November 5, 2009

we on a world tour.

intangiblecollective:

kneepits:

well, not really. it’s a weekend tour. but it’s with the intangible collective, and that feels like a world to me. we’ll be roadtripping the state of new york, celebrating our book release and putting on dope hip hop and poetry sets for those born with the miracle of ears.

where we’ll be & when:
-thursday, november 5th: herkimer community college. @ 8pm.
-friday, november 6th: valentines, in albany @ 9pm.
-saturday, november 7th: deity, in brooklyn @ 7pm.

November 3, 2009

JUST A REMINDER!

JUST IN CASE IT WASN’T CLEAR IN THE LAST POST.

YOU CAN BUY “STATIC AND OTHER LUNGLESS THINGS” BY THE INTANGIBLE COLLECTIVE PUBLISHED BY PENMANSHIP BOOKS AT:

http://poetcd.com/products.php?id=285

AH! AHHHHHH! AHHHH! BUY! AHHH! LOVE INTANGIBLES! LOVE PENMANSHIP! GO.

The Ultimate, Organic Team Piece

brianomnidillon:

Tracy Soren and I are sitting on gchat right now, sweating out the last moments of a two month ordeal to get the first Intangfible Anthology. “Static” published. We have now been deeply at work for 11 of the past 36 hours. This book has become a second (unpaid) job for both of us. (well, for tracy its a first job. HA). We are literally delirious. On the verge of tears, finger blisters and psychosis. I know every word to poems i never expected to have to read 899 times. I have done more work in the last 30 days for my collective than ive done in the past year, and thats coming from someone who fucking busts his goddamn ass. When this book is in my hand (FUCKING THURSDAY), tracy and i are going to buy a bottle of champagne from the bartender in Herkimer and we are going to drink it all to ourselves. What a goddamn struggle this has been….Personally, emotionally, physically….I have never in my creative life, been prouder of anything. For the first time i feel like i couldnt have possibly worked harder. And while it feels goooood. It also feels like SOMEONE BETTER BUY US A FUCKING DRINK buck buck…static and other lungless things on sale tommorrow morning. intangibles….

YES. TO ALL OF THAT.

Omni and I coach the New Paltz Slam Team together, he has been my coach, we have been working together for some time. WE ARE NOW EVEN MORE LINKED. FOREVER. FOREVER OUR BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS (cliche, i know, i’ve read this book 12323 times. I’m lungless and poetryied out) ARE IN THIS BOOK. I CANNOT FOR THE TWO OF US TO CHEERS THIS BOOK AND THAT CHAMPAGNE SIMULTANEOUSLY BECAUSE IT’S OFFICIALLY OUT!!!

http://poetcd.com/products.php?id=285

BUY IT! IT’S AMAZING. IT’S BEAUTIFUL POETRY BY BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. BUY IT AND SUPPORT POETRY, MCS, THE INTANGIBLES, PENMANSHIP BOOKS. SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT ARTISTS!

October 29, 2009

Static and Other Lungless Things

when that hard copy is in my hand, someone place a delicious beverage in the other, put on some florence and the machine and watch for a single tear.

October 26, 2009

Here’s a poem I did for a pilot about environmental awareness. It was a whole lotta  exciting to be asked to be involved in this. Also, it was a whole lotta fun and a whole lotta green.

Al Jazeera interviewed Josh Healey and he gave his response to our session, “Culture as a Tool for Change” being cut by J Street.

In fact…it’s 4:50 p.m. on October 26, 2009. We would have just finished our session.

Instead, watch what Josh has to say about the larger reasons; the real reasons we got cut.

This was a bit of the discussion we were supposed to have.

Like he said, it’s ironic.

kneepits:

totally something i would have done as a child.

totally something i would have tried to talk megan out of as a child…and now.

kneepits:

totally something i would have done as a child.

totally something i would have tried to talk megan out of as a child…and now.

October 25, 2009

a bright light through the mess

Up side of not going to D.C. tomorrow, I get to catch up on The Office. I mean…CATCH UP. My friend Adam gave me DVDs of the first 5 seasons. It’s a whole lot of amazing.

That’s What She Said.

October 21, 2009

My Response in Tablet Magazine

Allison Hoffman, a reporter I mentioned in my statement but DEFINITELY NOT one with ill intentions towards myself or the other poets interviewed me for my response.

I mentioned her in my statement because in her other article, “J Street Cancels Poetry Session”, it says the organization cancelled the session “because it didn’t approve of the ‘use and abuse of Holocaust imagery’ and other potentially offensive material by the three featured poets—Kevin Coval, Josh Healey, and Tracy Soren—in their work.”

This statement was constructed from an earlier statement made by J Street. The organization DID NOT make clear if it was one writer, two writers, all of us, etc… Therefore, I understand why the article was written the way it was and I appreciate Allison responding to my statement.

Here is her most recent post with my response:

http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/18910/poets-protest-j-street-cancellation/

And here is Josh and Kevin’s full response in the Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-coval/searching-for-a-minyan-ou_b_327597.html

What the Intangibles have to say...

We are aware that one of our poets, Tracy Soren, has become part of a controversy regarding the cancellation of a panel at the national J Street Conference in Washington. In the organization’s official statement, they claim that in the name of “being critical of the use and abuse of Holocaust imagery and metaphors,” it would be “inappropriate” that they feature poets “whose poetry has used such imagery in the past and might also be offensive to some conference participants.”

We disagree with the censoring of this discussion before it began, and further believe that Ms. Soren has been falsely labeled under this statement, as well as in various media references depicting the session in question as “anti-Israel” or a “poetry slam.” The session, to include non-competitive performance poetry and a panel discussion, was titled “Culture as a Tool for Change,” as seen here: http://www.jstreet.org/page/j-street-conference-2009-driving-change-securing-peace.

Ms. Soren is a gifted poet, and one sensitive to and proud of her Jewish heritage. She has never used, much less abused Holocaust imagery in her poetry. Her viewpoint on the Arab-Israeli conflict is her own, and admittedly complex, to the point that she has as of yet refrained from participating in that dialogue with her art.

We fully support Ms. Soren in her quest to clarify the current misrepresentations of her beliefs, wherever they might arise.

i love my fam.