Hello Poets and Poetesses,

Following last week's featured poem theme: Rain (as in, Central Texas could use some), we got some. Rain, that is. Wondering what we'd get with themes like justice or omnipotence. Since the next several week's themes have already been announced, I won't put it to the test. However, after this week's Haiku theme, I’ll post results on bonsai. Or banzai.

APAL Poets Guide:

Beginning this week, the poets guide includes poetic events scheduled throughout the 1998 National Poetry Slam and beyond. You will be amazed at the many poetic opportunities awaiting you. Put in now for vacation time. The actual NPS venues/bouts schedules appear after announcements.

All events are free unless otherwise noted. Some venues request donations for the featured poets.

1. Monday, August 10 - Jovita's, 1619 South First St. Open mic readings 7-9 pm

2. Tuesday, August 11 - Ruta Maya Coffee House, 4th and Lavaca. APAL open mic, sign up at 6:30 pm. Sara Sutterfield Winn and Maslow host. Benefit for 1998 National Poetry Slam, featured poet is Austin Slam Team member Ernie Cline. fmi e maslow_at_flash.net

3. Tuesday, August 11 - Electric Lounge, home of the Austin Slam. 302 Bowie. Sign up by 8:30 pm. Sonya Feher hosts. "Did I mention, winner gets $50?" $2 admission. fmi call 476-FUSE.

4. Wednesday, August 12 - Movements Gallery 211 E. 6th St. BYOB: Blast Your Own Breath. Tammy Gomez hosts, 9-10:30 pm. fmi tejana.tongue_at_mail.utexas.edu

5. Thursday, August 13 - Mexic-Arte Museum, 419 Congress Ave. Poesia Y Sur 1998, 7 pm. Selections from Federico Garcia Lorca. Hosted by Sun Littleton. Introduction to the Poet by Dr. Miriam Balboa de Echeverria. Read in Spanish by

Miriam Balboa de Echeverria. Read in English translation by Thom the World Poet and Sue Littleton. fmi call 416-7435.

6. Saturday, August 15 - Quackenbush's Coffee House, 2120 Guadalupe. Saturday Afternoon Live Poetry, APAL open mic sign up 3 pm. Hosted by Diane Fleming. Featured poets: Aaron Sanders and Patrick Wharton. fmi buddydog_at_texas.net

7. Saturday, August 15 - Electric Lounge, 302 Bowie. 8 p.m. $2 for all this: Mock slam bouts and SILENT AUCTION to benefit 1998 National Poetry Slam. Rare treasures. Art. Gift certificates to your fave shops and restaurants. Bring your employed relatives, your friends, your neighbors, your roommates. fmi call 476-FUSE.

8. Monday, August 17 - Fado Irish Pub, 214 W. 4th (next door to Ruta Maya Coffee House). 6:30 pm. Open mic event for slam (and other) poets who wish to

perform at the beginning of Nationals week. However, all poetry and prose

is welcome: Your own stuff, anyone's stuff. (Shakespeare and Bukowski are

suggested. Shakespeare intermixed with Bukowski is encouraged. Hosted by Diane Fleming and Krysten Kiefer. fmi contact buddydog_at_texas.net

9. Tuesday, August 18 - Ruta Maya Coffee House, 4th & Lavaca. APAL open mic, sign up at 6 pm. Sara Sutterfield Winn and Maslow host. Featured poets: New York poets/editors Brett Axel and Amy Ouzoonian, along with visiting national slam poets. Brett and Amy are seeking submissions for their publications. Find out more about their tour at http://www.mhv.net/%7Eaxels/neshows.htm

fmi e mail maslow_at_flash.net

10. Tueday, August 18 - Alamo Draft House, 409 Colorado. Starting at 8 p.m. $2 Admission. Slam-related movies, including SlamNation (which screened at the Alamo during South By Southwest), Slam (featuring Saul Williams from the '96 New York team and Beau Sia from the '96 New York team and '97 Mouth Almighty team), Wammo's video for "There Is Too Much Light In This Bar," and the '98 Nationals PSA, which promises to be 30 of the greatest seconds of your life. Marc Smith will also be there to give a reading and a pre-Nationals invocation.

11. Wednesday, August 19 - Mojo's Daily Grind, 2714 Guadalupe. MASTERPIECE THEATER, 4:30-6 p.m. Slam Hall-of-Famers deliver the poems that made slam great. 477-MOJO

12. Wednesday, August 19 - INCOMMUNICADO PRESS BOOK PARTY, Fringeware (2716 Guadalupe, 494-9273), 4:30-6 p.m. A reading with authors Steve Abee and Jimmy Jazz.

13. Wednesday, August 19 - 1998 National Poetry Slam begins! Tickets available at Waterloo Records, 6th and Lamar and Austix 3710 Cedar Street. Tickets for Finals on Aug. 22 are available at the Paramount box office, 703 Congress Ave. See special 1998 NPS venues/bouts schedule following announcements. For more details, visit http://slam.home.texas.net/98Nationals/welcome.htm

14. Wednesday, August 19 - Movements Gallery 211 E. 6th St. BYOB: Blast Your Own Breath. Tammy Gomez hosts, 9-10:30 pm. fmi tejana.tongue_at_mail.utexas.edu

15. Thursday, August 20 - POETS LIVING ROOM, BookPeople (6th and Lamar) noon-2 p.m., 472-5050. Round-robin open mic, Taos style.

16. Thursday, August 20 - GRAMMAR RODEO AND SPELLING BEE, Mojo's, 2716 Guadalupe. 1-2:30 p.m. Not for the faint of heart, thrills and spills guaranteed.

17. Thursday, August 20 - BookPeople (6th and Lamar) 2-3 p.m. A reading with the father of the slam, Chicago poet MARC SMITH

18. Thursday, August 20 - Mojo's, 2714 Guadalupe, 2:30-3 p.m. POETICALLY INCORRECT, Poet talk show discussing the state of contemporary poetry.

19. Thursday, August 20 - NIGHT OF THE CHIHUAHUA, Mojo's, 3-4:30 p.m. All Latino, all burrito, and looking to spread some panic. With Kenn Rodriguez (Albuquerque), Danny Solis (Albuquerque), Marta Sanchez (Seattle), Guy Gonzales (New York), Trinidad Sanchez (San Antonio), and many more.

20. Thursay, August 20 - Fringeware, 3:30-4:30 p.m. JUSTIN CHIN, JEFF MCDANIEL, AND TARIN TOWERS.

21. Thursday, August 20 - MANIC D PRESS BOOK PARTY, Fringeware, 4:30-6 p.m. Hosted by Juliette Torrez (San Francisco), Bruce Jackson (San Francisco) and Jeff McDaniel (Los Angeles).

22. Thursday, August 20 - Mojo's, 4:30-6 p.m. PROP SLAM

23. Thursday, August 20 - Borders (10225 Research Blvd, 795-9553), 6 p.m. WRITERS CORP CYBER SLAM

24. Thursday, August 20 - Barry's Coffee House, 517 N. Third, Temple, Texas. Open mic, signup 7:30 pm. Central Texas Live Poets Society presents featured poet Larry Jaffe. fmi contact mgreene_at_sage.net

25. Thursday, August 20 - 1998 National Poetry Slam continues. See section below for venues/bouts.

26. Friday, August 21 - POETS LIVING ROOM, BookPeople, 6th and Lamar. noon-2 p.m.

27. Friday, August 21 - Mojo's, 1-2:30 p.m. THE TRUTH ABOUT SUPERHEROES. With Douglas A. Martin (Athens), Ken Hunt (Madison), Lyska Janacek (Fargo), Justin Chin (San Francisco), Scott Klein (Detroit), Thea Iberall (Los Angeles), and many more.

28. Friday, August 21 - BookPeople, 6th & Lamar, 2-3 p.m. PATRICIA SMITH. A reading with the four-time poetry slam champion, Boston poet Patricia Smith.

29. Friday, August 21 - POETICALLY INCORRECT, Mojo's, 2:30-3 p.m.

30. Friday, August 21 - CHOCOLATE CITY, Mojo's, 3-4:30 p.m. This African-American writers showcase promises to be delicious. With Boogie Man (Cleveland), Jerry Quickley (Los Angeles), DJ Renegade (Washington DC), Roger Bonair-Agard (New York), Bruce Jackson (San Francisco), and many more.

31. Friday, August 21 - DOUG MARTIN, SPIKE GILLESPIE AND BOB REDMOND, Fringeware, 3:30-4:30 p.m.

32. Friday, August 21 - HEAD-TO-HEAD HAIKU SLAM, Mojo's, 4:30-6 p.m.

33. Friday, August 21 - SOFT SKULL AND MOUTH ALMIGHTY PARTY, Fringeware, 4:30-6 p.m. Hosted by Sander Hicks and Bob Holman.

34. Friday, August 21 - POETRY TAILGATE PARTY AND BBQ, Electric Lounge, 4-6:30 p.m.

35. Friday, August 21 - FRIDAY NIGHT BOUTS INDIVIDUAL SEMI-FINALS

The top ten poets in the individual all-arounds get on the high beam for two rounds of mayhem. The top six will move on to Saturday night. See NPS section below for venues.

36. Saturday, August 22 - BookPeople, 6th & Lamar, noon-2 p.m. POETS LIVING ROOM

37. Saturday, August 22 - Mojo's, 2714 Guadalupe. 1-2:30 p.m. FIRESTORM All-fem reading series, guaranteed to burn your ears. With Genevieve Van Cleve (Austin), Christina Springer (Pittsburgh), Lea Deschenes (Laguna Beach), Sabrina Hayeem-Ladani (Albuquerque), Lisa Martinovic (Fayetteville, AR), Anne MacNaughton (Taos) and many more.

38. Saturday, August 22 - Fringeware, 2-3 p.m. BOB HOLMAN A reading with poetry impresario and slam godfather Bob Holman from New York.

39. Saturday, August 22 - Mojo's, 3-4:30 p.m. YOUNG VOICES SLAM. Open to poets 21 and younger.

40. Saturday, August 22 - Public Domain, 807 Congress Avenue, 4-5 p.m.AUSTIN CINEMAKER COOP presents EXQUISITE CORPSE FILM FESTIVAL, A Super 8 film screening, made collaboratively, modeled on the poetry writing exercise.

41. Saturday, August 22 - Fringeware, 3:30-4:30 p.m. ELLYN MAYBE W/ SPECIAL GUESTS

42. Saturday, August 22 - Mojo's, 4:30-6 p.m. RAP SLAM

43. Saturday, August 22 - Fringeware, 4:30-6 p.m. 2.13.61 PUBLICATIONS PARTY, Hosted by Ellyn Maybe.



44. Saturday, August 22 - 1998 National Poetry Slam finals. Paramount Theatre. 703 Congress, 8 pm. Tickets $11 available at Paramount Box Office.

45. Sunday, August 23 - DiverseArts Little Gallery at Heritage House, 810 E. 13th Street. 3 pm. A tribute to Lorraine Hansberry. Featured poets: Larry Jaffe, Marla Fulgham.

46. Monday, August 24 - Jovita's 1619 South First St. Open mic readings 7-9 pm. Brett Axel and Amy Ouzoonian feature.

47. Monday, August 24 - Ebony Sun Java House, 1209 E. 11th Street. East Side Black and White poets, hosted by Stazja McFadyen. Open mic sign up at 7:30 pm. Featured poet: Larry Jaffe. fmi e mail stazja_at_aol.com

48. Tuesday, August 25 - Ruta Maya Coffee House, 4th & Lavaca. APAL open mic, signup at 6:30 pm. Hosted by Sara Sutterfield Winn and Maslow. Feature: L.A. poet Larry Jaffe. fmi e mail maslow_at_flash.net

49. Wednesday, August 26 - Movements Gallery, 211 E. 6th St. BYOB: Blast Your Own Breath. Tammy Gomez hosts, 9-10:30 pm. fmi tejana.tongue_at_mail.utexas.edu

50. Saturday, August 29 - Past Poetry Project performance at Windsor Village Library. 2 pm.

51. Saturday, August 29 - Saturday Night Live Poetry at Quackenbush's Coffee House, 2120 Gaudalupe. Back in the evening time slot, APAL open mic sign up at 7:30 pm. Featured: Saturday Morning Writing Group and Thom the World Poet. Hosted by Diane Fleming. fmi e buddydog_at_texas.net

52. Sunday, August 30 - Let there be peace.

Featured Poetry This week's theme: Haiku (some many submissions, so little space)



Next week's theme: Spanish poetry/English Translations

1. From Audrey Kaufman, of Dublin, Ireland

the last leaf airborn

8 o'clock toll

my solitude

2. From Carl Cacciatore of Pelican Island, New Jersey

a Haiku:

Bees search early feast.

Sun-ray brightens morning sky.

Pink flower opens

3. From Ross Clark of Brisbane, Australia:

"the following are haiku i have already had published so far this year in USA, Japan or Aust. Use any you wish, in form as given... " (excerpts)

last quarter moon

but the constellations

are all intact

using grandad's axe

in the old forest --

so many echoes

she polishes an apple

on her jeans then

offers me first bite

sunday sails

dancing on the river

sudden cabbage whites

everywhere now

the sound of one

phone ringing

old man

in the veggie patch

almost a scarecrow

afternoon loving:

hoping the neighbours

don't hear or do

4. From Drew Daniels, via Jimmy Smith, somewhere in cyber space…

IMAGINE IF INSTEAD OF CRYPTIC, GEEKY TEXT STRINGS, YOUR COMPUTER PRODUCED ERROR MESSAGES AS HAIKUS... (excerpts)

A file that big?

It might be very useful.

But now it is gone.

The Web site you seek

cannot be located but

endless others exist

With searching comes loss

and the presence of absence:

"My Novel" not found.

Windows NT crashed.

I am the Blue Screen of Death.

No one hears your screams.

Yesterday it worked

Today it is not working

Windows is like that

Having been erased,

The document you're seeking

Must now be retyped.

Serious error.

All shortcuts have disappeared.

Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

Chapbooks/books (and a CD)

"chap*book (noun) First appeared 1798 : a small book containing ballads, poems, tales, or tracts"

1. Wormhole CD. New release. Includes The Year 2022 cut by Chris Vannoy of St. Pete. $12. fmi, contact cvannoy727_at_aol.com or sounds_at_accretions.com (Marcos Fernandes)

2. Rage and Other Moods, poems by Donn Deedon. 33 poems, 38 pages.

Two of the poems in Rage, "Idiot's Delight" and "Dementia" have won 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, in separate international contests. Each competed against 30,000 entrants and have been published in separate anthologies. Sells for $8.00 and can be ordered by snail mail through the poet at

11684 Ventura Boulevard, #421,

Studio City, CA 91604

Announcements:

1. The 1998 National Poetry Slam needs volunteers from now until August 21st. If you have any time to make phone calls, run errands, work at poetry events, help with softball games or stuff poet bags during the

day or at night - WE NEED YOU! Please contact Sonya Feher, Volunteer Coordinator, at ssfeher_at_yahoo.com or 326-9692.

2. all performance poets are invited to come and perform at the jam in las vegas! monday night through thursday night, september 21-24, 1998. information on registering and attending is at <http://users.aol.com/bowerbird>.

-bowerbird_at_aol.com

Ed.'s note: Already registered from Austin for Nap Jam II are Sara Sutterfield Winn, Mark Maslow, Diane Fleming, Thom Woodruff and myself. You guys who have been sitting on the fence, take advantage of bowerbird's visit to Austin during NPS. Contact him at bowerbird_at_aol.com

3. Excerpt from Ross Clark's account of the 2nd Queensland Poetry Festival

"We still haven't worked out a collective term for poets (as in gaggle of geese & murder of crows) but there were 70 of them at the 2nd Queensland Poetry Festival on the last weekend of July. The venue was a riverside clubhouse with marquee, next to an extensive park & around the bend from the University of Qld on the other bank. Poets gathered from Brisbane, places north of the Tropic or west of the Divide (Qld is larger than Texas afterall -- bet y'all didn't know that) or south of the border. Friday to Sunday the poets (& some non-poet audiences -- and don't we all need to work on increasing them?) listened to poetry, workshopped poetry, watched poetry in multimedia performances, bought books, chapbooks & audioproducts, & talked poetry. The well-known mingled with the emerging, the overblown with the toomodest, the read&runners with the dictaddicts.

Several volumes were launched, including issue 3 of "Small Packages", a pocket sized biannual anthology edited by Rob Morris & Francis Boyle, members of the Poets Union promoted their organisation, & the whole thing was opened by the Minister for the Arts Matt Foley (a social worker-lawyer-poet!).

I read my 3 LA poems & my Texas poem at the fest.

Congratulations to committee chair Brett Dionysius, himself a fine young poet, and why don't you all come over to Brisbane for next year's festival

See you there,

cheers & beers,

Ross Clark"

4. Subj: Re: Austin Poets at Large #38

Date: 98-08-02 17:36:00 EDT

From: manzap_at_utep.edu (Miguel-Angel Zapata)

To: Stazja_at_aol.com

I've been reading your mail and think is great. The activities that you promote in Austin are wonderful. Maybe you would like to program someday something related to Latin American Poetry in the US, poets that write in Spanish and for some reason are living in the US. These can be done with translations into English, and a dialogue with the public. Please, send me your address and i'll send my latest book recently published in Lima, Peru. I teach in The Bilingual Creative Writing Program at UTEP.

Saludos

Ed's note: Miguel-Angel's request prompted me to set next week's theme as Spanish poetry/English translations. Now accepting submissions.

5. I know this ish is really really lengthy, but I would be remiss for failing to mention some of last week’s

poetic highlights:

Genevieve Van Cleve gave a fine feature performance and beat the heat at Ruta Maya Tuesday night.

1998 Austin Slam Team won in the mock bouts last Tuesday night. I cannot include the names of the competing teams.

The Austin International Poetry Festival anthology read at BookPeople Thursday night showcased some of the best of the fest.

Three first time readers at Quackenbush’s on Saturday.

1998 National Poetry Slam Schedule of Venues/Bouts and related stuff



WEDNESDAY, August 19

OPENING CEREMONIES, Electric Lounge (302 Bowie, 476-FUSE), 1-3 p.m. Competing teams and individuals meet here for the lovefest. Check-in is mandatory; stick around for the team introductions.

WEDNESDAY BOUTS - Wednesday, August 19

Electric Lounge - 302 Bowie, 476-FUSE

1: Ann Arbor v. Bellwood, IL v. Boston v. Parmalee Cover (Watsonville,CA)

MC: Taylor Mali 7 pm

2: Oklahoma City v. Ozarks v. Mission District v. Gary Drilling (Sarasota, FL) MC: Deb Marsh 8:30 pm

3: Laguna Beach v. Cleveland v. Hyannis v. Stephanie Tillison (Santa Fe, NM) MC: Juliette Torrez 10 pm

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema 409 Colorado, 867-1839

1: Connecticut v. Greenville v. Chicago v. Jasim Mohamed (Rinkeby, SWEDEN) MC: Sonya Feher 7 pm

2: Seattle v. Fargo v. Missouri Ozarks v. CiroViomantes (Seattle)

MC: Wammo 8:30 pm

3: Brockton, MA v. Minneapolis v. Worcester v. Gayle Danley (Silver Spring, Md) MC: Michael Brown 10 pm

Blondies 510 Rio Grande, 472-7343

1: Hot Springs v. Vancouver v. Pittsburgh v. Reverend Bart (Houston)

MC: Kim Holzer 7 pm

2: Providence v. Roanoke v. Dallas v. Paul Bullock (Lubbock, TX)

MC: Allison Durazzi 8:30 pm

3: Los Angeles v. Salt Lake City v. Detroit v. Rolf Springer (Phoenix, AZ)

MC: Ray Davey 10 pm

Ritz Upstairs 320 E. 6th, 474-2270

1: Manhattan v. Montreal v. Winston-Salem v. DJ Renegade (Washington, DC) MC: Phil West 7 pm

2: Portland v. Santa Cruz v. Asheville v. Adam Gottschalk (Bellingham, WA)

MC: Boogie Man 8:30 pm

Ruta Maya 4th & Lavaca 472-9637

1: New York v. Hollywood/Los Feliz v. Kalamazoo v. Rus T.Russell (Madison, WI) MC: Larry Francis 7 pm

2: Ft Worth v Urbana-Champaign v Knoxville v Garland Thompson, Jr (Monterey) MC: Jill Battson 8:30 pm

Twist 505 Neches, 320-TWST

1: Albuquerque v. Venice Beach v. Mesa v. Al Letson (Jacksonville, FL)

MC: Patricia Smith 7 pm

2: Austin v. Long Beach v. San Francisco v. Tony Gallucci (Kerrville, TX)

MC: Allan Wolf 8:30 pm

THURSDAY, August 20

Electric Lounge 302 Bowie 476-FUSE

1: Missouri Ozarks v. Portland v. Detroit v. Garland Thompson, Jr (Monterey,CA) MC: Larry Francis 7 pm

2: Hot Springs v. New York v. Brockton, MA v. Jasim Mohamed (Rinkeby, SWEDEN) MC: Wammo 8:30 pm

3: Vancouver v. Albuquerque v. Austin v. Rus T. Russell (Madison, WI)

MC: Deb Marsh 10 pm

Alamo Drafthouse 409 Colorado, 867-1839

1: Mission District v. Providence v. Fort Worth v. Paul Bullock (Lubbock, TX)

MC: Kim Holzer 7 pm

2: Boston v. Kalamazoo v. Salt Lake City v. Rolf Springer (Phoenix, AZ)

MC: Jill Battson 8:30 pm

Blondies 510 Rio Grande, 472-7343

1: Ozarks v. Asheville v. Worcester v. Tony Gallucci (Kerrville, TX)

MC: Sonya Feher 7 pm

2: Bellwood, IL v. Montreal v. Hyannis v. Al Letson (Jacksonville, FL)

MC: Boogie Man 8:30 pm

3: Chicago v. Mesa v. Long Beach v. DJ Renegade (Washington, DC)

MC: Bob Holman 10 pm

La Zona Rosa 612 W. 4th, 472-2293

1: Oklahoma City v. Santa Cruz v. Urbana-Champaign v. Ciro Viomantes

(Seattle, WA) MC: Mike Henry 7 pm

2: Ann Arbor v. Manhattan v. Cleveland v. Gayle Danley (Silver Spring, MD)

MC: Allan Wolf 8:30 pm

3: Pittsburgh v. Venice Beach v. Knoxville v. Parmalee Cover (Watsonville, CA) MC: Michael Brown 10 pm

Ruta Maya 4th & Lavaca 472-9637

1: Seattle v. Roanoke v. San Francisco v. Gary Drilling (Sarasota,FL)

MC: Patricia Smith 7 pm

2: Connecticut v. Winston-Salem v. Minneapolis v. Reverend Bart (Houston)

MC: VieVee 8:30 pm

Twist 505 Neches, 320-TWST

1: Fargo v. Dallas v. Laguna Beach v. Adam Gottschalk (Bellingham, WA)

MC: Taylor Mali 7 pm

2: Greenville v. Hollywood/Los Feliz v. LA v. Stephanie Tillison (Santa Fe, NM) MC: Allison Durazzi 8:30 pm

FRIDAY, August 21st

THE SOFTBALL GAME - 11am. Check out the Softball Game page.

FRIDAY NIGHTBOUTS

INDIVIDUAL SEMI-FINALS

The top ten poets in the individual all-arounds get on the high beam for two rounds of mayhem. The top six will move on to Saturday night

Electric Lounge, 302 Bowie, 476-FUSE, two bouts. Starts at 7 pm

La Zona Rosa, 612 W. 4th, 472-2293, two bouts. Starts at 7 pm

Blondies, 510 Rio Grande, 472-7343, two bouts. Starts at 7 pm

SATURDAY, August 22 -

SLAMMASTERS' MEETING, La Quinta Inn Capitol, Lady Bird Room, 10:30-1:30 p.m.

THE FINALS

The 1998 National Poetry Slam Finals will be held at the Paramount Theater, 8 pm. The Asylum Street Spankers, one of Austin's best-loved bands, will open the show, followed by Best Of The Week Showcase Poems, the first two rounds of the team finals, the individual finals, and the concluding two rounds of the team finals.

Phew! Well, some of the events will peel off of next week’s poets guide, and then, the following week, Austin becomes Slam Nation.

Welcome new subscribers. Thanks to all this week’s contributors.

Anyone wanting off the mailing list, e me.

Much love,

Stazja