Tennessee Williams in Bangkok, memoir by Eddie Woods

Congratulations to Eddie Woods — a poet and contributing editor for several Silver Birch Press anthologies — on the publication of his memoir Tennessee Williams in Bangkok.

BOOK DESCRIPTION FROM AMAZON: A playwright, a journalist, and a stunningly beautiful drag-queen prostitute. In this fascinating memoir, Eddie Woods brings all three together. And along the way graces us with countless insights into the heart and mind of one of America’s greatest dramatists. Even while paying homage to his beloved Kim, the most unique of his many lovers. As well as regaling us with numerous other tales of his more than two years in the City of Angels. Wherever he is, Tennessee Williams is smiling at this book. Now you can smile with him.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Eddie Woods (born 1940 in New York City) is a well-traveled poet and prose writer who variously worked as a short-order cook, computer programmer, encyclopedia salesman, restaurant manager, and journalist. In the early 1960s he did a four-year stint in the US Air Force, and since 1978 has mainly resided in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where together with Jane Harvey he launched Ins & Outs magazine and founded Ins & Outs Press. Of all the many writers and artists he has known, Tennessee Williams remains the most memorable.

Find Tennessee Williams in Bangkok at Amazon.com.

Tennessee Williams and the State of Tennessee

The ever-vigilant, erudite ace journalist Eddie Woods pointed out a significant error in our post yesterday that marked the birthday of Tennessee Williams. I incorrectly stated that Williams — born in Mississippi and raised in Missouri — had “no connection to Tennessee.” As Eddie pointed out in his email, “…his [Williams’] father attended the University of Tennessee…and was directly descended from Tennessee’s first senator, John Williams.”

Eddie also forwarded a page from TENNESSEE WILLIAMS: MEMOIRS, where Williams states, “The question I’m asked with most tedious frequency by interviewers and talk-show hosts is ‘How did you get the name Tennessee when you were born in Mississippi?’ So that’s the justification for my professional monicker — and I’ve also just indulged myself in the Southern weakness for climbing a family tree.” Find the book at Amazon.com.

Thank you, Eddie Woods, journalist and researcher extraordinaire!

Photo: Tennessee Williams, New York City, 1948

Jack Micheline in Amsterdam, CD from Unrequited Records

The Silver Birch Press Silver Anthology (Fall, 2012) was dedicated to legendary poet Jack Micheline (birth name: Harold Martin Silver). Silver Anthology co-editor Joan Jobe Smith — a celebrated, prolific poet in her own right — considers Micheline her favorite poet.  The Silver Anthology — available at Amazon.com — includes Joan’s recollections of her conversations with Micheline along with some of her rare photos taken during Micheline’s final years (he passed away in 1998 at age 69). The anthology also includes an essay about Micheline from Fred Voss and a poetic paean to him from Linda King.

Micheline was a poet’s poet — and with the recent release of JACK MICHELINE IN AMSTERDAM by Unrequited Records, today’s poetry aficionados can understand why.

I recently listened to JACK MICHELINE IN AMSTERDAM, a CD of Micheline’s 1982 performance of poems, songs, stories, chants & skats at Ins & Outs Press, and was captivated by Micheline’s material, his charm, his joie de vivre. The recording made me feel as if I were right there, thirty years ago, witness to Micheline’s genius. Kudos to Tate Swindell of Unrequited Records and Eddie Woods, who organized the 1982 reading and wrote liner notes for the 2012 release, for this remarkable recording.

In 1978, Eddie Woods (a renowned multi-hyphenate: journalist-poet-prose writer-editor-publisher) established Ins & Outs Press with Jane Harvey — and for a number of years published Ins & Outs, a literary magazine that featured a host of legendary writers, including Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Paul Bowles, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

In the upcoming Silver Birch Press Green Anthology (available March 15, 2013), we are honored to feature work by Eddie Woods — including a condensed version of his 1982 interview with Jack Micheline. The volume will also feature poetry from Woods and Micheline.

To purchase a CD of JACK MICHELINE IN AMSTERDAM — and I urge you to do so to support this worthy venture and keep Micheline’s spirit alive — please visit the Unrequited Records website. 

Photo: “Jack Micheline, 1982, Amsterdam” © Eddie Woods, 1982, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Used by Permission