Dear SPLAB-Fan,
I have several events at which I will be promoting American Prophets and I hope to see you at one or two. The first is on Super Bowl Sunday! Good news is that it is BEFORE kickoff, if you are a football fan and think the Patriots will not be cheating. If you are NOT a football fan, it is something of much deeper substance (I think) and is consistent with SPLAB’s penchant for doing poetry counter-programming of the game. We did many times the Super Bowl of Poetry and, when there was the threat of legal action because of the use of that term, we called it the Superb Owl of Poetry. One of the promotional lines I remember from back then was “take a pass on the pigskin.” Well, here are the gigs:
February 3, 3pm – Elliott Bay Book Company. 1521 Tenth Avenue
Seattle. From their site: Paul Nelson, founder of SPLAB/Seattle Poetics LAB and Founding Director of the Cascadia Poetry Festival, joins us today with highlights from some of the interviews he has collected in his new book, American Prophets: Interviews with Thinkers, Activists, Poets & Visionaries (Seattle Poetics Lab). Included here are Paul Nelson’s interviews with luminaries such as Rupert Sheldrake, Jean Houston, Wanda Coleman, Allen Ginsberg and many others…
February 15 – 7:30pm, Planet Earth Poetry, Hillside Coffee and Tea, 103- 1633 Hillside Avenue, near the Hillside/Shelbourne intersection. I will do a featured reading, as will Alice Major.
Saturday, February 16, 2 to 4:30pm, Nanaimo North Library, 6250 Hammond Bay Road, Nanaimo, BC V9T 6M9, Canada. Interviewing is tool writers of all genres will find valuable for inspiration, research, and documentation. In this participatory workshop on interviewing, you’ll learn techniques to quickly develop rapport, ask questions that spark thought provoking responses, and sharpen your skills in this under-appreciated art form… Presented by Wordstorm.
Sunday, February 17, 2019, 2-4pm – The Abbey, 2687 Penrith Ave (enter on 1st St.) Cumberland. The Art of the Interview: Paul E Nelson discusses American Prophets: Interviews 1994 to 2012, featuring poets Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, Wanda Coleman, Jerome Rothenberg, Nate Mackey, Brenda Hillman and Sam Hamill, and will facilitate an interview exercise. Participants will learn techniques to connect with a guest, quickly develop a rapport and sharpen skills in this under-appreciated art form. Paul E Nelson has conducted over 600 interviews with poets, authors, indigenous leaders and whole systems activists through his non-profit organization SPLAB and will discuss how he prepares for interviews, the difficulties that are sometimes encountered, tech aspects and how to develop your interviewing technique. Copies of the book American Prophets will be available for purchase. A featured reading at the Red Tree happens in the evening at The Abbey.
I will also travel to Salt Spring, to interview Peter Levitt on his new book with Kaz Tanahashi, The Complete Cold Mountain.
My last gig will be Wordstorm’s FIFTEEN MINUTES OF INFAMY, Wednesday, February 20 at 7pm at The Green Olive Room on Skinner Street. There are 3 Open Mic spots and 5 featured performer slots, one of which I will do. TheHost is Nanaimo songwriter, Donna Konsorado Other features: Victoria storyteller, Peter Freeman and Qualicum Beach poet, John Beaton.
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