Beat Generation & Literary Community News Items

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on this page:

• Breaking News
• Empty Mirror Books News
• Upcoming Literary & Beat Events
• New Book, CD & DVD Releases
• Literary News
• Obituaries

Fire at A.D. Winans' Apt.

A.D. Winans writes:

Basically a fire broke out in kitchen 10 days ago and heat in walls was so intense that it pretty much toasted my apartment and I will not be able to move back in for estimated 3/4 months. Spent a week with brother and now next 3 weeks with sister. Will begin next week looking into trying to find short term rental situation. Not easy, as my rent control payment was $970 a month and non rent control housing here in the city is outrageous, and most places will not rent month to month. I will eventually find something. I have asked PEN for emergency assistance. They next meet on March l5, I believe.

I can't begin to tell you how amazed I am at the support I have received. There have been offers to hold benefit readings, offers of clothes, staying with people for several days or so, and a few cash contributions people sent me. And some publishers have said they will send me copies of books that I lost in the mail. It was devasting to lose so many of my books, mags with my work in them, my entire art collection, and five years of correspondence that was going to my Brown archives this spring. Stuff that can not be replaced.

I will have access to email while at my sister's home, but may be slow in responding. There is so much to do and my back is acting up from all the lifting and carrying of what I could salvage to store in my garage.

Thanks to all of you for your support and kind thoughts and wishes during this trying time in my life.

A.D. Winans (aka: Al) moc.orezten@6002recnadwols

Empty Mirror News

photos & vintage goods

Empty Mirror Books is currently adding photos of nearly every book in stock. This huge undertaking should be finished by end of June 2007.

Our new website, Psychedelicat Vintage Goods will also launch in early June (you can take a peek now, though.) It's there that we'll be selling vintage non-book items: home decor, music & guitar gear, jewelry, accessories, and other cool stuff from the 1950s, 60s & 70s - even Beatnik items. Stay tuned!

Upcoming Events

Nothing known at present. Check back soon!

Book, CD & DVD Releases

Bohemian New Orleans: The Story of the Outsider and Loujon Press

Jeff Weddle's book, Bohemian New Orleans: The Story of the Outsider and Loujon Press, will be published in June by the University Press of Mississippi.

It's already available for pre-order at Amazon.com and a number of other internet booksellers.

In 1960, Jon Edgar and Louise "Gypsy Lou" Webb founded Loujon Press on Royal Street in New Orleans's French Quarter. The Outsider, the press's literary review, featured, among others, Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Robert Creeley, Denise Levertov, and Walter Lowenfels. Loujon published books by Henry Miller and two early poetry collections by Bukowski. Bohemian New Orleans traces the development of this courageous imprint and examines its place within the small press revolution of the 1960s.

Drawing on correspondence from many who were published in the Outsider, back issues of the Outsider, contemporary reviews, promotional materials, and interviews, Jeff Weddle shows how the press's mandarin insistence on production quality and its eclectic editorial taste made its work nonpareil among peers in the underground. Throughout, Bohemian New Orleans reveals the messy, complex, and vagabond spirit of a lost literary age.

GV6 The Odyssey DVD Released

GV6 THE ODYSSEY DVD examines and reveals the truth behind 31 multi-ethnic award-winning published and respected poets and their poetic creations in a seamlessly woven, uniquely honest visual tapestry. Defly guided by multi-award winning filmmaker Bob Bryan, GV6 synthesizes one-on-one poetry readings, graphic iconography, creative insights, and dramatic poignant interviews. Featured poets include Wanda Coleman, Kamau Daaood, Catherine Daly, Suzanne Lummis, Jim Natal, Steve Goldman, Aleida Rodriguez, and two dozen others. Find out more, or buy the DVD

Drugs & the Beats:

John Long's book, "Drugs & the Beats" has been recently published. In this fascinating and informative exploration of the relationship between drugs and literature, the reader will discover the lives and writings of three celebrated 'beat' writers: Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs. In examining the drugs they used and the consequent effects on how they lived, what they wrote about, and how they wrote, the author offers an intriguing study of the role of drugs in the creative process. To learn more, read an excerpt or buy the book visit John Long.com or Amazon.com

Beat Angel Film Released on DVD

On the 30th anniversary of his own death, the spirit of Jack Kerouac returns to Earth in the abandoned body of a street bum and transforms the lives of three people. This award-winning film features scenes filmed on Desolation Peak and stars Vincent Balestri, renowned for his long-running one-man play, Kerouac: The Essence of Jack. Kerouac's first wife, Edie Parker coached Balestri in Jack's voice and mannerisms. David Amram says, "Beat Angel will, like Pull My Daisy, find its own audience and enter into the tiny repertoire of films made about our spirit and our Era that will last."
Beat Angel is available at Amazon.com or BeatAngel.com.

Bill Ectric book translated into German

Bill Ectric's collection, Time Adjusters & Other Stories, has been translated into German by Hamburg "DharmaDada" artist Erni Bär, with the title Kerouacs Rolle. It's described as "Nine high voltage doses of mystery, science fiction, and the bizarre, with alternating currents of vision and satire." The book takes its title from one of the stories in the collection, Cut Up (The Stolen Scroll), a tale about the theft of a Jack Kerouac manuscript and a secret message that turns deadly when subjected to poetic cut-ups in the style of William S. Burroughs. Learn more or purchase Kerouacs Rolle...

Literary News

A.D. Winans

A.D. Winans has been awarded the PEN Josephine Miles Literary Achievement Award for his book, This Land Is Not My Land. Book award ceremonies were held at the Oakland Main Library on December 3, 2006. Check out A.D. Winans' new website, too.

Indie Coffeehouse Directory

Indie Coffeehouse Arts Directory has just launched. Its goal is to help creative folk of all stripes get the word out about their art, and to help people get tuned into the best creative talent. Categories include Beat Generation, ezines, visual & performing arts, music, literature, and much more. List your website for free.

Past News & Events

Check out what went down before.

Obituaries

Oh, it's been a rough few months...too many fine poets gone...

Online tributes / information pages are in progress for the following poets (as well as some others. If you have thoughts, memories, photographs, art, reviews, or other material to contribute, please get in touch.

Alan Ansen

We've just heard that Alan Ansen passed away in Athens on November 12. A page about Ansen is in progress.

Mario Cesariny

Portuguese Surrealist poet/painter Mario Cesariny passed away on November 19 at his home in Lisbon.

Lawrence McGaugh

We're sorry to report that Bay Area poet Lawrence McGaugh, author of "A Fifth Sunday" and several other books, passed away on July 26, at 10:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.