Portraits chapbook

During the time I was documenting the original poetry readings at Bill's Records & Tapes, I photographed a number of spoken word artists practicing their craft. Although on occasion these artists would perform works written by others, a performer typically reads or performs material he has written himself, gradually adding to the canon of self-penned poetry and monologues over time. If such an artist continues along the path long enough to amass a reasonable catalog of material, he or she will generally issue what's known as a chapbook - a self-published collection of his work.

Since poets and open mic artists in general do not have access to significant funds or to high quality printing equipment, and because public funding of the arts tends to be minimal at best, these chapbooks are usually homemade affairs, often done on Xerox machines, or, at times, printed at places like Kinko's or OfficeMax. Runs are generally very limited, with copies distributed almost exclusively among other poets and literary types through open mic readings or through arts-friendly places like Paperbacks Plus in East Dallas. Still, as a medium for self expression, the chapbook is one of the most viable means of getting one's work out there in the small and somewhat closely knit East Dallas literary community.

I am not and have never been a poet, but I used to hang around them a lot through the weekly readings at Bill's, and in 2003 I took it upon myself to create my own version of a chapbook, substituting photography and short biographies for the poetry. In the great DIY tradition, the book was a homemade affair, put together entirely in Photoshop, and printed, two copies at a time, using a computer printer. Pages were cut with a paper cutter and bound together with a heavy duty stapler. The dust jackets were cut from a large roll of black poster paper purchased at a local teachers' store, and the stencilled lettering cut by hand with an exacto knife and cardboard template. The book sold for $12.50, and, as is the norm with chapbooks, was printed and sold at a loss. Twenty-three copies were printed of the "deluxe" version presented here, in addition to some 40-50 copies made of a much less expensive "chapbook" edition which lacked the higher quality paper, stenciled dust jacket, and separate pages for each photograph.

This book has been out of print since December 2003. Only one finished copy of the deluxe edition remains in my personal collection, along with two unsold copies of the cheaper edition and one "proof" copy of each version. After some consideration, I decided to pull the book out of mothballs and make it available online. The book features portraits and short biographical sketches of each subject, most of whom were current in the poetry / open mic scene at the time the book was printed. Many of the artists featured have since moved on to other things, and much of the information in the book is now outdated. This, and the limited commercial interest in the material (something common to all chapbooks) are the main reasons why the Portraits book has never been reprinted. Nevertheless, here it is, presented again after years of obscurity.

Click HERE to view the Portraits book online.

Where are they now?

Alex Rollert currently makes his residence in Austin.

Alice Tyler teaches at the college / university level.

In January 2007, Bill Wisener relocated his store from the Spring Valley Road location, its home of 26 years, to its current location on South Lamar Street in downtown Dallas.

Corey McLauchlan finished her degree at Austin College in Sherman, TX.

Cynthia Shields continues to live in the D/FW area.

Desmene Statum is working on a degree in multimedia design and continues to write and perform her poetry.

Jay Mollenkamp moved back to his native Missouri and put out a CD of spoken word material. The poetry and artist community lost him on July 4, 2010.

Jenny Huey became a pharmacy technician and still plays her music occasionally in the Austin, TX area.

Joey Cloudy and Jolee Davis founded Project 108, a non-profit corporation dedicated to supporting underground poets and artists. Project 108 was the publisher of Death List Five, a local poetry / art magazine they created.

Josh Lewis moved to California and now works in the graphic design field.

Karen X Minzer has taught yoga and is still active in the arts community. She is currently Program Director for WordSpace.

Katy Condry (Sams) finished her degree and still resides in the D/FW Metroplex.

Marie Eland-Thill continues to live in the D/FW area.

Max Earl Blair has returned to school to pursue his Doctorate.

Paul Sexton continues to be an active contributor in the local poetry / open mic scene, having hosted readings in Arlington, TX and at the Bar of Soap in Dallas. He was also the driving force behind DFW Open Mics, which worked to promote local spoken word artists. Currently he can be seen and heard as co-host of the weekly open mic at the Mochalux Coffee House.

Rhie Azzam currently makes her residence in Austin, Texas and is active in political causes.

Shanna Hale spent some time in the Corpus Christi area working as a substitute teacher, and later returned to the D/FW metroplex. She currently makes a living in retail management and continues to write, with her work having been published in a number of anthologies.

Valeria Tyrodios can be found at Paperbacks Plus, a local used bookstore and supporter of the Dallas literary community.