Gerald Nicosia. Courtesy Mill Valley Literary Review.
Gerald Nicosia (born November 18, 1949) is an American poet, prose author, journalist, interviewer, and literary critic.
Life[]
Nicosia was born in Berwyn, Illinois.
He earned a B.A. in 1971 and an M.A. in English and American Literature, with Highest Distinction in English, in 1973 from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
He has written book reviews for more than 25 years for many major American newspapers, including the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Kansas City Star, San Francisco Chronicle, Oakland Tribune, and Los Angeles Times.
Since the early 1980’s, he has read his poetry extensively in public throughout the United States, and in other countries, including England, France, Italy, and China.[1]
He read his poetry at the international Beat festival at New York University in May 1994, on the same stage with Allen Ginsberg, and he has also given featured readings of his poetry at such notable venues as the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea, Wales, and the Three Horseshoes Pub in Hampstead, London (at a reading organized by Michael Horowitz, the man who had organized the first Beat reading in England in 1965 at the Royal Albert Hall).[1]
In 1995 he visited Hefei in China to adopt his 6-month-old daughter Wu Ji (now Amy). He later traveled to Chengdu to guest-teach Beat poetry and other subjects to graduate students at Sichuan University, and took his daughter Amy to many cities in China, including her birth-place of Wuhu, when she was 10 and had already learned to speak Mandarin.[1]
Nicosia may be best known for Memory Babe, his biography of Jack Kerouac. He has also been an advocate and supporter of the late Jan Kerouac, Jack's estranged daughter.
In 2001 Nicosia's Home to War was published. The book covers the problems faced by Vietnam Veterans returning to an ungrateful nation. It also discusses the battle to stop the use of Agent Orange.[2]
In January, 2009, Nicosia edited and published Jan Kerouac: A life in memory, containing photos and written essays and remembrances about her.
Recognition[]
His collection Love, California Style was a Small Press Review poetry selection for 2002.[1]
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- Lunatics, Lovers, Poets, Vets, and Bargirls: Poems (illustrated by Jakub Kalousek). Olympia, WA: Rosewood Press, 1989; Austin, TX: Host Publications, 1991.
- Love, California Style: Poems (illustrated by Jakub Kalousek; edited by Gary Aposhian). San Clemente, CA: 12 Gauge Press, 2002.
- Embrace of the Lepers: Poems. Sacramento, CA: Mystery Island, 2004.
- Night Train to Shanghai, and other memories of China. Kensington, CA: Grizzly Peak Press, 2014. ISBN 978-0-9839264-3-6
Non-fiction[]
- Bughouse Blues: An intimate portrait of gay hustling in Chicago (with Richard Raff). New York: Vantage Press, 1977.
- Memory Babe: A critical biography of Jack Kerouac. New York: Grove Press, 1983; Berkeley, CA, & London University of California Press, 1994 ISBN 0-520-08569-8
- Home to War: A history of the Vietnam Veterans' Movement. New York: Crown, 2001; New York: Three Rivers, 2004. ISBN 0-7867-1403-4
- Jan Kerouac: A life in memory. Corte Madera, CA; Noodlebrain Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-615-24554-6
- One and Only: The untold story of 'On the Road' and of Lu Anne Henderson, the woman who started Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady on their journey (with Anne Marie Santos). Berkeley, CA: Viva, 2012.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.[3]
Audio / video[]
Gerald Nicosia @ Sweetwater Beat Poetry Reading in Tribute to Jack Kerouac and "On The Road"
- Home to War: The Vietnam Veterans Movement (VHS). West Lafayette, IN : C-SPAN Archives, 2001.[3]
See also[]
References[]
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Gerald Nicosia, Night Train to Shanghai, Book Passage. Web, July 12, 2018.
- ↑ Nicosia, Gerald, Home to War New York, Crown Publishers, 2001. Print.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Search results = au:Gerald Nicosia, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, July 12, 2018.
External links[]
- Poems
- Books
- Gerald Nicosia at Amazon.com
- About
- Gerald Nicosia Official website
- PEN Oakland Official Website
- Interview with Gerald Nicosia by Jonah Raskin, The Rag Blog, April 26, 2012
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