Mahnaz Badihian is an Iranian poet and painter whose work reflects ideas of immigrants and exiles, women’s issues, poverty, struggles for justice and, of course, love. An award-winning poet and author of two poetry collections, and a recording of Rumi poems with her own translations with the poems read by […]
When does a person become an artist and not simply a person who at times creates art? In music it requires a certain attainment of skills to simply play music and then the line is formed as professional or an amateur musician, lines that do not necessarily reflect on one’s […]
On June 4th I made a speech for the Ina Coolbrith Poetry Circle’s 95th Poets Dinner and Award Ceremony that was held in Benicia City Park. Several people asked if they could read the speech so I offer it below. When given the theme of discovery I used my typical […]
In 1968 Black Fire literary anthology edited by Imari Baraka and Larry Neal was released creating a clarion call for the Black Arts Movement. Essays and poetry from a range of authors including Nathan Hare, Calvin C. Hernton, Sun-Ra, Henry Dumas, A.B. Spellman, Sonia Sanchez and many others. Fifty-four years […]
I have a fairly limited experience with opera. My growing years were mostly jazz with a few helpings of blues, a handful of Broadway musicals, and of course full servings of R&B and Soul as my teens beckoned. But there were also recordings of Handel’s “Messiah,” “Amahl and the Night […]
A poet, for whom I have much respect as poet and person, on reading a recently finished manuscript counseled me to reconsider my use of “I” in the poems. No specific poems were pointed to simply the observation that I could create stronger poems in that way. The poet noted that […]
A brief note on translation before I begin. It is a truism in poetry that when a poem is translated from one language to another it becomes a new, although closely related, poem. Some words are untranslatable, others are used differently so that line meaning changes. The issues of rhythm […]
My new book has just been released. Well it will be July 31. From today July 28-30 folks can get a per-publication discount by following the link. Know ye that at the right hand of the Indies there is an island called California, very close to that part of the […]
As I am a citizen of the world, I have friends from many of the world’s cultures and ethnicities. I relish their differences and value our commonalities and celebrate our uniqueness. If I have one Bengali friend I do not assume that all Bengalis do or should act like her […]
Although I have been MIA from my blog action I have been actively writing, performing and teaching. I also have found myself, in these viral times Zooming through meetings and workshops and making use of several online resources. I’d like to recommend a few I became aware of through my […]
