Tuesday, November 5, 2024

My "Cause of Death" nominated for a Pushcart Prize

I'm grateful to learn that publisher Stasha Strange has nominated my poem "Cause of Death" for a Pushcart Prize.

I wrote this poem back in February as part of a triptych (the other two parts are "Cause and Effect" and "Cause Célèbre) that was recently published in CAW - Poetry by a Murder of Writers

Order the book at stashastrange.com/books/caw.
 

 

Saturday, November 2, 2024

Thursday, October 31, 2024

10/31: What Is in John's Basement? - Book and Online Halloween Event

Tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern, on Halloween, I'll have the privilege of reading with a bunch of fine writers during the online book launch for What Is in John's Basement? (published by Eyepublishewe) So much gratitude to Dane Ince for spearheading this project and for including my poem, "Answered by What It Is."
 
Other contributors include Ron Whitehead, Frogg Corpse, John Angell Grant, K.R. Morrison, Dane Ince, Bryan Franco, Deborah C. Segal, Mbonisi Zikhali Zomkhonto, Mark States, Sophia Falco, Jeff Cottrill, Michael Sindler, Antoinette Vella Payne, Jonathan S. Baker, Merilee Johnson, Tyler Frederick, Gary Huskisson, Eddy Foreman, Darrell Parry, Clive Oseman, Fin Hall, Jon Wesick, Phynne~Belle,and hil hoover.
 
For more info on this event, click here.

Watch this event on Zoom.

To purchase a copy of the book, click here.


 

Sunday, October 13, 2024

Recently published in Shabdaguchha, Ohio Bards, and CAW: Poetry by a Murder of Writers

I am happy to have received copies of these three new books in which poems of mine appear!

Shabdaguchha/শব্দগুচ্ছ (26th Anniversary Issue), edited by Hassanal Abdullah [Shabdaguchha Press].

  • features my poems "Where Would the Moment Be?" and "What If This Is the Last Poem I Ever Write and It's Not Finished?" alongside work by poets from seventeen countries including Bengt O Björklund, William Heyen, Hassanal Abdullah, George Wallace, and more.


CAW - Poetry by a Murder of Writers, edited by Stasha Strange and Hyacinthe L. Raven [Ix Studios].

  • features my poems "Cause and Effect," "Cause Célèbre," and "Cause of Death" alongside work by S.A. Quinox, Christiane Knight, Stasha Strange, Michael Cunliffe, Tara Vanflower, Kaytee Thrun, Rachel M. Croce, Tara Shannon, D.L. White, Emma Lee, Lisa Taner, Rachael Ikins, and Hyacinthe L. Raven.


Ohio Bards: Poetry Anthology 2024, edited by James Paul Wagner [Local Gems Press].

  • features a revised version of my poem "Two Against Nature" alongside work by Jessica Weyer Bentley, Jeffrey Bowen, Rachel M. Croce, Christen Lee, A.M. Hayden, David Lee Garrison, Les Epstein, Sandra Feen, Joey Polisena, Stasha Strange, Cora McCann Liderbach, Diane Kendig, Carmel L. Morse, Bill Reyer, K. Weber, Georgia Reash, Cat Russell, Mary A. Turzillo, Geoffrey A. Landis, and more.

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

October 2, 3 and 6: Readings in Lexington and Elizabethtown, Kentucky

Next week, after Maryland, I look forward to heading to Kentucky for these three fab events.
 
10/2: Poetry at the /'tā-bəl/ at Kenwick Table in Lexington with co-feature Matt Hart.
 
10/3: Teen Howl 2.0 at Third Street Stuff & Coffee in Lexington with Howler of the Month Ryker Chadwick.

Saturday, September 7, 2024

I'm joining the Ohio Poetry Association as their new second Vice President

So this happened while I was out of town. I've been a huge fan of the Ohio Poetry Association for many years and consider it an honor to join their team in continuing to serve Ohio poets.

I must give a shout out to my predecessor as 2nd Vice President, Rikki Santer, who has done amazing work in expanding and enhancing the good work of the OPA. We owe her the deepest of gratitude.
 
Learn more about (and join) the Ohio Poetry Association at ohiopoetry.org.

Tuesday, August 27, 2024

To the National Beat Poetry Festival this weekend - plus more travel and coming events

We just got back from the vet (sweet boy Bart has an ear infection) and I'm still working on feverishly on catching up on myriad tasks after four out-of-town trips and two power outages in the past month and a half. Thursday, I hit the road again and am very much looking forward to these fab events:

30 August thru 1 September 2024 in Collinsville and Barkhamsted, Connecticut
The National Beat Poetry Foundation's annual National and International Beat Poetry Festival will feature poets from across the United States and as far away as Europe and India. Friday's events will be held at Canton Town Hall, 4 Market Street, 06022; Saturday's and Sunday's events will be held at 22 River Road, 06063. Click here for more details.

3 September 2024 in Lowell, Massachusetts
Beat Night at the Worthern House Cafe will feature PW Covington, John Burroughs, Joe Kidd and Sheila Burke, plus Paul Richmond, hosted by new U.S. Beat Poet Laureate Mark Lipman at 141 Worthen Street, 01852.


10 September 2024 in Corning, New York (and ONLINE)
Poets in Play presents a featured reading by John Burroughs and open mic, co-curated by The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes and Foothills Publishing at 79 West Market Street, 14830 (and on Zoom).

19 thru 21 September in Kent, Ohio
The Wick Poetry Center celebrates 40 years with keynote speakers Padraig Ó Tuama, Naomi Shihab Nye, Jane Hirshfield, and Adrian Matejka, plus much more.

27 & 28 September in Frostburg, Maryland
The Frostburg State University Center for Literary Arts presents their 19th annual Western Maryland Independent Literature Festival. Crisis Chronicles Press will have a table in the book fair.

3 October 2024 at 6 p.m. in Lexington, Kentucky
Poetry at the /'tāb-əl/ presents Matt Hart and John Burroughs, plus open mic, at Kenwick Table, 201 Owsley Avenue, 40502. More details forthcoming.

4 October 2024 at 6 p.m. in Lexington, Kentucky
Teen Howl Poetry Series presents John Burroughs and more, plus open mic, at Third Street Stuff & Coffee, 257 N Limestone #1, 40507. More details forthcoming.

6 October 2024 at 4 p.m. in Elizabethtown, Kentucky
A live reading and poetry open mic featuring John Burroughs, hosted by A.S. Coomer at Flywheel Brewing, 218 S Mulberry Street, 42701

14 December 2024 at noon - ONLINE
Poets Building Bridges, hosted by George Wallace, will feature poets from Cleveland, Ohio (John Burroughs, Judith Mansour and Dianne Borsenik); Bolton, UK (Linda Downs, David Wigmore and Laura Taylor); and Flower Litter Poets (Mimi German, Karlostheunhappy and Pankhuri Sinha). Event will be broadcast on Zoom.

 

Saturday, August 24, 2024

Video: Mark Lipman's Endless Horizons visits Insomniacathon 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky

Check out this pilot episode of incoming U.S. Beat Poet Laureate Mark Lipman's Endless Horizons, where he visits The Final Insomniacathon at the The Chapel of St Philip Neri in Louisville, Kentucky, last month (July 26-28). I am grateful to be included reciting a poem (a newly revised version of "Bloodshot" from Rattle and Numb).

Click here to watch the episode.

Read more about Endless Horizons at https://vagabondpoetrycaravan.blogspot.com/p/endless-horizons.html

Saturday, August 17, 2024

National and International Beat Poetry Festival: August 30th through September 1st

I'll have the joy of joining stellar poets from across the United States and as far away as Sweden at this year's National and International Beat Poetry Festival, August 30th through September 1st in Connecticut.

The National Beat Poetry Foundation has just posted their program on Facebook and I've copied it here. Hope to see you there!

Friday, July 12, 2024

Back in the Saddle in July: Evansville, Insomniacathon & WV Writers

Though I've been super busy off the radar, it's hard to believe it's been nine months since I've been on tour. But I'm about to get back at it this month:
 
7/16 in Evansville, Indiana, I'll have the privilege of reading with Dan Sullivan and Jennifer Browne at the Bokeh Lounge (one of my favorite places to return) for Poetry Speaks: Tonight We Sail.
 
7/20 online, I'll present "Risking Absurdity for the Sake of the Poem," a poetry workshop sponsored by West Virginia Writers, Inc. Free for all members.
 
7/26-28 in Louisville, Kentucky: The final Insomniacathon (tickets and schedule available at https://stphilipcampus.org/insomniacathon-2024). I'll be reading around 5 p.m. on Saturday the 27th.
 
 


And then after that:
 
8/30-9/1 in Barkhamsted, CT: the Nat’l & Int’l Beat Poetry Festival 2024.
 
9/10 in Corning, New York (details forthcoming).
 
9/27-28 in Frostburg, MD: the Western Maryland Independent Literature Festival.
 
10/3 in Lexington, KY: Poetry at the /'tāb-əl/ (reading with Matt Hart).
 
10/4 in Lexington, KY: Teen Howl Poetry Series.
 
10/6 in Elizabethtown, KY at Flywheel Brewing.
 

Thursday, June 27, 2024

June 29th: M.J. Arcangelini & Friends and Ground & Sky Poetry

I'll have the pleasure of being a small part of this very special event on Saturday, June 29th, 2024 from 5:00pm to 7:30pm at Mac's Backs Books on Coventry. Joe Arcangelini is a fine poet and friend.

From the press release:

Mac's will host a gathering of poets with readings by MJ Arcangelini and Joel Lesses on Saturday, June 29th at 5 p.m. The event is also a book release celebration for Journeys of Sacred Community: A Collection Anthology of Ground and Sky Poetry

MJ Arcangelini, born in Pennsylvania in 1952, has resided in northern California since 1979. He has published in many magazines, online journals & over a dozen anthologies.  He is the author of six published collections, including  Pawning My Sins publlished in 2022 by Luchador Press.

Ground and Sky Poetry is a reading series in Buffalo and Rochester, NY and was inspired by the late poet Maj Ragain from Kent. 

Joel David Lesses is a counselor and the founder of Education Training Center in Buffalo, dedicated to reframing mental health distress as a potential spiritual marker and existential opportunity. He also does the Unraveling Religion podcast which focuses on spirituality, world religion, meditation and poetry.

Other poets scheduled to read include Dianne Borsenik, Chris Franke, Russ Vidrick, Steven Smith, Kathy “Lady” Smith, John Burroughs, Shelley Chernin, Ben Gulyas, Adam Brodsky, Steve Goldberg, Steve Thomas, Scott Silsbe and  Chandra "Peggy Honeydew" Alderman.

Mac's Backs
1820 Coventry Rd.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
https://www.macsbacks.com

Sunday, June 2, 2024

New work in VOICES 2024: D.R. Wagner Memorial Issue

Grateful for the opportunity to be a contributor to this wondrous volume celebrating our friend D.R. Wagner. Thank you, Dave Boles and Cold River Press!


From the editor:

VOICES 2024 - A Memorial Issue for D.R. Wagner is ready for printing! The books should be arriving in late June. I am offering a special pre-sale through June 16th for this incredible issue. 260pp + Cover (two cover choices soft and a limited run of casebound). An added bonus of 14 never-before-published poems from D.R. 
 
You can order them at www.coldriverpress.com.

Friday, April 26, 2024

May 8th: Burroughs, Jusek and Minney at Mac's Backs Books

I look forward to reading with Jeremy Jusek and Barbara Marie Minney on May 8th, 7 p.m. at Mac's Backs-Books On Coventry in Cleveland Heights.
 

ABOUT BARBARA MARIE MINNEY

Barbara Marie Minney is a transgender woman, award winning poet, writer, speaker, teaching artist, and quiet activist. Her poetry and essays have appeared in numerous publications, including Politico, The Buckeye Flame, The Gasconade Review, Gargoyle Magazine, The Pine Cone Review, Women Speak: Women of Appalachia Project, Woman Scream: The International Poetry Anthology of Female Voices, and I Thought I Heard A Cardinal Sing, Ohio’s Appalachian Voices. Barbara’s poetry has also been translated into Spanish. She is the author of If There’s No Heaven, the winner of the 2020 Poetry Is Life Book Award and an Akron Beacon Journal Best Northeast Ohio Book in 2020; the "Poetic Memoir Chapbook Challenge;" "Dance Naked With God;" and "A Woman in Progress." Barbara is a retired attorney and a seventh generation Appalachian and lives in Tallmadge, Ohio, with her wife of over 42 years and a menagerie of stuffed animals. You can follow Barbara at https://www.barbaramarieminneypoetry.com.

ABOUT JEREMY JUSEK
Jeremy is the poet laureate of Parma, Ohio. He earned his MFA in Creative Writing from Arcadia University and chemistry/theatre degrees from Marietta College. He has authored more than a half-dozen plays and three poetry collections: We Grow Tomatoes in Tiny Towns (Unsolicited Press, 2019), The Less-Traveled Street (Maverick Duck Press, 2022), and The Details Will Be Gone Soon (ELJ Editions, 2023). He hosts the Ohio Poetry Association's podcast Poetry Spotlight, runs the West Side Poetry Workshop, teaches through Literary Cleveland, and founded the Flamingo Writers’ Guild. To learn more, please visit www.jeremyjusek.com.

Mac' Backs
1820 Coventry Road
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
216-321-2665
www.macsbacks.com

Monday, April 22, 2024

My voice appears in Fin Hall's new Gary Snyder tribute film

Honored to be a spectral voice reciting a stanza by Gary Snyder in this new film by Fin Hall. Find me around the 11.50 mark.

Permalink: https://youtu.be/ZN-BhRoMoTY.

 

Sunday, March 31, 2024

April 6th in South Euclid: A Gathering of Laurels II

A Gathering of Laurels II

Ohio Poets Laureate read from their work for National Poetry Month on Saturday, April 06, 2024 from 2:00pm to 3:30pm EDT at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

Join us as Poets Laureate from around Ohio share their work. Doc Janning, the Inaugural Poet Laureate of the City of South Euclid, will emcee the event. Books will be available for sale and signing, and we'll celebrate with light refreshments.

Featured poets:

John Burroughs, Beat Poet Laureate Emeritus of Ohio and the U.S.

Sandra Feen, Beat Poet Laureate of Ohio

Doc Janning, Inaugural Poet Laureate of South Euclid and Third Poet Laureate of Cuyahoga County

Jeremy Jusek, Poet Laureate of Parma

Jonie McIntire, Poet Laureate of Lucas County

Ray McNiece, Poet Laureate Emeritus of Cleveland Heights

Dr. Mary Weems, Poet Laureate Emeritus of Cleveland Heights

https://attend.cuyahogalibrary.org/event/9574197
 

1876 S. Green Road
Writers Center Conference Room
South Euclid, Ohio 44121

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Video of The Muse's Mic: Ep 3. A conversation with John Burroughs

So grateful to hosts James Bryant and Sandra Feen and all the good people who joined in for an enjoyable conversation last night on The Muse's Mic: Ep 3. A conversation with John Burroughs. If you missed it, here's the video. 
 
And don't forget to tune in next time, when their guest will be Rick C. Christiansen.

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Tune in on 3/27 for the The Muse's Mic, Episode 3, feat. John Burroughs

On Wednesday, March 27th at 7 p.m. Eastern, SpoFest hosts James Bryant and Ohio Beat Poet Laureate Sandra Feen will talk poetry and writing with recent U.S. National Beat Poet Laureate, John Burroughs. Includes audience Q&A.
 
We will also play the Fill in the Blank game, where John and a member of our audience will have a chance to win a gift card of their choice.
 
The Muse's Mic
Conversations with Creative Minds: Writers, Musicians, visual artists, and more.
 
Join us LIVE on Zoom! "Doors" open around 6:45 p.m. Register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvdeqppjMiGdeh_WfpUoojn_AOY02zmbHu 

Or watch it LIVE on Facebook: (live stream begins around 7 p.m. Eastern)
https://www.facebook.com/spofest/live/

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Two pieces in Night Owl Narrative (a Cajun Mutt rag) No.3


I'm pleased that two atypical pieces of mine ("Over the Rimbaud" and "Well Met") appear in volume three of Night Owl Narrative, published by Cajun Mutt Press. Other contributors to this incredible book include Ben Holland, Blu K. Boss, Scott Laudati, Jay Passer, A.L. Locke, Michael Duckwall, Ron Whitehead, Jim Murdoch, Wayne F. Burke, Ryan Quinn Flanagan, Joe Szalinski, Efe Tusder, Randy Barnes, Rot Duffield, Dan Flore III, LB Sedlacek, William Teets, William David Pollard, Robert Ragan, Dan Denton, Heath Brougher, Dee Allen, Lynn White, Wendy Cartwright, Sanjeev Sethi, Daniel S. Irwin, Austin Burrows, Wolfgang Carstens, Merritt Waldon, Rob Azevedo, and Jonathan S Baker. So many thanks to editor and publisher James Dennis Casey IV.

Order your copy here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CVF469HX.