Dianne Borsenik & John Burroughs visited Muskingum University

On March 29th, Dianne Borsenik and I had the pleasure and privilege of visiting Muskingum University. We spoke with the talented students of Dr. Jane Varley's "Modern and Contemporary Poetry" class, who had been studying our works, and then gave a reading for faculty, staff and the student population at large.

Here's a recent Muskingum News write-up about it: Dr. Varley Brings Poet Laureates to Class.

"I Am Not Ready to Die" featured by Poets Against Racism and Hate USA

Deep gratitude to Poets Against Racism & Hate USA for the work they do. A poem I wrote in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd is featured on their website today. Read it here: https://poetsagainstracism-usa.org/?page_id=85.

The poem, "I Am Not Ready to Die," originally appeared in Common Threads (2020, in an earlier version) and The Wrest of the Worthwhile. 

5/20: John Burroughs and Michael Czarnecki read in Buffalo

This Saturday, May 20th at 4:30 p.m., I'll have the immense pleasure of reading with Michael Czarnecki for the Second Stage Writers series at the American Repertory Theater of Western New York. 

 

Three new anthologies from New Generation Beat Publications

I'm thrilled to have a poem in each of these three recent National Beat Poetry Foundation anthologies from New Generation Beat Publications. [To procure yours, click on the photos below.]

Earth: Dig It - New Generation Beat Poets Laureate: An Anthology
[includes my poems "With a Clatter," "Elohim," and "If You Need a God, Make It Earth]

Natural Words: An Environmental Anthology of Poems
[includes my poem "Hampuy (Redux)"]

Beat Style Love Poems: A NBPF Anthology

[includes my poem "Cover Girl"] 

Many thanks to the NBPF and editor Debbie Tosun Kilday.

5/27 in Columbus and Online: Special Beat Poetry Workshop featuring Burroughs and Feen

May 27th, Ohio Beat Poet Laureate Sandra Feen and U.S. Beat Poet Laureate John Burroughs will present "You've Got the Beat," a unique Beat poetry workshop sponsored by the Ohio Poetry Association. Attend either online or in person at the Cooperative Chess Cultural Center in Columbus, Ohio. Please register at https://www.ohiopoetryassn.org/events.

Local Gems Press publishes Ohio Bards anthology

My poem "Unwinding" appears in this new Ohio Bards anthology published by Local Gems Press.

They're having two launch events this weekend in Ohio:

Saturday, April 29th at 7:30pm at
Hilton Garden Inn Columbus-University Area
3232 Olentangy River Rd, Columbus, OH 43202

Sunday April 30th at 5:30pm at
Courtyard by Marriott Cleveland Independence
5051 W Creek Rd, Independence, OH 44131

https://www.localgemspoetrypress.com/ohio-bards-preorders.html.

Video: Young, Chernin and Burroughs live in Belle, Missouri, hosted by John Dorsey at Barb's Books, 4/22/2023

If you missed our reading Saturday 22 April at Barb's Books in Belle, Missouri, here's video. Thanks so much to my co-features Scot D Young and Shelley Chernin, our host John Dorsey, and of course the Osage Arts Community. 

 

Scot begins reading around the 9 minute mark; Shelley, around the 32-minute mark; and yours truly, around the 57-minute mark. An open mic (featuring Agnes Vojta, Ray Swaney, and Steven Bridgens) follows.

 

I read the poems "Loveshot," "Slipping Backwards into Blue Eden," "From Genesis to Exodus," "Revolutionary Sentiments" (a cento comprised of phrases culled from James Baldwin's Another Country), "Faith Without Works Is Dead," "A Hierarchy of Needs," "Through a Glass Darkly," "Dog Day," and "Lens."

 

 

Florida, Indiana and Missouri in the Next Two Weeks

I'll be on the road again soon and am very much looking forward to being part of these events:

14 & 15 April 2023 in St. Augustine, Florida
2nd Annual St. Augustine PoetFest at Flagler College. On 4/15 at 6:30 p.m., John Burroughs and Jonie McIntire will present their words and work elevating Rust Belt writing. Also on 4/15 at 12:30 p.m., Larry Jaffe, Rosa Sophia, John Burroughs, and Robert Waldner will present a lunchtime Labor Poet Showcase. Both events will take place at the Ringhaver Student Center, 50 Sevilla Street, 32084.

18 April 2023 at 8 p.m. Eastern in Evansville, Indiana
Poetry Speaks will feature John Burroughs and Sara Minges plus open mic at the Bokeh Lounge, 1007 Parrett Street, 47713.

22 April 2023 at 6 p.m. Central in Belle, Missouri
Barb's Books presents readings by John Burroughs, Shelley Chernin and Scot Young, plus open mic. 124 S. Alvarado Avenue, 65013.

23 April 2023 at 7 p.m. Central in St. Louis, Missouri
Spine Bookstore and Café presents open mic poetry featuring John Burroughs. 1982 Arsenal Street, 63118.

24 April 2023 at 7 p.m. Central in Jefferson City, Missouri
The Gumbo Bottoms Single Pot Still Poets Society presents a reading by John Burroughs followed by open mic at Gumbo Bottoms Alehaus, 221 Madison Street, 65101.

Far Queue Press publishes John Burroughs' The Wrest of the Worthwhile: Unselected, Uncollected and New Poems, 1983-2023

The Wrest of the Worthwhile: Unselected, Uncollected and New Poems, 1983-2023 by U.S. National Beat Poet Laureate John Burroughs is a poetry book 40 years in the making.

Over 340 pages! Hundreds of poems! Perfect paperback, 5.5" x 8.5". ISBN: 979-8-88596-991-8. To be released by Far Queue Press (a one-off imprint of Crisis Chronicles) on 6 April 2023 at the Cuyahoga County Public Library's Self-Publishing Roundtable.

Select US or Elsewhere

In the U.S. $20.00 USD International $25.00 USD

The Wrest of the Worthwhile includes new and rare work in three sections:

Forth
The entirety of his two quickly-sold-out limited edition 2022 chapbooks, You Can't Trust It to Remain (originally published by Between Shadows Press) and Dogging Catastrophe (The Grind Stone), as well as revised/completed versions of the rest of his July 2022 poems from the Tupelo Press 30/30 project.

Back
Previously unselected poems from many of his earlier chapbooks (everything not already included in the 2019 volume Rattle and Numb: Selected and New Poems, 1992-2019, from Venetian Spider Press). Said chapbooks include Bloggerel (2008, Crisis Chronicles), 6/9: Improvisations in Dependence (2009, Crisis Chronicles), Electric Company (2011, Writing Knights, expanded in 2016), Water Works (2012, recycled karma press), The Eater of the Absurd (2012, NightBallet), Barry Merry Baloney (2012, Spare Change Press), Oct Tongue -1 (2014, Crisis Chronicles), Beat Attitude (2015, NightBallet), and Loss and Foundering (2018, NightBallet).

Back and Forth
Never-before seen new poems and forty years worth of uncollected poems from various online and print journals going all the way back to his 1983 high school litmag and up through March 2023.

Cover art: Animal Locomotion, plate 332, by Eadweard Muybridge [1887] (Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington).

Available for $25 (includes postage) from Crisis Chronicles Press,  535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143.

John Burroughs of Cleveland is the U.S. National Beat Poet Laureate for 2022-2023. A widely touring writer and performer, Burroughs previously served for two years as Ohio's Beat Poet Laureate. His previous books include Rattle & Numb: Selected & New Poems, 1992-2019 [2019, Venetian Spider Press] and The Eater of the Absurd [2012, NightBallet Press]. Since 2008, Burroughs has served as the founding editor and publisher for Crisis Chronicles Press.

Meet John at one of these upcoming events.

Self-Publishing Roundtable, April 6th in South Euclid

This Thursday, 6 April at 7 pm, join us at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library for A Self-Publishing Roundtable featuring panelists

* Juliet Cook (Blood Pudding Press publisher and co-author of Short Poems About Violence and Chickens),

* Michelle R. Smith (Literary Cleveland Programming Associate and author of The Vagina Analogues), and

* myself.

Books (including my brand new The Wrest of the Worthwhile) will be available for sale and signing. This is a free event and there are seats still available. 

 

Please register here: https://cuyahoga.libnet.info/event/7616134.

1876 S Green Road
South Euclid, Ohio 44121