What's going on, Albuquerque?

Larry Goodell's FB Photos of Local Poets & Artists

This is National Poetry Month. The Alibi did a nice piece on it, highlighting four local poets. I might mention that 3 of the 4 have appeared here on The Sunday Poem (Richard Oyama, Greta Pullen, and Adam Rubenstein) as well as Alibi Arts/Lit Editor Erin Adair-Hodges who authored the piece. The Alibi's web page also features a piece on ABQ's poetry history by Larry Goodell.

But there is something else that has happened. Everybody is talking about this amazing FaceBook album of poets and artists that were part of the Duke City literary and artistic milieu. The album was posted by Goodell. It is a growing collection of photos, many from the 1970's, that reflects the vibrant poetry scene Albuquerque has hosted for the last half century.

This is both important and fascinating. Most all of these shots are personal photos of luminaries such as Robert Creeley, Joy Harjo, Simon Ortiz and many, many more (even Allen Ginsberg). It also shows some shots of the famous Thunderbird Bar in Placitas. And the captions and comments are just as valuable as the pictures. Thanks Larry. And do you still have those striped pants?

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Comment by larry goodell on April 25, 2010 at 12:40pm: yes I still have them since I tend not to throw stuff away which leads to some consternation at home . . .

Comment by lisa gill on April 25, 2010 at 6:43pm: Those trousers are as captivating as your captions... It is such a lovely lovely lovely archive.... gracias for sharing to the ditchrider for highlighting it...

Comment by JMG on May 2, 2010 at 6:38pm: My second cousin, the writer Lucia Berlin was part of this scene. She lived in Corrales and also near UNM for a time... Albuquerque was a background to some of her stories. She was close friends with Ed Dorn and Bobbie, R. Creeley's second wife. Larry, let me know if you remember her... Jill