BOB HOLMAN

AWP IN CHICAGO TODAY! On panel at 4:30 PM at Hilton Chicago. “Poetry’s First Webseries: Verse, A Poetry Murder Mystery” with Ram Devineni, Susan Brennan, Jon Sands, and Lamont Steptoe.

Check out the “World’s First Poetry Murder Mystery Webseries” w/ guest turns by Taylor Mead, John Giorno, Eileen Myles, Stacy Szymasek, Bill Kushner (as corpse), Sophie Holman (as Mystery Woman), Lamont Steptoe (Bad Guy), and starring Jon Sands and Angel Nafis. With Bob Holman as a batty Columbia professor (typecasting).

http://blog.koldcast.tv/2012/koldcast-news/famous-nyc-literary-haunts-take-a-virtual-trip/

I’ll be in Chicago for AWP this year (Associated Writing Programs) a HUGE convention — the MFA programs keep churning out poets, who keep creating more MFA programs so — More Poets! USA needs em all, that’s for sure. And at AWP we learn about new poetics like: VERSE the first Poetry Murder Mystery Webseries. I’m on the panel (cause I appear in the series) with Susan Brennan, Ram Devineni, Jon Sands and Lamont Steptoe, Saturday, Mar 3, 4:30-5:45 Marquette, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor, Check us out on Koldcast TV.

Folks, we’re now done with the reposting of my 08-09 trip to West Africa, the trip that resulted in the first two episodes of “On the Road with Bob Holman.” Shout outs first to Producer Ram Devineni of Rattapallax who believed in the idea, was the sounding board for adventure, and kept in daily touch for our months on the road. Back in the States, he found the throughlines and edited 90 hours of tape into coherence. He’s a genius and a friend and his new film, The Human Tower (www.thehumantower.com), is destined for greatness.

If only Orson Welles were a Brazilian beauty he could be Beatriz Seigner, who produced and shot “On the Road” all the while writing/prepping for her own film “Bollywood Dream,” (http://rattapallax.com/blog/bollywoodiano/) Bea is a fearless artist and a great companion on the road, not to mention having one of the great eyes for human interaction, landscape, and yes, crocodiles! Lamont Steptoe, poet/photographer/cinematographer and subject of two of Ram’s films, (www.rattapallax.com/blog/steptoe/) is a multi-talented wizard — a LITERAL wizard!

Karamo Susso, who collaborated on so much of the poetry and music while recording sound, has since moved to the United States. In fact, he and I will be performing at LACMA in LA on Thursday, Feb. 23, 5:30. Please come! His father, Papa Susso, is my teacher and a wonderful presence in the first episode — Papa will be performing at the On the Road party on Feb. 29 at the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC, 7pm. And thanks to Sandra Paugam, who really directed our movements from her apartment in Paris! Merci, Mamselle! And Tom Paul at Gigantic, who whacked the sound till it spoke dreams! Avi Dabach, our guide in Tel Aviv, great director, toda!

And all the wonderful poets, language mavens, everyday joes and josies who told their stories, sang their poems, let us sleep on their floors, and fed us spiritually and physically whilst OTR shokran!

Coming up next — the Bonus Tracks! Editor Renata Maria has put together about ten short films that open up and add to the stories we began in On the Road — meet Chana Amichai as she speaks about her late husband, the great poet Yehuda, come dance the Groundnut Dance in Gambia, and hear David Broza, Israeli pop star/poet, sing Elizabeth Bishop! and more

Why, we’re still — and always! — On the Road!