Lisa Jarnot was born in Buffalo, New York in 1967. She received a BA from the State University of New York at Buffalo and an MFA in Creative Writing, Poetry from Brown University in 1994. Since the mid-1990s she has lived in the New York City area.
She has edited two small magazines (No Trees, 1987-1990, and Troubled Surfer, 1991-1992) as well as The Poetry Project Newsletter and An Anthology of New (American) Poetry (Talisman House Publishers, 1997). Between 1993 and 2004 she was a member of the performance group Vole, a folk-rock-poetry band she co-founded alongside musician and sociologist David Michalski.
She is the author of four full-length collections of poetry: Some Other Kind of Mission (Burning Deck Press, 1996), Ring of Fire (Zoland Books, 2001 and Salt Publishers, 2003), Black Dog Songs (Flood Editions, 2003) and Night Scenes (Flood Editions, 2008). Her biography of the San Francisco poet Robert Duncan is forthcoming in 2010.
She currently lives in Sunnyside, New York with her husband Thomas Evans, their daughter Beatrice, and their three cats Harry, Mina, and Bela. She works as a freelance horticulturist, is a New York City Licensed Citizen Pruner, is completing an associates degree in Ornamental Horticulture at SUNY Farmingdale, and is the owner of Catskill Organics Farm.
Other current projects include translating the Iliad, training for the 2010 NYC marathon, and working toward a Black Belt in Kyokushin Karate.
Upcoming Readings, Lectures, and Classes:
Autumn 2009 Poetry Workshop in Sunnyside, Queens. Avant-Film and Avant-Poetry: A Tribute to Stan Brakhage: in this class we'll look at poets influenced by filmmakers and filmmakers influenced by poets. The class will be run in the style of Stan Brakhage's Salons— with films shown in the first half of class and conversation, film-generated writing, and workshopping held afterwards. We'll look at poems and films by Brakhage, Gertrude Stein, Robert Duncan, Charles Olson, Jack Spicer, Lawrence Jordan, Kenneth Anger, Joseph Cornell, Rudy Burkhardt, Edwin Denby, Abigal Child, Henry Hills, Jennifer Reeves, Hannah Weiner, Jeff Keen, William Burroughs, and others. Filmmakers welcome! Beginning September 2009. Sundays 5-8 pm. Limit nine students. 10 weeks. $300.
Individual tutorial sessions and manuscript development also offered at $35 per hour. Contact Lisa at ljarnot@gmail.com
Upcoming and Ongoing Projects:
The Hundred Hats Project at One Hundred Hats Here: A Hecatombe of Knitted Hats for the Dead in Iraq.
The Ambassador from Venus: A Comprehensive Biography of Robert Duncan from University of California Press. Forthcoming from University of California Press, soon. Read all about it at Robert Duncan Website.
Catskill Organics is Lisa Jarnot's company. Order organic soap and garden plants here.
Recent Publications:
A short animated film produced by the Poetry Foundation: Poem Beginning With A Line By Frank Lima
An essay titled Jess's Literary Milieu as part of the catalogue for the Independent Curators International traveling exhibition: Jess: To and From the Printed Page.
Poems in The Nation and The Brooklyn Rail.
A section of the Robert Duncan biography: "San Francisco's Burning: The San Francisco Poetry Wars" in avant-post: the avante-garde under "post-" conditions. Edited by Louis Armand, published Fall 2006. Order a copy at this link.
Another section of the Robert Duncan biography in Xantippe.
Bibliography:
The Fall of Orpheus, Shuffaloff Press, 1993.
Sea Lyrics, Situation Press, 1996.
Some Other Kind of Mission, Burning Deck Press, 1996.
Heliopolis, rem press, 1999.
The Eightfold Path, a+bend Press, 2000.
Ring of Fire, Zoland Books, 2001.
One's Own Language, The Institute of Further Studies, 2002.
Black Dog Songs, Flood Editions, 2003.
Reptile House, Bookthug, 2005.
Chansons du chien noir (Black Dog Songs Chapbook in French), Format Americain, 2005.
Iliad XXII: The Death of Hector Atticus/Finch Books, 2006, BookThug (Toronto), 2007.
Night Scenes, Flood Editions, 2008.
Lisa Jarnot’s books can be ordered through Small Press Distribution: SPD Further information about her work is also available at Flood Editions and Salt Web
Collaborations:
Lisa Jarnot, Anne Waldman, and Ed Bowes are collaborating on a new film, tentatively titled GRRHH: A Tribute to Michael McClure. Excerpts of the film will be available at Trickhouse on June 10, 2009.
Five Poems set to music by Composer Leila Lustig. This work premiered at the Vancouver Sonic Boom Festival in March of 2007.
Lisa Jarnot's CD Poems from Ring of Fire and Black Dog Songs is available through Small Press Distribution. This CD includes poems by Jarnot and back up music by a now defunct little band from Queens called Earthdriver.
Lisa Jarnot starred in the movie The Time We Killed by Jennifer Todd Reeves. The film won awards at the Berlin Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival. It has been shown in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Poland, and parts of South East Asia.
Jenn Reeves Web Site
Links:
Lisa's Blog
The Robert Duncan Site
The Poetry Project
Naropa
University
