Philip Havey says of himself: I was born an only child to an Irish Catholic family on June 29, 1930. This is important to know because I have spent considerable time being both American Irish and rogue Catholic. Sometimes to the point of true danger, at others to the point of parody.
However, even this fact is wrong- because my birth proved incomplete or so I was informed when on the Freedom Ride, by a New York City morgue worker (who should know about such things) who told me I lacked a soul. After three days of traveling to Mississippi with my nervous and quirky energies, he'd found himself piqued beyond belief.
At this most recent stage in life, I can see his point should have been well taken. Like a figure eternally tap-dancing down the Yellow Brick Road Dorothy's shoulder, I have often come very close, not to perfection, but to being "truly human" without ever crossing over from excellent execution to art.
Since this bio relates to my poem, I will mention reading with the best from Dylan Thomas at the Lion's Head in the 50's to some very talented people in Berkeley today.
In the earlier times, I inevitably opened reading sets with the strong, simple honesty of convistion that brough the audience into line for the better poets to follow, a practice which did a lot to help the Les Deux Megots on New York's Seventh Street to present a series of exciting performances in the early 60's. Diane Wakoski, Howard Ant, John Harriman, Robert Nichols and Jack Mc Low were just getting under way when I left to become more active in the Peace Movement.
Without realizing it, installing and programming computers tightened up my concentration, so, when I found more time for writing, the new work came as a pleasant surprise.
With a prescience for the unusual, John Carle suggested mention my cats of which there are three. "Flan", "Lady Jane Grey" and the ghost of black cat with a white mask who came with our condominium. The ghost cat spends its nights walking a cross our blankets whenever we reach its posting point between wakefulness and sleep. During the day, it has already agitated the two, living felines out of five pounds a piece since last summer.
Blaine Eubanks is a teenage junk poet from a town in
southern illinois where the children are raised like the cattle that
stalk the grass...he is a student in the Eldorado Public school system,
and would like to attend college after finishing high school.
Nora-Maria Iancu has not sent in a biography at this time.
Born in Boston in 1954, Chuck deVarennes grew up in suburban Atlanta. His intemperence cut short his studies at the University of Ga. For five years Chuck traveled the country surveying for gas and oil pipeline construction. He has worked mostly in the Atlanta area in the commercial contruction industry, where he is presently a Project Superintendent.
Chuck has published poetry locally in ACOUSTICS magazine and the SHAKEY TABLE newsletter. He has been printed in the PARNASSUS LITERARY JOURNAL, and will be published in the SNAKE NATION REVIEW. He wrote profiles and interviews with acoustic musicians for ACOUSTICS and SOUTHERN VIBES in Atlanta.
Chuck has been a part of the spoken word movement in Atlanta since 1993.
Public readings are a great stimulis for his continuing work, though he
doesn't write with performance in mind. A political activist in his youth,
Chuck leaves political poetry mostly to others. His work ranges widely in
subject matter and form. He does not subscribe to the notion that one kind
of poetry is superior to others. Chuck believes all subjects and forms
valid and judges poems only by how well they are written.
Perry Thompson was born in Georgia in 1950. Two years running he was awarded first place in Columbia University's Gold Circle Award For Poetry for which he received a nice letter. He holds no college degrees. Perry has been previously published in Columbia Review, Dekalb Literary Arts Journal and Chattahoochee Review. A civil rights and anti-war activist during the '60s, he has been handcuffed, spit on, hosed down, beaten up and generally abused by his fellow Americans. He currently resides in Atlanta with his wife, Marsha, and their cat, Bramble. Perry is the proprietor and local music guru of Rainy Day Records.
William Burns' poetry and artwork have been published in NOCTURNAL LYRIC,
THE MORPO REVIEW, THE NEW PRESS, BEYOND THE MOON and SPARKS ON LINE, among
many others.
Gary Burns left Scotland for the Bay Area some two years ago, for now he codes and lives in
San Francisco. His work has previously
appeared in the mailboxes of friends, who he thanks for the
encouragement and kind words.'
Dancing Bear grew up and continues to live in the San Francisco Bay area. He enjoys stone carving, jewelry making and watercolor painting. Recent print publications include: Ebbing Tide, Laughing Boy Review and Neon Quarterly. For a complete list of Web publications, try the Dancing Bear's Lair, http://www.hooked.net/users/bear/index.html.
Fanny-Min Becker, British Chinese turned German. Living in Duesseldorf,
Germany, with trade-developing husband and internet-developing son. Lover of
what life has to offer, devoted wife, mother of three and more, friend,
homemaker, teacher, writing/reading fan, student, roughly in that order.
Ray Heinrich published his first chapbook by secretly placing copies in local bookstores and libraries. His poems have appeared in RealPoetik, CrossConnect, 33 Review, Agnieszka's Dowry, Electronic Soapbox, Katanaville, Enterzone, Morpo Review, 256 Shades of Gray, TransMog, Sparks, So It Goes..., Sand River Journal, BiSexual Journal, Cherry Street, The Wicked, Surreal Voices, billetdoux, Droplet Journal, No Trace, Sub-UrbanTerrain, Biopsy, his own "Word Biscuit E-letter" and elsewhere. An electronic edition of his chapbook: "years of water" (Word Biscuit Press) is available free via email. Send requests to: ray@vais.net