My New Video Poem A poem about limit, connections, and disconnections. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfVLgZZxEEY
Borders of the MInd
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All Work
HIKING ON SINAI
my new poetry video I tore myself away from the everyday misery my people inflict on each other, and I went hiking through the foothills of Mt Sinai. A poem. https://youtu.be/H3nVaIDKgm4
My InterCollective Memoirs on FoundSF
FoundSF, the online San Francisco Digital Archive, has just published two documentary memoirs of mine about the Collective Movement in the Bay Area in the 1970s-‘80s, and the organization known as the InterCollective....
Mahnaz Badihian & John Curl at the Clarion
I recently read with Mahnaz Badihian at the Clarion Performing Arts Center in San Francisco. Here is a video of the event. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKV2mXLCd88
My Reading at Sacred Grounds
This is a video of my poetry reading at Sacred Grounds on March 8, 2023 I read from my new poetry collection, Rainbow Weather. Serving up poetry since 1972, Sacred Grounds is one of the longest-running open poetry reading series in the world....
Rainbow Weather in Berkeley Times
I just wanted to share this review of my new poetry collection Rainbow Weather that was published recently in the local paper, the Berkeley Times.
Alameda Island Poets – John Curl’s Reading 1/4/2023
I read at Alameda Island Poets with Tureeda Mikell and Kim McMillon, on Wednesday, January 4th, 2023, 7 - 9pm, on Zoom. Hosts were Cathy Dana and Alameda Poet Laureate Kimi Sugioka. This is just my segment of the reading. Watch the entire reading with Kim's and...
My Aztec translation in OTHERLANDS
My translation of ancient Aztec poet Nezahualcoyotl is published in OTHERLANDS: A Journey Through Earth's Extinct Worlds, by Thomas Halliday, an acclaimed study by a British palaeontologist, published by Random House and Penguin, exploring life’s adaptability and...
Rainbow Weather reviewed in MidWest Book Review
My new book Rainbow Weather was reviewed by Diane Donovan in MidWest Book Review. http://www.midwestbookreview.com/mbw/nov_22.htm#dianedonovan
My Ancient Mayan Poem Translation in Anthology
This new anthology of 100 classic poems about Outer Space has just been published by Cambridge University Press with my translation from Mayan of Ah Bam’s “Those Who Build Houses and Temples" It is included in chronological order between poems by Chaucer and...
My Mayan Poetry Reading & Interview now on YouTube
My reading of ancient and modern Mayan poetry and interview by Cesar Love of the Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal is now on YouTube. It was recorded on 9/8/22. https://youtu.be/Owniuya-vMI I read ancient and modern poetry in Mayan and in translation, and I am...
My Interview with Bernstein on KPFA
I recently was interviewed, along with Aya de León, by Dennis Bernstein of KPFA. We spoke about environmental poetry and novel writing, read our work, and spoke about the Watershed Poetry Festival. It is now on Youtube....
Outer Space Anthology
Outer Space: 100 Poems is now out from Cambridge University Press in the UK, and will be out in the U.S. in December. It includes my translation of the poem "Those Who Build Houses and Temples,” by Ah Bam, translated from Mayan. Here is the webpage with information...
Farmworkers Song, a poem video
My new poetry video, Farmworkers Song, retells the history of the United Farmworkers Union and the struggle for justice in the fields, in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling against farmworkers' rights to organize. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoZP2WZ14bY
My Mayan and Aztec Translations on FAMSI
You can read my translations of ancient Mayan and Aztec poets on the web site of FAMSI, The Foundation for the Advancement of MesoAmerican Studies http://www.famsi.org/research/curl/maya_index.html
Storm Warning, Poets for the Planet Building Socialism
This is the international book launch reading of Storm Warning, Poets for the Planet Building Socialism, the new multi-lingual international poetry anthology from the Revolutionary Poets Brigade and Kallatumba Press. The video is now on our YouTube channel, with over...
Podcast on Maya Poetry for Haight Ashby Literary Journal
John Curl on the Poetry of the MayaA new podcast on the Maya Poetry of Ah Bam and Gregorio Manuel Vásquez Canché. I read their work in both Maya and English and offers my thoughts on their relevance to our times....
Voetica
I recently recorded 27 poems from my new book Rainbow Weather, for Voetica.com, a web site dedicated to spoken poetry. Voetica is host to an extensive collection of recordings of modern and classic American, British and World English poets....
Rainbow Weather
Press Release announcing the publication of Rainbow Weather: Press Release: Rainbow Weather by John CurlDownload PUBLICATION DATE: NOVEMBER 29, 2022These poems are songs for the road ahead, as climate change transforms how we live on earth.RAINBOW WEATHERPoems for...
My Horoscope
This is my natal chart, done around 1975 by astrologist Ray Couture. In the back room of a bookstore in Berkeley, he explained to me that I was a Grand Trine, a rare configuration of three or more planets forming an equilateral triangle, a pattern believed to foster...
Memories of Drop City
Download the Free PDF Memories of Drop CityDownload Buy the paperback on Amazon.com Memories of Drop City follows a group of people and their radical movement, in the Southwest and on both coasts, in a decade that shaped the rest of the century. "John Curl's...
Indigenous Peoples Day (2017)
Download the Free PDF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAYDownload Buy the paperback on Amazon.com In 1992 Berkeley, California became the first city in the world to officially celebrate October 12 as Indigenous Peoples Day. This book is for people everywhere who want to know more...
Drop City and the New Society
Two articles about the 1960s Counterculture, art, and social revolution, published in The Drop City Newsletter and Inner Space magazine under my Dropper name, Ishmael. (1967) Drop-City-two-articlesDownload
Art, Work, and Class
The conundrum of work and survival for creative people. Published in Toward Revolutionary Art (TRA) magazine. (1974) Art, Work & Class - TRA_1974 compDownload
Worker Cooperatives and Collectives
Two articles published by the Bay Area Directory of Collectives in 1977 and 1980. The first discusses how the structural innovation of the collective led to a resurgence of the cooperative movement in the 1970s. The other article examines the history of Heartwood...
Living in the UXA
At the height of the Great Depression, a group of unemployed Oakland workers decided to take matters into their own hands. The system wasn’t working, so they set up their own system. Money was nearly worthless, so they decided to live by barter. They called themselves...
The Rise and Fall of the Berkeley Co-op 1939-1988
In the 1970s and ‘80s, the Berkeley Co-op was the largest and most successful consumer cooperative in the US. The ranks of people who were active in the Co-op and went on to make other important contributions to the community, reads like a who’s who of the Berkeley...
The Cooperative Movement in Century 21
This is a pamphlet I put out in connection with the publication of my book, For All The People: Uncovering the Hidden History of Cooperation, Cooperative Movements, and Communalism in America. (2009) CO-OP MOVEMENT CENTURY 21Download
Food for People, Not for Profit
The revolution in the food movement of the 1970s in San Francisco and Minneapolis: the rise and fall of the People’s Food System and the People’s Warehouse. This investigative article was included in the 2nd edition of For All The People, Uncovering the Hidden History...
Worker Coops in Crisis
Has human society today ever really been on track? Or has it always been a train wreck? Most students of history can probably agree that there have been eras of greater and lesser social justice and accomplishments, highs and lows. Particular times and places that we...
Market Socialism in Yugoslavia and its Relevance to Cuba Today
The destruction of Yugoslavian socialism by the World Bank in the late 20th century is a cautionary tale as Cuba joins today’s globalized corporate economy. This is my paper, “Market Socialism in Yugoslavia and its Relevance to Cuba”, which I read on June 28, 2016, at...
Reclaiming the American Commons
A quiet upsurge of cooperative activity has been taking place throughout the US, where people are turning to mutual aid, collectivity and the commons. (ROAR magazine, 2016) Reclaiming the American CommonsDownload
Dance of the Condor and Eagle
Oral history of my trip to the Indigenous conference in Quito, Ecuador in 1990, which initiated the movement to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day in place of Columbus, the first European colonizer in the Americas. (1991) The Dance of the Condor and the EagleDownload
Becoming Indigenous
We all descend from Indigenous people. Our ancestors, if we go far enough back, were all indigenous to somewhere. But over the centuries there have been great population movements, resulting in large numbers of people residing in areas where their ethnic groups have...
Indigenous Peoples’ Day and the Pow Wow Highway
Where the pow wow tradition intersects with the new holiday, continuing the struggle today in honor of all of our ancestors and future generations. By Millie Ketcheschawno and John Curl. Published in The Terrain. (1997) Pow Wow HighwayDownload
Estanislao’s Revolt
California Native people lived sustainably and peacefully as far back as history and traditions record, until the Spanish forced them into missions in the late 18th century. Cucunuchi, also known as Estanislao, led the most successful of all California Indian revolts....
Pow Wow Now
Origins and history of pow wows, the meaning of the pow wow circle, the drums and dancers, the styles of dance and dance contests. This article appeared in the Berkeley Daily Planet in four parts. (2010) Pow Wow NowDownload
Twenty Years Later: The Origins of Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Reflections and remembrances by Dennis Jennings and John Curl about their participation in the movement to celebrate Indigenous resistance and revival. This article appeared in the Berkeley Daily Planet (2012) 20 Years of Indigenous Peoples DayDownload
Poetry Videos
For more of my videos, go to my YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/JohnCurlPoetry/ POEM FOR JACK https://youtu.be/b3zEsybicHs THE SAN FRANCISCO GENERAL STRIKE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXMVya43SPs&t=291s A WHEEL IN A WHEEL...
Bibliography
email: jcurl@red-coral.net ABOUT ME I was born and mostly raised in Manhattan, and some in New Jersey. I received a BA in comparative literature from New York City College in 1965. I have an extraordinary daughter, and I've lived in the Bay Area since 1971, where I...
Worker Co-ops vs Wage Slavery
I was a custom woodworker at Heartwood Cooperative Woodshop in Berkeley for over forty years. A group of us ran the shop, usually six to eight who worked full time, plus a few part-timers and hobbyists. I did mostly cabinetry, a lot of kitchens, some furniture, and a...
Indigenous Peoples Day
Around 1980 I stumbled upon the truth about Columbus in an old National Geographic magazine: “His greed awakened, Columbus demanded of each adult an annual tribute: enough gold dust to fill four hawkbells. Pay or perish. Many Indians fled, but the Spaniards tracked...
Ancient American Poets
PREFACE The very idea of ancient American poets and poetry may sound strange to some ears. In the United States, American poetry is often taught as if it is an extension of English poetry. Yet there were rich traditions of poetry on this continent long before the...
Reviews of My Poetry 1975-’82
FOREWORD TO MY POETRY BY JACK HIRSCHMAN, 2012 Jack's Foreword to Revolutionary Alchemy, 2012 Berkeley Barb 1975 Poetry Flash 1981 L.A. Vanguard 1976 City Arts San Francisco 1982 WorkForce 1975 Challenge 1975 ROGER TAOS, L.A. Vanguard...
Poetry in the Streets
POETRY POSTERS, 1977-1982 This is a series of over fifty poem broadsides that I printed, posted in public places, and gave away in the streets and at readings and in the San Francisco Bay Area during between around 1977 and '82. Included in the collection are other...
Justice For Tyrone
On November 1, 1973, three Emeryville, CA white police gunned down Tyrone Guyton, a fourteen-year-old Black teenager from behind. The Oakland Black Panthers launched a major campaign to bring the killer cops to justice. I wrote a poem about it, entitled, "Emeryville...
The Trial of Columbus
A Drama by John Curl CHARACTERSCHRISTOPHER COLUMBUSCAONABO, chief of HaitiCOMMANDER BOBADILLA, Royal InquisitorANACAONA, an Indian woman, spiritual leaderHATUEY, a young Indian manLIEUTENANT OJEDA, a career officerFRIAR BUIL, a worldly monkFRIAR MONTESINOS a young...
Wall Poems of NJ
Poetry in the Streets 1973-1976 In 1971 I returned to California after living in Drop City, Colorado, for two and a half years, and then in New Mexico for two years, where I worked on the Navajo Reservation. I settled in Berkeley and soon began reading my work at open...
The Drop City Newsletter Archive
1966-1967 Drop City started out as an artist colony in 1965 near Trinidad, Colorado, and at the same time as a social experiment in living the Revolution, then quickly became the first hippie commune of the 1960s, the original countercultural community to use domes as...
Fragments of My Life
FAMILY ANECDOTES THE DROP CITY NEWSLETTERS THE WALL POEMS OF NJ POETRY IN THE STREETS REVIEWS OF MY POETRY THE WEST BERKELEY PLAN THE TRIAL OF COLUMBUS MY BOOKS JUSTICE FOR TYRONE ANCIENT AMERICAN POETS INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY WORKER CO-OPS vs WAGE SLAVERY MY...
The West Berkeley Plan
INDUSTRIAL COUNTERCULTURE I arrived Berkeley in 1971, and found a small place in a housing co-op on Channing Way, in a little addition behind the main house. It was perfect for us, a family of three. I made contact with a construction collective called Build, and...
My Near-Death Experiences
The idea for my novel, The Outlaws of Maroon, just came to me out of the blue. I had sat down to write something else, when a childhood memory flashed into my mind. The memory of a place we used to call The Little Woods, something I hadn’t thought about for many...
Family Anecdotes
I simply want to tell the story of my numerous experiments with truth. — Mahatma GandhiIf a fool persists in his folly, he would become wise. — William Blake I BECOME A POET Since my grandpa was a communist, you’d think we’d have subversive literature all around the...
Radio Interviews about The Outlaws of Maroon
J.C. at Bird and Beckett Bookstore Interview with Avotcja on KPFA Mutual Interview with Jack Foley Interview with Mary Jane Poppoff on KAHI Sacramento www.kahi.com Interview with Roy Richards on WebTalkRadio
Maroon Audiobook
The Outlaws of Maroon a novel by John Curl Read by Tiana Melvina Maroon Opening Credits About The Author Maroon Chapter One Maroon Chapter Two Maroon Chapter Three Maroon Chapter Four Maroon Chapter Five Maroon Chapter Six Maroon Chapter Seven Maroon Chapter Eight...
The Outlaws of Maroon
You can listen to the audiobook of The Outlaws of Maroon, read by Tiana Melvina, HERE You can read and download the novel as a pdf HERE: The_Outlaws_of_Maroon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9lfRSg3P08&feature=youtu.be The Outlaws of Maroon is an adult novel...
Cuba
Reading my paper at the U. of Havana Here's my paper, "Market Socialism in Yugoslavia and its Relevance to Cuba", which I read on June 28, 2016, at the Universidad de Habana. DOWNLOADABLE PDF HERE: Market Socialism Curl Article In 2016 I spent two weeks in...
Articles
DANCE OF THE CONDOR AND EAGLE FREE PDF HERE Oral history of my trip to the Indigenous conference in Quito, Ecuador in 1990, which initiated the movement to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day in place of Columbus, the first European colonizer in the Americas. (1991)...
Tom Bates and the Secret Government of Berkeley
Tom Bates and the Secret Government of Berkeley by John Curl An article about the domination of developers over the once-radically innovative city of Berkeley, California and the role of Mayor Tom Bates, a career politician, in bringing that about. The article follows...
Videos
Videos on My Poetry Channel www.youtube.com/user/JohnCurlPoetry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXMVya43SPs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtASKYnefH0 Rainbow Weather https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mfAuOq3OzM A Wheel in a Wheel...
Books by John Curl
POETRY - NOVELS - MEMOIR - HISTORY POETRY YOGA SUTRAS OF FIDEL CASTRO, 2014 FREE PDF COPY HERE REVOLUTIONARY ALCHEMY, 2012 FREE PDF COPY HERE ANCIENT AMERICAN POETS, 2005 FREE PDF COPY HERE SCORCHED BIRTH, 2004 FREE PDF COPY HERE COLUMBUS IN THE...
Market Socialism In Yugoslavia and its Relevance to Cuba Today
The destruction of Yugoslavian socialism by the World Bank in the late 20th century is a cautionary tale as Cuba joins today’s globalized corporate economy. Here's my paper, "Market Socialism in Yugoslavia and its Relevance to Cuba", which I read on June 28, 2016, at...
Anthologies
I am co-editor of the Revolutionary Poets Brigade's annual OVERTHROWING CAPITALISM anthology. Volume 4 will come out in November, 2017. All anthologies are available online & at selected bookstores. OVERTHROWING CAPITALISM, Volume 3: Reclaiming Community Edited by...
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