Brian Morrisey of Poesy Magazine http://poesy.org will be in town for a reading at the "Out of the Blue Art Gallery" today. 8PM I will also have dinner with him at the Middle East beforehand. The new issue should be in the mailbox soon.

I am proud to announce my interview with Robert Creeley is going to be translated into Chinese. It seems that Afaa Michael Weaver, a poet and professor at Simmons College in Boston, is at the Univ. of Taiwan teaching, and he got wind of the interview. Weaver, is on the faculty board of "The Wilderness House Literary Retreat" http://wildernesshouse.org where Creeley spoke. Weaver told me he will
have the interview translated and distributed among students and faculty.

The Newton Free Libray Poetry series will open up again in Feb. (2005) with poets: Don Share, Art Nahill, and Deborah DeNicola.

Brian Morrisey, founder of Poesy Magazine, will be reading at the Out of the Blue Art Gallery, at 8PM in Cambridge Dec. 27. You can join us for at the Middle East rest. in Central Square, Cambridge for dinner beforehand.

Well... let's see... a lot of stuff coming up. Dec 11 The Wilderness House Literary Retreat will host Robert Creeley go to http://wildernesshouse.org The Ibbetson Street Press will have a reading at Somerville's McIntyre and Moore Books the same day at 5PM. Jan 20. Poetic muses Deb Priestly and Jennifer Matthews will read at Squawk in Harvard Square. The Somerville News@Toast at Toast series is going swimmingly. Our next guests will Gary Duehr and J. Pope Dec 17 8PM http://toastboston.com My friend and former Somerville News editor Neil W. McCabe is forming his own newspaper "The Cambridge Alewife" It should hit the streets Dec. 1. And guess who the poetry editor is ? Lo Galluccio. Brian Morrisey, founder of Poesy Magazine http://www.poesy.org is slated to read at the Out of the Blue Gallery http://outoftheblueartgallery.com Dec 27. More later...

I just interviewed the folks at "Porter Square Books" in Cambridge for THE SOMERVILLE NEWS. It is good to have an independent in the area, and I hope they make a go of it...as you know it ain't easy. They are located in the Porter Square Shopping Center on White Street. A good location on the Somerville/Cambridge border.

Poet Lo Gallucio of "Hot Rain" fame tells me her book is now on the shelves of the "Gotham" in NYC. Way to go LO!

The Wilderness House Literary Retreat has a website http://www.wildernesshouse.org. We have a faculty advisory board, and a few faculty members to be announced. We hope to have a special program in the next few months.

Remember The Somerville News Writers Festival--Nov. 14--Jimmy Tingle Theater--255 Elm St. Davis Square, Somerville

The new issue of Ibbetson Street should be at the printers the first of the month. It should hit the streets by mid-month.

On Tues Oct. 5 2004 Steve Glines, Harris Gardner, Diana Der-Hovanessian, Barbara H. Hyett, Jean Houlihan, Steven Cramer, Tim Gager, Charles Coe and myself formed an advisory board for the "Wilderness House Literary Retreat". The meeting was held at Harvard, and lasted a couple of hours. We hope to have a working operation by next August. I will keep you posted!

I just had breakfast with Timothy Gager and Maria McCarthy. They told me the new online edition of the "Heat City Review" will be up Oct 15. There will be work from A.D. Winans, Steve Almond, and others... Check it out...

Also : Work proceeds on the SomervilleNews Writers Festival 2 slated for Nov 14 7PM at the Jimmy Tingle Theatre in Davis Square, Somerville, Andre Dubus lll, Steve Almond, Tom Perrotta, Regie Gibson, Robert K. Johnson, and others will be reading.

Stone Soup To City Lights: Jack Powers on Lawrence Ferlinghetti
with Doug Holder

* this excerpt originally published in Poesy Magazine (2000)

Jack Powers is the founder of Stone Soup Poets, a venue of readings and publishing in the Boston and Cambridge area for over thirty years. He has provided a space for open poetry readings from poets from all walks of life. He has also published poetry books for a variety of known and unknown poets, including: Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who was a major player in the Beat Poetry Movement on the West Coast in the 50's. Jack recently visited Ferlinghetti in San Francisco where he still runs City Light Books. City Lights, the first all paperback bookstore, was founded by Ferlinghetti in 1953. Shortly after he formed a publishing house, creating his renowned Pocket Poet Series. Among the poets he published were: Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Jack Kerouac, Dianne DiPrima, to name just a few. I spoke with Powers about his recollections and his recent meeting with this legendary poet.


Doug Holder: Jack, you have told me more than once that Lawrence Ferlinghetti brought you back to poetry. What is it about the man that drew you to him?

Jack Powers: I think people of my generation were scared into a stasis in post-war America. I was turned on to Ferlinghetti when I read one of his books from the Pocket Poet Series Howl and other Poems by Allen Ginsberg. I came across it in a little bookstore at the corner of Mass. Ave and Huntington in Boston. In the late 50's I went out to San Francisco with a dear friend and discovered Ferlinghetti's City Lights Bookstore. I didn't actually meet Ferlinghetti until 1975. I was attracted to Ferlinghetti's poetry because it was written in the vernacular; he wrote about "high" things in the common tongue. Now in his 80's, he is still a very formidable presence. I feel he will be recognized as a great poet in his own right, beyond his role as a guru of the Beat Movement.

Doug Holder: Ferlinghetti, along with Peter Martin, launched the first all-paperback bookstore in 1953, and later formed a publishing house, starting with their Pocket Poet Series in 1955. Was your own publishing house, Stone Soup Publishing, modeled after Ferlinghetti's and Martin's efforts?

Jack Powers: It was impossible not to be influenced by something so beautiful. When I went out to "Frisco", and City Lights, I loved the feel of Grant St. ( home of City Lights), and the crazy people. When I say "crazy' I mean the label that mainstream society gave them. Here were these creative people spreading their wings, amidst the stifling conformity of 1950's America. The energy that came from that little bookstore in North Beach was inspiring. Ferlinghetti kept his "tire in track" simply put: he didn't kill himself with booze and drugs, like so many others. Kerouac, for instance drank himself to distraction and died in his 40's. Ginsberg bathed in the Ganges and was a master of histrionics. Ferlinghetti remained the solid core. Ferlinghetti was and is the model of the sober, committed artist. People could depend on him. He was the co-founder of the Beat Movement, but he was solidly planted like a tree. Every time I see Ferlinghetti I feel born again, flushed with new energy.

Doug Holder: Ferlinghetti published Ginsberg's "Howl" You published Ferlinghetti's "Jack of Hearts" Were there any similarities between the books?

Jack Powers: Ferlinghetti publishing "Howl" was a very natural development. He even wrote a poem "The Dog" in his book "Coney Island of the Mind", that was based on the poetical persona of Ginsberg:

The Dog trots freely in the street
and sees reality
and the things he sees
are bigger than himself
and the things he sees are his reality
Drunks in doorways
moons on trees

I believe Ferlinghetti and Ginsberg belong together. Like two dogs they walked the street and wrote about the stark reality...the wino, the aging drag queen, the ethereal shine of the moon on a tree. They were both living question marks, searching for a common truth.

Doug Holder: During your trip to the Coast you told me that Ferlinghetti showed you the cottage that he let Kerouac use to dry out and concentrate on his writing. Describe the setting, the feeling, the sense of place or presence there.

Jack Powers: I remember touching the desk Kerouac did his writing on. I wondered how many words flowed from here. How incredibly privileged I was to be there. I followed a nearby creek to the Pacific. I stood in the ocean and said: "Thank you, I understand." Just like the creek, we start out as a mere trickle and make that universal passage to the sea, the world at large, the cosmos, what have you. The shore puts you in contact with constant reality, like a heartbeat.

After I got back to Boston, I had the most remarkable thing happen: I saw my own aura around my arms and legs. I feel Kerouac gave me this gift.

Doug Holder: Ferlinghetti is in his 80's now and you are in your 60's. Will you be able to carry the torch for him?

Jack Powers: I feel that I have to continue to carry the torch. I owe Lawrence for teaching me that each individual life means something. You don't have to be a Yale Younger Poet in order to say something. Lawrence believes as I do, that Americans are too into titillation, they don't read things that challenge them. I think the idea of producing challenging art forms is a common goal.

Wilderness House Literary Retreat

Right now, me and several members from the Boston-area literary community are involved in recruiting for the board and faculty of this new literary retreat
scheduled to be in operation next Summer. It is owned and managed by the New England Foresty Service in cooperation with the Littleton Rotary Club ( contact: Steven Glines sglines@is-cs.com 617-549-7274)
"Wilderness House" is 7-bedroom cabins built in the early 20th Century as a sportsman retreat by a large and wealthy family. Situated deep within several hundred acres of forest, it also is near Littleton's Long Lake, where a private dock
is located.

The Literary Retreat offers a series of intense literary workshops lead by an acknowledged literary master of their genre. Each week a different literary genre will be presented. There may be poets one week, playwrights the next, etc... There will never be more than 15 participants.

Currently we have contacted poets and writers with national reputations to be on our board. Already several have agreed to serve on our board and or our faculty.
Currently the "Wilderness House" is being renovated, and we anticipate having a reception there in the Fall. If you are interesting about getting more information or attending this retreat contact: Steven Glines 1-978-952-6340

Doug Holder/ Wilderness House Literary Retreat.

Lo Galluccio is a multi-talented artist. Her career includes stints in the theatre, a songwriter and vocalist with Roy Nathanson and "The Jazz Passengers", and a vocal artist who released CD's with the "Knitting Factory" label in NYC. Galluccio worked with John Zorn, the renowned avant- garde Jazz saxophonist, and had a track on one of his compilations. Most recently Galluccio has released a collection of poetry with the "Ibbetson Street Press" of Somerville, Mass. titled: "Hot
Rain."

Lo is from a prominent Cambridge, Mass. political family. She recently recited her poetry at the "Toast Lounge" in Somerville, Mass. as part of "The Somerville News at Toast" series. Lo has read at the Warwick Art Museum, Boston University Barnes and Noble, The Out of the Blue Art Gallery, and other venues around the Boston area. I talked with her on my show Poet To Poet/ Writer To Writer.

Doug Holder: Lo you told me that two major influences on you are the Rocker/Poet Patti Smith and performance artist Laurie Anderson. In fact Smith approached you once and told you
that you have a beautiful voice. Do you take anything from Smith's and Anderson's work, and incorporate and use it in your own alchemy?

Lo Galluccio: Laurie Anderson was someone who influenced me to stop being an actress, and start wanting to have an original voice, and speak my own words in a certain way. I studied at the "Goodman Theatre" in Chicago. My acting teacher talked about the performance artist Laurie Anderson, and how she had such a weird, and "right" perspective on things. I was like:" Hmm..., who is she?" I was interested in her pieces " Big Science" and "Strange Angels," and eventually I just feel in love with her. The reason was because she took the spoken word and made it into music. She is an architect of music and sound. She is also a conceptualist person.

Patti Smith is a totally different animal. To me she is the saint of Rock'n Roll. She is a brilliant lyricist. When I encountered her, I was surprised to see that she was at my show at St. Mark's church in NYC. But there she was, wearing a ski cap, and she had these blazing black eyes. She looked like a little crazy crow. She came up to me and said" You have a beautiful voice." I was just speechless, becuase she meant that much to me. Patti Smith is like a saint. That record "Horses" really inspired me because she does a stream of consciousness that's mixed in with Rock 'n Roll riffs. There are expansive piano chords as well. My first record has been compared to hers a bit.

Doug Holder: You have a beautiful, fey voice. I noted that in some ways your singing reminds me of the brilliant and doomed horn player Chet Baker? Is he an influence?

Lo Galluccio: I was turned on to a Chet Baker documentary "Let's Get Lost" I got into how beautiful Baker was as a young man. Roy Nathanson use to call me the "ethereal girl" in the East Village. Roy, is the lead saxophonist and band leader of the "Passengers," and he is tremendous. His voice is so quirky, and his phrasing is so original. I was lucky to have him play on a demo for me. I was stunned by his voice. He said to me: "When you start singing in your own words you are not going to want it the other way again. "

Doug Holder: You told me you were discovered by Roy when you were watching your underwear revolve in a washing machine at as laundromat you frequented.

Lo Galluccio: I moved to the East Village because someone said that is where the "weed" trees grow. In other words, where the outsiders, where the wild things are. I was in a laundromat on Second Ave. and Roy lived in a dumpy place around the corner. He saw me staring at my laundry and said: "You got to be an artist because no one stares at their underwear as long as you have. Do you have anything to show me." I said: "Yeah, I do, I have this collection of poems: "Hot Rain" I gave it to him and he said" Wow...this stuff is really incredible. I want you to write a song with me for the "In Love" record that the "Jazz Passengers" are making for Windam Hill. That was my first professional gig as a lyricist. It was a thrill. Roy was old school...that way. If he saw you, and read you, he would take a chance on you.

Doug Holder: So many artists live hardscrabble lives. It is rare that I meet one who hasn't suffered the "black dogs" of depression, drug addiction, or some bout of mental illness. Can you talk about this?

Lo Galluccio: A friend of mine, a Soul singer Kore, said" " Everyone goes crazy at least once in their life." Maybe "other" people are afraid to enter the sanctuary that madness provides for some artists. For me, I probably made it tougher on myself than I needed in some ways. I took one hit inNew York that was really rough. I broke up with someone who mentored me. He was a partner and a lover, and we had a band "Fish Pistol" together. We had an alchemy. And when that fell apart I was devastated. It was tragic because we really loved each other, and we were really good together artistically. I made a mild suicide attempt. I was put in St. Vincent's Hospital psychiatric unit. At the time I fought like hell not to go in there. I really spent three hours in the E. R. saying you can not put me in the locked ward! They said " Yes we can."

Doug Holder: Do you think meds and hospitalization compromise the creative process?

Lo Galluccio: Not completely. I think it is good for some people to spend time away from the pressures of the world; whatever is hurting them. Being around other people and being supported by people, when that happens, and medication, when it works, is a good thing. At the time I was a raging bull about it.

Doug Holder: How much of "Hot Rain" is fictional, and how much is "autobiographical?

Lo Galluccio: It is not fictional. I am a highly subjective person and I like a high degree of subjectivity in Poetry. I like Sexton, Lowell--the "Confessional" poets. Some of my poems play with identity, and wild imagery. In those cases the images take over the place of a rational narrative.

Doug Holder: You told me that you were inspired by a voice you heard while taking a bath?

Lo Galluccio: After I broke up with my boyfriend, I was in a lot of grief. So I went to a Yoga center in New York. I went religiously , because I didn't know how to heal myself. When I started to do Yoga I heard about the Elephant-headed god: "Ganesha. I really worshipped his shrine. So I think that's where the voice came from. It was like an echo of my own subconscious. It said" Pale blue eyes." 'Wow'" I thought. " What is this...is this voice coming from outside of me?' I was enamored with " Ganesha" He is a dreamer's God. I still have this voice with me. When I got to NYC it is more pronounced because of the energy of the city. I think Gods are protecting all of us, somewhere and somehow, in different cultures and traditions.

for more ino about Lo go to: http://www.logalluccio.com

Interview with New England Poetry Club President: Diana Der -Hovanessian with Doug Holder.

Diana Der- Hovanessian is the president of the venerable literary organization: The New England Poetry Club. Based in Cambridge, Mass., it was founded by Amy Lowell, Robert Frost and Conrad Aiken almost ninety years ago. Lowell's vision was to bring well-known poets to large audiences. In the 1960's through the 1980's the club became insular and provincial, with meetings held at the Brahmin enclaves of Beacon Hill and the Harvard Faculty Club. Der-Hovanessian changed this by inviting Russian poets such as: Andrei Voznesenky and Yevtushenko to read at the club. And since then scores of South American and Latin American Poets have visited and read there, as well as prominent American poets such as: Robert Creeley, X.J. Kennedy, Robert Pinsky, and many others. I spoke to Diana Der- Hovanessian on my Somerville Community Access TV show: Poet To Poet/Writer To Writer.

Doug Holder: How did you become involved with the club?

Diana Der-Hovanessian: I joined it when Victor Howes was running things. He asked me to be secretary. I said " I don't do shorthand." (laughs) He said: " No...No. Not that kind of secretary." So for eight years he had me do programming. I became president in 1980. It's been a long time
we are due for another election!

DH: Amy Lowell started the club. She was quite an eccentric character, wasn't she?

DDH: When I first went into the club we had people who actually knew her. They had interesting stories about the early days. She started the club in 1915, when she came back from England. She was under the influence of Imagists, like Ezra Pound. But Robert Frost and a group of Formalist poets took it away from her. Frost, who was the second or third president , got into big fights with the Imagists, in those days.

DH: Lowell's goal was to reach a large audience through poetry and poetry readings. Has this been your goal?

DDH: This vision of expansion had stopped for awhile when I came around. I felt like we should expand. Now we bring in name poets to make it more exciting. We also have our own members read. We also have free workshops for members.

DH: What is the mission of the Club?

DDH: To expand poetry. To bring people into the art. To show off the best. To be a forum for an exchange of ideas.

DH: Can you talk a bit about the poets who have read for you over the years?

DDH: We had an Irish festival some years ago with the help of Seamus Heaney, who is on our board. He brought a lot of poets from Ireland, like: Evan Boland. Some of the Club's other readers over the years have been: Robert Lowell, Robert Creeley Stanley Kunitz, James Merrill, to name just a few.

DH: Did you have a relationship with the Beat poets?

DDH: We did sponsor a reading by Allen Ginsberg. Once I went to the airport to meet a visiting poet, and Ginsberg was there with him. Ginsberg was wearing a tie. He told me that he was dressed up for the Club. I told him that he didn't have to do it. He turned his tie over and said" Brooks Brothers. I got it at Good Will."

DH: What do you think of the Slam poets and the Hip-Hoppers?

DDH: We had a program for them at the Boston Globe Book Festival. There was someone on the Globe who wanted it: Patricia Smith. I thought it was fun. I love the fact that they memorize their poems. I envy them. I could do that when I was young.

DH: Your are a respected poet in your own right. I believe you are a Fulbright Scholar, and have written extensively about the Armenian Holocaust. Can you talk about your education, and early influences?

DDH: I've been a Fulbright Scholar twice. I went to Boston University as an undergraduate. I studied with Robert Lowell at Harvard. I took his last workshop. It was really great. They said he wouldn't show up. But he did. He was there every single week. It was one hour of teaching poetry, and one hour of going over student poems.

I completed nine volumes of translations from the Armenian. I have always been interested in the Armenian Holocaust. When the Turks started the genocide against the Armenians in 1915 they started by murdering the leaders. You wouldn't think that poets were the leaders. But they started out by killing two hundred poets.

DH: How did you start the Longfellow House readings in Cambridge?

DDH: Erica Mumford was a board member. She and I were walking down Brattle St.. We looked over at the Longfellow House and said" Wouldn't this be a perfect place for a reading." We walked in and said: " Don't you want poetry too?" ( they had concerts) And they replied:" Sure, if you want to do it." And that's how it started. It's been going on for almost twenty five years now.

DH: Any plans for the 90th anniversary?

DDH: Depends on the funding. We want to bring our Golden Rose prize winners together for a big celebration. We are the oldest reading series in the country.

Interview With Small Press Legend Hugh Fox with Doug Holder

For the last forty years or so, poet, scholar, and critic Hugh Fox, has played an integral role in the small press. Like Lifshin, Winans, and Len Fulton, Fox's name is an ubiquitous presence in the national small literary magazines scene. Fox was the first to write critical studies of Charles Bukowski and the prolific poet-queen Lyn Lifshin. He was a founding member of COSMEP, the seminal small press organization founded in the 1970's. He served on the board of directors for over twenty years.
Fox was also the publisher of his own little magazine "Ghost Dancer" that ran for twenty years and is now archived at Harvard University, Brown University and other institutions. Fox has reviewed countless books, chapbooks and magazines, and has published eighty of his own works. I had the pleasure to talk with him ( along with my friend and poet Harris Gardner), at the bustling Au Bon Pain cafe in the heart of Harvard Square.

Doug Holder: How did you meet Charles Bukowski?

Hugh Fox: Here I was out in L.A., and I go into this bookstore, "Pickwick Bookstore" I found a copy of a Bukowski book. Up until this time I read T.S. Eliot. I was all T.S. Eliot, and all this kind of stuff. I got Bukowski's book " Crucifixation and the Deadman" This was in 1967. When I read it I said: " Holy shit, this is a whole different way of approaching the language isn't, it?
I really enjoyed it, and I started writing like that. So I got all of his books. I read everything he wrote. I wrote to his publisher in New Orleans. I asked them if I could get Bukowski's phone number. They told me to look in the L.A. phone book. So I looked him up, and there he was. I said " Hello, Charles Bukowski, this is Hugh Fox, I'd like to meet you."
He said: " OK Fox, here's my address." I went over to his place. I said: "I want to do a book about you. I'm really impressed by your stuff."
He said" OK. I am going to give you everything I ever wrote in my life. " He goes into all of his bookcases, and all of his closets and everything else, and takes copies of everything. He said: "If you find any doubles, you keep it." He was living in a Hollywood motel. He was working at the post office at the time. So I had all of his stuff, and then he tried to make out with my wife, the Peruvian. He told me "How about you leave her with me tonight. You got all the books, at least you could leave me your wife for the night." She said "I don't think SO!' He wasn't joking. He would of done it--she was very attractive. I saw Bukowski quite a few times since then. I did a book on him, and it was the first critical book about him. That got reviewed every place.

Doug Holder: What was your opinion of his poetry?

Hugh Fox: Oh, I think he was great. A lot of people misunderstood him. They think he was a drunken bum that wrote scary stuff. He was very subtle. He was very literary--you'd be surprised. Some of his stuff is blah, but a lot isn't. The documentary that just came out, made A.D. Winans pissed- off! He wrote a book on Bukowski " The Holy Grail' ( Dustbooks). The movie didn't even mention me or him. They could of mentioned us, not a word--as if we didn't exist!

Doug Holder: Can you talk about your role with COSMEP, the seminal small press organization?

Hugh Fox: I got invited to the last big roundup of poets from the 60's. I was in L.A., and every poet that existed was there. It was exciting. I never read in public. I was all nervous, but they started clapping, and the whole place went crazy. It was the best experience I had in my life. Afterwards they put me on a panel. That panel became the first board of directors at COSMEP. So all of a sudden I found myself on the board of directors of a new organization. Isn't that crazy though?

Doug Holder: What was the mission of COSMEP?

Hugh Fox: It was to get small press and literary poets out everywhere, We use to have annual meetings; sometimes on the West Coast, Minnesota, NY. We made it accessible for everybody. I was on the board for twenty years. Richard Morris became the director of COSMEP.

Doug Holder: It fell apart eventually?

Hugh Fox; I don't remember the people. There was some asshole on the board of directors that decided he was going to bomb the whole thing out. There is always somebody. He started checking all the books, and it fell apart.

Doug Holder: How many book have you published?

Hugh Fox: About eighty. I put out a magazine "Ghost Dancer". I put it out for twenty years. It's at Harvard, The Library of Congress, Brown, everything. Everyone was in it.

Doug Holder: Can you talk about your literary relationship with poet Lyn Lifshin?

Hugh Fox: I did the first critical book about Lifshin. She was kind of like a female Bukowski. She told it like it was. She took the most everyday banal events and turned them into high poetry.

Doug Holder: How did you become such a prolific book reviewer?

Hugh Fox: I got to be good friends with Len Fulton of the "Small Press Review" I used to visit him at his home in Paradise, California. He just turned seventy.

Doug Holder http://authorsden.com/douglasholder

I am pleased to announce that my April 2004 interview with Lynn Lifshin at a busy North End ( Boston) restaurant is now archived at the Harvard Libraries. Also: My video and audio tapes of my interview with Louisa Solano, owner of the Grolier Poetry Bookshop has also been archived there.
Others poets slated to be archived: Marc Widershien, Jack Powers, Afaa Michael Weaver, Joe Torra, and more to come...

Harris Gardner and myself had coffee with visiting small press legend poet Hugh Fox at the Au Bon Pain in Harvard Square. I taped our conversation. Fox had some interesting things to say about Bukowski.

The Somerville News has received money to start its own lit mag Northeast Corridor stay tuned http://www.somervillenews.com

I conducted an interview with Louisa Solano the owner of The Grolier Poetry Bookshop. The bookshop is being sold, Louisa has been connected with it for over 40 years. She had a lot of interesting anecdotes about Kerouac, Ginsberg, Donald Hall, and more. If you want an audio tape send $3 to Doug Holder 25 School St. Somerville, Ma. 02143

Well I am pleased to have talked to Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Franz Wright, and secured him to read at the April 2005 Poetry Festival at the Newton Free Library Poetry Series. Joining him will be Steve Almond and Nancy Kassel.

Poet Robert K. Johnson will be the recipient of the next Ibbetson Street Press Life-Time Achievement award in Nov 2004. ( Jimmy Tingle Theatre-Davis sq)

The Somerville News Writers Festival is coming along well. Thanks to cofounder Timothy Gager, we have secured Tom Perrotta and Andre Dubus lll as featured readers.

Ibbetson Street 15 will be released June 12 at the celebratory reading at the Out of the Blue Art Gallery in Cambridge.

Louisa Solano, the owner of the Grolier Poetry Bookshop in Harvard square tells me she is near ready to sell. She will be my guest May 25 on Poet To Poet/ Writer To Writer.

Jennifer Matthews, a good friend of mine, a Rock vocalist, and poet is going to be hosting a poetry/music series at the Zeitgeist Gallery in Inman Sq. Cambridge. Two of her feature poets will be: Susie D, and Chad P. That's May 18 7:30PM contact: jmchickenbaby@aol.com
Word has it that Susie Davidson ( she did a chap with us Selected Poetry: Susie D) has a freelance gig writing for the Boston Globe...send her your pitches! Tim Gager has released a book Short Street, I'll be reading with him at the B.U. Bookstore Kenmore Square Boston 8PM.

Well... it was great to be manning the book table with poets Lisa Beatman and Harris Gardner at the Boston National Poetry Month Festival at the Boston Public Library on Saturday. ( April 3 2004) It was a lively crowd, and I got to talk to many of my fellow poets and friends like: Marc Goldfinger, Diana Saenz ( Boston Poet), Marc Widershien ( "The Life of All Worlds"), L. Schwartz ("Goodnight Gracie"), Michael Brown ( "Poetry Off Broadway"), Robert K. Johnson ( "The Latest News), Rhina Espillat ( Pow Wow River Poets) Barbara Helfgott Hyett ( Poem Works), Rosanna Warren, and many others. A lot of books were sold, as folks supported their favorite poets. Today we take the party to Northeastern--Dodge Hall 1PM--hope to see you there!

I just meet with Deborah Priestly and Lynne Sticklor about Deb's long awaited book The Woman Has A Voice. Lynne, who is designing and editing the book hopes to have it at the printers by Friday March 26. Deb is the cofounder of The Out of the Blue Art Gallery in Cambridge. This book is wonderfully illustrated L. Geharty and C. Fahey , and deals with women in all stages of their lives...

Also Ibbetson has a book by blind poet Joanna Nealon, that we hope to have out some time in April 2004 LIVING IT

Susie Davidson also has a book due out, so Ibbetson Street is quite busy.

Tim Gager is organizing a reading for poets and writers at the Boston University Bookstore on the evening of May 4. Such poets as: Jack Powers, Deborah Priestly and Yours Truly will be reading...

I will be heading for NYC for a literary dinner for the new renaissance magazine. We hope to raise funds for this fine literary journal. I have an interview with street poet Marc Goldfinger in the issue coming up. Also included is the poetry of Stephen Todd Booker, and the artwork of Arthur Polonsky.

The Spare Change Annual All Poetry Issue will be out April 1. There will be an interview with Afaa Michael Weaver, and one with poet/mime James Van Looy, not to mention selections of the best poetry of the year to appear on SPN's pages.

Well...Harris Gardner of Tapestry of Voices is gearing up for the Boston National Poetry Festival April 3 and 4 at the Boston Public Library and Northeastern Univeristy, respectively. Over 50 poets, open mics and more...it's free too!

Joanna Nealon is working with Ibbetson Street to get out her new, perfect-bound poetry collection LIVING IT. Joanna is an accomplished blind poet and a presence in the area poetry community.

Jennifer Matthews, poet/vocalist, tells me she will be hosting a poetry and music venue at the Zeitgeist Gallery in Inman Square Cambridge, contact: jmchickenbaby@aol.com for more info.

Gearing up for the Cambridge Poetry Award this Sunday at Lesley University...

Well The Cambridge Poetry Awards will be announced at Lesley University Sunday March 7 2Pm A lot of my friens were nominated like: Tim Gagaer, Susie Davidson,
Mary Bodwell, Susan Landon, Jennifer Matthews, irene Koronas and others... www.cambridgepoetryawards.org

Glad that David Kirschenbaum, bookdealer and editor of Boog Lit Magazine, put my piece about my late uncle Dave Kirschenbaum on his blog. Both he and my uncle are and were bookdealers in NYC, ah sweet mystery of life!

Well, the editorship of Spare Change News has changed hands. Holly Hand resigned and was replaced by Susan Horton. The poetry editorship is still not filled. Don DiVecchio had resigned not too long ago.

Poets Deborah Priestly and Joanna Nealon are slated to have poetry collections released by Somerville's Ibbetson Street Press.

Sophia Lintz, a poet for the magazine and Arts Organization 96Inc will be reading at the Newton Free Library Poetry Series March 9 2004 330 Homer St. Newton Free Library 7PM Also reading: Jennifer Matthews and Elizabeth Doran.

Michael Brown's Poetry-Off-Broadway continues to play at the Jimmy Tingle Theatre in Davis Square Somerville...

Next month March 7 at Lesley University the Cambridge Poetry Awards will be presented. Jeff Robinson is passing off the leadership to poet regie Gibson.

Gibson tells me he's studying at Simmons College with poet Afaa Michael Weaver.

I am pleased to announce that singer/songwriter, not to mention poet Jennifer Matthews was nominated for a spoken word award by the Cambridge Poetry Award Committee....

On Feb 7-8 at the Cambridge Adult Education Center, Harvard Square,
many of the nominnees will perform.

Jack Powers, founder of the Stone Soup Poets, was profiled in an article by Linda Lerner, on poetry.about.com, a major site for poetry...

Deborah Priestly, of the Out of the Blue Gallery in Cambridge, is planning to release a poetry collection through the Ibbetson Press...it's due out this month.

Harris Gardner, of Tapestry of Voices ( Boston) is feverishly planning the Boston Poetry Festival, to be held at the Boston Public Library ( Copley) and Northeastern University.

Poet Marc Goldfinger, former editor of Spare Change News, will be profiled, in the next issue of the New Renaissance Magazine due out
in April.