Red Room Where the Writers Are

As part of my www.examiner.column on local (SF Bay Area) poets and poetry, I have had the good fortune to interview fascinating people who are overlooked by not only our mainstream media (poetry has never been on their radar) but also, and unfortunately so, by our local alternative press and poetry magazines.

How many times have I seen the photos of better-known poets on the front-page of even our dear Poetry Flash? If I see another picture of Jane Hirshfield, Brenda Hillman, Robert Hass or Wanda Coleman, I'll croak! And, don't get me wrong. I admire, respect, and even like the work of these important writers. Yes, Julia Vinograd, Berkeley's bubble lady poet, gets a fair amount of play. She's all Berkeley and colorful, after all, and a deserving soul. But there are so so many good poets about whom one never hears, whose books are never mentioned needless to say reviewed. Yet, these folks are the mainstay and backbone of our truly amazing open-mic scene.

All the brou-ha-ha about Michael Jackson's untimely death, the nonstop coverage of his life and career, is just another reminder that most media, even our alt sources, tend to circle around the common denominator, covering what editors think we are interested in hearing and reading about. All the print ink, bits and bytes, and electronic air waves get soaked in repetitive stories as each tumbles over the other trying to find a new chink in the mass chain to say something "new."

Yesterday, I met with Raymond Nat Turner and Zigi Lowenberg, two performance-oriented poets whose group UpSurge!, a jazz poetry ensemble, is performing July 3rd in Oakland. I'm profiling them for my column, and will later do a more extensive write-up for my print newsletter, the BAY AREA POETS SEASONAL REVIEW (http://bayareapoetsreview.com). A few weeks ago, I profiled another longstanding Bay Area poet couple, Judy Wells and Dale Jensen. Not only are they unique poets, but Judy and Dale have been part of the open-mic scene for years and have hosted many different readings events. I've been active in what I call the on-the-ground poetry scene in the East Bay since the late 1980s, over 20 years, and I've never seen a full-page article about any of these folks, nor about Mary Rudge, Poet Laureate of the City of Alameda, Adam David Miller, Berkeley poet and elder poet to so many of us, and many other shakers and movers.

Recently, when I publicized one of these underlooked poets, I received a misdirected email from a local poetry reading series coordinator who complained that the poet I wrote about was "ubiquitous," reading here there and everywhere, and always bugging her for a reading in her dominion. This host had recently booked the former California poet laureate, Al Young, a dear one but hardly an unknown poet who never gets a chance to read in public. I did not respond to this indivdiual's email; it was not intended for my eyes and I wouldn't exploit her mistake except to try to explore why she should might have been peeved that a truly local poet, someone who lived within walking distance of her venue, should be regarded with such disrespect and not be given a reading date at her series. There was about her email a whiff of what my actor-husband calls "star-f...ng," an attraction to celebrity that isn't necessarily based on talent or quality as much as it is about wanting to rub shoulders with the overly exposed. Tell me I wasn't turned off and would not venture into this woman's venue if you paid me? (Ah, such petty ways we have to wreak vengeance in this small incestuous world.)

I subscribe no blame to the poetry journals or impresarios that neglect their grassroots; all are strapped in terms of cash and staffing. But, it seems to me the journalistic impulse to find and showcase the lesser known stories has been missing for too long. Once the Bay Area had a vibrant, activist underground press that cared about relevance and roots, about the "smaller" stories. Perhaps the demise of newspapers and print media is engendering a rise in a greater diversity of voices coming to fill the gaps. I'm sure many of these amateur and unpaid professionals will do a damn-site better job than what we have had for so many years of neglect.