Next up: Taos Poetry Festival and Taos Workshops with James Navé, OK... Nathan Brown is a singer-songwriter, photographer, and award-winning poet who was recently appointed the Poet Laureate of Oklahoma for 2013/2014. His mission is to take back poetry from the hard academic grip of the ivory tower and those who too often use poetry for personal therapy. . . both being good reasons audiences for poetry have run for the hills in the United States. Nathan now travels widely, offering readings, house concerts, creativity workshops, and musical performances in an effort to bring back the hint of a smile and the hope for a good story in poems. . . poems unafraid of making sense. . . poems that carry us to better places. (Bio continued below.) Rue de Buci in Paris Catching Up... As of 5/11/13 Well. . . April was an embarassment of opportunities, and I am terribly grateful. Ken: Scissortail is one of the very best creative writing festivals anywhere in the states. Rayshell, Kelli, Jessica: Howlers and Yawpers is fantatic event, and what you've done with it in such a short time is amazing. . . I also want to tell the Oklahoma Humanities Council what a privilege it is to be working with folks who truly care about the state of the arts, and our humanity. You all are fantastic, and thank you for all you do. May slows down a bit. I need that. But look for me at the Taos Poetry Festival at the end of May into early June. . . Karma Crisis: New and Selected Poems is now available for order on the Books & CDs page of this website. This contains my first three books, trimmed down and polised up quite a bit, along with a collection of all new poems. We're very happy with this book, especially the wonderful artwork by the untouchable Chris Everett. Thanks to Collected Works Bookstore in Santa Fe for taking on a good number of my books. This has been one of my favorite haunts in the City of Faith for a very long time, and if you ever get out that way, don't miss them. These folks love and care about books! By the way, they will be hosting a reading for me, along with a local author, on Thursday, July 26. I'd like to invite you to take a look at this recent conversation I had with Carla McElhaney for her online e-zine. Click here for the interview, "Thoughts on the Wild Side." Thanks to Carla for the great, no b.s. questions! Letters to the One-Armed Poet: A Memoir of Friendship, Loss, and Butternut Squash Ravioli is available. This first venture into the world of prose has been both surprising and rewarding. My good friend, Jim Chastain, was a wonderful poet and a tireless champion for the cause of poetry here in our home state. This collection of short nonfiction pieces is a celebration of our friendship and our many travels together. Click here to see a review by Erica Smith in The Daily Oklahoman. Tune into the Living Juicy website to hear an interview I did with Rhea Goodman on Santa Fe's NPR station, KSFR 101.1. This was a "wonderful" conversation! Many, many thanks to Rhea for such a great experience. Click here to go straight to the MP3 audio file. The album, Gypsy Moon, is also available, here on the website (if you want a CD), and also on iTunes! Click here to hear a sample of tunes, and click on the Books & CDs page to order it. Keep an eye on the Events page for upcoming concerts featuring these songs and poems. . .  Also, a while back I appeared on the radio show, "Religious Talk," with Dr. Bruce Prescott. He interviewed me about the book "Not Exactly Job." Things went so well, I thought I'd share it with you. If you're interested, click here to hear the interview in its entirety. Talk to you again soon, Nathan To book a performance or workshop, contact Ashley at: mezcalitapress@gmail.com ________________________________________________________ The Continental Club in Austin To Find Out More. . . about Performances and Workshops, click here. or about Nathan's Photography, click here. Bio Continued... Nathan has published eight books. Karma Crisis: New and Selected Poems is just out on Mezcalita Press. Letters to the One-Armed Poet, his first memoir. And a previous collection of poetry, Two Tables Over, won the 2009 Oklahoma Book Award. The others are: My Sideways Heart, Not Exactly Job (a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award); Ashes over the Southwest; Suffer the Little Voices (a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award); and Hobson's Choice.  He's also worked as a professional songwriter and musician for fifteen years in and around Oklahoma City, Nashville, and Austin. He has performed in venues such as the Bluebird in Nashville, the Cactus in Austin, the Mucky Duck in Houston, and the Blue Door in Oklahoma City. . . as well as in Israel and Russia. He's also worked and/or performed with artists like Billy Crockett, Jon Dee Graham, Sam Baker, Michael Johnson, Cynthia Clawson, and Tom Wopat. His most recent album, Gypsy Moon, was recorded last fall at Blue Rock Studios just outside of Austin. Nathan holds an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Creative and Professional Writing from the University of Oklahoma. He currently teaches for the Human Relations and Liberal Studies departments at the University of Oklahoma and has also served as the Artist-in-Residence at the University of Central Oklahoma. To book a performance or workshop, contact Ashley at: mezcalitapress@gmail.com ____________________________________________ __________________________________________ Contemplating a site in relation to the world wide web is a bit like contemplating the post office of Luckenbach, Texas in relation to the mind-boggling reaches of the gaseous universe. But if, by some miracle, you do find me, I'd love to hear from you. Tell me the how and why of your landing here: nub@ou.edu