Monthly Archives: June 2010

Tony Hoagland & Anis Mojgani are both heroes of mine, and they are reading together on 6/23 in NYC!

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Tony Hoagland’s poems have been described as moving unerringly with wit and irony, like an arrow through its target—we, the readers—with exhilarating results. His poems sprint across the page and unexpectedly blow apart a single moment, exposing its contradictory nature—and often our folly. Hoagland explores the spiritual bereftness of American satisfaction, creating poetry that is scathing, funny, rich, and refreshingly intelligent. Steven Cramer writes of Hoagland’s poems, “[They] grapple with selfhood and manhood, but they also consider the mysteries of the national identity—how the social and the personal mutually impinge.” Hoagland currently teaches in the poetry program at the University of Houston.
Pushcart Prize Nominee Anis Mojgani is a two time National Poetry Slam Champion, winner of the International World Cup Poetry Slam, and a former resident of the Oregon Literary Arts Writer’s-In-The-Schools program. Anis has performed at numerous universities, festivals, and venues around the globe, while his work has appeared on HBO, NPR, and in the pages of Rattle magazine. Originally form New Orleans, Anis currently lives in a white pointy house in Portland OR, where’s he’s working on the followup to his book Over the Anvil We Stretch.

Lost last nite to Beth Lisick in #LiteraryDeathMatch. Plan to punch Tobias Wolff in face tonite at #WritersWithDrinks!

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It was a blast! Brian Boitano said I reminded him of Sister Margaret, his third grade teacher, but I think he was just flirting! Lots of old friends showed up whom I haven’t seen in over 15 years. Daniel Alarcon beat Jillian Lauren in the 1st round (this week’s New Yorker names him as one the best writers under 40!) so it was me vs. Beth, the two old slam poets, in 2nd round. Beth read a piece about how all that really matters is having fantastic sex with your lover. I rocked it, but she advanced, which was just as well. Daniel crushed her in the trivia final round. Tonight is not a competition at all, but I’ll destroy Tobias Wolff anyway (unless Corrina Bain destroys me first).

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I am excited to be returning to the Berkeley Poetry Slam tomorrow night at 8:30 pm!

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The Starry Plough, home of the Berkeley Poetry Slam since forever, is one of the venues where I feel I can safely perform a full-length feature that does NOT include “What Teachers Make.” I will be crafting my set list with a little more care than I did last week so as preclude the effects of my particular brand of abrasive charm, which somehow manages to turn even my most heartfelt moments of gratitude & humility into more exquisitely condescending forms of arrogance. Come see if it works!

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