Straight Up | Jan Herman

What Is Poetry? ‘A glimpse of sun.’ — Jim Harrison

Jan Herman — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 16:30:45 +0000

I met Jim Harrison only once, in 1968, when we were on a "little magazine" panel with Russell Banks, Anne Waldman, and Charles Newman. Even then Harrison was a "character," a voluble personality who cut quite a figure.—wore a rakish straw hat, a black patch on his blind left eye, and sported a hand-carved walking stick.

‘Tribute in Light’ Phantom Presence of the Missing Twin Towers

Jan Herman — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 03:17:15 +0000

‘Tribute in Light’
Phantom Presence of the Missing Twin Towers" rel="nofollow">Screenshot

" data-large-file="https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/9-11-tribute-in-light-9-12-26-750.jpg" />It first appeared six months after 9/11 as a public art installation and has appeared every year since. It is presented from dusk of Sept. 11 to dawn of Sept. 12. It's the most striking memorial to be seen, especially in person.

The Day the Twin Towers Vanished in a Shroud of Ash

Jan Herman — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 14:36:01 +0000

My report grew longer by the minute. It ran, updated in real time, as MSNBC.com’s cover story. The lede kept changing throughout the day. ... It was the scene of a nightmare ... people on fire jumping in terror from the towers ... the buildings collapsing ... splinters of debris falling from the sky like confetti ... deadly smoke blackening the air ... an exodus of thousands of New Yorkers coated in white ash streaming on foot for hours across the city's bridges.

Visions of ‘Ground Zero’ That Fell by the Wayside

Jan Herman — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 15:31:56 +0000

"I have seen the future and it is B-I-G. It is also tall, fantastical, memorial, ecological, symbolical, cultural, commercial, skyward, subterranean, park-like, Lego-like and — what seems most certain — futuristic, as in a long way off."

Myles & Waldman Performance Poets Together Again

Jan Herman — Mon, 31 Aug 2026 16:55:10 +0000

Myles & Waldman
Performance Poets Together Again" rel="nofollow">They go back a long way to the 1970s in New York, most notably to their participation in, and leadership of, The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

A Lost Poem Found

Jan Herman — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 17:07:07 +0000

'Born Black' was lost eight years ago.

Memory Pictures Coming In An Old Friend Is Gone Too Long

Jan Herman — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:58:00 +0000

Memory Pictures Coming In
An Old Friend Is Gone Too Long" rel="nofollow">Norman O. Mustill (from Twinpak)

" data-large-file="https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Heres-lookin-at-you-self-portrait-from-TWINPAK-562x1024.jpg" />Norman Ogue Mustill was an extreme dissenter. Nothing pleased him more than reaming out the human race. His collages stopped you dead with their vicious satire, like the writings of William S. Burroughs. And for technical precision Max Ernst didn't do better.

Cold Turkey Press #%&@#$@%#*&#+@%$+ ! ! !

Jan Herman — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 14:17:47 +0000

Cold Turkey Press
*#%&@#$*@%#*&#+@%$+ ! ! !" rel="nofollow">If we call life a fabulous blur — as though it were a lark — even when our sorrows founder in the dark, let's just call it bad luck.

Cicero Sez

Jan Herman — Sun, 02 Aug 2026 18:40:59 +0000

My two years of high school Latin got me to Julius Caesar's account of his exploits in the Gallic war, written in a straightforward, rather simple style. Unfortunately, I never took third-year Latin, which would have got me to Cicero, whose style was more sophisticated, more complex, and thus more difficult. But I have read Cicero in English and his words of wisdom are eminently clear.

The war made a quick mess of the family. I.B. Singer Tells the Bloody, Cold-Blooded Truth

Jan Herman — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 17:17:09 +0000
The war made a quick mess of the family.
I.B. Singer Tells the Bloody, Cold-Blooded Truth" rel="nofollow">I had never really read him . . . a few tales here and there, the novel 'Enemies' . . . until I opened a volume of his 'Collected Short Stories' not long ago. It has kept me riveted.

‘The Wild Heart’ Dylan Mattingly Makes Debut on Nonesuch Records

Jan Herman — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 20:56:59 +0000
‘The Wild Heart’
Dylan Mattingly Makes Debut on Nonesuch Records" rel="nofollow">UPDATED! When you're a young composer, perhaps your most formidable problem is not just learning your craft but getting your music played. To solve that problem two Bard College undergrads — Dylan Mattingly and David Blum — put together a band of fellow Bard musicians. Sixteen years later that band still thrives, performing the works of many contemporary composers. And Mattingly's own music has since been commissioned and presented by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Ojai Music Festival. Now he makes his debut on Nonesuch Records with the release of 'The Wild Heart.'

Early Reviews Are In Book Launched in Brooklyn: ‘The Midnight Special’

Jan Herman — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:35:48 +0000
Early Reviews Are In
Book Launched in Brooklyn: ‘The Midnight Special’ " rel="nofollow"> UPDATED: Colin Asher is "a calm and sophisticated storyteller who picks you up and sets you back down in places you didn't anticipate," NY Times book critic Dwight Garner writes. He calls "The Midnight Special" "a fog-piercing down-bound train of a book" that "underlines sheer human resiliency." The Observer says Asher's new book will “transform" the way you see art. Booklist calls it “mesmerizing.” Publisher’s Weekly likes it; Alex Gershman dives deep into the book on his YouTube Channel; Maurice Chammah drills down on Ike White, one of the book's featured musicians, in a discussion with Asher at The Marshall Project.

Nazi Greeting That Preceded the Trump Handshake

Jan Herman — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 16:38:38 +0000
UPDATED The collagist John Heartfield defined "The Meaning of the Hitler Salute": "Little man asks for large gifts." Or in Trump terms, "demands big bribes."

New from Moloko TRAVEL PAINTINGA. Robert Lee’s Omnibus Edition Is Here to Go

Jan Herman — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 18:17:53 +0000
New from Moloko TRAVEL PAINTING
A. Robert Lee’s Omnibus Edition Is Here to Go" rel="nofollow">UPDATED The author won't need a headstone . . . This monumental omnibus will do . . . Five hundred and eight-six gorgeous pages of verbal pleasure . . . Intimate collaborations with esteemed artists . . . Landscapes of descriptive simplicity . . . Pure thought objectified . . .

David Hockney Liked to Draw by Other Means

Jan Herman — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 17:21:13 +0000
David Hockney’s departure has drawn obituaries from across the art world and the popular press, which is testimony to his eminence whether his paintings and drawings are considered a simple pleasure to look at or regressive to contemplate. Whatever it comes down to, he loved to experiment.

When Gates Testifies About Epstein, Will Mask Drop?

Jan Herman — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 17:14:47 +0000
UPDATED At Microsoft, Bill Gates was by many accounts a nightmare boss, 'prone to expletive-laden fits of rage," Anupta Das is quoted as reporting in her new book 'Billionaire, Nerd, Savior, King.'

Petit Cabinet #7: ‘Just Two More Times to Sleep’

Jan Herman — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:25:33 +0000
A simple poem becomes an otherworldly love song with the collaboration of a singer and composer.

Stadtlichter Presse Makes My Heart Beat Stronger

Jan Herman — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:28:29 +0000
It's a wonder that the most intriguing publisher of American poets of the Beat Generation happens to be a German publisher, Stadtlichter Presse. Its "Heartbeat" series features not only the most notable — Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Corso, and Ferlinghetti — in bilingual editions, but also dozens of less famous Beats and Beat-era or Beat-related poets.

Statement of Fact

Jan Herman — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 16:43:25 +0000
In my generation's war, our peaceful protests kept the peace the best we could — yet could not.

Can We Beat the Lies? All the Lies?

Jan Herman — Sat, 16 May 2026 13:17:13 +0000
© 2026 by jh
" data-large-file="https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/devolution-of-the-american-presidency-enh-2-750.jpg" />Our eyes tell us what is obvious, but what about our minds . . .

Straight Up | Jan Herman

What Is Poetry? ‘A glimpse of sun.’ — Jim Harrison

‘Tribute in Light’ Phantom Presence of the Missing Twin Towers

The Day the Twin Towers Vanished in a Shroud of Ash

Visions of ‘Ground Zero’ That Fell by the Wayside

Myles & Waldman Performance Poets Together Again

A Lost Poem Found

Memory Pictures Coming In An Old Friend Is Gone Too Long

Cold Turkey Press *#%&@#$*@%#*&#+@%$+ ! ! !

Cicero Sez

The war made a quick mess of the family. I.B. Singer Tells the Bloody, Cold-Blooded Truth

‘The Wild Heart’ Dylan Mattingly Makes Debut on Nonesuch Records

Early Reviews Are In Book Launched in Brooklyn: ‘The Midnight Special’

Nazi Greeting That Preceded the Trump Handshake

New from Moloko TRAVEL PAINTINGA. Robert Lee’s Omnibus Edition Is Here to Go

David Hockney Liked to Draw by Other Means

When Gates Testifies About Epstein, Will Mask Drop?

Petit Cabinet #7: ‘Just Two More Times to Sleep’

Stadtlichter Presse Makes My Heart Beat Stronger

Statement of Fact

Can We Beat the Lies? All the Lies?

Cold Turkey Press #%&@#$@%#*&#+@%$+ ! ! !