The Summer Writing Program at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics goes beyond the focus of craft approach, pushing participants to bend genres, take risks, and enliven the creative writing process. In a creative writing program that is a “Golden Standard of it’s kind” (NEA grant committee) students, poets, fiction writers, musicians, editors, translators, Buddhist teachers, performance artists, and more meet for three transformative weeks on Naropa University’s campus in Boulder, Colorado. Here, we invoke and continue the “Outrider” lineage — a legacy of revolutionary scholarship and counter-poetics that is an ongoing experiment in creative freedom. Whether your medium is poetry, fiction, experimental theater, or a combination of genres, Summer Writing Program will help you flush with creative truth-seeking to refine/find what is at the heArt of your craft. Change the composition of your summer, your work, and your life.
With opening & closing receptions and an 80th birthday party April 2 after the screening (details to come). All ticket holders for April 1-3 are invited.
2025, 100 min, DCP. Producer: Sarah Riggs; Executive Producer: Martin Scorsese.
WORLD PREMIERE! ALYSTYRE JULIAN & ANNE WALDMAN IN PERSON!
Poet/filmmaker Alystyre Julian’s OUTRIDER is an experimental portrait of “fast speaking” poet/performer, Grammy-nominated librettist, artistic director, and cultural activist Anne Waldman. OUTRIDER is a portal to her path of imagination, her vow to poetry and activism, and her vortex of artists/collaborators: Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, Thurston Moore, Meredith Monk, Allen Ginsberg, Laurie Anderson, Douglas Dunn, Eileen Myles, Amiri Baraka, James Brandon Lewis, Cecilia Vicuña, Janice A. Lowe, Pat Steir, Ha-Yang Kim, Daniel Carter, No Land, Akilah Oliver, Eleni Sikelianos, and many others.
OUTRIDER immerses in the poetry communities constellating around Waldman’s life and legacy in New York – “city of my poems” – from her “hearthome” in Greenwich Village and The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church, to the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and outwards to Big Sur, Morocco, and Mexico.
OUTRIDER is a story of transmutation through making art. Waldman asks, “What is it to be a contemporary poet in one’s time? A seer, conjurer? How to keep the world safe for poetry?” Waldman’s exploratory, restless consciousness informs her startling, panoramic work; she is a person woven of poetry, study, and visionary commitment to planetary and social challenges. As the film demonstrates, she has addressed war and patriarchy in The Iovis Trilogy, a cri de coeur for endangered species in Manatee Humanity, the urgency of Archives in Gossamurmur, entheogens in Jaguar Harmonics, Blake’s Thel in Voice’s Daughter of a Heart Yet Unborn, and her radical life in Bard, Kinetic. OUTRIDER tracks her investigative mind, always “on,” her improvisations with original music by Waldman’s son Ambrose Bye and nephew Devin “Brahja” Waldman, and her wake-up calls, from demonstrating at Rocky Flats (1978) to contemporary social, cultural, and environmental justice movements.
OUTRIDER celebrates Waldman’s role as a visionary word-worker, her transcendent presence as poet/performer, and her vocal fortitude as she sings out, in the ancient, bardic tradition, the thunderous power of poetry.
“OUTRIDER is a flash of lightning in the dark night, aglow with the life force of Anne Waldman. If you want to sneak up on the secret trajectory of U.S. culture, if you want to know the true, deep possibilities for art in our times – this is your poet.” –Eleni Sikelianos, poet
With opening & closing receptions and an 80th birthday party April 2 after the screening (details to come). All ticket holders for April 1-3 are invited.
2025, 100 min, DCP. Producer: Sarah Riggs; Executive Producer: Martin Scorsese.
WORLD PREMIERE! ALYSTYRE JULIAN & ANNE WALDMAN IN PERSON!
Poet/filmmaker Alystyre Julian’s OUTRIDER is an experimental portrait of “fast speaking” poet/performer, Grammy-nominated librettist, artistic director, and cultural activist Anne Waldman. OUTRIDER is a portal to her path of imagination, her vow to poetry and activism, and her vortex of artists/collaborators: Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, Thurston Moore, Meredith Monk, Allen Ginsberg, Laurie Anderson, Douglas Dunn, Eileen Myles, Amiri Baraka, James Brandon Lewis, Cecilia Vicuña, Janice A. Lowe, Pat Steir, Ha-Yang Kim, Daniel Carter, No Land, Akilah Oliver, Eleni Sikelianos, and many others.
OUTRIDER immerses in the poetry communities constellating around Waldman’s life and legacy in New York – “city of my poems” – from her “hearthome” in Greenwich Village and The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church, to the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and outwards to Big Sur, Morocco, and Mexico.
OUTRIDER is a story of transmutation through making art. Waldman asks, “What is it to be a contemporary poet in one’s time? A seer, conjurer? How to keep the world safe for poetry?” Waldman’s exploratory, restless consciousness informs her startling, panoramic work; she is a person woven of poetry, study, and visionary commitment to planetary and social challenges. As the film demonstrates, she has addressed war and patriarchy in The Iovis Trilogy, a cri de coeur for endangered species in Manatee Humanity, the urgency of Archives in Gossamurmur, entheogens in Jaguar Harmonics, Blake’s Thel in Voice’s Daughter of a Heart Yet Unborn, and her radical life in Bard, Kinetic. OUTRIDER tracks her investigative mind, always “on,” her improvisations with original music by Waldman’s son Ambrose Bye and nephew Devin “Brahja” Waldman, and her wake-up calls, from demonstrating at Rocky Flats (1978) to contemporary social, cultural, and environmental justice movements.
OUTRIDER celebrates Waldman’s role as a visionary word-worker, her transcendent presence as poet/performer, and her vocal fortitude as she sings out, in the ancient, bardic tradition, the thunderous power of poetry.
“OUTRIDER is a flash of lightning in the dark night, aglow with the life force of Anne Waldman. If you want to sneak up on the secret trajectory of U.S. culture, if you want to know the true, deep possibilities for art in our times – this is your poet.” –Eleni Sikelianos, poet
With opening & closing receptions and an 80th birthday party April 2 after the screening (details to come). All ticket holders for April 1-3 are invited.
2025, 100 min, DCP. Producer: Sarah Riggs; Executive Producer: Martin Scorsese.
WORLD PREMIERE! ALYSTYRE JULIAN & ANNE WALDMAN IN PERSON!
Poet/filmmaker Alystyre Julian’s OUTRIDER is an experimental portrait of “fast speaking” poet/performer, Grammy-nominated librettist, artistic director, and cultural activist Anne Waldman. OUTRIDER is a portal to her path of imagination, her vow to poetry and activism, and her vortex of artists/collaborators: Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, Thurston Moore, Meredith Monk, Allen Ginsberg, Laurie Anderson, Douglas Dunn, Eileen Myles, Amiri Baraka, James Brandon Lewis, Cecilia Vicuña, Janice A. Lowe, Pat Steir, Ha-Yang Kim, Daniel Carter, No Land, Akilah Oliver, Eleni Sikelianos, and many others.
OUTRIDER immerses in the poetry communities constellating around Waldman’s life and legacy in New York – “city of my poems” – from her “hearthome” in Greenwich Village and The Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church, to the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and outwards to Big Sur, Morocco, and Mexico.
OUTRIDER is a story of transmutation through making art. Waldman asks, “What is it to be a contemporary poet in one’s time? A seer, conjurer? How to keep the world safe for poetry?” Waldman’s exploratory, restless consciousness informs her startling, panoramic work; she is a person woven of poetry, study, and visionary commitment to planetary and social challenges. As the film demonstrates, she has addressed war and patriarchy in The Iovis Trilogy, a cri de coeur for endangered species in Manatee Humanity, the urgency of Archives in Gossamurmur, entheogens in Jaguar Harmonics, Blake’s Thel in Voice’s Daughter of a Heart Yet Unborn, and her radical life in Bard, Kinetic. OUTRIDER tracks her investigative mind, always “on,” her improvisations with original music by Waldman’s son Ambrose Bye and nephew Devin “Brahja” Waldman, and her wake-up calls, from demonstrating at Rocky Flats (1978) to contemporary social, cultural, and environmental justice movements.
OUTRIDER celebrates Waldman’s role as a visionary word-worker, her transcendent presence as poet/performer, and her vocal fortitude as she sings out, in the ancient, bardic tradition, the thunderous power of poetry.
“OUTRIDER is a flash of lightning in the dark night, aglow with the life force of Anne Waldman. If you want to sneak up on the secret trajectory of U.S. culture, if you want to know the true, deep possibilities for art in our times – this is your poet.” –Eleni Sikelianos, poet
Douglas Dunn + Dancers will present a two-week season at Judson Memorial Church February 19-March 1, 2025. The first week features the experimental opera BODY / SHADOW, a collaborative project with choreography by Douglas Dunn, music by Paul J. Botelho, libretto, video, and set design by Brice Brown, and visual media design by Steve Gibson. The second week brings the world premiere of L’Embarqement pour Cythère,by Dunn with visual design by Mimi Gross, poetry by Anne Waldman, a commissioned score by Jerome Begin, played live by Begin and String Noise, and lighting design by Miriam Crowe.
Tickets: $25 per show; limited number of Both-Show Packages for $40!!!
No refunds.
Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, NYC
Doors open at 7:15; books will be for sale.
Running times approximately one hour.
Seating is in the round.
No elevator access.
The second week brings the world premiere of L’Embarqement pour Cythère, an evening-length work for 12 dancers. It centers on Dunn’s fascination with the construction of trios and the ambiguities when three relate. The work features an original score by Jerome Begin, played live by Begin and the violin duo String Noise. Set and costume design is by Dunn’s longtime collaborator Mimi Gross. Anne Waldman, another longtime collaborator, will contribute a series of poems performed live by her as she moves about the space with the dancers. Lighting design is by Miriam Crowe.
L’Embarqement pour Cythère will be performed by dancers Jules Bakshi, Alexandra Berger, Dwayne Brown, Janet Charleston, Vanessa Knouse, Emily Pope, Deniz Erkan Sancak, Jin Ju Song-Begin, Timothy Ward, Christopher Williams, Mark Willis, and Arthur “Trace” Yeames.
On sale at the shows: a limited edition hardbound publication of BODY / SHADOW, featuring text, images, and a CD– as well as other books produced by MAB and by Douglas Dunn.
Anne Waldman will speak about and sign her new books, New Weathers: Poetics from the Naropa Archive and Bard, Kinetic, on Tuesday, August 8th at 6:30pm, at Boulder Bookstore. Tickets for this event are $5 (plus a small processing fee) and are available on Eventbrite HERE.
The Poetry Project at St Mark’s Church in the Bowery 131 E. 10th Street, New York, NY 10003
What counter-geographies and subterranean archives does the poet assemble? In their recent works – Village and Bard, Kinetic, both out with Coffee House Press – LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs and Anne Waldman trace related constructions of place and memory, the imperiled and essential wavelengths at the edge that propel and hold our communities across time. Voices full of voices travel ecstatic distance in these poems and records of friends and generations.
Featuring a guest introduction by Jennifer Firestone
We hope you can join us at 7:00PM for a reception before the event. The reading will begin at 8:00PM. Masks will be optional while enjoying drinks and company during the reception but will be required once the reading begins.
Masks are required at all Poetry Project events unless otherwise specifically noted. If you forget to bring your mask, we are happy to provide you with one. We also encourage all event attendees to take a rapid test the day of the event before heading to the church.
This in-person event will also be livestreamed via The Poetry Project’s YouTube. Livestream captions will be available via a StreamText link or the CC button on YouTube’s player.
Open CART captioning is scheduled for most in-person events.
