Czyzniejewski

Michael Czyzniejewski's website is now up.  

He's pretty awesome, so give him some love.  And buy his new book, Elephants in Our Bedroom, from Dzanc Books.  If you see him at AWP, shake is hand...and buy him a drink.

Esquire Knows...

Find a ringing endorsement for The Adirondack Review (brought to you by Black Lawrence Press) on Esquire Magazine's Books Blog.  

And if you pick up the latest issue (with Shepard Fairey's Obama on the cover) you'll find, on page 50, commentary on such things as Che Guevara T-shirts that go like this: "...they send a message, which effectively boils down to this: I have vague left-wing sympathies but don't read history.  I am educated enough to want nonconformity but not intelligent enough to avoid conformity. I believe in supporting the wretched of the earth but happily purchase products from multinational corporations."  

Just saying it's there.  For context, check it out.  And read The Adirondack Review and books from Black Lawrence Press.  

Making More Moves

It's been an interesting stretch, and Urbana, IL seems further away all the time.  Trying to stay busy and grounding between bouncing literally all over the country (IL to NY to FL to SD, CA) has been pretty exciting.  I've been taken in by the wonderful folks at Barn Owl Review, and hope everyone enjoys the Critical Prose by Kazim Ali and Megan Savage you'll find in the pages of Issue #2.  

I've mentioned it before, but one of my favorite books of last year was Stefi Weisburd's The Wind-up Gods.  If you haven't picked it up, there's the link.  If you're curious about her work, thumb through your Ninth Letter back issues (specifically Vol.2, No.2 Fall/Winter '05).  It's wonderful.  I read a lot of books I loved last year, but that one is among the few favorites.  I tend to develop a special place in my heart for the presses that put out books that fill other special places.  Black Lawrence Press charmed me.  Luckily, they like me too...

I have accepted the honor of becoming the Associate Editor for Black Lawrence Press.  Please check 'em out, and if you'll be at AWP in Chicago in a few weeks, take in their event with Dzanc. Flyer's below. I only wish I'd see you there.

Peace, my friends!

New Slurve

For all of you clicking around in celebration of the new administration, Slurve Mag brings you the Farewell Issue, #9 (that's Farewell to Bush, not Slurve).  

For the DJ in you.

Fun facts from Tom Waits.

DJ L/V rocked the Ruby Room last night with straight up vinyl--no Serato--a collection of classics she dug around for.  Not that Serato isn't dope--it let's a solid DJ incorporate stuff that'd be impossible to find actually pressed.  Unfortunately, it also allows slack-jaws the ability to bypass the digging process, where what they'd find would require serious skills to really use effectively because the cuts weren't necessarily created with the club DJ in mind.  

Just saying.  Check out the blog.  

She steered me towards a neat music blog, over here.

Good news of the poetry type coming pretty soon.  

Where I'll Be

Fans, friends & Family...


You & yours are personally invited to drink, dance & celebrate w/us the inauguration of our 44th president, Barak Obama.


This Wednesday, January 21st 2009 (9pm-2am)


@The Ruby Room (between Richmond & Vermont)
in Hillcrest San Diego, CA. 92103


DJs Joemama (ESA) & LV (MEGA)
w/DC's finest: DJ Smudge (ESA)


Multi-genre dance music & drink specials all night long
21+ w/ID | $5 after 10pm (reply full name for guest list)


We look forward to partying w/you & yours, so be there & prepare to sweat!


Thanks for the love & suppo

...and a microphone.

But can you scratch on it?

Hoping to Warm It Up a Bit

Reb Livingston is breaking it down over at her blog.  From the view off my homie's couch, I see exactly what she's saying and only wish I could subscribe to a print journal or buy more books right now.  If you've got the scratch, maybe check out Iron Horse Review for some work this issue by Roy Kesey, and keep that subscription to read poetry by Matthew Minicucci, coming soon.

If you can spare for a book, Steve Schroeder's Torched Verse Ends is now available.  

Max Xiantu's redesigned his site.  If you're a DJ using Serato, definitely download it, and find where it'll go in your set.  I hear he mixes solid with the Everly Brothers.

When I hit my storage unit, I like to swap stuff out of my milk crates of books. Here's a little something from Louis Jenkins' North of the Cities:

Chameleon

I used to have a girlfriend named Jane Kieffer, from San Diego.  She was beautiful and she was a chameleon.  She could appear to be a small waif-like blond or a tall redhead, to suit her whim, or mine.  She would change her style, her look, her demeanor, almost instantly it seemed.  She could be sophisticated or earthly, depending my momentary needs, and the surroundings.  She was fantastic, great at parties and when we were alone.  She always knew just the right moves.  The trouble was I didn't know what I wanted.  It seemed, as a couple, we lacked any focus, any stability.  She began to anticipate my moods and change in advance.  It drove me crazy.  "Who are you, why are you like this?" I asked.  She said she was born in the sea and that she had no soul.  "What about me?" "You have none either," she said.  I was often angry and she would cry, or worse, sit impassively and say nothing, blending into the background.  One day I pulled on my pants and said, "That's it.  I'm leaving." I never saw her again--or else we got married and raised a family.  I'm not sure. 

Secretary of the Arts

Max passed it to me, and you should see it too:

Quincy Jones has asked Obama to create a Secretary of the Arts position.  The petition can be found online here.  

Starting the morning with Jennifer Michael Hecht

Looking to see what time Minnesota Public Radio replays A Prairie Home Companion, hoping it's at 8am so I can listen before watching football at 10am, I just found Jennifer Michael Hecht on a show called Speaking of Faith.  

I can only suggest giving a listen. I don't know if I agree with what she's saying because I only just turned it on.  Still, check out her poetry--like Funny-- because it's fantastic.  

And turn to MPR's Radio Heartland, which can also be heard through an iphone.  Whoot.

All this, and, strangely, I was just last night considering taking in a little church today.  

Giants and Eagles are the first game today.  Pray accordingly.  ;)

Another NY Happening & Recommendation

Wednesday the 14th

TIGER TIGER the reading series, presents
the poetry of

Patrick Rosal
Ada Limon
Adam Falkner

Hosted and curated by Roger Bonair-Agard

at The Lazy Catfish
593 lorimer st between metropolitan and conselyea
(L to Lorimer or G to Metropolitan - 10 minutes from Union Square)
Wednesday January 14th - 7:30PM
$5 - suggested donation

Come early and choose from the Catfish's awesome menu or vast array of
whiskeys, rums, bourbons, tequilas and vodkas...

Also, I just yesterday finished reading Jill Alexander Essbaum's Necropolis.  It's available from neoNuma arts and amazon.  I love this woman's work the way I love reading Blake.   And her readings are wonderful.  There's an interview with her on the interwebs over here.  

Here's a poem from that collection.

what we didn't

As the bastard daughter of the Holy Ghost,

no birthright saved me.  No inheritance, no land.

You thought that was more than a little funny,

a curious kind of queer, remarkable as souls

in Purgatory and the dubious question

of their redemption.  We never cleared that up.

We didn't manage to get past. Now I am here,

empty of flesh as a skeleton and lacking a face.

We had no child named Epic.  We did not bother

to bequest. There are memories in the garden,

but the gate's quite locked, quite tightly.

A sublingual bitterness savages--let not this pain

be so present.  Dead, it seems, in a difference

of opinion. And now I wait.  

The Neighborhood Spot I've Hoped For

A Deadline

A message from Mike at Slurve:

This is going out to all my favorite poetry people, or the ones whose
addresses I could find anyway.  We've got two special issues coming up
January 20 and March 5. January 20 is centered around inauguration, and
March 5 is around the World Baseball Classic.  I know this is a bit short
notice for the first one at least, but anyone who has anything or is
inspired by any sort of political happenings or knows anyone would be
interested in this please, send me stuff.  I would need it by January 17.

For the March 5th issue, we are looking for translation, and poems about
experiences in foreign places, ideally while living there.  Deadline for
these is February 27.

His email is commish(at)Slurve(dot)com

East to West

Bloof is having a pretty great sale to help spice up your first bites of 2009.  

The incredible Ada Limón has a new poem at Indigest.  She'll also be reading at an event in NYC in a few days.  Broad strokes:

InDigest 1207 Reading Series
InDigest Magazine and (le) Poisson Rouge Present:

Ada Limón
Sam Osterhout
Jess Grover

January 7, 2009
6pm

(le) Poisson Rouge
158 Bleecker St
New York, NY 10012

The details can be found here.

And the Sleeping Giant Music store is now opened.  Might I recommend the slip mats?

A strange fog has moved into Southern California in the last few days.  It's gotten heavier, and seems to be straight-up rain today.   Seems like a good time to hunt down a cheap bag of coffee beans.  Does anyone know where one can come across an inexpensive bag of beans?  

Good morning.