Doug Holder was born in Manhattan, N.Y. on July 5, 1955. A small press activist, he founded the Ibbetson Street Press in the winter of 1998 in Somerville, Mass. He has published over 40 books of poetry of local and national poets and over 20 issues of the literary journal Ibbetson Street. Holder is the arts/editor for The Somerville News, a co-founder of "The Somerville News Writers Festival," and is the curator of the "Newton Free Library Poetry Series" in Newton, Mass. His interviews with contemporary poets are archived at the Harvard and Buffalo University libraries, as well as Poet's House in NYC. Holder's own articles and poetry have appeared in several anthologies including: Inside the Outside: An Anthology of Avant-Garde American Poets (Presa Press) Greatest Hits: twelve years of Compost Magazine (Zephyr Press) and America's Favorite Poems edited by Robert Pinsky. His work has also appeared in such magazines as: Rattle, Doubletake, Hazmat, The Boston Globe Magazine, Caesura, Sahara, Linden Lane, Poesy, Small Press Review, Artword Quarterly, Manifold (U.K.), The Café Review, the new renaissance and many others. His two most recent poetry collections are: "Of All The Meals I Had Before..." ( Cervena Barva- 2007)) and "No One Dies at the Au Bon Pain" ( sunyoutside-2007).  He holds an M.A. in Literature from Harvard University.

Main Street Rag-- (S. Craig Renfroe, Jr.):

"Aside from being the founder, publisher, and co-editor of the prestigious and influential Ibbetson Street Press, Doug Holder writes poetry with a passion and insight that deserves prestige and influence all its own."

Eric Greinke-- ( publisher Presa Press):  " Doug is known and admired for his tireless efforts to promote poetry. His work reveals the universal as reflected in personal experience, and it is accessible to non-literary readers. Doug Holder brings a much needed positive energy to the poetry scene."

Susie Davidson-- (Jewish Advocate): "He is a poetry and small press impresario of mythic stature." 

Anne Elizabeth Tom:  ( Director of the Cape Cod Writers' Center):

" When the Ibbetson Street Press published my poetry in the Fall of 2002, it was such an affirmation of my work!" 

   Jan Gardner ( The Boston Globe):

 "Doug Holder, a poet and unflagging booster of Somerville's literary scene." 

Patricia Wild ( Columnist. The Somerville Journal):

" Chances are you know Doug Holder, know of him or know someone who has been published by his Ibbetson Street Press. Poet, writer, arts editor of The Somerville News, producer of a writers' interview show..., tireless promoter of Ibbetson's lastest offering, Doug is as much a fixture in this community as Green cabs or Lyndell's Bakery."

For the full article: http://dougholder.blogspot.com/2008/01/hear-israel-voices-o-somerville-bard-by.html 

Doug Holder sparks effort for Somerville, Mass. Poet Laureate. Read full article in The Somerville News:  http://somervillenews.typepad.com/the_somerville_news/2008/03/wanted-a-poet-f.html#more 

Nominated for 2 Pushcart Prizes-- 2007 - for the poems "Eating Out" from his collection "Of All The Meals I Had Before." ( Cervena Barva Press) and "No One Dies At The Au Bon Pain"  from the collection of the same title. ( sunnyoutside)

For over a decade Holder ran poetry groups for patients at McLean Hospital. The hospital has been declared a national literary landmark as Plath, Lowell, and Sexton were patients there and the hospital certainly provided material for their work. For Holder's article on Poetry.About.Com go to: http://poetry.about.com/od/poetryaroundtheworld/a/holderpsychward.htm

Lead article in The Boston Globe Arts section: POETIC HEALING AS THE HOSPITAL AND ITS CLIENTS HAVE CHANGED, COUNSELOR DOUGLAS HOLDER ADDS ANOTHER DIMENSION (Feb  2000)       http://www.tinyurl.com/yohcgr

 IBBETSON STREET PRESS has published  to date ( Sept 2007))  well-over 40 poetry collections/books by local and national poets. Most recently :  "Blood Soaked Dresses" Gloria Mindock, "Washing The Stones" Linda Larson, "From Mist to Shadow," Robert K. Johnson, "Outposts" by Abbott Ikeler, "Cyclamens and Swords"  by Helen Bar Lev and Johnmichael Simon,"Louisa Solano : The Grolier Poetry Book Shop" ( edited by Doug Holder/ Steve Glines), "Shadow People" by Molly Lynn Watt, "Bagel Bards Anthology," ( Vol.1and 2) edited by Molly Lynn Watt,  "Way, Way Off the Road: The Memoirs of an Invisible Man,"  by Hugh Fox, "I Refused to Die...," by Susie Davidson...

Afaa Michael Weaver ( author of "Plum Flower Dance" and Prof. of Literature  Simmons College- Boston) commenting on Holder's collection "Wrestling With My Father,":

"With words carefully etched into the touchstone of a father's love, Holder looks back to directly grasp, sans sentimentality, the struggle of men to be fathers and sons. In lines that are spare and piercing, like the thin rays of truth that linger long after the weighing of successes and failures in the lives of men, Holder evokes his father, resurrects him, not as whole phantasm but as whole human, alive in the bonds of trust generated by a son's love."

Robert Olen Butler (Pulitzer Prize Winner- "A Good Scent From A Strange Mountain") commenting on Holder's collection of poetry: "Wrestling With My Father:" 

 "I’ve been greatly enjoying your poems.  You have a major league talent, man."

Martha Collins ( Professor of Creative Writing-Oberlin College, and author of "Blue Front,") (Gray Wolf Press) commenting on "Wrestling With My Father"

":--so I did get this, at Porter Square, (Books) and found it wonderfully
moving.  My one and only chapbook is about my mother in her final years: more about those years than, as in yours, a whole life with a parent--but the emotions surrounding parental loss are near and dear to my heart. Thanks for heading me that way."

Richard Hoffman ( Writer-in-Residence- Emerson College, Boston, author of "Half House: A Memoir") 

"...with thanks for all you do for poets and poetry."

Ada Aharoni (Professor of Comparative Literature-Haifa University) commenting on Holder's collection "Of All the Meals I Had Before":

 "This is indeed one of the most succulent meals I have had! With warm gratitude for such a tasty experience!"

Ajume H. Wingo ( Professor of Philosophy- U/Mass Boston, author of "Veil Politics in Liberal Democratic States")     "I have started reading your thought-provoking and eye-popping poems."

Lorraine Roses ( Professor of  Spanish -Wellesley College), in a letter to Doug Holder:     "You deserve an award for bringing culture to the "people," of whom I am one."

Wendy Blom (Director of Somerville Community Access TV):  "I think Doug Holder provides an excellent service to the larger writer community in Somerville...He's really a dynamo in support of Somerville writers and readers." 

Laurel Johnson ( Midwest Book Review)

 "Holder’s work... is rich with textual imagery. A stranger’s laugh becomes an “astringent mixture of the hilarious and sinister.” Rain is a “spectral tapping on the roof.” These are words of a master poet who sees the world clearly and shares that vision generously with readers.

Errol Lincoln Uys: ( former international editor for Reader's Digest  and author of "Brazil")

 " With admiration for your dedication and unstinting support for poets and writers. Your sincere and selfless work is appreciated."

Peter Eden , Ph.D. (Dean of Arts and Sciences--Endicott College). " I can't thank you enough for how you helped us to elevate the arts at Endicott College."

 John Shea: ( Huntington Theatre Playwright Fellow-Boston, Mass., and author of the play "Comp"):

"Thank you for the volume of poetry you gave me at the our first meeting.  The piece about the mother alone at the table wondering what she did in life to end up as she was, was beautiful and very sad, touching.  It is the kind of simplicity I seek out in movies, drama and literature.  It's real and full of emotion.  Hopefully I reach some of that in my characters."

"Wrestling With My Father" (Yellow Pepper Press  2005), a poetry collection of Holder's, was a pick of the month in the "Small Press Review"

*A member of the Poets Advisory Board for the "Poetry Outreach Project." ( Mass. Cultural Council.)

* A founding member of the "Pushcart Prize Fellowship."

"Ibbetson Street" is listed in: "The Index of American Periodical Verse."

Holder's poem "For Her" was excerpted for the liner notes of vocalist/poet Jennifer Matthews' latest CD "The Sunroom Sessions"  http://www.jennifermatthews.com

Holder's interview concerning Jack Kerouac with Louisa Solano, former owner of the Grolier Poetry Book Shop in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Mass., is excerpted in "Empty Phantoms: Interviews and Encounters with Jack Kerouac"  by Paul Maher, Jr.( Thunder's Moon Press (Avalon)--2005-- NY)

Holder has been selected to be the judge for Israel's Reuben Rose Poetry Award in Dec. 2007.

*This international competition is in memory of Reuben Rose (1921-1989), former Editor and one of the founding members of Voices Israel. Reuben Rose believed in encouraging new poets and helping as many people as possible to enjoy the language of poetry. Year 2006 marks the 17th Annual Competition in his honor; judges are always known published poets.

For a report about the event in "Sketchbook" magazine by Israeli poet Helen Bar Lev go to: http://www.tinyurl.com/286w4fhttp://www.tinyurl.com/286w4f

 A quote from a review of his new collection: "No One Dies At The Au Bon Pain:" ( http://www.sunnyoutside.com )

" We are a marked and confused society.  And Doug feels the pain and the pun, the twist of the knife through bread and flesh.  The Au Bon Pain is a chain of cafes, and no one dies in cafes at leisure.  But of course, they do…as every moment and every bit of flesh taken in works its way down into the bone"--

 * quote from a review from Jared Smith ( Advisory Board of the New York Quarterly)

For a full review in the Small Press Review July/Aug 2007 of Holder's two new collections: "Of All The Meals I Had Before." and "No One Dies at the Au Bon Pain."  go to:

http://dougholder.blogspot.com/2007/08/jared-smith-reviews-of-all-meals-i-had.html

Unconventional Views of Boston



"Doug embraces the extraordinary moments in everyday life with a wry sense of humor and a sage glimpse at truth. From Last Night at the Wursthaus on the closing of a long-time Cambridge restaurant, to Rotisserrie Chicken at the Star Market, to 3 a.m. on the Psych Ward, about one of his experiences working at McLean Hospital, Doug weaves minute details of circumstance into a rich tapestry of common human experience." 

Robin Clarke Poet/ Co-Host Poetry Sessions at O'Shea's/ West Dennis, Mass.

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Recent  Featured Readings:

  Club Passim  (Harvard Square, Cambridge)- Celebration of Somerville's Small Presses.  Grolier Poetry Reading Series ( Adams House-Harvard University), Simmons College (Trustman Gallery- "tnr" reading), New England Poetry Club ( Yen Ching Library-Harvard University), Boston University (Hillel House), Boston National Poetry Festival ( Boston Public Library),  MIT ( Facets Magazine Reading), Stone Soup Poets ( Out of the Blue Art Gallery-(Cambridge), Borders Books--Boston ( Tapestry of Voices), Warwick Art Museum, Warwick, R.I. ( Tapestry of Voices), Somerville Museum (Somerville, Mass.), Grolier Poetry Book Shop ( Re-opening reading-- Cambridge, Mass.), Porter Square Books-- Cambridge ( June 2006), McIntyre and Moore Books  ( Somerville, Mass.), Northeastern University  (Boston, Mass.), Wordsworth Books-Harvard Square, Pucker Gallery, (Newbury St. Boston), Jimmy Tingle Off Broadway Theatre-Somerville, Mass., The Somerville Theatre,  ( Davis Sq.-Somerville, Mass.) Waterstone Books-Boston, Newton Free Library, Endicott College-Beverly, Mass., WOMR ( Poet's Corner) Provincetown, Mass. radio, Schoenhof's Books ( Harvard Square), City Nights Reading Series, Cambridge, Mass., The Literati Scene with Smoki Bacon and Dick Concannon ( Boston Cable TV show), Neighborhood Network News (NNN) ( Boston Cable TV at Boston University),  It's All About Arts Janice & Glenn Williams ( Boston Cable TV), 

Cape Cod Poets Theatre,    ZOA HOUSE    Tel Aviv, Israel  (Voices Israel- International Reuben Rose Award  2007),  Monet's Garden Reading Series  Beverly, Mass., Pierre Menard Gallery, Cambridge, Mass., Stone Pigeon Poetry Series, Portsmouth, NH., "Squawk " Reading/Music Series, Harvard Square, Cambridge, Mass., Grange Hall Poetry Series, Cape Cod, Mass.

 and many more....

For an interview with Doug Holder on Cervena Barva Press go to: http://www.cervenabarvapress.com/holderinterview.htm

For a partial list of Holder's interviews with contemporary poets, books I have edited, and written, that are archived at Harvard University go to:  http://lms01.harvard.edu/F/IBNPCPAVUXI83EV9NKPK2CHA4LVHYMRAPC3AU93918VMQ7E384-16335? (enter "Doug Holder" on key word.)

Holder founded THE SOMERVILLE NEWS WRITERS FESTIVAL  along with Tim Gager. To find out more about this year's festival (Nov 11 2007) go to:  http://somervillenewswritersfestival.com For pictures from the 2007 festival go to: http://dougholder.blogspot.com/2007/11/blog-post.html

Check out Holder's blog: BOSTON AREA SMALL PRESS AND POETRY SCENE:  http://www.dougholder.blogspot.com

** Many of Holder's interviews on the cable TV show "Poet to Poet/Writer To Writer" are archived at Harvard University. ( Lamont Library Poetry Room) For more information on my interview series go to:  http://www.poettopoetwritertowriter.blogspot.com

Selected interviews:

Robert Creeley ( Wilderness House Literary Retreat), Lois Ames ( Biographer of Sexton and Plath -- Poet to Poet/Writer to Writer-Somerville Community Access TV), Afaa Michael Weaver ( author of: "Plum Flower Dance"-- Poet to Poet...) Lan Samantha Chang ( Director of the Iowa Writers Workshop -- The Somerville News), Tom Perrotta ( author of : "Little Children" The Somerville News), Pagan Kennedy ( The Middlesex Beat), Mort Sahl ( Political Comedian-- The Somerville News), Sarah Hannah ( author of "Longing Distance"-- Poet to Poet...) Steve Almond ( author of "Candyfreak," The Somerville News), Martha Collins ( author of "Blue Front"-- Poet to Poet...) Shay Duffin ( Actor-"Confessions of an Irish Rebel" The Somerville News.) Tino Villanueva. ( Poet to Poet...) Claire Messud ( author of: "The Emperor's Children."-- The Somerville News), Mark Pawlak (Hanging Loose Press- Poet to Poet), Dick Lourie (  Hanging Loose Press-- The Somerville News), Charles Coe( Mass. Cultural Council- Poet to Poet...), C. Michael Curtis--( Atlantic Fiction editor-- The Littleton Independent ), Errol Uys ( author of "Brazil"--Somerville Community Access TV), Ed Sanders ( "Tales of Beatnik Glory"-- The Somerville News),  Steve Cramer ( Poet and Director of Lesley University Low Residency MFA program), Mark Doty ( "Fire to Fire"- The Somerville News ),Richard Hoffman ( Writer-in-Residence--Emerson College, author of : Half the House: A Memoir-The Somerville News), Aeronwy Thomas ( Poet and Daughter of Dylan Thomas- Boston Area Small Press/Poetry Scene)) and many others...
 

 For an article about the TV show: http://www.access-scat.org/member/profiles/dougholder.htm

Holder is the book review editor for the "Wilderness House Literary review' http://whlreview.com

*** Holder is availabe for poetry workshops and talks. He is experienced working with school-aged children, psychiatric populations, and others. My rates are reasonable." Contact Info:  dougholder@post.harvard.edu   617-628-2313

*** Holder has read and helped host readings at the Boston National Poetry Month Festival held every April since 2000.  Read about the 2005  National Poetry Month Festival:  http://cgi.chime.com/cat-bin/board/show?topic_id=204;ctid=101;tid=315;id=4191

Former member of the advisory board of "the new renaissance" literary magazine.  http://tnrlitmag.net  Established affiliation with Endicott College, and was involved with community outreach.