CrazyApple Press

2011-03-31T09:42:00.003-04:00

So I read a really good book while on a train, Shelly Taylor's Black-Eyed Heifer. So then I wrote a review of Shelly Taylor's Black-Eyed Heifer. And then guess what happened? H.O.W. Journal published the review of Shelly Taylor's Black-Eyed Heifer that I wrote. And then guess what? If you click on Black-Eyed Heifer, you will magically be taken to the review that I wrote of it. Crazy, right?

2011-03-29T17:08:00.002-04:00

Thanks to J.W. Wong and the crew over at Juked for publishing my poem "When You're Done With The Living." They've been ever so kind to me, so be kind to them and go read all the good stuff they publish.

2011-03-01T11:21:00.001-05:00

I've got a new poem up at elimae, one of my favorite places in the world. Check it out here.

2011-02-10T15:47:00.003-05:00

More stuff that was "In" at this year's AWP:

Joshua Marie Wilkinson's awesome beard
Janaka Stuckey kinda looking like Morrissey
Joseph Lease and Bruce Covey beign really cool
those USB drives Poetry was handing out
Reb Livingston being a party animal
Jennifer Tamayo's reading the Coconut/Switchback reading
the people over at Agriculture Review and Coldfront
editors who've taken my work recognizing me
Kay Ryan being funny
reading with a megaphone on the Lincoln Memorial steps
Lily Brown's Rust or Go Missing
Octopus and Black Ocean
$5 paperbacks from Coffee House Press, including Julie Carr's latest as well as Elaine Equi's brilliant Click and Clone

2011-02-05T18:08:00.002-05:00

Hello all - here is my report on what is In and what is Out at this years AWP Conference in Washington D.C.

In: Beards and/or tattoos
Out: That guy wearing gold lame hotpants and 4-inch heels

In: Looking confused
Out: Actually being confused

In: Table X
Out: Being afraid of Table X

In: The Bloof Books and No Tell Books table
Out: The table with that strange man who just stared at everyone

In: The Coconut/Switchback reading at Madam Organs
Out: The scary falafel place next to Madam Organs

In: Free stuff
Out: Charging retail

In: Rae Armantrout's reading at the Shoreham
Out: finding Rae Armantrout's reading at the Shoreham

In: "I really like you're work"
Out: "Who the hell are you?"

In: Hot N Juicy Crawfish
Out: The huge Egyptian protest outside that distracted me from said crawfish

In: Meeting new and interesting people
Out: Squeezing 15 of them into an elevator that hold six

More to come...

2010-12-01T14:52:00.003-05:00

I have two new poems up in the lovely 2nd issue of Vinyl Poetry! Do check them out, along with the fantastic work of people like Bob Hicok, Nate Pritts, Steven Karl, Phillip B. Williams, Angela Veronica Wong, Gary L. McDowell, Jason Koo, Kirsty Logan, Megan Falley, Metta Sama, Molly Gaudry, Prathna Lor, Rachel Contreni Flynn, Rickey Laurentiis, Robert Krut, Tony Mancus, and Nick Ripatrazone.

2010-10-04T10:26:00.002-04:00

You should probably head over to NewPages.com and read my review of Brian Turner's Phantom Noise. So, yeah, go ahead and do that now.

2010-10-01T16:43:00.003-04:00

'ello everyone. Please find, right here, a link to my review of Ray Gonzalez's Cool Auditor over at Gently Read Lit.

2010-09-22T17:42:00.001-04:00

2010-09-22T17:37:00.003-04:00

Yeah, just in case I forgot to mention it, I'm the guest blogger for The Best American Poetry Blog from September 19th to the 25th.

2010-06-10T22:22:00.002-04:00

And oh, by the way, my review of Nicole Brossard's Selections is now up in the new issue of Jacket. Read and enjoy.

2010-06-10T22:17:00.003-04:00

My review of Nicole Brossard's Selections, currently up in the new issue of Jacket, was linked to by the one and only Ron Silliman on his blog. It's the 4th link down on his list.

2010-06-07T19:44:00.003-04:00

So who has some love for my poem "Pining to Be Human," currently up at Sixth Finch? Gregory Sherl does. Does that really count? I think it does.

2010-05-27T18:35:00.005-04:00

So I've been really slacking of late. I've got two new reviews up at New Pages - Julie Carr's 100 Notes on Violence and Mihaela Moscaliuc's Father Dirt. Both are fine books, but Moscaliuc's leaves you punch drunk at the end.

2010-03-01T19:08:00.009-05:00

I've got two new reviews up at New Pages - Mark Statman's Tourist at a Miracle and Genine Lentine's Mr. Worthington's Beautiful Experiments of Splashes. They're worth reading - the books and the reviews.

2010-03-01T11:28:00.003-05:00

So I have two new poems, "Etudes" and "The Night After", up at NthPosition. Go and treat yourself - give 'em a read.

2010-02-11T09:25:00.003-05:00

You can read my review of Andrew Zornoza's Where I Stay right now at Elimae.

2009-12-09T21:22:00.002-05:00

So what did Ravi Shankar say about my 2008 AWP Quickie Contest-winning poem "I have forgotten all my Spanish" in volume six, issue one of Redivider?

This:
"Reminiscent of Ron Padgett's work in its deceptive simplicity and reflexive irony, "I have forgotten all my Spanish" establishes a credible voice and explores the subliminal space between waking and dreaming by delving into the interlingual transcription of desire. The ending of the piece is spot on, with its evocation of a Puerto Rican girl whose very otherness complicates the speaker's conscious and subconscious identity. Plus it's damn funny!"

Thank you much, kind sir!

2009-12-09T13:58:00.005-05:00

Go ahead and read my review of Noelle Kocot's Sunny Wednesday over at Tarpaulin Sky. It's a good book, and a good review. There's just goodness all over the place.

2009-12-09T13:52:00.003-05:00

Check out my "Best Poetry Books of 2009" list over at No Tell Motel's blog, No Tells.

2009-10-25T19:45:00.003-04:00

10-15-09
Never Forget

2009-09-29T11:09:00.002-04:00

You should go and pick up a copy of Copper Nickel #12 and read my poem "Things I Don't Like Talking About" to find out what it is I don't like to talk about. Seriously, Copper Nickel puts out a really nice looking mag chock full o' nice work. Go check it out.

2009-08-30T14:57:00.004-04:00

So, many years ago I was standing at the window of my kitchen in my old apartment spying on the people across the courtyard from me because I was bored. Then I wrote a poem called "The Courtyard" about it. And then Swink published it. What a great story.

2009-07-22T23:39:00.002-04:00

So, many years ago a girl named Tessa drove me around a Vermont farm on a tractor. Then I wrote a poem about it called "Poor Tessa, The Tractor Girl." And then H_NGM_N came out today with a fantastic new issue and included it in it. What luck that I love H_NGM_N and they love me.

2009-07-15T12:21:00.005-04:00

The Northville Review was nice enough to publish my poem "Rolling", which is always nice. It's one of the oldest ones I have so it's nice to finally see it in (electronic) print. Thanks to Erin over there.

I don't usually tell stories about my poems, but this one's kind of funny. The poem itself is true - it really happened, although it's much funnier when I tell the actual story. You really need to see how my brother flailed his arms. Anyway, I used to use it as an example of how a poem doesn't have to rhyme when I was teaching in Paterson and the kids loved it. I had never sent it out anywhere, but the kids would tell me how much they wanted to see it in print so they could feel like they knew me before I was "famous." So I hope one of my old students runs across "Rolling" and I hope they've finished their homework.

2009-05-28T21:41:00.003-04:00

I think that when they start singing "Tiny Dancer" in Almost Famous is one of the greatest things ever recorded on film. I like the part in Natural Born Killers when the Cowboy Junkies song "If You Were the Woman and I Was The Man" is playing in the background. I think they were on a bridge. That's right up there as well. I also really like when "For What It's Worth" plays during a shot of a helicopter flying low over rice paddy fields in any movie about the Vietnam War. It doesn't qualify as a Vietnam movie if it lacks that scene.

I thought I was having a brain aneurysm or a stroke the other day. Perhaps it was neither.

2009-05-16T16:43:00.002-04:00

My e-chap, Useful Shrapnel (Scantily Clad Press), will be available on June 21, 2009. More info to come.

2009-04-24T10:51:00.003-04:00

I have a new review of Andrew Michael Robert's Something Has To Happen Next and Zach Savich's Full Catastrophe Living up now at CutBank. Read and enjoy.

2009-02-17T23:12:00.004-05:00

The Little Boy With A Pen For His Eye

The little boy with a pen for his eye
Would write fantastic stories whenever he cried

He would pinch himself to call up a tear
That he would use as ink and store in his ear

He would put his face on the paper and move all about
And sooner or later a story would drip out

2008-12-05T13:24:00.004-05:00

My award winning poem "I Have Forgotten All My Spanish" (with a nice little blurb by judge Ravi Shankar) is out now in the new issue of Redivider, available at your favorite bookstore now. You should go and buy a copy of it. Bob Hicok is in there too. Not physically - poetically.

2008-11-29T15:29:00.003-05:00

So here's a wee bit o' good news: my poem "Driving The Lincoln Tunnel" which was up over at Juked was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Thanks to J.W. Wang and everyone over at Juked. It's definitely a good read, so go check it out. Now.

2008-11-25T14:58:00.005-05:00

All right, it's been a while since I've done anything - I know, I know. So for those of you who have been salivating, here's my review of Tao Lin's Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy over at Coldfront.

2008-11-16T09:29:00.002-05:00

Here is an interesting article on a little hoax known as "global warming." I know, it's not poetry, but I can't stand stupidity.

2008-10-11T13:01:00.001-04:00

Nothing to report today. Move along.

2008-08-21T09:13:00.005-04:00

I've been a lazy blogger, but here is something neato: My review of Susan Hutton's On The Vanishing of Large Creatures in Growler was linked to by none other than Ron Silliman on his all-knowing blog. I like Growler and I like Ron Silliman's blog, so that seems to work out nicely for everyone involved.

2008-08-05T15:47:00.001-04:00

If you would like to send me free books, please feel free. I like to read free books, so if you have any, and would like to give them to me, please let me know and I will read the free books that you send me.

2008-07-15T12:45:00.003-04:00

It amuses me to no end when a review of mine gets quoted somewhere, but it just tickles me silly when they put my name with it. Case in point: my review of Sidney Perkowitz's Hollywood Science from The Fortean Times being quoted on Amazon.com.

2008-07-12T16:55:00.001-04:00

Goodbye, Bobby.

2008-06-26T15:17:00.002-04:00

This has absolutely nothing to do with poetry, but read this article. A town somewhere in Ohio has cancelled its Little League All-Star Game because some kids will have their feelings hurt if they are not on the team and "because certain kids were being singled out as better players than others." I hope they don't try to have their poetry published, because they'll be on a ledge somewhere. And as a teacher, this just kills me. While I believe that if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish almost anything, I also believe in that famous quote by Anonymous: "There's nothing wrong with cooking fries at McDonald's because not everyone gets to be an astronaut." Some people need to learn that.

2008-06-23T12:00:00.005-04:00

Hello there. My review of Danielle Pafunda's My Zorba is up right now in Tarpaulin Sky, or more specifically, here.

2008-06-16T12:02:00.002-04:00

Tonight. The Control Reading Series. Sarah's Bagel Cafe. 271 Bleecker Street. Me. There. Poetry. Sign up for open mic @ 7. Poetry @ 7:30. Me @ 8:30.

2008-06-09T12:26:00.004-04:00

My review of Ron Padgett's How To Be Perfect is now up at CutBank. If you don't usually check out the CutBank blog you really should. They always have really good reviews up and it's a very friendly place. I bet if you ever met them in real life they would buy you coffee and offer you a refreshing neck rub.

2008-06-01T15:24:00.002-04:00

There are five sections of my book-length poem "Glossolalia" up in the new issue (2.2) of Sawbuck. Go and check them out here.

2008-05-28T19:07:00.003-04:00

It appears as though my poem "I Have Forgotten All My Spanish" was chosen by Ravi Shankar as the winner of this year's Redivider Quickie Poetry Contest held at this past AWP. It will appear in the Fall issue of Redivider, which is cool because I like Redivider and Ravi Shankar. I try to stay humble, but honestly, they have excellent taste.

2008-05-01T07:55:00.002-04:00

How very exciting everybody! I have three poems up in the new issue of The Scrambler ("Michael's Boat," "We Should Have Left The Rock Unturned" and "You Can Only See Nothing So Often"). You can click here to read them or here to listen to me read them. Oh, the choices you'll have to make.

2008-04-27T22:51:00.002-04:00

My poem "Shipbuilding in New Jersey" is now up in the very first issue of Superstition Review. You should read it. I read it and I liked it. Also, Denise Duhamel is in there. Not physically. Electronically. And my picture is there.

2008-04-25T22:43:00.003-04:00

My poem "One Act Plays" is now up at Juked. You should read it. I read it and I liked it.

2008-04-21T08:58:00.007-04:00

After only about two years, my review of Sarah Manguso's Siste Viator has finally arrived in the new issue of Valparaiso Poetry Review. You can read it right here.

2008-04-21T08:58:00.006-04:00

Melissa Febos (she of my #22 favorite thing of all time) and Rebecca Keith have put together an absolutely ridiculous lineup for their upcoming Mixer:
MIXER Reading and Music Series
Jonathan Lethem, Paul Muldoon, and Craig Teicher, with music by Rackett (Paul Muldoon's Band)
Wednesday, May 7, 7:00 p.m. , Free
Cakeshop
152 Ludlow St .
F, V to 2nd Ave. , F, J, M to Delancey
with your hosts, Melissa Febos and Rebecca Keith
http://www.myspace.com/mixernyc
***
Yeah, I'll be there alright.

2008-04-15T19:12:00.003-04:00

Everyone should go to the Control Reading Series on Monday, June 16th because I am the Featured Reader. You should probably go there even when I'm not reading, because Amy Lawless gets some good readers. However, I will do a Sean Connery impression while I read some of my poems, so that may sway you.

Here's Control's bio:

Control Reading Series: I am a bi-monthly open mic & poetry reading series @ Sarah's Bagel Cafe (271 Bleecker St. Betw. Jones and Morton) hosted by Amy Lawless. FREE! Coffee is $1. You can't beat this deal. Sign up is at 7 pm. Featured poet reads at 8:30 pm. (THIS READING SERIES IS BYO! FLASKS AND YOUR BEERS and liquors are welcome! Let's just not get arrested.)

That's what I'm talking about.

2008-04-15T09:32:00.002-04:00

Hey everybody...I have, oh, about 11 sections of my book-length poem Glossolalia now up in the new issue of Alice Blue. There's some interesting work in the new issue, number 8, from the likes of Christian Peet, Robert Jacoby, Matthew Savoca, Erica Lewis, Andrea Kneeland, Serena Rose Chopra, Merida Gorman, Mike Young, Trey Moody, Ken Rumble, and Donald Dunbar. You should go and read it; it's free.

2008-04-13T22:11:00.002-04:00

So my new #22 favorite thing in the world is Melissa Febos' tattoo of Billie Holiday. This knocks the hotdog I ate in Toronto in 1992 down to #23. Unfortunately, Melissa's tattoo was not able to usurp the #21 spot, my blue flannel shirt I bought at Old Navy seven years ago, but it certainly is an accomplishment to break into my 100 favorite things of all time. Good job Melissa, and that's an awesome tat.

2008-04-09T13:41:00.004-04:00

I'm part of a nice lineup tomorrow night at the Word Of Mouth reading series at Bluestockings (172 Allen Street between Stanton and Rivington). It starts at 7 and there is a $5 suggested donation at the door. I hope I get in for free.

Ana Bozicevic-Bowling (poetry) ~
Ana Bozicevic´-Bowling moved to NYC from Croatia in 1997. She's the author of chapbooks Document (Octopus Books, 2007) and Morning News (Kitchen Press, 2006). Look for her recent work in Denver Quarterly, Hotel Amerika, absent, The New York Quarterly, Bat City Review, MiPOesias, Octopus Magazine and The Portable Boog Reader 2: An Anthology of NYC Poetry. Ana coedits RealPoetik.

Melissa Febos (non-fiction) ~
Melissa Febos is a Brooklyn based writer of fiction and nonfiction. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence's MFA program, she teaches both college and high school students and co-curates the Mixer Reading and Music Series in Manhattan. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Bitch Magazine, Smut Magazine, Artisan, Italics Mine, Redivider, The Southeast Review, Storyscape Journal, Cape Cod Life, and Lostwriters.net. She is currently finishing a book-length memoir and training for a marathon-- similar practices. More information about her work and projects can be found at www.melissafebos.com.

John Findura (poetry) ~
John Findura holds an MFA from The New School. His poetry and criticism appear in journals such as Mid-American Review, Verse, Fugue, Fourteen Hills, CutBank, H_NGM_N, and Rain Taxi, among others. Born in Paterson, he lives and teaches in Northern New Jersey.

Colie Hoffman (poetry) ~
Colie Hoffman is a writer and editor living in New York City, though she also calls North Carolina home. Her poems have appeared in Blood Orange Review, The Furnace Review, and Obsidian. She's currently working on her MFA in poetry at Hunter College.

2008-04-07T19:05:00.006-04:00

A neat little project sprung up this weekend from the boys out in Montana. Lucas Farrell, Greg Hill Jr., and Brandon Shimoda put together a one-off online journal with 100 poets assembled during the middle of the night this past weekend called Left-Facing Bird. I have 5 poems up there, and there are some really great things from people you may have heard of like Maxine Chernoff, Noah Eli Gordon, Joshua Marie Wilkinson, Steve Roberts, Kate Greenstreet, Tomaz Salamun, Nick Piombino, Paul Hoover, Evie Shockley, and Julie Doxsee, just to name a few. It's definitely work a look.

2008-04-03T09:56:00.003-04:00

Slowly, slowly, I move through the interweb. Looks like Cold Front Magazine linked to my poem "Glossolalia" over at elimae as part of their "This Morning" section on April 2. Very fun, indeed.

2008-03-24T07:58:00.003-04:00

Everyday this week a new section of my famous MySpace poem, "Three Days...Maybe Longer" V.1.0 through V.2.0, will appear at No Tell Motel. Go there, and then check back every single morning for the next installment. Alright alright.

2008-03-21T13:12:00.010-04:00

My review of Jennifer L. Knox's Drunk By Noon is now up at Jacket. Very exciting, indeed! If you don't already read Jacket, then what in the hell do you do with your time? The current issue, 35, has a great review of Stephen Burt's Parallel Play by Michael Aiken and a really neat-o article by Michael Gottlieb on "Jobs of the Poets". Go read them. It's good for you.

2008-03-15T12:35:00.005-04:00

There are some sections of my book-length poem "Glossolalia" now up at elimae. Go right on over there and have a read. It mentions squirrels, but only briefly. A few more sections of it are forthcoming in Alice Blue, and I'll let you know when that is out. Cheers!

2008-03-14T07:56:00.004-04:00

You can feel free to go and pick up a copy of the new issue of Rain Taxi, Volume 13, No. 1, and read my review of David Mutschlecner's Sign.

2008-03-03T21:49:00.003-05:00

So yeah, you can go and pick up a copy of the new Fourteen Hills, issue 14.1, to find my poem "Pulleys and Wheels." It's pretty good and smells like lemongrass.

2008-02-26T09:50:00.000-05:00

Alright, so I have a poem up, "Driving The Lincoln Tunnel," right here in Juked. "One Act Plays" will be posted up there next month.

2008-02-02T14:36:00.000-05:00

So AWP was certainly fun. Just on Thursday I wandered around with Elaine Equi for a few hours, was introduced to Quincy Troupe and Anne Waldman, met up with my first poetry teacher, Sander Zulauf, for the first time in twelve years, ran into my favorite poet of the moment, Joshua Marie Wilkinson, and literally bumped into C.K. Williams. Writing poetry is such a solitary thing that it is great to be able to surround yourself with other poets from all over the country. Getting to put a face with an email address was pretty neat as I finally got a chance to meet up with some of the lit editors I've had the chance to work with over the past few years. Plus, getting a boatload of free lit mags is always a good thing.

2008-01-23T19:26:00.000-05:00

2008-01-19T12:46:00.000-05:00

Hello all. Just so you can clear your calendars in time, I will be reading at Word of Mouth on Thursday, April 10th. More info is available right here. Also, be on the lookout for poems of mine in Fourteen Hills, H_NGM_N, and reviews in CutBank, Fortean Times, and Jacket.

2007-12-26T12:44:00.000-05:00

Check out my review of Brian Henry's The Stripping Point, right here in CutBank.

2007-12-08T12:46:00.000-05:00

Check out three new poems of mine in the new issue of The Agriculture Reader, now available at Booklyn. If you missed the release party last night at Stain Bar, then you missed a good time.

2007-12-03T14:21:00.001-05:00

Check out my review of Philip White's The Clearing, now up on Growler. You can click on this to get where you have to go.

2007-11-26T21:52:00.000-05:00

Check out my review of Brian Henry's Quarantine, now available in the new issue of Alehouse. You can click on this to get where you have to go.

2007-11-19T13:44:00.001-05:00

Many, many thanks to everyone who came out to the Liar on Saturday. There was a ton of ass-kickingly good poetry for all.

2007-10-22T19:02:00.000-04:00

An Afternoon of Poetic Debauchery!
Hosted by John Findura & Richard Hutzler
Saturday, November 17 @ 2:30 pm
The Four-Faced Liar
165 West 4th Street,
(Between 6th and 7th Avenues)
New York, NY 10014
Phone: (212) 366 0608
Free!!!

with fine readings from

Nicole Steinberg
Michael Quattrone
Richard Hutzler
John Findura

Nicole Steinberg is the Co-Editor of LIT and Web Editor of BOMB. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Gulf Coast, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The Bedside Guide to No Tell Motel: Second Floor, RealPoetik, Barrelhouse, Pebble Lake Review and elsewhere. She's the founder, curator and host of EARSHOT, a Brooklyn-based reading series dedicated to the work and presence of emerging writers in the New York City area (http://earshotnyc.com). She lives in Queens.

Michael Quattrone is a co-curator of the KGB poetry reading series in NYC, and the author of Rhinoceroses (New School Chapbook Series, 2007). His work has appeared in Barrow Street, Jacket, No Tell Motel and Octopus, and in the recent anthologies The Bedside Guide to No Tell Motel—Second Floor and The Best American Erotic Poems: From 1800 to the Present. Michael teaches at Johns Hopkins University and Visible Theatre. He lives in Sleepy Hollow, NY, with his wife and three children.

Richard Hutzler is a founding member of the New Visceral Realists, whose manifesto is forthcoming. In the meantime, in his shadow life, he is a teacher and fundraiser, and sometimes an actor and director. Most of all, however, he is a writer. He was born in Pittsburgh, that venerable city divided by rivers, and now lives and works and plays in New York, that venerable city surrounded by rivers.

John Findura holds an MFA from The New School. His poetry and criticism appear in journals such as Mid-American Review, Verse, Fugue, 14 Hills, The Agriculture Reader, GlitterPony, CutBank and Rain Taxi, among others. He also reviews regularly for The Fortean Times (U.K.) He lives and teaches in Northern New Jersey.

2007-10-13T17:10:00.000-04:00

Check out my review of Anne Pierson Wiese's first book, Floating City, now up at Growler. You can click on this to get where you have to go.

2007-09-26T17:12:00.000-04:00

Check out my review of Cures & Curiosities: Inside the Wellcome Library edited by Tony Gould, available in the new issue (#228) of The Fortean Times. Go ahead and click in this general area.

2007-09-20T17:47:00.001-04:00

So you can all check out my review of C. Dale Young's latest book, The Second Person, in the latest issue of Rain Taxi. Click right about here.

2007-09-16T17:39:00.000-04:00

Different Tangents

which direction you looked
was important for many reasons

we dropped paper and slid down
driveways

I read your notes over and over
there was no mention of me

you couldn't even spell my name
wrong

2007-08-12T12:47:00.001-04:00

The annual Perseid meteor shower began last night and will hit its peak between 9 and 10pm tonight. Look up at the sky.

2007-07-05T15:01:00.000-04:00

Check out my new review of William Hamblin and David Seely's book Solomon's Temple: Myth and History, now out in the special Fortean Times issue 225. This particular issue also is the UFO special, and you all know my feelings on UFOs. Buy a copy at any Barnes & Noble, Borders, Waldenbooks, or wherever.
Click here for The Fortean Times.

2007-07-02T20:12:00.000-04:00

Check out my review of Robin Robertson's latest book, Swithering, now out in CutBank.
Click here

2007-05-30T14:17:00.000-04:00

Ahem...just for the record, I am not now, nor have I ever been, Canadian. Although I do applaud their love of doughnuts.

2007-05-28T10:46:00.000-04:00

So an interesting thing happened on the way to the reading...
An Afternoon of Poetic Debauchery somehow combined with No Tell Motel and created a gigantic poetical monster now known as The Afternoon of Poetic Debauchery in The No Tell Motel!

Thank you to everyone who came out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and supported poetry instead of enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. You can do that later.

Thanks to The Four-Faced Liar for letting us sully their good name, and thanks to the No Tell Motel readers, Shafer Hall, PF Potvin and Reb Livingston. Somehow a great afternoon was made even better.

2007-04-28T18:24:00.000-04:00

Saturday May 26 2007 @ 2pm
An Afternoon of Poetic Debauchery With Five Fantastic Poets!

John Findura
Joan Biddle
Peter Bogart Johnson
Richard Hutzler
Mike Reilly

The Four-Faced Liar
165 West 4th Street,
(Between 6th and 7th Avenues)
New York, NY 10014
Phone: (212) 366 0608

Poet Bios:

John Findura received his BA from The William Paterson University of New Jersey and his MFA from The New School. His poetry and criticism have appeared or are forthcoming in Mid-American Review, Verse, Fugue, GlitterPony, and Agriculture Reader, among others. He teaches at Passaic County College in Paterson, New Jersey and lives nearby with his wife, their puppy and a charm of finches.

Joan Biddle is a writer and editor. She earned a Masters in Writing at Johns Hopkins and an MFA in Writing at The New School, both concentrating in poetry. She has lived in Memphis, Austin, Paris, Baltimore and New York City. Her poems have appeared in the Red Booth Review, Small Spiral Notebook and Half Drunk Muse.

Peter Bogart Johnson received an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School in 2006, where he studied poetry. He currently works as a grant writer and fundraiser for a New York City non-profit and co-edits the biannual literary journal LIT. Originally from California, he now lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their dog.

Richard Hutzler is a founding member of the New Visceral Realists, whose manifesto is forthcoming. In the meantime, in his shadow life, he is a teacher and fundraiser, and sometimes an actor and director. Most of all, however, he is a writer. He was born in Pittsburgh, that venerable city divided by rivers, and now lives and works and plays in New York, that venerable city surrounded by rivers.

Mike Reilly works in an office computing the exchange rate of dollars to karma. If he was a hot dog, he'd eat himself.

Little known facts:
Joan Biddle once power-lifted 560 pounds.
John Findura enjoys pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.
Peter Bogart Johnson holds a 17-8-1 welterweight record with 9 KOs.
Richard Hutzler looks damn good on the dance floor.
Mike Reilly is scared of bacon and women named after cities.

2007-03-19T17:34:00.000-04:00

Go out and pick up issue 32 of Fugue, a really great journal put out by the University of Idaho. Oh yeah, my poem "Things We Never Divided Up But Probably Should Have" is on page 39.
Click here to pick up a copy.

2007-02-07T22:10:00.000-05:00

Do You Like Me Vulnerable

does it matter that I rub my
eye instead of listen closely

when all I want is to throw
my arms backwards, lids

closed and fall into something
soft where you can take me

and I am not speaking literally,
I am trying to avoid saying

something that will open me
more than you would like

2006-12-10T17:44:00.000-05:00

Bless Your Crooked Little Heart

Things would be better if I
were drunk and you were
high and we were in Ohio

but the only way to fix
this one may be with some
sort of heavy machinery

and I'm tired of friction

2006-10-09T12:44:00.000-04:00

A pic of me and Annie Dillard, 10/4/06 The New School

2006-09-29T17:43:00.000-04:00

Short Poem for the PostSecret Generation v.2.1

I have changed my email address
so now there is an excuse for you
to never write me and I will never

know whether you are ignoring me
or trying desperately to find me again
but the agony of it all will not be

lost on me and I will finally resort
to sedatives to help me through all
of the dreamless nights without you

2006-09-28T17:07:00.000-04:00

Short Poem for the PostSecret Generation v.2.0

I’m waiting for you to send me a
new friend request and I check every
half an hour not knowing which

button I will choose because we
are not ourselves anymore and I was
probably never myself even then

2006-09-26T17:06:00.000-04:00

Short Poem for the PostSecret Generation v.1.9

you wrote out the lines “If I knew
I’d still have you tomorrow/ then
I wouldn’t have to lie at all tonight”

above your doorway but we know
that is unlikely in so many ways
and in any case those were my lines

2006-09-25T17:30:00.000-04:00

Short Poem for the PostSecret Generation v.1.8

I know you think every poem
I’ve written since I turned
18 is for you but they’re really

for someone I pretend is Edna
St. Vincent Millay and a girl
with a nose-ring I met on a train

2006-09-24T11:44:00.000-04:00

Short Poem for the PostSecret Generation v.1.7

I uploaded a photo of a Scottish
singer that you don’t know onto
my pictures section of MySpace

hoping that your curiosity will
lead you to it and your jealousy
will assume her my girlfriend

2006-09-23T11:02:00.000-04:00

Short Poem for the PostSecret Generation v.1.6

I don’t leave comments on your
MySpace because I want you to
think I have more important things

to take care of than click on your
picture out of the hundreds that
I already don’t talk to anymore

2006-09-20T17:14:00.000-04:00

Because I was not here yesterday, yesterdays poem is here today

Short Poem for the PostSecret Generation v.1.5

I look at your list of friends
on MySpace and try to figure
out which ones you’ve slept with

and which ones you only smoked
pot with and let feel you up
while listening to Chet Baker

2006-09-18T17:11:00.000-04:00

Short Poem for the PostSecret Generation v.1.4

I read the comments your friends
leave for you on your MySpace page
and worry about what they mean

I don’t know what you did on
the 14th to warrant thanks but
I’m not surprised you’re “the best”

2006-09-17T12:33:00.000-04:00

Short Poem for the PostSecret generation v.1.3

I did not recognize most of the people
in your newest pictures on MySpace
so I can only assume they are friends

you work with and are giving you bad
advice about music and television because
I know you enjoy Chopin more than techno

2006-09-16T13:08:00.000-04:00

Short Poem for the PostSecret generation v.1.2

I saw you changed your MySpace picture
replacing the one of you holding your cat
with one of you and your boyfriend deep

in the woods of western Canada wearing
sweaters and I realized that this can only
be a message saying you’re cold without me

2006-09-15T17:10:00.000-04:00

Short Poem for the PostSecret Generation v.1.1

I never change my MySpace picture
because I am scared that you will
not see it and miss seeing me reversed

in a mirror thinking of what you will
think of seeing me with my hair
so different than you remember

2006-09-14T17:29:00.000-04:00

Short Poem for the PostSecret Generation

I change my MySpace picture
twice a day and wonder if you
will notice and miss me more

and then I wonder if you will
read this poem and then go onto
MySpace and change your name

to "No I do not miss you more"
leaving me to be the only one
to know that you really do

2006-09-13T21:44:00.000-04:00

She's Armed and She's Equal

so you've named all
of the things I love
then told me I will
never have any of them

not knowing what I love
most of all is to hear
you list things in your
slightly wavering accent

2006-09-11T21:40:00.000-04:00

It Was Only A White Shirt I Wore Once, Honestly

it started with prayers
ended with your blood
on my face a pinch of vein

your name was French
short and easiest to say
walking over wet grass

2006-09-04T13:10:00.000-04:00

Crikey, what horrible news to wake up to.

2006-09-02T22:47:00.000-04:00

I re-read Priscilla Becker's first book, Internal West, and have found I enjoyed it much more this time than when I read it when it first came out. It is a very pleasant suprise when a book of poetry ages well after the first few years.