Wordplay Today ... and the Altamont Tomorrow Night

Wordplay last Sunday featured great readings by poets Gyorgyi Voros and Katherine Soniat. It's still available from the program page, or at http://stream.ashevillefm.org/afm-word-play-07072013.mp3

Today's show brings Lee Ann Brown and L. Lamar Wilson to the airwaves. They'll also be reading at the Altamont, 18 Church Steet, tomorrow, Monday evening, July 15th. Doors open at 7:00, and the reading starts at 7:30.

Lee Ann was born in Japan, grew up in Charlotte, and now lives in New York City and Marshall, NC. She's the author of Polyverse, The Sleep That Changed Everything, and In the Laurels, Caught. Her new collection, Crowns of Charlotte, celebrates the city of her rearing and some of the characters it brought into her world.

L. Lamar Wilson's Sacrelegion, just out from Carolina Wren Press, is a stunning reinvention of the memoir poem. Lee Ann says that it "chants new songlines of the sacred and profane, radiating legions of regions we must all negotiate together. Love, life, identity and language wrestle and riff here with pure expressive power." He's currently pursuing a doctorate in African-American studies at UNC Chapel Hill.

 

Tune in at 5:00 on AshevilleFM.org.

Wordplay: A new show with Rick Chess

A good show with UNCA's Rick Chess this past Sunday. We got a bit into his investigations into the Kabbalah, and he read for the first time some of the poems that had come out of that work, remarkable compressed pieces of real intensity, as well as poems written in more expansive modes. Claire Burson's lovely CD Silver and Ash provided our musical interludes. It's still on the station archive, accessible from the Wordplay Program page.

Rick also invited me to talk a bit about the class I'll be doing (hopefully) this summer for the Great Smokies Writing Program offered by UNCA. The class will work with procedures as part of the arsenal of tricks poets have available to them, and my real hope is that we'll use those procedures - some developed by Black Mountain poet Jonathan Williams, others by the members of the French Oulipo workshop - to get to the heart beyond the head. Lee Ann Brown tells a good story about a discussion she had with Rosmarie Waldrop, one of the foremost American procedural poets, who was at the time working with text cut out of articles from the New York Times. "You know," Waldrop said, "I may be working with cutout text, but I'm still writing about my mother." Whatever strategies we use, we'll be using them likewise to write about things that matter deeply to us, even if we do have some fun with language along the way.

If you're interested in exploring this territory - and I think you'll find it a fascinating trip, wherever you're coming from - please check out the Great Smokies site for more information, applications, and the like.

Scenes from the Festival

The Spirit of Black Mountain College Festival, that is, which took place at Lenoir-Rhyne University in September, 2008. The Arts Council of North Carolina recorded many of the performances and readings, and apparently the recordings are now up on YouTube. A new friend who was exploring the web in search of some of my work came across them, and kindly let me know.

Not sure why I chose to read all new, unpublished work this day in Hickory, but there's no denying I did. The poems have changed a bit in the years since.

There are also readings by Michael Rumaker, Lee Ann Brown, Lisa Jarnot, Thomas Meyer, and Thomas Raine Crowe from the festival. Cool, extremely cool.

New Flashes

Cathy Smith Bowers, co-host of Wordplay for the monthly Laureate's Radio Hour, will be reading at Queens University in Charlotte tonight. The event marks the publication of her book Like Shining from Shook Foil, a selection of poems from her four previous collections, augmented by a score of previously uncollected poems, including two which appeared in the past year. Press 53 is the publisher, and Tom Lombardo, the press's poetry editor, a former student of Bowers, selected the work included and wrote the introduction. It's available now from the Press 53 website, and should ship to bookstores soon. Nice cover, eh?

Meanwhile, here in Asheville, I'll be joining the Juniper Bends Anniversary celebration at the BoBo Gallery. The reading will feature a slew of folks who've participated in the reading series over the past year, including Mesha Maren, Ingrid Carson, Katherine Min, Lori Horvitz, John Crutchfield, Julian Vorus, Antonio Del Toro, Jaye Bartell, M. Owens, and myself - and there'll be music by DJ Lorruh and the Sugarfoot Serenaders. Lots of different types of work emitting from that spectrum, so it should be an illuminating event on several wavelengths..

Friday and Saturday, of course, there's the Oulipo Conference at UNCA which Lee Ann Brown worked with university faculty from multiple departments to organize. Not to miss. Here's the page with a link for registration (it's free, but they need a head-count).

And after things Oulipo wind down, new Asheville denizen Carol Novack launches her Mad Hatter reading series at the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center on Saturday night at 7:00 pm. She'll be joined by San Francisco poet David Smith and North Carolina writers Carter Monroe and Traci O'Connor.

Friends, it's sure going to be busy the next few days. I think I'll try to catch a nap tomorrow before it all kicks off. Hope to see you somewhere along the trail.

Happy ...

... Samhain, y'all.

Lee Ann Brown visited the station for Wordplay today, and we had an appropriately spooky show, with lots of visits from the dead - among them the wonderfully twisted balladeer Helen Adam. As (I suppose I can say, now) usual, Lee Ann sang much of the show; given her voice, that's a treat.

No link yet, but it'll be up on the station website tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~

Update November 5, 2010: Here's the link to Lee Ann's Halloween show.

Wordplay: radio ephemera

Last Sunday I sat down with young poets Abby Wendle and Jenn Dumbrowski. They read some fine work and we shared a great conversation about their visions of poetry, their practice as poets, and a range of other topics (the crowd for a Sarah Palin rally was lining up in front of the Asheville Civic Center next door, and I'm sure we mentioned that). Sadly, as has happened several times before, the automatic archiving system at WPVM broke down, and the show didn't record. Argh. Oh, well. I'll try to get them on again.

The bottom line: the show featuring the musical Lee Ann Brown remains accessible for another week via the Archive page for streaming and podcast.

This coming Sunday's show occurs during WPVM's fall fundraiser, and we'll be pitching along with the rest of the station's volunteers.

Wordplay this week: Lee Ann Brown

This past Sunday we celebrated the work of New York (and Marshall, NC) poet Lee Ann Brown. I drew on several recordings of Lee Ann, the first from 2002, when she came to Asheville for the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center's "Under the Influence" festival. It was her first North Carolina reading, and she was in high spirits - but, then, Lee Ann seems always to be in high spirits. The reading took place at Malaprops, Asheville's wonderful independent bookstore; it was recorded by Adam Johnson.

The Museum + Arts Center itself furnished the venue for the second reading, a celebration of the East Coast Beat poets. Lee Ann performed, among other things, lovely versions of a poem by Allen Ginsberg and of Ginsberg's and Ed Sanders' arrangements of William Blake songs. The Jar-e Jazz Quartet provided musical support and sonic texture. The reading took place on February 11, 2005, and Jason Brady recorded.

This past January Lee Ann was in Marshall for the holidays, and met me at the WPVM studios to read some recent work and talk about the directions she's currently exploring. I've used a substantial portion of our interview in the show's final segment.

I opened the show with an Iraqi folk song performed by Beth Brown, Lee Ann's sister, and her husband Ra'ed Rawawey at Malaprops for the 2002 reading. At the first break you'll hear Pentangle performing the old Child ballad "Omie Wise," from their 1989 release A Maid That's Deep in Love. The second break features Ronald and Anna-Wendy Stevenson performing "Lady Charlotte Campbell," from their 2005 release Gowd and Silver. The show's outro has Charles Lloyd performing another old old classic, "The Water Is Wide." I'm not sure which of his collections the track originally appeared on, but it's now on iTunes, where I found it. If you listen to the interview, you'll know why it was just the right piece on which to close.

Thanks to Lee Ann, and to all whose work made this show possible. It'll be on the station archive through October 26th, and will re-broadcast this Sunday, October 19th, at 2:00 PM, since I'll be at a funeral in Charlotte.

Enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are several shows waiting for me to upload them to the archive, and I'll do notes on those as I get them transferred. For the last six weeks or so, since the resignation of the station manager, I've been helping to manage WPVM, and it's involved many meetings, hours and hours of computer support, and many other commitments of time and energy. My apologies to the authors whose shows await the renewed light of day on the net.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Photo: Lee Ann Brown at her home in Marshall, May 2005.

The Spirit of Black Mountain College ... coming right up

This weekend brings the Spirit of Black Mountain College festival at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory. The festival, celebrating the 75th anniversary of Black Mountain College's founding, kicks off Thursday evening with a reception and a reading by Galway Kinnell, and runs through Saturday. Along the way, a mix of events, a melange of dance, music, visual arts and, of course, poetry. It's really a treat to be joining Lee Ann Brown, Thomas Meyer, Michael Rumaker (who'll actually read as a poet, though he's best known as a novelist and memoirist), Lisa Jarnot, Thomas Rain Crowe, Ted Pope, and the rest of the large company for all the brouhaha.

Here's my schedule, if you'd like to catch up with me or check out my work while you're there:

Friday:

10:15 am in Belk Centrum: Weekend overview with all performers

2:00 pm in Belk Centrum: Reading/Performance with Thomas Meyer and Lisa Jarnot. (This looks to be my main reading)

3:00 pm in Belk Centrum: I'll be the facilitator for a panel discussion: "The Poets of Black Mountain College". Is form nothing more than the extension of content?

5:00 pm at the Lenoir-Rhyne dining hall: Ed Dorn's Gunslinger Book I (a readers theater performance with Thomas Meyer, Lee Ann Brown, Lisa Jarnot, Thomas Rain Crowe, et al.)

6:00 pm at the Hickory Museum of Art: Opening reception

8:00 pm at Hickory Museum of Art: Introduction of Poets

Saturday:

11:00 am at Hickory Museum of Art: Workshop (this is still billed in the online schedule as a reading, so I'm not quite sure which it is - but I'll be there either way).

2:00 pm in Belk Centrum: "Remembering Jonathan Williams (1921-2008): A Tribute". Thomas Meyer is coordinating this; I'll read a couple of Jonathan's poems, and speak from my memories of him.

And then I become an audience member, and spectator, hopping between shows and events. There will be some wonderful performances, I'm sure, and the exhibits will include some great pieces; much of the Black Mountain College Museum +Art Center's collection, for example, will be on display. If you're within range, do try to catch some of the festivities.

"Launching" the Marshall AMP

(click for a legible version)

...seems like a mixed metaphor to me ("charging up", or "plugging in", or ... oh, whatever).

Tony suggested I should wear green scales for the parade, but my scales are at the cleaners, so I'll have to find something else. I'll be joining undisclosed others for the reading. Perhaps needless to say, given the company, but the event promises to be great fun. It's been a long-time dream for Lee Ann and Tony to have a performance space for all their friends in their hometown, and now they do. I believe congratulations are in order.

Lee Ann Brown at UNCA Tonight

"Last Minute" Lee Ann Brown called this afternoon to let me know that she'll be reading tonight at the Laurel Forum at UNCA. Lori Horvitz' class furnishes the occasion, but the reading is open to all of us. She'll be starting at 7:30. If you enjoy poetry on the adventurous side, you should forget whatever else you were planning to do and catch Lee Ann.

********************************
The photo catches Lee Ann last summer on the porch of her home in Madison County.

Another return: Lee Ann Brown & Company

One of the transforming facts in my life over the last few years has been the arrival of the poet Lee Ann Brown, her husband Tony Torn, and their young daughter Miranda, on the Asheville scene. Lee Ann grew up in Charlotte, but went to Brown for university and has been active in the New York poetry scene for more than a decade since. She has her own press, Tender Buttons, and has published experimental women poets like Bernadette Mayer, Lisa Jarnot, and Laynie Browne; she's published, with other houses, two significant collections of her own, Polyverse and The Sleep That Changed Everything. Lee Ann's always liked the mountains, so when she and Tony decided to marry, they chose Hot Springs, just down the river in Madison County, as the location for the ceremony. Now they've bought a house in the Little Pine community, and plan to live there, going forward, as much as they can manage, given commitments of career, etc., otherwise. Lee Ann has brought her enthusiasm and energy to local poetry programs, like those at the Black Mountain College Museum + Art Center (see the link on the right), and has also maintained, thankfully, relationships with friends elsewhere - who sometimes come to visit. Since March, for instance, Lisa Jarnot , Vancouver poet Peter Culley, and Laynie Browne, author of the new Drawing of a Swan Before Memory, have all made their ways across the mountains to Lee Ann's and Tony's - and into Asheville. By the simple act of becoming a local presence, with all her intelligence and energy, Lee Ann has extended the horizons of those here, myself included, who are actively engaged with the work (and play) of poetry.

Lee Ann and Tony have returned to New York for awhile to pursue livelihoods in the city's universities and theaters, so we'll miss them. I'll post more another day, no doubt, about Lee Ann's work, and the work of the poets she's published, but for now I'd just like to say thanks to her for all she's done to open up the land of sky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Updated January 11, 2007, to insert a word inadvertently omitted from a phrase.