Janet Hamill
Encyclopedia
Janet Hamill is an American poet and spoken word artist. Her poem "K-E-R-O-U-A-C" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize
, and her fifth collection, "Body of Water
," was nominated for the William Carlos Williams Award
by the Poetry Society of America
.
. Both were considered campus outcasts and beatniks. They bonded over art and rock 'n roll on the staff of the Avant, the campus literary magazine, and backstage at the campus theatre where they were both active. After graduation, Janet and Patti made their way to New York City,where they found their first apartments near Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Patti moved in with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe
, and Janet lived a few blocks away. In 1968, Janet moved to the lower east side, where she briefly shared an apartment with Patti. For the next 25 years, lower Manhattan was Janet's home. With New York City as her base, she interweaved jobs in bookstores with travels across the United States and down into Mexico. She took a freighter across the Atlantic and travelled through southern Europe, Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania . Upon her return in 1975, Hamill published her first book Troublante and became an active member of the downtown literary community. She read frequently at venues such as the Poetry Project at St. Mark's. She wrote, directed, and acted in Bob Holman
's Poet's Theatre and performed with new wave musician Adele Bertei (The Contortions) at the Mudd Club.
A strong proponent of the spoken word, Janet has read widely at such well known venues as The Poetry Project at St. Marks Church, The People’s Poetry Gathering, The Walt Whitman Cultural Center, the WORD Festival, the Bowery Poetry Club
, the Knitting Factory, CBGB’s Gallery, the Nuyorican Poets Café
, Central Park Summer Stage, Lowell Celebrates Kerouac , the Andy Warhol Museum, Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival, Rubin Museum of Art
, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Liss Ard Festival in County Cork, Ireland, Patti Smith’s Meltdown Festival in London, the Latitude Festival
in Southwold, England, and Liverpool’s Heartbeats series.
Hamill has released two CDs of spoken word and music in collaboration with the band Moving Star (bassist Bob Torsello, guitarist Jay LoRubbio (Torsello and LoRubbio are members of the band Shrubs
) and percussionist Greg Feller). Hamill was signed to Mouth Almighty Records;a subsidiary of Mercury Records
. However, no recordings were released on that label. Flying Nowhere, released by NOT Records in 2000, was produced by Lenny Kaye
and executive produced by Bob Holman
; the CD featured performances by Lenny Kaye and Patti Smith. Genie of the Alphabet (NOT Records 2005), produced by Janet Hamill and Bob Torsello, featured cameos by Beat legend David Amram
, Bob Holman, Lenny Kaye, and Patti Smith. Moving Star, now reconfigured as Lost Ceilings with new guitarist Mark McNutt, had their debut performance on New Year's Day 2011 at St. Mark's Church. They performed Hamill's poem "Green Tara as Protector of the Eight Fears."
On February 9, 2011, Hamill opened for Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye at St. Mark's Church to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their first performance together.
Hamill presently resides in New York's lower Hudson Valley with her husband, writer and musician Joseph Csida. She is an instructor and member of the board of advisors at The North East Poetry Center's College of Poetry, in Warwick, NY. She is also a member of the Seligmann Foundation in Sugar Loaf NY, an organization located at the estate of Surrealist painter Kurt Seligmann
, dedicated to his ongoing legacy and the legacy of Surrealism
.
Pushcart Prize
The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....
, and her fifth collection, "Body of Water
," was nominated for the William Carlos Williams Award
William Carlos Williams Award
The William Carlos Williams Award is given out by the Poetry Society of America for a poetry book published by a small press, non-profit, or university press....
by the Poetry Society of America
Poetry Society of America
The Poetry Society of America is a literary organization founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists including Witter Bynner. It is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Past members of the have included such renowned writers as Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent...
.
Life
Born in Christ Hospital in Jersey City, Hamill spent her first five years gazing across the Hudson River from the Palisades in Weehawken NJ. In 1950, her family moved further north to New Milford, NJ in Bergen County. In 1963, she attended Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) in south Jersey, where she earned a BA in English in 1967. At Glassboro, Hamill met life-long friend and collaborator, musician and poet Patti SmithPatti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
. Both were considered campus outcasts and beatniks. They bonded over art and rock 'n roll on the staff of the Avant, the campus literary magazine, and backstage at the campus theatre where they were both active. After graduation, Janet and Patti made their way to New York City,where they found their first apartments near Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Patti moved in with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits, photos of flowers and nude men...
, and Janet lived a few blocks away. In 1968, Janet moved to the lower east side, where she briefly shared an apartment with Patti. For the next 25 years, lower Manhattan was Janet's home. With New York City as her base, she interweaved jobs in bookstores with travels across the United States and down into Mexico. She took a freighter across the Atlantic and travelled through southern Europe, Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania . Upon her return in 1975, Hamill published her first book Troublante and became an active member of the downtown literary community. She read frequently at venues such as the Poetry Project at St. Mark's. She wrote, directed, and acted in Bob Holman
Bob Holman
Bob Holman is a poet and poetry activist in the United States.- Career :After graduating from Columbia University in 1970, Bob Holman founded, with Sara Miles and Susie Timmons, the NYC Poetry Calendar, a free monthly publication with all the readings and poets "on the same page"...
's Poet's Theatre and performed with new wave musician Adele Bertei (The Contortions) at the Mudd Club.
A strong proponent of the spoken word, Janet has read widely at such well known venues as The Poetry Project at St. Marks Church, The People’s Poetry Gathering, The Walt Whitman Cultural Center, the WORD Festival, the Bowery Poetry Club
Bowery Poetry Club
The Bowery Poetry Club is a New York City poetry performance space founded by Bob Holman in 2002. Located at 308 Bowery, between Bleecker and Houston Streets in Manhattan's East Village, the BPC provides a home base for established and upcoming artists...
, the Knitting Factory, CBGB’s Gallery, the Nuyorican Poets Café
Nuyorican Poets Café
The Nuyorican Poets Café is a non-profit organization in Alphabet City, Manhattan. It is a bastion of the Nuyorican art movement in New York City, USA, and has become a forum for poetry, music, hip hop, video, visual arts, comedy and theatre.-History:...
, Central Park Summer Stage, Lowell Celebrates Kerouac , the Andy Warhol Museum, Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival, Rubin Museum of Art
Rubin Museum of Art
__notoc__The Rubin Museum of Art is a museum dedicated to the collection, display, and preservation of the art of the Himalayas and surrounding regions, especially that of Tibet...
, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Liss Ard Festival in County Cork, Ireland, Patti Smith’s Meltdown Festival in London, the Latitude Festival
Latitude Festival
The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006....
in Southwold, England, and Liverpool’s Heartbeats series.
Hamill has released two CDs of spoken word and music in collaboration with the band Moving Star (bassist Bob Torsello, guitarist Jay LoRubbio (Torsello and LoRubbio are members of the band Shrubs
Shrubs (American band)
-History:Shrubs are an American rock ‘n roll band formed in 1994 in Rock Tavern, New York. The band members are Bob Torsello , Rob Takleszyn , Jay LoRubbio...
) and percussionist Greg Feller). Hamill was signed to Mouth Almighty Records;a subsidiary of Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
. However, no recordings were released on that label. Flying Nowhere, released by NOT Records in 2000, was produced by Lenny Kaye
Lenny Kaye
Lenny Kaye is an American guitarist, composer and writer who is best known as a member of the Patti Smith Group.- Early life :...
and executive produced by Bob Holman
Bob Holman
Bob Holman is a poet and poetry activist in the United States.- Career :After graduating from Columbia University in 1970, Bob Holman founded, with Sara Miles and Susie Timmons, the NYC Poetry Calendar, a free monthly publication with all the readings and poets "on the same page"...
; the CD featured performances by Lenny Kaye and Patti Smith. Genie of the Alphabet (NOT Records 2005), produced by Janet Hamill and Bob Torsello, featured cameos by Beat legend David Amram
David Amram
David Amram is an American composer, musician, conductor, and writer. As a classical composer and performer, his integration of jazz , ethnic and folk music has led him to work with the likes of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Willie Nelson, Langston...
, Bob Holman, Lenny Kaye, and Patti Smith. Moving Star, now reconfigured as Lost Ceilings with new guitarist Mark McNutt, had their debut performance on New Year's Day 2011 at St. Mark's Church. They performed Hamill's poem "Green Tara as Protector of the Eight Fears."
On February 9, 2011, Hamill opened for Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye at St. Mark's Church to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their first performance together.
Hamill presently resides in New York's lower Hudson Valley with her husband, writer and musician Joseph Csida. She is an instructor and member of the board of advisors at The North East Poetry Center's College of Poetry, in Warwick, NY. She is also a member of the Seligmann Foundation in Sugar Loaf NY, an organization located at the estate of Surrealist painter Kurt Seligmann
Kurt Seligmann
Kurt Seligmann was a Swiss-American Surrealist painter and engraver. He was known for his fantastic imagery of medieval troubadors and knights engaged in macabre rituals and inspired partially by the carnival held annually in his native Basel, Switzerland.He was born Kurt Leopold Seligmann in...
, dedicated to his ongoing legacy and the legacy of Surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
.
Poetry
- Troublante, Oliphant Press (1975)
- The Temple, Telephone Books (1980)
- Nostalgia of the Infinite, Ocean View Books (1992)
- Lost Ceilings, Telephone Books, (1999)
- Body of Water, Bowery Books (2008)
Anthologies
- Ordinary Women: An Anthology of Poetry by New York City Women. Edts. Sara Miles, Patricia Spears Jones, Sandra Maria Esteves and Fay Chiang. Ordinary Women, 1978
- Up Late: American Poetry Since 1970. Edited by Andrei Codrescu. 4 Walls 8 Windows, 1987
- Deep Down: The New Sensual Writing by Women. Edited by Laura Chester. Faber and Faber, 1988
- The Unmade Bed: Sensual Writing on Married Love. Edited by Laura Chester. Harper Collins, 1992
- More Reflections on the Meaning of Life. Edited by David Friend. Time-Life Books, 1993
- Living With the Animals. Edited by Gary Indiana. Faber and Faber, 1994
- Will Work for Peace: New Political Poems. Edited by Brett Axell. Zeropanik Press, 1999
- Bowery Women Poems. Edts. Bob Holman and Marjorie Tesser. Bowery Books, 2006
Grants/Awards
- One Voice Work Grant, 2001-2011
- Ramapo-Catskill Library Program of the Year, 1999