YES this is the official site of emily xyz, poet, performer, vocalist...
(but not web designer)
NEW from NYU Press --
"UP IS UP BUT SO IS DOWN: New York's Downtown Literary Scene, 1974-1992" -- BIG, beautiful, amazing anthology featuring work by many of the unique writers and artists who put the DOWN in downtown. Includes a substantial excerpt from Emily XYZ's first poem for multiple voices, "PHIL SPECTOR" (1986). This poem has never been published anywhere else.
Myers Bartlett at Queensland Poetry Festival, Brisbane, Australia
August 2006 (photo by Sean Whelan)
EMILY & MYERS CELEBRATE 15 YEARS OF 2-VOICE POETRY -- JUNE 14, 2007
This June marks 15 YEARS that Myers and I have been reading together. Unbefuckinlievable!! but TRUE -- we did our first performance at the Caravan of Dreams restaurant on East 6th St. in Manhattan on June 14, 1992, part of a reading series curated by Edwin Torres. That was the first time I ever met Edwin, who is still one of our best friends on the poetry scene.
Myers Bartlett is a Pisces and a mysterious person, very smart and with a great voice and a great sense of rhythm -- absolutely essential for reading my work. Also very funny! We've had some great moments and some terrible half-hours reading poetry all over the damn place these last 15 years. She knows about everything from lipstick to exchange rates, and drives very well on the left-hand side. Who could ask for anything more!
EMILY & MYERS on YOUTUBE
There are now 3 videos of us on YouTube:
Two where we're doing "Matt Kahn's E-Mail" (one from Jersey
City's ArtHouse, November 2004, the other from the Bowery Poetry Club
on April 19 of this year), and one of "Slot Machine" from PBS
Television's The United States of Poetry (where we look like crap!
IMHO).
EMILY & MYERS AT BOWERY POETRY
CLUB 4/19/07
The Bowery Poetry Club gig was
funny because I had totally lost my voice -- had really bad laryngitis,
which is unusual for me. I didn't think I would get thru the show, but
somehow, about 10 minutes before we went on, it cleared up enough that
I could at least make a sound! Right after we got offstage, voice went
away again. Make of that what you will.
We saw a lot of dear friends there that night who we hadn't seen in ages. THANK YOU to Carmel, Barbara, Cathy R, our lawyer friend Harry Cummins (of Wilkofsky Friedman Karel & Cummins) and surprise guest Dan DeMars (of DeMars Guitars) for coming out! And to "best fan," Bruce Hodges, who we always love to see. And to George Wallace, who's doing that Thursday night series at BPC. And to Bob and BPC, of course.
EMILY XYZ TALKS TO ROXY RAMONE
In February, I started interviewing Roxy Ramone (Cynthia Whitney) who
was Johnny Ramone's girlfriend during the band's most influential period
(1976-83). What most people don't know is that the famous "love triangle"
of Johnny/Joey/Linda had a fourth side -- and that's Roxy. Up to now,
no one has ever interviewed this lady about her relationship with Johnny
Ramone and what happened with Linda...but she has got some great stories
to tell.
If you've visited this site before, you probably know I wrote (in 2005) a "fake interview" w/ Roxy. I'm thrilled to now be working on the real thing! I hope to get enough material by summer's end to write at least a great article for some lucky magazine...or better yet, a great book. Roxy was also friends with the late, great Anya Phillips -- an influential punk-rock lady whose importance has been overlooked.
Emily XYZ at Queensland Poetry Festival
Brisbane, Australia, August 2006
(photo by Sean Whelan)
and finally, a synopsis of the play I'm workin on...
STATE SALE, a play by Emily XYZ
Time: Next year
Place: Ann Arbor, Michigan
SYNOPSIS: Two people in Ann Arbor, Michigan read the paper one
morning and find that their down-and-out state is being sold by a private
equity firm. Texas is buying Detroit and plans to turn it into a huge
prison to house their overflow inmates. (Texas law will apply re: executions.)
A yoga teacher wants India to buy Detroit, believing Hindus are “better.”
Republicans all think it’s a great thing and talk it up on TV constantly,
always using the same words and viciously attacking any democrat who disagrees
w/ them. Ron Christie is on Chris Matthews. When Chris asks if he would
support the sale of Michigan if President Clinton had proposed it, he
says absolutely yes, but Clinton would never have done something so “bold
and visionary” -- only George W. Bush has that ability. Military
families in Michigan continue to bury their dead without complaint, assuring
the public that their sons and daughters believed in what they were doing
in Iraq. Germany is buying Ann Arbor & Ypsilanti, which most people
think is a good thing, but the deal falls thru and China ends up owning
the towns (icluding the university and its huge football stadium). Then
Saudi Arabia makes an unsolicited bid for Dearborn, which the city council
overwhelmingly approves. Fundamentalist Christians go along because Sharia
law will end abortion once and for all. Republicans fiercely defend the
right of the people of Dearborn to belong to any nation they choose. Michigan
residents finally hold a PBS-style fundraiser, but it doesn’t raise
enough funds and the state sale goes thru.
Soleil d'Or (Pernet-Ducher 1900)
May 2007 - First time I've grown this rose
First-ever yellow hybrid tea rose by France's greatest hybridizer
Silky texture, beautiful color, amazing fragrance
Still in print!! "THE EMILY XYZ SONGBOOK" -- The only collection of Emily XYZ's 2-voice poems. Book/CD features all the best XYZ work. Perform them w/ your friends!
"XYZ's readings demonstrate her real powers for all to hear. A breakthough." -- Publisher's Weekly
"Bravura poetry in a bravura production. This is the CD of the year!" -- poetry.about.com
US & Canada, orders: www.rattapallax.com
Foreign orders, please request info here
To e-mail me,
click here
Unless you are a republican in which case DON'T e-mail me
Unless you are Johnny Ramone