Tuesday, November 18, 2008

A DIFFERENT KIND OF WRITING WORKSHOP

with poet, essayist, & musician Chris Stroffolino in a fun, nurturing, non-accredited setting

7 or 8 Three-Hour Sessions; 1st WINTER session begins LATE DECEMBER (or EARLY JANUARY. Dates & times to de be determined depending on the needs of the class (We will do our best to accommodate people’s schedules—most likely a weeknight). The workshop may culminate in a public reading /performance/talk, depending on the interest of the class.

Class Size: minimum of 7, maximum of 10.

Cost: $250: Check, money-order or cash are all acceptable.

Class Description: Do you have something to say, but don’t quite know what is the best way to communicate it? Do you need to write for the sake of self-knowledge or catharsis, but aren’t sure if you want to make it public? Did a friend, teacher or other professional writer call your writing a ‘mere journal entry?’ or a ‘song lyric?’ Did they say your poetry rhymed too much, or maybe not enough? Did they say your prose was too poetic, or had too many ideas and not enough characters? Are you frustrated that the writing they often claim is ‘better’ than yours doesn’t really speak to you? Do you believe your writing may very well be able to better the lives of others? Do you believe in magic? Do Ya?

If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions (or even if you think they’re silly), this is the workshop for you. Taking each student’s writing and/or performance pieces as its starting point, this workshop encourages students working in varying different ‘genres’. Students may work within one genre throughout the entire course, but will be encouraged to explore a range of stylistic options including poems, manifestoes, creative non-fiction, dialogue pieces, songlyrics, poem-paintings, texts that redefine or de-define genre, ‘hybrid texts’ or ‘non-poetry.’ Students will offer critiques of each other’s work to create a dialogue within a ‘unity in diversity’ approach. By the end of the class, students can expect a deeper understanding into the creative process as well as the business of publishing or other ways of making their work public. Note: This class is intended for all levels.

Chris Stroffolino is the author of seven books of poetry, including Speculative Primitive (2004), Scratch Vocals (2003), Stealer’s Wheel (1999), Light As A Fetter (1997), Cusps (1995) and Oops (1994). He also published two books of literary criticism, Spin Cycle (2001), and, with David Rosenthal, a book length study of Shakespeare’s 12th Night (2000). Since 2001, he’s been singer/songwriter for Continuous Peasant, and has also performed and recorded with The Silver Jews, Jolie Holland, Greg Ashley, Brian Glaze, and Rising Shotgun. His music and cultural criticism has appeared in The Bigtakeover, Kitchen Sink, Big Bridge. He was a recipient of a 2001 New York Foundation for the Arts grant before moving to Oakland where he was Visiting Distinguished Poet at St. Mary’s College from 2001-2006. He has also taught at San Francisco Art Institute, Mills College, Rutgers University, NYU, LIU, Temple, Drexel among others, and received a 2008 Grant from the Fund For Poetry. His poetry has been widely anthologized, and translated into Spanish, Bengali, Hungarian, and Dutch. He also has edited literary journals and curated several reading/talk series.

To Register, contact Chris Stroffolino at chris.stroffolino@gmail.com or 415-260-7535. Spaces are limited. No more than 10 students will be accepted per class. Interested students should submit a short 1-3 page sample (or 2 MP3 if working in primarily an audio format).

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

LAST BIG BACK ROOM LIVE OF THE YEAR ! SAT DEC 6TH 7PM !

Back Room Live Two Year Anniversary and Life-long Press Publication Event ! JANE MILLER ! BRIAN TEARE ! CHRIS STROFFOLINO ! HARMONY HOLIDAY ! Issues of /BRL Editors Choice Edition/!!! SATURDAY DECEMBER 6TH ! 7pm ! Mc Nally's Irish Pub ! Come Join The Party!

Thank you ! Javier O. Huerta ! Jenny Drai ! Stephen Vincent ! Sarah Garrigan ! Lukas Champagne ! Janet W. Hardy ! Eleanor Johnson ! Della Watson ! Ailene Sankur ! Jennifer K. Sweeney ! Chad Sweeney ! Valyntina Grenier ! Sara Mumolo ! Jenny Drai ! Gillian Hamel ! Craig Santos Perez ! Zach Demby ! Rebecca Guyon ! Victoria A. Hudson ! Amanda Benson ! Veronica Carlos-Landa ! Linda Norton ! Ben Perez ! Ben Prickett ! Sarah Fattig ! Lyn Hejinian ! Brenda Hillman ! Graham Foust ! Geoffrey G. O'brien ! Lisa Gschwandtner ! Jack Morgan ! Jarrod Roland ! Erika Stati ! Patrick Holian! Lily Brown ! Victoria Hudson ! Clare Becker ! Evan Sicuranza ! Kathryn FK ! Eleanor Bayne Johnson ! Rebbecca Brown ! Jack Morgan ! Juliet Kinkade ! Tyler Williams ! Allison Landa ! JP Lacrampe ! Trevor Calvert ! Cielo Lutino ! Jeffrey Knutson ! Nicole Polidoro ! Pablo Lopez ! Sara Mumolo ! Challen Clarke ! Angelo Nikolopoulos ! Teresa Hovis ! Sarah Garrigan ! Beatrix Chan ! Alicia Bleuer ! Lukas Champagne ! Adam Watkins ! Sharon Lynn Osmond ! Andrew Kenower ! Lily Brown ! David Spataro ! Harmony Holiday ! Jason Sattler ! Blake Ellington Larson ! Vicki Hudson ! Jenny Drai ! Janet W. Hardy ! Hillary Gravendyk ! David Larsen ! Julie Choffel ! Scott Berger ! Thomas Cooney ! Ben Brashares ! For Making Art in Public ! BACK ROOM LIVE ! OAKLAND ! NOVEMBER 2006 ! DECEMBER ! 2007

Thank you ! Stephanie Young ! Margaret Rhee ! Francois Loung ! Jonny Hernandez ! For Being Willing !

Thank you Tony and Tobias for making room for us!!!!

AND THANK YOU THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO ARE A PART OF THE LIFE-LONG PRESS COMMUNITY ! you have my heart +V

Stroffolino's the author 7 books of poetry (all out of print), most recently Speculative Primitive (2004 Tougher Disguises). Also, a book of essays on contemporary poetry (Spin Cycle), co-edited a Critical Edition of Shakespeare's 12th Night. Various Rock Bands (Silver Jews, Continuous Peasant, Rising Shotgun, etc). Won a Fund For Poetry grant in 2008 and a NYFA grant in 2001. Was VIsiting Distinguished Poet at St. Mary's College (2001-2005). Essays on music, and pop culture in BigTakeover, Kitchen Sink, Oakbook, etc.

Harmony Holiday is a graduate student in the MFA program at Columbia University. She teaches dance and writing part time in New York and is currently completing her first collection "Negro League Baseball" and working a chapbook entitled "Scripture for the Perverts" based on Freud's "Three Essays on a Theory of Sexuality."

Brian Teare is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and MacDowell Colony. He was also a Stegner Fellow in poetry at Stanford University. He has published poetry and criticism in American Poetry Review, Boston Review, Ploughshares, Provincetown Arts, St. Mark's Poetry Project Newsletter, Seneca Review, Verse and VOLT, among many other journals. His first book, The Room Where I Was Born, won the 2003 Brittingham Prize and the 2004 Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry. Two new books are forthcoming: Sight Map (University of California, 2009) and Pleasure (Ahsahta, 2010). He lives, teaches and makes books by hand in San Francisco.

Jane Miler’s recent collection is Midnights, poetry and prose in Saturnalia Press’s artist/poet Collaboration Series, #4, 2008, with visual art contributed by Beverly Pepper and an introduction by C.D. Wright. Jane has also published several poetry collections with Copper Canyon Press, most recently a book-length collection, A Palace of Pearls.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Monday, November 3, 2008

!VOTING DAY!


!Endorsements from Life-long Press!
I was talking w/ a friend, Suchi, about tomorrows election some weeks ago and she wondered why it is not called "Voting Day." I know there are a few days on which we are meant to hit the poles or meet our vote by mail dead lines however, like Suchi I feel that if it were called voting day perhaps more people would feel compelled to vote. I also believe, as was my voter status in my late teens and twenties, that many people do not vote because they find voter information ballots and conflicting television adds "overwhelming" or "confusing." Because many Americans are simply not taught how to vote inquiry into the issues and candidates and the act of voting itself is seen as a "task" rather than a RIGHT and the opportunity to educate one's self is not undertaken. At this point I take my right to vote as fundamental to my behavior as a; citizen, artist, worker, family member, friend, student and educator. It is my privilege to go public w/ the choices I will be making on voting day. I have based my decisions on the voter information pamphlet for the general election and for Alameda County, conversation at the work place and w/ friends, television adds and news programs, as well as the San Francisco Bay Guardian. There are a few issues I am still undecided about and would love to hear your input so please comment w/ any of your opinions. I also want to wish Suchi a happy Voting Day Birthday, thanks for inspiring my thinking and my decision to spend a little extra time to share my opinions in public.

PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESEDENT Obama/ Biden
US REPRESENTATIVE 9TH DISTRICT Lee
STATE SENATOR 9TH DISTRICT Hancock
STATE ASSEMBLY 14TH DISTRICT Skinner
SUPERIOR COURT OFFICE #9 Hayashi
COUNCIL MEMBER AT LARGE Kaplan
AC TRANSIT DISTRICT DIRECTOR AT LARGE ?
AC TRANSIT DISTRICT DIRECTOR AT LARGE WARD 2 Harper

STATE MEASURES
1A Yes
2 Yes
3 No
4 No
5 Yes
6 No
7 ?
8 No
9 No
10 No
11 No
12 ?

SCHOOL
N Yes

CITY OF OAKLAND
NN No
OO Yes
VV Yes
WW Yes