Doug Holder 

The new issue of Ibbetson Street has come out (17) with fine cover art by Richard Wilhelm and Harold Cunniff, and poetry from Robert K. Johnson, Michael Estabrook, Mike James, Freddie Frankel, Lainie Senechal, Ed Galing, Mid Walsh, James Kernochan, Stephen Morse, Linda Haviland Conte and many others.

Louisa Solano, owner of the "Grolier Poetry Book Shop," will be the recipient of the third annual "Ibbetson Street Press Life Time Achievement Award," at "The Somerville News Writers Festival," Nov. 13. Previous recipients were Jack Powers and Robert K. Johnson.

Harris Gardner's brainchild the "Boston National Poetry Marathon Festival" is in danger of being cut because of fiscal difficulties at the library. This five year old festival has been a great success, and a real important part of our community. Send emails in support of the festival to Harris, so he can alert the library to what a mistake it would be to axe this unique event. Send to: tapestryofvoices@yahoo.com

Susie Davidson's Holocaust book "I Refused to Die..." that includes poetry, essays, oral testimony, etc...had its first reading in Brookline and it was standing room only. We have other events planned such as radio appearences, readings at McIntyre and Moore Books, Newton Free Library, Newton Community Education, The Somerville News at Toast Poetry Series, and more to be announced. You can purchase a book through the Ibbetson Street Press 25 School St. Somerville, Ma. 02143 $11 with postage.

Our next guest at the "Wilderness House Literary Retreat" will be the former literary secretary to Anne Sexton Suzzane Berger.

Susie Davidson, author of "I Refused to Die...." (Ibbetson 2005) will be releasing her book on Boston-area Holocaust survivors May 6. There will be a reading at 100Centre Street Brookline, Mass at 6PM Oct. 5

Well -there was a good showing for the "Celebration of the Small Press " reading at Adams House-Harvard. Both the Ibbetson Street press and Cafe Review folks read.

Ibbetson 17 will be going to the printer in the next few weeks. June 26 at McIntyre and Moore Books in Somerville 3PM will be the releasing reading.

There are some exciting developments for the next "The Somerville News Writers Festival" in November--stay tuned.

I will be interviewing the new head of the "Iowa Writers Workshop," Lan Samantha Chang, for The Somerville News.

Ibbetson Poet, Jennifer Matthews has released a new CD "The Wheel" Not only is she a great poet, but she is a great singer/songwriter. To get a copy go to: http://www.jennifermatthews.com

Our April 9th Wilderness House Literary Retreat http://www.wildernesshouse.org was a success. Our guest was Lois Ames, a confidant to Anne Sexton.

Poetry submissions for Ibbetson Street 17 are closed...the issue should be out in June 2005.

Sadly, Robert Creeley died shortly after his appearence at Wilderness House Literary Retreat in Dec. 2004. We were lucky to meet the man. A tape of the event is available for viewing (by appointment) at the Lamont Library Poetry Room-Harvard University.

I just found out that Cait Collins, the founder of http://www.the-hold.com passed-away...my condolences...

Marc Widershien, author of the lyrical memoir of Boston "The Life of All Worlds," ( Ibbetson 2001) http://marccreate.com has now released a CD version of the book. He appeared on the "Jordan Rich" show on WBZ AM recently.

Linda Haviland Conte and Mary Buchinger Bodwell recieved a Somerville Arts Council grant for a poetry workshop. It will start in April at the main branch of the Somerville, Mass. library.

Programs were just released for the "Boston National Poetry Month Festival" http://www.tapestryofvoices.com slated for April2 and 3 at the Copley Branch of the Boston Public Library.

My friends Timothy Gager and Maria McCarthy, founders of the Heat City Review tell me the print version will be out this month. http://heatcityreview.com

"The Somerville News" has gone weekly and so has the "Lyrical Somerville" So check out poetry every week. http://thesomervillenews.com

Doug Holder 

I just interviewed "Mothra" and Matt, two principals involved in creating the new 'zine library in Cambridge, Mass. They hope to have it opened in April 2005, at 54 Mt. Auburn St. in Harvard Square.

Yellow Pepper Press ( Pittsburg, PA.) has agreed to publish my book "Wrestling With My Father" It should be released in the Fall of 2005.

Lois Ames, confidant of Anne Sexton, will be a guest at the Wilderness House Literary Retreat April 9. http://wildernesshouse.org

Next month in Poesy Magazine, I will have an article about Robert Creeley's visit to the Wilderness House...

Lo Galluccio, and "The Alewife," a North Cambridge newspaper founded by Neil W. McCabe, will be having a poetry venue starting in March at "Spirits" outside of Porter Square, Cambridge, on Mass. Ave.

Word has it that The Somerville News http://thesomervillenews.com will go weekly in March. That means I will need more poetry for the "Lyrical" Somerville.

Ibbetson poets Linda Haviland Conte, Deborah M. Priestly and Doug Holder will be reading April 21 as part of the "Grolier Poetry Reading Series," Small Press Celebration with Maine's "Cafe Review." That will be At Adams House 8PM.

Harris Gardner is working feverishly to get the "Boston National Poetry Festival Marathon" up and running April 2-3 at the Boston Public Library. For more info go to: http://www.tapestryofvoices.com

Deborah M. Priestly of the "Out of the Blue Art Gallery" fame got a wonderful review of her book "The Woman Has A Voice" in this month's "Small Press Review" She will be reading in the "Grolier Poetry Series" in April with other Ibbetson Street Poets.

I have been asked by Diana Der-Hovanessian, the president of the New England Poetry Club to read with Frannie Lindsay and Liz McKim at Harvard April 9th. I will be reading from my book "Dreams at the Au Bon Pain."

At "Finagle-A-Bagel" in Harvard Square ( in the basement) at 9am most Saturdays, poets will (hopefully) be gathering, chatting, networking, and eating in a group called "Breaking Bagels With The Bards," founded by Harris Gardner and Doug Holder. It is just an informal gathering, stay as long as you like, or as little, we hope that it will have a life of its own. Feb 12 is the kick-off.

Ibbetson 16 was a "Pick of the Month" in the most recent issue of the Small Press Review.

I am told by writer, poet and journalist Susie Davidson that her Holocaust book "I Refused to Die" which consists of oral testimony of Boston-area Holocaust survivors, should be out in April.

Let's see... a lot of time to think with all this snow. A new paper is in town "The Alewife"(Cambridge, Mass.) And poet Lo Galluccio is the poetry editor for this new kid on the block. She is accepting poetry for possible publication: logalluccio@aol.com right now it is a free monthly. Founded by Neil W. McCabe, also of "The Somerville News."

I was chatting with Louisa Solano of the "The Grolier Poetry Book Shop" in Cambridge, Mass. She tells me there will be a joint reading with the "Cafe Review," and "Ibbetson Street" in the spring at Harvard...nice work if you can get it....

Susie Davidson, that red-headed firebrand of "The Jewish Advocate" fame is slated to have a book out in April "I Refused To Die." (Ibbetson Street) that consists of oral testimony of Holocaust ( Boston-area) survivors.

I released a new,and better looking edition of my collection of poetry "Dreams At the Au Bon Pain." Only four bucks... contact me at dougholder@post.harvard.edu

I went to a fairly new reading venue the other night. It was held at the "Cambridge Co-Housing" development on 175 Richdale St. in Cambridge. Nice surroundings, people, great poets, plus a roaring fire and munchies. Harris Gardner read that night, along with another great local bard whose name escapes me. The name of this event is the '"Fireside" series. It meets the last Tuesday of every month--7:30PM.

" Pressed Wafer"press editor Joe Torra gave me a new chapbook of poetry from veteran Boston bard Jim Dunn--friend to the late John Weiners, and long-time pal of Jack Powers of Stone soup Poetry fame. Joe Torra and Dunn will be reading at the "Toast Poetry Series" in the Spring. This great series is sponsored by that great newspaper "The Somerville News" http://thesomervillenews.com

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.