KENTUCKY BOUND: poems, stories & songs" is a masterful new collection of poetry and prose by internationally acclaimed Kentucky poet Ron Whitehead. The poems and stories bring to life the strange and beautiful people and events who and that helped shaped the young poet as he grew up on a wild nature Kentucky farm. Discover Ron Whitehead's bizarre, hilarious, joyful, sweet, harsh, tragic, loving roots. This rare glimpse into the famed Kentucky author's life will provoke laughter and tears. This collection is filled with poems and stories of faith, making do in hard times, surviving grief and loss, cutting tobacco and raising livestock on the farm, killing chickens, his sex education, the deaths of his father, grandfather, and other relatives, childhood adventures and--most importantly-- human strength and frailty. Ron Whitehead spins magical tales of joy, hope and love that warm hearts across the globe. "Ron Whitehead was born with the rare and unique ability to see the world afresh. And many a time we have taken a stroll in the Icelandic countryside I felt I was out there with Adam in Eden. His new book will give you something of the same feeling. Bless the man!" Olafur Gunnarsson, Iceland's leading novelist and advisor to the TV program The Vikings. "Ron Whitehead is a real visionary!" Lawrence Ferlinghetti, world renowned poet and publisher and Poet Laureate of San Francisco. "Ron Whitehead is a prophet. He is one of the world's greatest poets. What an inspiring honor to hear him read here at Granada Nicaragua's International Poetry Festival." Yevgeny Yevteshenko, legendary Russian poet. "Ron Whitehead was the hero of our Granada Nicaragua International Poetry Festival." Blanca Castellon, poet and Vice-President of Granada's Annual International Poetry Festival. "I have long admired Ron Whitehead. He is crazy as nine loons. And his poetry is a dazzling mix of folk wisdom and pure mathematics." Hunter S. Thompson "Of all America's living poets - and I mean all of them, even the academic ones - Ron Whitehead has the STRONGEST most PERSISTENT most POWERFUL VOICE of them all. You can hear his voice in every line. It is the voice of Blake and the voice of Yeats; it is the voice of Kerouac and the voice of Ginsberg. It is the rolling thunder of Bob Dylan. It is the voice of the poet." Dr. John Rocco, SUNY Maritime, James Joyce and Herman Melville scholar, is the author of many books. For years, he has reviewed Ron Whitehead's books and albums. A decade ago Dr. Rocco nominated Ron for The Nobel Prize in Literature. Songs & Poems from The KENTUCKY BOUND Concert (sonaBLAST! Records) includes the songs that played as soundtrack to Ron Whitehead's growing up years. The songs are performed by some of Kentucky's best singers and musicians. Plus Ron reads poems and stories from his new book.
Ron visited Iris and Xavier, flew from Louisville to Detroit to London to Lisbon where his longtime dear friend Lucia and Maria and Pedro and their dog picked him up drove him in their natural gas powered Peugeot ancient friendly wisdomeyed dog by my side in his lap front seat to Alfama, to old Lisbon. He rest is etched into these pages.
In 2001, Ron Whitehead and I made a pilgrimage to Thomas Merton's grave to meet Father Patrick Hart. He had with him two poems that Jack Kerouac had contributed to Merton's journal, Monks Pond, summer 1968..." and on the next page Jack Kerouac Thomas Merton the poems the journals the grave Brother Pat and Ron at Merton's grave where Ron also stood with Lawrence Ferlinghetti 1993.
Thirty-five poets, musicians, singers, healers, curanderas, and shamans from twenty countries in seventeen languages share poems, songs, prayers, and blessings for future generations. Featuring uplifting, inspiring work by Joy Harjo (Oklahoma, US), Dr. Hilaria Cruz (Oaxaca, Mexico/US), Lorraine Currelley (New York City, US), Birgitta Jónsdóttir (Reykjavik, Iceland), Anne Waldman (New York City, US), Doris Kareva (Tallinn, Estonia), Iris Lican (Sintra, Portugal), Jaouad El Garouge (Morocco), Lee Pennington (Kentucky, US), Andy Willoughby (England), Aurélia Lassaque (France), Vesa Lahti (Finland), Aprilia Zank (Germany), J.M. White (Tennessee, US), Chryssa Velissariou (Greece), Bengt O Björklund (Sweden), Greta Render Whitehead (Kentucky, US), Giulio Tedeschi (Italy), Al Paldrok aka Anonymous Boh (Parnu, Estonia), Wilfred Hildonen (Norway/Finland), Gabor G Gyukics (Hungary), Amber T. Lee (New York City, US), Rani Whitehead (Kentucky, US), Brian Hassett (Canada), Seda Suna Uçakan (Turkey), Theo Dorgan (Ireland), Frank Messina (New Jersey, US), Tanya Lind (Iceland), Jeanette R. K. E. H. Aslaksen (Sápmi/Finland), Julie Easley (England), Eduardo Ritter (Brazil), and Ron Whitehead (Kentucky, US).Profits from this project will benefit Kentucky Refugee Ministries/KRM, a non-profit organization in Louisville, Kentucky dedicated to providing resettlement services to refugees and promoting self-sufficiency and successful integration. Ron Whitehead is a poet, writer, editor, publisher, organizer, scholar, professor. He grew up on a farm in Kentucky. He attended The University of Louisville and University of Oxford. As a poet and writer he is the recipient of numerous state, national, and international awards/prizes including The All Kentucky Poetry Prize, The Joshua B. Everett Scholar Award, English Speaking Union Scholarship, The Yeats Club of Oxford's Prize for Poetry. In 2006, Dr. John Rocco (NYC) nominated Ron for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 2004, Ron was inducted into Ohio County High School's Hall of Fame, representing his 1968 graduating class. Ron's poetry has been published around the world in a diverse range of print and online publications from TRIQUARTERLY to ARTFORUM to BLUE BEAT JACKET to BEAT SCENE to SOUTHERN REVIEW to TRIBE magazine. Ron's work is held by museum, library, and private collections around the world. The University of Louisville Rare Books & Archives, directed by Delinda Buie, is the permanent repository for Ron's work. Several exhibits from the archives have been held, most recently "Poets, Rock Stars, & Holy Men: A Literary Renaissance Exhibit." Ron's poems have been translated into 20 languages. Ron has served as guest editor for magazines and anthologies, acted as poetry and arts judge in many contests, and has been the keynote speaker at art and music festivals around the world. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of Louisville Literary Arts, a non-profit organization whose mission is to create vibrant spaces where writers and readers learn, grow, and connect. In 2019, he was appointed State of Kentucky Beat Poet Laureate by the National Beat Poetry Foundation (serving from 2019-2021), and he was named as the first US citizen and fourth world-wide writer-in-residence, UNESCO Tartu City of Literature international residency program, Estonia. Gabriel Walker is a multi-disciplinary artist, musician, sound artist, audio producer, theatre artist, and educator whose work focuses on at risk people and cultures. He has been collaborating with, and producing work for actors, writers, dancers, painters, and musicians since 1983. He has an MFA in Theatre from Towson University in Maryland, an Inter-Arts BA from the Naropa Institute in Colorado, and Audio Engineering certificates from The Recording Workshop in Ohio. He has studied, taught, performed, and produced work in Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Ohio, Colorado, Maryland, and Washington D.C. He currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky.
“Hunter's GONZOVILLE GonzoFest 2014” is a tribute to the life and work of Hunter S. Thompson. Produced by Hunter's friend, Ron Whitehead, and edited by Kelly Cook and Ron Whitehead, this limited edition features interviews with Hunter and his widow Anita Thompson, artwork by legendary Ralph Steadman, along with work by other select artists and authors who share a connection to Hunter and his hometown, Louisville Kentucky.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.