGH, about getting in touch with "the right crowds", and with just talking/meeting people in general. The Haven people talked me down: "because it's Pittsburgh, no one's going to have a problem with you asking to get involved." They also critiqued my attitude to the scene: "You're trying to see what you can find in Pittsburgh, instead of asking what you can contribute."
I do think they've got a point; I've been holding this imagined community of artists above the heads of everyone I meet here, trying to see if anyone matches up to it. It's a strange thing to do to people, comparing everyone to some made-up ideal; and if I care so much about the ideal, isn't it my responsibility to achieve it?
Communities are strange! Do you look for the right community, or do you create it? Perhaps similar to the difference and similarities between writing and reading... you may write the work you've always wanted to read, but you can also maybe find an approximation of this ideal somewhere... "There's nothing new under the sun."
One of my greatest social desires is to have people to share these kinds of discussions re: art, literature, with... the Haven people were interested, educated and invested in art, they give me a lot of hope/joy about these prospects.
[The Haven is a group established in 2012 that meets regularly every other Tuesday at Lou's and workshops "words" together, primarily fiction. They're looking sometime in the near/distant future to establish a coffee house/ writer's space in Pittsburgh which will offer workshops, classes, and provide an alternative to a creative-arts education from a university. To wit, all four of these people I saw last night had creative-arts educations and worked food service; "you shouldn't have to get a college degree to write" (paraphrased!). ]--poetryburgh@gmail.com
Monday, May 25, 2015
Pressure Press Presents
Ron Androla is a poetry touchstone for one of the PGH poets I like, John Korn. He runs a facebook group where people post a lot of poems, "Pressure Press Presents", these poems often being along the lines of my taste: short, narrative, clipped form, have some sort of conflict in them, not so "airy" (not poems about flowers, frequently). The thing about the group is that you have to ask to join it. The other thing about the group is that anyone in the group can approve any new member request, and the the other thing is that I'm in the group.
I posted a poem in "Pressure Press Presents" and Ron himself graced to comment on it, mostly negatively. He said "my eyes & head can't work as fast as you write things", so you can see if you agree, I guess. --poetryburgh@gmail.com
I posted a poem in "Pressure Press Presents" and Ron himself graced to comment on it, mostly negatively. He said "my eyes & head can't work as fast as you write things", so you can see if you agree, I guess. --poetryburgh@gmail.com
Sunday, May 24, 2015
I Want Poetry To Be "Hot Mass"
WEll, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I went to my first dance club experience last night, all on the lonesome, got there like two hours early and live tweeted the whole thing. Hot Mass, downtown off 11th and Penn, above a Bail Bonds storefront. One of those clubs where there's no sign for the front entrance just a bouncer. Everyone was really friendly though. "Hot Mass" is like "heterosexuals night" for the club, the place is above a bathhouse (Club Pittsburgh) and so it's, you know, an extension between one community to another.
The event was sort of fun, not great, not even that exciting as I had imagined: the space is about as big as a modest dining room, and there's some bathrooms and like, glory-hole confessionals off to the right and a guy with a bucket of ice and some drink mixers. Things heated up about two and a half hours in but the DJ just kept playing four-to-the-floor beats where he would like give three or four extra bars before each drop so you couldn't predict it or anything. I was kind of just doing a shuffle thing all night, I got a beer from some guy who brought in a backpack, drinks were only $1.
Do I want Poetry to be "Hot Mass?" What would that even look like? Dancing as opposed to poetry. Maybe.
Ferinstance, I can't be so easily deluded by the idea of a more perfect scene. Whoever was on the floor was on the floor and that was it. There was some astringently beautiful people, of course, but there were a bunch of other folx who were willing to dance with me. I felt that welcoming vibe even there, which was important because I couldn't convince any of my "friends" to come. And yes,
There was that sense that we were all taking part of something, that could possibly have been greater or elevated our lives to some different place, or, rather, that we were willing to dance in a place for an hour or two. I didn't see anything that particularly shocked me. There's a sense of this being someone's hobby, and the DJ being someone's tentative job, a sharing of resources culminating in what, a space of some kind, an activity, a community.
Here's some questions going forward for the blog, and for the poetry scene in pittsburgh as I understand it.
1) Is it viable? Is the kind of life that I've been predicting, have predicated most of my oestensible interest in poetry, is that there? Can I make it happen?
2) What does poetry do in the context of other people? How is it useful, how can it be at least loosely understood so that we can do things with it.
3) Where should I be, if not here? What should I be doing?
I went to Hot Mass because I bought a particularly good fit shirt that was purple and I thought looked fresh. For the first time I felt I had the time money and opportunity to attend a club, to have that kind of experience. I had a fresh haircut too, and I think I got along with the crowd pretty well, even stag. It just didn't end up being all that of an important or interesting experience; the real hard and spiritual part even was before it, convincing myself to do it, all that interior psychological stuff, seeing the opportunity and deciding to take it. -- poetryburgh@gmail.com
The event was sort of fun, not great, not even that exciting as I had imagined: the space is about as big as a modest dining room, and there's some bathrooms and like, glory-hole confessionals off to the right and a guy with a bucket of ice and some drink mixers. Things heated up about two and a half hours in but the DJ just kept playing four-to-the-floor beats where he would like give three or four extra bars before each drop so you couldn't predict it or anything. I was kind of just doing a shuffle thing all night, I got a beer from some guy who brought in a backpack, drinks were only $1.
Do I want Poetry to be "Hot Mass?" What would that even look like? Dancing as opposed to poetry. Maybe.
Ferinstance, I can't be so easily deluded by the idea of a more perfect scene. Whoever was on the floor was on the floor and that was it. There was some astringently beautiful people, of course, but there were a bunch of other folx who were willing to dance with me. I felt that welcoming vibe even there, which was important because I couldn't convince any of my "friends" to come. And yes,
There was that sense that we were all taking part of something, that could possibly have been greater or elevated our lives to some different place, or, rather, that we were willing to dance in a place for an hour or two. I didn't see anything that particularly shocked me. There's a sense of this being someone's hobby, and the DJ being someone's tentative job, a sharing of resources culminating in what, a space of some kind, an activity, a community.
Here's some questions going forward for the blog, and for the poetry scene in pittsburgh as I understand it.
1) Is it viable? Is the kind of life that I've been predicting, have predicated most of my oestensible interest in poetry, is that there? Can I make it happen?
2) What does poetry do in the context of other people? How is it useful, how can it be at least loosely understood so that we can do things with it.
3) Where should I be, if not here? What should I be doing?
I went to Hot Mass because I bought a particularly good fit shirt that was purple and I thought looked fresh. For the first time I felt I had the time money and opportunity to attend a club, to have that kind of experience. I had a fresh haircut too, and I think I got along with the crowd pretty well, even stag. It just didn't end up being all that of an important or interesting experience; the real hard and spiritual part even was before it, convincing myself to do it, all that interior psychological stuff, seeing the opportunity and deciding to take it. -- poetryburgh@gmail.com
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Hungoverish
http://www.eileenmyles.com/infernoexc.php
I'm just going to post this... talk about this.
Sexuality as the basis for poetry, for different kinds
of encounters with the literary scene. The arts scene,
more broadly, but how to describe
that kind of rush or feel you get from good art?
Is there a point? In thinking about this,
I find most commonly that I reach down
to an absolute zero. No one is interested in poetry,
no one is interested in punk,
there's just a series of social incentives
sex, loneliness, fitting into
"a right vision of yourself"
that keep us coming to shows, readings.
This all helped by the fact that it's extraordinarily
easy to be a punk, a poet. This also why
some people are bent on keeping those scenes/
terms exclusionary. BUT
All of this on top of the fact that it's actually possible
to write good poems/poetry. And you can have
some excellent punk music, too. I see it sometimes,
I'll admit the music more frequently,
but poems that are really good,
really performative, memorable
keep you alerted to things.
Do things inside of you that you're not that aware of.
That it's hard to track or summarize
and even trying to do so seems
futile, childish. Even acknowledging
that something deeper is happening...
But if you're Eileen Myles! Sure,
you can do it.
----Moral of the Story:----
Sex isn't the only thing keeping me coming
to punk shows/readings. [[I actually don't
get to have sex because of punk shows, well,
except one time <3 <3]]
I'm just going to post this... talk about this.
Sexuality as the basis for poetry, for different kinds
of encounters with the literary scene. The arts scene,
more broadly, but how to describe
that kind of rush or feel you get from good art?
Is there a point? In thinking about this,
I find most commonly that I reach down
to an absolute zero. No one is interested in poetry,
no one is interested in punk,
there's just a series of social incentives
sex, loneliness, fitting into
"a right vision of yourself"
that keep us coming to shows, readings.
This all helped by the fact that it's extraordinarily
easy to be a punk, a poet. This also why
some people are bent on keeping those scenes/
terms exclusionary. BUT
All of this on top of the fact that it's actually possible
to write good poems/poetry. And you can have
some excellent punk music, too. I see it sometimes,
I'll admit the music more frequently,
but poems that are really good,
really performative, memorable
keep you alerted to things.
Do things inside of you that you're not that aware of.
That it's hard to track or summarize
and even trying to do so seems
futile, childish. Even acknowledging
that something deeper is happening...
But if you're Eileen Myles! Sure,
you can do it.
----Moral of the Story:----
Sex isn't the only thing keeping me coming
to punk shows/readings. [[I actually don't
get to have sex because of punk shows, well,
except one time <3 <3]]
Friday, May 22, 2015
The New Yinzer Presents... @ Modern Formations
Dan McCloskey wears a wig, hunches over, dictates a letter to himself describing the infestation of maine lobsters in his house and the 32 corgis he buys to root them out, as part of his "Little Known Predators" short story series. Caitlin Bender has lengthy poems about experiencing diseases, from an up-close and not impersonal or overstructured vibe, at one point turns her body away from the mike and kind of speaks out of the corner of her mouth. Adrienne Jouver has a long and notable poem about being a Patient Escort at an abortion clinic. Raiona Gaydos reads in the stead of Laura Warman, a piece re: body images for women, being used only for sex, working out at the gym, in an obsessive, close-cropped composition I originally interpreted as a performance-art interpretation of an identity "Laura Warman", but Laura turned out to be a real person who just couldn't be there tonight. Nils Balls projected some of his graphic art and read it aloud to us, which was (not surprisingly, for Nils) enjoyable.
I wore a big white sweater and went with my twin. I drank two beers and had to pee bad for most of the last act (Dan's). Caitlin Bender thought I was waving at her when I was really waving at my twin brother.
Bender's poetry was really enjoyable and good and in that "contemporary" style I like so much. Literary in the sense that it's free verse and complex and goes a bunch of different places and innovates and makes jokes but not in the sense that it's inscrutable or boring. She doesn't do other poetry though! She's a musician, normally she doesn't read. "If it doesn't turn into a song--".
links:
nils balls comics: http://www.skeletonballs.com/
dan mccloskey comix: http://danielmccloskey.com/
caitlin bender's punk band: https://calyxpgh.bandcamp.com/
--poetryburgh@gmail.com
I wore a big white sweater and went with my twin. I drank two beers and had to pee bad for most of the last act (Dan's). Caitlin Bender thought I was waving at her when I was really waving at my twin brother.
Bender's poetry was really enjoyable and good and in that "contemporary" style I like so much. Literary in the sense that it's free verse and complex and goes a bunch of different places and innovates and makes jokes but not in the sense that it's inscrutable or boring. She doesn't do other poetry though! She's a musician, normally she doesn't read. "If it doesn't turn into a song--".
links:
nils balls comics: http://www.skeletonballs.com/
dan mccloskey comix: http://danielmccloskey.com/
caitlin bender's punk band: https://calyxpgh.bandcamp.com/
--poetryburgh@gmail.com
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Six Gallery Press: @6GPress
The Haven: @HavenPgh
John Thomas Menesini: @TVsCHACHI
Wigle Distillery: @WigleWhiskey
Richard Gegick: @RichardLGegick
Cave Canem: @cavecanempoets
Yona Harvey: @yonaharvey
Caleb Washburn: @CPWashburn
Liliput Review: @lilliputreview
Hot Metal Bridge Mag: @HMBMag
City of Asylum: @cityofasylum
UPitt Writers: @PittWriters
East End Book Exchange: @EastEndBooksPgh
Alicia Salvadeo: @icketmaster
Jeff Oaks: @inhumandrag
Stephen Lin: @wtfa54
Peter Webb: @pwtbrb
--poetryburgh@gmail.com
The Haven: @HavenPgh
John Thomas Menesini: @TVsCHACHI
Wigle Distillery: @WigleWhiskey
Richard Gegick: @RichardLGegick
Cave Canem: @cavecanempoets
Yona Harvey: @yonaharvey
Caleb Washburn: @CPWashburn
Liliput Review: @lilliputreview
Hot Metal Bridge Mag: @HMBMag
City of Asylum: @cityofasylum
UPitt Writers: @PittWriters
East End Book Exchange: @EastEndBooksPgh
Alicia Salvadeo: @icketmaster
Jeff Oaks: @inhumandrag
Stephen Lin: @wtfa54
Peter Webb: @pwtbrb
--poetryburgh@gmail.com
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
"Gender Swap" ++ "I want Poetry to be Punk"
Last night the "Gender Swap" at Cyberpunk Apocalypse: Four fiction writers and me, writing from the perspective of the opposite gender. Their stories:
Liz Abeling.......... Novel adaptation of "The Rime of The Ancient Mariner"
Me ...................... Not telling yet, folks... keeping it under wraps...
Alexis Cromer..... Sci-Fi Dystopia
Since I was the only poetry writer, there's not much to talk about here... the blog's called "poetryburgh" after all, not "fiction-" or "literaryburgh." And I'm not going to talk about my own poem.
Cool thing was I talked to guy I only know as "Hank" after the reading, when everyone was drinking boxed wine in the backyard. "Hank" and I commiserate: we share the unique idea that poetry should be like the punk scene, "poetry should be punk". Readers: refer to my first post, wherein I discuss the punk scene of pittsburgh circa 1980 as presented by Stephanie Beroes's Debt Begins At Twenty, and how I want to have that kinda scene for poetry. How do we do it? It is a continuing question for poetryburgh... and for "Hank"...
"Hank" wants more acerbic crowds at readings, & suggests going to readings, shouting down unlikable work... this technique taken from the Roberto Bolaño's "The Savage Detectives". "Hank" also mentions multimedia, poetry that's closer to the common man, and maybe readings at punk shows... This last idea well practiced by Stephen Lin and, formerly, myself... I stopped b/c I assumed the crowd's applause was disingenuous... me, stumbling away from every reading, nerves a-wrecked... Later heard from some ppl including a now ex-girlfriend that they actually liked my work, I was just not able to tell, given my state.. Well my other excuse is that I developed a bad relationship with a promoter for these punk shows... Do punks like poetry? As "Hank" points out, they do zines, some tolerance for the "literary."
To be Punk: What sacrifices must be made? Transformations to our moralities? Is it worth it? --poetryburgh@gmail.com
Benn Quinn........ Woman in and out of mental institutions, gritty
Reed Carter......... Lesbian couple deals with criminal elements in familyLiz Abeling.......... Novel adaptation of "The Rime of The Ancient Mariner"
Me ...................... Not telling yet, folks... keeping it under wraps...
Alexis Cromer..... Sci-Fi Dystopia
Since I was the only poetry writer, there's not much to talk about here... the blog's called "poetryburgh" after all, not "fiction-" or "literaryburgh." And I'm not going to talk about my own poem.
Cool thing was I talked to guy I only know as "Hank" after the reading, when everyone was drinking boxed wine in the backyard. "Hank" and I commiserate: we share the unique idea that poetry should be like the punk scene, "poetry should be punk". Readers: refer to my first post, wherein I discuss the punk scene of pittsburgh circa 1980 as presented by Stephanie Beroes's Debt Begins At Twenty, and how I want to have that kinda scene for poetry. How do we do it? It is a continuing question for poetryburgh... and for "Hank"...
"Hank" wants more acerbic crowds at readings, & suggests going to readings, shouting down unlikable work... this technique taken from the Roberto Bolaño's "The Savage Detectives". "Hank" also mentions multimedia, poetry that's closer to the common man, and maybe readings at punk shows... This last idea well practiced by Stephen Lin and, formerly, myself... I stopped b/c I assumed the crowd's applause was disingenuous... me, stumbling away from every reading, nerves a-wrecked... Later heard from some ppl including a now ex-girlfriend that they actually liked my work, I was just not able to tell, given my state.. Well my other excuse is that I developed a bad relationship with a promoter for these punk shows... Do punks like poetry? As "Hank" points out, they do zines, some tolerance for the "literary."
To be Punk: What sacrifices must be made? Transformations to our moralities? Is it worth it? --poetryburgh@gmail.com
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Wigle
Drinking Wigle @ Wigle... Listening to two MFA poets over some loud fans... occasional deafening clanks from the distillery around us... large copper tanks, story of Phillip Wigle printed on walls, a whiskey distiller involved in Whiskey Rebellion, tried for treason but pardoned... Phillip = reason for noose in Wigle logo... Two $6 cocktails, the hibiscus/pink lemonade Porch Punch and superior Dark & Stormy... Lime and Ginger Soda in the latter, v. delicious... 2 Poets: Cameron Barnett & Rachel Mennies... Cameron read from his unpublished manuscript, series of sound/non narrative poems; "It's confusing and that's the point." Followed with several more narrative poems, ended with a few about race, incl. his poems re: Emmett Till, a powerful subject; see Supernova.
Rachel Mennies: specifically selected poetry about drinking, these happened to almost all talk about religion/God too (ha ha). Standout/most interesting poem was about watching Mel Brooks movies with her father, humor intermingled with discussion of holocaust, "Mel Brooks standing by the guillotine saying 'It's Good to be King'"; also something about Hitler on iceskates. "We laughed till we were weeping which was not like weeping at all." Loud thunderstorm occurring while both poets read, soaking my bike. --poetryburgh@gmail.com
Rachel Mennies: specifically selected poetry about drinking, these happened to almost all talk about religion/God too (ha ha). Standout/most interesting poem was about watching Mel Brooks movies with her father, humor intermingled with discussion of holocaust, "Mel Brooks standing by the guillotine saying 'It's Good to be King'"; also something about Hitler on iceskates. "We laughed till we were weeping which was not like weeping at all." Loud thunderstorm occurring while both poets read, soaking my bike. --poetryburgh@gmail.com
Monday, May 18, 2015
Words @ Wigle Today. No post.
There's Words @ Wigle @ 5pm today over in the strip district whiskey distillery Wigle. I like their whiskey, I remember mixing it into hot chocolate at the hot chocolate bar at my employer's Christmas party. My date and I snuck some out in a paper cup that I wrapped my scarf around to hide, but in the car ride back the cup spilled and soaked my scarf in Wigle's whiskey. For a couple months afterwards the scarf had a rich smell of wood, rotted fruit, and other flavors I cannot name. I'm not sure what the noose-like rope in Wigle's logo is about though.
I'm going to go to the Wigle reading and do an Apocalypse World session afterwards. Internet's like $4/hour over here so I'm probably not going to post about that until tomorrow morning, when I'll be at my aforementioned employer's, where the world wide web is free. In the meantime, stay toasty in these warm spring/summer months... but don't forget the chill tides of winter, when we all might need whiskey-soaked scarves.... poetryburgh@gmail.com
I'm going to go to the Wigle reading and do an Apocalypse World session afterwards. Internet's like $4/hour over here so I'm probably not going to post about that until tomorrow morning, when I'll be at my aforementioned employer's, where the world wide web is free. In the meantime, stay toasty in these warm spring/summer months... but don't forget the chill tides of winter, when we all might need whiskey-soaked scarves.... poetryburgh@gmail.com
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Versify / Runaway Studios Verse Session
Caught Leslie Anne Mcilroy at The East End Book Exchange, she was the last reader in this month's Versify. Holy Crow!, as the saying goes, she had presentation and finesse and everything and I bought her book. I spent $32 on books yesterday, here's the itemized list:
After Versify, I bombed down Liberty Ave for Runaway Studio's verse session, which did not actually start at 8. No worries, because I got some powder blue shoes and a duffle bag from their Estate Sale; they're closing down in three months. Another young artist community lost...
Runaway Studios is run by Andy Mcintyre and Sadie Shoaf, and is a performance space in what used to be a sign-making factory. There's a really great little stage/staircase and overall the place is as quaint and welcoming as the hosts. They are closing down in a few months, but not after some great events, including another verse session. This is essentially an acoustic open mic, although with an unusual focus on poetry; there was only one musical act the night I went, by some thirtysomething guy with a guitar and a hat with devil horns on it (he did well, in the end).
The rest was verse, including a healthy amount from Andy himself, who's writing style is sorta Billie Collins if Billie Collins were a young man who lived the kind of transient life that I assume Andy does. The other acts were unimpressive, including my own, for the most part, but Brandon Tucker had some standout political pieces which were heartfelt and had sharp edges. I'll note that I see a dearth of political poetry in the Pittsburgh scene! I probably need to see more slam.
I guess the biggest thing to mention here is that the crowd was by the mean younger than me. This is big news to my experiences in Pittsburgh, where it's usually a matter of multiplying my age to reach the audience's. It's cool fucking beans, but again, these people are shutting down in two months, and Andy doesn't know of any other "young" poetry readings around Pittsburgh. Runaway Hotel Magazine is still going to continue though, and it's chocked to the brim with young artists and their work. It's available online. --poetryburgh@gmail.com
- $15 Mcilroy's book Slag
- $4 Robert Walser, Selected Stories
- $3 Shipping for Robert Walser
- $10 Runaway Hotel Magazine
After Versify, I bombed down Liberty Ave for Runaway Studio's verse session, which did not actually start at 8. No worries, because I got some powder blue shoes and a duffle bag from their Estate Sale; they're closing down in three months. Another young artist community lost...
Runaway Studios is run by Andy Mcintyre and Sadie Shoaf, and is a performance space in what used to be a sign-making factory. There's a really great little stage/staircase and overall the place is as quaint and welcoming as the hosts. They are closing down in a few months, but not after some great events, including another verse session. This is essentially an acoustic open mic, although with an unusual focus on poetry; there was only one musical act the night I went, by some thirtysomething guy with a guitar and a hat with devil horns on it (he did well, in the end).
The rest was verse, including a healthy amount from Andy himself, who's writing style is sorta Billie Collins if Billie Collins were a young man who lived the kind of transient life that I assume Andy does. The other acts were unimpressive, including my own, for the most part, but Brandon Tucker had some standout political pieces which were heartfelt and had sharp edges. I'll note that I see a dearth of political poetry in the Pittsburgh scene! I probably need to see more slam.
I guess the biggest thing to mention here is that the crowd was by the mean younger than me. This is big news to my experiences in Pittsburgh, where it's usually a matter of multiplying my age to reach the audience's. It's cool fucking beans, but again, these people are shutting down in two months, and Andy doesn't know of any other "young" poetry readings around Pittsburgh. Runaway Hotel Magazine is still going to continue though, and it's chocked to the brim with young artists and their work. It's available online. --poetryburgh@gmail.com
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange @ South Side Presbyterian Church
Ziggy Edwards, Barry Governor, and Stuart Shepphard read. These all of the Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange Workshop that meets first Monday's of the month at the Brentwood Library.
The atmosphere: a church meeting hall, real candles on the tables, diffused lighting from the stained glass windows. Natural and electronic acoustics. Michael Wurster hosted, and is evidently a great influence on everyone involved and is somehow involved with Uppagus Magazine.
I'll admit that I was severely sleep deprived when I attended this reading, so I was nodding off during the first two readers, Ziggy and Barry. I liked their poems, partly I think because their imagery would mix and conflict with my dream imagery. Ziggy in particular had a bunch of good and surprising poems, my favorite probably was "Men of Peanuts": "Lucy sneaks out in the dead of night and meets Charlie Brown in the park. Only then will he try for the football."
I got a soda during the break and was awake for the featured reader, Stuart Shepphard. I was pretty frustrated with the reading. This was because I met and liked Stuart on a previous occasion, plan on attending the workshop that he's at, and probably because Stuart reminds me of a future version of myself, with his middle-age semi-receding hairline, cool jokes (he made at least one joke per talk break), and modest publishing history. Stuart as I understand it is somewhat new to poetry, working on a manuscript, and has previously published a novel, which he read an excerpt of and I was also frustrated with. It's not that what he was saying didn't have nuggets of soul and meaning in it, it's that I was bored with the whole thing. His affect had a touch of human sarcasm, but it was never too surprising or subversive; the dominant tone was a kind of innocence I connected to The Harvey Boys. "Heroin burns down the house, whether you're in or not." "Someone once told me 'Never be sincere. Sincerity is the death of writing.' I thought about that , came to think it meant never to take yourself too seriously." (one of his jokes in the talk breaks.) He would turn his head and pose for emphasis during the reading, that I liked.
I feel kind of strange evincing frustration on this blog, at least I felt strange about it last night. Now I'm more inclined just to let my feelings be, but I'll add two caveats: I don't think Stuart should change what he's doing, in fact I plan on showing up to his workshop and possibly giving him a piece of my mind; what I mean is it's my prerogative and responsibility when I feel frustration with someone else's work and I can go ahead and do things about that if I want but it's not anyone's fault for making me frustrated. My second caveat is that I liked the poem I heard Stuart read at the Hemingway's Summer Reading open mic, so, I dunno, poetry is ephemeral and people's readings are too and so is frustration also. -- poetryburgh@gmail.com
The atmosphere: a church meeting hall, real candles on the tables, diffused lighting from the stained glass windows. Natural and electronic acoustics. Michael Wurster hosted, and is evidently a great influence on everyone involved and is somehow involved with Uppagus Magazine.
I'll admit that I was severely sleep deprived when I attended this reading, so I was nodding off during the first two readers, Ziggy and Barry. I liked their poems, partly I think because their imagery would mix and conflict with my dream imagery. Ziggy in particular had a bunch of good and surprising poems, my favorite probably was "Men of Peanuts": "Lucy sneaks out in the dead of night and meets Charlie Brown in the park. Only then will he try for the football."
I got a soda during the break and was awake for the featured reader, Stuart Shepphard. I was pretty frustrated with the reading. This was because I met and liked Stuart on a previous occasion, plan on attending the workshop that he's at, and probably because Stuart reminds me of a future version of myself, with his middle-age semi-receding hairline, cool jokes (he made at least one joke per talk break), and modest publishing history. Stuart as I understand it is somewhat new to poetry, working on a manuscript, and has previously published a novel, which he read an excerpt of and I was also frustrated with. It's not that what he was saying didn't have nuggets of soul and meaning in it, it's that I was bored with the whole thing. His affect had a touch of human sarcasm, but it was never too surprising or subversive; the dominant tone was a kind of innocence I connected to The Harvey Boys. "Heroin burns down the house, whether you're in or not." "Someone once told me 'Never be sincere. Sincerity is the death of writing.' I thought about that , came to think it meant never to take yourself too seriously." (one of his jokes in the talk breaks.) He would turn his head and pose for emphasis during the reading, that I liked.
I feel kind of strange evincing frustration on this blog, at least I felt strange about it last night. Now I'm more inclined just to let my feelings be, but I'll add two caveats: I don't think Stuart should change what he's doing, in fact I plan on showing up to his workshop and possibly giving him a piece of my mind; what I mean is it's my prerogative and responsibility when I feel frustration with someone else's work and I can go ahead and do things about that if I want but it's not anyone's fault for making me frustrated. My second caveat is that I liked the poem I heard Stuart read at the Hemingway's Summer Reading open mic, so, I dunno, poetry is ephemeral and people's readings are too and so is frustration also. -- poetryburgh@gmail.com
Friday, May 15, 2015
Eclipse Lounge, Blast Furnace
Last night I showed up at the Eclipse Lounge for the release of Blast Furnace's new Mixtape, a Poetry eBook. These were "original poems inspired by music" by: Heather McNaugher, Bob Walicki, Carolyne Whelan, and Rebecca Clever. Several of the artists talked about the influence of The Cure, etc. on their childhoods: rushing home to listen to their songs, memorizing lyrics, applying the music's wisdom to their day-to-day lives. All the poetry was along the lines of narrative, fiction-like stuff with line breaks and enunciation like you would expect from slam, but read off paper and less performative. It's the kind of stuff Jeff Oaks does, although he's a little more literary.
My favorite work came from Carolyne and Heather. Standout moment was when a firetruck passed as Carolyne read her poem "Firewalker". One of Heather's poems was cool because it mentioned biking down a hill in high school as to have illicit sex. Also from Heather: "High School still rages evidently."
The tone of the Lounge itself- $7 Southern Tier, long cushioned couch-like benches, dark, the stage directly next to the front door and featuring a picture window looking out onto the street. It was a 30- 40- year old crowd.
My favorite work came from Carolyne and Heather. Standout moment was when a firetruck passed as Carolyne read her poem "Firewalker". One of Heather's poems was cool because it mentioned biking down a hill in high school as to have illicit sex. Also from Heather: "High School still rages evidently."
The tone of the Lounge itself- $7 Southern Tier, long cushioned couch-like benches, dark, the stage directly next to the front door and featuring a picture window looking out onto the street. It was a 30- 40- year old crowd.
I spend a lot of my time listening to poems kind of spacing out and just hearing the sound of the poet's reading. There's a lot of territory here; and I realized listening to Sunshine Ears you don't need the contrivance of language to get "lyricism" [I abuse a lot of terms on this blog]. But there were several moments during last night's reading where I snapped out of my haze and paid attention. The illicit sex moment was one of them... I've talked about this before... Something very important there --poetryburgh@gmail.com
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Cyberpunk: Night of 5/13/15
We had Dan McCloskey's short story about "Sky Sharks", read as spoken word, honest-to-god excellent piece of poetry. I managed to snag the printout he read off so I'll put up an excerpt or two later (I don't have internet at my house, where the printout is). ***edit: not going to put anything up 'cause dan's submitting it... look out!
Paula Jean and Ben Grubb did a duo reading of a poem-like play that revolved around sexuality. In one vignette Paula Jean adopted an accent for a character talking about a dream in which her cat sat in her lap, the cat having a water weenie coming out of its crotch, this spoken over the phone to Ben who gets off to reaching in a drawer overstuffed with condoms.
The event was part of Josh Simmon's book tour. He's a graphic artist, and he showed us some of his films, coming out of Connecticut- a Utz Potato Chips commercial featuring only a grease-smeared man holding and crinkling an empty Utz bag, "Queens of the Court" (not that title, exactly) a short film about women in heels etc. playing basketball, and a dialogue-less story about some kind of cult. The guy who is Sunshine Ears starred in at least two of these films, and oh my god I loved Sunshine Ear's performance. "Performance Art" like I've never seen it, the guy doing a variety of musical acts, one wherein he made a melody by picking up, tossing, and striking aluminum poles of various sizes, another one sort of similar using dog toys. Also some legitimate piano music, a lot of singing with non-word vowel sounds. There was also a punk band but I didn't successfully record their name or any of the participant's names but they were pretty good.
This whole event exhilarated me and made me feel sad and stuff. Honestly I feel there has to be a place in the world where this kind of lyricism etc. is on display more frequently-- it's not the kind of thing I've seen around Pittsburgh often. House shows w/ artists, art for artists. Maybe possibly that this stuff is the purview of a certain group of in-crowds, communities you have to know about... But then again so much of the night seemed singular and ephemeral. I talked to all of the artists: Paula Jean doesn't usually do stuff like this, she's more into music, Sunshine Ears doesn't know of any other artists like him, and he's from Connecticut besides; the punk show people usually don't get together as a band. But then again Dan's having another reading next week at The New Yinzer Presents @ Modern Formations. And there's the Gender Swap at Cyberpunk this Tuesday. And I grabbed some fliers for some other punk show/ performance artist-like events. These all overlapping with each other so I can't possibly attend all of them :( .
I think I knew people doing this kind of thing in high school... And I've been to truly excellent house shows before: one of my favorite all-time performances was by Turbosleaze in someone's basement with the audience composed of exactly four people, myself included. At one point some beautiful drummer from NY was balancing on a length of rebar and drumming on it and it was electric! Honest-to-god beautiful music, nothing schlocky about it... I stood in the corner, holding myself, bobbing my head with the punk-show methodology I've picked up over the years, totally inadequate for where I was and what I was witnessing. Afterwards I picked apart some conversation with the band upstairs in the living room and, you know, they're way better read than me and older besides and I'm wearing flip flops and sinking into the dilapidated couch.
It's just that disconnect between someone else's world and my own, all the wasted years where I felt like I was waiting for that kind of ephemeral totally absorbing and mind-blowing art that I saw last night and got to have in snippets over the years... Those people and their communities which I've been turning away from over and over again over my the course of my life. It's a rough position to be in because vulnerability is such a strange thing to bring in to a group of strangers and "hipsters" besides. I have to think Dan for being welcoming though, and making me feel welcome; I'm not sure I would have been able to be a part of this if he wasn't.
Last year at my Meeting's Fall Gathering we talked, broke up into small groups asking "how can we be more welcoming?" as a Quaker Meeting. Main conclusion I could draw and my group drew was that hospitality/welcoming counts most from the people you don't know. The people you remember giving you comfort and making sure that you feel included are the people who are strangers, the people who've for whatever reason made it a practice of their lives to be good and loving to those they don't know. It's a goddamn beautiful quality and I have to thank Dan and the others at Cyberpunk for exhibiting it, and I like to think that if there's a way we can spread the ephemeral beauty that I saw last night, keep it going in Pittsburgh, it can be along the lines of that welcoming spirit. To share that chance to live that kind of life, to me and to anyone who wants it. --poetryburgh@gmail.com
Paula Jean and Ben Grubb did a duo reading of a poem-like play that revolved around sexuality. In one vignette Paula Jean adopted an accent for a character talking about a dream in which her cat sat in her lap, the cat having a water weenie coming out of its crotch, this spoken over the phone to Ben who gets off to reaching in a drawer overstuffed with condoms.
The event was part of Josh Simmon's book tour. He's a graphic artist, and he showed us some of his films, coming out of Connecticut- a Utz Potato Chips commercial featuring only a grease-smeared man holding and crinkling an empty Utz bag, "Queens of the Court" (not that title, exactly) a short film about women in heels etc. playing basketball, and a dialogue-less story about some kind of cult. The guy who is Sunshine Ears starred in at least two of these films, and oh my god I loved Sunshine Ear's performance. "Performance Art" like I've never seen it, the guy doing a variety of musical acts, one wherein he made a melody by picking up, tossing, and striking aluminum poles of various sizes, another one sort of similar using dog toys. Also some legitimate piano music, a lot of singing with non-word vowel sounds. There was also a punk band but I didn't successfully record their name or any of the participant's names but they were pretty good.
This whole event exhilarated me and made me feel sad and stuff. Honestly I feel there has to be a place in the world where this kind of lyricism etc. is on display more frequently-- it's not the kind of thing I've seen around Pittsburgh often. House shows w/ artists, art for artists. Maybe possibly that this stuff is the purview of a certain group of in-crowds, communities you have to know about... But then again so much of the night seemed singular and ephemeral. I talked to all of the artists: Paula Jean doesn't usually do stuff like this, she's more into music, Sunshine Ears doesn't know of any other artists like him, and he's from Connecticut besides; the punk show people usually don't get together as a band. But then again Dan's having another reading next week at The New Yinzer Presents @ Modern Formations. And there's the Gender Swap at Cyberpunk this Tuesday. And I grabbed some fliers for some other punk show/ performance artist-like events. These all overlapping with each other so I can't possibly attend all of them :( .
I think I knew people doing this kind of thing in high school... And I've been to truly excellent house shows before: one of my favorite all-time performances was by Turbosleaze in someone's basement with the audience composed of exactly four people, myself included. At one point some beautiful drummer from NY was balancing on a length of rebar and drumming on it and it was electric! Honest-to-god beautiful music, nothing schlocky about it... I stood in the corner, holding myself, bobbing my head with the punk-show methodology I've picked up over the years, totally inadequate for where I was and what I was witnessing. Afterwards I picked apart some conversation with the band upstairs in the living room and, you know, they're way better read than me and older besides and I'm wearing flip flops and sinking into the dilapidated couch.
It's just that disconnect between someone else's world and my own, all the wasted years where I felt like I was waiting for that kind of ephemeral totally absorbing and mind-blowing art that I saw last night and got to have in snippets over the years... Those people and their communities which I've been turning away from over and over again over my the course of my life. It's a rough position to be in because vulnerability is such a strange thing to bring in to a group of strangers and "hipsters" besides. I have to think Dan for being welcoming though, and making me feel welcome; I'm not sure I would have been able to be a part of this if he wasn't.
Last year at my Meeting's Fall Gathering we talked, broke up into small groups asking "how can we be more welcoming?" as a Quaker Meeting. Main conclusion I could draw and my group drew was that hospitality/welcoming counts most from the people you don't know. The people you remember giving you comfort and making sure that you feel included are the people who are strangers, the people who've for whatever reason made it a practice of their lives to be good and loving to those they don't know. It's a goddamn beautiful quality and I have to thank Dan and the others at Cyberpunk for exhibiting it, and I like to think that if there's a way we can spread the ephemeral beauty that I saw last night, keep it going in Pittsburgh, it can be along the lines of that welcoming spirit. To share that chance to live that kind of life, to me and to anyone who wants it. --poetryburgh@gmail.com
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Hemingway's #2: Pittsburgh Poetry Society
Last night, after the staff cleared a table of students, we heard Nancy Esther James, Liane Ellison Norman, Christine Pasinski, Fred Peterson & Christine Aikens Wolfe read for Hemingway's second Summer Reading Series. This group composed the Pittsburgh Poetry Society, not an online group. I read afterwards in the Open Mic and it got a good response! Here's my poem.
Standout readers were, for me, the Christines- both were educators, both had well-composed observational poems coming from places of love. Christine Pasinski spoke with a hearty Glassport (or Clairton? Dravosburg? not 100%) accent, clearly and carefully discussing her family members and teaching experiences in a succinct free verse. Christine Aikens Wolfe brought poems about poetry readings and being a writer, which were on the whole very playful and lyrical, often falling into and out of rhyme. Standout poem for her was "At a coffehouse reading (definitely not Hemingway's)" wherein she observes and almost intercedes in a seduction attempt by a young poetry critic on a beautiful young woman. I'm very glad to have met Christine Wolfe, and I got her email so I can stage a reading with her --full disclosure-- I know her previously from some Quaker potlucks I've attended (I also know Nancy Ester James from my Quaker Meeting-- it's "a small town big city").
All of the readers were skilled and presented poems which often metrical and rhyming. Fred Peterson in particular committed to couplets in his poems lamenting his love life. Jimmy Cvetic closed with a reading of his own, although I couldn't hear it because the air conditioning was too loud. --poetryburgh@gmail.com
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Trawling and Dragging Thru The Pittsburgh Poetry Internet Underbelly
Check out how much chunkier our events calendar has gotten! That's because I've spent much of today crawling through the heaps of broken links, defunct venues, and long-gone collectives that comprise our poetry scene's online presence. I do this for you, and for me, and the good news is that there are lots of poetry events in Pittsburgh! "It's alive... It's alive!" --poetryburgh@gmail.com
Monday, May 11, 2015
Lists
list of some poets I've seen read in pittsburgh that I can remember off the top of my head:
jason baldinger
scott silsbe
john korn
richard gegick
toi derricote
terrance hayes
alicia salvado
jeff oaks
a(ndre) dupont
stephen lin
list of events this week, as I plan on attending them:
monday (no event, going to play Apocalypse World)
tuesday: hem's summer reading 2
wednesday: 9pm show at cyberpunk
thursday: blastfurnace release OR amazing books readoff (haven't decided)
friday: $5 show at south side presb. church
saturday: versify at east end book tore// verse sesion @ runaway studios
list of poetry venues I've been to in pittsburgh (businesses that have had actual poetry readings, not just acoustic open mic nights):
amazing books
classic lines
the university bookstore
delanie's coffee
the cyberpunk apocalypse
nico's recovery room
the mr. roboto project
hemingway's cafe
ava lounge (defunct)
biddle's escape
the university of pittsburgh
runaway studios
the brillobox
modern formations gallery
also this might be worth checking out:
http://smallpresspittsburgh.wikispaces.com/Open+Mics+in+Pittsburgh
jason baldinger
scott silsbe
john korn
richard gegick
toi derricote
terrance hayes
alicia salvado
jeff oaks
a(ndre) dupont
stephen lin
list of events this week, as I plan on attending them:
monday (no event, going to play Apocalypse World)
tuesday: hem's summer reading 2
wednesday: 9pm show at cyberpunk
thursday: blastfurnace release OR amazing books readoff (haven't decided)
friday: $5 show at south side presb. church
saturday: versify at east end book tore// verse sesion @ runaway studios
list of poetry venues I've been to in pittsburgh (businesses that have had actual poetry readings, not just acoustic open mic nights):
amazing books
classic lines
the university bookstore
delanie's coffee
the cyberpunk apocalypse
nico's recovery room
the mr. roboto project
hemingway's cafe
ava lounge (defunct)
biddle's escape
the university of pittsburgh
runaway studios
the brillobox
modern formations gallery
also this might be worth checking out:
http://smallpresspittsburgh.wikispaces.com/Open+Mics+in+Pittsburgh
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Pittsburgh's Slampoetry Scene
Special Mother's Day Sunday Post--- I'm going to keep it short...
I went to exactly one Steel City Slam event, over at the now-defunct AVA Lounge over on N Craig. I competed and came in dead last, during my set I accidentally made what ended up sounding like a racist joke. The guy who won had prepared three 3-minute long pieces which he had memorized and delivered in a dramatic musical style; I was reading off a sheet of paper and did like a monotone thing. Plus my stuff wasn't very cogent, comparatively.
Topics among the contestants ranged from the connections between linguistics and feces to long comedic stories about social interactions with strangers in bathrooms. The form: basically slam, with its punctuated reading, consistent meter, assonance. The event, which had a cash prize, was judged by participating audience members, who gave each piece a numerical score. I've written off slam poetry mostly because it doesn't fit with the idea of poetry that I like to write, the sentiments are pretty easy and not so postmodern and self-doubting, not complex all the way down. Slam is popular though and what people often think of when they think of "poetry."
After I read, one of the judges approached me and talked about "literary" poetry... Like he wanted my more "literary" stuff to be allowed at the event but it wasn't flying with the crowd. There's a great big weird gap of understanding between form, content, and audience, it's hard to understand how they fit together. So it seems to me if you wanna become a "poet", to explore that, you might want to get good at slam... The next event is May 12th, at Capri Bar. I'm probably going to Hem's Summer Reading instead though.
I went to exactly one Steel City Slam event, over at the now-defunct AVA Lounge over on N Craig. I competed and came in dead last, during my set I accidentally made what ended up sounding like a racist joke. The guy who won had prepared three 3-minute long pieces which he had memorized and delivered in a dramatic musical style; I was reading off a sheet of paper and did like a monotone thing. Plus my stuff wasn't very cogent, comparatively.
Topics among the contestants ranged from the connections between linguistics and feces to long comedic stories about social interactions with strangers in bathrooms. The form: basically slam, with its punctuated reading, consistent meter, assonance. The event, which had a cash prize, was judged by participating audience members, who gave each piece a numerical score. I've written off slam poetry mostly because it doesn't fit with the idea of poetry that I like to write, the sentiments are pretty easy and not so postmodern and self-doubting, not complex all the way down. Slam is popular though and what people often think of when they think of "poetry."
After I read, one of the judges approached me and talked about "literary" poetry... Like he wanted my more "literary" stuff to be allowed at the event but it wasn't flying with the crowd. There's a great big weird gap of understanding between form, content, and audience, it's hard to understand how they fit together. So it seems to me if you wanna become a "poet", to explore that, you might want to get good at slam... The next event is May 12th, at Capri Bar. I'm probably going to Hem's Summer Reading instead though.
Saturday, May 9, 2015
JOHN KORN'S "Television Farm": A Poetryburgh Review
I met John Korn at Cyberpunk Apocalypse's Sausage Fest, appropriately enough a male-only reading event with actual sausages catered. He read, and afterward I approached him, saying "your poems were some of the best I've heard in Pittsburgh." "Thank you." "Do you know if anyone else writes like you?" "To be nice, I won't answer that question." Then we had a bunch of Facebook conversations over the next month or two.
What I appreciate about John Korn is 1), his bassy melodic reading voice, and 2) the relatability and subtle humility of his poems. Here's a video of him reading at Coffee Buddha's Open Mic. In his better works, I don't feel like John is trying to make a point; I do feel like he's making a poetic effort. The way he reads his poems it's not John trying to make a living off of poetry or make poetry his thing it's him delivering a lyricism, and you can get that; there's a connection to his work that comes through and isn't obscured by "persona."
John has one book out, possibly another one forthcoming. The one out is Television Farm, which I purchased on Amazon for $15. The cover is a television farm, hand-drawn complete with a fugly television farmer on the back, and there is a poem about this farm in the beginning-middle of the book. The book itself is separated into sections, the first being somewhat overtly political commentary in the style of (for lack of a better referent) an associative Bukowski,
There's a postured seriousness here which fades away when we get into the romantic temperament of Mr. Korn. Mr. Korn writes about women's bodies and women and his own feeling about women, in a way I have to find appealing. His speakers aren't arranged to look good, but it's not a process of constant self-deprecation either, at most there's a kind of timid frustration and wisdom that comes with living in mystery... and its that sentiment which makes his relatively simple (although occasionally stylish) prose-y poems stand out.
Standout poems which I've seen mentioned elsewhere online are:"I took some down with miss handsome", which explores I think most successfully John's surrealistic tendencies, this kind of based in that poor/jazzy stuff, celebrating poverty conditions etc. but it's surreal enough to escape that brand of innocence.
It's playful, most of John's poems are, but there's a resolve to it, riding the rails between lyrical seriousness and sarcasm. Television Farm as a whole mostly stays balanced, on an edge, and some of the more literal more realistic poems have a sharpness that has nothing to do with whimsy.
I made the effort of meeting John and talking to him (overcoming my social fears) because I liked his reading so much. He is reading again at Hemingway's for the final Summer Poetry Series event of the season, on July 28th. I recommend seeing him, and if you're a person inclined to buy poetry, email me about it, because I'd like to understand that there are people out there who do that, and if you liked any of John's work in the article you should consider buying & reading his book.-- poetryburgh@gmail.com
What I appreciate about John Korn is 1), his bassy melodic reading voice, and 2) the relatability and subtle humility of his poems. Here's a video of him reading at Coffee Buddha's Open Mic. In his better works, I don't feel like John is trying to make a point; I do feel like he's making a poetic effort. The way he reads his poems it's not John trying to make a living off of poetry or make poetry his thing it's him delivering a lyricism, and you can get that; there's a connection to his work that comes through and isn't obscured by "persona."
John has one book out, possibly another one forthcoming. The one out is Television Farm, which I purchased on Amazon for $15. The cover is a television farm, hand-drawn complete with a fugly television farmer on the back, and there is a poem about this farm in the beginning-middle of the book. The book itself is separated into sections, the first being somewhat overtly political commentary in the style of (for lack of a better referent) an associative Bukowski,
They feed us poison food-from "Voting camp" [sic]
it bubbles up in the belly, Mother.
it is loaded with nausea
my intestines feel like an eel.
they make us watch television
they make us vote.
There's a postured seriousness here which fades away when we get into the romantic temperament of Mr. Korn. Mr. Korn writes about women's bodies and women and his own feeling about women, in a way I have to find appealing. His speakers aren't arranged to look good, but it's not a process of constant self-deprecation either, at most there's a kind of timid frustration and wisdom that comes with living in mystery... and its that sentiment which makes his relatively simple (although occasionally stylish) prose-y poems stand out.
Standout poems which I've seen mentioned elsewhere online are:"I took some down with miss handsome", which explores I think most successfully John's surrealistic tendencies, this kind of based in that poor/jazzy stuff, celebrating poverty conditions etc. but it's surreal enough to escape that brand of innocence.
on ginger street I found fat Misses Handsome--from "I took some down with miss handsome"
planted on the curb, sweat like grease. she smelled
like a burrito. she had a wicker basket on her
head with the handle wrapped under her chin
like a helmet strap. she had put dandelions,
pigeon feathers and rat tails in it. what a
pretty and wise look it gave her, as she slugged
down vodka from the bottle, her bracelets jingling
[...]
She said, "Man walks to clear mind
man dreams to foget about body.
on the eighth day God created woman
and he said I will give her a pussy hole,
and adam said what's that
and God waved his wand and said
behold look at that sweet lovin' pussy hole, son, goddam!
[...]
and God said that's some sweet funky stuff
move over, adam, I can't control myself
I made a mistake with this pussy hole, I think
and adam was left to masturbate.
he killed himself three days later."
It's playful, most of John's poems are, but there's a resolve to it, riding the rails between lyrical seriousness and sarcasm. Television Farm as a whole mostly stays balanced, on an edge, and some of the more literal more realistic poems have a sharpness that has nothing to do with whimsy.
I made the effort of meeting John and talking to him (overcoming my social fears) because I liked his reading so much. He is reading again at Hemingway's for the final Summer Poetry Series event of the season, on July 28th. I recommend seeing him, and if you're a person inclined to buy poetry, email me about it, because I'd like to understand that there are people out there who do that, and if you liked any of John's work in the article you should consider buying & reading his book.-- poetryburgh@gmail.com
Friday, May 8, 2015
Talking To Dan Sarah and Linsey(?) Over At Cyberpunk Apocalypse
I'm dearly addicted to beautiful people... Beautiful artists... The Cool Kids... I want to be one of them. I try hard and I think I'm sort of there. Over the years I've come to think it's not so much that there are a special designation of people in the world who are "beautiful" and I am not one of them, so much as, you see lives as beautiful from the outside... I'm sure I've met people who think I'm beautiful and live a life of mystery even though I spent most of yesterday lying in my bed and playing Grand Theft Auto.
Talking to three people over at Cyperpunk Apocalypse... I mistakenly showed up a week early for their next event, this coming wednesday... Dan's a comic book artist, Sarah works at the Andy Warhol Museum, not sure abut Linsey (?). They were kind enough to offer me a beer b/c it was Dan's birthday and I had biked all the way from Mt. Oliver. We talked about living in Braddock, Copacetic Comics over in Polish Hill, and the basics of forming an arts scene... This, dear readers, was the true subject of interest for me... Dan said "the trick is to find people who are as dedicated as you, or more, and to live with them... at least meet weekly... If Fred's upstairs, writing at 4am, you're going to feel like [you've got to get your ass in gear]." (my words, all quotes are paraphrased).
I know like, one or two writers in Pittsburgh I'd like to meet/live with. I certainly dream about having friends and peers who are writers. Cyperpunk Apocalypse used to be just such a community, with a "Visiting Writer's Program" you can read about on their dead blog. Dan's going to sell the place soon... Another Artist's Community I've failed to be a part of... The road ahead is hazy... Nothing lasts forever, but we can create...
Talking to three people over at Cyperpunk Apocalypse... I mistakenly showed up a week early for their next event, this coming wednesday... Dan's a comic book artist, Sarah works at the Andy Warhol Museum, not sure abut Linsey (?). They were kind enough to offer me a beer b/c it was Dan's birthday and I had biked all the way from Mt. Oliver. We talked about living in Braddock, Copacetic Comics over in Polish Hill, and the basics of forming an arts scene... This, dear readers, was the true subject of interest for me... Dan said "the trick is to find people who are as dedicated as you, or more, and to live with them... at least meet weekly... If Fred's upstairs, writing at 4am, you're going to feel like [you've got to get your ass in gear]." (my words, all quotes are paraphrased).
I know like, one or two writers in Pittsburgh I'd like to meet/live with. I certainly dream about having friends and peers who are writers. Cyperpunk Apocalypse used to be just such a community, with a "Visiting Writer's Program" you can read about on their dead blog. Dan's going to sell the place soon... Another Artist's Community I've failed to be a part of... The road ahead is hazy... Nothing lasts forever, but we can create...
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Terrance Hayes-- "The Sexiest Poet Alive"
Do I prefer poems that are "sexy"? That mention "sex"? Compare these two, from Hot Metal Bridge's latest issue:
Dream Interpretation, Glacier by Ruth Baumann
from THE BEDDING HABITS OF SORRY LUNATICS, part 6 By Eszter Takacs & Willi Goehring (first stanza only)
I find usually sex counts. There has to be some attraction in the poem, or it's academic. Celebrity references too:
There's a subtle interplay between the erotic in this poem and all its dense meaning-nets. But I'm drawn in by the erotic, I think it's something I can understand...
Terrance Hayes was one of People's 2014 "Sexy Men at Work"... I was listening to NPR and an interview with Hayes came on and that's how I found out about it. Sexy poets: The Poetry Brothel, an insanely interesting group of artists if there ever was one... Emulating "fin-de-siecle" (end-of-the-century) "bordellos", the poets compose a rotating cast of "whores" who read in character, are available to be taken aside for a nominal fee for private readings, no quotes around the word reading. There's something sexy about poets, the idea of a poet, especially as much as we are willing to tie them to Modernism and Paris etc. etc.
Was John Berryman sexy? A lot of his poems mentioned sex, usually of the anxiety-bordering-on-serial-killer variety. Here's him reading. Sexy? But then again, here's a young John Berryman:
Whoops! That's actually Nick Cave. But wouldn't you would accept and believe this if you didn't know who Nick Cave was? Poetry Brothel speaks about "seducing an audience"... Terrance Hayes seemed embarrassed by his own "Sexy Man at Work" award... he said that, departing from the lines of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, he was trying to be "see-through". So he's not seducing anyone so much as the world is reaching in for his sexy guts. But to be transparent is itself an effort.
Dream Interpretation, Glacier by Ruth Baumann
A map drawn of the missing.
How a finger feels over the white space.
VS:This is the shallow weight of the unforgivable.
You suspect it’s like being born.
from THE BEDDING HABITS OF SORRY LUNATICS, part 6 By Eszter Takacs & Willi Goehring (first stanza only)
Nefertiti friendzoned me,
and I was sad for weeks.
Her body was so full in life
that I wanted her guts.
Like the 24th Virginia,
I was aroused more by trees anyways,
and charged to battle
perhaps a better person,
bloodier.
(Hot Metal Bridge is a Pittsburgh-based online magazine run by UPitt's MFAs)These are both dense meaning-inlaid poems, all the nouns verbs phrases all sort of require a kind of preponderance. "A map drawn of the missing" "Nefertiti" "24th Virginia" "Shallow weight of the unforgivable". It's just that the second one has some sex in it. Which one pulls you in more?
I find usually sex counts. There has to be some attraction in the poem, or it's academic. Celebrity references too:
You can be so Miley to me--also from THE BEDDING HABITS part 6
because the woods’ “hoodedness”
is a progression of naked women,
clamshells prominent,
kitties armed and ready
to defend state’s right
on the shores of the subservience
of metaphier to metaphrand.
There's a subtle interplay between the erotic in this poem and all its dense meaning-nets. But I'm drawn in by the erotic, I think it's something I can understand...
Terrance Hayes was one of People's 2014 "Sexy Men at Work"... I was listening to NPR and an interview with Hayes came on and that's how I found out about it. Sexy poets: The Poetry Brothel, an insanely interesting group of artists if there ever was one... Emulating "fin-de-siecle" (end-of-the-century) "bordellos", the poets compose a rotating cast of "whores" who read in character, are available to be taken aside for a nominal fee for private readings, no quotes around the word reading. There's something sexy about poets, the idea of a poet, especially as much as we are willing to tie them to Modernism and Paris etc. etc.
Was John Berryman sexy? A lot of his poems mentioned sex, usually of the anxiety-bordering-on-serial-killer variety. Here's him reading. Sexy? But then again, here's a young John Berryman:
 |
| A Young John Berryman |
When I saw Terrance Hayes at his book launch (for: How to Be Drawn), he was wearing two watches and had on a glorious blue suit. His haircut was impeccable, and when he read, there were audience members who would moan after every punctuating line. He's also over 6' tall. There was a definite larger-than-life effect, an aura, that made us hang on to his words... That's the thing, he gave us a reason to hang on...
HEMINGWAY'S SUMMER READING No. 1
LAST NIGHT we had the Madwomen in the Attic reading, kicking off Hem's Summer Reading Series over at Hemingway's Cafe. This was a strange event for Hem's, a mostly 40-50+ yr-old crowd in a college bar. Jimmy Cvetic hosted with panache.
Madwomen in the Attic is a writer's workshop hosted at Carlow University, so there was a wide range of experience between the beginning poets and the 10-year-past-MFAs (Daniella Buccilli). Some of the newer poet's poems were real good- Callie DiSabato had a great one about reversing street-harassment wherein she describes shattering someone's teeth with her dislocated (objectified) breasts.
I drank 2 beers and read during the open-mic portion; there are going to be open-mics after every reading in the Series. I introduced my poem as "a dirty poem" and "I wasn't sure if it would be ok to read this" to a crowd of 40-50 somethings. After I read Jimmy Cvetic had some words; "Let me tell you some things about sex poems", we all laughed, etc. Here's a link to my poem, I still have to revise it, I think after the third stanza it loses energy.
I would post a link to Callie's poem! But I can't find her information anywhere. This the trouble of the modern age-- not all information is instantly accessible. I'm diving through the channels right now... possible soon that such a link will appear.
After the reading I talked to poet Wendy Scott --we used to go to the same church-- she discussed how "pittsburgh poets tended to be narrative". I mentioned Bukowski, just having seen Bukowski Tribute Night over at the Brillo Box a week or two ago. We have a bunch of Labor poets here in Pittsburgh, a lot of them "bukowski-like": Jason Baldinger, Scott Silsbe, so on, but even the decidedly non-bukowski Madwomen seemed for the most part Narrative. Although Julie Cecchini I think had a very good poem based around puns--- "trowel and error".
[[ Why are the madwomen non-bukowski? As host Jimmy Cvetic (described as "Bukowski with a badge" on his book's amazon) said to close the reading: "usually I make women not so happy but I *doffs hat to the madwomen, applause* I'm glad to have these ladies" (paraphrased). My point is that there's a gender distinction in pgh poetry, subtle or no... consider The Haven's upcoming gender-based events... ]]
That being said over at Stephen Lin's Celebration of Language events at The Mr. Roboto Project, we've had a couple of non-narrative poets with a keen performative edge:
Madwomen in the Attic is a writer's workshop hosted at Carlow University, so there was a wide range of experience between the beginning poets and the 10-year-past-MFAs (Daniella Buccilli). Some of the newer poet's poems were real good- Callie DiSabato had a great one about reversing street-harassment wherein she describes shattering someone's teeth with her dislocated (objectified) breasts.
I drank 2 beers and read during the open-mic portion; there are going to be open-mics after every reading in the Series. I introduced my poem as "a dirty poem" and "I wasn't sure if it would be ok to read this" to a crowd of 40-50 somethings. After I read Jimmy Cvetic had some words; "Let me tell you some things about sex poems", we all laughed, etc. Here's a link to my poem, I still have to revise it, I think after the third stanza it loses energy.
I would post a link to Callie's poem! But I can't find her information anywhere. This the trouble of the modern age-- not all information is instantly accessible. I'm diving through the channels right now... possible soon that such a link will appear.
After the reading I talked to poet Wendy Scott --we used to go to the same church-- she discussed how "pittsburgh poets tended to be narrative". I mentioned Bukowski, just having seen Bukowski Tribute Night over at the Brillo Box a week or two ago. We have a bunch of Labor poets here in Pittsburgh, a lot of them "bukowski-like": Jason Baldinger, Scott Silsbe, so on, but even the decidedly non-bukowski Madwomen seemed for the most part Narrative. Although Julie Cecchini I think had a very good poem based around puns--- "trowel and error".
[[ Why are the madwomen non-bukowski? As host Jimmy Cvetic (described as "Bukowski with a badge" on his book's amazon) said to close the reading: "usually I make women not so happy but I *doffs hat to the madwomen, applause* I'm glad to have these ladies" (paraphrased). My point is that there's a gender distinction in pgh poetry, subtle or no... consider The Haven's upcoming gender-based events... ]]
That being said over at Stephen Lin's Celebration of Language events at The Mr. Roboto Project, we've had a couple of non-narrative poets with a keen performative edge:
- Brian DiSanto, who sings his song-like poems off-key in the manner of half-remembered song lyrics, check out his bandcamp
- Andre Dupont yelled poems over loud industrial loops
Both these poems didn't need narrative to pull me in. Are there others? Will there be more? Is non-narrative poetry alive in Pittsburgh? Terrance Hayes, at least, is here...
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
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| DEBT BEGINS AT TWENTY "this film is as definitive a record of the Pittsburgh punk scene during its nascent underground as anyone could hope for" from the Lux Database page, which has the full movie: http://lux.org.uk/collection/works/debt-begins-20) |
I'd like to continue the tradition of the punks I see in this documentary. I want a scene with lots of poetry readings, lots of frenetic nights w/ performances which are more than tolerable. I want pittsburgh to be fun, and I want pittsburgh's poetry to be fun.
I'd like poetry in pittsburgh to be messy, strange, and weird. I want it to be appealing. I want it to be grotesque. All of this I know is a lot to ask and there's no chance I'll get it. I'm starting this blog in an attempt to get it. We're going to post pittsburgh's poetry events, which (full disclosure) I'm mostly stealing from the PGH literary calendar, and I'll go to those events and write about them here. It's an exciting journey I hope and the future is uncertain. . You can reach me at poetryburgh@gmail.com. If you want a put up an event, etc. send an email there.
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