Rattapallax DVD (issue 15) is a fusion between contemporary writing and film. Featured on the DVD magazine are works by Antonello Faretta, Guilherme Marcondes, Taatske Pieterson, Julian Gray, Kylie Hibbert, Avi Dabach, Abbas Saffari, Caecilia Tripp, Eugene Ostashevsky, Ima Aikio & Jason Lam. Special features on Billy Collins, John Giorno Yehuda Amichai, and the death of William Burroughs; award winning animated short films based on poems by William Blake and Sylvia Plath; and a hip-hop rendition of Gertrude Stein's poems by Jean Grae and DJ Spooky. Showcase of the winners from the Zebra Poetry Film Festival in Berlin. Buy for ONLY $6! [ learn more ]

The DVD is sold at St. Mark's Bookshop, 31 Third Ave., NYC (near Astor Place).

Join us for an exciting Festival first -- a program of literary short films and documentaries curated by Ram Devineni and copresented by Rattapallax. The roster of films includes an animated version of Sylvia Plath's classic poem "Mirror Talk," Sherman Alexie's "49?," a tribute to writer/composer Paul Bowles, selections of literary films from Brazilian musician and poet Arnaldo Antunes, and interpretations of Gertrude Stein poems by hip-hop artists Jean Grae and DJ Spooky. The evening will conclude with a screening of Antonello Faretta's "Nine Poems in Basilicata" and an onstage conversation between Faretta and the subject of the film, Beat poet John Giorno, who was also the subject of Andy Warhol's 1963 film Sleep.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008 from 6-9pm at Goethe-Institut, 1014 Fifth Ave., New York City. FREE. [ more info ]

Sponsored by Rattapallax and PEN World Voices: The New York Festival of International Literature. This event was funded in part by Experimental Television Center, New York State Council on the Arts, and Poets & Writers, Inc. through public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

PEN WORLD VOICES is a festival of international literature featuring 170 writers, 51 countries, and 82 events coming to venues across New York City, April 29-May 4th, 2008. Don't miss six days of exciting literary exchange with conversations, panel discussions, readings, film screenings, a translation slam and a cabaret night! For a complete schedule of events, go to: http://www.pen.org/festival

John Giorno's book You Got to Burn to Shine, poems, and deeply personal memoirs include stories of his relationship with Andy Warhol (Giorno was the star of Warhol's first film, Sleep, in 1963), of being a Tibetan Buddhist, and of his understanding of death in the age of AIDS. Giorno Poetry Systems, begun in 1965, innovated the use of technology in poetry, working with electronic and multimedia, creating new venues, and connecting poetry with new audiences.

Antonello Faretta is a photographer, director, and film producer who has collaborated with such directors as Abbas Kiarostami, Marco Bellocchio, Saverio Costanzo, and Babak Payami. He has directed numerous films, including Lei lo Sa, Da Dove Vengono le Storie?, Silenced Thoughts, and Just Say NO to Family Values. In 2004, he founded the Atelier del Cinema di Potenza and the Potenza International Film Festival, which he also directs, and for which, in 2006, he received the prestigious Targa per Meriti Culturali from the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano.

Friday May 2, 2008 at 6:30 pm. The Mercantile Library Center for Fiction, 17 East 47th St., NYC. (btw. 5th and Madison). FREE.

The Mercantile Library Center for Fiction is dedicated to celebrating and supporting the creation and enjoyment of the art of fiction. This event is sponsored by Poets & Writers, Inc. through public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Introduction by Martin Riker with Dalkey Archive Press and Ram Devineni with Rattapallax. To RSVP: info@mercantilelibrary.org or 212-755-6710

James Ragan is the author of five books of poetry including In The Talking Hours, Womb-Weary, The World Sholdering "I", The Hunger Wall and Lusions, from Grove Press, as well as co-editor of Yevgeny Yevtushenko's Collected Poems. Director of the Graduate Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California, he is a former NEA grant recipient and Fulbright Professor of Poetry. He has read his poetry for four heads of state including Mikhail Gorbachev and Vaclav Havel and is featured in Rhino Records, In Thier Own Voices.

Flavia Rocha is a Brazilian poet, journalist and translator living in Brazil. In Sao Paulo, she worked as a staff reporter for magazines Casa Vogue, Carta Capital, República, Valor Econômico and Bravo!, and was a contributor for other publications, including MTV magazine, Vogue and Sabor. She has an M.F.A program in Writing at Columbia University. Her first collection of poetry, The Blue House Around Noon was released by Travessa dos Editores in 2005.

Peter Selgin's first book of short stories, "Drowning Lessons" won this year's Flannery O'Connor Award and will be published by the University of Georgia Press in the Fall of 2008. His children's book, "S.S. Gigantic Across the Atlantic" (Simon & Schuster, 1999), was a Scholastic Book Club selection and won the Lemme Award for Best Children's Book, 2000. In addition, he is an award winning fiction writer, play-writer, and illustrator with work appearing in the "New Yorker," "Time-Out New York", "Poets & Writers," "The Wall Street Journal", and many other publications.

Meredith Brosnan was born in Dublin, but lives in New York City since 1984. His work has appeared in "The Williamsburgh Bugle," "Sound Collector Audio Review," "the Brooklyn Rail" and "YETI." "Mr. Dynamite," a novel, was published by Dalkey Archive Press in 2004.

WITH EVERY BREATH is a short documentary about African-American poet Lamont B. Steptoe, who is a long time resident of Philadelphia and Vietnam War Veteran. Steptoe, an American Book Award winner, deals with the many aspects of his life through his poetry from post-traumatic syndrome resulting from the war to his life as a gay man of color. This short poetic film encapsulates a compelling literary figure and his thirty-year life in Philadelphia. Premiered on WYBE's Philadelphia Stories. Produced, edited and directed by Ram Devineni and Rattapallax Films. [ more ].