Book to be published - Spring 2009

MY NAME IS NEW ORLEANS

40 Years of Poems & Other Jazz


After surviving the horrors of Hurricane Katrina, Professor ARTURO, a New Orleans spoken word artist, will have his book, My Name Is New Orleans, a 300-plus page collection of poetry, songs, psalms, paeans, toasts and hieroglyphs (1968 – 2008) published in late Spring 2009 by Margaret Media, Inc. http://www.margaretmedia.com

Professor ARTURO has spent decades chronicling the New Orleans traditions, heritage and lifestyle through poetry. A host of publications including FAHARI, The American Poetry Review, Ebony Magazine, The New Orleans Tribune and The Minnesota Review have printed Professor ARTURO's poetry, but his highly rhythmic work is meant to be heard, as well as read. "It's half-spoken, half-sung," he says. "That style brings out the nature of song in poetry."

Schedule your organization's venue for a performance/book signing:
arthurpfister@yahoo.com

Professor ARTURO, a poet and fiction writer from New Orleans, is a Spoken Word artist, educator, performer, editor and speechwriter who received a Master of Arts degree in Writing from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. degree in English/Journalism from the State University of New York-College at New Paltz. As one of the original Broadside poets of the 1960s, Professor ARTURO has collaborated on a medley of projects with a melange of artists including painters, musicians, photographers, dancers, singers, fire eaters, waiters, cab drivers, and other members of the Great Miscellaneous.   

He has performed his poetry, fiction, toasts and “jazz poems” on a solo basis or with musical accompaniment at Ebony Square, Vincent’s City Club, the Contemporary Arts Center, the Louisiana Folklife Festival, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Urban League’s Annual Golden Gala, Ashe Cultural Arts Center, Tulane University’s Amistad Research Center’s Achievement Award Banquet, True Brew Coffeehouse, the Maple Leaf Bar and an array of public/parochial schools, colleges, and churches nationwide. He has also served as Featured Performance Poet at Sweet Lorraine’s jazz club and co-founded the performance series “ARTURO and Joe’s Old Skool Jazz & Poetry Open Mic Night” at the legendary Edgelake Bar (featured in Elvis Presley’s “King Creole”).   

His work has appeared in such diverse publications as FAHARI, the American Poetry Review, the Shooting Star Review, the Minnesota Review, the Gallery Mirror, EBONY, From a Bend in the River, Mesechabe, Word Up, the Chicory Review, the New Laurel Review, the New Orleans Tribune, We Speak As Liberators, Black Spirits, A Broadside Treasury, and Swapping Stories: Folktales From Louisiana.   He has taught at educational institutions ranging from Northeastern University (Visiting Poet for the Africana Studies Center) to Texas Southern University (Writer In Residence). He has served as Academic Instructor for the New Orleans Urban League’s Computer Operations Training Center and as Poet In Residence at the Neighborhood Gallery.   

Inquiries about the author’s availability for workshops, readings, collaborative projects, seminars, residencies, and publications should be directed to: arthurpfister@yahoo.com