dead poet dreamers

Norman Corwin dead at 101

2011-10-24T19:51:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest writers of radio’s golden age, Norman Corwin, has died at age 101. During his long career at CBS Radio Corwin wrote and directed many dramas and earned the title “radio’s poet laureate.”

Corwin went on to write for movies and TV. He also wrote books. But his true love was radio – and in the past couple of decades he returned to writing new radio dramas for NPR.

Having never graduated high school (although he became a university lecturer), Corwin began his work life as a newspaper reporter. He joined CBS 1n 1938 and found his niche, producing radio dramas until 1950.

His TV writing credits ranged from the mini-series “F.D.R.” to “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “Falcon Crest.” A 13-episode series titled “Norman Corwin Presents” aired in 1972 on CBC in Canada.

Corwin (pictured in 1973) won two Peabodys, an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a DuPont-Columbia award. He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1993.

A TV documentary produced in 1996 focused on Corwin’s career and his influence on CBS. Click here to view it.

Source http://www.rbr.com/radio/norman-corwin-dead-at-101.html

Music's Top Notch Poet: Linton Kwesi Johnson

2011-07-29T00:39:00.000-07:00

Linton Kwesi Johnson, aka LKJ, is the intellectual conscience of reggae music. Since the early 1970s he has forged a melding of true poetry with roots reggae rhythms, holding to a political perspective honed by long involvement with movements for better living conditions and rights for Black people in England, where he has lived since he was eleven years old. As a university student, writer, editor and musician, his voice and words have been unmistakable - unique within reggae, really. Arguably,LKJ invented dub - or reggae - poetry, and still does it best; he is thus both the premiere and premier exemplar of this singular genre of music.

Starting in 1978, he has released a series of albums which still sound timeless even as they address then-current events in the UK and beyond. Key to LKJ's music is the contribution of the unsurpassed bands he has worked with, most notably and lastingly the Dennis Bovell Dub Band. The arrangements LKJ and Bovell provide to surround his poetry are complex yet driving, with rich horn charts and, more recently, violin and flute flavorings.

So although it might seem ironic for a poet, it's really no wonder that the slogan on LKJ's new website (http:www.lkjrecords.com) is "Putting the Music Back into Reggae." Albums like "Bass Culture,' "Making History," and "More Time" are treasures of stimulating thought, delivered in LKJ's resonant baritone over and within some of the hardest yet most melodic tracks in reggae. The live CD "LKJ in Concert with the Dub Band" captures his career-spanning shows as of the late 1980s, and the two-CD set "Independant Intavenshan" selects from all his work on Island Records from the years 1979-84.

On top of all his recorded work, LKJ has just this year been recognized with a printed collection of his writings published in a most prestigious series by Penguin in the UK. "Mi Revalueshanary Fren: Selected Poems" is an unprecedented accomplishment for a reggae artist, as LKJ is joined in the series by some of the most revered literary names of modern times.

A serious man, LKJ does not suffer fools gladly, if at all. On stage, his band is disciplined and follows a tightly-paced songlist in a manner reminiscent of tough taskmasters like James Brown. Nor does he seem particularly fond of doing interviews. But once he tests one's mettle and seriousness, as musician or interviewer it seems, he is quite willing to tell about his life and work.

SH: I've read somewhere that you first acquired your love of words from your grandmother, who read the Bible to you when you were very young.

LKJ: Actually it was the other way around - my grandmother was illiterate and as soon as I could read she had me reading the Bible to her. Whenever her spirit was troubled, she liked to hear the sounds of those words, and I too got to like the language.

But you did not really stay involved in that religious tradition...

No, but the Biblical stories were actually part of most children's education in Jamaica. And some particular parts of the Bible, the psalms and proverbs and such, are very poetic.

And you came to London as a child...

Yes, my mother came to England in 1961, and I went to join her in '63. It was a bit of an experience, actually.
In terms of what, racial issues in particular? I heard you were surprised to see a white man sweeping the street.

Yes, that was a bit surprising you know, as in Jamaica one associated all whites with wealth and power, and you'd never have imagined to see that in Kingston.

You seem to have been focused on education from an early age.

My generation was ambitious; we were the children of first-generation immigrants and we wanted to do something with our lives and make something of ourselves. And our parents had expectations of ourselves as well. So while I might not have attended classes as regularly as I should have, I was serious about my education. And after I left school and got married and worked for about 3 years, I went to the university and got a degree in sociology.

What kind of work did you do at that point?

I did several jobs - first some accounting for a tailor, and on the switchboard there during lunch breaks as well. I also worked as a clerical officer in the civil service for a time.

When did you first become politically involved?

By 1970 I was involved in the Black Panther Youth League. This was a different organization than the USA group, but we were inspired by people like Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, and all those guys, and the fact that they were standing up and protecting their community, in a very militant kind of way. We weren't half as militant as they were, but this was my first real introduction to Black literature and history. It was a whole birth of consciousness for me. I was reading Soul on Ice, Manchild in the Promised Land, Richard Wright's work...It was a very exciting time for me.

Those are all African-American writers - was there any equivalent among British writers then?

No, there was absolutely nothing like that. Well, there were some Caribbean writers doing novels set in London, but nothing with the kind of consciousness of those I mentioned.

And you learned yet more from direct experience, such as in prison?

Yes, for example if you saw a Black man being arrested, you at least tried to get their name and address, for example. I tried that in Brixton and was grabbed by some police officers and was racially abused and kicked and thrown to the ground, and then charged with two counts of assault. There was a demonstration outside the police station and I was released within hours. But once the demonstration started they increased the charges to three!

Were you starting to write poetry at this point?

Yes, I published a couple of short books; my first was in 1974. But I might have been doing my first dub poetry performances as early as 1972. People were just getting involved in rasta and I started doing with poetry with them in kind of workshop situations, yunno, and I would improvise words to go over the riddims. And I liked that. At that time I had listened to The Last Poets and heard what they were doing with percussion and street language, and that inspired me too.

How did you first hook up with the Matumbi people and Dennis Bovell?

I first heard of Dennis through Vivian Weathers, my school friend who played some bass on my first couple of albums. He said to me "If you're ever gonna make records, Dennis Bovell is the man." I met Dennis through my work as a freelance journalist for the BBC world service, told him I was interested, and he said "Whenever you're ready."

And so your first recordings were as "Poet and the Roots"?

Yes, I called myself "Poet". Dennis was the engineer, and also played guitar and piano. And John Kpiaye played guitar, and Nick Straker keys, and they've been with me ever since. The original horn section went to UB40, and then we got Steve Gregory, whose been around long before us and played with Van Morrison and many others.

How do you work up your wonderful arrangements - there's really nothing else like them in reggae. Do you start with the words?
I have a bass, and I have words and know what kinda beat I want to have, and I work out the basslines and the chords are based on that. Simple as that. Then I discuss the arrangement with Dennis and we exchange ideas - Dennis usually comes up with the horn lines. And on the last couple albums I decided to bring in violin and flute as well. But it starts with the skeleton of my voice and basslines on a cassette...

So you are a musician as well?

People often don't believe that, but yes. (said with a look of mild exasperation)

Well, they'll have to believe it now as you play bass on on the new dub CD. Anyway, you started on Island Records, and then started your own label. Is that kind of control necessary?

It's hard work, it's just two of us running it, but yes we have control and that's the most important thing. We're doing our entire catalog now, after the Island stuff, which is collected on that 2-CD set titled Independant Intavenshan.

I heard you were unhappy when Island remixed your "Making History" LP for USA release, toning the bass down and so on...

Yeah I still don't know why they did that, it was like they were trying to sabotage the album or something. It was Chris Blackwell's idea, but everyone prefers the original mix.

Well, that happened to Bunny Wailer's classic "Blackheart Man" too so at least you were in good company. Speaking of remixes, back in 1975, you wrote in Race Today when Bob Marley's "Catch a Fire" came out that Marley had become a sellout, by adding rock guitar and so on; you wrote "There is no more dread in Marley's music; the dread has been replaced by howling rock guitar and funky rhythm." 1975 was early to be saying that, altho others, like Lee Perry even, made similar complaints much later in Bob's career. Any reflection on that?

There's nothing to reflect on. That was written from a very "reggae purist" perspective, and I take everything back. I was wrong in the way I was looking at it. Yes, he commercialized reggae in a sense, and it was part of the marketing strategy. But you know, how do you sell good music? Marley was a genius, and he reached a lot of people, right? In hindsight I would say that I was being very cheeky there.

You're not a rasta, at least not obviously. How do you relate to the mainstream of reggae?

Well, Haile Selassie and Marcus Garvey are icons to Black people all over, regardless. My position is, I love the music of Burning Spear as much as anyone on earth, yunno? I love Culture, the Gladiators, Toots. They are the backbone of this thing, who keep it going. Others are trying to take advantage and are taking reggae down.

Like who?

Some of those hustler producers, who put out what I call disposable music. I mean, we are living in the era of the ascendancy of the word in music, whether it's hip-hop or whatever, and the words have come to the fore. But it does not have to mean a complete negation of the music. If all you get is a pulse and beat and nothing else, something important is missing.

Alton Ellis (legendary reggae singer - ed) once told me, "There are over 800 instruments in the world and these guys are using just two - drum and bass - and even those are fake."

There you have it. I think reggae in general has suffered from the proliferation of dancehall music, from some guy lining up about 20 deejays to come and talk over one riddim; it's like fast food. They don't stand the test of time.

Like even overnight. Who do you enjoy from today's crop?

I like Luciano, Morgan Heritage, Tony Rebel... but there's room for everybody, and a lot of talented people in that scene, and good luck to them.

Your newest CD, LKJ in Dub Volume 3, includes dubs from your last album plus some new tracks, but no real vocals of course. Are you working on any new reggae poetry?

Not at the moment. I started to work on reggae renditions of some of my favorite poetry from others like T.S. Eliot but could not get copyright clearance on things, so I put it aside. So my next project will be a live album, since it's at least 15 years since the last one.

Will that include new songs?

No, just like my live shows, poems from throughout my career.

Well, I must say, you couldn't be called prolific. New records from you are few and far between. Why is that?

I haven't written anything. I'm not one of these people who get up everyday and say it's time to write a poem. I write when I'm inspired and feel like it. I admire people who work at it on a daily basis but I could never do that. Writing a poem for me is a special experience that does not come on a regular basis; it's almost like magic. And as I get older I find writing even harder, because of the standards I set myself. But I am very active in Europe, still, touring and doing many poetry readings.

Do you still make a distinction between "dub poetry" versus "reggae poetry"?

Not really. I like to see myself as a person who writes verse, full stop. I write verse that aspires towards poetry. I've just been published in the Penguin Modern Classics series, a collection of all my poetry. I'm only the second living poet in that series. So I've joined the Dead Poets' Society.

Who is the other living one?

The Polish poet, Czeslaw Milocz, 91 years old...

A Nobel Prize-winner. That's pretty lofty company. Congratulations.

Thank you. There's also a new German bilingual collection titled "New World Order".

Have you been writing anything about the last year, since September 11th?

Not directly. But it does effect us too in Britain. The threat of war has caused demands that our Parliament debate it so we do not blindly support war. It seems to me that since the Cold War ended, Islam has become the new "communists." We saw an extreme reaction to extreme policies; in no way does that justify it, but it just didn't come out of nowhere. And seeing every Muslim as a potential terrorist is no answer.

You wrote some of your most scathing words about the lives of Blacks in England during the Thatcher regime in the 1980s. Is it any better, or is England still "A Bitch"?

There's been some progress, but yeah, England is still a bitch, with people dying in police custody and cover-ups of that. I'm involved in trying to get justice for that.

How? As some kind of spokesman?

No, they've been trying to make me into some kind of "black spokesperson" but I'm not having it. If they call me I speak. Nobody appointed me leader or anything.

But you might be an appropriate candidate for that, being an educated, intellectual presence, published poet, and so on...

I'm just a thinking person.

OK. And do you think that, as you get older, you get mellower in your views?

Well...I think it would be unnatural not to get a bit mellower with age. But that does not mean that you have abandoned your convictions.

Source http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sheilig/detail?entry_id=93251

National Poetry Month: Hebrew, Arabic, and Dead Poets

2011-04-11T22:02:00.000-07:00

Among the most original contemporary Israeli poets is Almog Behar, a Jerusalemite in his early 30s. His story “Ana Min Al-Yahoud” (“I am one of the Jews”), which won the Haaretz Short Story competition in 2005, in many ways defined his artistic and poetic practice: incorporating the Arabic heritage of his ancestors (who made their way to Israel from Iraq) into his Israeli, Hebrew-speaking purview. The musicality of his work grows not only from the tension in such a union, but also from cultural cross-pollination, and the possibilities this process has to offer.

And so, while the first poem featured today addresses the two languages and the two voices that are in conflict in the poet’s very throat, in the second piece, the undercurrent of Arabic heritage envelops a Jerusalem setting in an organic, wholesome and sweetly nostalgic manner. The third poem, despite its seemingly ominous title, is a more light-hearted, humorous diversion from heavy matters of identity conflict.

Those interested in learning more about Almog’s work, both in poetry and social justice, should read his interview on Words Without Borders.

As part of the Forward’s National Poetry Month celebration, we will be featuring an interview with Almog, along with interviews of six other poets. Stay tuned!

A couple of Scottish mysteries

2011-03-30T00:22:00.000-07:00

Naming the Bones

Louise Welsh

Felony & Mayhem Press

In this atmospheric and leisurely Scottish mystery, youngish Murray Watson, Glasgow doctor of English literature, has taken a sabbatical to research his literary inspiration, the dead poet Archie Lunan. Drowned sailing in a storm off a remote island in the 1970s, Lunan, 25, left only one slim volume of poems.

There are those — including Watson's department head, Fergus Baine, who think one volume was quite enough. Baine was against the project from the beginning and after a discouraging slog through the minimal record, Watson is beginning to wonder if Baine wasn't right after all.

But then Watson is having an affair with Baine's wife, which might also explain his boss' general enmity. Interviewing every tenuous lead, from old drinking buddies in gritty pubs to Lunan's mentor, a secretive retired professor with a deep dislike of Fergus Baine, to an attractive young widow whose husband had an unhealthy interest in art and suicide, Watson decides to go to Lismore, where Lunan died and his lover, Christie, still lives.

Christie has refused to have anything to do with Watson's project. She has even promised to have him prosecuted as a stalker if she catches sight of him. So Watson, while determined, is circumspect, probing the clannish islanders for information about the pair's history while ducking out of sight every time he sees Christie.

Dr. Watson, like his namesake, is charmingly clueless. And for all that his personal life is a wreck, and his professional life is teetering, he still manages to be engaging rather than pathetic. The island — complete with a deserted limekiln village — is everything you could ask for: bleak, secretive, wet, rocky, muddy and romantic. And the central conundrum: why can't an artist's work stand on its own, without personal context muddying perceptions, is playful rather than pedantic.

Welsh ("The Cutting Room") delivers a literate novel full of prickly, demanding characters (except for hapless Watson who is more battered than battering, though he does try) with a wonderfully over-the-top macabre ending. Highly recommended for those who like their mysteries edgy, literate and not too bloody.

Haunt Me Still

Jennifer Lee Carrell

Plume paperback

Kate Stanley, a young Shakespearian scholar who has left academia to direct Shakespeare on the stage, agrees to mount a production of Macbeth at Dunsinnan Castle, home of widowed Lady Nairn, the former Shakespearean star Janet Douglas, who left stage and screen for love.

Over the years she and her husband collected Macbeth antiquities and Lady Nairn now wants to include them — and herself — in the production. Also, if it can be found, Lady Nairn would like to include a rumored earlier version of the play, said to include real magic and authentic witches.

Once the cast assembles — including Lady Nairn's headstrong niece Lily, who fancies herself a budding witch, and Kate's former lover (from "Interred with Their Bones"), a black ops type who's providing security — strange things begin to happen.

Kate goes up Dunsinnan Hill by herself, as she's been warned not to, falls asleep and wakes to find a whispering voice in the wind, a ritual knife at her feet and Lily's dead body covered with a gown of beetles' wings. But back at the castle, she finds Lily, quite alive and every bit as troublesome as ever.

The plot continues in this way, fey events growing macabre, magic mixing with Shakespearian scholarship, and characters who are not quite what they claim to be, until an actual death toll begins to mount.

Following every aspect of the legendary Macbeth curse, weaving together Shakespearian research and rumor with Wiccan lore, Carrell sometimes gets bogged down in the research on the research. Thus one cryptic reference may have several — or more — roots as words are traced to their medieval or old Gaelic roots and double meanings become triple or quadruple. All of this can make your head spin.

Or capture your puzzle-loving imagination, depending on the sort of reader you are. Shakespeare aficionados may revel in the arcane details and alternative Macbeth scenes, though many will find points of disagreement.

The action is also dizzying, though there are so many characters and so much trickery involved that the action does not always advance the story as it should. In essence, this is a well-written, deeply researched and imaginative story, which is about a hundred pages too long.

Source http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110327/ENTERTAIN/103270309/-1/NEWSMAP

A toast to the agony of love

2011-02-16T23:41:00.000-08:00

The night may have been about empty hearts, but the house was full at the Dominion Hotel for the Dead Poets Society's Valentine's Day salute to the agony of love on Feb. 12.

Linda McNamara got things cooking with a reading of Alfred Tennyson's The Lady of Shallott, a tale of a magical being who, while it is forbidden, falls in love with a mortal man.

"There's a small onion joke in there somewhere, but I just couldn't find it," quipped mistress of ceremonies Kathleen Atkinson-Hindle.

Doug Pugh took the stage as Rumi, a 13th-century Persian poet and theologian.

"I've been dead for 800 years, so that's not the smell of fear of me being on stage," Pugh said before reading a few selections of Rumi's contemplative work.

As it sometimes does, the society opened its doors to couple of live poets on Saturday and Marjorie Green gave a reading of February, a humourous take on a dreary month by Margaret Atwood.

"Frankly, I think she always sounds like she's dead," Green said as she took the podium.

Next up, John Unrau read poems by another living Canadian poet, Partick Lane.

Unrau said he'd chosen poems that were about a very different kind of love than the romantic kind and read some of Lane's work about his tortured relationship with his parents.

In a Dead Poets' debut, George Farrell and Jazz Kitchen performed a Valentine's blues number penned by Farrell himself, to much delight from the crowd.

Alex Morrison took the stage as Robbie Burns, Donna Gagnon as Elizabeth Smart and Laura Redman as Anne Sexton.

Dominion owner Shawn Chamberlin performed as Roy Orbison and brought down the house with a rendition of Love Hurts.

The society is set to reconvene for the summer solstice.

Source http://www.mindentimes.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2979672

House's Exasperated Oncologist Heading Back to Broadway

2011-02-09T23:28:00.000-08:00

Robert Sean Leonard, best known for playing best buddy and foil to Hugh Laurie's dyspeptic title character on FOX's hit series House, M.D., will join the cast of a new Broadway revival of Garson Kanin's Born Yesterday, producers said today.

Leonard is not one of those "TV actors" who will have to prove his stageworthiness. Prior to House he had a very successful Broadway career, earning several Tony nominations and winning one a decade ago for his performance in The Invention of Love, Tom Stoppard's play about poet A.E. Housman.

Leonard's films include Dead Poets Society and The Age of Innocence. He's played Dr. James Wilson on House since the show debuted in 2004.

In Born Yesterday Leonard will co-star with Jim Belushi and Nina Arianda. Previews start March 31, with opening night scheduled for April 24.

Master Filmmaker Visits The Rafael for Premiere

2011-01-20T02:37:00.000-08:00

1)Filmmaker extraordinaire Peter Weir ("Gallipoli," "The Year of Living Dangerously," "Witness," "Dead Poet Society," etc.) will present and discuss an advance screening of "The Way Back," at 7 p.m. at the Rafael Film Center. The drama stars Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris and Colin Farrell as prisoners of a Soviet Union labor camp who escape a Siberian Gulag in 1940.

2) The city council meets at 7 p.m. in closed session to discuss defending a lawsuit brought against the city by MHC Financing LP. The council will resume open session at 8 p.m. to discuss an easement on San Pedro Road . The full agenda is here.

3) Want some help planning for end-of-life decisions? Swing by Whistlestop from 10-11 a.m. for "My Life, My Choices" a special workshop designed to educate about engaging hospice care, empowering people to act on your behalf and making other moves related to this last transition. The workshop is free and details are here.

4) If you're 55 or older, here's your chance to volunteer in San Rafael elementary schools. Training for Experience Corps is 10 a.m.- 1 p.m. at the Nonprofit Leadership Center. Details are here.

5 ) Clap, sing and be merry with Chip Hanna. Music for pre-schoolers is from 10-10:30 a.m. and details are here.

Source http://sanrafael.patch.com/articles/master-filmmaker-visits-the-rafael-for-premiere

Oliver Says THE WAY BACK Is A Tough But Admirable Journey

2010-12-13T23:16:00.000-08:00

It’s true: Peter Weir hasn’t made a bad film. From his early lesser known triumphs that include perplexing car carnage horror debut The Cars that Ate Paris and claustrophobic thriller The Plummer, through to the award winning likes of Gallipoli, The Year of Living Dangerously and Witness and on to more recent modern classics including Dead Poet’s Society and The Truman Show this is a director, not unlike David Cronenberg, who is incapable of churning out a disaster. Even his financial film failings (The Mosquito Coast and Fearless) are intelligent instantly likable affairs. So it’s fare to say when walking into a Weir film one’s expectations are lifted above the norm.

The Way Back, Weir’s first film in seven years, is based on the audacious (but probably fictitious) account of the Russian prison escape and subsequent 4,500 trek – from Siberia via the Gobi desert to India – by seven Polish/American prisoners in 1940. With punishing snow/desert terrain the mission appears doomed from the start, however these men ultimately seek freedom and would rather die attempting it than perish as prisoners of Stalin. One thing The Way Back doesn’t lack is stamina.

And true to form Weir doesn’t disappoint. He invests time in allowing us to get to know his characters, shows archetypal skill in weaving out well-rounded performances – of which particular merit must go to a never better Colin Farrell as a gutsy sneaky prisoner type – layers his story with humour and pathos, directs with stylish, confident flare and finally brings us the jaw-dropping spectacle we yearn from such a survival-against-the-odds yarn. To top this there’s a marvellously moving score by Burkhard Dallwitz which notches the film up to near Leanesque levels of epic indulgence. But regrettably there’s something curiously amiss.

And it took me a little while to realise the problem was ultimately that of emotional detachment. For some strange reason The Way Back lacks the emotional element that is essential for this kind of story. It’s not that the characters are particularly clichéd – though we have the weathered veteran type in Ed Harris‘ American emigrant and the young arrogant type in Jim Sturgess operative leader – or that there’s a lack of girl power to keep things grounded – Atonement’s Saoirse Ronan provides that necessity – but when characters begin to lag behind and die it’s more of a ‘oh!’ than a ‘oh no!’ It’s a pity as Weir really does paint the gruelling oppression with gutsy realism. We shudder as we see the group experience freezing conditions, we boil up as they burn and blister across deadly desert plains, we rejoice when they briefly find water and then wince when we glimpse at their terribly worn feet and elongated toe-nails. But unfortunately we are not moved enough and after a while their trek across the Gobe becomes a trifle tiresome and, akin to the doom-ridden characters, we just want it to all be over.

While Weir’s film does justice to a compelling story there’s little in the way of great Gallipoli style audience to character connection. Consequently The Way Back is a journey you rather wouldn’t have taken. However there’s still much to admire, including excellent chemistry from an impressive cast, a super uplifting score which will pleasingly play in your head for hours after, miles upon miles of eye-catching scenery and superb direction from Australia’s finest auteur.

source: http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/oliver-says-the-way-back-is-a-tough-but-admirable-journey.php#ixzz184GmBeN5