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Ron Whitehead is poet, writer, editor, publisher, organizer, scholar, professor. The son of Edwin and Greta Whitehead, he grew up on a farm outside of Centertown, population 323, in Ohio County, western Kentucky. He graduated from Ohio County High School in 1968. He attended Georgetown College, Western Kentucky University, The University of Louisville, and Oxford University (England). As undergraduate and graduate student he was the recipient of numerous scholarships, grants, fellowships, awards, and prizes including The Dean's Graduate School Citation at UofL, The English Speaking Union's Oxford Scholar Award, the Joshua B. Everett Oxford Scholar Award, and many others. At Oxford he studied with Dr. Valentine Cunningham, Head of English Literature, at Oxford's International Graduate School. As poet and writer he is the recipient of numerous state, national, and international awards/prizes including The All Kentucky Poetry Prize and The Yeats Club of Oxford's Prize for Poetry. In 2004 he was inducted into Ohio County High School's Hall of Fame. He was nominated, twice, for The Pulitzer Prize. In 2006 Dr. John Rocco (NYC) nominated Ron for The Nobel Prize in Literature.
Ron has taught college for 17 years at The University of Louisville, Spalding University, Jefferson Community College, St. Catharine College, and Bellarmine University. He has presented numerous talks, lectures, and writing workshops around the world at colleges, universities, and institutions which include Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland), The University of Iceland (Reykjavik, Iceland), The University of Braga (Braga, Portugal), The University of Nijmegen (Nigmegen, The Netherlands), New York University (New York, New York), Hofstra University (New York, New York), University of Louisville (Louisville, Kentucky), University of New Orleans (New Orleans, Louisiana), and many more. He has presented papers and chaired sessions at over 60 national and international Literature, Culture, and Arts Conferences including the Thirteenth Annual James Joyce Symposium at University College and Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and the Eighty-Second Annual Scandinavian Culture Conference at Hofstra University on Long Island in New York.
In 1992 Ron founded The Global Literary Renaissance, a non-profit organization, supporting the global literary community. He was Director of the Global Literary Renaissance for 14 years. Ron has produced nearly 2,000 music and poetry events throughout Europe and the USA including many 24, 48, 72 & 90 hour Non-Stop Music & Poetry INSOMNIACATHONs plus he produced The Official Hunter S. Thompson Tribute (featuring Hunter, Johnny Depp, Warren Zevon, Roxanne Pulitzer, David Amram, Hunter's mother, Virginia, & son, Juan, & many others), the London International Poetry & Song Festival (with Richard Deakin), The New York City Underground Music & Poetry Festival (with Casey Cyr & others), The Netherland's 10-day International Meer Dan Woorden Festival (with Jan Pankow & others), LIVE at THE RUD Benefit Concert (with Jim James and Sarah Elizabeth), plus many many more. After he produced INSOMNIACATHON 2008 (April 2008) he retired from producing events.
Ron has edited over 1,000 titles and published over 700 titles including work by His Holiness The Dalai Lama, President Jimmy Carter, Seamus Heaney, Jack Kerouac, Diane di Prima, Allen Ginsberg, John Updike, BONO, Yoko Ono, Andy Warhol, Amiri Baraka, Rita Dove, David Amram, Thomas Merton, Wendell Berry, Edvard Munch, William S. Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso, Herbert Huncke, James Laughlin, Douglas Brinkley, Lee Ranaldo, Robert Hunter, Anne Waldman, Ed Sanders, David Minton, Bob Holman, Cathal O'Searcaigh, Eithne Strong, Theo Dorgan, Jim Carroll, Casey Cyr, Denis Mahoney, Frank Messina, Steve Dalachinsky, Jean Genet, Jan Kerouac, Christopher Felver, Brother Patrick Hart, Robert Lax, Sarah Elizabeth, Olafur Gunnarsson, and many many others. Ron recently retired from editing and publishing.
Ron's work has been exhibited round the world from New York City to Louisville to New Orleans to San Francisco and from India to Czech Republic to Italy to Portugal to Ireland to The Netherlands to Iceland and beyond. The UN/UNESCO "Poetry On The Peaks" program selected The Dalai Lama/Ron Whitehead "Never Give Up" message/poem poster as its theme for 2002. Thousands of copies were donated and shipped to cities, mountain villages, Buddhist, and other communities, groups, and organizations round the world. The "Never Give Up" poem has been published in numerous publications including NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, a book by His Holiness The Dalai Lama, and many others. Ron's "Never Give Up" poem can also be found on t-shirts, cards, posters, and banners all over the world.
For the past 18 years Ron has been GOing non-stop. He is the author of 19 books and he has work on 25 CDs.
His BOOK titles include:
WESTERN KENTUCKY: Lost & Forgotten, Found & Remembered (with Sarah Elizabeth)
THE THIRD TESTAMENT: Three Gospels of Peace (all 3 previously published Hozomeen Press books revised/edited in one volume with art by Lawrence Ferlinghetti & David Minton)
BEAVER DAM ROCKING CHAIR MARATHON (books 1 & 2 new revised 3rd edition)
EVE & THE OPHIDIANS
EXTERMINATE NOISE (with Charlie Newman)
GROUND ZERO
NOT-KNOWING (with Libby Ackerman)
LOVE and DEATH (with David Minton)
QUEST FOR SELF IN THE OCEAN OF CONSCIOUSNESS: IBSEN, HAMSUN, MUNCH, JOYCE: THE ORIGINS OF MODERNISM & EXPRESSIONISM
THE WANDERER
I AM THE FUCKING STORM: God's Open Nerve, We Are The Storm Generation (November/December 2008 release)
4th person singular: THE ADVENTURES of BRAIN MAN (fall 2009 release)
His CD titles include: TAPPING MY OWN PHONE
KENTUCKY ROOTS
KENTUCKY: poems, stories, songs (with Sarah Elizabeth)
KENTUCKY BLUES (with David Amram, www.davidamram.com)
I WILL NOT BOW DOWN (with Icelander Michael Pollock)
EXTERMINATE NOISE (with Charlie Newman)
NOT MUTE
FROM ICELAND TO KENTUCKY & BEYOND
OFF THE CUFF
SWAN BOATS @ FOUR (with Paul K)
THE SHAPE OF WATER (with James Walck)
THE VIKING HILLBILLY APOCALYPSE REVUE
3 SHOTS of THE VIKING HILLBILLY APOCALYPSE REVUE
CLOSING TIME
WALKING HOME (with Frank Messina, www.spokeface.com )
I REFUSE
Ron Whitehead and SOUTHSIDE's SOUTHSIDE LOUNGE
Ron Whitehead and SOUTHSIDE does Live Lunch (October 2008 release)
Ron Whitehead and SOUTHSIDE's PUNKS AIN'T DEAD (October 2008 release)
Ron reads his work with musicians from around the world, in all genres of music, including David Amram, Iceland's Sigur Ros, Tyrone Cotton, Iceland's Michael & Danny Pollock of The Outsiders, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Paul K & The Weathermen, Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Frank Messina & Octopoet & Spoken Motion, James Walck & The Mind2Hands Symphonia, Vassar Clemens, Tom House, By The Grace of God, Black Pig Liberation Front, Jeremy Podgursky & The Pennies, Blowup in Japanese, RB Morris & Hector Qirko, Scaramongo, Sarah Elizabeth, Tony Redhouse, SOUTHSIDE, & numerous others.
Ron's groups have included Voices Without Restraint, Ron Whitehead's Apocalypse Jam, and The Viking Hillbilly Apocalypse Revue. He and Sarah Elizabeth performed and toured together constantly for the past 5 years. He now performs and tours with his new outlaw/trouble/resistance to authority/spoken word/soul band SOUTHSIDE. He was recently nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by New York City professor, James Joyce scholar, music critic, and author of many books, Dr. John Rocco (see letter below).
To The Nobel Prize Committee,
I am writing you about one of America's greatest poets. His name is
Ron Whitehead and for his entire career he has written volatile and important
verse that has given a new presence to American poetry. Whitehead's work is in
the tradition of the Beat Generation but also deeply influenced by rock and roll,
the legacy of the European avant-garde from Knut Hamsun to James Joyce, and his own
native Kentucky. He is at the same time a regional and universal writer; Kentucky
is his home but the world is his subject. Whitehead's poetry is a powerful summation
of the American spirit.
I would like to take this time to bring this extraordinary poet to your attention for consideration for the Nobel Prize in literature. Whitehead's poetry is exuberant and shocking, delicate and blunt, combative and sensitive. There is a vital spirituality in his work that questions the nature of artistic creativity at the same time it embodies it. His work is profoundly engaged in critiquing the control modern American culture has over the individual and the planet. The Beaver Dam Rocking Chair Marathon is a summation of his aesthetics: part Bildungsroman, part rock protest, all Whitehead white hot poetic energy.
As the profile in this package indicates, Whitehead is a tireless promoter of poetry and its power to heal the world. To recognize his work is to recognize the power of the word to resist imperialism, intolerance, and hate. Whitehead has made American poetry a vehicle for social change and a power to transform the world...
Thank you for considering this important American writer.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. John Rocco
Associate Professor of Humanities
SUNY (State University of New York Maritime)
James Joyce scholar John Rocco is the author of The Nirvana Companion, The Beastie Boys Companion, The Doors Companion, The Grateful Dead Companion, and other Schirmer Books. He is completing a volume on James Joyce. His novel Fur was released in 2005. He is a critic for American Book Review and numerous other literary and music publications.
I would like to take this time to bring this extraordinary poet to your attention for consideration for the Nobel Prize in literature. Whitehead's poetry is exuberant and shocking, delicate and blunt, combative and sensitive. There is a vital spirituality in his work that questions the nature of artistic creativity at the same time it embodies it. His work is profoundly engaged in critiquing the control modern American culture has over the individual and the planet. The Beaver Dam Rocking Chair Marathon is a summation of his aesthetics: part Bildungsroman, part rock protest, all Whitehead white hot poetic energy.
As the profile in this package indicates, Whitehead is a tireless promoter of poetry and its power to heal the world. To recognize his work is to recognize the power of the word to resist imperialism, intolerance, and hate. Whitehead has made American poetry a vehicle for social change and a power to transform the world...
Thank you for considering this important American writer.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. John Rocco
Associate Professor of Humanities
SUNY (State University of New York Maritime)
James Joyce scholar John Rocco is the author of The Nirvana Companion, The Beastie Boys Companion, The Doors Companion, The Grateful Dead Companion, and other Schirmer Books. He is completing a volume on James Joyce. His novel Fur was released in 2005. He is a critic for American Book Review and numerous other literary and music publications.
Several thousand of Ron's works have been published round the world in a diverse range of publications from TRIQUARTERLY (Northwestern University/Illinois) to ARTFORUM (Czech Republic) to BLUE BEAT JACKET (Japan) to BEAT SCENE (England) to SOUTHERN REVIEW (North Carolina).
Ron has presented over 6,000 readings of his own creative work round the world. Ron's work is in museum, library, and private collections around the world. The University of Louisville Rare Books & Archives is the permanent repository for Ron's work (past, present, future). 1,500 pieces (of thousands) have been catalogued. Four exhibits have been held. A major exhibition, with catalog, is being planned.
Ron has edited several screenplays. He co-wrote the screenplay for RED VELVET CAKE, an independent feature film produced in Kentucky. The film will premiere in 2008/2009. In 2007 Ron's I WILL NOT BOW DOWN cd was #1 on northern California radio (www.kmud.org). His "Tapping My Own Phone" won Best Spoken Word track in NYC's People's Choice Awards. 2007 saw the release of Sarah's new DON'T DIE YET cd, a new Ron Whitehead & Frank Messina WALKING HOME cd, a new book by Ron, THE WANDERER, Ron's new I REFUSE cd, a new Kerouac book (produced & edited with Rob Zoschke). Ron is included in Christopher Felver's beautiful new book, BEAT (Last Gasp Press), David Amram's new book, UPBEAT: Nine Lives of a Musical Cat (Paradigm Press), Tony Russell's new book, COUNTRY MUSIC ORIGINALS: The Legends and The Lost (Oxford University Press), and William McKeen's OUTLAW JOURNALIST: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson. In September 2007 Ron performed at NYC's Annual HOWL Festival, in October Ron and Sarah celebrated, with Frank Messina and Tyrone Cotton, the release of 3 new CDs and 1 new book with a concert at The Kentucky Center for The Arts, in November Ron and Sarah performed at LIPS 2, The London International Poetry & Song Festival. In December Ron performanced in California, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. In 2008 Ron has performed in NYC and in several States. In May 2008 Ron performed, and co-hosted with Iceland's leading novelist Olafur Gunnarsson, at The Iceland Beat Festival. After near death experiences solo climbing The Viking Mountain Ron and Olafur had several long conversations and birthed The Storm Generation. The 1st Storm Generation Festival will be held in Iceland in June 2009. In 2008 Ron has been performing, producing, writing. He is presently booking 2008/2009 shows for his new band SOUTHSIDE (www.southsideoutlaws.com). He has also just joined forces with J.B. Wilson and Karla Diehl's new ART ECOLOGY/ART ECO movement. ART ECO will be promoting Ron's work all over the world. Starting in October 2008 he'll teach 5 classes (Writing, Hunter S. Thompson, The Beat Generation, 20th Century Literature & Culture) at ART ECOLOGY Headquarters. In February Ron (with SOUTHSIDE) will perfom at the world's largest poetry festival in Nicaragua.
Many of his poems are being translated into Spanish by Argentina's Maria Ines.
To book Ron email ron@tappingmyownphone.com
When not traveling Ron lives in Kentucky. His official website, www.tappingmyownphone.com, annually receives over one million hits from more than 80 countries.
copyright © 2008 Ron Whitehead