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 Apparently, Charles Bukowski is taking a page from Tupac and Johnny Cash and beginnng to release albums from the grave. The Temple Bookstore has just put out a new album recorded when Buk did a reading at the Underwater Poetry Festival in 1974.
Here is the decription from the Temple website: "A never before released recording of a 1974 poetry reading by world famous twentieth century American poet Charles Bukowski (1922-1993) is one you'll have to stuff in your CD player as soon as you get it. In 1974, the intrepid Bukowski journeyed from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City to give a featured reading at the Underwater Poetry Festival, along with Alta, Ricardo Sanchez, and Andy Clausen. The recording of the reading given in the social work auditorium of the University of Utah survived in the archives of the Reverend Sherm W. Clow, President at the time of the renowned Litmus Inc., producer of the festival. It includes more than twenty poems with a table of contents, some introductory and closing patter by MC Charles Potts, and a reproduction of the poster from the UPF are the menu on the CD. Bukowski was just beginning to achieve the lasting fame that would come to him in the next two decades. Hear the man at his droll and noteworthy best." For more information, click the link at the below. Speaking of Johnny Cash, I highly recommend the new album that was released over the summer, American V: A Hundred Highways. If you do get your hands on it, take a listen to track number two, God's Gonna Cut You Down, it is a great one. Link to New Charles Bukowski CD
 Here is an interesting story about how reading Shakespeare can be good for you. I wish that I knew that back in high school. I thought all along that my teachers were just lying to me.
Here is an excerpt from the article, where the writer explains what this new study found. "Shakespeare uses a linguistic technique known as functional shift that involves, for example using a noun to serve as a verb. Researchers found that this technique allows the brain to understand what a word means before it understands the function of the word within a sentence. This process causes a sudden peak in brain activity and forces the brain to work backwards in order to fully understand what Shakespeare is trying to say. " Link to Reading Shakespeare has dramatic effect on human brain
 In this article about a poetry and spoken word program from the Journal Times in Racine, Wisconsin, the reporter writes about the a program at the Racine Correctional Institution called the Scribe Circle where inmates get together every third Friday of the month to read poems and word on their own writings. They also talk about fundraising events that take place in the prison gym where the poets perform their work. At a recent event 147 inmates paid $2.00 admission to attend the event where all of the money collected went to the Racine Literary Council. This article goes into what got these poets into the art and what they are getting out of the program.
There is a link to a video of the event at the end of the article (Click Here for the video). What is interesting is the comments under the video on the newspapers website. The readers of the paper are very upset at the fact that these prisoners are getting the opportunity to express themselves through the art of poetry and spoken word. I remember a few months ago, one of my friends fathers was telling me how he was working with inmates at a local prison and they started talking about poetry. He was telling me how those men were so happy and proud to be able to express themselves through the art. They were able to work through all of the feelings and emotions involved with their lives through the pen and were better off for it. I am not discounting the emotional toll that this type of article takes on the victims and families. Many of the comments on the website are about that very issue. One reader wrote: "Victims of crimes do not need to see low life criminals reciting poems in their local newspaper. This is a slap in the faces of all victims who read this newspaper." I am simply pointing this article out for the fact that poetry can be used to help people deal with their feelings and emotions and that the written word is a very powerful tool for both the victims and those who committed the crimes. Let us know what you think about this article and using poetry in prisons. Leave a comment below. Link to The Journal Times Online - They're in prison, but their poetry is not
 Poets and performers in Fort Wayne, Indiana are coming together and putting on an incredible series of shows much like what has been going on Albany over the past few years. From this article in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, it appears that the poetry scene was getting a little quiet for a while until a new group, 10 Entertainment, began bringing poets, musicians, comedians, dancers, and artists together for a series called "Summit City Poetry Slam". Now these events have hundreds of people in attendance to appreciate the arts of the area.
This is a similar situation as what is happening here in Albany. From the First Friday art openings attracting a number of people to the various galleries every month, to the multitude of poetry readings and open mics in the area flourishing, we too are experiencing a renaissance in the arts community. From what I can tell you now, as we are still putting all of the plans in place, the upcoming 2007 Albany Word Fest will bring all of the local art scene together, and hopefully be a continuation of the resurgence of participation and appreciation of the arts in upstate New York. Click the link below to read the story about what is going on in Fort Wayne and stay tuned for more information on the 2007 Albany Word Fest. We will be releasing details on venues and performers in the beginning of the new year. Link to Journal Gazette - People will cram into poetry slam
 The New York Times published some reviews of some recently released poetry books in this past Sunday's paper. Poets Frederick Seidel, Erin Belieu, Roy Jacobstein, Bill Coyle, Constance Quarterman Bridges, Bill Zavatsky, Cynthia Cruz, Steve Kronen, and Adrian C. Louis are all reviewed.
One of the more positive write-ups is for Bill Zavatsky, where critic Eric McHenry says: “My heart is in my / pocket,” Frank O’Hara famously wrote, “it is Poems by Pierre Reverdy.” If there’s a book in Zavatsky’s pocket, it’s poems by Frank O’Hara. A longtime New Yorker and sometime jazz pianist, Zavatsky writes casual, desultory poems of daily urban life. O’Hara seems like a safe bet for his ninth-biggest influence, after seven musicians and the city itself: “I’m lucky / enough to have been handed this / piece of paper twenty minutes ago / by someone on the street who must be / a secret agent for poetry.” Click the link below and read the rest of this review and all of the others. It is not every day that we can read about poetry and poets in the Old Grey Lady. Link to Poetry Chronicle - Books - Review - New York Times
 1994 National Poetry Slam and 1996 International Poetry Slam Champion Gayle Danley recently took her performance to school children at the Bridge City High School in Texas.
Hundreds of students listened to her work and were "captivated by Danley's emotion". “It’s a chance for poets to get in touch with the audience. It’s what I do.” said Danley, who is reigning National Young Audience’s Artist of the Year. Link to orangeleader.com (Orange, Texas) - Poetry champion captivates area teens
 Saratoga’s monthly open mic for poetry and spoken word is tomorrow night (December 6) at the historic Caffe Lena (47 Phila St, Saratoga Springs) with featured poets Robert Milby and Beatriz Loyola (with Skidmore students reading work by Hispanic poets and their translations). This open mic is hosted by Carol Graser. Sign-up starts at 7:00PM with the reading starting at 7:30PM. Admission for this reading is $2.00.
Robert Milby, of Florida, NY has been reading his poetry throughout the Hudson Valley, NY and beyond, since early 1995. He is the author of 4 poetry chapbooks. He has been published in Home Planet News, Hunger Magazine, Will Work for Peace, Hart, Fertile Ground, Chronogram, The Hudson Valley Literary Magazine. He hosts poetry series at Joey’s Cafe in Washingtonville, NY. Mudd Puddle Cafe in New Paltz, NY, Noble Coffee Roasters in Campbell Hall, NY, Morning Brew Cafe, in High Falls, NY and co-hosts a series at Muddy Cup Coffeehouse in Beacon, NY. He was the invited poet at SUNY Oneonta, in March 2003. Robert is a listed poet with Poets and Writers, Inc. His spoken word cd is entitled: Revenant Echo (Sonotrope Recordings, 2004). His first book of poetry, Ophelia’s Offspring, will be published by Foothills Publishing, in 2007. He writes for The Delaware and Hudson Canvas. He is a freelance thinker. For more information call Caffe Lena at 518-583-0022 or go to their website at www.caffelena.org
 It looks like we are not the only ones having an Airing of Grievances. In NYC, there was a poetry contest called "Vent your Inspiration" where poets and writers could complain about the subways that they ride in the city.
Organizer Susanna Zaraysky said: "Since the subway is something that people use every day, and so many people complain about it for various reasons, I thought that we could do something much more fun than writing a complaint letter and actually have a community event to have people express what they want to change on the subway," The judges went through all of the submissions from more than 170 poets and came up with 14 winners and runners-up who read their work at the esteemed Bowery Poetry Club. The winning poems of this contest are going to be sent to the MTA and Governor-elect Spitzer in order to bring attention to the problems and concerns facing the riders of the subways. Link to NY1: Straphangers Protest Through Poetry
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