Noah David Robert introduces Mike Jurkovic at “Voice Less Readings” at Green Kill

Mike Jurkovic hosts the first Thurday “Words Carry Us” formally “Voice Less Readings” at Green Kill. Because of covid the regular poetry readings have been temporarily suspended, but Green Kill is now equipped for live web performance which you can read about here and there there may be a future announce ment about the return of “Words Carry Us” as a live web event soon.

Mike is well know as the hardworking and talented host of Calling All Poets (CAPS) in New Paltz, NY and other Hudson Valley Locations which is currently active on Zoom.

Live performance audio from Calling All Poets Series @ Roost Studios and Art Gallery, New Paltz, NY May, 2016.

About Mike Jurkovic

A 2016 Pushcart nominee, Mike Jurkivic’s poetry and musical criticism have appeared in over 500 magazines and periodicals (Main Street Rag, North Dakota Quaterly, Raven’s Perch) with little reportable income. Full length collections, AmericanMental, (Luchador Press 2020) Blue Fan Whirring, (Nirala Press, 2018); smitten by harpies & shiny banjo catfish (Lion Autumn Press, 2016) Chapbooks, Eve’s Venom (Post Traumatic Press, 2014) Purgatory Road (Pudding House, 2010) Anthologies: Reflecting Pool: Poets & the Creative Process (Codhill Press, 2018); Like Light: 25 Years of Poetry & Prose (Bright Hill Press, 2018); 11/9 Fall of American Democracy (Independent, 2017)); WaterWrites: A Hudson River Anthology, and Riverine: Anthology of Hudson Valley Writers (Codhill Press, 2009, 2007) Will Work For Peace (Zeropanik, 1999). President, Calling All Poets, New Paltz, Beacon,, NY. Music features, interviews, and CD reviews appear in All About Jazz, Van Wyck Gazette, and Maverick Chronicles 2018-present. Featured poet: London, San Francisco, NYC, Albany, Baltimore. Tuesday night host of Jazz Sanctuary, WOOC 105.3 FM, Troy, NY. Was a monthly contributor to Elmore Magazine, 2008-2016; Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange, 2003-2010; Chronogram, 2005-2007. His column, The Rock n Roll Curmudgeon, appeared in Rhythm and News Magazine, 1996-2003. His photo-visualizations have been published sporadically and exhibited twice in the Hudson Valley.

He loves Emily most of all.

www.mikejurkovic.com

https://www.mikejurkovic.com/works/poetry

Mike Jurkovic, “7th Synapse”

Mike Jurlovic, “Lines 1”

The photos are from an ongoing photo-visualization project I work on from time to time. I try to take some of the most boring fotos I've ever taken and twist and turn them thru various photoshop into something that I at least think are interesting and catch one's imagination. It's called Broken Theatre for lack of a better name. It's another extension of me I guess. I will frame them for folks if they've liked them.

Ten Questions

Do you remember when you first saw yourself as an artist?

Not sure. I think I always had a hunch. I would pursue songwrting, music production, I was always writing and felt that as long as I was making something from nothing I was creating, which is what I though artistry was all about. I later learned it was also about community and giving of oneself.

Do you have anything you feel compelled now to say about your art?

I hope it gets the message across. Whatever that message might be at any instance of creating, I hope it’s getting across.

Is there an artist that keeps coming back to you for inspiration?

Dylan. Vonnegut. Joni Mitchell. Hi ho.

Do you feel you have support from colleagues?

Absolutely! Beyond doubt. That’s what makes the Hudson Valley the unique thing it is among writers. We’re not afraid to listen. We’re not at all obsessed about where we are on the open mic list.

Do you feel removed from the conventional world?

I don’t believe any artist of any discipline should feel removed from that sense of place. Maybe suspended in time, but not removed from place.

What is it like to wake up everyday for you?

Well I won’t pretend I don’t beat back all the anxieties we all share about any given day. How could one not? The only way not to feel or prove we’ve dropped the ball culturally, climate-wise, politically, socially, societally, racially, you name it, is to wake up to it each day and try you’re best not to let go.

What role do you see your art having in society? 

Art in general: It’s as necessary as breathing. It’s as serious as death. My own art? Again if I get whatever the message is across, it’s a fine fine day.

Do you get high from creating?

Yes and I’m also often high while creating. But I always edit and read with a clear head, unless my sinuses are kicking in.

What are you not being asked that you’d like to share? 

Well of course there’s the usual uy the books, visit the website stuff but I think we’ve covered it.

When are you most happy?

It’s all of a piece. Being home with Emily. Reading from whatever riser one can find. Walking through the Gunks, Fahnstock, our property. Working food bank. If you don’t find some kernel of happiness in everything it gets kind of grey quick.