Outsider Writers

I am the featured poet over at Outsider Writers. A special thanx to Melissa Hansen.

My poems.

Black-Listed Magazine

My Poem "For Those Slowly Dying" is published in Black-Listed Magazine.

As We Speak...

I am planning a new poetry event slated for March of 2009. Please check it out. "As We Speak..."

-C. Allen Rearick

November 22nd

Saturday, November 22nd at 7pm quite the soiree awaits you!

Michael Salinger, Elise Geither, Ray McNeice, Phil Metres, Bree, Mary O'Malley, Mary Weems, C. Allen Rearick, TM Gottl, and Katie Daleywill all read their poems on hope and perseverance at The Lit!

There will be a silent auction of artworks by Tom Kryss, George Fitzpatrick, Jim Lang, Bree, j.s. makkos & the Sudanese Lost Boys of Cleveland. Pick up some holiday gifts!

The shindig, Sixteen Floors Above the Ground: A Benefit for the Sudanese Lost Boys of Cleveland takes its name from the Langston Hughes poem, 'Life is Fine'. It is an opportunity to reach out, locally. And also to take in some mighty talent.

The purpose: to raise monies and awareness for the Sudanese Lost Boys of Cleveland--- the poets have all been sponsored by local busnesses and orgs, and brought in an impressive amount.

There will be a five dollar door charge, also to support the Boys, and there will be opportunity to make additional donations. Come out, support the Lost Boys, and The Lit, and back the awesome local talent.

The Lit is located in the ArtCraft Building at 2570 Superior Avenue Suite 203 Cleveland, Ohio 44114 Phone: 216.694.0000 This is a way for non-smokers to support Arts & Culture!

The event is sponsored by Green Panda Press, and by Lara Adler of the Friends of the Sudanese Lost Boys of Cleveland. we all hope to see you there! www.the-lit. org www.sudlbc.org Bree greenpandapress@ yahoo.com

It wasn't a total loss for liberty

Maine has rejected taxes on drinks and insurance. North Dakota voted to reduce or eliminate the state income tax and South Dakota has voted not to ban abortion. Nebraska has banned affirmative action. Dino Rossi lost the Washington State Governor race.
Personal possession of marijuana has passed in Massachusetts and right to die has passed in Washington State. Walter Jones has won in North Carolina and, of course, Dr. Paul will be returning to congress as well.

The Proper Role of Government

Here is the final part of the discussion on Collectivism Vs. Individualism.

Equality and Inequality Under the Law

Here is part 5 of the discussion on Collectivism Vs. Individualism.

Coercion vs. Freedom

Here is part 4 of the discussion between Collectivism Vs. Individualism.

Group Supremacy

Here is part 3 of the discussion between Collectivism Vs. Individualism.

Origin and Nature of Rights

Here is part 2 of 6 in the discussion of Collectivism Vs. Individualism.

Collectivism Vs. Individualism

I will be posting videos that discuss the differences between Collectivism and Individualism. Here is part one, or if you prefer, the intro.

Collectivism sucks

Upcoming Readings

I have two upcoming readings I'll be involved in to announce.

January 14th I'll be reading with Jason Floyd Williams, Jesus Crisis and others at Mac's Backs Bookstore. I believe the reading will start at 7:00 p.m.

January 20th I'll be the featured reading at Dianne Borsenik and Jesus Crisis' Lix and Kix at the 806. Which is the 806 Martini and Wine Bar in Tremont, Ohio. The reading begins at 7:00 p.m and ends at 9:00 p.m.

St. Vitus Press

I have some poems published by St. Vitus Press, the online journal put out by Theron and Todd Moore. You can also find them on Myspace HERE.

The DIY attitude

I recently read Ariel Gore's How to become a famous writer before you're dead, and it lit a fire under my ass. Though many of the things she talked about in the book I was already familiar with, there were a few useful things I didn't know, as well as some helpful links. One in particular is No media Kings, a gem of a site run by Jim Munroe, "a novelist who left HarperCollins to showcase and propagate indie press alternatives to Rupert Murdoch-style consolidation." It's a must for any DIY enthusiast! The site includes DIY book making, movie making, promotion, grant writing etc... I advise everyone to check it out!

On a side note, with Brian Fugett pulling the plug on all things Zygote In My Coffee (a sad, sad day indeed) I am looking for any press that would be willing to pick up Through These Eyes and make it into a second edition. On the other hand, after perusing No Media Kings, I may just put it out myself!

Zygote In My City: A Tainted Cleveland Reading

A free two day event of music and poetry hosted by me (C. Allen Rearick) and Brian Fugett, editor of the Ohio based Zygote In My Coffee. A bi-monthly ezine and quarterly print journal of poetry, short fiction and comics. The event will be at Now Thats Class, 11213 Detroit Ave. at West 112. Cleveland, Ohio 44109. Phone no. 216-221-8576.

Each night there will be 12 poets and 2 bands. There will be a raffle as well, which will include a two-year subscription to Zygote In My Coffee, a one-year subscription to all the flipbook chapbooks put out by Tainted Coffee Press, a copy of The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry signed by co-editor S.A. Griffin and much more.

The event will take place November 7th and 8th at 9:00 p.m. both nights.

Visit us on myspace at: www.myspace.com/taintedclevelandreading

New Review of My Book

A new review of "Through These Eyes" is available from Up The Staircase.

The Official Line-up For The Zygote Flipbook Chapbook Series

Here it is Ladies and Gents:

Ross T. Runfola & Ross Vassilev
Mike Estabrook & Doug Draime
Justin Hyde & Misti Rainwater-Lites
Glenn W. Cooper & Corey Mesler
Carl Miller Daniels & Bradley Mason Hamilin
Rob Plath & Andrew Lander
Aleathia Drehmer & Melisa Hansen
Miles J. Bell & John Sweet
Jason "Juice" Hardung & Walt Burns
Lester Allen & Dan Provost
David Labounty & John Rocco
J.D. Nelson & Jonathan Hayes
George Wallace & R.C. Edrington
Jason Watters & William Taylor Jr.

September 7th and up coming hosts on blog talk radio

Join hosts Jack Henry and Brian Fugett on Jack's blog talk radio as they chat with me September 7th. The call in number is 347-633-9057. Up coming guest will include: Karl Koweski (September 14th), Raindog (September 21st), James Darden (September 28th), Melissa Hansen (October 5th), October 12th and 19th are pending an interesting announsment, Tainted Cleveland readers (October 26th).

Pictures from Unregulated Word: A Summer Accident

Here are some of the pictures from the KS/MO reading. Click HERE.

Co-Editor of Zygote In My Coffee

Brian Fugett has invited me to be a co-editor for Zygote In My Coffee. I gladly accepted. I now join Brian, Karl Koweski and Aleathia Drehmer.

John Dorsey: Holy Toledo! The Sonnet River Volume"

Reviewed by Jack Henry. To read the reveiw visit Outside Writers.

On The Radar

Leah Angstman has invited me to be part of Alternating Current's series of Mini-Chapbooks. This is a long-range project which includes some great authors: Justin Barrett, Chris Cunningham, Hosho McCreesh, Alan Catlin, Ed Galing, to name a few. The response by invited authors has been so huge, that i'm penned in for Feb. of 2010! Which is fine. Gives me plenty of time to write. Much thanx to Justin Barrett for recomending me.

Also, Criminal Class Press (website coming soon) has invited me to do a spit-chapbook with U.K. poet Miles J. Bell. I received a promo issue of Criminal Class Press's first print issue in the mail the other day. It's beautiful. Perfect bound with poetry and short stories. For now, they can be found on myspace HERE.

Last but not least, I start school today. In the words of Vonnegut, "Hurray for me."

Hear some music and see me read

Screenplay

I am currently working on a short screenplay. The idea grew from a poem I had written.

After Party Reading

Terry A. Burton (http://www.terryaburton.com/) has invited me to read at an after party for an art show he will be part of. The info is below.

The website can be found here - http://www.oursip.info/

Rob and Jack America: Two smokers in the non-smoking section

Jason "Juice" Hardung will be the freatured guest on the show. He is out of Fort Collins, Colorado. He has work upcoming in: Thrasher, Polarity, Heroin Love Songs, Zygote In My Coffee, Lummox Journal, Straight From The Fridge, Up The Staircase, Covert Poetics, and Underground Voices. He is also managing editor of Great Ecstatic Reporter, Fiction editor of Matter Literary Journal, and co-editor of Front Range Review.

He was kind enough to invite me, John Dorsey, Lester Allen and Micahael Grover to join him to read some poems and discuss whatever.

So tune in on Sunday, July 27th, 12:00 p.m. pst./ 3 p.m. est. (I think).

Link to the show - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/robjack-america

Through These Eyes, The Fucker Inside: Reviewed

Through These Eyes/C. Allen Rearick
The Fucker Inside/S.A. Griffin
$6- Tainted Coffee Press 1417 Southlyn Drive Kettering, OH 45409 www.zygoteinmycoffee.com reviewed by Christopher Robin (with additional commentary provided by Debbie Kirk)_
On one side of this split chap we have veteran L.A. wordsmith Griffin, who provides seven erotically tinged poems that have all the charisma and style of his previous poems, but more bawdy, sexual in nature, and it totally works. Of course Griffin does not want to be considered an “erotic” poet, as the piece, ‘Cunt Pussy Dick Cock Fuck Poem’ will attest. Like his predecessors the Beats, Griffin is not afraid to find the erotic, or holy, in the mundane: “I am always suspect of anything that dares to call itself/erotic…bad television &a/ t.v. dinner can be/erotic…..honest poverty/a crusty towel by the side of the bed….” In ‘I Ate Fig Newtons Until I Puked,’ Griffin describes gluttony from food to sex, childhood till now: “We binge and purge/&it hurts so fucking good/that I don’t think I can stand to go/thru it/again/until the next time.” ‘Long Distance,’ is a dialogue poem about separation coupled with very hot phone sex. I read it a few times to try and understand what the characters actually meant to each other, it seemed to be more of a sad story, one the reader might want to follow further, and with lines like: “I want to stick a cordless power tool up your butt” (from ‘You Could Measure My Passion with A Stick,’) he proves he is still a writer of great depth, and also not afraid to poke fun at himself and human relationships in general. I don’t think I’ve ever read a poem of his that didn’t stick in my gut, his lines weaving in and out of my mind like only the best poems can do. If Griffin fucks like he writes, and I might assume he does, he is at least double threat, and triple if you consider he is one of the truest outlaw poets writing today. Always with a bullet, never missing. The poetry in this chap, is humorous, profound, and unlike a porn movie, totally believable

On the other side of this chap we have a poet who is still making his bones in the poetry world, and the work is nothing short of amazing. ‘Eating Hotdogs with My Cousin’ is a beautiful tribute to an old world institution, the Woolworth’s lunch counter. Sensitive and poignant, it brought back my own memories of childhood and simpler times: “My body slipping slowly into sleep, satisfied with/the idea that a simple memory/of eating hot dogs/with my cousin while in Woolworth’s/would be enough to fill/the aching in my/stomach.” In Rearicks recollections, he brings much sadness to his poems, for things in his life, losses not always named but illustrated very clearly. He stirs more memories with his vivid verse in: ‘As I Enjoy the Here and Now:’ “I pondered the scent/of old, used books, pages tilled worn and sallow/by dead fingerprints/of former thought.” These sentences brought to mind Brautigan who also had a way of carving out the smallest gems from memories and distilling them into very tight, imagistic lines like Rearick does here. And in this book, we also see he is influenced by Raymond Carver, another excellent storyteller. Many of these poems are filled with longing, like William Taylor, Jr’s work, and Rearick, also a philosophical, drinking poet, strings sentences together that are very deep and satisfying to read: “I can feel a curiosity/written deep/in awkward cursive longing/it separates our lives/like semi-colons/locked within a fight for independence,” (from ‘So the Story Goes’). This poem is definitely one of the best in the book, but all of the 24 poems are worth reading more than once. Since Debbie Kirk was originally asked to write this review, I’ve included an additional paragraph from her: “C. Allen has knocked it out of the park. He makes fellow poets scratch their heads in awe…even the academics would piss on themselves to get their claws in him. But C. Allen is no scenester. Casey makes words his bitch, only when they leave in the early morning they in fact leave HIM a tip. He soars over me and all of us to form his own seraphim poet. Yet, there is not a sign of pretense in his writing. His Mohawk can’t hide his blue collar. And what better way to affect and change the system than from the INSIDE, right? Him being a main operative in the Guerilla Poetics Project is on the beginning. He takes words and creates anarchy and peace. Chaos and understanding. Then he rolls it all into a big ball and throws it at you. If you are lucky enough to catch it…you are left holding all the answers and wondering what the questions are! Viva La C. Allen. Lead us to a poetic revolution dude. I’d follow his words anywhere. I am saying I believe all of us dirty, broken, struggling, starving and angry poets get behind C. Allen and march.
Instead of writing him and asking if you can swap chaps with him, support the small press. This is a mere $6.00 and well worth it. Thanks to Tainted Coffee Press for noticing true talent!” Debbie Kirk www.tntkirk.com

This November 2008

Coming this November 2008. Zygote In My City: A Tainted Cleveland Reding. Hosted by Brian Fugett, editor of http://www.zygoteinmycoffe.com/, and me. November 7th-9th at
http://www.myspace.com/nowthatsclass
. The event will play host to two nights of poetry and music. There will be a raffle as well.

Book Review

Please head on over to http://wearduringorangealert.blogspot.com/. There you can read a short review of my book "Through these Eyes", as well as S.A. Griffiin's "The Fucker Inside." It can be found here - http://wearduringorangealert.blogspot.com/2008/06/orange-spotlight_30.html

Thank you.

C. Allen

Zygote In My Coffee Flipbook No. 2

The fine folks at Zygote in My Coffee have just released 2 in their 69 Flipbook Series, which pairs my chapbook LEARNING TO SWIM THROUGH A RIVER OF SHIT with Lisa LaTourette's THE ART OF BEING A QUITTER, the book is 62pgs.
perfect bound trade paperback and is available at the http://www.zygoteinmycoffee.com bookstore for only $6.



A number of copies have already sold at both the CT Beat Poetry Festival and The Kansas City Feedbag sponsored by Offbeat Pulp and Killpoet Press. Pick yours up today.

Kansas City Poetry Reading 2008

Pictures from "Unregulated word: a. summer. accident" coming soon.

Buying books

I do most of my book shopping at Half Priced Books. It's a great book store that sells not only cheap books, but CDs, movies, games etc... Recently, there's been an odd occerrence happening. I've managed to purchace books with dedications in them to other people. All of which I don't notice untill getting home. At the book store, I usually just thumb through the pages. If a poem or two catches my attention, I buy the book. Why would someone sell or give away a personalized book? Death? A fight? Money problems? I'm sure the possibilites are endless. Below are the books, as well as the dedications.

BOOK NO. 1 Satan Says by Sharon Olds:

Dear Shona,

Sharon Olds is one of my favorite
poets + I really want to share
her with you. She writes of being
a daughter a woman a mother
a wife and you will soon be all
of these. Maybe you'll find some
of yourself in these poems?

I'm so happy for you + Jason!
I hope you know that even
though I'm no longer @ the Phoenix,
and (more importantly?) we haven't
been "ladies who lunch" lately,
I am always here for you - I'm
lucky to count you as a friend.
Shona + Jason are getting married!!

Love,
Molly

I'm so excited that I mad the
wedding list "cut!" (it was close
for a few weeks, remember?)


BOOK NO. 2 Laughing Down Lonely Canyons by James Kavanaugh

Dearest Mark.

I hope you
enjoy all of these
writings, I think they
are beautiful, just like you.
Deep and soleful. I can't wait
to sit together in low light, glass
of wine and have you read these to me.
You have such a passion for
beautiful things.
Happy sweetest day.

Always
Patti
1991


BOOK NO. 3 Smolder by Mark Cox

For Frankie,

Warmest wishes for
you and your work.

Mark
12/31/87
VC


BOOK NO. 4 How to Draw Blook from a Stone by Priscila Uppal

To Richard,

Thank you for giving
me the craft and the confidence to make this
book happpen.
Much love and gratitude,

Priscila Uppal


Has this happened to anyone else?

Through these eyes

Through these eyes (2008), is available from Tainted Coffee Press. It's a perfect bound flip-book chapbook. On one side are poems by me. On the other are poems and a short story by S. A. Griffin, co-editor of The Outlaw Bible of american poetry. It is 6 dollars (which includes shipping). It can be ordered here - http://www.zygoteinmycoffee.com. Anyone interested in reviewing it contact me at my email address. Here are some excerpts from the book:


"I scan cracks in sidewalks, search for reference points
in stones and birds, inhale annotations of his being
spilled on grass and dew, but get distracted
with the way words like apparition, supernatural
and esoteric haunt my tongue."

-From WITHIN THIS HOUSE I'VE COME TO LOVE

"Out of boredom, I paint my thumb
across its body,
collapsing it into a sort of ancient hieroglyth.

Its death rattles the wind..."

-From IN THIS CITY, THE BIRDS ARE ALWAYS HUNGRY


“…my body aches. I want
to feel again the touch
of a woman, fall in love
with a complete stranger,
stand barefoot outside atop
the heat of clumsy sidewalks
in the rain – both our bodies
tickled by liquid kisses
as thin as pin-pricks,
content in the imperfection
of our not yet knowing
each others’ needs or secrets…”

- From IN THIS BEDROOM

Revelations of a small town to which I've never been

I am currently workin' on a new book of poems to be called: Revelations of a small town to which I've never been. I've been writin' daily. It feels good. Most of my writin' time has been eatin' up by poems for this book. I feel it's my best work yet. Also, I'm headed back to school in the fall. Hopefully. I plan to take either creative writin', or film. Don't know yet. Back to the book. Editors take note. Thank you and good night.

What it means for me

I've been thinking a lot lately. I recently checked myself into AA for a severe drinking problem. Along with the drinking came a lot of drug abuse. I am 30 years old as of May 14th, 2008. Twelve years of my life spent wasted in a bottle. I am learning to live again. To love again. To be unselfish again. To dream again. Yes, to have a dream again is nice. These days I spend a lot of time alone, in solitude, by choice. I read. I write. I'm reminded of a line from Thomas Mann's Death in Venice - "Solitude gives birth to the original in us, to beauty unfamilar and perilous - to poetry." Which for me has always been an important part of my life. I don't subscribe to the theory that one should seperate the reader from the speaker. No. I want to believe the poem I am reading is of the author's own experience, something born of them. In a way, we are all voyers. We are sick of our own tired, boring lives. Such is evidenced by the onslaught of "reality" television. 95% of the poems I write are written from this point of view. If not, I use the pronouns, "he", "she", "they", etc... For me, after reading the forward to Knut Hamsun's, Hunger, wherein it is mentioned to be an effective writer, one must be willing to die on the page, to admit all his fears, desires, wants, needs, secrets, etc...my writing changed. No longer did I focus too much on the anecdotal, the self-depricating. Not that I dislike such writing, but as far as my writing went, it just wouldn't do. For those who know me in the flesh and blood, they know I don't take things seriously. I liken myself to the color man beside the well-rounded, studied announcer, breaking down the game, spitting stat after stat. I rarely talk serious issues, unless of course I know you and feel comfortable around you. I leave the seriousness to the page, a sort of window to my soul, as it has been said before. Hopefully after reading my work, you will perhaps come away knowing me a little better. Thank you.