The I-90 Poetry Revolution Begins 9-3-11

The second most important date in the history of American poetry is September 3, 2011, at 7:30 p.m. This is when poets from all over the country will gather at A Different Path Gallery to read poems announcing and supporting the I-90 Poetry Manifesto. (You can read the manifesto here  or as PDF here.)

Besides reading the poems that will be heard ’round the world, it will be the release party of Redactions: Poetry & Poetics issue 14.

(Special thanks to Kenny Lindsay for his help on the Tominator style for the letters.)

The final list of readers isn’t complete, but all the poets in issue 14 have been invited, including:

Corey Zeller, William Wright, Joe Wilkins, Antonio Vallone, Bill Tremblay, Daniel Tobin, Claudia M. Stanek, Matt Smythe, Martha Silano, Gregory Sherl, Ravi Shankar, Edwina Seaver, Wanda Schubmehl, Karen Schubert, John Roche, Michael Robins, Joseph Rathgeber, Nate Pritts, Derek Pollard, Dan Pinkerton, Eric Neuenfeldt, Laura E. J. Moran, Lindsay Miller, Philip Metres, Laura McCullough, Djelloul Marbrook, Gerry LaFemina, Keetje Kuipers, Les Kay, Kitty Jospe, Jonathan Johnson, Gwendolyn Cash James, Adam Houle, William Heyen, Andrei Guruianu, Richard Foerster, Jonathan Farmer, Deirdre Dore, Laura E. Davis, Jim Daniels, Charles Cote, Peter Conners, Holly Virginia Clark, Alex Cigale, Jan Wenk Cedras, Rob Carney, James Capozzi, John Bradley, Tricia Asklar, Sherman Alexie, Lisa Akus, and guest editor Sean Thomas Dougherty.

Don’t miss it. As Sean Thomas Dougherty says, “There will be poetry so beautiful it will change your life.”

A Different Path Gallery is located at 27 Market Street in Brockport, NY.

The event is free, but bring a bottle of wine if you can.

If you’re on Facebook, you can add it to your calendar here: I-90 Poetry Revolution Facebook page.

If you want a PDF of the poster, click The I-90 Revolution Reading Poster PDF.

DMo, JJo, and Town Creek Poetry Mo Jo

There’s a fine online poetry journal called Town Creek Poetry that you should check out. I want to say it’s based out of Washington State, but it’s online, so it’s based out of nowhere and everywhere, kinda like some poems.

One of the editors is Dan Morris, whose tastes I trust and appreciate. He’s a fellow alum. The other editor is William Wright, whose work I am familiar with and who I have published.

They have this poetry journal that’s been kicking around for about three years now. This is the seventh issue, and it features Jonathan Johnson, who I mentioned in a previous entry. Jonathan Johnson is a fine poet, who I hope a lot of people are paying attention to. If not, read this interview that Town Creek Poetry did with him. It’s one of the best interviews I’ve read in a long time. It’s sincere by interviewer and interviewee. If you read it, I’m sure you will want to read Jonathan Johnson’s poetry, which Town Creek Poetry is also featuring. He has two collections of poetry, Mastodon, 80% Complete and In the Land We Imagined Ourselves, both from Carnegie Mellon University Press. He also has a memoir, Hannah and the Mountain: Notes toward a Wilderness Fatherhood, which is also well worth reading.

So read Town Creek Poetry and read Jonathan Johnson. You won’t be disappointed.

In other words, to paraphrase Jonathan Johnson, Why don’t you read some poetry, mo fo!//