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The Encyclopedia Britannica describes Frank Bidart as an “American poet whose introspective verse, notably dramatic monologues by troubled characters, deal with personal guilt, family life, and madness. His unconventional punctuation and typography give his colloquial and economical style an added emphasis.” (more…)

Director of the prestigious Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop, Lan Samantha Ching is becoming one of the most influential Asian American writers. The five stories in Chang’s Hunger (1998) mainly look at Chinese in America; the final story is set in pre-Communist Shanghai. Inheritance (2004) is the story of a wealthy but declining family in Republican China, beginning in 1925 and extending through the period of the Japanese invasion and the post-war flight to Taiwan and then the US. (more…)

How cool is it that Indiana has a Poet Laureate? Back in 2005, Mitch Daniels put his stamp of approval on a bill to create the position, with the intent of “increasing the awareness of poetry and the power of written and spoken verse” and probably also creating some good publicity for himself.

Nevertheless, the existence of a people’s poet in Indiana speaks volumes about the importance of the arts in culture. This month, Indiana inaugurated its newest Poet Laureate, Norbert Krapf. To celebrate, there’s a Poet Laureate Party at the American Cabaret Theatre where the public gets to wax poetic with Mr. Krapf (or schmooze, if you prefer).

Bonus: light refreshments catered by Kaffeeklatsch maven Jeannette Footman. And jazz with Monika Herzig on piano, Carolyn Dutton on violin, and Peter Kienle on bass. And that means the kind of jazz that Norbert gets to read his poetry with. (Cue fingersnaps.)

Where: The American Cabaret Theatre, the Athenaeum, 401 E Michigan Street, Indianapolis.
When: Sunday, July 27, starting at 5:30
Cost: Free
What the heck a Poet Laureate does: (officially) “represents the State of Indiana and the art of poetry through the development and implementation of programming to the education community and general public.” Thanks, Norbert!

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Julia Butterfly Hill says that one’s purpose is not what one is called to do, but what one is called to be. She is a well-known activist who made herself famous sitting in the branches of a redwood tree for upwards of two years. Seane Corn is a New Jersey native who shows people how to use the practice of Yoga to pull through life’s rough spots. In tandem, they are a testament to the power of living like you mean it.

“Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.” So goes the aphorism. You can become what you’re called to be without Julia and Seane, but they’ll definitely give you some good ideas for how to do it.
http://www.offthematintotheworld.org/
http://www.whatsyourtree.blogspot.com/

July 16, 7 to 9pm. Sponsored by Journey’s Fire. Unitarian Universalist Church Sanctuary, 615 W. 43rd St., Indianapolis, IN 46208.

See Nuvo’s interview with Julia.

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Exploration of Faith and Vocation, Activism and Art with Carrie Newcomer and Philip Gulley.

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer will lead a workshop, “Finding and Following Our Life’s Deep Calling,” at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church [100 W. 86th St., Indianapolis] from 2:30 - 4:30 on Saturday, July 19th. The workshop will help participants explore ways of finding and expressing their deepest commitments.

At 7:30 p.m. on July 19th, Carrie will join with Quaker author and theologian Philip Gulley for a performance exploring themes of faith, family, community, and our interactions with the divine all around us. The concert is at St. Luke’s UMC.

More information about pre-registering for the workshop and purchasing tickets for the performance is available at St. Luke’s online.

Click here for information and a flyer you can download.

An artistic celebration of peace, nonviolence, and social justice. Saturday, August 9th, at 7 p.m. at the Bean Cup Coffee Shop, 8908 St. Peter St.

www.thebeancup.com
www.myspace.com/indyartistspeaceproject

Thomas Floyd, singer-songwriter
Marshall Gibson, storyteller
Everett.McKee, singer-songwriter
Dan Henkel, classical/fingerstyle guitarist
Jeff Matheus, poet and writer
Michelle Gussow, writer and filmmaker

What do al-Husseini, Hitler, and John Rothmann have in common? They are all going to be featured at Barnes & Noble, of course!*

But the similarities pretty much stop there. Hitler and al-Husseini were perpetrators of crimes against humanity, while Rothmann is the humble co-author of Icon of Evil: Hitler’s Mufti and the Rise of Radical Islam.

The book, which Rothmann co-wrote with David G. Dalin, was released June 24th. It’s got the goods: near-unlimited linguistic resources, access to primary documents, and all the dirt on the honorary Aryan’s support of Hitler and his Final Solution. It’s a page-turner (according to the author’s in-laws) and it’s got verve (according to their publisher).

Publishers Weekly (the 7th review down) and the Middle East Times have given it stamps of approval.

Rothmann will be at the Clearwater Crossing Barnes & Noble in Indianapolis on July 9th at 7:00 p.m. to talk about his work and perhaps sell a few copies. The event promises to be an interesting and thought-provoking one, and plus there will be food.

Barnes & Noble @ Clearwater Crossing

3748 E 82nd St.

Indianapolis, IN 46240

*Thematically only! No in-person appearances by al-Husseini or Hitler

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Ever feel like finite sheets of paper are always putting artificial constraints on your creativity? Jack Kerouac did. Nothing about his 120-foot-long scroll manuscript, typed on a zillion 12-foot-long sheets of tracing paper he taped together, suggests that Kerouac was one for limitations. The product of his three-week-long typing binge will be on display in almost all its glory (only 84 feet of it will be unrolled).

So will the product of Robert Frank’s two-year odyssey across the United States. The IMA has borrowed 83 of Frank’s photographs, which debuted in book form across the pond in 1958, to escort the Kerouac manuscript.

And to create the ultimate Beat experience, they have invited David Amram, a contemporary of Kerouac and Frank, to play the very sort of jazz that accompanied Kerouac’s poetry readings. It’s a veritable trifecta!

“On the Road Again with Jack Kerouac and Robert Frank” opens with a concert Thursday, June 26th, for a three-month run at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The special opening concert will go from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in Pulliam Hall at the IMA.

The combination of Kerouac, Frank and Amram should basically re-create the entire Beat experience, so if you’re a Gen-Xer and wish you hadn’t missed it, here’s your chance to pretend like you didn’t.

Pulitzer Prize nominee Norbert Krapf reads the story of his German ancestors in Jasper at that masterpiece of Teutonic architecture, the Athenaeum. Join him at the Stammtisch, the elevated table where serious German men discuss elevated topics.

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Check out the Midwest film premiere of On the Road Now: Artists and Writers Respond to Kerouac in the 21st Century, a reflection on the Kerouac beat legacy featuring Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Amiri Baraka, and others. Head conservator Jim Canary, curator of the scroll at Indiana University’s Lilly Library, will introduce the film and afterward, show images of the scroll’s own roadtrip across the world. (more…)