Not ready for his closeup.
Reading at the Palace
It’s getting closer to our poetry reading at the Palace, where Florian Vetsch will host the poet Jan Heller Levi, winner of the Walt Whitman Award given by the Academy of American Poets, and yours truly, along with Clemens Umbricht. DJ Soulsonic will do his thing with the music we selected.
They Called Him ‘Lord of the Gadflies’ . . .
But he was much more than that: Bold spirit, world traveler, street-smart Chicago kid, precinct worker, union organizer, auto worker. Soldier, leftist, Hollywood agent, target of the McCarthy Red Scare. Journalist, novelist, winner of the National Book Award for his memoir, “Going Away.” Screenwriter of “Frida,” about the painter Frida Kahlo. Lover of Nobel laureate Doris Lessing who depicted him in her most significant novel, “The Golden Notebook.”
Musk and His Chainsaw Are Still Coming for You
You think DOGE is gone? He’s still here! And so is his chainsaw!
Proposal for a Billboard
The tag team of Elon Musk and Donald Trump were cheered ringside by MAGA Republicans during el presidente’s speech to the joint session of Congress.
Awards Mean Little Beyond Publicity
Are awards the staff of life? Of course not. But they certainly seem like food for the hungry.
You Are All Deleted. You Are Deleted Forever.
AGITPROP PROPOSAL FOR A BILLBOARD: To be deleted is not a matter of the Internet. It’s a matter of reality.
The White House
Color it brown.
Against the Death Penalty
Death Row Prisoner’s Statement:
« I do deserve to be executed, bottom line
I ain’t goin’ t’candy coat it
I deserve to be executed
by the law of the State of Indiana
I deserve to be executed. »
Double Trouble: Bacon Sometimes Meets Picasso
This is what happens when you take a razor to a pair of images cutting them up in vertical strips. And this is what happens when the procedure is applied to a single image, then doubling the result upon itself. Jiří Kolář gave the name “rollage” to this kind of minimalist collage technique.
My Books
Several books of poems are published by Moloko Print and Stadtlichter Presse in bilingual (American-German) editions, and by Cold Turkey Press in handmade chapbooks. “The Z Collection” appeared in three editions, by AC Books, Blue Wind Press, and Moloko Print.”
Poetry and Music at the Palace
Florian Vetsch reads with Jan Heller Levi & Jan Herman on April 1, 2025, in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Vetsch has translated poems by both into German. During the evening, poems will be recited bilingually by the writers, and their backgrounds will be discussed. DJ Soulsonic (aka Mr. Wempe) will play music selected by the speakers. Special guest poet Clemens Umbricht will perform his translation of Jan Heller Levi’s poem “I Lost My Best Friend to Music” as well as his own New York poem.
More Resonant Than Ever
Heathcote Williams’s ‘The United States of Porn’
Heathcote was always prescient. But it is still astonishing to realize how relevant — and resonant — his dissident voice remains more than a dozen years after he recorded “The United States of Porn.”
Steff Signer / Cabinet Music — Frozen Duck Tears
Concept & Music Vocals & Moniphonium Inventions:
Steff Signer, Switzerland
Photography: Mario Baronchelli, Switzerland
«Mother of Transgression» Poetry: Florian Vetsch
Brass Instruments & Tibetan: «singi»
Cymbals: Markus Breuss, Spain
Electric Guitar Explosion: Chanan Hanspal, England
Viola: David Schnee
Recitation Text: Liz Foulis, Scotland
Recitation Poetry: Jaswant Hanspal
Poetry & Prose
‘Wortlaut’ Saint Gallen Festival Salutes the Word
UPDATED: Jan Heller Levi & Jan Herman will appear on March 30, 2025 at the festival, where they will read and discuss their latest poems with Giovanna Caggiano and Julia Mülli from the Kantonsschule am Burggraben. Florian Vetsch will also read with Jan & Jan at the Palace on April 1.
Mr. Big Mouth Sounds Off
Welcome to the Gaza Riviera
‘It will be SOoooo beautiful like never before!’
The Ugly Spirit … with commentary
I know where this image came from. It began with the random association of two photos that I sliced up longitudinally with a razor, then laid the resulting strips side by side. I subsequently photographed it, dropped out the background and very slightly manipulated the color and sharpness. The result seemed to me utterly surprising, just as confounding, and very disturbing. In a word, scary.