The Mad Poets Blog

Adam Coben hosts the Blam reading series held in the East Falls section of Philadelphia. He has performed his work at numerous venues in Philadelphia and the United States. Adam attended the Jack Keroauc School of Disembodied Poetics and has had his work published in Spectrum Magazine, Besides Person, Young Jewish Voices, Hinge Online and N.U.T.S. journal. Adam currently has two projects in the works, Naked Howl a developing on line journal and a chapbook in progress entitled, “The Red in Black on White”. He will be reading his works on September 6^th for the Mad Poets at the Milk Boy Café in Bryn Mawr with poets Anna Mendoza and Alla Vilnyanskaya. 

The Interview:

Q.  As a performance poet who also writes do you find it difficult to put poetry that is well liked live to paper and have it appreciated by those who read it?

Wow- this is a question I have ruminated about a lot.  Early on in my writing journey I wrote a lot for myself as the listener; then transitioned to doing performance/spoken word poetry.   The change occurred after I heard a spoken word poet; I think his name was Kahlil, in this underground poetry club in
Boston.  This was around 1993 and I had been writing these short confessional poems, that all ended in ellipsis.  I saw him and was completely blown away.  I subsequently found the Beats and started writing performance pieces.  I think it took me years to realize that my pieces were for an intended listening audience.  I liked the thrill of the audience being startled, or laughing, and crying.  The older I get, as a poet, the more I look at my poems as pieces of art on the page.   I think many poets go through the transition, from writing because they have to (emotional crisis), to writing to please an audience, to writing for the sake of their own artistic voice or center.  As I work to be more and more published I realize that my voice changes due to the fact that I’m analyzing my poetry for how it moves on the page.  I want my work to transport the reader- not necessarily to the experience that I’m conveying (although that’s wonderful) but beyond to a new internal emotional, psychological, social, or spiritual shift.  I want them to have their own poetic revolution every time they hear a piece of mine.  I’m also not overly concerned about what people like- I want to challenge them to go beyond their self when they listen to my work; if this happens in performance or on the page than I’m lucky.  I have to stay true to my ever evolving voice- if an audience gets it I’m even more blissed out.

 Q. The “Blam” reading series in East Falls is getting a lot of “buzz”. Please describe an evening at the series. 

 I’m very excited about Blam!!!  A perspiring earth shaking evening starts with our guests/poets/writers/performers arriving around 7pm and we all eat, drink (The Set Table is BYO), communicate for about a half hour, so the libations of conversation, food and drink fuel us.  Many artists contact me to sign up for the reading/open mic in advance, for those who did not sign up in advance,  I pass around a sheet for all to set their slot.  I usually give a short intro for each poet/performer.  We have an eclectic mixture of performers- newbies, lyricists, spoken word artists, story tellers, emo-poets, comedic gut busters, hip hop heads, surrealist realist imagists and the list could go on; but I’m not good at categorizing.  Then we let the night roll- each performer gets 7 minutes.  We have had folks like Tamara Oakman, Peter Baroth, Michael Kennedy, Mel Brake, Michael Cohen, J-knivez, and Courtney Bambrick.  People have told me, after two separate readings that they have been “the best open mics they have been to.”  Shit, I hope that continues. For me, I threw it together because poetry, art..etc…is about community/revolution and fun.  I have too much fun.  We are also now highlighting a different community/charitable organization at each open mic.  They get time to speak, recruit volunteers and raise awareness.  I believe poetry - in order to be relevant- must stay connected to its service roots.  To be a poet is to serve the community; so it’s our duty to help social causes. 

Q.  You are currently developing an on line journal tentatively entitled “Naked Howl”, will the journal be monthly or quarterly and what is the targeted audience?

NakedHowl is still in its first stage of conception right now.  I intend to have it be quarterly- and will have space for poetry, fiction, non-fiction, small films, political rants, and music.  I am working with Ms. Arlene Ang, who resides in Italy, and we are just beginning to piece it together.  NakedHowl’s title is gleamed from two aspects of Ginsberg.  “Naked”comes from a story in his Biography, Dharma Lion, by Michael Schumacher.  Ginsberg was heckled on stage by some asshole and Ginsberg proceeded to strip his clothes off and scare the heckler out and shouted, “The poet is always naked on stage.”  The story leads me to adopt the poetic name Naked, for several years due to the frank quality of my work, and join it to Ginsberg’s masterpiece for the Web journal’s name.  The target audience needs to still be formulated, but will probably service the edgy- off beat mind altering work I know and love; from such a text as the Outlaw Bible of American Poetry.

Q. Your attendance at the Jack Keroauc School of Disembodied Poetics had a major impact on your view of poetics. Please describe the impact and the resulting transformation. 

The strangest impact the school had on me was being anti-poetic for a while afterwards.  I wanted poetry to strip down consciousness when I was at the Kerouac School.  I wanted an all out revolution. I wanted the poets I was hanging with to tear up money and use poetry as a means of commerce.  I was definitely an anomaly at the time at the school.  I was very much full of fire at the time and the place was too watery- too emotional and less actualized. I actually threw out everything that I owned- including my poetry- I was a monk on fire- I got burned out due to my own flame. I was probably just a lost ego maniac, who was suffering with samasara.  Finding my ground in what I was taught- which essentially was traditional workshopping, along with mind bending/calming conscience techniques (meditation/chanting/tai chi), made me crave a balance for my work.  I think it has only really begun to materialize in the last year.  I am balancing the written poem, the performance, with creating community and expanding it.  So in a sense- poetry has become commerce for better or worse- a definite marriage made in balance.

Q.  Your poem “A cold blush in four parts” was published at the Hinge (http://www.hingeonline.com/works_literary.php?contribID=202&vi=7:4 ). The poem is trim yet the images stunning. Is this poem reflective of your work overall?

This piece is probably reflective of my work in its purist form; but to say overall would not be fair to the rest of my pieces.  I have gone through a recent phase where a lot of my work was structured in about 4-7 stanzas; but I have written monster pieces and even shorter pieces.  I have now come to a place where I am using stanzas with four lines a lot, and the imagery is mixing with wry humor or philosophical emotional charges.  More and more I’m seeing the poems in my head as I drive, walk, meditate or shit.  I guess I do have a tendency to want a poem to be bare bones and to catch the reader off guard in its brevity.  I want the reader to read the piece and elongate the poem in their heart’s eye; if they have to.

Q. Music currently dominates a new generation as it develops; as a ninth grade English teacher do you see an increased awareness of poetry and a desire to write poetry with your students?

I’m not sure that an increased awareness for the poetry that comes off the page is occurring, but my students are so inundated with music lyrics they are definitely closet poets.  For the majority of students- poetry evokes fear and vulnerability and I teach at Dobbins; where these two qualities are hidden with a false state of bravado.  Many of my students love rap, and R&B.  They are tantalized by the creativity of certain lyricists- Young Jeezy, Kanye West, Jay Z, to name a few.  I do force my students to write poetry and place almost no restrictions on the content.  They get to write sonnets, haiku, stream of consciousness poems, list poems, and more.  It becomes a good outlet for the frustrations that my teenagers have. 

Q. You are currently working on a chapbook entitled “The Red in Black on White” when should we anticipate completion and what direction is the work moving in?

I’m targeting late October, but I’m taking a wait and see attitude right now.  I just got word three of my pieces will be published in pipebombmagazine.org and I have pieces pending in several other publications.  I’m curious which pieces will be accepted and that may effect how I proceed with the chapbook.  I have been working (gratefully) with Leonard Gontarek- one on one for the last two months- as a sounding board/poetic mentor- to see what pieces will work best together in a book of about 25 pieces.  I also have written so frequently that I tend to look at the poems I have produced today, rather than two months ago.  The pieces that will probably be in my chapbook will be erotic pieces focused on my wife, political pieces and short narrative pieces; actually all of the pieces are 18 lines or less.

Q. On September 6^th you will be reading at the Milk Boy Café in Bryn Mawr with poets Anna Mendoza and Alla Vilnyanshkaya. I have seen the three of you read your works before and anticipate a dynamic evening of po from the three of you. What can folks expect from Adam Coben on the 6^th?

Laughter, laughter, laughter, gratitude, drooling, drooling, water drinking, exhibitionist behavior, blowing kisses to my wife as long as she is there, laughter, ah poetry.