Doug Holder to be presented Outstanding Excellence Award at Somerville Community Access TV

( Doug Holder--with beard)








For about six years now I have been interviewing poets and writers on my Somerville Community Access TV show "Poet to Poet: Writer to Writer." I have had the privilege of speaking with such folks as Gary Metras of the Adastra Press, Pushcart Prize winning poet Afaa Michael Weaver, mystery novelist Hallie Ephron and Donald Davidoff, artist and activist Sidewalk Sam, Diana Der-Hovanessian ( New England Poetry Club President),Louisa Solano (Former owner Grolier Poetry Book Shop ), Ifeanyi Menkiti ( Poet, Wellesley Professor, new owner of the Grolier), Jack Powers (Founder of Stone Soup Poets), Steve Cramer (Director of Low Residency MFA Lesley University), Richard Cambridge ( Poets Theatre-- Club Passim), Martha Collins (Poet,Founder of U/Mass Creative Writing Dept.), Tino Villanueva (American Book Award Winner), John Amen (Founder of Pedestal Magazine), Sam Cornish (Boston Poet Laureate) and many others...

Many of these interviews have appeared in my column for The Somerville News: "Off the Shelf." A select group of these interviews will appear in a collection to be released by the Ibbetson Street Press in the late winter of 2009: "From the Paris of New England: Interviews with Poets and Writers." The introduction was written by Michael Basinski, PhD, the curator of the Rare Books and Poetry Archive at the University of Buffalo, in New York, who I have known for many years.

So I was pleased when Wendy Blom, the director of Somerville Community Access TV, told me SCAT was going to give me the first annual "OUTSTANDING EXCELLENCE AWARD."
Woody Allen once said " 95% of life is just showing up," and the award is partly due to my longevity (not my 53 years--the show's silly!). But Blom also said it was due to the top notch guests, interviewing skills, and publicity for the show and in turn SCAT.

The reception (with great international fare from Union Square) will be Jan 22, 2009 at 8PM and can be viewed on SCAT Channel 3. The award ceremeony will be hosted by Somerville News columnist Jimmy Del Ponte. There will be a raffle, a Best of 2008 Producers' Award, and a sort of State of the SCAT report from the executive director.

Wendy Blom said this "Outstanding Excellence Award" is a first, and may or may not be permanent. Thanks to SCAT for this honor and the opportunities they provide for me and the community-at-large!