buffaloFOCUS : Paul Hogan
Introduction
I love to make up this section. It is a chance for me to work with a local poet. Generally we feature someone I know from Rust Belt Books, school, or some other poetic event that always just seem to happen around here. But this time, Buffalo Focus is pleased to bring you the work from, as R. D. Pohl says, “one of the Buffalo arts community's most influential voices.” It is my real pleasure to have three new poems and five poems from Hogan's latest book Points of Departures .
Buffalo is a great place for the arts, and poetry thrives here, in ways one would not readily expect. This is part of the reason for this section, Buffalo may lag behind in many things that other American cities of comparable size have, but the Poetry, we have plenty of that! This has a lot to do with 40 great years of the UB English department, their resources, graduates and other delightful flourishings in and around the city. Michael Basinski, the curator of the Poetry Collection at the University at Buffalo, tells me Hogan was influenced by both John Logan and Robert Creeley of English Department at UB hence he finds his roots in the grand thriving of the Buffalo community of late 1970's early 1980s. So there is an intensity of emotion that he gets both from JL and RC. And [his] rhythm and line, or what should I say - what Paul imagines as a poem derives from the Logan/Creeley linage.
What we all consider to be the normal poetry scene comes to us, inherited from a long line of readings and events Paul has been directly involved with. So it is his leadership in the past that makes our present so vibrant. Here are some things Paul has been involved with:
Writer's Cramp Series at CPG from 1982 to 1988 (co-coordinated with Nancy J. Parisi); 'Walking the Dog' Series for Robert Creeley when the Gray Chair Fellow (83-85); Spoken Arts on WBFO from 1984 – 1987, from which he just donated about 150 shows/75 hours or so on tape to t he Poetry Collection at the University at Buffalo through Just Buffalo). Hogan also co-edited Buffalo Press with George Grace et.al
He recently read as part of the Gray Hair Reading series in fall 2007. And a wonderful review on this reading in November, 2008, On Paul T. Hogan's "Points of Departures" by R.D. Pohl can be found here: http://buffalonews.typepad.com/artsbeat/2008/12/on-paul-t-hogan.html .
Paul publishes infrequently so this is a real treat to present these poems! Read Here.
Best, Geoffrey
Geoffrey Gatza | Editor & Publisher
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Buffalo Focus : Nava Fader
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Buffalo Focus :Double Shot - Full issue
Individual authors :
Michael Sikkema & Russell Pascatore
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The goal of this section is to bring a feel for the many poetic voices that occur in and around Buffalo, New York. It is also a wonderful way for me present the work of dear friends. I have met with Christina over poetry for years now. She entrusted me with her poems in my first publishing venture at Daemen College. I have learned a great many things from her, especially the many ways in which one can approach an idea in poetry. [read more ...]
| Download PDF Chapbook
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It is my great honor to introduce Richard Owen for Buffalo FOCUS. Each issue we focus in on a particular writer from our hometown of Buffalo, NY. Richard is studying Poetics at the University of Buffalo and is editor of Damn the Caesars, an annual poetry journal. I was fortunate to read with Richard in a dirty attic this summer. [read more ...]
| Download PDF Chapbook
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Florine Melnyk | Poetry
This is a real treat for me to bring into focus Florine Melnyk’s work. She is a major force in Buffalo’s small press publishing community. Her behind-the-scene’s work can be found in her editing and selecting for Starcherone Books, Jonathan Skinner’s Ecopoetics, and currently as poetry editor for Buffalo’s weekly art journal, Artvoice. Her keen eye has been a real success for publishing but we seldom see much of her own work. And it is that very keen eye that is the focal point of her poetry. Here the poet offers us that futile search, that ‘looking for a reason’ that is not found in poems, but in life. This is her first appearance in BlazeVOX and so we are offering a gallery of her poetry for you to enjoy.
| Download PDF Chapbook
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Clarice Waldman | Experimental Fiction
by Clarice Waldman
Genre: Fiction
$18.00
Paperback: 277 pages
Synopsis:
An experimental novel that takes control of itself once the author has seemingly left them on the shelf to be unfinished forever, that is until the characters revolt. A witty fun ride through a hedge maze of fiction.
Purchase Page | Review Copy PDF
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Kevin Thurston | Dada Spectacular
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Alan Bigelow | Saving The Alphabet
[an interactive fiction ]
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Ted Pelton | Jack Slazy, Ma Scrazy
an excerpt from the novel Malcolm and Jack (and other Famous American Criminals)
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Michael Kelleher | To Be Sung [ POD Book ]
uring our run, BlazeVOX Books has published over 60 volumes, mostly poetry, and will publish approximately 15 titles each year during 2007 and 2008. Our latest publications, are by Noah Eli Gordon, Joe Amato and Megan Volpert. Also just out is the latest double-issue of BlazeVOX magazine. Coming soon are volumes by Mark DuCharme, Kyle Schlesinger, Mark Wallace. E-books are also available for free download, including recent titles by Gautam Verma and Patrick Chapman — just click on the e-books link. The Buffalo FOCUS Gallery contains poetry, fiction and visual work. Every issue we explore a new Buffalo writer. There is a lot going on in Buffalo, NY and it is important to engage some of that energy and bring you a sample of our home. If you're not sure how to find what you're looking for, please use the search field.
