Poetry Month - Selected Correspondence of Kenneth Patchen: A Controversial Ohio Poet in His Own Words

New insights into life of a rebel poet, born in the shadow of Youngstown's steel mills, are brought to light with the publication of Selected Correspondence of Kenneth Patchen by Bottom Dog Press. Patchen's biographer, Dr. Larry Smith, joins the new volume's editor, Allen Frost, for a live rekindling of the poet's journey with readings of his poems and letters and a discussion of his impact on jazz poetry, the Beat Generation and many others who followed. Read over Patchen’s shoulder with correspondence to and from such literary giants as Henry Miller, Kenneth Rexroth, e.e. cummings, Dylan Thomas, as well as publishers James Laughlin and Cleveland's Jasper Wood. Many artists are averse to labels, but Patchen simply refused them, encompassing yet growing beyond proletariat poetry, dadaism, surrealism with a forceful and original gift that never stopped innovating with protests, elegies, jazz plays, experimental novels, picture poems and love poems. Books will be available for sale and signing at the event.