“What is a poet? An unhappy man who hides deep anguish in his heart, but whose lips are so formed that when the sigh and cry pass through them, it sounds like lovely music…. And people flock around the poet and say: ‘Sing again soon’ – that is, ‘May new sufferings torment your soul but your lips be fashioned as before, for the cry would only frighten us, but the music, that is blissful.”  Søren Kierkegaard, Either/Or


MICHAEL ROTHENBERG 100TPC Co-founder with Terri Carrion: Join Michael in support of this worthy cause from which so many poets benefit as they use their poetry for peace, sustainability and social justice. Michael is raising money for 100 Thousand Poets for Change (a modest $1,000). Whether you donate $5 or $500, your contribution will make a difference. Details HERE.


Join The BeZine 100TPC 2018 discussion page on Facebook.

This is our new poster for 100TPC 2018. It was designed by Corina Ravenscraft (Dragon’s Dreams)

MOE’S BOOKS, Berkeley, CA  is one of the most interesting bookstores. It has a long history.

“Since its inception back in the heyday of the Beatnik era, Moe’s Books has managed to become more than just a great bookstore–it has achieved the rarified status of a beloved landmark institution as well. Situated just four blocks from the University of California campus, Moe’s has managed to mirror the often turbulent and triumphant times that have come to epitomize all that is exciting and unique about Berkeley.”

Currently, novelist Todd Stadtman (Dec. 6) and poets Kevin Lozano, Jacob Kahn, and Shiloh Jines (Dec. 7) are scheduled to do readings. Details HERE.

The last time I was able to visit Moe’s there was a reading of Philip Whalen’s poems from Prolegomena to a Study of the Universe with photos by Tinker Greene.  Michael Rothenberg and Tinker Greene were among those reading that day.  (The woman in blue with the camera is Terri Carrion.)

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“Do you know why the San Francisco Chronicle said ‘India has the Taj Mahal. Berkeley has Moe’s?’ Moe Moskowitz of Moe’s Books [est. 1959] was a kind of loud mouth beatnik father to a generation. Moe embodied radical politics, radical theater, and radical bookselling. He put fun into being an intellectual and helped democratize literacy. If you were young in the 1960s in Berkeley when he held court at his counter, sharing jokes and politics, opinions, both warm and offensive, maybe you have wondered why he opened his monumental bookstore?” Moe’s Books  on Radical Bookselling: A Life of Moe Moskowitz

Radical Bookselling by Doris Jo Moskowitz on her father offers a wealth of images, event posters, “happenings” on Telegraph Avenue through the 60s, and memorabilia from Moe’s life prior to his Berkeley days in 1955.


BRAVA! Amy Berry for the successful launch of Spearing Dreams on November 17 in Ireland and as reported by James Fogarty in the Rosecommon Herald, her hometown paper.  Direct message Amy on Facebook for info or check out the FB page dedicated to the book.

Poet Amy Barry (c) Philip Mann
Amy Barry being interviewed by James Fogerty of the Rosecommon Herald (c)  Philip Mann

I am tickled to note that Amy quoted me (Sweet, my friend. Thank you!) in her presentation:


SEQUESTRUM 2018 EDITOR’S REPRINT AWARD is open for submissions and deserves breakout from weekly Sunday Announcements because it’s rather unusual. There’s not all that much by way of opportunities for “reprints” and this one awards $500 to writers of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. There will be a first-prize winner and “a minimum of two runners-up per genre.”  $15 entry fees. Deadline: April 30, 2018. Details HERE.


Value added courtesy of Michael Dickel (Meta / Phor (E) / Play) who shared it with us:


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