World Wide Word Radio Network  

Join Rachelle as She Talk to Laurel Ann Bogen to listen Laurel Ann Bogen is the author of ten books of poetry and short fiction including Washing a Language; Fission; The Last Girl in the Land of the Butterflies; The Burning; Do Iguanas Dance, Under the Moonlight? and Rag Tag We Kiss. From 1996 until 2002 she was literary curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where she coordinated the Writers in Focus poetry series and co-authored a grant sponsored by Poets and Writers, linking the museum’s education department with Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center to create a writers-in-residence program. She has been an instructor of poetry and performance for the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program since 1990 and is well known for her lively readings. Selected “Best Female Poet/Performer” by the L.A. Weekly in their Best of L.A. issue and a founding member of the acclaimed poetry performance troupe, Nearly Fatal Women, Bogen has read/performed in venues as diverse as Cornell University, The Savannah College of Art and Design, The Knitting Factory (NYC), The DA Center for the Arts, The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority, The Museum of Contemporary Art and LACE. The recipient of the Curtis Zahn Poetry Prize from the Pacificus Foundtion and two awards from the Academy of American Poets, her work has appeared in over 100 literary magazines and anthologies including The Misread City, California Poetry From The Gold Rush to the Present, The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, Stand-Up Poetry: An Expanded Anthology, The Maverick Poets, Poetry Loves Poetry, Grand Passion, Gargoyle, Rattapallax, Pearl, Solo, Bakunin, Yellow Silk, Mississippi Mud, Jacaranda Review, Los Angeles Times and Chiron Rev

with very special guest Professor ARTURO ARTURO, a poet and fiction writer from New Orleans, is a Spoken Word artist, educator, performer, editor and speechwriter who received a Master of Arts degree in Writing from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. degree in English/Journalism from the State University of New York-College at New Paltz. As one of the original Broadside poets of the 1960s, Professor ARTURO has collaborated on a medley of projects with a melange of artists including painters, musicians, photographers, dancers, singers, fire eaters, waiters, cab drivers, and other members of the Great Miscellaneous. He has performed his poetry, fiction, toasts and “jazz poems” on a solo basis or with musical accompaniment at Ebony Square, Vincent’s City Club, the Contemporary Arts Center, the Louisiana Folklife Festival, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Urban League’s Annual Golden Gala, Ashe Cultural Arts Center, Tulane University’s Amistad Research Center’s Achievement Award Banquet, True Brew Coffeehouse, the Maple Leaf Bar and an array of public/parochial schools, colleges, and churches nationwide. He has also served as Featured Performance Poet at Sweet Lorraine’s jazz club and co-founded the performance series “ARTURO and Joe’s Old Skool Jazz & Poetry Open Mic Night” at the legendary Edgelake Bar (featured in Elvis Presley’s “King Creole”). His work has appeared in such diverse publications as FAHARI, the American Poetry Review, the Shooting Star Review, the Minnesota Review, the Gallery Mirror, EBONY, From a Bend in the River, Mesechabe, Word Up, the Chicory Review, the New Laurel Review, the New Orleans Tribune, We Speak As Liberators, Black Spirits, A Broadside Treasury, and Swapping Stories: Folktales From Louisiana. He has taught at educational institutions ranging from Northeastern University (Visiting Poet for the Africana Studies Center) to Texas Southern University (Writer In Residence). He has served as Academic Instr

Kathryn Erlinger

A.K. talks to Mike the poet Mike Sonksen, also known as, Mike the Poet, is a Los Angeles-based writer and spoken word poet, widely acclaimed for his live performances, contributions to international publications, and legendary city tours. For over a decade, Mike has performed at numerous venues, bookstores, museums, nightclubs, and art galleries. From the page to the stage his work has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Kotori, Anthem, L.A. Weekly, L.A. Citybeat, L.A. Alternative Press, O.C. Weekly, and Long Beach Business Journal. Mike's energy was instrumental as co-founder of the webzine Getunderground.com. & the last four years with Jointz Magazine. His poem "I've Seen the Best Minds of My Generation,” was licensed by Scion. Mike's book I Am Alive in Los Angeles! (copyright 2007 i.universe.com) captures the energy of the City of Angels. The CD of the same name was given four stars by URB Magazine. Over the last decade Mike has also become known for his L.A. City Tours. As a third generation L.A. native, his tours of Hollywood with Red Line Tours & the Museum of Neon Art incorporate poetry & L.A. history.

Join K.T.R. as she talk to A. Razor A. Razor was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Christmas Day in 1963. He was moved to Redlands, CA at the age of 2 and lived in San Bernardino, CA until he left home in the late 70's at the age of 14. He came to Hollywood Blvd. and lived on the streets around LA from Echo Park to Venice. He was a skateboarding, break dancing, party/club DJ, punk rock musician and graffiti artist who made it back to San Bernardino High School to graduate Automotive Mechanics and History/English Lit. AP. He never went to college, but did start reading his prose pieces at readings that were held at the Lhasa Club, Cafe Largo, Onyx Cafe, Al’s Bar, Beyond Baroque and Van Gogh's Ear in the LA area and the Barn at the University of California, Riverside. At a reading he met Drew Blood who published many So-Cal street poets from the early 80's on his D.B.P.L. chapbook series and who would publish 13 different titles of A. Razor's work, including Spare Blades, Everything is Shiny Grey, Evil and Other Safe Lubricants, War in the 13th Hour, Creeping Malaise, A Chapbook and Works, from 1984-1997. Drew Blood began submitting his work for publishing in zines and underground publications and acted as his editor as A. Razor started traveling the country from east to west coast. He did readings along the way in places like the Cafe Babar in San Francisco, Rifle Sport Gallery in Minneapolis, MN, Carousel in Dallas, TX, Carnival in Austin, TX, The Citadel in New Orleans, LA, 6 Feet Under, Phoenix, AZ The Beat Conference in Lawrence, KS, Naropa Institute, Boulder City, CO, Nuyorican Cafe in NYC and Food for Thought in Wash., D.C. He settled in Minneapolis., MN in 1989-90 for a brief time and started publishing and editing the Your Elbow Lit-Art Zine with Kim Smith and Erika Schlaeger. He has lived and written in many cities, including New York, NY, Portland, OR, San Francisco, Oakland and Bolinas, CA. His writing has been translated in 8 different languages, Spanish, G

Bryan talks to Joe Meno author of The Great Perhaps A breakout new novel from the critically acclaimed novelist and playwright Joe Meno, author of Hairstyles of the Damned. The sky is falling for the Caspers, a family of cowards: for Jonathan, a paleontologist, searching in vain for a prehistoric giant squid; for his wife, Madeline, an animal behaviorist with a failing experiment; for their daughter, Amelia, a disappointed teenage revolutionary; for her younger sister, Thisbe, on a frustrated search for God; and for grandfather Henry, who wants to disappear, limiting himself to eleven words a day, then ten, then nine. Each fears uncertainty and the possibilities that accompany it. When Jonathan and Madeline suddenly decide to separate, this nuclear family is split, each member forced to confront his or her own cowardice, finally coming to appreciate the cloudiness of the modern age. With wit and humor, The Great Perhaps presents a revealing look at anxiety, ambiguity, and the need for complicated answers to complex questions.