There are still a few details that need to be worked out, but as of right now, it’s looking like this book will be released by the end of this year, which was always its tentative release date. For an up-and-coming publishing house, I’d have to say that, itself, is something to be proud of.

This morning I received a very important confirmation, which I’ll get to a few paragraphs down. This little story started a while back, when I was told by Eduardo Jones — a good friend of mine and a fantastic Gonzo-style journalist and writer – that a professional filmmaker was trying to get in touch with me about either:

• Using my poetry in her upcoming film, or;
• At the minimum, featuring my poetry on the film’s corresponding website: www.findingthebeatmovie.com.

Of course I told her that, yes, she had my permission to use my work for this project in any ways she saw fit.

Here’s a little background on the upcoming flick: Called “Finding the Beat,” this feature-length documentary is about poets, writers and other artists who are being deemed the “Modern Beat” movement. In other words, it’s about the leading contemporary poets who are seen as carrying a torch that was first lit by people like Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and Gregory Corso – a group of groundbreaking American writers who found each other in New York back in the 1940s and ’50s and forever changed American literature with their writings. These people were dubbed “The Beat Generation.”

There was also a second wave of Beats in San Francisco that included people like Diane di Prima, Philip Whalen, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and LeRoi Jones. Regardless, it was the literature of that first wave — works like Kerouac’s “On the Road,” Ginsberg’s “Howl,” Burroughs’ “Naked Lunch” and Corso’s “Gasoline” — that truly changed American and — in all reality — international literature forever (and for the best).

So now let’s get back to my involvement in this project. Initially, director and co-producer Trina DeMattei and her partner chose ten American cities, in each of which they hoped to find a “subject” — or an artist who best represented the Modern Beat movement. These cities were chosen long before Trina and I were put in touch with one another, and unfortunately, Minneapolis was not on that list.

Yet, once we found each other at last, Trina made quickly me a contributor to the site — a move which, needless to say, I was honored by. Still, the two of us sparked up a correspondence, and after I sent some more poems and a little background information on myself, Trina and her co-producer made a very exciting decision: First, they decided to nix one of the original cities they had planned to visit. Next, they decided to make my one of the film’s 10 subjects.

Being a subject means a film crew will be flying into Minneapolis (tentatively scheduled for this October) to follow me around for about a week. They want to know about my home life, social life and personal relationships; my influences and inspirations; what it is that makes my writings what they are, etc.

This is something totally new for me, but it feels damn good to be considered a member of the Modern Beat movement, especially since the writers from the original Beat Generation are basically the reason I ever even decided to pursue writing — creative or otherwise. Hell, I never even would have met my wife had I not decided to play Kerouac two weeks after graduating high school and make my way 1,700 miles from Nevada to Minnesota. So, needless to say, I owe much of who I am today — for better or worse — to the Beats. And taking that one step further, I truly believe our generation is, in fact, the one which most closely resembles the original Beat Generation. Both literary movements started up during wartime, but blossomed during the extraordinary conditions present in post-war America everyday life.

Kerouac et al., for instance, had Pearl Harbor, then World War II and finally McCarthy-era anti-communism crusades. Leap forward a few generations and you’ll find people like me, Eduardo Jones and Jesse Mitchell, who had to conted with the September 11 attacks, then two seemingly endless wars, and finally, the dual threats of the USA PATRIOT Act and the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement.

What’s the common thread here? Well, both generations had/have to live through periods of ultra-nationalism and repressive conservatism (as well as a very active Military Industrial Complex; thank God for Ginsberg’s wonderful line toward the beginning of ”America”: Go fuck yourself with your atom bomb).

But more than all that, both generations lived through periods of intense — and often times irrational — fear. The former generation faced the dual threats of a fascist world takeover and worries that the ensuing Cold War might suddenly turn hot. Similarly, the latter generation (us) also has dual threats: terrorists and other boogiemen (think of the Russian spies recently brought up on charges after living in America for more than a decade), and pair of issues I’ll combine into one threat, which is Global Climate Change/Peak Oil and the general energy crisis.

At the root of all these issues is one incredibly influential force on the human pysche: Fear. Both the original Beats and the Modern Beats lived in worlds with a highly-inflated collective fear, and in both cases, their artistic works were forced to go toe-to-toe with a society far too caught up in its own irrational way of thinking (I mean, come on: Freedom fries. Really?) to recognize the cultural importance of the wonderful and beautiful art that was being created right under its own nose. And when society finally did recognize those works of art, it didn’t embrace or celebrate them, but rather allowed that very same fear to take over and go on the attack against anything that went against the accepted cultural mores of the time (see the obscenity trials over Ginsberg’s “Howl” and Burroughs’s “Naked Lunch”).

Anyways, I’m going much further into depth than I originally planned to. If you take nothing away from my last digression, at least take this: If there’s ever going to be a time when we might see a return of the social circumstances that gave rise to the Beat Generation, then that time is now!

At least, that’s what I believe. And I think I share that belief with people like “Finding the Beat” director Trina DeMattei and he co-producers Jinx Rhodes and Bryce Dow-Williamson, as well as Beatdom Magazine editor David Wills and regular contributors to both endeavors like Eduardo Jones and Jesse Mitchell.

Hopefully history will prove me right. And hopefully by that time the list of afformentioned names will have grown significantly. I have no doubt it will. So, please, be part of something important. Purchase archived and upcoming issues of Beatdom. Check out the very affordable publications put out by City of Recovery Press (the publisher of Beatdom). And just as important, if you can, are donations to make “Finding the Beat” possible. I won’t get too far into that because I’m not too familiar with the finances of filmmaking. However, if you can do it, head over to www.findingthebeatmovie.com and click on the “Donate” tab, which will explain all the details.

Go ahead. I dare you. Make yourself part of an historic literary movement. You won’t regret it. 

On a more personal note, let it be clear that I’m finding it difficult to describe how proud and excited I am to have been selected as a subject for “Finding the Beat.” I’d have been happy as hell to be involved in any capacity, but the feeling that I have right now is just indescribable.

So, first check out this post: http://www.findingthebeatmovie.com/blog/?p=655 from the film’s website www.findingthebeatmovie.com, which by the way, you should check on a regular basis, because they are posting my poetry there fairly often (two poems in one week) as well as writings and other works of art from other talented contributors.

Alright, well, I have to go, but I hope you all have a minute to follow that link.

 Best regards,
Kyle Chase.

P.S.    As Eduardo Jones pointed out to me, it’s interesting to note that so far, three of the four chosen subjects are all regular contributors to Beatdom Magazine (all the more reason — as if more was needed – for you all to immediately check out www.beatdom.com).

Kyle Chase
Poet and Author – City of Recovery Press
www.writerkylechase.wordpress.com
www.cityofrecovery.com

Alright everyone, sorry for the prolonged absence. My life and priorities have undergone some very necessary shifts, which I’m now in a better position to explain:

For starters, there will soon be a mini-Kyle Chase runnin’ around this world. That’s right; my wife and I found out we’re going to be having a baby. Hopefully I can get him/her into poetry at a young age. Can’t you imagine how amazing it would be having a 5-year-old reading Rimbaud? It would be flat-out amazing.

Because of that bit of news, mayba you’ll understand why I’ve been a bit out of touch lately. I’ve been on a hardcore job search and have been studying up for my CDL (for those of you not from the US, that’s the license required to become a truck driver). So, as it seems, I’m filling the prophecy set forth about 6 years ago by master poet Jarret Keene, who said I’d one day make my literary mark as the writer of a genre that he coined as “Trucker Noir.”

In any case, things are beginning to settle down around the Chase household (for now at least; Jess is still in her first trimester, so I’m still waiting for the true adventure to begin).

In conclusion, I apologize for falling off the face of the earth. Over the last two months, I’ve been frantically trying to get a job and make a quick transformation from a somewhat self-absorbed man-boy to a responsible adult and father. Nonetheless, poetry, creative writing and journalism will always be my passions, and while I haven’t been very public lately, I’ve continued to write. As a matter of fact, I have some interesting new material that I’ll be putting out fairly soon; so, stay tuned.

                                                         Best Regards,
                                                          Kyle Chase.

I’ve been asked to read some works by famed 19th century French poet Arthur Rimbaud, as well as some of my own pieces. Here’s some basic information on the event:

Where: The Black Dog Cafe, Coffee and Wine Bar, 308 Prince St. (across from the St. Paul Farmer’s Market) in Lowetown St. Paul. (651) 228-9274

When: May 1 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.

For more information on the event, check out this May Day flyer.

Breach
By Kyle Chase

Who’d have thought we’d be teenaged
junkies combing the streets for another fix,

lying in gutters with droopy eyes open,
shaking and stirring, sometimes praying for death?

Many said they knew where the party was
because they saw us heaving and hoeing
and throwing and upping and moaning
in the front yard.

Because of the hellish haze,
I can hardly recognize the
sole angel of the party feeding me
to bury the poisons in my stomach.

Some said it was a great party, but later
I realized it was more like Hell’s waiting line.

It was the start of something horrible.
Maybe even Evil. Real Evil.

Years later I’m watching my friends die.
Some die alcohol-induced freak accidents.
Others from strokes, and still some: from smokes.
But more often, they die from needle pokes.

The world’s crumbling and there’s no way to help.
Worst of all, I feel I’m breaking too.

I’m scraping pedals at every turn,
just to leave it all behind.

But don’t fear — Beatdom is here. See, here’s the cover shot to prove it:

By the way, this issue features a new poem of mine, “Slumland Heroics,” which I’m pretty proud of.

So, if you haven’t done so already, head on over to www.beatdom.com and either purchase the magazine or download the free version, which also is available on the site.

“The Clinic and other poems,” a chapbook of my poems has finally been released. Published by City of Recovery Press, “The Clinic…” is currently only available in independent bookstores in Minnesota.

But no worries: copies are on their way to other booksellers around the U.S. and the book will soon be available online at the CoRP website.

So be sure to check back, or visit www.cityofrecovery.com for more information.

My name is Kyle Chase and I’m a writer and poet signed with City of Recovery Press. My book, “The sickness which started him typing …” is slated for a Fall 2010 release, but to read some of my work before then, check out Beatdom Magazine, Zygote in My Coffee Magazine, Red Fez Publications and Underground Voices. The Rapids Review, a Minnesota literary journal, will also feature some of my writings when it is released next month.

So, if you don’t want to wait for ”The sickness …” to be released, please check out those fine publications.

I also plan to feature my poems, as well as excerpts of some of my prose right here on this blog. So, check back soon to find more information about myself and my writings.

Thanks for visiting,
Kyle Chase.