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John Brandi
John Brandi
	John Brandi
Born	November 5, 1943 (age 80); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Poet, Travel Writer, Painter, Educator

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John Brandi (born (1943-11-05)November 5, 1943, Los Angeles, California) is an American poet and artist. San Francisco Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman has said of Brandi:

He has been an open roader for much of his life and like his two great forebears, Whitman and Neruda, has named the minute particulars, the details of his sojournings … infusing them with a whole gamut of feelings— compassionate, mischievous, loving and righteous. It's what's made his poetry one of the solid bodies of work that's emerged from the North American West since the '60s.^[1]

Life

Brandi is a native of Southern California. He studied art and anthropology at California State University, Northridge, and graduated in 1965. There he met poets Jack Hirschman and Eric Barker, as well as singer Pete Seeger, who encouraged him towards social work. As a Peace Corps volunteer, he lived in Ecuador from 1966 -1968, where he worked with Quechua farmers in their struggle for land rights. In the Andes he began publishing his poems in hand-sewn mimeograph editions, a trend that preceded the alternative press movement. Returning to the United States, he protested the American War in Vietnam, moved to Alaska, then Mexico, and finally to California's Sierra Nevada mountains, where he met poet and environmental activist Gary Snyder. In 1971 a key member of the San Francisco Renaissance, David Meltzer, published Brandi's first collection of prose poems, Desde Alla. That same year, Brandi left California for New Mexico, built a hand-hewn cabin in the northern mountains, and founded Tooth of Time Books, a small press devoted to poetry.

During his early years in the American Southwest, John Brandi traveled with Japanese poet Nanao Sakaki,^[2] compiled That Back Road In, and began teaching as an itinerant poet in Poetry-in-the-Schools programs throughout the western U.S. and Alaska. In 1979 he made the first of many excursions to India and the Himalayas to retrace his father's journey as a soldier in the India-Burma Theater. An elegy for his father and a tribute to poet Nanao Sakaki were included in his book Reflections in the Lizard’s Eye: notes from the high desert. In 1980 Brandi received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Poetry.

John Brandi has remained a resident of New Mexico, where he continues his rural lifestyle. An ardent traveler, he has sought source and renewal in the geography and peoples of the American Southwest and in distant lands. He has given readings of his poetry throughout the U.S. and overseas, including venues in Paris, Kyoto, Guadalajara and northern India. He has been a guide and lecturer for university students studying in Mexico, Java and Bali. In 2007 he co-curated “Jack Kerouac and the Writer’s Life,” an exhibit at the Palace of the Governor's, Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2009 he gave the keynote address for the Haiku North America conference in Ottawa, Canada, followed by lectures at Punjab University, India, the University of California Bancroft Library, the New Mexico History Museum, and the Upaya Zen Center.

Work

As a poet, Brandi owes much to his predecessors of the Beat tradition, and to poets as diverse as Federico García Lorca and the Japanese haiku master Matsuo Basho. Brandi's writing has been published both in trade and small-press editions, with noteworthy contributions in the realm of illustrated, hand-colored books printed on hand-operated presses. As a visual artist, his mixed-media paintings are enhanced with earth pigments, collage and plant dyes. He was introduced to the world of art and travel by his parents who gave him a notebook and pencils as a young boy, walked him through the Sierra Nevada meadows, encouraged him to observe keenly, draw, and write what he experienced.[3] John Brandi's many books, published in the U.S. and India, include poetry, travel vignettes, essays, modern American haiku and haibun. A complete selection of his publications may be found at UC Berkeley Special Collections, Brown University Library, University at Buffalo Special Collections, and at the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library, Santa Fe, NM.^[3]

Bibliography

Poetry

The Great Unrest (White Pine, 2019)
Pa'Siempre: Cuba Poems (with Renée Gregorio; Tres Chicas Books, 2016)
The World, the World (White Pine, 2013)
Facing High Water (White Pine, 2008)
In What Disappears (White Pine, 2003)
Heartbeat Geography: Selected & Uncollected Poems (White Pine, 1995)
Shadow Play: poems 1987-1991 (Light and Dust, 1992)
Hymn for a Night Feast: poems 1979-1986 (Holy Cow!, 1989)
That Back Road In (Wingbow, 1985)
Narrowgauge to Riobamba (Christopher's Books, 1975)
Turning Thirty Poem (Nail Press, 1974)
Firebook (Nail Press, 1974)
A Partial Exploration of Palo Flechado Canyon (Nail Press, 1973)
Emptylots: Poems of Venice and L.A. (Nail Press, 1971)
Field Notes from Alaska (Nail Press, 1971)
One Week of Mornings at Dry Creek (Christopher Books, 1971)
Desde Alla (Christopher's Press, 1971)

Haiku and haibun

The Way to Thorong La (Empty Bowl, 2020)
Into the Dream Maze (The Palace Press, 2015)
At It Again (Tooth of Time, 2015)
Seeding the Cosmos (La Alameda, 2010)
Blue Sky Ringing (Punjabi Haiku Forum, 2010)
Cloud Pavilion (Bancroft Library Press, 2013)
Staff in Hand, Wind in Pines (Tangram, 2008)
Water Shining Beyond the Fields (Tres Chicas Books, 2006)
One Cup and Another (Tangram, 2004)
Empty Moon / Bellyfull: Haiku from India and Nepal. Pilgrims (India) 2001.
No Other Business Here: a Haiku Correspondence (with Steve Sanfield; La Alameda, 1999)
Weeding the Cosmos (La Alameda, 1994)
That Crow That Visited Was Flying Backwards (Tooth of Time, 1982)

Stories

Reflections in the Lizard's Eye: Notes from the High Desert (Western Edge, 2000)
A Question of Journey (Asia Edition: Book Faith, India, 1999)
A Question of Journey (Light & Dust, 1995)
Diary from a Journey to the Middle of the World (The Figures, 1980)
Desde Alla (Tree/Christopher's, 1971)

Edited

The Unswept Path: Contemporary American Haiku (with Dennis Maloney; White Pine, 2005)
Chimborazo: Life on the Haciendas of Ecuador (Akwesasne Notes, 1976)
Dog Blue Day: Writing from the Penitentiary of New Mexico (Tooth of Time, 1985)

Translations

An Eye Through the Wall: Mexican Poetry 1970-1985 (Tooth of Time, 1986)
A House By Itself: Selected Haiku, Masaoka Shiki (White Pine, 2017)

Poetry Awards

Portland State University Poetry Prize, (1972)
National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship, (1980)
NEA Grants as Editor of Tooth of Time Books, (1980–86)
State Arts Councils Poetry-in-the-Schools Awards: Alaska, Arkansas, New Mexico, Montana, Nevada (1973–1993)
Witter Bynner Foundation Translation Grants - Mexican Poetry (1985), Japanese Poetry (2016)
Just Buffalo Literary Center Writer-in-Residence Award (1988)
Just Buffalo / White Pine Press World of Voices residency award (2004)
The Haiku Foundation Touchstone Distinguished Books Award (2017)

References

^ quoted from Jack Hirschman's preface to Visits to the City of Light (Mother's Milk Press, 2000) as stated on the following site http://www.pilgrimsbooks.com/poetry.html#anchor721165 Archived 2015-11-16 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Nanao or Never Excerpts". Archived from the original on 2007-11-20. Retrieved 2007-11-20.
^ Santiago, Soledad (April 13–17, 2007), "Broadsided by Deja Vu", Pasatiempo, The New Mexican, archived from the original on October 13, 2007

External links

[1] quoted from Jack Hirschman's preface to Visits to the City of Light (Mother's Milk Press, 2000) as stated on the following site http://www.pilgrimsbooks.com/poetry.html#anchor721165 Archived 2015-11-16 at the Wayback Machine

[2] "Nanao or Never Excerpts". Archived from the original on 2007-11-20. Retrieved 2007-11-20.

[3] Santiago, Soledad (April 13–17, 2007), "Broadsided by Deja Vu", Pasatiempo, The New Mexican, archived from the original on October 13, 2007

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{short description|American writer}}
 {{Infobox person
 | name          = John Brandi
-| image         = John_Brandi_in_India.jpg|thumb|right|300px {{Cc-by-sa-3.0|Free use}}
+| image         = John Brandi (Poet).jpg
-| caption       = John Brandi, Madhya Pradesh, India 2009
+| caption       = John Brandi
 | birthname     =
 | birth_date    = {{birth date and age|1943|11|05}}
@@ Line 11: / Line 12: @@
 }}
-'''John Brandi''' (born {{Birth date|1943|11|5}}, Los Angeles, California) is an American poet and artist. San Francisco Poet Laureate [[Jack Hirschman]] has said of Brandi: <blockquote>"He has been an open roader for much of his life and like his two great forebears, Whitman and Neruda, has named the minute particulars, the details of his sojournings … infusing them with a whole gamut of feelings— compassionate, mischievous, loving and righteous. It’s what’s made his poetry one of the solid bodies of work that’s emerged from the North American West since the ‘60s."</blockquote><ref>quoted from Jack Hirschman’s preface to Visits to the City of Light (Mother’s Milk Press, 2000) as stated on the following site http://www.pilgrimsbooks.com/poetry.html#anchor721165</ref>
+'''John Brandi''' (born {{Birth date|1943|11|5}}, [[Los Angeles, California]]) is an American poet and artist. San Francisco Poet Laureate [[Jack Hirschman]] has said of Brandi:
+<blockquote>He has been an open roader for much of his life and like his two great forebears, Whitman and Neruda, has named the minute particulars, the details of his sojournings … infusing them with a whole gamut of feelings— compassionate, mischievous, loving and righteous. It's what's made his poetry one of the solid bodies of work that's emerged from the North American West since the '60s.<ref>quoted from Jack Hirschman's preface to Visits to the City of Light (Mother's Milk Press, 2000) as stated on the following site http://www.pilgrimsbooks.com/poetry.html#anchor721165 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151116044127/http://www.pilgrimsbooks.com/poetry.html#anchor721165 |date=2015-11-16 }}</ref></blockquote>
 ==Life==
-Brandi is a native of southern California. He studied art and anthropology at [[California State University, Northridge]], and graduated in 1965; while there, he met poets [[Jack Hirschman]] and Eric Barker, as well as singer [[Pete Seeger]], who encouraged him towards social work. From 1966 to 1968 he lived in [[Ecuador]] as a [[Peace Corps]] volunteer, working with [[Quechua languages|Quechua]]-speaking farmers in their struggle for land rights. In the [[Andes]] he began publishing his poems in hand-sewn mimeograph editions, a trend that preceded the [[alternative press]] movement. After his travels in South America, he returned to the United States, protested the [[Vietnam War|war in Vietnam]], moved to Alaska, then to Mexico, and finally to the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] mountains of California, where he met poet and environmental activist [[Gary Snyder]], and a key member of the San Francisco Renaissance, [[David Meltzer]], who published Brandi's first collection of prose poems, [http://www.bigbridge.org/issue11/dmmemorybrandi.htm ''Desde Alla'']. In 1971 Brandi moved to New Mexico, built a hand-hewn cabin in a remote canyon, and founded [http://www.privatepress.org/exhibition/tooth_of_time.html Tooth of Time Books], which published the first books of several poets who would become internationally recognized.
+Brandi is a native of Southern California. He studied art and anthropology at [[California State University, Northridge]], and graduated in 1965. There he met poets Jack Hirschman and Eric Barker, as well as singer [[Pete Seeger]], who encouraged him towards social work. As a [[Peace Corps]] volunteer, he lived in [[Ecuador]] from 1966 -1968, where he worked with [[Quechua people|Quechua]] farmers in their struggle for land rights. In the [[Andes]] he began publishing his poems in hand-sewn mimeograph editions, a trend that preceded the alternative press movement. Returning to the [[United States]], he protested the [[American War in Vietnam]], moved to [[Alaska]], then [[Mexico]], and finally to California's [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] mountains, where he met poet and environmental activist [[Gary Snyder]]. In 1971 a key member of the San Francisco Renaissance, [[David Meltzer (poet)|David Meltzer]],  published Brandi's first collection of prose poems, ''Desde Alla''. That same year, Brandi left California  for [[New Mexico]], built a hand-hewn cabin in the northern mountains, and founded Tooth of Time Books, a small press devoted to poetry.
-During his early years in southwestern United States, Brandi traveled with Japanese poet<ref>[http://www.jackmagazine.com/issue3/nanao.html [[Nanao Sakaki]]]</ref> [[Nanao Sakaki]], compiled ''That Back Road In'', and earned a living by teaching as an [[itinerant poet]]. In 1980 he received a [[National Endowment for the Arts]] Fellowship for Poetry. He has remained a resident of New Mexico, and continues to teach as an itinerant poet, supported by numerous grants from state arts councils, the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry, and the Just Buffalo World of Voices.
+During his early years in the American Southwest, John Brandi traveled with Japanese poet [[Nanao Sakaki]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jackmagazine.com/issue3/nanao.html |title=Nanao or Never Excerpts |access-date=2007-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120011920/http://www.jackmagazine.com/issue3/nanao.html |archive-date=2007-11-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> compiled ''That Back Road In'', and began teaching as an itinerant poet in Poetry-in-the-Schools programs throughout the western U.S. and Alaska. In 1979 he made the first of many excursions to [[India]] and the [[Himalayas]] to retrace his father's journey as a soldier in the India-Burma Theater. An elegy for his father and a tribute to poet Nanao Sakaki were included in his book ''Reflections in the Lizard’s Eye: notes from the high desert''. In 1980 Brandi received a [[National Endowment for the Arts]] Fellowship for Poetry.
-In the 1960s Brandi traveled the Americas from southern Chile to Alaska; in 1979, he traveled to India to retrace his father’s journey as an army soldier in the India-Burma Theater. He has since visited [[Nepal]], [[Ladakh]], [[Sikkim]], southeast Asia, China, [[Cuba]], and [[Indonesia]].
-He has remained a resident of [[New Mexico]], where he continues his rural lifestyle in the northern mountains. An ardent traveler, he has sought source and renewal in the geography of Asia and the Americas, as well as dialogue and exchange with people living below the radar of the mainstream. He has been a guide and lecturer for U.S. university students studying in [[Mexico]], [[Java]] and [[Bali]]. In 2009 he gave the keynote address for the Haiku North America conference, [[Ottawa, Canada]]. In 2010 he was invited to speak and give classes at [[Punjab University, India]]. His readings abroad have included [[Paris]], [[Kyoto]], [[Chandigarh]], and in [[Chiapas]] and [[Guadalajara, Mexico]].
+John Brandi has remained a resident of New Mexico, where he continues his rural lifestyle. An ardent traveler, he has sought source and renewal in the geography and peoples of the American Southwest and in distant lands. He has given readings of his poetry throughout the U.S. and overseas, including venues in [[Paris]], [[Kyoto]], [[Guadalajara]] and northern India. He has been a guide and lecturer for university students studying in Mexico, [[Java]] and [[Bali]]. In 2007 he co-curated “Jack Kerouac and the Writer’s Life,” an exhibit at the Palace of the Governor's, [[Santa Fe, New Mexico]]. In 2009 he gave the keynote address for the Haiku North America conference in [[Ottawa, Canada]], followed by lectures at [[Punjab University, India]], the [[University of California]] Bancroft Library, the [[New Mexico History Museum]], and the [[Upaya Zen Center]].
 ==Work==
-As a poet, Brandi owes much to the Beat tradition, and to poets as diverse as [[Federico García Lorca]] and the Japanese haiku masters. As a painter, his mixed media work, often integrating words and paint, is bright with expressionist colors, while his more subtle haiga paintings draw on Asian influences. Brandi's paintings are specifically informed, as is much of his writing, by his world journeys. He was introduced to the art of traveling by his parents, who drove him through California’s diverse landscapes, gave him a box of paints, and encouraged him to sketch and write what he saw and experienced.<ref>{{citation|last=Santiago |first=Soledad |title=Broadsided by Deja Vu |newspaper=Pasatiempo, The New Mexican |date=April 13–17, 2007 |url=http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/52666.html |format=&ndash; <sup>[http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=author%3ASantiago+intitle%3ABroadsided+by+Deja+Vu&as_publication=&as_ylo=&as_yhi=&btnG=Search Scholar search]</sup> |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013225757/http://freenewmexican.com/news/52666.html |archivedate=October 13, 2007 }}</ref>
+As a poet, Brandi owes much to his predecessors of the Beat tradition, and to poets as diverse as [[Federico García Lorca]] and the Japanese haiku master [[Matsuo Basho]]. Brandi's writing has been published both in trade and small-press editions, with noteworthy contributions in the realm of illustrated, hand-colored books printed on hand-operated presses. As a visual artist, his mixed-media paintings are enhanced with earth pigments, collage and plant dyes. He was introduced to the world of art and travel by his parents who gave him a notebook and pencils as a young boy, walked him through the Sierra Nevada meadows, encouraged him to observe keenly, draw, and write what he experienced.[3] John Brandi's many books, published in the U.S. and India, include poetry, travel vignettes, essays, modern American haiku and haibun. A complete selection of his publications may be found at [[UC Berkeley]] Special Collections, [[Brown University]] Library, [[University at Buffalo]] Special Collections, and at the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library, Santa Fe, NM.<ref>{{citation|last=Santiago |first=Soledad |title=Broadsided by Deja Vu |newspaper=Pasatiempo, The New Mexican |date=April 13–17, 2007 |url=http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/52666.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013225757/http://freenewmexican.com/news/52666.html |archivedate=October 13, 2007 }}</ref>
-John Brandi’s numerous publications include poetry, travel essays, limited-edition letterpress books, hand-colored broadsides, and modern American haiku. He has lectured at the [http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/kerouacs_on_the_road_lands_in_santa_fe/C/ Palace of the Governors Museum], Santa Fe, at Idyllwild Arts, California, and has been a guide and lecturer for university students studying in [[Bali]] and in Mexico.
 ==Bibliography==
 ===Poetry===
+* ''The Great Unrest'' (White Pine, 2019)
-* ''Pa’Siempre: Cuba Poems'' (with Renée Gregorio; Tres Chicas Books, 2016)
+* ''Pa'Siempre: Cuba Poems'' (with Renée Gregorio; Tres Chicas Books, 2016)
 * ''The World, the World'' (White Pine, 2013)
 * ''Facing High Water'' (White Pine, 2008)
 * ''In What Disappears'' (White Pine, 2003)
-* ''Visits to the City of Light'' (Mother’s Milk, 2000)
 * ''Heartbeat Geography: Selected & Uncollected Poems'' (White Pine, 1995)
 * ''Shadow Play: poems 1987-1991'' (Light and Dust, 1992)
 * ''Hymn for a Night Feast: poems 1979-1986'' (Holy Cow!, 1989)
 * ''That Back Road In'' (Wingbow, 1985)
+* ''Narrowgauge to Riobamba'' (Christopher's Books, 1975)
+* ''Turning Thirty Poem'' (Nail Press, 1974)
+* ''Firebook'' (Nail Press, 1974)
+* ''A Partial Exploration of Palo Flechado Canyon'' (Nail Press, 1973)
+* ''Emptylots: Poems of Venice and L.A.'' (Nail Press, 1971)
+* ''Field Notes from Alaska'' (Nail Press, 1971)
+* ''One Week of Mornings at Dry Creek'' (Christopher Books, 1971)
+* ''Desde Alla'' (Christopher's Press, 1971)
 ===Haiku and [[haibun]]===
+* ''The Way to Thorong La'' (Empty Bowl, 2020)
 * ''Into the Dream Maze'' (The Palace Press, 2015)
 * ''At It Again'' (Tooth of Time, 2015)
@@ Line 50: / Line 59: @@
 * ''One Cup and Another'' (Tangram, 2004)
 * ''Empty Moon / Bellyfull: Haiku from India and Nepal''. Pilgrims (India) 2001.
-* ''No Other Business Here: a Haiku Correspondence'' (with Steve Sanfield; La Alameda, 1999)
+* ''No Other Business Here: a Haiku Correspondence'' (with [[Steve Sanfield]]; La Alameda, 1999)
 * ''Weeding the Cosmos'' (La Alameda, 1994)
 * ''That Crow That Visited Was Flying Backwards'' (Tooth of Time, 1982)
 ===Stories===
-* ''Reflections in the Lizard’s Eye: Notes from the High Desert'' (Western Edge, 2000)
+* ''Reflections in the Lizard's Eye: Notes from the High Desert'' (Western Edge, 2000)
 * ''A Question of Journey'' (Asia Edition: Book Faith, India, 1999)
 * ''A Question of Journey'' (Light & Dust, 1995)
-* ''In the Desert we do not Count the Days'' (Holy Cow!, 1991)
 * ''Diary from a Journey to the Middle of the World'' (The Figures, 1980)
-* ''Desde Alla'' (Tree/Christopher’s, 1971)
+* ''Desde Alla'' (Tree/Christopher's, 1971)
 ===Edited===
@@ Line 69: / Line 77: @@
 ===Translations===
 * ''An Eye Through the Wall: Mexican Poetry 1970-1985'' (Tooth of Time, 1986)
+* ''A House By Itself: Selected Haiku, Masaoka Shiki'' (White Pine, 2017)
 ==Poetry Awards==
@@ Line 75: / Line 84: @@
 * NEA Grants as Editor of Tooth of Time Books, (1980–86)
 * State Arts Councils Poetry-in-the-Schools Awards: Alaska, Arkansas, New Mexico, Montana, Nevada (1973–1993)
-* Witter Bynner Foundation Translation Award - Mexican Poetry (1985)
+* Witter Bynner Foundation Translation Grants - Mexican Poetry (1985), Japanese Poetry (2016)
 * Just Buffalo Literary Center Writer-in-Residence Award (1988)
 * Just Buffalo / White Pine Press World of Voices residency award (2004)
+* The Haiku Foundation Touchstone Distinguished Books Award (2017)
+==References==
+<references/>
 ==External links==
+{{commons category|John Brandi}}
-* [http://www.johnbrandi.com Official Website]
-* [http://www.johnbrandi.com/gettingthewordout.html Getting The Word Out]
+* [http://www.johnbrandi.org Official Website]
+* [http://www.johnbrandi.org/gettingthewordout.html Getting The Word Out]
 * [http://www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/books/readings_signings/desert-calling-poet-john-brandi/article_a28b8bda-58b6-5923-af9f-595aa74e5536.htm Santa Fe New Mexican - Desert calling: Poet John Brandi]
-* [http://www.johnbrandi.com/Essay-Nanao-or-Never.html John Brandi on Nanao Sakaki]
+* [http://www.johnbrandi.org/Essay-Nanao-or-Never.html John Brandi on Nanao Sakaki]
 * Brandi's poems in the [http://www.thedrunkenboat.com/brandi.htm Summer 2001 issue of ''The Drunken Boat'']
 * [http://www.bigbridge.org/issue7/artbrandi.htm Glyph Poems]
+* [http://www.reneegregorio.com Renee Gregorio - Pa'Siempre: Cuba Poems / with John Brandi]
-*{{worldcat id|id=lccn-n50-43312}}
-==References==
-<references/>
 {{Authority control}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Brandi, John}}
+[[Category:1943 births]]
+[[Category:Living people]]
 [[Category:Poets from California]]
 [[Category:Beat Generation writers]]
 [[Category:English-language haiku poets]]
-[[Category:1943 births]]
-[[Category:Living people]]
 [[Category:American expatriates in Ecuador]]

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