Press Release

Naropa University Audio Archives Now Publicly Accessible on the World Wide Web

First Naropa Archives CD to Be Featured by Barnes and Noble, Inc.
Naropa Archives Director to Present with Other Experts on Literary Archiving

BOULDER, Colo. (June 23, 2004) -- Naropa University (Boulder, Colo.) announced today that it has partnered with the Internet Archive (www.archive.org) to provide online access to its renowned collection of audio recordings. This collection represents 30 years of classes, lectures, panels and readings by the literary luminaries who have participated in Naropa University writing programs.

The initial release of approximately 150 hours of audio includes works by a wide selection of artists, including readings by Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, Diane diPrima, Kenward Elmslie, Helen Adam, Robert Duncan, Michael McClure, Clark Coolidge, Robert Creeley and Jack Collom. Also included are classes, lectures and workshops by Ginsberg, Waldman, Duncan, Coolidge and Creeley, as well as by William Burroughs, Clayton Eshleman, Steve Lacy, Irene Aebi, Ron Padgett, Jerome Rothenberg, Philip Whalen, Bernadette Mayer, Amiri Baraka, Joanne Kyger and Harry Smith.

This project has been made possible with grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, Save America's Treasures and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

The first CD release of the archives, "First Thought, Best Thought," will be available in August 2004 and will be featured by Barnes & Noble, Inc. bookstores worldwide. The CD was selected and edited by poet and Naropa University alumnus Randy Roark. Roark drew from thousands of hours of performances and teaching sessions. The CD includes four rare gems of inspiration and practical wisdom, including: Allen Ginsberg exploring every stage of poetic activity, from inspiration, to composition to revision to performing poetry in public; Anne Waldman on the elements of the poet's craft, from the raw material of the words themselves to the many aspects of the poem in performance; William Burroughs teaching his breakthrough methods for generating fresh writing-including "the cut-up method," chance operations, and dream work; and Diane diPrima on how to survive as an artist, preserving one's sensibility, creating a supportive artistic community, getting published and self-publishing. The CD was produced by Boulder-based Sounds True and will also be available on the Sounds True website at www.soundstrue.com. All royalties will be dedicated to funding additional preservation activities for the Naropa archive project. The price of the four-CD set is $29.95.

The director of the Naropa archive project, Steven Taylor, will be participating on a panel with the directors of the other two major literary avant-garde archive projects in the United States on Saturday June 26, 2004 at 3:00 p.m., at the Naropa University Performing Arts Center (2130 Arapahoe Ave., Boulder). In addition to Taylor, the panel will include Steve Dickison, director of the Poetry Center and American Poetry Archives at San Francisco State University (San Francisco) and Anselm Berrigan, artistic director of the St. Mark's Poetry Project (New York City). The panel is entitled "Archiving the Present Moment," and the panelists will discuss their work with these three major archives. All three of these literary archive projects place particular emphasis on audio recordings of the spoken word.

Naropa University is a private, non-profit, non-sectarian liberal arts institution whose core mission is contemplative education. Contemplative education is an approach to learning that integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational traditions, creating and implementing a new paradigm in higher education. This model seeks to help students know themselves deeply so that they can engage constructively in a world of individuals who are not like themselves. The university comprises a four-year undergraduate college and graduate programs in the arts, education, environmental studies, psychology, religious studies, and creation spirituality. It offers BA, BFA, MA, MFA, MDiv and MLA degrees, as well as professional development training and classes for the community through its School of Extended Studies. In addition, the university runs study abroad programs in Sikkim, the Czech Republic, South India, and Bali. For more information, visit www.naropa.edu.

Contact:
Sigrid Badinelli
Director, Marketing & Communications
Naropa University
Tel: 303-245-4822
Email: sigrid@naropa.edu

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