10/20/2014
Legendary was how the monthly mayhem that was the Literary Café Poetry Reading sometimes described. So it is no surprise with Cleveland’s legendary poets, past and present, in town for the 2014 Levyfest and after five years since the last rollicking night where poet all-stars came to celebrate all that is grand in the sharing of words, the Lit is gearing up for another fantastic fandango. On this Saturday Night, October 25, a mere four days before what would have been d.a. levy’s 72nd birthday, beginning at 7:00 pm, these godfathers of the mimeograph revolution along with talented inheritors of the self-publishing tradition will read their works, tell their stories, and bring us closer to the spirit that pervaded the underground of Cleveland in the late sixties. Readers will be Russell Salamon, Tom Kryss, George Wallace, Russell Vidrick, and R.A. Washington.
All the way from Crescent City, California, Russell Salamon returns again to the Lit, so impressed was he on that visit in 2007, he mentioned us in his book, Ascent from Cleveland. A dear friend of d.a. levy, he recounted what is was like to grow up here during the 60’s in Descent into Cleveland. Among his many publications, Woodsmoke and Green Tea, was published by Deep Cleveland Press and his latest endeavor is the self published, Moonbow Poems.
Also reading is the kind, soft-spoken friend of Russell and levy, Tom Kryss. Hailing from way out in Charlestown Ohio, it is no longer problematic now that Tom drives, and that is a benefit for all of us that are fans of his art, his writing, and his good nature. Born and raised in Cleveland, he has always had a hand in the small press, establishing literary magazines or contributing serigraphs, or assembling poetry books under his imprints, Ghost, Cold Mountain, and Black Rabbit Press. He continues to write and produce prints, sharing it with the rest of Northeast Ohio.
George Wallace is an old friend to Cleveland poets from out on Long Island NY and has published and helped many of us find readings both in NYC and The Island. He has visited and read many times here, but this is his first at the Literary Café, and we are proud to finally have him. George is somewhat of a legend himself as the first poet laureate of Suffolk County, the editor of Walt’s Corner, a poetry column in The Long Islander, the newspaper started by Walt Whitman himself, as well as the publisher of Poetrybay and Long Island Quarterly. George has been published in numerous magazines, won a crap load of awards, and a force behind putting poetry out through multiple media. Most recently he has been the Writer in Residence at the Walt Whitman Birthplace in Huntington Station NY.
You won’t get much argument from anybody if you claim that Russell Vidrick is destined to be a Cleveland legend in his own right. Steadily and without pretension, Russ has written some of the best verse this region has seen, collaborated with old and young, and put out brilliant books, broadsides, and performances. His style makes nearly everything he writes into love poems that has only intensified since he got married only a few short years ago. Russ may well be Cleveland’s answer to Pablo Neruda. For well over a decade and he has presided over a low key, monthly, poetry in a round that has survived at least four venue changes, and is presently comfortably meeting every second Saturday in the basement at the bookstore, Guide to Kulchur, owned by our next reader.
Guide to Kulchur bookstore has been described as curated, rather than owned by R.A. Washington. R.A. is a blend of modern, experimental culture and old school, head down, serious word work. The typewriter is his preferred method of writing, way before hipsters found it to be ironic in the computer age. Many an hour I have spent in his company, sitting in a Tremont café, discussing literature, art, and the impact on society; writing and sharing, like a Midwestern version of 1920’s Paris, each of us in relative obscurity. However, popular Cleveland has finally discovered this Texas-born gem of art, books, music, and social commentary. R.A. has been awarded a 2014 Creative Workforce fellowship and is well on his way to being a future legend.
Returning to their roles of maintaining the hooligan ambiance of the Lit Readings, will be your hosts, Steve Goldberg and Nick Traenkner, both honored to have the opportunity to present such an august slate of poetic genius. And just to tickle your fancies some more, there is a possibility that the ever-elusive levy confederate, rjs, will make a rare appearance to be with his old friends and maybe read a poem or two. This will perhaps be the last opportunity to hear all these masters from across the country at the same venue at the same time. You don’t want to miss it this Saturday October 25 at 7:00pm at the Literary Café 1031 Literary Road in the truly historical and history making neighborhood of Tremont in Cleveland.
