Gerald Vizenor was recently welcomed by Birchbark Books for a reading from his new book Treaty Shirts: October 2034—A Familiar Treatise on the White Earth Nation. The event was held at the Bockley Gallery in Minneapolis. In this masterful, candid, surreal, and satirical allegory set in an imagined future, seven natives are exiled from federal sectors that have…
Gerald Vizenor at Birchbark Books!
by tsjohnson •
Gerald Vizenor has been welcomed by Birchbark Books for a reading from his new book Treaty Shirts: October 2034—A Familiar Treatise on the White Earth Nation. The reading will be held at the Bockley Gallery (near Birchbark Books in Minneapolis) on Tuesday, August 9th at 7pm. Birchbark Books is owned and operated by New York Times…
“Hamilton” History Lessons & The Federalist Papers
by tsjohnson •
The Hamilton buzz won’t be ending anytime soon. Lin Manuel Miranda, a Wesleyan alum, has created a hit that will irrefutably change the stage and much beyond. With tickets basically impossible to lay your hands on to this phenomenal rejuvenation to both America’s early history and Broadway’s musical scene, it’s no surprise you can’t go a…
László Moholy-Nagy Retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum
by tsjohnson •
“You would hardly know, from this show, that Moholy-Nagy shared an era with Picasso and Matisse. Perhaps chalk it up to the First World War and the Russian Revolution and a fissure in Western culture between art that maintained conventional mediums and art that subsumed them in a romance with social change and new techniques.…
Benedict Arnold & AMC’s “Turn: Washington’s Spies”
by tsjohnson •
Wartime treachery, twisted spies and brutality—sound familiar? AMC’s period drama TURN: Washington’s Spies is in it’s third season, and tensions are rising in the Arnold household. One can understand how a man could be frustrated, having served as Washington’s finest battle commander only to be sent to work a desk job. This restless man would become synonymous with ‘traitor.’ If you’re…
NaPoMo16: Philip Whalen’s “Hymnus Ad Patrem Sinensis”
by tsjohnson •
When asked about his favorite poem, Michael Rothenburg replied with “Hymnus Ad Patrem Sinensis” by Philip Whalen from The Collected Poems of Philip Whalen. Hymnus Ad Patrem Sinensis I praise those ancient Chinamen Who left me a few words, Usually a pointless joke or a silly question A line of poetry drunkenly scrawled on the…
NaPoMo16: Marianne Boruch on 2 poems & an email from Russell Edson
by tsjohnson •
When we at Wesleyan University Press asked poet Marianne Boruch to select one of her favorite poems, she replied two poems by the late poet Russell Edson. This being spring, specifically April, and heralded for a while now—for good and ill—under the name of Poetry (capital P), here’s part of an email I got in…
NaPoMo16: Brenda Hillman on Jameel Din’s “The Life Is Preserved”
by tsjohnson •
When asked about her favorite poems, Brenda Hillman replied with “The Life is Preserved,” by Jameel Din, from the 1987 California Poets in the Schools statewide anthology, Thread Winding in the Loom. I let the request slide for a while through neurotic indecision, then thought about poems I’ve enjoyed for a long time. One of the…
NaPoMo16: Evie Shockley & June Jordan’s “Poem about My Rights”
by tsjohnson •
This April marks the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month, which was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. Each year, publishers, booksellers, educators and literary organizations use April to support poetry; whether you’re undertaking the National Poetry Writing Month challenge, teaching poetry in your classroom, or making efforts to read more poetry year-round. To…
A Lunch Time Reading @ ACE HOTEL #AWP2016
by tsjohnson •
1913 Press, Sidebrow & Wesleyan University Press present: A Lunch Time Reading at Ace Hotel Rae Armantrout ♠ Fred Moten ♠ Ben Doller ♠ Sandra Doller ♠ Amaranth Borsuk Kate Durbin ♠ Lily Hoang ♠ Mathias Svalina Join us on March 31st at the historic Ace Hotel in Los Angeles for a readings and performances by poets Rae Armantrout, Ben Doller, Fred Moten & more! Noon–2PM…