I Support Ed Curtis...

This is my friend, Ed Curtis. Ed made some audio-video things to go with his writing. He has made three audio-video things so far. I hope he makes more because they are awesome. When I first met Ed, he had just transferred from the New School's nonfiction program to its poetry program. I think this says a lot about his poems. Ed's writing is like poetry, and I think he calls the things he writes "poems," but they cannot be attributed to a definite category, except "awesome".

Anterior Insula (Tremulous)

The Garden (Tremulous)

Dream Machine (Tremulous)

Thanks, Ed.

ok,
Ben

Ben Mirov Promotional Video

This is my friend Taryn listening to part of my poem "Eye Machine". It is pretty funny because it looks like she was supposed to go to prom or something, but ended up drinking Heineken alone in her room:

Ben Mirov Promotional Video

You can read some of Taryn's poems, here.

Thank You, T.

ok,
Ben

Cate Peebles: Quality Literature

Cate Peebles writes poems. Each of her poems contains at least one astonishing moment, usually more than one. Sometimes, I feel jealousy about Cate's ability to produce original imagery in her poems. When I feel this way, I will usually "steal" images and ideas from her work and put them into my poems, often unsuccessfully. I also like that Cate's poems are highly imaginative without sacrificing meaning or connection to an objective "reality". Cate has poems in many reputable publications, including:

Octopus

Cannibal

La Petite Zine

She is also co-editor of Fou.

Cate just put out an e-book from Scantly Clad Press called Taco Truck to Awesome Town. I recommend you read it with all six of your senses.

ok,
Ben

Reading at Goodbye Blue Monday

I am going to be in a reading at Goodbye Blue Monday in Brooklyn. According to its website, Goodbye Blue Monday has "Music. Art. Antiques. Coffee. Beer. Wine. Stuff." Please come and we will enjoy all of the previously mentioned things. Here is the info, from Travis Holloway:


Dear Friends-

A great night of music and poetry. You won't want to miss it! Monday, June 1st 2009 @ 8:30pm at Goodbye Blue Monday (1087 Broadway Brooklyn NY). We are asking for a 5 dollar cover that goes directly to the artists.

Hope that you can make it!

8:30pm
Ben Syversen-trumpet
Morgan Price-sax
Adam Minkoff-bass
Nick Anderson-drums

9:30pm
Ben Mirov
Travis Holloway
Austin LaGrone

11pm
Tony Falco- Drums
Drew Sayers- Tenor Saxophone

Washington Square

I have two poems in the new Washington Square. Washington Square is the NYU review of literature. I am excited to be included in this issue with: John Ashbery, Joshua Beckman, Jillian Weise, Tomaz Salamun, and tons of other great writers whose books are on my bookshelf, right now. I feel classy. I have always wanted my poems to be in close vicinity to John Ashbery's poems in a publication of good repute. I feel like maybe if I fade away into anonymity, I will at least have this moment to tell people about when I am old.

Thanks Levi Rubeck, Christine Malvasi and Laren McClung

Have a Great Day,
Ben

I'm going to read at the elimae reading at KGB. I am not on the roster below because I signed up late. But I am going to read. There are lots of other good writers reading. Please come and we will enjoy the evening together listening to some of my favorite writers:

elimae: a reading
KGB Bar, 85 East 4th StreetNew York City, NY
May 26, 2009
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

elimae.com presents a marathon reading by 20 of its contributors, each reading a micro fiction or poem no longer than 3 minutes. Come experience elimae as you never have before. Readers include Shya Scanlon, Lincoln Michel, Rozalia Jovanovic, Kimberly King Parsons, Justin Taylor, Nicolle Elizabeth, Tao Lin, Nick Antosca, Todd Zuniga, Dennis DiClaudio, John Madera, Timmy Waldron, Forrest Roth, Terese Svoboda, Barry Graham, Dawn Raffel, Sasha Grayboch, Eric Nusbaum, James Yeh, and more. Hosted by Shya Scanlon.

Amy Lawless' "worst poem" on Ebay...

I put Amy Lawless' "worst poem" up for sale on Ebay. You can purchase it here. All proceeds will go to TACO TRUCK, our unborn literary magazine. The opening bid is $2.04. Will sell out. Supply is limited.

Thank you for you time and consideration.


Yours,
Ben

Opium 8 is almost out. You can order it at the Opium Website, I think. The cover is printed with special ultraviolet-light sensitive ink. If you hold the cover in the sun, the ink will activate and word by word you can read a nine word story over the course of a thousand years. It was designed by the artist / writer Jonathon Keats. Rad. Also, a poem of mine called "Winged Boot" is in this issue along with a bunch of other great people. I feel great.

Thanks, Todd Zuniga and Opium folks.

Yers,
Ben

New Review...

Here is a new review I wrote for the Brooklyn Rail. It is on a "memoir" by Cheeni Rao. You can read it here.

Thank you John Reed.

ok,
Ben

I Need Your Help...

(B.A.R.T. stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit)





This is a long poem I wrote called "Eye Machine". It's a part of my new manuscript, called Ghost Machine. It is written in a form I made up: the poem has ten sections, each section has ten lines, and each lines has ten words. The end of each section stops mid-sentence and continues at the beginning of the next section.

All of the lines in "Eye Machine" were taken from other poems in the manuscript. Some of them are slightly altered from their original form and others are the same. Also, I replaced every I in the poem with Eye.

I am going to post all ten parts of "Eye Machine" over the next twenty days, because I want people to have critical thoughts about it and then write those critical thoughts in the comments section. Even if your comment is, "This is some stupid nonsense and a waste of time," I will A.) feel gratified that you took the time to listen to my poem and make a thoughtful statement about it and B.) consider your comment in a serious manner regarding the aesthetic value of my poem. Also, you can post you comments anonymously, I don't care.


You Are the Best,
Ben