As I put it on Face Book a week or so ago when Aldon Nielsen’s review of SOS (Poems 1961-2013) came out: “An excellent corrective to the ignorant NYT put-down piece of a week ago. Aldon Nielsen knows exactly what he is speaking of, i.e. knows in detail the incredible width & depth of Amiri Baraka’s oeuvre — one of the major literary achievements of the second part of … Read more Aldon Nielsen on Amiri Baraka’s SOS (Poems 1961-2013)
Travel Well! In 1998, for Vol. 2 of Poems for the Millennium, Jerome Rothenberg & I wrote the following commentary on Baraka’s work: COMMENTARY The force we want is of twenty million spooks storming America with furious cries and unstoppable weapons. We want actual explosions and actual brutality: AN EPIC IS CRUMBLING and we must give it the space and hugeness of its actual demise. A. B. It was … Read more Amiri Baraka (1934-2014)
A couple weeks ago Amiri Baraka gave a great reading at St. Marks Poetry Project. Here’s an extract from that occasion, including an electoral pitch for his son Ras who is running for mayor of Newark, and — extra bonus — a photo of two old friends sharing a moment (poet-painter Basil King & Baraka): [audio:https://pierrejoris.com/blog/audio/AmiriBaraka.mp3]
Lost & Found: The Amiri Baraka/Edward Dorn Correspondence The Kenneth Koch/Frank O’Hara Letters: Selections Muriel Rukeyser: Darwin & the Writers Philip Whalen’s Journals: Selections Robert Creeley: Contexts of Poetry, with selections from Daphne Marlatt’s Journals the inaugural chapbook series in LOST & FOUND The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative Lost & Found is a publication project emerging from archival and textual scholarship done by students at The Graduate Center, with … Read more Lost & found: CUNY Initiative
Photo by Chris Funkhouser It’s a shame that most freedom fighters are usually recognized after they’re gone. We have the opportunity to celebrate a man who has stood up for justice and equality then and now!!!!!! Amiri Baraka’s 75th Birthday Celebrations Greetings All! Please join us for a series of events planned in recognition of poet, author, playwright and community activist Amiri Baraka’s 75th Birthday! Various events around the … Read more Amiri Baraka's 75th Birthday Celebrations