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Steve Cannon in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

Professor Steve Cannon is the founder and publisher of Gathering of the Tribes magazine, and author of the filthiest book of all time, Groove, Bang and Jive Around – which I didn’t realize till this talk was published by the legendary Maurice Girodias of Olympia Press. We spoke about his growing up in New Orleans, his move to New York City in 1962 when he hung out with James Baldwin, Chester Himes, Norman Mailer, Leroi Jones, Helen Gurley Brown, and Ishmael Reed. Steve was one of the founders of the East Village Eye, the first underground newspaper in the US, and was instrumental in the creation of Small Press Distributors, Poets and Writers and the reading series at the St. Marks Church. We also spoke about his long-term friendship with the great artist David Hammons, and our mutual friend poet John Farris.

The Sensitive Skin magazine podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post Episode 15 – Steve Cannon appeared first on My Site.

Ron Kolm in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

Ron Kolm is a poet (The Plastic Factory, Welcome to the Barbecue, and most recently,”A Change In the Weather,” from Sensitive Skin Press), an editor of many books, including those published by the Unbearables writing group, of which he is a founding member, a short-story writer (Duke and Jill), a bookseller, and, last but not least, a contributing editor for Sensitive Skin magazine.

We spoke about his belief that we’re living through a Faux fifties era, and what’s to become of us, the brilliance of Chuck Berry lyrics, avoiding the Vietnam War by working with Vista, how he moved to NY and got into the bookselling biz (and worked alongside Patti Smith, Richard Hell and Tom Verlaine at the Strand in NYC). We also discussed our common interest in history (and found out that we share the same favorite history book, The Twelve Caesars by Suetonious), what the ’70s were like in the East Village, and how Giuliani started ending it all when he sent a tank down 13th street.

At around the 46-minute mark, Ron reads us a few poems.

The Sensitive Skin magazine podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post Episode 14 – Ron Kolm appeared first on My Site.

Jack Hirschman in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

Jack Hirschman, Poet Laureate emeritus of San Francisco, author of over 100 books in nine languages, essayist and painter, is a living legend. We met up (of course) at the Cafe Trieste, and then walked over to Jack’s SRO at the Columbus Hotel. He was reading the baseball scores in an old-timey paper newspaper when I found him, so we spoke a bit about baseball, and, Jack being Jack, moved quickly from Lou Gherig (Jack was in the bleachers when Lou delivered his famous “luckiest man alive” speech!) to Heidegger. We discussed Jack’s early years in academia, how he was forced out of UCLA for protesting the Vietnam War, how he became a communist, and Zionism vs. anti-semitism. We also spoke about the Russian Futurists, and especially Vladimir Mayakovsky. Jack became a fan of Mayakovsky, whom he considers the father of both the beats and hip-hop poetry, as a teenage student at CCNY.

At around the 48-minute mark, Jack reads seven poems for us: “Past,” “The World Without Walls Arcane,” “The All of You Arcane,” “the Tears of Hate Arcane,” “Emergence,” “The Mother Arcane,” and “Vladimir Mayakovsky.”

The Sensitive Skin magazine podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post Episode 13 – Jack Hirschman appeared first on My Site.

Norman Douglas in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

Norman Douglas is a writer (though he says he’s not) and a poet (though he says he’s not) – but he is! He’s also the original co-founder of Sensitive Skin, back when it was known as Peau Sensible. I doubt I’ll ever do a podcast with anybody I’ve known as long as Norman – we met as children, then met again in our early twenties in NYC. We spoke about his earliest literary influences (Stuart Little!), the glory days of the LES literary scene of the ’80s (John Farris, Neither Nor), getting censored at an anti-censorship show at CBGBs, and his recent forays into “street poetry” – he’d set up a stand on the sidewalk, with a manual typewriter, and compose poems on the spot for passersby – because, turns out, everybody loves poetry! So this qualifies him for poetry month, even though he reads a short story for us, “Half Rabbit, Half Dog” at around the 41-minute mark.

The Sensitive Skin podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post Episode 12 – Norman Douglas appeared first on My Site.

In conversation with steve dalachinsky.

steve dalachinsky is a downtown New York poet who’s also very active in the jazz scene – he’s worked with Matt Shipp, William Parker, and wrote one of his many books of poetry while listening live to Charles Gayle. We spoke about his growing up (poor) in Brooklyn, getting into jazz, and his first exposure to poetry (William Blake and Lorca) the Beats (“Coney Island of the Mind” and “Howl”), his love of avant-garde jazz (Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, Coltrane, Dolphy). We uncover the mystery of how Jack Hirschman got his copy of Mayakovsky Maximum Access (steve gave it to him), how you should be imbued rather than influenced by your role models, why political poetry should be timeless rather than timely, and how he started reading with jazz musicians, most recently with Frank London at the Stone.

At around the 40-minute mark, steve reads three poems, “Glissando” (about Mayakovsky), “Last Year at Marienbad Gone Bad,” and “Magical Realism” (for Derek Jarman).

The Sensitive Skin podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post Episode 11 – steve dalachinsky appeared first on My Site.

Poet, writer and performer Max Blagg in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

Max Blagg is an English poet, writer and performer, who has lived in the United States since 1971. We start out talking about the retail apocalypse in NYC, then Max tells how he came to the states and ended up on the Lower East Side. We also spoke about his “infamous” Gap ad when he read a poem called “What Fits,” how he got ripped off by Madonna, who stole a couple of lines from that poem, why he hates open mike readings, and why talking about LSD trips is boring.

At about the 49 minute mark, Max reads from his latest work, “Walkabout NYC.”

The Sensitive Skin podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post Episode 10 – Max Blagg appeared first on My Site.

Tony DuShane in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

Tony DuShane is the godfather of the indie lit podcast. His show was on terrestrial radio for many years, and featured guests from Wim Wenders to Irvine Welsh to Nick Cave, and is now back as a podcast – check out Drinks with Tony every Wednesday. Tony is also the author and of the memoir Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk, which was made into a feature film, directed by Eric Stoltz. Released in 2018, it’s currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

The Sensitive Skin podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post Episode 9 – Tony DuShane appeared first on My Site.

Stewart Home in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

Stewart Home is one of my favorite writers, because he manages to pull off something that seems easy but is extraordinarily difficult – he writes intellectual pulp fiction. Some of his better known (and titled) works include 69 Things to Do with a Dead Princess, Pure Mania, Blow Job and Cunt. In any one of these, you might find yourself in the middle of a pornographic or hyperviolent scene when the protagonists will launch into a discourse about the merits of Erich Fromm. Stewart’s most recent work is Re-Enter the Dragon: Genre Theory, Brucesploitation and the Sleazy Joys of Lowbrow Cinema, which is about as obsessive, crazy and fun as the title indicates. Oh yeah – he also likes to stand on his head while he does his readings. I don’t know why he does that, but I’m glad he does.

The Sensitive Skin magazine podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post Episode 8 – Stewart Home appeared first on My Site.

James Reich in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

James Reich is the author of the novels Soft Invasions, Mistah Kurtz! A Prelude to Heart of Darkness, Bombshell, I, Judas and, most recently, the astonishing The Song My Enemies Sing, which reminded me what J.G. Ballard would write on a Substance D bender. He is the founder and publishing editor of Stalking Horse Press, and a professor of philosophy and literature. We talked about his latest novel, his influences, and had a good talk. Unfortunately, due to a technical glitch, 18 minutes of tape were lost, in which we discussed the truth behind the Kennedy assassination, Kubrick’s faking of the moon landing, and how Bush did 9/11. Maybe we’ll get to that next time. At about the 45-minute mark, James reads the first chapter of the novel he’s currently working on, Skin Ship (which has nothing to do with Sensitive Skin magazine – or does it? Listen and find out!)

The podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here. New episodes every Monday!

The post Episode 7 – James Reich appeared first on My Site.

Rebecca Weiner Tompkins in conversation with Bernard Meisler.

Rebecca Weiner Tompkins is a fine poet. Her most excellent collection of poems, King of the Fireflies, was recently published by Sensitive Skin Books. Additionally, she is an acoustic and electric violinist who has recorded and performed in NYC, Nashville, and Europe with, among others, Patti Smith, Scott McClatchy, The Sometime Boys, Emily Duff, Life in a Blender, Conrad y Skordalia, Maynard and The Musties, Sergio Webb, and Mark Huff.

We spoke about her adjusting to life in Nashville after a long spell in NY, her poetic influences, and, of course, baseball. At around the 52-minute mark, she reads several poems from King of the Fireflies.

The podcast is now available on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and the other usual places, or listen to it here:

The post Episode 6 – Rebecca Weiner Tompkins appeared first on My Site.