Hello again from Ian Thal.

The following email is moderately lengthly, so an index as been added:

1.) Ian nominated for Cambridge Poetry Award for
“Best Erotic Poet (Male)”.
2.) 3/22/2002: Primiere of The Cosmic Spelunker
Theater at Out of the Blue Gallery.

1.) I have been nominated for the Cambridge Poetry Award for “Best Erotic Poet (Male)” The awards ceremony is at 2pm, Sunday, March 10 at the Marran Theatre at Lesley University at 47 Oxford Street in Cambridge, MA. Jimmy Tingle will host the event. There will be a special performance by Askia Toure. I will dress as the situation demands.

2.) For the last several months I have been rehearsing a new performance project which is now ready to be unveiled. The following is the press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

On Friday, March 22, 8:00 pm: The Cosmic Spelunker
Theater will unveil their blend of poetry, mime and
performance art at the Out of the Blue Gallery in
Cambridge, MA in a performance entitled "An Evening of Poetry, Mime, Hip Joints, & Paper Airplanes." A
$4 donation is suggested.

Featuring William "Billy" Barnum, James Van Looy,
and Ian Thal, The Cosmic Spelunker Theater is an
ensemble devoted to the fusion of artistic
disciplines rarely seen together on the same stage:
mime and poetry. Through a series of solo and
ensemble pieces both choreographed and improvised,
the Cosmic Spelunkers will explore the meaning of
creativity in the modern world and invite the
audience to make their own explorations.

The Cosmic Spelunker Theater also represents a rare
cross generational collaboration between three
artists who have already established their own
strong artistic identities. William Barnum's
professional stage career, too lengthy to recount
here, began in 1942, and has included work as an
actor, a ballet dancer, and a mime all while
developing a unique poetic style. James Van Looy has
been a fixture in Boston's performance poetry
community since the 1970s and toured with the Mirage
Mime Company during the 1980s. Ian Thal has been
part of Boston's post-punk "spoken word" scene since
the late 1990s and his poetry and book reviews have
appeared in a number of publications. Most
radically, this trio presents the artistic counter
culture not as youthful antagonistic rebellion, but
as something shared and passed down the
generations.

The March 22 performance at the Out of the Blue
Gallery will be the first scheduled appearance that
Barnum, Van Looy, and Thal will make as an ensemble.
The event is open to the public.

Out of the Blue Gallery
168 Brookline St.
Cambridge, MA
(617) 354-5287

Ian Thal