Garrett Caples (born 1972) is an
American poet
The poets listed below were either born in the United States or else published much of their poetry while living in that country.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I–J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
* George Quasha (born 1942)
R
S
T
U–V
...
and former
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
and
arts journalist
The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...
. Born in
Lawrence, Massachusetts, he currently lives in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, after fifteen years in
Oakland. An editor at
City Lights Books
City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination in San Francisco, California, that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected ti ...
, Caples curates the new American poetry series, City Lights Spotlight. From 2005 to 2014, he wrote on hip hop, literature, and painting for the
San Francisco Bay Guardian
The ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' was a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1966 by Bruce B. Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble. The paper was shut down on October 14, 2014. It was relaun ...
, and has written fiction on unusual sexual practices, like
omorashi.
As a hip hop journalist, Caples has been the first write on various Bay Area rappers, including
J Stalin, D-Lo, Eddi Projex,
Traxamillion
Sultan Banks (February 26, 1979 – January 2, 2022), better known as Traxamillion, was an American hip hop producer from San Jose, California. He produced records such as Keak da Sneak's "Super Hyphy" and Dem Hoodstarz "Grown Man Remix". His fir ...
,
Droop-E
Earl Tywone Stevens Jr. (born February 18, 1988), better known by his stage name Droop-E, is an American rapper, and producer. He is the son of the Bay Area rapper E-40.
Biography
Droop-E was born Earl Tywone Stevens Jr. on February 18, 19 ...
, and
Shady Nate
Shady Nate, is an American rapper from Oakland. He is co founder and original member of Livewire Records with rapper J Stalin. He is also founder and CEO of Shady Nation.
Discography
The Singles:
2009: Head Doctor
2009: Sip Sumthin’ Feat ...
. He's also written cover stories on more established stars like
E-40
Earl Tywone Stevens Sr. (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. He is a founding member of the rap group The Click, and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 26 studio albums to date, ...
,
Mac Dre
Andre Louis Hicks (July 5, 1970 – November 1, 2004), known by his stage name Mac Dre, was an American rapper from Vallejo, California. He was an instrumental figure in the emergence of hyphy, a cultural movement in the Bay Area hip hop scene ...
,
Mistah FAB
Stanley Petey Cox (born January 23, 1982), better known by his stage name Mistah F.A.B. (backronym for Money Is Something To Always Have–Forever After Bread), is an American rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur, community organizer and activist.
...
, Husalah (
Mob Figaz
Mob Figaz is a Bay Area hip hop group formed by C-Bo in 1997. The members consist of Husalah, Rydah J. Klyde, and The Jacka from Pittsburg; Fed-X from Richmond; and AP.9 from Oakland, California.
Their first album, ''C-Bo's Mob Figaz'', was ...
), and
The Jacka
Dominick Newton (August 12, 1977 – February 2, 2015), better known by his stage name The Jacka, was an American rapper from Pittsburg, California.
The Jacka began his career as part of the rap group Mob Figaz.
He was killed in a shooting in ...
(
Mob Figaz
Mob Figaz is a Bay Area hip hop group formed by C-Bo in 1997. The members consist of Husalah, Rydah J. Klyde, and The Jacka from Pittsburg; Fed-X from Richmond; and AP.9 from Oakland, California.
Their first album, ''C-Bo's Mob Figaz'', was ...
). Significantly, his interview with
Shock-G
Gregory Edward Jacobs (August 25, 1963 – April 22, 2021), known professionally as Shock G and by his alter ego Humpty Hump, was an American rapper and musician who was best known as the lead vocalist of the hip hop group Digital Underground. ...
of
Digital Underground
Digital Underground was an American alternative hip hop group from Oakland, California. Their personnel changed and rotated with each album and tour.
Digital Underground's leader and mainstay was Gregory " Shock G" Jacobs (also known as Humpty H ...
announced the end of that classic hip hop crew.
Caples is the author of ''The Garrett Caples Reader'' (Angle Press/Black Square Editions, 1999), ''er, um'' (Meritage Press, 2002), ''The Philistine's Guide to Hip Hop'' (Ninevolt, 2004), and ''Complications'' (Meritage Press, 2007). In 2006, Narrow house Recordings released a cd of Caples reading his poems with lo-fi musical accompaniment called ''Surrealism's Bad Rap''. His latest book of poems, ''Power Ballads'', appeared from Wave Books in September 2016.
Caples is also the editor of
Pocket Poets Number 60, ''When I Was a Poet'', by
David Meltzer (City Lights, 2011) and Number 59, ''Tau'' by
Philip Lamantia
Philip Lamantia (October 23, 1927 – March 7, 2005) was an American poet and lecturer. His poems were often visionary, ecstatic, terror-filled, and erotic, exploring the subconscious world of dreams and linking it to daily experiences, while s ...
& ''Journey to the End'' by John Hoffman (City Lights, 2008). His pamphlet, ''Quintessence of the Minor: Symbolist Poetry in English'', was published by
Wave Books
Wave Books (established 2005) is an American independent press focusing on the publication of poetry, with a focus on innovative, contemporary poetry and poetry in translation. This independent publisher has published books by CAConrad, Don Mee ...
in 2010. With
Nancy Peters
Nancy Joyce Peters (born October 3, 1936) is an American publisher, writer, and co-owner with Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Lights Books and Publishers in San Francisco until Ferlinghetti's 2021 death.
Biography
Nancy Peters was born in Seattle, a ...
and
Andrew Joron
Andrew Joron (born March 6, 1955) is an American writer of experimental poetry, speculative fiction, and lyrical and critical essays. He began by writing science fiction poetry. Joron's later poetry, combining scientific and philosophical ideas w ...
, he is the editor of ''The Collected Poems of
Philip Lamantia
Philip Lamantia (October 23, 1927 – March 7, 2005) was an American poet and lecturer. His poems were often visionary, ecstatic, terror-filled, and erotic, exploring the subconscious world of dreams and linking it to daily experiences, while s ...
'' for the University of California Press (2013). With
Julien Poirier, he has edited ''Incidents of Travel in Poetry: New and Selected Poems'' by
New York School poet
Frank Lima for City Lights Books (2016). A shortened version of his introduction, "The Lives of Frank Lima," received the Editors Prize for Best Feature Article from ''
Poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
'' magazine. His book of essays, ''Retrievals'', was published in 2014 by Wave Books, and features essays he wrote over a ten-year period about various writers and artists who have disappeared from view or never achieved much visibility despite their significance, "written in Caples' signature blend of erudition and élan." Caples also edited ''Mule Kick Blues, And Last Poems'' (
City Lights Publishers
City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination in San Francisco, California, that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected ti ...
, 2021), the final book of poems by Michael McClure.
Bibliography
;Full-length poetry collections
*''The Garrett Caples Reader'' (Angle Press/Black Square Editions, 1999)
*''Complications'' (Meritage Press, 2007)
*''Power Ballads'' (
Wave Books
Wave Books (established 2005) is an American independent press focusing on the publication of poetry, with a focus on innovative, contemporary poetry and poetry in translation. This independent publisher has published books by CAConrad, Don Mee ...
, 2016)
;Critique
*''The Philistine's Guide to Hip Hop'' (Ninevolt, 2004)
*''Retrievals'' (
Wave Books
Wave Books (established 2005) is an American independent press focusing on the publication of poetry, with a focus on innovative, contemporary poetry and poetry in translation. This independent publisher has published books by CAConrad, Don Mee ...
, 2014)
;Audio CDs
*''Surrealism's Bad Rap'' (Narrow house Recordings, 2006)
;Chapbooks
*''The Dream of Curtains'' (Angle Press, 1998)
*''er, um'', with drawings by Hu Xin (Meritage Press, 2002)
*''avid diva'' (Lew Gallery/Auguste Press, 2010)
*''Invisible Sleep'' (Auguste Press, 2013)
*''What Surrealism Means to Me'', with drawings by Brian Lucas (Gas Meter Books, 2014)
;Pamphlets
*''Quintessence of the Minor'' (
Wave Books
Wave Books (established 2005) is an American independent press focusing on the publication of poetry, with a focus on innovative, contemporary poetry and poetry in translation. This independent publisher has published books by CAConrad, Don Mee ...
, 2010)
;Anthology appearances
*''Isn't It Romantic: 100 Love Poems by Younger American Poets'' (
Wave Books
Wave Books (established 2005) is an American independent press focusing on the publication of poetry, with a focus on innovative, contemporary poetry and poetry in translation. This independent publisher has published books by CAConrad, Don Mee ...
, 2004)
*''Bay Poetics'' (Faux Press, 2005)
*''State of the Union: 50 Political Poems'' (
Wave Books
Wave Books (established 2005) is an American independent press focusing on the publication of poetry, with a focus on innovative, contemporary poetry and poetry in translation. This independent publisher has published books by CAConrad, Don Mee ...
, 2008)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caples, Garrett
1972 births
Living people
American male poets
21st-century American poets
21st-century American male writers
Surrealist poets
People from Lawrence, Massachusetts
Writers from San Francisco
Writers from Massachusetts