TED WARNELL

Ron Whitehead is poet, writer, editor, publisher, organizer, scholar, professor. The son of Edwin and Greta Whitehead, he grew up on a farm outside of Centertown (population 323) in Ohio County, western Kentucky. He graduated from Ohio County High School in 1968. He attended Georgetown College, Western Kentucky University, The University of Lousville, and Oxford University (England). As undergraduate and graduate student he was the recipient of numerous scholarships, grants, fellowships, awards, and prizes including The Dean's Graduate School Citation at U of L and The English Speaking Union's Oxford Scholar Award plus the Joshua B. Everett Oxford Scholar Award. At Oxford he studied with Dr. Valentine Cunningham, Head of English Literature, at Oxford's International Graduate School. As poet and writer he is the recipient of numerous state, national, and international awards/prizes including The All Kentucky Poetry Prize and The Yeats Club of Oxford's Prize for Poetry. In 2004 he was inducted into Ohio County High School's Hall of Fame. In 2006 Dr. John Rocco (NYC) nominated Ron for The Nobel Prize in Literature. Ron has taught college for 14 years at The University of Louisville, Spalding University, Jefferson Community College, St. Catharine College, and Bellarmine University. He has presented numerous talks, lectures, and writing workshops around the world at colleges, universities, and institutions which include Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland), The University of Iceland (Reykjavik, Iceland), The University of Braga (Braga, Portugal), The University of Nijmegen (Nijmegen, The Netherlands), New York University (New York, New York), Hofstra University (New York, New York), University of Louisville (Louisville, Kentucky), University of New Orleans (New Orleans, Louisiana), and many more. He has presented papers and chaired sessions at over 60 national and international Literature, Culture, and Arts Conferences. In 1992 Ron founded the Global Literary Renaissance, a non-profit organization, supporting the global literary community. He was GLR Director for 14 years. Ron has produced well over 1,000 music and poetry events throughout Europe and the USA including many 24, 48, 72 & 90 hour Non-Stop Music & Poetry INSOMNIACATHONs plus he produced The Hunter S. Thompson Tribute (featuring Hunter, Johnny Depp, Warren Zevon & many others), the London International Poetry & Song Festivals (with Richard Deakin), The New York City Underground Music & Poetry Festival (with Casey Cyr & others), The Netherland's 10-day International Meer Dan Woorden Festival (with Jan Pankow & others) plus many many more. Ron has edited nearly 1,000 titles and published over 600 titles including work by His Holiness The Dalai Lama, President Jimmy Carter, Seamus Heaney, Jack Kerouac, Diane di Prima, Allen Ginsberg, John Updike, BONO, Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol, Amiri Baraka, Rita Dove, David Amram, Thomas Merton, Wendell Berry, Edvard Munch, Knut Hamsun, William S. Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso, Herbert Huncke, James Laughlin, Douglas Brinkley, Lee Ranaldo, Robert Hunter, Anne Waldman, Ed Sanders, David Minton, Bob Holman, Cathal O'Searcaigh, Eithne Strong, Theo Dorgan, Jim Carroll, Casey Cyr, Denis Mahoney, Frank Messina, Steve Dalachinsky, Jean Genet, Jan Kerouac, Chris Felver, Brother Patrick Hart, Robert Lax and many many others. Ron's work has been exhibited round the world from New York City to Louisville to New Orleans to San Francisco and from India to Czech Republic to Italy to Portugal to Ireland to The Netherlands to Iceland and beyond. The UN/UNESCO "Poetry On The Peaks" program selected The Dalai Lama/Ron Whitehead "Never Give Up" message/poem poster as its theme for 2002. 300 copies were sent to cities and mountain communities round the world. For the past 16 years Ron has been GOing non-stop. He is the author of 17 books and he has work on over 20 CDs. His titles include WESTERN KENTUCKY: lost & forgotten, found & remembered (with Sarah Elizabeth), THE THIRD TESTAMENT: Three Gospels of Peace (all 3 previously published Hozomeen Press books revised/edited in one volume with art by Lawrence Ferlinghetti & David Minton), KENTUCKY SUITE: BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON (books 1 & 2/new revised 3rd edition), KENTUCKY ROOTS (CD), KENTUCKY: poems, stories, songs (CD with Sarah Elizabeth), and KENTUCKY BLUES (with David Amram, www.davidamram.com), EVE & THE OPHIDIANS, EXTERMINATE NOISE (with Charlie Newman), GROUND ZERO, NOT-KNOWING (with Libby Ackerman), LOVE and DEATH (with David Minton), QUEST FOR SELF IN THE OCEAN OF CONSCIOUSNESS: IBSEN, HAMSUN, MUNCH, JOYCE: THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM & EXPRESSIONISM, I WILL NOT BOW DOWN (with Icelander Michael Pollock), EXTERMINATE NOISE (with Charlie Newman), NOT MUTE, FROM ICELAND TO KENTUCKY & BEYOND, OFF THE CUFF (with Andy Cook). SWAN BOATS @ FOUR (with Paul K), THE SHAPE OF WATER (with James Walck), THE VIKING HILLBILLY APOCALYPSE REVUE, 3 SHOTS of THE VIKING HILLBILLY APOCALYPSE REVUE, CLOSING TIME. Ron reads his work with musicians from around the world, in all genres of music, including David Amram, Iceland's Siguros, Iceland's Michael & Danny Pollock of The Outsiders, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Paul K & The Weathermen, Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Frank Messina & Octopoet & Spoken Motion, James Walck & The Mind2Hands Symphonia, Vassar Clemens, Tom House, By The Grace of God, R.B. Morris & Hector Qirko, Black Pig Liberation Front, Jeremy Podgursky & The Pennies, Blowup in Japanese, Scaramongo, Sarah Elizabeth, & numerous others. His groups have included Voices Without Restraint, Ron Whitehead's Apocalypse Jam, and The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue. He and Sarah Elizabeth perform together and tour constantly. Ron's Published in Heaven CD, CLOSING TIME, and his Published in Heaven book, THE THIRD TESTAMENT: Three Gospels of Peace, were released in 2005. He was recently nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by New York City professor, James Joyce scholar, and author, of many books, Dr. John Rocco (see letter below). To The Nobel Prize Committee, I am writing you about one of America's greatest poets. His name is Ron Whitehead and for his entire career he has written volatile and important verse that has given a new presence to American poetry. Whitehead's work is in the tradition of the Beat Generation but also deeply influenced by rock and roll, the legacy of the European avant-garde from Knut Hamsun to James Joyce, and his own native Kentucky. He is at the same time a regional and universal writer; Kentucky is his home but the world is his subject. Whitehead's poetry is a powerful summation of the American spirit. I would like to take this time to bring this extraordinary poet to your attention for consideration for the Nobel Prize in literature. Whitehead's poetry is exuberant and shocking, delicate and blunt, combative and sensitive. There is a vital spirituality in his work that questions the nature of artistic creativity at the same time it embodies it. His work is profoundly engaged in critiquing the control modern American culture has over the individual and the planet. The Beaver Dam Rocking Chair Marathon is a summation of his aesthetics: part Bildungsroman, part rock protest, all Whitehead white hot poetic energy. As the profile in this package indicates, Whitehead is a tireless promoter of poetry and its power to heal the world. To recognize his work is to recognize the power of the word to resist imperialism, intolerance, and hate. Whitehead has made American poetry a vehicle for social change and a power to transform the world... Thank you for considering this important American writer. Yours sincerely, Dr. John Rocco Associate Professor of Humanities SUNY (State University of New York Maritime) James Joyce scholar John Rocco is the author of The Nirvana Companion, The Beastie Boys Companion, The Doors Companion, The Grateful Dead Companion, and other Schirmer Books. He is completing a volume on James Joyce. His novel Fur will be released this fall. He is a critic for American Book Review and numerous other literary and music publications. He can be contacted at jrocco3@nyc.rr.com. Several thousand of Ron's works have been published round the world in a diverse range of publications from TRIQUARTERLY (Northwestern University/Illinois) to ARTFORUM (Czech Republic) to BLUE BEAT JACKET (Japan) to BEAT SCENE (England) to SOUTHERN REVIEW (North Carolina). Additional biographical information, testimonials from round the world, plus reviews, videos, audio recordings, writings, photos, and more are available on the websites www.tappingmyownphone.com and www.insomniacathon.org. Ron has presented over 4,000 readings of his own creative work round the world. "Can poems and stories matter? Make a difference? Ron Whitehead believes so. Ron Whitehead is one of those ancient poets who were and are prophets. He sees injustice and directs us back to the path of justice. His poems and stories blend the terrible beauty of the natural world with questions of global social conscience. For Ron life is a quest to grow his soul. Ron is a non-violent spiritual warrior who, regardless of the consequences, fights for freedom and equal rights for all. His poems and stories defy categorization. They are original." Ron's work is in museum, library, and private collections around the world. The University of Louisville Rare Books & Archives is the permanent repository for all Ron's work (past, present, future). 1,500 (of thousands) pieces have been catalogued. Four exhibits have been held. A major exhibition, with catalogue, is being planned. In 2005 Ron and his wife Sarah Elizabeth performed/toured/presented their work across the USA and Europe. They are booking a full touring schedule for 2006. Sarah's new CD, WHEN THE REDBUDS BLOOM (companion to Ron & Sarah's new book), was recently released. Ron and Sarah's new co-authored book, WESTERN KENTUCKY: Lost & Forgotten, Found & Remembered, was released early April 2006. Sarah and Ron are also presently involved with Red Velvet Cake, an independent film being produced in Kentucky, www.kydigitalmedia.com . When not traveling Ron and Sarah live (in a shack with chickens) in Kentucky. For more information visit their official website, www.tappingmyownphone.com, which received two million hits from 50 countries in the past year. "I have long admired Ron Whitehead. He is crazy as nine loons and his poetry is a dazzling mix of folk wisdom & pure mathematics." Hunter S. Thompson www.tappingmyownphone.com

I am a writer who's influences include surrealism, the beats, mystery, science fiction, humor & satire, and postmodernism. My website is called billectric. The link is: http://billectric.org/ Thank you,
Bill Ectric.

Michael Bowens work as an artist spans several decades and has been progressively documented in exhibitions, reviews, art periodicals, and in the media. He has exhibited in the United States and abroad, has a large following, and his work is housed by groups of private collectors and museums.
michael bowen
http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/mb/index.html

Jim Nasium

My Art My Poetry My Books Art Sale
website

Lectures on Beat Generation

Many Beatnik Sites and Merry Pranksters

found by Nicole Taylor

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