Yes to Mo’ Joe and Mo’ Zozo!
Whenever I am a bit gloomy, feeling trapped in a maze of pandemic haze, I have a fantastic solution for regaining joy…I simply do a bit of globetrotting with Zozobra and Joe the Poet!
Zozobra Poems by Jules Nyquist
Until Zozobra Poems by Jules Nyquist (Poetry Playhouse Publications), the legendary, happiness-affirming-giant-phoenix-puppet has only had a history — one recurring flaming night each year since 1924. But Jules gives Zozobra a life full of travel, engagement with others, and mundane tasks…all revolving around his great purpose in serving humanity.
Reading Zozobra Poems brings a focus to our current pandemic “moment.” As the back book cover states:
In these adventures, Zozobra becomes a father figure, saving the world from gloom and learning new insights about humanity. From Bhutan to Minneapolis, shopping at Target or visiting the Burning Man festival, Zozobra is funny and endearing and gives new insights for the darkest time of year.
Epiphanies spread throughout the poems, such as:
Zozobra waits for the electoral college
to tell him the soul of America.
from “Zozobra Waits”
Zozobra travels to Minneapolis via plane and taxi (in which he barely fits) telling children who flock to him:
I burn for the people, says Zozobra.
Prince will live on for you, too.
from “Zozobra visits Minneapolis”
But Santa Fe is his home:
Zozobra has his own following
in Santa Fe,
a pagan City of Holy Faith
he’s an idol with a crowd
of sixty-thousand in one day
same size as Burning Man,
but Zozobra clears the air of gloom
the people’s paper pain burns
in the marionette
of a man, and the next morning
they are lighter, happier,
ready for the day.
from “Not the Burning Man”
Of course, Santa Fe is a tourist town, so when Zozobra is at a tourist bar:
Zozobra worries
he won’t get another beer
and more chips without a long wait.
from “Zozobra at the Tourist Bar”
And in thinking how we spend our moments of life, there is this gem:
Zozobra remembers he can’t take
his gloom with him
he can only leave behind stories
and a few bags of shredded paper
from “Zozobra and the End of the World”
I’d love for Jules to write a sequel, because I say Yes to Mo’ Zozo!
Joe the Poet (and John Roche) — The Joe Poems, Mo’ Joe and Joe Rides Again
Thanks to John Roche, Joe the Poet traverses throughout the pages of two books – The Joe Poems: The Continuing Saga of Joe the Poet by John Roche (Foothills Publishing) and Mo’ Joe: The Anthology (edited by John Roche, published by Beatlick Press and Finalist for the 2015 NM/AZ Book Awards in Anthology).
Joe will ride again in a third book, the soon-to-be-published Joe Rides Again by John Roche.
Joe is a lively poet; John describes Joe as “a fully revealed avatar who [can] time-travel and incarnate in male, female, or other guises. He/she/it appeared in ancient Palestine, medieval Ireland, and even on an intergalactic space trawler.”
John lyrically describes Joe in “Invisible Joe” — from The Joe Poems: The Continuing Saga of Joe the Poet (Foothills Publishing):
Invisible Joe
You won't find him in the Norton anthology
though Joe might be there under another name
maybe was there until the latest edition
Garrison never reads his poems on the radio
Poet Laureates don't drop Joe's name in casual conversation
never had the privilege of turning down a White House invite
He was once included in a collection of 13th century Sufi poetry
or was that 12th century Zen poetry?
or 11th century Timbuktu griots?
Joe's had so many lives even he's not sure
I’m glad John is writing a sequel, because I say Yes to Mo’ Joe!
Creatively Supporting Poets and Poetry and Building Community
Skillful poets with stunning lines, Jules and John are dedicated to building a writing community. (A community of more than 60 people attended their most recent Kaktus Brewing reading that featured Margaret Randall and Donald Levering.)
Community focus contributed to their creation and expansion of their engaging poetry personas of Joe and Zozobra. (They speak about this in the interview answers below.)
Their forte for building community is realized in their many poet and poetry advocacy endeavors:
Jules and John speak about their enterprises in the interview below.
And no matter where you live, you can speak with them and hear some of their poetry at Creatives in Conversation Hour via Zoom on Wednesday, May 6, 5:30 pm MDT!
So if you want to ask how they do it all so brilliantly,
join us on Wednesday, May 6!
Interview with Jules Nyquist and John Roche:
Mary: You both are active poetry advocates, supporting the work of others. As well, you are both very skilled poets. How would you articulate your writing and advocacy mission?
Jules: I created the Poetry Playhouse out of a sense of play. We both have academic backgrounds and I see poetry as accessible to anyone, not just academics or if you learned about poetry in school. The sense of play with Jules’ Poetry Playhouse opens up the creative side of writing, reading, observing and participating into a safe space for writing and experiencing poetry.
John: I'd only add that I see poetry as not just a solitary endeavor, but as speaking to a community or communities of poets, as well as to the wider society. Especially in times of crisis, such as we are going through now, poetry can help us come together and heal. It can also, however, be a sharp sword to skewer injustices and hypocrisies.
Mary: I would imagine your personal missions coincide with Jules' Poetry Playhouse and Poetry Playhouse Publications. Can you tell us a bit of the history of these two enterprises?
Jules: Jules’ Poetry Playhouse started in January 2012 at the Factory on 5th art studio space in Albuquerque. There was a tiny studio for rent that I found out about, next to an artist friend's, and decided on a whim to rent it the same day. We expanded into the hallway to have poetry events. It was not a space for me as a writer, but a community space to gather and experiment. The Playhouse has had several locations in Albuquerque, including four years on Granite Avenue, and now we are in Placitas as of last year, which has changed our vision into more of a retreat focus, but still with that sense of play. Poetry Playhouse Publications started when I had poet friends that I thought should have first books out and I approached them. I wanted to help them get their poetry out into the world and their poems had that unique sense of vision and play that is part of our philosophy.
John: It has been fascinating to watch Jules' Poetry Playhouse evolve to fit the various spaces it has inhabited, including the virtual one we now rely on. Likewise, Poetry Playhouse Publications, which has expanded from only local authors to authors in Minnesota and New York, and who-knows-where-else in the future!
Mary: Poetry Playhouse is a great term and a great concept, focusing on the idea of play. Can you explain a bit about your vision of how poetry is also play?
Jules: Poetry is an oral art form, as well as written. The sense of play comes from that zone you can be in when writing, which is very uninhibited, where you let the muse come to you and lead you into unexpected areas, digging deep into a place that is uniquely your own. It can also be playing with form; knowing the rules and then breaking them.
John: The 18th century German philosopher Friedrich Schiller came up with the idea of a Play Drive (Spieltrieb) that all humans possess, a notion which influenced the Kindergarten movement, Montessori, and other types of progressive education. The insight that if you encourage a child to play they will learn faster than if you hit them over the head with facts to be memorized. It's true for adults as well, which is where the Playhouse fits in.
Mary: You also have workshops that are taught by poets locally, regionally, nationally and internationally; you have been teaching these from your fabulous poets' retreat space that houses the Playhouse now, in the casita next to your home in beautiful Placitas, New Mexico. Do you have plans for more online workshops with the rise of Zoom meetings during the pandemic? Will you continue workshops in your poets' retreat casita? Do you envision a hybrid type of workshop model possibly using both?
Jules: Yes, we have had poetry instructors coming to Jules’ Poetry Playhouse from Ireland, and many states in the U.S. We’ve also had Poetry Playhouse retreats in other areas such as Jemez Springs and poetry hikes. Now, with limited travel, we are moving more online with virtual zoom readings and classes.The Kaktus Brewery series had a unique vibe with the brewery in Bernalillo, which was very supportive in sharing their stage space. We always feature two poets in that series, followed by an open mic. We have moved that online for the time being, which allows us to continue featuring well-known poets with sometimes not-so-well-known poets in a unique blend for a reading. Our first online class in April was with Santa Fe poet Donald Levering on the pantoum form, which had already been scheduled in person, so we adapted. It was a success with Zoom, so we now have an advanced pantoum class offering with Donald. I’m also going to be offering a six-week sestina class in summer to coincide with my new book, The Sestina Playbook, which is a workbook with my sestinas and writing exercises to help introduce poets to the form, and play with sestinas. I do see some classes maybe being a hybrid of online (which helps us expand our audience out of the local area), but my favorite classes are those with small groups in person. I’ve also tied the sestina form into the circular form of the labyrinth and I have completed a labyrinth in our backyard, which is also part of the Poetry Playhouse. Lots of hauling rocks to make the circle and we plan to have a virtual launch for the book and the labyrinth soon, as well as a physical walk when we’re able to do that. It’s an exciting merge of forms!
John: Jules has covered it pretty well. I'll just add that I taught hybrid classes for many years at Rochester Institute of Technology, where we would meet in the classroom twice a week, then continue the discussions (and workshopping of drafts) through an online platform. There's much to be said for that kind of continuity.
Mary: Jules, I am taken with all of your poetry, but I immediately was swept away by your book Zozobra Poems. Can you tell me a bit of the Zozobra persona you create in this magical book?
Jules: The Zozobra Poems started with my dear friend and poet, Susan Paquet, who held a Zozobra party every year in her backyard. She passed away over a year ago from cancer, and part of my dealing with grief was writing some fun, short poems about Zozobra as a person that travels around the world in various adventures, a bit of a mystic and philosopher. Zozobra burns so we can cast our sorrow into his paper form and in turn that releases the happiness for us. There are twelve poems in that book and it won the NM/AZ Book Award in 2019 for the philosophy category. I originally intended it for a winter solstice publication for friends, and it grew into a life of its own, which is great.
Mary: John, I am also taken with your poetry, and I am captivated by the Joe the Poet persona of your books. Can you tell me a bit about the Joe the Poet persona, traveling in and out of lives in your wonderful books?
Joe first appeared during the 2008 election, in a poem called "Joe the Poet" that punned on “Joe the Plumber.” It was published in Rootdrinker #17 (Albany, NY), Fall 2009. But Joe wouldn't go away, and I soon realized he was no joke. Through a friend's suggestion I adopted a bit of structure: ten lines, exactly, less than a hundred words, and compressed syntax. This restriction creates a taut poem I call a “joey.” By the time Michael Czarnecki's FootHills Publishing (Kanona, NY) published The Joe Poems in 2012, Joe was a fully revealed avatar who could time-travel and incarnate in male, female, or other guises. He/she/it appeared in ancient Palestine, medieval Ireland, and even on an intergalactic space trawler. Friends started sending me their own Joe poems, some of them starring Jo, Joleen, or JoJo. So I decided to create Mo' Joe: The Joe the Poet Anthology. Friends in Albuquerque, Pamela Hirst and Deb Coy, offered to publish the anthology through their Beatlick Press, which they did in 2014. Now I'm about to publish a sequel to The Joe Poems called Joe Rides Again, with FootHills and with the original cover designer, former student (and now NPR staffer) Whitney Gratton.
Mary: Do you have an emerging or favorite project or anything you'd like to add?
Jules: I’ve been writing new poems about the COVID pandemic and some of them have been published on-line or read on the radio. I think documenting history with poetry or journaling is important as it reflects our feelings and the details of the times so we can remember looking back. It’s also comforting for others and writing poetry helps me process feelings and events in a tangible way. I’m also working on a book of nuclear-related poems about living in New Mexico with the nuclear and military industry surrounding us. I’ve been looking for a publisher for a while, and may adapt this book to reflect the pandemic crisis. Poetry and manuscripts can be fluid so it’s interesting to see how poems develop into a topical area. The one thing constant is change and as poets, we continue to adapt to whatever works in the world around us.
John: I taught a five-week Irish poetry class last fall at the Placitas Playhouse, and it was quite enjoyable, so I'm thinking of trying an online version. I'm also editing Rochester, NY poet Colleen Powderly's book Psalms From an Ordinary Woman that we intend to publish in June. And beginning a new project, Rio Rancho poet Raymond Johnson's book Brother Sunset, which we hope to have out in the autumn. We are also looking for an opportunity to do a proper book launch for an anthology I put together in memory of our good friend Stewart S. Warren, who passed away from cancer last fall. We had a wonderful launch at Tortuga Gallery in January for his final book, Feeling the Distance, but the lockdown happened just as we were about to launch Offerings for the Journey in Billy Brown's Fixed & Free series.
Mary: Thank you both for this delightful interview and for all of your fabulous poems and poetry community building. I am looking forward to continuing the conversation and hearing your poems at Creatives in Conversation!
Join Jules and John in Conversation Wednesday, May 6, 2020, 5:30 to 6:30 pm MDT from anywhere you are!
At NM/AZ Book Award banquet 2019, supporting their Playhouse Publications authors.
Jules’ book Zozobra Poems won the philosophy award.
Photo credit: Joanne Bodin
About Jules Nyquist:
Poet and visual artist Jules Nyquist is the founder of Jules’ Poetry Playhouse in Placitas, NM, a place for poetry and play with writing classes and retreats with visiting poets and local poets. A highly-published and award-winning poet, she earned an MFA in Writing and Literature from Bennington College, VT. Jules has edited several anthologies resulting from classes she teaches and collaborations, including Shadow of the Snake, Legends & Monsters, House of Cards Ekphrastic Poetry, Rolling Sixes Sestinas, and Poetry in Place: Autumn Writing from the Bosque. Jules’ visual art incorporates mixed media collage and photography with wall art and greeting cards, and button bracelets. More about Jules’ books here.
About John Roche:
Poet John Roche is the associate director of Jules’ Poetry Playhouse and retired Associate Professor of English at Rochester Institute of Technology. He earned an MA in Anglo-Irish Studies from University College Dublin and PhD in English from University of Buffalo where he studied with Robert Creeley. Formerly President of the Just Poets organization and Member of the Board of the noted poetry press BOA Editions, John has authored or edited fifteen volumes of poetry, including Mo’ Joe: The Anthology (Beatlick Press), which was a NM/AZ Book Awards and Pushcart Prize finalist. Additionally, John co-founded the Kaktus Reading Series held the last Tuesday of every month at Kaktus Brewery in Bernalillo with two featured poets and an open mic. This series is now on-line. More about John’s books here.
About Jules and John:
Jules and John are co-editors of the Poets Speak Anthology series (which includes the award-winning HERS anthology). Together they founded Poetry Playhouse Publications to publish poets that have that unique sense of play and creativity in their poetry. More about Jules’ Poetry Playhouse here.
Photo credit: John Roche
Photo credit: Leslie Locketz
jules’ Poetry Playhouse banner at the lovely New Mexico location.
Photo credit: Jules Nyquist
Photo credit: Jules Nyquist
JuLES LATESt PROJECT
A collection of Jules’ own sestinas with sestina writing exercises to help other poets, the Sestina Playbook, forthcoming the end of May 2020. Pre-ordering information here.