AGAINST BIG OIL Poetry Reading in San Francisco Friday, August 27

A message about the Gulf Coast disaster from Michael Rothenberg, editor of Big Bridge

Dear Friends of Big Bridge,

My apologies for writing you all on issues that are not related to Big Bridge. But we have come to a moment in our existence as a species in which "propriety" is less and less meaningful.

As you all know Big Bridge has always been vocal on political and social issues and so the time has come for us to speak out against OIL!

Many of our friends living in the Gulf Coast are seeing their lives destroyed forever. An entire ecosystem appears doomed. The impact is global.

Everyday it seems more certain that we are witnessing the worst man-made environmental holocaust in history and I feel we must be heroic in our actions to make something positive out of this horror.

Over the last few weeks, I have focused attention to my facebook communications, posting as many articles and pieces of information on the "spill" as I can, hoping that the spread of information will make a difference in how we do things. I have organized three events, fundraising benefits for The Louisiana Bucket Brigade, http://www.labucketbrigade.org/ , a non profit environmental health and justice organization tracking the impact of the BP oil spill and prevaenting the impact from being "swept under the rug." Two events in Petaluma, June 27(poetry and music fest) and July 10th (an art auction), and another event in Pacifica, CA (poetry and music and art auction) on August 7. For details please contact me.

It is time to make a real change. Not just leave it to government to show us the way. Please, get out in the street, wave signs, write friends, spread the word, organize!! We are into a new age. Stop Oil! Stop Global Warming! Stop Corporate Ownership of the Planet! There is no time left to waste.

If you have news that you want to get around please send it to me or join me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/michael.rothenberg. If we are not "friends" yet, I would be happy to add you. Again forgive me for using Big Bridge mailing list to send this message but I could not hold back.

My sincere best in these sad and terrifying times. Hope lies in real change not in promises!

Yours,
Michael Rothenberg
Big Bridge, http://www.bigbridge.org/

BIG BRIDGE ISSUE 14, 2.0 NOW AVAILABLE

From Michael Rothenberg:

photo by Terri Carrion

ANNOUNCING BIG BRIDGE ISSUE 14, 2.0

TWO GREAT FEATURES

I. ROCKPILE on the road, www.bigbridge.org/rockpile

Blogs, photos, videos from David Meltzer, Michael Rothenberg, Terri Carrion and friends documenting a two month on the road adventure of collaboration. Meet The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Burnett Thompson, Marty Ehrlich, Bob Malone, Joseph Cunliffe, Gregory Davis, Roger Lewis, Jarmal Watson, Julius McKee, Larry Sawyer, Jacob Eckert, Ellen Miller, Dave Black, Dan McNaughton and The Spider Trio, Michael Stephans, Lindsey Horner, Bill Zavatsky, Johnny Lee Schell, John B. Williams, Bill Zavatsky, Joe Sublett, David Henderson, Theo Saunders, John B. Williams, Debra Dobkin, The Thunderbird Poetry Orkestra, Wanda Phipps, Isabel Rivero, Dan Godston, Suzi Winson, The Gershwin Hotel, Murat Nemat-Nejat, Ammiel Alcalay, Jim Feast, Harris Schiff, Christa Hillhouse, Jason Braun, John Roche, Dan Godston, Ammiel Alcalay, Jim Christy, Robert Priest, The Rabbles, Marina Lazzara, J.Lee, Dave Mairs, Jamie Kimmel, Charlie Huisken, Sarah Browning, Carlo Parcelli, Brian Gilmore, Jay Jackson, Carl Atkins, Michael Kelleher, Jerry Hill, Mic Boshans, David A.N. Jackson, Jason Braun, Michael Castro, Shirley LeFlore, Marc Singer, K. Curtis Lyle, Alexander Balogh, Sean Arnold, Niagara Falls, Howard Schwartz, Philip Gounis, Dreamland Barbecue, Francesco Levato, Art Lange, Joe Wetteroth, Brian Pardo, Tim Keenan, Tom Hibbard, Geoffrey Gatza, Bill Lavender, Lewis Schmidt, George Kimball, Joan Delott, Avi Frishman, Kelly Bucheger, Randy Cauthen, Evan Christopher, John Werick, Doug Dreishpoon, Nicki Gonzalez, Richard Miller, Don West, Laura Mattingly, Dennis Fomento, Danny Kerwick, Renee Baker, Satya Gummuluri, Jimmy Bennington, Kenneth Rexroth, Thelonius Monk, Louis Armstrong and a cast of thousands.

II. BIG BRIDGE NEW ORLEANS ANTHOLOGY

STURM UND DRANG

http://www.bigbridge.org/BB14/NO1.HTM

Edited by Dave Brinks and Bill Lavender

OLD SCHOOL POETS AND POETRICS:

Ralph Adamo, Katya Apekina/David Weinberg, Bill Berkson, Edmund Berrigan, Joseph Bienvenu, Louis Braquet, Dave Brinks, Lee Ann Brown, Paul Chasse, Andrei Codrescu and Ruxandra Ceseranu, Richard Collins, Jack Collom and Maureen Owen, Thaddeus Conti, Jonathan Cott, Joel Dailey, Andy di Michele, Margot Douaihy, Johnette Downing, Brad Elliot, Lenny Emmanuel, Brett Evans, Vincent Farnsworth, Gina Ferrara, Karen Finnigan, Skip Fox, Jackqueline Frost, Elizabeth Garcia, John Gery, Kelly Gartman, Philip Good, Nancy Harris, Khaled Hegazzi, Anselm Hollo, R. Moose Jackson, Kevin Johnson, Phil Johnson, Jamey Jones, Pierre Joris, Rodger Kamenetz, Herbert Kearny, Daniel Kerwick, Jonathan Kline, Bill Lavender, Hank Lazer, Benjamin Lowenkron, Ben Luton, Jenna Mae, Laura Mattingly, Bernadette Mayer, Lee Meitzen Grue, Bill Myers, James Nolan, Biljana Obradovic, Amy Ouzzonian, Arthur Pfister, Valentine Pierce, Quess, Chuck Perkins, Jimmy Ross, Jerome Rothenberg, David Rowe, Eero Ruutitila, Edward Sanders, Frank Sherlock, Harris Schiff, Harris Schiff, Lewis Schmidt, Jean-Mark Sens, Christopher Shipman, John Sinclair, Hal Sirowitz, Jennifer Stewart, Stuart Strum, Chris Sullivan, Eric Sweet, Quo Vadis Gex-Breaux, Larbaud Valery Translations, Gordon Walmsley, Jerry W. Ward Jr., Kelcy Wilburn, Andy Young, and Bill Zavatsky

ARTIST’S WORKS:

Bill Berkson and Molly Springfield, Louis Braquet, Dave Brinks, Mina Brinks, Megan Burns and Dave Brinks, Jamie Chiarello, Thaddeus Conti, Michael Fedor, Daniel Finnigan, Alex Haverfield, Pat Kaschalk, Herbert Kearney, Jonathan Kline, Bill Lavender, with Terrance Sanders, Joseph Makkos, and Chandler Fritz, Joseph Makkos, John Sohr, Joshua Walsh, William Warren, Miriam Waterman, Kristen Wetterhahan, Romano Zamprioli

ESSAYS AND DISCOURSE:

Max Cafard: Deep Play in the City, Surre(gion)al Explorations and Lisa Suarez: Playing Chicken with Reality

FICTIONISTAS:

Katya Apekina, Summer Brenner; Jonathan Cott; Moira Crone, Marci Davis, Susan Kirby-Smith, Dave Parker, J. Patrick Travis

INTERVIEWS:

Dave Brinks with Peter Anderson, John Sinclair, Bill Zavatsky; Ogoanah with Niyi Osundare

BOOK REVIEWS:

William Allegrezza's Review of I of the Storm, by Bill Lavender; Reginald Martin's Review of The Katrina Papers, by Jerry W. Ward Jr.; Adam Peltz's Review of The Caveat Onus, by Dave Brinks; Megan Sanders: On What Cannot Be Written; Responses to Edward Sanders' Poems for New Orleans; Megan Sanders: The Messiness of Life; Skip Fox's For To (Blazevox, 2008)

AND A WHOLE LOT MORE!!

Long Live New Orleans!!!

*********************************

SPECIAL NOTICE:

Helping to sustain renewable, arboreal ecosystems while celebrating the written word

Mary Sands Woodbury, guest editor and webmaster of Big Bridge, editor of Jack Magazine and Beat Generation News, recently launched Moon Willow Press, a small, independent press with a green initiative. MWP also offers inexpensive editorial services for more than just books

BAY AREA ARTISTS SING OUT (BAASO) Revving ROCKPILE by Jean Bartlett (Jean's Magazines, September 2009)

Please take a look at Jean Bartlett's profile of Terri Carrion, Michael Rothenberg, David Meltzer, and the Rockpile tour:

http://www.jeansmagazines.org/JeansG/Rockpile/Rockpile.htm

I am very grateful to Jean for the articles she wrote about our readings in California this summer, which also featured the Rockpile gang:

http://www.mercurynews.com/pacifica-entertainment/ci_13202015
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13247848?source=email&nclick_check=1