CONTRIBUTORS

Alliaceous

ALLIACEOUS

http://www.myspace.com/alliaceous

 

PETER BALL

Is a poet-singer-songwriter with a passion for synthesizers who is surviving in Cleveland, Ohio.

 

Benadam

BENADAM

Ben = "son", Benadam = "Son of Adam"

***Humour, love... c'est happiness for always...; CCC Club of the Comrades with good Coeur!....*** Peace=assalam....benadm!

3C( M)+3C(w)= 6c =(sexc)!!!!!!
m:man; w: women

Benadam advocates altruistic, peaceful change in society through humorous discourse. Practitioner of Universal Fraternity.

 

RICHARD BISCAYART

How I finally left the University of Missouri at Columbia is still unclear; however, I ended up in Taipei, Taiwan, teaching English at Soochow University. I didn't realize how little I knew of grammar, syntax and semantics until I started teaching non-English speaking students. It
was in Taipei that I coached and played on the men's basketball team. I was impressed by how the Chinese used teamwork to overcome size. In Taiwan, I was urged to study Zen. I always boast about how beautiful my teacher was. She was over seventy, somewhat frail, and ate tofu and drank tea. I was astonished at her teaching, as she taught me how to silence my thoughts, taught me how to paint with pen and ink. She urged me to return to Spain.

I arrived in the south of Spain. Soon, I found employment with the professional basketball team in Malaga, and began to study flamenco guitar. The coplas of flamenco seemed to remind me of lost love. The melancholy of flamenco saddled me with a joyful sadness, a sadness that had somehow infiltrated the depths of my being, a sadness that I could only
assuage with comedy and practical jokes. My training of asking directions and going the other way was now paying dividend. I seemed to be reveling in the character of duende or the court jester that you see in so many of Picasso's paintings: the man with the pointed hat who appears to be a mime.

Not having seen anyone from MU for several years, you can imagine my expression when I ran into the Missouri Maddogs, headed by Tim and Ted Hatfield. I saw them huddled around the candlelight of a small cafe in Malaga. There were six of them and they were arranging a voyage to Katmandu, Nepal. My basketball coach would have had me thrashed had he
known that I would leave the basketball team, bound for Nepal. People in Spain, and France, and Italy, and Yugoslavia saw thirteen of us packed into a red London double decker bus headed for Katmandu. Much of the trip, I sat there wondering what I would do with my life. My pretense of going to Nepal * to reach the base camp of Sir Edmond Hillary * ended
in Greece. The newspapers spoke of outlaws in Afghanistan, smugglers in Turkey, and kidnappers in Iran. As I left the Maddogs in Greece, I decided to go to Israel. When in Jerusalem, I learned of a Kibbutz in the Wilderness of Zin in the desert next to the Red Sea. No sooner had I learned this that I found myself picking tomatoes in the parched desert
with temperatures over 125 degrees. Not until I had wandered with Bedouins in the desert, discovered the mystical effects of some red cactus leaves, and become accustomed to the head did I leave the Kibbutz in the wilderness of Zin.

When hot, I longed for the cold. While in Israel, I imagined a wilderness place without the sounds of modern civilization. Not only were these concepts realized but much more in the wilderness of British Columbia. In spite of -40 temperatures, in spite of no running water, in spite of no electricity, in spite of no store bought food, I lived in this wilderness setting for seven years. Everywhere I looked, there were coniferous trees. Bear and moose were plentiful. I lived on a river, having the advantage of rich soil. Although I was not a carpenter, I built
a log cabin with the help of some of the other settlers. Ignorant though I was about gardening and growing food, I cleared the land, planted a garden, and stored my food in a root cellar. Winters were cold and harsh and dark and long and filled with wind and sleet and snow. As
long as I stayed active, I was warm, spending most of my time in the forest, cutting down trees and making firewood for my wood stove. My cabin was 24 feet by 24 feet, and warm even with the windows frosted by the howling wind. Single though I was, I soon married, needing the warmth of another to soothe the sound of that howling wind. I was so emotional when my two daughters were born in the wilderness, four years apart. It was here in this northern Canadian wilderness that the contemplative practices that I learned in China were put into use. My days were spent alone with very little human discourse. I filled my mind with scripture and with silence. These moments rivaled my youthful days at Columbia, when I first experienced what it was like to care for another person.

On account of not wanting to spend my entire life in the wilderness, I took a job as director of international programs at Wesley College in Dover, Delaware. This was an interesting job in that I was allowed to develop sport and language programs with Japan. Because of the Japanese love of baseball, they were interested in creating an English as a second language program, where the language learning took place in the context of sport. I wrote the curriculum, designed the language component, and spent some time at a high school in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. Not liking sushi, I was not sad to leave Japan. I would have been happy to stay in this position had it not been for my wanderlust; therefore, a dozen years later, I left the job, packed up my family and dog, and moved to a small Basque village in the Pyrenees Mountains. Whether the beauty of the scenery had anything to do with it or not, I began to sketch and do watercolors of the area. I don't know if the results are worthy, but I find art to be my favorite pastime. Whether a good move or not, after a time, I decided to return to Delaware.

I would probably be happier now were I twenty years old and writing poetry with some tall, brunette maiden by a river, but I am now content and fulfilled teaching English as a second language in the public school system, working with elementary and college students.

 

BLUE7

Blue7 Photo by LadyK

Musician, filmmaker, sculptor, painter and illustrator. Blue made films and music in Hollywood for 14 years. He directed, produced and wrote the music score for his own film Girl With a Tail which can be seen at ifilm.com.

Now in Krakow, Blue's creating a multimedia experience called the URBAN-JELLEN TEST. It features a "Dada Ballet", a unique presentation of many talents such as music, projections of art and photography, drama and strange and beautiful ideas. And all of it with a heart as big as the universe. Transcendence into an artful mind.

Blue has a degree in Illustration and Painting from California State University.

 

Bree photo by Jim Lang

BREE

Bree is an artist, singer/songwriter, poet and founder of Green Panda Press, which produces anthologies and chapbooks of poetry and art. All books are handmade and bound using household materials like double sided window insulation tape, or minty dental floss. Green Panda titles include Rain Poet (2004), by Daniel Thompson and the memoir of Charles Potts Valga Krusa forthcoming, in two volumes (Summer 2007).

 

David Caddy

DAVID CADDY

Six collections into a life nourished by poetry, David Caddy shows no signs of flagging. As his recent poetry book The Willy Poems shows, his words are more urgent than ever. Described as the "Robert Frost of the Blackmore Vale", David lives and writes in rural Dorset, surrounded by the "mud and root" which inspires his work.

Founder of the East Street Poets, he directed the legendary Wessex Poetry Festival from 1995 to 2001. He edits the international literary journal Tears in the Fence, performs all over Europe and the US, and leads creative writing workshops and seminars. Caddy writes reviews for Use of English and Terrible Work. His latest book is London: City of Words, a literary companion from Blue Island (available from Amazon). His next book is Man In Black, due from Penned In The Margins in November.

 

Michael Ceraolo Photo by Wendy Shaffer

MICHAEL CERAOLO

Is a poet from South Euclid, Ohio. His new book, Euclid Creek, is reviewed in the previous issue here. Ceraolo's poetry is infused with a conscientious restyling of American history from the margins and the undersides. He also has a book with Green Panda Press, Cleveland Haiku.

John Clarke with saxophonist at Jazz at the Am in Lewisham, London Photo by LadyK

JOHN CLARKE

Is a regular feature on the London poetry performance scene. He has featured in events in Amsterdam and the south of France. His work is heavily indebted to the beat poets and is infused with the complex rhythms of his jazz muses.

Ghost on the Road (reviewed here) is John's first full collection following the success of Traveling without Arriving and jazz and other religions, all published by tall-lighthouse.

Ghost on the Road is available at www.tall-lighthouse.co.uk. Postage is free within the U.K.

Clarke's poetry CD includes live musical accompaniment and studio sounds and beats. The Way I Like My Jazz is available directly from John Clarke via e-mail: jcjazzman03 at yahoo dot co dot uk. It will be available from Chipmunka Group Publishing Foundation in London.

 

ADAM COHEN

Is a 22 year old writer born in the outskirts of suburban Long Island, New York. Currently playing a video game in a pair of boxer briefs, living in Brooklyn with good friends. He wishes you would buy him a drink. E-mail: adomxicarus (at symbol) gmail.com

 

Melissa J. Craig

MELISSA J. CRAIG

I am a maker of book works/ artists’ books, a sculptor in handmade paper, and an installation artist who also makes prints and drawings. Sometimes I’m a curator, and every so often, I write things.

Nine months a year, I am also a professor. I’m the
full time teaching Artist In Residence in the MFA in Interdisciplinary Book and Paper Arts, at Columbia College Chicago’s Center for Book and Paper Arts.

For more information about Craig's work, please visit her website.

 

Gary Dumm

GARY DUMM

Gary and his wife/collaborator Laura live on the west side of Cleveland with their family of 11 somewhat goofy cats in a house overfilled with books and art.

Dumm has worked with Harvey Pekar on American Splendor since its author’s self-published beginning 30 years ago through its current incarnation under the D.C. Comics imprint. Currently he writes and draws pieces for biographies of blues musicians, Music Makers. He's also working on a graphic novel/history--The Students For A Democratic Society--which will be published soon. Dumm continues to vent regularly via political cartoons.

Dumm shows nationally in exhibitions from Cleveland to San Francisco and internationally from Canada to Germany. His cartoons are published in Cleveland’s Scene, Free Times and Plain Dealer, with appearances in Entertainment Weekly, the New York Times and France’s Le Monde. A retrospective of his work was recently shown at the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve in Cleveland.

 

LAURA DUMM

Laura Dumm

I was born, raised and still reside in Cleveland, Ohio. Self taught, I’ve always been interested in art. I married cartoonist/artist Gary Dumm in 1971. In 1986, after working for various publications, I made the decision to become a freelance graphic artist/illustrator. My freelance business ranges from designing logos, brochures, ads and newsletters to larger jobs such as book production.

In my off time I do my own artwork. My style is primitive, patternistic and graphic; not concerned with realism but concentrating on creating a mood, usually playful, using a bright color palette. Some of my influences include Andy Warhol, Vincent Van Gogh and David Bowie. My projects include murals, paintings, illustrations, painted furniture, painted wooden boxes, greeting cards and cartoons. The painted works are done with acrylic paint. The cards are photos of flowers and cats combined and manipulated on the computer. The cartoons are drawn in ink, scanned and then colored using the computer. I also collaborate with my husband Gary coloring some of his black & white cartoon projects, including art for Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor.

I’m a homebody. I love to work and am very deadline oriented. Being a freelancer affords me the opportunity to pursue other interests like gardening, cooking and being with my animals. I remain involved with animal rights issues and volunteer at North Coast Animal Rescue in Cleveland. Please prevent overpopulation and unwanted litters by spaying and neutering pets.

I live in a multiple cat household, all rescued strays. They are complex little creatures who inspire me every day. The way they move, think and react can be interpreted in so many ways and styles. Sometimes they're quiet, then in a second they turn wild! In 2003 I had a one woman show titled “A Cats Eye View” at SmarTArt Gallery in Tremont, Oh.

My illustrations have been published in Northern Ohio Live and Cat Fancy magazines. I designed a graphic novel for Warner Brothers Independent Films, entitled “A Scanner Darkly” from the novel by Philip K. Dick, to accompany the movie version . I have done cartoons for the newsletter Pet Press in Los Angeles, Ca., and cat cartoons and illustrations for the e-newsletter The Daily Mews. www.thedailymews.com.

 

KE

KE

My name's Kevin Eberhardt. Been writing for so long I'm startin' to see things. Now for good, bad or ugly I can't stop. It's like havin' a hangover everyday without the benefit of a good drunk the night before, or at least, in my case, not for a long time. Could be worse, could wake up one day as an honorary member of the Red Hat Society. That would definitely start me drinkin' again (though I do look good in red)...

 

STEVE GOLDBERG

Steve Goldberg Literary Cafe

A techno geek, Dilbert cubical escapee, blogger, a bodhisattva wannabe, and tongue tied tattler of timid tomes. Launching into a new experiment in neo beat bohemianism, Goldberg's been published in 30/25th’s Not Just Any Versiaries, the talent rich ArtCrimes 21, Rabbits Over Clevyland, Jim Lang’s Bag-o-Zine 54, and the e-zine The City Poetry . He's been interviewed on the local poetry radio show, Wordplay, by renowned poet George Bilgere. Goldberg also organizes a monthly poetry free-for-all at the Literary Cafe in the historic Cleveland neighborhood of Tremont.

 

Geraldine Green

GERALDINE GREEN

i'm a poet, i've had two collections published: PASSIO in 2005, THE SKIN 2003, both by FLARESTACK PUBLICATIONS ---- & currently working on my third --- performed in ITALY, GREECE, US & UK --- poems published in these countries --- within the UK i've read from scotland to cornwall, oxford, liverpool, manchester, wales & cumbria, including the first international women's arts festival, held at the brewery arts centre, kendal, uk and will be reading at the wordsworth trust, grasmere, uk in september '07 --- i run poetry workshops & have worked with musicians, visual and digital artists and photographers.

an ASSOCIATE EDITOR of POETRY BAY www.poetrybay.com, EDITOR (UK) POETRYVLOG www.poetryvlog.com, --- i run CREATIVE WRITING WORKSHOPS ---- enjoy reading alongside RHONDA WARD, GEORGE WALLACE, PENELOPE SHUTTLE and GRAHAM MORT --- welcome to my POEMS! more info about me can be found on www.poetrypf.co.uk/geraldinegreenpage

 

Geoffrey Landis

GEOFFREY LANDIS

After a sojourn of a little under two years in Cambridge, Massachusetts, science fiction writer & poet Geoffrey A. Landis has returned to the Cleveland area because, really, it has a much more vibrant poetry scene. As a science fiction writer, Geoffrey's work has been published in 23 languages, and won the Hugo and Nebula awards; his novel Mars Crossing won the Locus award for best first novel. As a poet, his work has been featured in magazines and anthologies ranging from ArtCrimes to Asimov's, and has won the Rhysling award. As a photographer, his work can be seen in various venues, most notably on the walls of his mother's house, where it has received rave reviews although no official awards. As a scientist, he's sent stuff to Mars. For the last 19 years-- except for two years in Cambridge-- he has been a resident of Berea, OH. More than you need to know can be found on his web page, http://www.sff.net/people/geoffrey.landis

 

Jim Lang

JIM LANG

Poet, photographer, potter, philosopher, publisher, and poartist from Cleveland, Ohio USA who frequently accompanies his readings with multimedia visual works.

I've been the open mic host for the 3rd Saturday poetry reading at The Bookstore on West 25th Street forever and give a Bagozine of poetry, tea, pennies, incense and nonesense each month to everyone who attends.

I have taken photos of most every poet who has passed through Cleveland as far back as d.a. levy & Charles Dickens.

I gratefully edited issue #9 of ArtCrimes and coedited issues #15 and 17. I have published many chapbooks of my own and other's poetry.

I am a cantankerous full time professional curmudgeon , but an oddly a nice guy even so.

 

Peter Leon Photo collage by Lady K

PETER LEON

Peter Leon is a poet and artist in Cleveland Heights. His poetry is holistically ecstatic, celebrating youth and old age alike. It floats atop modern slipstream, looks for purchase on the ground of Good Olde Bright & Sleepy America where the blousy curtains blow and Mother hangs the wash amid benevolent quotidian activities of milkmen and janitors. Recollections of quantum childhood from the context of adult awareness, a certain knowledge of death.

Leon has been published in the The Literary Review, Whiskey Island Magazine and Colorado North Review.

 

Jack McGuane photo by Wendy Shaffer

JACK MCGUANE

Poet Laureate of Lakewood through 2007 and poetry editor of Whiskey Island Magazine. He has published work in Whiskey Island, Family Matters, ArtCrimes, Hessler Street Poetry and Prose Annual, 2006 (third prize), Nov Third Club, First Person Plural from Twin Cranes Press (with Eric Anderson), in the Underground Literary Alliance e-zine and in the upcoming Favorite Lakewood Poetry. His poems received Honorable Mention in the last three Best of Ohio Writers Competitions. A chapbook--working title Sleeping With My Socks-- is coming soon by Deep Cleveland Press.

 

Eric Shaffer

ERIC SHAFFER

Is a poet and artist and framer who lives in Cleveland, back after an extended sabbatical in Florida, more like a life experience. He's been busy making lamps out of bottles for more than four years. A graduate of Shaker Heights high school, he went to the University of Michigan in the early eighties, and holds an AA degree from a junior college in Tampa, Florida.

 

Wendy Shaffer

WENDY SHAFFER

Wendy Shaffer is a gratefully recovering poet who lives in the city of Cleveland amid firecrackers, roosters, boom boxes, gunshots, small children with muddy little hands & feet, her brother, Marian, 17 cats & 2 dogs. She likes animals.* She has a BFA in writing from Carnegie Mellon University & an MFA in the same from Bowling Green State University. Shaffer's poetry blog, house of cats, features many Cleveland poets.

*Anyone who needs a fine, fixed kitty with all his or her shots (for free), please call 216-631-9841.

 

Yuyutsu RD Sharma Photo by Sarah Dobbs

YUYUTSU RD SHARMA

Recipient of fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation, Irish Literary Exchange and Sahitya Academy, National Academy of Letters, New Delhi, Sharma has published six poetry collections, most recently a picture book, The Way to Everest : A Photographic and Poetic Journey to the Foot of Everest with German photographer Andreas Stimm. He also translated Irish poet Cathal O' Searcaigh's poetry into Nepali, and published the bilingual English/Nepali anthology, Kathmandu, 2006. Sharma has also translated and edited several anthologies of contemporary Nepali poetry.

His works have appeared in Chandrabhaga, Amsterdam Weekly, Exiled ink, Irish Pages, Omega, Howling Dog Press, Iton77, The Little Magazine, The Telegraph, Indian Express and Asia Week.

Yuyutsu has read in London at the Poetry Cafe, the Gustav Stressmann Institute, the Guardian newsroom, the Royal Society of Dramatic Arts, the Gunter Grass House, the Sudasien Institute of Heidelberg University, Ruigoord (Amsterdam), GTZ, the Nehru Centre, the New Delhi Academy of Fine Arts, the Royal Nepal Academy, the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Indian International Centre in New Delhi and Villa Serbelloni, Italy.

More information can be found online at www.yuyutsu.de.

 

Paul Skyrm

PAUL SKYRM

From April 16th, 1976, Skyrm spent eighteen years in the town of Mantua, Ohio where most anyone could find him on the banks of the Cuyahoga or exploring small towns and moons in Lake Erie. In 1994, he moved to Aurora, Ohio, another town on the route of Cuyahoga River. He attended Kent State University majoring in English with a minor in Creative Writing.

Beginning in 2000, he embarked upon a series of travels by Jeep, in solitary & communal company with skeleton & ghost, that would take him from Provincetown on the fist of the Cape, west to Los Angeles, south to St. Petersburg and north to Ontario, Canada and a myriad of points in between including a short spell living in Lake Charles, Louisiana in the waning months of 2004.

Currently Paul resides in Aurora, Ohio.

His work is featured in such print and electronic literary journals as My Favorite Bullet, The (diet) Temple, Rag Shock, Wholly Communion/The Beatnik, House of Cats, One Voice, Jawbone, The City, Thunder Sandwich, Sidereality, Deep Cleveland Junkmail Oracle, Get Underground, America Zen, Underground Literary Alliance & You Can’t Hither Than That.

 

Baby Lady Kathy

S B Smith

LADY K & S B SMITH

Kathy Ireland Smith -- Smith's "Lady K" -- edits The City Poetry. In 2006, Lady left the U.S. to make art, write poetry, and have adventures with S B Smith, who is a fractal finding ambience adjuster on the run from reality wandering the Earth. Smith and Lady document their continuing adventures on the blog Walking on Thin Ice.

Lady has a chaplet and broadside package with Green Panda Press. Smith is long time editor of the underground art and poetry zine ArtCrimes.

Smith and Lady are on MySpace.

 

STEVE THOMAS

I am the proud father of a son and daughter (16 +13). I closed my business (bowling Pro shop) and quit bowling professionally to pursue a business degree from Baldwin Wallace College. I am an English Minor with a major love for the beauty of art in general and the written (spoken) word specifically. I am passionate about my children, learning more and expressing all of it.

 

Cheryl Townsend

CHERYL TOWNSEND

I am a poet, avid photographer and the onetime publisher/editor of Impetus Magazine, which I published through Implosion Press. Implosion Press now proudly publishes epitome magazine, a regional magazine that celebrates the arts. minds and ambitions of women in NE Ohio. I am the cofounder of the Womens Art Recognition Movement (W.A.R.M.), based in the North Water Street Gallery in Kent, OH and used to be the owner of Cat's Impetuous Books, also in Kent, where I specialized in small press books and held regular poetry readings, art exhibits and live musical performances. I don't like living in the past, but.. Hell, that's where the fun was.

In 2004, I played Jesus in the indie film Jesus & Her Gospel of Yes, produced & directed with Alfred Eaker which should soon be available on DVD.

Cheryl is on MySpace.

 

CLAIRE WAGENSEIL

Born and raised in Seattle, Claire spent two years at Stanford in California before fleeing to Paris, where she now resides. In between, she managed to get a degree in literature, and has put her pen to paper in at least twenty countries and four continents.

 

GEORGE WALLACE

George Wallace

---SKY IS, GEORGE WALLACE & THE MOONTONES, on CDBABY --- 'the surreal surprise, the whitmanic impulse!'--- new york-based poet and performer --- coming soon to a beat museum near you --- travels widely in the us, uk and in europe to read his work and lead writing workshops --- works solo or in improv sessions with musical combos --- conversations with baez, bly, cassady, creeley, donovan, ginsberg, lurie, max, plymell, stafford, tambellini, vega, yevgeny yevtushenko --- appearances at howlfest, lowell celebrates kerouac, woody guthrie festival, dylan thomas centre, shakespeare and co/paris, rexroth festival, international womens arts festival --- nyc hang time @ bowery poetry club, back fence, cornelia street cafe, tribes gallery -- appeared on stage or cds with david amram, claire daly, levon helm, tony lamb, martin loyato, joe mannix, jonny mcewan, glen moore, dave rave, lee renaldo, dj spooky, paul winston --- digs reading with larry carradini, steve dalachinsky, emily xyz, kirpal gordon, geraldine green, denis grey, simon pettet --- edits poetrybay (www.poetrybay.com), polarity (www.poembeat.com), poetryvlog (www.poetryvlog.com) --- fourteen poetry chapbooks, us/uk/italy --- poetry workshops in new york and skiathos greece --- judge of beowulf prize and beat poet of the year competition, guest editor for bigcitylit and orbis -- a surreal trip through the heartland of america (a.d.winans) --- cool and musical (donovan) --- a post-existential enigmast (charles plymell) --- his reading voice reminds me of ee cummings, the best i know (mary de rachewiltz).

 

Mary Weems

MARY E. WEEMS

Is an accomplished poet, playwright, author, performer, motivational speaker, and imagination-intellect theorist. Weems has been widely published in journals, anthologies, and several books including Public Education and the Imagination-Intellect: I Speak from the Wound in My Mouth (Lang, 2003), developed from her dissertation which argues for imagination-intellectual development as the primary goal of public education. She won the Wick Chapbook Award for her collection white in 1996, and in 1997 her play Another Way to Dance won the Chilcote award for The Most Innovative Play by an Ohio Playwright. Her most recent chapbook Tampon Class (Pavement Saw Press, 2005) is in its second printing. Mary Weems currently teaches in the English and Education departments at John Carroll University, and works as a language-artist-scholar in k-12 classrooms, university settings and other venues through her business Bringing Words to Life. Mary Weems may be reached at mweems45 (at symbol) yahoo (dot symbol) com.

 

Loren Weiss

LOREN F. WEISS

Shaker High Class of ‘44. B.S. Mechanical Engineering U. Wisconsin 1947. Varsity golfer, Instrument rated private pilot. Semi-retired casting business owner / executive. Later in life: writer, lightly published so far: Ohioanna Library, Ohio Writer, PaloAlto Press, Tributaries, Hessler St. Fair poetry books. Inspired to start by the poetry of Evelyn Marx, a Cincinnati artist who began to write at age 89 when she could no longer paint.

Started writing at Cleveland State University. Took creative nonfiction course August 2001, attended various workshops there in poetry and creative nonfiction writing, with Rita Grabowski, Gina Tabasso, Neal Chandler, Sarah Willis, Alice Sebold (Imagination summer of 2003), and Poets and Writers League of Greater Cleveland with Linda Robiner. Currently working on a memoir collection, Having A Good One. I've self published a poetry chapbook, I’d Rather Be Flying. In April, finished a one year term as Port Laureate of Cleveland Heights. Featured reader at Poetry In The Woods, Mac's Backs, Deep Cleveland (Strongsville Borders), the Galleria (Marcus Bales), Literary Cafe…

 

 

Jason Williams

JASON WILLIAMS

Former mad gadfly poet now trying to remain on the wobbly straight & narrow but is constantly distracted by the curious items & strange produce local riffraff sell at roadside push carts, Jason Floyd Williams--the John Edwards finalist (w/out the handsome hair), two years in a row, for the Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate gig--is exhausted by gray skies & finds great satisfaction in karaoke bars that feature Talking Heads tunes.

 

Dexter Zirkle

DEXTER ZIRKLE

Dexter was born into the flux and chaos of space and time during the bicentennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In his time he hath humbly wandered this biologically diverse planet in search of meaning, truth, beauty, love, art, compassion, discovery and understanding. His words and images are modest attempts to capture, attempts to convey something that has left a deathless impression on his being...the wonders and mysteries of our realities and our universe. It is his hope that humanity encounters the poetry in all things and the power of "now". For it is his belief that through our purest attempts of creativity lie our truest and most sincere form of existence.

All work used in the City is copyrighted by the contributors.