winter river : featuring first-time river-ers adam atkinson, josef horáček, and elwin cotman.
plus: river open mic.
see you at 8 PM.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
winter river: atkinson / horáček / cotman reading + open mic
winter river : featuring first-time river-ers adam atkinson, josef horáček, and elwin cotman.
plus: river open mic.
see you at 8 PM.
Friday, November 9, 2012
MA fellowships to be rivered...
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Sunday, November 4, 2012
RIVARIETY: performance & poetry 11.13.12
We interrupt our regular river programming to bring you:
RIVARIETY: poetry & performance, featuring members of LSU's Performance Studies Studio!
With performances by Kaitlin Cannava, Emily Graves, Eddie Gamboa, Benjamin Haas, and Bonny McDonald.
A spectacle not to be missed!
Same river time (8 PM), same river place (Boudreaux & Thibodeaux's).
Thursday, November 1, 2012
A Poet's Diagnosis
One of the best rivers ever Tuesday past! Never-satisfied, River Writers proudly provides a thought-provoking piece from the poet Christopher Shipman; this diagnosis speaks more to the larger context of reading series in general, not specific, and the trouble contemporary poets experience independently traveling the nation to publicize and sell their work:
A Poet’s Diagnosis
A friend mentioned the other day that poets seem to
undervalue themselves because they will often read for free. This friend is a
great poet himself, but fails to see the source of the problem. Perhaps some
poets really do undervalue themselves and their art, and maybe this is the real
reason why they don’t expect compensation for their talents. But why do
something you don’t appreciate yourself?
The real issue here is that the majority of the American
public undervalues poets, which is of course the biggest problem, but what’s
more is that poets undervalue other poets, forcing those who really love
writing and reading poetry to be more pragmatic about what kind of compensation
they can expect from venues and their guests.
There are 3 major indicators that reveal the nature of this
problem:
1.) Sometimes poets drive or fly hundreds and hundreds of
miles for readings in cities that are known for having good literary scenes and
good MFA programs to find maybe 3 people in attendance. Sometimes the room may be packed with twenty
to thirty listeners; then poets will sell maybe two books. And there is always
at least one person in the crowd that approaches the poet after the reading to say
how much they loved the work...But instead of buying a book, for maybe 15 bucks
at the most, the congratulator finds his way to the bar and never considers he
could have bought the book while buying his third beer for 6 bucks. In other
words, instead of saying it, buy the shit you like.
2.) Oftentimes the poet who has driven the hundreds of miles
and has maybe sold two books and has said thank you to the congratulator,
becomes that very congratulator at another reading. Why does this happen? I know a lot of poets, some are good poets and
most are good people, who don’t go to readings and don’t buy books. Why not? What
new poetry are they supporting? Or valuing? Many poets go to their own readings
and apparently don’t care about what other people are writing. This is a way to
build a community that is valued by other communities or in the very least its
members. If I like what is being read to me, and I am not on the verge of
starving, I will purchase the book the poet has so lovingly brought along, and
at some point in the near future I will actually read the damn thing. In other
words, contemporary poets aren’t buying
and reading enough poetry.
3.) An interesting and perhaps more detrimental indicator of
this problem is that poets today have such narrow tastes and styles that they
seemingly don’t acknowledge poetry that doesn’t fit into the confines of their
own niche. This makes poetry stagnant.
What I really want to say is that I love poems. I
fucking love the poems, and the possibly
of publishing and interacting with poets. I can live with the whole world not loving poems so long as poets
themselves love them. Support them, read them, hear them, throw them in the
river, bury them, and stuff them in your breath. Let’s value each other so
others will value us. But if you don’t love poetry, maybe you should just stop
fucking pretending.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
delatte/kari/hembree river 10.30.12
Anne Delatte recently graduated from LSU with a BA in English/Creative
Writing. Her poems have appeared in delta journal, and she is currently
working on various projects of language and poesy in the Baton Rouge
and New Orleans area.
Jackie Kari is a poet, translator, and amateur printmaker. Her work has appeared in The Cambridge Literary Review, Lana Turner, RealPoetik, and elsewhere. A chapbook of translations is forthcoming from Sardines Press.
Carolyn Hembree’s debut collection, Skinny, was recently published by Kore Press. Individual poems have
appeared in Colorado Review, DIAGRAM, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, jubilat,
and Witness, among other journals and
anthologies. Kore Press published her debut collection, Skinny, in 2012. Her
poetry has received three Pushcart Prize nominations, a PEN Writers Grant, a
Southern Arts Federation Grant, and a Louisiana Division of the Arts Fellowship
Award in Literature. Before completing her MFA, she found employment as a
cashier, housecleaner, cosmetics consultant, telecommunicator, actor,
receptionist, paralegal, coder, and freelance writer. Carolyn grew up in
Tennessee and Alabama. She teaches at the University of New Orleans.
Skinny by Carolyn Hembree
Monday, October 15, 2012
RIVERCOURSE 10.16.12
join us tuesday 10/16, 8 PM @ Boudreaux & Thibodeaux's for an evening of RIVERCOURSE with some of our favorite river-regulars:
carrie causey, whose chapbook is forthcoming from Ampersand Books
ben lowenkron, author of Preacher's Blues (Ampersand Books 2009)eric elliott, author of The Graves We Dig (Ampersand Books 2011)
christopher shipman, co-author of Romeo's Ugly Nose (Allography Press 2012) with Benjamin Cockfield, Super Poems (Kattywompus 2012) with DeWitt Brinson, and author of Human-Carrying Flight Technology (BlazeVOX 2011).
vincent cellucci, river-founder, author of An Easy Place / To Die (CityLit Press 2011) & editor of
Fuck Poems: An Exceptional Anthology (Lavender Press 2012)
Monday, October 1, 2012
River "bye" week 10.2.12
like every well-oiled machine, this writing series must cool its jets from time to time.
in honor of this "cold" snap, take to your warm, warm beds tomorrow night ... for poetry-making.
not to worry: this is a "bye" week, not a bye bye.
the river returns October 16 w/ fabulous readers & familiar faces. same river time (8:00, 10/16), same river place (boudreaux & thibodeaux's).
in honor of this "cold" snap, take to your warm, warm beds tomorrow night ... for poetry-making.
not to worry: this is a "bye" week, not a bye bye.
the river returns October 16 w/ fabulous readers & familiar faces. same river time (8:00, 10/16), same river place (boudreaux & thibodeaux's).
Sunday, September 16, 2012
o river! my river! 9.18.12
every once in a while, the river requests some fiction--short fiction--along with its poetry.
well, river--your wish is our command.
sean green, a fiction writer from San Jose, reads his short fiction for your pleasure.
followed by a poetry reading from river-regular sarah hulyk maxwell, who promises to offer up unconventional, delightful gifts of poetry to the river.
meet us at the river! Tuesday, September 18, 8:00 PM, Boudreaux & Thibodeaux's.
Sarah Hulyk-Maxwell
Seah Green
Saturday, September 1, 2012
tender river 9.4.12
our upcoming river, TENDER RIVER, showcases both editors of the poetry magazine tenderloin, Mel Coyle and Jenn Marie Nunes, and their most recent supplicant, Min K. Kang, whose work is currently LIVE @ tender-loin.com/.
Min K. Kang was born in Busan, South Korea and grew up in Texas. She is a
graduate of Texas A&M and San Francisco State. Her poetry has
appeared or is forthcoming in Asia Literary Review, Santa Clara Review, Transfer, and the anthology for Thymos, an organization for Asian American Activism and Awareness. She currently studies creative writing at Louisiana State and lives in Baton Rouge for most of the year.
"the meat is weird; the poet
speaks of this. when speaking of the meat try not to make sense of the
loin of making sense. not about weight. but about balance. or weight. we
speak of weight in our product. who we take down with us when we go is
always an art."
drag the river w/ us, this Tuesday, September 4, 2012, 8:00 PM, Boudreaux & Thibodeaux's, 214 3rd St # 2D Baton Rouge, LA.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
riverback!
river's back for another season of readings from the best
of baton rouge and the louisiana literary community:
we are officially changing the times to tuesdays at 8pm and still the same supporting location boudreaux + thibodeaux (downtown, 214 third st.). last but most important piece of news to release is that john david harding will be managing the series for the forseeable future so everyone please contact him for reading slots and event suggestions. as always, i will be aberrant in the riverever, vincent cellucci, now conceding to this year's inaugural readers:
Victoria Mansberger, a uber-talented poet rising in baton rouge; also pursuing her mfa @ lsu
Carrie Causey, another baton rouge poet teaching at baton rouge community college with an outstanding publication record.
and another teacher_poet joining us from down river:
Brad Richard, who will be giving the river his second only sneak peak of his new book: butcher's sugar
Brad Richard’s books include Habitations (Portals Press, 2000);
Motion Studies winner of the
2010 Washington Prize (The Word Works. 2011); and Butcher’s Sugar, forthcoming from Sibling Rivalry Press (2012). He
has also published two chapbooks, The Men
in the Dark (Lowlands Press, 2004) and Curtain
Optional (Press Street, 2011). His poems and reviews have appeared in American Letters & Commentary, Barrow
Street, Bayou, Guernica, Hunger Mountain Review, The Iowa Review, The Laurel
Review, Literary Imagination, The Massachusetts Review, Mississippi Review, New Orleans Review,
Passages North, Prairie Schooner, and other journals. Recipient of
fellowships from the Surdna Foundation and the Louisiana Division of the Arts,
and 2002 Poetry Winner in the Poets & Writers, Inc., Writers Exchange
competition, he is chair of the creative writing program at Lusher Charter High
School in New Orleans. He is also co-director of the New Orleans New Writers
Literary Festival, a festival for high school writers, and the Scholastic
Writing Awards of Southeast Louisiana, a regional affiliate of the Alliance for
Young Artists & Writers.
Friday, August 10, 2012
we believe in bill
* * * * * * * *
outraged to be informed of this on rivervacation and was compelled to get back on the grid and type up something for my friend bill. it's not nearly enough--
“Nothing gold can stay”—this is particularly evident in NOLA day after day. This
REPOSTING from SOLOLITSERV:
outraged to be informed of this on rivervacation and was compelled to get back on the grid and type up something for my friend bill. it's not nearly enough--
“Nothing gold can stay”—this is particularly evident in NOLA day after day. This
is a comparable sacking to the literary scene of NOLA as your girl
Katrina hitting the city seven years ago. Bill has been a friend and
mentor for many years now. I cannot imagine someone more intrinsically
connected to poetry and the city of New Orleans to lead UNO Press. He
is approachable, fearless, and learned, and this is a devastating loss
to literary LA. Hopefully we at LSU or one of the other nearby
universities will be smart enough to scoop Bill up and provide him with
the resources he needs to keep LA unpretentiously pertinent and
publishing the poetry emanating from the state and elsewhere with gusto
for the people (readers and writers) not the pedigree. All it should
take is one look at the UNO table (the titles, authors, and camaraderie)
during AWP to note what Bill has achieved on the national scale.
BRING BACK BILL!!!!
VINCENT CELLUCCI
* * * * * * * *
Dear Friends,
Today
the news from the New Orleans poetry community is very, very bad.
Poet
BILL LAVENDER, director of University of New Orleans Press has been
SACKED by the administrators at University of New Orleans.
Bill
Lavender not only resurrected UNO Press, but
under Bill's stewardship these past four years, UNO
press has published an astounding 80+ excellent books nationally and
internationally; and the press is by no means strapped for funding. UNO Press
is currently regarded as one of the most prestigious
and financially self-sustainable university presses in all
of the United States.
Be
assured, this so-called "elimination" is purely POLITICALLY
motivated, not otherwise.
Dean Susan
Krantz of the University of New Orleans informed Bill Lavender of his
"elimination" recently via email while Bill was still in
Scotland fulfilling his duties as Director of UNO's Abroad Program.
IN THE
NAME OF POETRY, please...
Stand
with US!
SPEAK
out!
Let
them hear your VOICE loud and clear!
Pressure
is mounting from all sectors near and far to EXPOSE the corruption
and unethical conduct at the University of New Orleans at the very highest
levels!
Bill
Lavender's so-called "ELIMINATION" is a devastating
blow which will be felt deeply by poetry communities everywhere--
from New Orleans to New York to California to Brazil
to Zimbabwe--and everywhere in between!
Let higher
ed charlatans know you DETEST of their actions!
INFORM fatcat
administrators that their professed soulessness toward POETRY is
indeed a high act of treason to the art we LOVE!
They
must answer for this singular INJUSTICE to POETRY and to poet
Bill Lavender!
We
need every nano of LOVE and SUPPORT you can give!
YOUR
voice will be LEGION!
TURNABOUT!
Love,
Strength & Peace Through Poetry Always!
Sincerest
Regards,
Andrei
Codrescu and Dave Brinks
* * * *
* * * *
Dear Friends: This just in from
Andrei Codrescu:
Andrei Codrescu thinks that Bill Lavender's firing is a disgrace, but the text sent out by Dr.(Dave Brinks) Sleepadelic @aol.com is, in my opinion, over the top. UNO is bad, but what I really hate is Iran's nuclear program. Andrei Codrescu
Andrei Codrescu thinks that Bill Lavender's firing is a disgrace, but the text sent out by Dr.(Dave Brinks) Sleepadelic @aol.com is, in my opinion, over the top. UNO is bad, but what I really hate is Iran's nuclear program. Andrei Codrescu
* * * * * * * *
Please
send a personal letter of objection to ALL email addresses listed:
University
of New Orleans Provost Louis Paradise: lparadis@uno.edu
University
of New Orleans President Peter Fos: pfos@uno.edu
University
of New Orleans, College of Liberal Arts, Dean Susan Krantz: skrantz@uno.edu
University
of New Orleans, Director of Creative fbarton@uno.edu
* * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * *
Sign
Petition site:
https://www.change.org/petitions/uno-president-peter-fos-provost-louis-paradise-and-dean-susan-krantz-keep-bill-lavender-as-the-director-of-uno-press-4
(You may have to copy and paste the above address into the appropriate place, unable to get hot-link to work.)
* * * * * * * *
https://www.change.org/petitions/uno-president-peter-fos-provost-louis-paradise-and-dean-susan-krantz-keep-bill-lavender-as-the-director-of-uno-press-4
(You may have to copy and paste the above address into the appropriate place, unable to get hot-link to work.)
* * * * * * * *
Links
to media reports covering this outrageous act (please post your
personal comments to articles):
Inside
Higher Education story: http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/08/07/u-new-orleans-says-press-hiatus-will-be-brief
Poetry Foundation story: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2012/08/university-of-new-orleans-press-on-hiatus/#.UCKiEZ-N5Fk.facebook
Publisher's Weekly story: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/53459-uno-press-is-shut-down-director-bill-lavender-ousted.html
Times-Picayune story:
http://www.nola.com/books/index.ssf/2012/08/furor_over_shuttered_uno_press.html
The
CHRONICLE of Higher Education story: http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/director-of-u-of-new-orleans-press-loses-job-amid-budget-cuts/46549
Another
story from Publisher's
Weekly: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/53474-with-director-s-ouster-uno-press-faces-uncertain-future-.html
Another
story from Inside Higher
Education: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/08/06/university-new-orleans-plans-put-university-press-hiatus
[NOTE:
If you tweet, post and use hashtag #UNOpress to get these articles trending]
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if you're on FB, check posts there]
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