Jim Cohn is a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

activist, and spoken word artist in the United States.

Early life and education

Cohn was born in Highland Park, Illinois, in 1953. He received a BA from the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a Public university, public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a Federated state, state, it is the fla ...

in English (1976) and a Certificate of Poetics (1980) from the

Jack Kerouac School The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics is a school of Naropa University, located in Boulder, Colorado, United States. It was founded in 1974 by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman, as part of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s 100-year experiment ...

of Disembodied Poetics at

Naropa University Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named after the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university ...

where he was a teaching assistant to

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

. He received his M.S. Ed. in English and Deaf Education from the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

and the

National Technical Institute for the Deaf The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) is the first and largest technological college in the world for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. As one of nine colleges within the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Roches ...

(NTID) in 1986. For over two decades, he worked in the field of disability services, taking a siddha approach as a model of Disability Services and Studies practice and scholarship. He believed that the social sciences should be redefined thematically within the United States into a form of American Karmic Studies.

Career

In 1980, Cohn published his first collection of poems, ''Green Sky.'' In 1989 ''Prairie Falcon'' was published by North Atlantic Books. He has published five more books of poetry and two works of poetics nonfiction. He introduced

to Deaf poets at NTID in 1984. In 1986, he published an essay entitled "The New Deaf Poetics: Visible Poetry" in ''Sign Language Studies'' (52). In 1987, he coordinated the first National Deaf Poetry Conference, in Rochester, NY. His role in the history of American Sign Language (ASL) poetics was documented in a 2009 film by Miriam Nathan Lerner entitled ''The Heart of the Hydrogen Jukebox''. In 1990, he became editor to an annual poetry magazine, ''Napalm Health Spa''. In 2013 the magazine released an anthologic special edition of ''Napalm Health Spa'', "Long Poem Masterpieces of the Postbeats". His entry was "Treasures For Heaven" In 1995, Cohn began recording with The Abolitionists, a North Bay Area band that featured Mooka Rennick and guitarist Steve Kimock. He began a solo recording artist career beginning with ''Unspoken Words'' in 1998. From 2006-2008, he worked on ''homage'', a spoken word and music recording made upon the death of his mother. In 2009, he released ''Impermanence'', a double CD compilation. In 1996, Cohn began planning for an online poetry project that would explore

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members o ...

influences on the Postbeat Poets. In 1997, he founded the on-line Museum of American Poetics. In 1999, MAP became the first online poetry site to be mentioned in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Cohn published his first collection of prose the same year, exploring the theoretical parallels between ASL and modernist poetries in a book entitled ''Sign Mind: Studies in American Sign Language Poetics''. Cohn's first video production, the ''American Poet Greats'' series, won the Best Multimedia Award from Community Television in Boulder, Colorado three years in a row (2001-2003). In 2003, Cohn produced his first film, a 55 minute profile on the life and poetic contributions of the

co-founder Anne Waldman, entitled ''Anne Waldman: Makeup on Empty Space''. In a 2011 review of Cohn's ''Sutras & Bardos: Essays & Interviews on Allen Ginsberg, the Kerouac School, Anne Waldman, The Postbeat Poets & the New Demotics'', Beat Studies scholar Jonah Raskin wrote "Perhaps no one in the United States today understands and appreciates the poetic durability and the cultural elasticity of the Beats better than Jim Cohn."

Bibliography

* ''Treasures for Heaven: Collected Poems 1976-2021'', 2022, Giant Steps Press * ''If 45 was 16 & 16 was 45'', 2020, Museum of American Poetics Publications (Chapbook) * ''Birthday News: A Poemoscope'', 2018, Museum of American Poetics Publications * ''The Ongoing Saga I Told My Daughter: Expanded Edition, 2016, Museum of American Poetics Publications * ''The Groundless Ground'', 2014, Museum of American Poetics Publications * ''Sutras & Bardos: Essays & Interviews on Allen Ginsberg, The Kerouac School, Anne Waldman, Postbeat Poets & The New Demotics'', 2011, Museum of American Poetics Publications * ''Mantra Winds'', 2010, Museum of American Poetics Publications * ''The Ongoing Saga I Told My Daughter'' (original edition), 2009, Museum of American Poetics Publications * ''Quien Sabe Mountain'', 2004, Museum of American Poetics Publications * ''The Golden Body: Meditations on the Essence of Disability'', 2003, Museum of American Poetics Publications * ''Sign Mind: Studies in American Sign Language Poetics'', 1999, Museum of American Poetics Publications * ''The Dance of Yellow Lightning Over The Ridge'', 1998, Writers & Books Publications * ''Grasslands'', 1994, Writers & Books Publications * ''Prairie Falcon'', 1989, North Atlantic Books * ''Green Sky'', 1980

Discography

* ''Venerable Madtown Hall'' 2013, MusEx Records * ''Commune'' 2013, MusEx Records * ''Impermanence'' 2008, MusEx Records * ''homage'' 2007, MusEx Records * ''Trashtalking Country'' 2006, MusEx Records * ''Emergency Juke Joint'' 2002, MusEx Records * ''Antenna'' 2000, MusEx Records * ''Unspoken Words'' 1998, MusEx Records * ''Walking Thru Hell Gazing at Flowers'' 1996, MusEx Records * ''The Road'' 1995, MusEx Records

External links

Official Site

Jim Cohn Papers Finding Aid (University of Michigan, Special Collections Research Center)

Interview with Rob Geisen, ''Illiterate Magazine''
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohn, Jim American spoken word poets American male poets Living people People from Highland Park, Illinois 1953 births University of Colorado Boulder alumni University of Rochester alumni Writers from Shaker Heights, Ohio