Experiencing other cultures and exploring the possibilities of creativity in a sharing,compassionate and non competative community. Creating theater, poetry and music and a hybrid art that merges all three. Engaging my country in the world community in social, cultural and political dialogue through the arts
Music
World Music, Jazz, Reggae, Folk, Roots Rock, Alt-country and Americana. Singer/songwriters: Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Todd Rundgren, Leonard Cohen, Steve Earle, Eliza Gillikson, Jonatha Brooke, Ani DiFranco, The Philosopher Kings, Carlos Jones and the Plus Band, The Blind Boys of Alabama, U2, Bruce Springsteen, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Kermit Ruffins, The Meters, Motown, Bonnie Raitt, John Lee Hooker
Movies
Independent and foreign films. Satires such as Network, King of Hearts,They Live! Epics: Dr Zhivago, Lord of the Rings, Godfather. Comedies: The Big Night, Sideways, Stranger Than Fiction
Television
is mind control in general. I do watch sports but not addictively except the Cleveland teams. Also MSNBC, Countdown and Rachel Maddow, The Weather Channel of course
Books
Zen Mind, Beginners Mind, Suziki, Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men and The Road, TC Boyle's short stories. Nine Gates, entering the mind of poetry by Jane Hirshfield. Travel: Tropical Classical by Pico Ayer, Singapore Erotica and Catherine Lim's Short Stories (singapore author). I'm working on a novel based loosely on Mikhail Bulgakov's Master and Margarita, a surrealist novel written in Russia during Stalin's Reign of Terror, so I'm also rereading that. A political junkie, I subscribe to Harpers, The Nation, and for literary stuff, The Sun. Visit the November 3rd Club Ezine on line, I'm the poetry editor. I'm also the editor of Muse Magazine
Heroes
My Mother, she raised six kids (me and my five sisters) on her own after my father passed away when we were young. Also my Grandma Zelma, Appalachian poet woman. The Usual Suspects: Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy (What a different country America would be if they had lived)Ghandi, St. Francis, Thoreau, Shakespeare. Intellectually, Calvin Thayer, now passed on, my Shakespeare scholar at Ohio U. and Edgar Whan, professor emeritus also at OU
About me: I am a poet, actor, singer currently residing in my home town, Cleveland, Ohio. I have six books of poetry and monologues published by four different presses. I have created 2 Solo Theater Works and Collaborated with Shawn D. Jackson on "Homegirl And Whiteboy." As an actor I have appeared in numerous productions in Cleveland at Dobama,the Ensemble, the Cleveland Playhouse,and the Cleveland Public Theater, where I directed "Junk Bonds" for the new play festival, and was co-writer of an adaptation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, "Blue Sky Transmission." I also front the band Tongue-in-Groove, an ecletic ensemble of poetry and songs.
My principal publisher is bottom dog press, Larry Smith, editor; He published both "The Road that Carried Me Here," and the sequel,"Song that Fathoms Home." We also co-edited the anthology of contempory buddhist poetry in the US, "America Zen." He will be bringing out my new collection, "Our Way of Life," in the fall of 2007.
I also published my spoken word book, "The Bone-Orchard Conga," still my best seller, with Wordsmith Press, Steve Marsh, editor, which is the primary outlet for performance poets in the US.
markk kuhar's deep cleveland, a cleveland based press, published my first haiku collection, "wet sand raven tracks" and will publish my second collection this fall.
Fractal Edge Press published my two solo theater works
"Dis -- Voices from a Shelter," and "Us Vers Us? Talking Across America."
More info on all these books can be found on my web site www.raymcniece.com.
I am the vocalist for the eclectic funk, rock, jazz ensemble Tongue-in-Groove. CDs are available through my website and from flipcity records. You can find live music clips and photos of the band at www.myspace.com/tongueingroove. You can hear my spoken word pieces at mongo indiefeed.
When I'm not writing or performing my own material I am working in schools k-college facilitating student writing and performance workshops. Visit my website for more details on all of the above: WWW.RAYMCNIECE.COM. thanks.
I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
Who I'd like to meet: Other writers, performers and musicians, and continue to develop a network for perfomance poetry, alternative music, experimental theater, social justice and political action
Last night, I had a dream that I lived somewhere in the So. Pacific, and you were my downstairs neighbor. It was cool, because you had a spider monkey with an orange afro and a bikers vest. While it was just a dream, it is pretty accurate depiction of my reality. Best Wishes.
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