Friday Fools? : Lisa Fishman & Richard Meier open April @ the PRB

Lisa Fishman lives in Orfordville and Madison, Wisconsin and directs the MFA and BA programs in poetry writing at Columbia College, Chicago. She is the author of four collections of poetry: Current (Parlor Press, 2011), The Happiness Experiment (Ahsahta Press, 2007); Dear, Read (Ahsahta, 2002); The Deep Heart’s Core Is a Suitcase (New Issues Press, 1996), with another, Flowercart, to be published later this spring by Ahsahta Press. at the same time as scattering, a chapbook, was recently published by Albion Books. In Orfordville, she lives on a farm and orchard she and her husband, Henry Morren, started in 1998; in Madison, they live with the poet Richard Meier near the Yahara River. She has a six-year-old son, James Fishman-Morren.

Richard Meier is the author of Terrain Vague, selected by Tomaž Šalamun for the Verse Prize in 2000 and published by Verse Press (now available from Wave Books) and Shelley Gave Jane a Guitar, published by Wave Books in 2006. He is currently collaborating on slope.org’s “The Weather at Five O’Clock" with Brandon Shimoda, Jared Stanley, Lisa Fishman, Lucas Farrell, Rick Meier, Sandra Doller, Sara Mumolo. He lives in Chicago and Madison and is writer-in-residence at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI.

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Friday, April 1, 2011 at 7:30pm

The PRB @ The Public School
951 Chung King Rd.
Los Angeles, CA

Doors open at 7:00pm
Reading starts at 7:30pm

$5 donation requested

March 12, 7:30pm: Aaron Kunin & Anna Moschovakis

Anna Moschovakis's most recent books are You and Three Others Are Approaching a Lake, a book of poems; and The Jokers, a translation of a novel by Egyptian writer Albert Cossery. Based in Brooklyn and the wilds of upstate New York, she is an editor at Ugly Duckling Presse and teaches at Pratt Institute and in Bard's interdisciplinary MFA program.

Aaron Kunin is recently the author of The Sore Throat and Other Poems. Grace Period, a collection of aphorisms, sketches, and fragments, is forthcoming. He lives in Los Angeles.

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You know these two -- these sage and canny kids are our faves. Aaron's reading new work, Anna's gotta new book. They school us consistently, so natch, we put 'em in our School: Headmaestros.

Don't doubt it.

Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 7:30pm

The PRB @ The Public School
951 Chung King Rd.
Los Angeles, CA

Doors open at 7:00pm
Reading starts at 7:30pm

$5 donation requested

JAMES MEETZE & AARON PECK

The Poetic Research Bureau presents...

JAMES MEETZE & AARON PECK

Saturday, February 26, 2011 at 7:30pm

The PRB @ The Public School
951 Chung King Rd.
Los Angeles, CA

Doors open at 7:00pm
Reading starts at 7:30pm

$5 donation requested

James Meetze's book Dayglo was selected by Terrance Hayes as winner of the 2010 Sawtooth Poetry Prize from Ahsahta Press. He is also the author of I Have Designed This For You (2007), and editor, with Simon Pettet, of Other Flowers: Uncollected Poems by James Schuyler (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2010). The recipient of the 2001 Poet Laureate Award from the University of California, he has taught poetry and creative writing at the University of California, San Diego, California State University, San Marcos, and in the MFA Program at National University. He lives in San Diego with his wife and son

Aaron Peck is the author of The Bewilderments of Bernard Willis and, in collaboration with Düsseldorf-based artists Adam Harrison and Dominic Osterried, Letters to the Pacific. Work has appeared in Golden Handcuffs Review and Maxtrix Magazine, while recent art criticism has appeared inartforum.com, 01 Magazine, Art Papers, Canadian Art, Foam and Fillip. He also has contributed to numerous exhibition catalogs in Canada and has had an article appear in La Fábrica's Spanish-language magazine Matador. He lives in Vancouver, BC, where he teaches at Emily Carr University.

BRANDON BROWN & ALLI WARREN

The Poetic Research Bureau presents...

BRANDON BROWN & ALLI WARREN

Saturday, February 19, 2011 at 7:30pm

The PRB @ The Public School
951 Chung King Rd.
Los Angeles, CA

Doors open at 7:00pm
Reading starts at 7:30pm

$5 donation requested

Brandon Brown is from Kansas City, Missouri. He has two forthcoming books: The Persians By Aeschylus (Displaced Press) and The Poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus (Krupskaya). Poems and prose have recently appeared in Peacock, Try, and Art Practical. He is currently blogging for the San Francisco MOMA, organizing literary and art events in the Bay Area, publishing small press book under the imprint OMG!, and translating Baudelaire.

Alli Warren was born & raised in California. Recent chapbooks include: Acting Out, Well-Meaning White Girl, and Cousins. From 2008-2010, she co-curated The (New) Reading Series at 21 Grand. She lives in Oakland.

Belz, Maxwell, Meadows, Schultz: Sun Jan 9

"A Chavez Ravine Reunion Quartet"

If you weren't one of the 200+ who socked into ArtShare last night to try on 70 poets-in-a-can, which was quite delicious, maybe you want to stretch out this afternoon, and listen to four of them read in the cozier compound of the Poetic Research Bureau in Chinatown.

Aaron Belz, Andrew Maxwell, Deborah Meadows, and Susan Schultz are just four baseball enthusiasts who last were all together for a Dodgers game, and suddenly -- all in one place again in an offseason freeze -- decided to do that other thing they do: scribble and mumble in public.

(Baseball poems not necessarily included.)

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Aaron Belz is the author of three books, including Lovely, Raspberry and The Bird Hoverer.

Andrew Maxwell co-directs the PRB, has edited some magazines and hosts several of his chapbooks at peepingmot.com.

Deborah Meadows is the author of many books, including Goodbye Tissues and involutia.

Susan Schultz edits Tinfish magazine and press, and her books include Dementia Blog and Memory Cards & Adoption Papers.

Poetic Research Bureau @ The Public School
951 Chung King Rd, Chinatown, LA, CA

This Many Poets Went to Market: 69 FTW!

69 Eggheads, 3 Minutes to Cook

And who said conference poetry wasn't sexy? You say MLA. We say MLAwesome.

Zero-sum speed-sport pachinko-style poetasty. Everything poetry is not supposed to be –– for four-and-a-half hours!

This is the shadow convention. Screw the well-lit spaces. Guidebook for conventioneers ahead.

Doors open at 7:00, the reading will start at 7:30.

Poets will read for 3 minutes (or less); we place violators on the subway to the sea, MTA-guaranteed, by which we mean they shall never arrive. We have to be out of the venue by midnight, so windbags will be haters. If it sounds like a puptent happening, get this: it is a proper theater, so at least there are no chairs to fold!

There is a parking lot, and during the event there will be an inexpensive cash bar, but we have no other details on the space. It looks really great in the photos.

Did we mention there's a grand piano?






Artshare
http://artsharela.org
801 East 4th Pl.
Los Angeles, CA

Here is a Google map that shows how to get there from the convention center. It's not a short walk, and there a few streets you might want to avoid.
View Map

For instance, we would probably take Hope or possibly Grand from 11th to 7th, and then Spring from 7th to 2nd. Of course, there will be cabs available from coventioneer hotels.

Another option is to take the Metro, which costs $1.50 and leaves right from the convention center and lands in Little Tokyo. It stops running at midnight, however.
View Map

And then there is the bus, which despite what you might have heard, runs very well in Los Angeles. Brian Kim Stefans take it to work every day. You'll get a pretty good tour of downtown LA as well. It costs $1.50 exact change, but takes bills of course. There are several optional routes.
View Map

The website taxicabsla.org has a complete list of phone numbers for taxis that serve the area. The area that includes downtown is C. Taxis can be pricey but the distance is so short and there will be no traffic at that hour downtown. There are also taxi stands at the various hotels downtown, though I don't know much more about this as I never take taxis. Here are the relevant numbers from the site:

United Independent Taxi
(213) 483-7660 or
(310) 821-1000 or
(800) 411-0303

Yellow Cab
(310 or 213) 808-1000 or
(800) 200-1085

Bell Cab
(888) 235-5222 or
(800) 666-6664

Beverly Hills Cab Company
(310 or 800) 273-6611

Checker Cab
(310 or 800) 300-5007

City Cab
(818) 252-1600 or
(800) 750-4400

Independent Taxi
(323) 666-0050 or
(800) 521-8294

Near the site of the reading are a lot of neat restaurants and bars. Traction Ave. is kind of the new hip area of downtown. Down 3rd street is SCI-ARC, a great school with a fascinating lecture series. The Google map below shows you some (but not all -- click on the unnamed dots) of the restaurants in the area. Did we mention it's near Little Tokyo?
View Map

Mr. Maxwell offers the following recommendations for restaurants in the Little-Tokyo-adjacent neighborhood:

Under $15:

Daikokuya: Still some of the best ramen in LA, with excellent cloudy pork bone broth. It'll be a wait, but if it's cold, it's very worth the wait.

Senor Fish: Local mom'n'pop Mexican chain, but well above the mean for cheap eats. Get the fish taco special if your cash is low, and just want a decent, tasty lunch.

Suehiro Cafe: Bento box and noodles place. Japanese comfort food. Solid, if not transcendent, easy to get in, open until 3am.

$15-25:

Izayoi: Japanese Izakoya joint (small plates). Big with locals and the kids. Can be inconsistent, but also cheaper than some other options, and has its on nights.

Shabu Shabu House: Popular shabu joint, steamy hot broth, excellent sauces -- folks swear by it, but can be a bit of a wait at times.

Wurstküche: Craftsman beers and homemade brats. Gastropub in a German beer hall, often packed, long tables, family style. Good stuff, but can be 20 min wait to order and get food.

$25 and above:

Sushi Gen: One of the better sushi joints in LA. Definitely will want to call ahead. Not so cheap, but definitely very solid sushi.

Lazy Ox Canteen: Bistro/gastropub, a little more upscale, one of the better young chefs in LA. Can usually get in for lunch, but is more of a reservations place on evenings and weekends.

Mr. Timmons recommends the following bars and cafes to the south of ArtShare:

Villains Tavern - great for before or after reading - a kinda steampunk nowheresville, somewhere old west parisian feel - beautifully designed space - with outdoor patio and lots and lots of heat lamps - like 30 beers on tap - half of them belgians - paired with shots for $8 and old school fancy cocktails - nice balcony - Cherry Bacon Marmalade Burger - grilled cheese with cave-aged cheddar and tamarind chili - they also have veggie options though I'm not sure about vegan

Urth Caffe - a great place to go before the reading - they aren't open late - but they have really amazing coffee and tea and great sandwiches and food - very down to earth stuff - not cheap but not really expensive either

Church & State - only open until 11pm - good for before the reading - somewhat expensive but great cocktails - great coffee - very good food

(This escapade is sponsored, organized, and hosted by Brian Kim Stefans, Matt Timmons, and PRB Directors Andrew Maxwell, Joseph Mosconi, and Ara Shirinyan. If you see 'em, give 'em a shake or a drink.)

NADA GORDON & K. LORRAINE GRAHAM

The Poetic Research Bureau presents...

NADA GORDON & K. LORRAINE GRAHAM

Sunday, January 2, 2011 at 7:30pm

The PRB@The Public School
951 Chung King Rd.
Los Angeles, CA

Doors open at 7:00pm
Reading starts at 7:30pm

$5 donation requested

Nada Gordon is the author of several poetry books: Folly, V. Imp, Are Not Our Lowing Heifers Sleeker than Night-Swollen Mushrooms?, and foriegnn bodie-- and an e-pistolary techno-romantic non-fiction novel, Swoon. Her new book, Scented Rushes, is just out from Roof books. A founding member of the Flarf Collective, she practices poetry, song, dance, dressmaking, and image manipulation as deep entertainment. She blogs at ululate.blogspot.com.

K. Lorraine Graham is the author of Terminal Humming, (Edge Books), recent work has appeared in Eleven Eleven, the Zaoem International Poetry Exhibition at the Minardschouwburg, Gent, Belgium, and the Infusoria visual poetry exhibition in Brussels.  She lives in Carlsbad, CA, with her partner Mark Wallace and Lester Young, a pacific parrotlet. You can find her online at spooksbyme.org.