Return of "Your Standup Poetry Guy," Jack McCarthy

photo by Peter Vicinanza

Jack McCarthy, "Your Standup Poetry Guy," is returning to the East Coast and will deliver a night of his original performance poetry at the Chelmsford Library on Thursday, April 3, 2008, at 7 p.m.

Jack McCarthy formerly a Boston-area working guy recently retired to Smokey Point, Washington. He’s been writing poetry since the mid-60’s, averaging about a poem a year until 1992-93, when two things happened. First, his new wife blackmailed him into attending a workshop with Galway Kinnell; then he brought his daughter Annie, for her birthday, to the open mike at the Cantab Lounge in Central Square, Cambridge, hoping she’d get excited about poetry. Jack was the one who got hooked.

Since then he’s brought out a book of poetry (Grace Notes), two chapbooks (Actual Grace Notes and Too Old to Make Excuses (But Still Young Enough to Make Love)), a 60-minute cassette tape (Poems for Hannah), and a CD (Breaking Down Outside a Gas Station). A major book, Say Goodnight, Grace Notes, was recently released by EM Press to rave reviews. His work is included in the anthology The Spoken Word Revolution.

Jack was a member of the Boston team at the 1996 National Poetry Slam, and was an engaging minor character in the feature film "Slamnation," which documented that event. He was a member of the Worcester team at the 2000 National Poetry Slam, where he finished as the 10th ranked individual. The Boston Phoenix has named him “Best Standup Poet,” the Boston Poetry Awards “Best Love Poet,” and the Cambridge Poetry Awards “Best Spoken Word” and “Best Humorous Poet .” The Boston Globe says, “In the poetry world, he's a rock star.” For five years he had a local cable TV show on which he got to trade poems with national figures like Donald Hall, Thomas Lux, and Stephen Dobyns, as well as dozens of wonderful local poets.

His website is http://www.standuppoet.net/.Among his influences he numbers Robert Frost, Dylan Thomas, and Garrison Keillor. He doesn't think of himself as a "performance poet," but as a "standup poetry guy," a writer of poems that perform themselves.

Poet Stephen Dobyns has written, "Jack McCarthy is one of the wonders of contemporary poetry. He writes—and often performs—dazzling narratives full of wit and humor, sadness and hard thinking. He should be cloned." Of Say Goodnight, Grace Notes, ALA Booklist says, "McCarthy brings his compelling experiences to his poetry with nimble humor, hard-won wisdom, and a raconteur's knack for telling diabolically barbed stories…concrete, candid, personal, and utterly captivating…caustic, sexy and smart."Thomas Lux has written of him, "The only ambition he seems to have is to tell the truth as best he can in poems." That is a very worthy ambition, but it's not his only one. He also hopes to be remembered as an integral member of the movement to restore poetry to its rightful place in everyday American life. So that when Americans think of poetry, they don't think of school and homework, but of laughter and tears; a shortcut to the heart.

For more information on Jack McCarthy visit his web site at www.standupoet.net