Wednesday, July 18, 2007

For Immediate Release
Contact: Paul E. Nelson
Global Voices Radio/SPLAB!
Slaughter, WA 98002

253.735.6328


Global Voices Radio / SPLAB! E-Fishwrapper


In this E-Fishwrapper, Sekou Sundiata's Passing, August Poetry Postard Fest, SPlabman Reads in Snohomish TOMORROW, David Rizzi in Duvall, Bioneers in Seattle & more than you'll actually read.

1) From: Cathy Zimmerman [ mailto:cathy@multiartsprojects.com ]

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

It is with deep sadness and the heaviest of hearts that we inform you that
Sekou Sundiata, the eloquent and much loved poet, performer, artist activist
and educator, passed away this morning July 18, 2007 at 5:47am at the age of
58 due to heart failure.

Sekou Sundiata fell ill earlier this month as he was preparing for the
European premiere of his latest epic music/theater piece, the 51st dream
state, at the Stimmen Festival in Germany. In early June he performed,
blessing the boats, at the Spoleto Festival in S.C. and delivered a keynote
presentation at the 13th Annual Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed
International Conference in Minneapolis. He leaves behind a full schedule of
performances, community residencies and keynote speeches.

Mr. Sundiata's untimely passing is a profound loss not only to his family
and innumerable friends, colleagues and students but also to all of the
individuals and communities whom he touched and changed through his
performances, music, writings, public talks, interviews and conversations.

Mr. Sundiata is survived by his wife, Maurine (Kazi) Knighton, daughter
Myisha Gomez, stepdaughter Aida Riddle, grandson Amman and his mother
Virginia Myrtle Feaster, two brothers William and Ronald and lots of nieces,
nephews, aunts and uncles. Cards can be sent to Maurine at 296 Stuyvesant
Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11221. Donations in memory of Sekou may be made
to the National Kidney Foundation at 30 E. 33rd Street, Suite 1100, New York
NY 10016. Details regarding funeral arrangements will be forthcoming.

We have attached here some additional information about Sekou Sundiata and
his work. Please feel free to contact us for further information.

In the words of Sekou,

All of a sudden.,
Cathy, Ann, Jordana, Milka and Emily
MAPP International Productions
Tel: 646-602-9390

excerpt from the 51st (dream) state by Sekou Sundiata:

What if we were Life
Or Liberty
Or the Pursuit of something new?
Between the rocks below
and the stars above
What if we were composed by Love?
And what if we could show
that what we dream
is deeper than what we know?
Suppose if something does not live
in the world
that we long to see
then we make it ourselves
as we want it to be
What if we are Life
Or Liberty
and the Pursuit of something new?
And suppose the beautiful answer
asks the more beautiful question,
Why don't we get our hopes up too high?
What don't we get our hopes up to high?
High!


2) August Poetry Postcard Fest

Lana Ayers and I have almost 90 folks agreeing to send a poem on a postcard each August day this year. We've constructed three lists and poets from as far as London, Reykjavik, The Netherlands, Ottawa, Nanaimo and Slaughter are in on this. More details at http://www.poetrypostcards.blogspot.com. There will be a September 22 event to discuss the project and share some of the best work and we'll let you know about that as we line up the venue. We have room for two more poets.

3. Paul Nelson reads in Snohomish Tomorrow Night. (Thursday, 7.19.07)

Wired and Unplugged is a reading curated by Jack McCarthy
717 1st Street, downtown Snohomish.
Parking is easy.

Paul will have freshly burned copies of his CD A Time Before Slaughter and Other Poems.


4) David Rizzi Featured also Up North,eh?


From Roy Seitz: ANNOUNCING THE 4th MONDAY POETRY READING, July 23 AT P&G SPEAKEASY CAFE IN DUVALL.
15614 Main St., Duvall, WA 98019, (425)-844-2766 www.pandgspeakeasycafe.com


just under the surface

of our street we hear rumor

that our race is almost done



I find David Rizzi's poems haunting, provocative, sometimes humorous. David is a storyteller with poetry and knows the importance of the apt phrase. He is wonderful to listen to. I've b! een looking forward to this for a long time. Come willing to fall under his spell. Open mic sign-up starts at 6:00. Reading starts at 6:30. Featured reader at 7:00
P&G has excellent food and is known as a relaxed and friendly venue for artists throughout the region. Order food and drink and support a rare business whose heart and soul is local artists.

David Rizzi writes poetry, solves technical issues, plays drums, peers into cracks in the earth behind the barn. He has a fixer upper house and two maybe one cat(s). His book of poetry, vibrant city of Bones is currently available, and another book, meeting with the machine is coming soon. David is also the author of the 39 part poem 39 boys on ground. More information on www.davidrizzi.com

Marching again

lay down your arms

come into bed

we shall lick ice cream

until glass melts

& all our amphibian lust is gone

then we will come to our senses

put our Monday morning shoes

over Sunday socks

& climb elevators

to an important office

counting clouds

never have we seen

the sky from above the sky

as a solar wind passing

to Orion

always we have trundled

with coats and hats

(natty hip hop hats whispering our wit)

over suit and tie

& briefcase badgering

to perform and

leave our dreams smoldering

just under the surface

of our street we hear rumor

that our race is almost done

this shall be the l! ast time

we trip on chains

cracking our leg on cement benches

no more putting trust

on the shelf to fester & rot

Spring is a rushing freight train

full of grapefruit and Texas sunshine

and Winter a broken wing bird

unable to fly from the cross ties

where it has fallen


© 2007 David Rizzi


5) Bioneers


Dear Bioneers,

We would like to invite you to submit a proposal to present at the
first annual Seattle Bioneers Conference, October 19 - 21, 2007. The
conference is a mix of the keynote speakers from the national
Bioneers conference live via satellite and local speakers live in
person at the Seattle Center.

The Seattle Bioneers Conference will draw hundreds of active and
informed leaders from around the region to share knowledge and wisdom
related to the pressing environmental and social challenges of our
time. The conference educates, inspires, and strengthens community
among those who care for the Earth.

I hope you will take this opportunity to be a part of this historic
event.

Speaker info: http://nweec.org/seattlebioneers/get_involved-speaker.php

Conference info: http://nweec.org/seattlebioneers/index.php

Please feel free to contact me anytime with questions or comments.

In community,

Shannon Luoma
Outreach and Environmental Education Manager
Northwest Environmental Education Council, 501(c)(3)
Fostering an ecologically sustainable world through education
650 S. Orcas Street, Suite 220
Seattle, Washington 98108
v: 206-923-1980
f: 206-762-1979
c: 206-856-6708
www.nweec.org

The news about Sekou Sundiata is difficult for me to relate to you. He was an amazing human, performer and writer and will be missed. I saw him in Taos and at the Skagit River Poetry Festival and had a chance to spend a few minutes with him. Few poets ever get the essence of Jazz into their work. He was one. I'm sending healing thoughts to his loved ones. See
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWhnZPeW644 if you don't know his work.


Looks like I'll be the next Board President of the Washington Poets Association. Any feedback you'd like to give on WPA is welcome, as are potential Board Members who want to work to help support poetry though this 36 year old organization. It is evolving quickly and Burning Word V next April promises to be the best one yet. Details soon.

It is later than you think. Be well.

Paul E. Nelson, M.A.

Paul E. Nelson, M.A.

Global Voices Radio
SPLAB!
American Sentences
Organic Poetry
Poetry Postcard Blog

Slaughter, WA 253.735.6328 or 888.735.6328

Want off this email list? Just ask.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

For Immediate Release
Contact: Paul E. Nelson
Global Voices Radio/SPLAB!
Slaughter, WA 98002

253.735.6328


Global Voices Radio / SPLAB! E-Fishwrapper


In this E-Fishwrapper, August Poetry Postard Fest, Eastside Readings, Life During Wartime, Hip Hop Caucus, Tiny Books, Tiny Books, Job at Penn Sound, Health Care in Cuba & assorted notes.


1) August Poetry Postcard Fest

No, we did not get any great suggestions for a better name, but Lana Ayers and I DO have almost 90 folks agreeing to send a poem on a postcard each August day this year. We've constructed three lists and we're stopping there and moving on with the project. Poets from as far as London, Reykjavik, The Netherlands, Ottawa, Nanaimo and Slaughter are in on this. More details right here in the Fishwrapper as they emerge. There will be a September 22 event to discuss the project and share some of the best work and we'll let you know about that as we line up the venue. Guidelines to the APPF are: http://splab.org/appf.html

2. Two Eastside readings

Wednesday, July 11 at 7 p.m.
ParkPlace Books, ParkPlace Plaza , Kirkland , WA
Radio and Roadshow personality Elizabeth Austen and oomph-seeker Alexandra Oliver read from their most recent works. Brief open mic follows. Contact book store 425-828-6546 for info. Alexandra features at the Slam tonight at TOST in Fremont in the shadow of Lenin.

Thursday, July 19 at 7 p.m.
SoulFood Books, 15748 Redmond Way, Redmond , WA
Doc Peter Pereira and Prof Nancy Pagh read from their newest poetry collections. Followed by open mic. Contact book store at 425-881-5309 for directions. See if the good doctor will give you a check-up when Dean isn't looking.

2.5 Ron Silliman on Joanne Kyger

What a wonderful, insightful post Ron Silliman did on Joanne Kyger yesterday.
Scroll down a bit at: http://ronsilliman.blogspot.com/

3. The Chemical Brothers and bill bisset. No kidding.

http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSL0824923720070708
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A24237263

4) Life During Wartime

Hugo House hosts a quarterly genre competition and entries for "Life During Wartime" are due July 16. This is a satisfying competition, people have been saying that the guidelines work like a writing assignment and are stirring and thought provoking.
http://www.hugohouse.org/events/wartime/

5) Voters for Peace

Rev. Lennox Yearwood, VotersForPeace Board Member and president of the Hip Hop Caucus, is one of our most powerful moral voices against the US occupation of Iraq . Rev. Yearwood is the latest veteran harassed by the US government for his anti-war advocacy. Incredibly they are attempting to label him a threat to national security.

VotersForPeace will be by his side in Atlanta at his administrative hearing where he will have an opportunity to talk about the real threats to our national security - such as an administration that lies, commits war crimes and squanders our wealth. http://www.hiphopcaucus.org

Sincerely,
Linda Schade
Executive Director, VotersForPeace http://www.votersforpeace.us

6) Tiny Books

Meritage Press Announcement For more information: MeritagePress@aol.com

WITH MORE TINY BOOKS, POETRY FEEDS THE WORLD

Meritage Press (MP) is pleased to announce the second title in its series of Tiny Books that aligns poetry with fair trade and economic development issues affecting Third World countries.

MP's Tiny Books initially utilize small books (1 3/4" x 1 3/4") made in Guatemala by artisans paid fair wages, as sourced by Baksheesh, a fair trade retailer. All profits from book sales then will be donated to Heifer International, an organization devoted to reducing world hunger by promoting sustainable sources of food and income.

We are delighted to announce that MP's second Tiny Book is

Steps: A Notebook
by Tom Beckett

Tom Beckett is the author of Unprotected Texts: Selected Poems 1978~2006 (Meritage Press, 2006), and the curator of E-X-C-H-A-N-G-E-V-A-L-U-E-S: The First XI Interviews (Otoliths, 2007). From 1980-1990, he was the editor/publisher of the now legendary critical journal, The Difficulties. Steps: A Notebook is Tom Beckett's first hay(na)ku poetry collection. The hay(na)ku is also a form that lends itself to minimalism.

MP's Tiny Book series was inaugurated by

all alone again
by Dan Waber

Dan Waber is a visual poet, concrete poet, sound poet, performance poet, publisher, editor, playwright and multimedia artist whose work has appeared in all sorts of delicious places, from digital to print, from stage to classroom, from mailboxes to puppet theaters. He is currently working on "and everywhere in between". He makes his online home at logolalia.com. Meritage Press tapped Mr. Waber to inaugurate the series partly for his work in minimalist poetry.

With Tiny Books, MP also offers a new DIY, or Do-It-Yourself Model of publishing. You've heard of POD or print-on-demand? Well, these books' print runs will be based on HOD or Handwritten-on-Demand. MP's publisher, Eileen Tabios, will handwrite all texts into the Tiny Books' pages and books will be released to meet demand for as long as MP is able to source tiny books -- or until the publisher gets arthritis.

This project reflects Meritage Press' belief that "Poetry feeds the world" in non-metaphorical ways. The Tiny Books create demand for fair trade workers' products while also sourcing donations for easing poverty in poorer areas of the world.

Each Tiny Book will cost $10 plus $1.00 shipping/handling. To purchase the Tiny Books and donate to Heifer International, send a check for $11.00 per book, made out to "Meritage Press" to

Eileen Tabios
Meritage Press
256 North Fork Crystal Springs Rd.
St. Helena, CA 94574
*****

7) Job at Penn Sound

PENNsound will be hiring a MANAGING EDITOR. This is a part-time job - 20 hours per week. The job will begin in August or early September, depending on the successful candidate's availability. The position will run 48-50 weeks per year, although summer hours are negotiable.

The MANAGING EDITOR will help coordinate the work being done by work-study students and others who help us produce digital audio (and some video) recordings of poets reading their poems and discussing poetry and
poetics. The MANAGING EDITOR will also reach out to poets who are contributing recordings of their work, arrange necessary permissions, answering users' and poets' queries, help direct updates to the site, work
with Penn's library on cataloging projects, and help curatorially to shape the direction of the archive.

Candidates should be familiar with (or able to learn quickly) how to work with digital audio materials, the ins and outs of a web site such as PENNsound's, and the management of student workers and volunteers. Candidates should also be somewhat familiar or perhaps very familiar with modern and contemporary poetry.

Candidates are asked to familiarize themselves with the PENNsound project by exploring

http://writing.upenn/edu/pennsound .

To apply, please send a cover letter and c.v./resume to:

Mingo Reynolds
Associate Director for Administration
Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing
3808 Locust Walk
University of Pennsylvania

at this email address: mingo@writing.upenn.edu.

The cover letter should briefly describe relevant experience (tech plus poetry) and availability.

8) Health Care in Cuba.

Universal & Free. Salud. will be shown at a potluck evening on Thursday, July 13th at 7 (potluck @ 6) 8923 2nd Av N.E.

In the excellent movie, SICKO, Michael Moore examines the failures of the .for profit. health care system in the United States . and he gives a glimpse of the health care system in Cuba. Now you have an opportunity to see a full documentary about the entire health care system in Cuba . in all of its complexity. It.s utilization of alternative medical practices as well as the latest techniques of Western medicine. And it looks at the absolutely free medical training facilities there . the neighborhood health maintenance practice. The export of thousands of doctors to poor Third World countries all over the world and the long establishment of a completely free Medical School for poor scholars from around the world . including some from the United States . who earn a medical degree on the condition that they return to their home country and minister to under served populations.

*Salud* looks at the curious case of Cuba, a cash-strapped country with what the BBC calls .one of the world.s best health systems.. From the shores of Africa to the Americas, *Salud* hits the road with some of the 28,000 Cuban health professionals serving in 68 countries, and explores the hearts and minds of international medical students in Cuba -- now numbering 30,000, including nearly 100 from the USA. Their stories plus testimony from experts around the world bring home the competing agendas that mark the battle for global health. and the
complex realities confronting the movement to make healthcare everyone.s birth right.

.Salud. will be shown at a potluck evening on Thursday, July 13th at 7pm(potluck @ 6) 8923 2nd Ave N.E.

Bring the dish of your choice. There will be vegetarian black beans and meaty chili as a main dishes. A collection will be taken to support the 18th annual Friendshipment of material aid to Cuba and visitors who defy the blockade and travel ban to protest these unconstitutional and immoral and senseless restrictions which hurt us as well as the people of Cuba. For more information, call 206 523-1720.

I attended the OSPA/WPA picnic Saturday and just have to say Christopher Luna is one of the warmest, coolest poets around. Vancouver is lucky to have someone of his commitment. Fort Vancouver, WA, that is. Then I headed to Portland to have an Ontological Consultation with Solihin Thom. His process is one of the most remarkable healing investigations I have ever experienced. Details on the work he and his partner Alicia do are at http://www.adhumanitas.com I strongly urge anyone who has difficult health challenges to see these folks.

In August the postcards will be flyin'. See you at the mailbox.

Paul E. "You Should See the Cool Postcards I Have" Nelson, M.A.

Paul E. Nelson
www.GlobalVoicesRadio.org
www.SPLAB.org
Slaughter, WA 98002
253.735.6328 or 888.735.6328

Want off this email list? Just ask.




Paul E. Nelson
www.GlobalVoicesRadio.org
www.SPLAB.org
908 I. St. N.E. #4
Slaughter, WA 98002
253.735.6328 or 888.735.6328