Naropa University Summer Writing Program
Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics
June 14–July 11, 2010

BOULDER, Colo. (May 6, 2010)—The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University presents its legendary Summer Writing Program from June 14–July 11, 2010, in Boulder, Colorado. Co-founded in 1974 by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman, this internationally celebrated program represents a lineage of experimental poetics, cultural activism and meditative awareness.

This year's program offers a dynamic convocation of poets, scholars, translators and performance artists, including Amiri Baraka, Joanne Kyger, Penny Arcade, David Trinidad, Daniel Pinchbeck and Caroline Bergvall.

Each of the four weeks focuses on a theme such as investigative poetics, intercultural activism, and the nature of collaboration. Programming includes workshops, lectures, panels, readings, special events and more. For a full schedule, please visit our website.

Special Event: Institute of American Indian Arts Reading (IAIA) on Friday, June 25 at 7:30 p.m. Naropa University presents the bold, creative voices of IAIA writers Layli Long Soldier, dg okpik, Santee Frazier, Orlando White, Sherwin Bitsui, James Stevens, Allison Hedge Coke and Jon Davis.

June 14–20: Week One—Poet or Assassin? Faculty include Charles Alexander, Junior Burke, Julie Carr, Linh Dinh, Thalia Field, Ross Gay, Bobbie Louise Hawkins, Laird Hunt, Stephen Graham Jones, Bhanu Kapil, Joanne Kyger, Jaime Manrique, Jennifer Moxley, Jennifer Scappettone, David Trinidad.

Joanne Kyger is known for her ties to the poets of Black Mountain College, the San Francisco Renaissance and the Beat Generation. The author of more than 20 books of poetry, including About Now: Collected Poems, Not Veracruz and Lo & Behold, Kyger received the 2008 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award.

David Trinidad’s books include Plasticville, Phoebe 2002: An Essay in Verse (with Jeffery Conway and Lynn Crosbie), The Late Show and By Myself (with D.A. Powell)—all published by Turtle Point Press. Trinidad teaches at Columbia College Chicago.

June 21–27: Week Two—Planet News: Investigating Eco-Ethos-Eros
Faculty include Jane Augustine, Caroline Bergvall, Jack Collom, Samuel R. Delany, Alan Gilbert, Michael Heller, Brenda Hillman, Helen Howe Braider, Lisa Jarnot, Tracie Morris, Daniel Pinchbeck, Evelyn Reilly, Elizabeth Robinson, James Stevens, Mary Tasillo.

Caroline Bergvall is a French-Norwegian writer and artist based in London. Her books include Fig, Recent presentations: PhonoFemme (Vienna), MukHa Museum (Antwerp), Poetry Marathon (Serpentine Gallery, London), Digital Writing/Tate Modern (London), MOMA (NY). She is currently an AHRC Fellow in the Creative and Performing Arts.

Daniel Pinchbeck is the author of Breaking Open the Head and 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. He is the editorial director of the web magazine Reality Sandwich and co-founder of Evolver.net. His essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Esquire, ArtForum and many other places.

June 28–July 4: Week Three—Great Divides & Common Ground
Faculty include Sinan Antoon, Sherwin Bitsui, Xi Chuan, Dolores Dorantes, Jack Hirschman, Jen Hofer, Anselm Hollo, Bob Holman, Brian Kiteley, Semezdin Mehmedinovic, Murat Nemet-Nejat, Akilah Oliver, Margaret Randall, Damion Searls, Julia Seko.

Sinan Antoon, an Iraqi born poet, novelist, translator and filmmaker, teaches at New York University. His books include The Baghdad Blues and I`jaam: An Iraqi Rhapsody.

Xi Chuan (official name Liu Jun), poet, essayist, translator, was born in the City of Xuzhou, Jiangsu province. He studied English literature at the Peking University and is currently teaching classical Chinese literature at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

July 5–11: Week Four—Public Space: Performance & Small Press Publishing
Faculty include Penny Arcade, Amiri Baraka, Laynie Browne, Douglas Dunn, Danielle Dutton, Brian Evenson, Colin Frazer, Joanna Howard, Allan Kornblum, Rachel Levitsky, Julie Patton, Selah Saterstrom, Patricia Smith, Steven Taylor, Anne Waldman.

Penny Arcade, aka Susana Ventura, is an internationally respected performance artist, playwright, poet and cultural icon acclaimed for her video documentary project Stemming The Tide of Cultural Amnesia: The Lower Eastside Biography Project. Debuting at 17 in the explosive Playhouse of the Ridiculous, a Warhol Superstar at 19, she was one of a handful of artists that created the performance art movement of the ’80s and ‘90s.

Amiri Baraka, born Everett LeRoi Jones in Newark, N.J., is a poet and political activist and the author of more than 40 books of essays, poems and drama. He is the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards. His recent book of short stories, Tales of the Out & the Gone, was published in late 2007. Home, his book of social essays, was re-released by Akashic Books and his book Digging: The Afro American Soul of Music was also released in 2009.

Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association, Naropa University is a private, nonprofit, nonsectarian liberal arts institution dedicated to advancing contemplative education. This approach to learning integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational traditions, helping students know themselves more deeply and engage constructively with others. The university comprises a four-year undergraduate college and graduate programs in the arts, education, environmental leadership, psychology and religious studies.

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