“From the Poet to the Podcast” with Christopher Luna (GWTW768)

The last time I crossed creative paths with today’s guest was for my Innovators of Vancouver project over 11 years ago. Recently, as I’ve been getting into creative writing and poetry, his name naturally resurfaced, along with the open mic poetry events and workshops he facilitates throughout the area. Christopher Luna is a poet, collage artist, teacher, and maximalist who has been instrumental in fostering a creative community in Vancouver, Washington. In this conversation, Christopher shares the origins of the Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic events and how he believes poetry chose him. We discuss what he learned from the legends and gods of poetry—Allen Ginsberg, Walt Whitman, and Antler. Not to mention topics such as self-promotion, self-doubt and dissatisfaction, the subjective nature of art, writing versus arranging, curation, dream logic, and how art can help others. No matter what art medium you are currently obsessed with, enter this conversation with an open mind because Christopher has much to teach us all.

Show Links

• Christopher Luna
• Printed Matter Vancouver
• Christopher Luna on Innovators of Vancouver
• Morgan Paige
• Kickstarter: The Marvel Art of David Mack and Alex Maleev—2 Deluxe Books
• David Mack on Facebook
• Allen Ginsberg
• Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University
• Ed Sanders
• Denise Levertov
• The Beat Poets
• Annie Lighthart
• Airlie Press
• Allen Ginsberg Quote: “Well, while I’m here I’ll do the work…”
• Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
• Collected Poems 1947-1980 by Allen Ginsberg
• Projective Verse by Charles Olson
• Mary Oliver
• Allen Ginsberg wore khakis
• Harry Everett Smith
• Rex Foundation
• The Harry Smith Print Shop at Naropa University
• Anne Waldman
• Diane di Prima
• Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
• Jess Collins
• Questlove
• Summer of Soul
• Ted Berrigan
• Patti Smith
• Beats and Other Rebel Angels: A Tribute to Allen Ginsberg
• Amiri Baraka
• Antler
• Jack Collom
• Tetragrammaton – Curated by Rick Rubin
• Broken Record
• The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
• Photo by NASA on Unsplash