S.A. Griffin
S.A. Griffin | |
---|---|
Born | San Antonio, Texas, U.S. | March 16, 1954
Occupation(s) | Actor, Poet |
Years active | 1980–present |
Spouses | Nala Northington
(m. 1974; div. 1977)Sharon Grish
(m. 1984; div. 1990)Lorraine Perrotta (m. 2000) |
S.A. Griffin (born March 16, 1954) is an American
Biography
Griffin was born in
Since 1979, Griffin has worked on stage and on camera as a professional actor with notable directors such as Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Kathryn Bigelow, Ivan Reitman, Douglas Trumbull, Joe Pytka, Jeremy Podeswa, Stephen Kessler, Leslie Dektor, and Jeremiah S. Chechik. He is Drama-Logue Award (stage) and Kari Award (commercials) winner, and has appeared in over 150 commercials.[3][4]
In the 1980s, Griffin began appearing in poetry anthologies, periodicals, and publishing poetry. His writing is influenced by the Beat Generation, Charles Bukowski, punk rock, and Dada.[2][5] He is an adviser on the curatorial council of Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, and in 2011 was the first recipient of Beyond Baroque's Distinguished Service Award.[1] During the 1990s, until its close in 1998, he was a regular at the Onyx Cafe in Los Feliz, producing a number of performances and poetry-reading series there.[6] He toured extensively throughout the United States with three poetry performance groups of which he was a founding member: The Lost Tribe (1985-1992), The Carma Bums (1989-2009) and White Trash Apocalypse (1995-1997).[1] Writer Wanda Coleman named him "L.A.'s Best Performance Poet" for The LA Weekly in 1989,[2] and editor Lucinda Michele Knapp called him the "should-be poet laureate of Los Angeles" in the Los Angeles Alternative Press.[6]
Griffin founded his imprint, Rose of Sharon press, in 1989 with the publication of Sharktalk by Doug Knott. He also published and edited the underground poetry journals The Fool, (Sic) Vice & Verse, and MEAT, and worked on the editorial staff for Shattersheet and The Moment. He is the co-editor of
In 2010 Griffin adapted a 1970 240-MK
"War, the art, artifact and artifice of war were created to invent and enforce agreements. Hopefully by transforming this piece I have created something that will inspire disagreements. The democratic process depends upon disagreement in order to function.... The Poetry Bomb is a weapon of mass discussion."[2]
In 2015, the S.A. Griffin collection of underground poetry, Scott Wannberg, and The Carma Bums, circa 1950-2015 was archived at
Books
Author
- The Lost Tribe (1985) with The Lost Tribe
- Without Skin (1989) with Justice Howard
- A One Legged Man Standing Casually On Hollywood Blvd. Smoking A Cigarette (Shelf Life Press, 1989)
- etc. (Rose of Sharon Press, 1993)
- Heaven Is One Long Naked Dance (Rose of Sharon Press, 1994)
- Alien Landing Pad (Rose of Sharon Press, 1995) with Iris Berry and Pleasant Gehman
- Twisted Cadillac (Sacred Beverage Press, 1996) with The Carma Bums
- The Bad Thing (Phony Lid Publications, 2000)
- Unborn Again (Phony Lid, 2001) Duckwalking Thru The Apocalypse (Bottle of Smoke Press, 2003)
- Armageddon Outta Here! (Rose of Sharon Press, 2004) with The Carma Bums
- Harvey Keitel, Harvey Keitel, Harvey Keitel (Butcher Shop Press, Rose of Sharon, Temple of Man, 2005) with John Dorsey and Scott Wannberg
- 2 (greenpanda press, 2006) with John Dorsey
- Virgin Erotica (greenpanda press, 2006) with John Dorsey
- Numbskull Sutra (Rank Stranger Press, 2007)
- John & Sarah Do D.C. (Bottle of Speech, 2008)
- The Electric President (Rose of Sharon Press, 2008)
- The Fucker Inside (Tainted Coffee Press, 2008)
- They Swear We Don't Exist (Bottle of Smoke, 2010)
- Dreams Gone Mad With Hope on (Punk Hostage Press, 2014)
- Harvey Korman Harvey Korman Harvey Korman (Spartan Press, 2017) with John Dorsey and Scott Wannberg
Editor
- Sharktalk (Rose of Sharon Press, 1988) by Doug Knott
- The Electric Yes Indeed! (Shelf Life Press, 1989) by Scott Wannberg
- The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry (Thunders Mouth Press, 1999)
- The Outlaw's Prayer: Teaching The Dead to Sing (Rose of Sharon Press, 2006) by John Dorsey
- Black Ace 8 (Temple of Man, 2007)
- An Interview with Ted Berrigan (Rose of Sharon Press, 2013)
- Natural Geographics (Rose of Sharon Press, 2014) by M. Lane Bruner
- The Official Language of Yes (Perceval Press, 2015) by Scott Wannberg
- The Hideous Bible (Rose of Sharon Press, 2016) by The Lost Bums
- lost bastard chronicles (Rose of Sharon Press, 2017) by mark hartenbach
Awards
- Drama-Logue Award, for Best Actor as Jud in Oklahoma! (1979)
- LA Weekly's Best Performance Poet, (1989)
- Firecracker Alternative Book Award, for The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry (2000)
- Beyond Baroque Distinguished Service Award, first recipient (2011)
Filmography
- Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) - Lettress (uncredited)
- Rimbaud in L.A. (1982) - Carjat
- Pale Rider (1985) - Deputy Folke
- In the Mood (1987) - Cpl. Howard Glatt, USMC
- Near Dark (1987) - Police Officer at Motel
- Nightmare at Noon (1988) - Albino's Henchman #1
- Angel III: The Final Chapter (1988) - Roger
- Twins (1988) - Hollywood Biker #1
- Let It Ride (1989) - Trainer
- Cool as Ice (1991) - Morrisey
- Bed of Roses (1996) - Stanley
- Luxor Live (1996) - Osiris
- Vegas Vacation (1997) - Pit Boss
- No More Baths (1998) - Bud Bildmore
- Simon Says (1998) - Ed Simon
- The Independent (2000) - Slate
- Buying the Cow (2002) - Stanley
- World Trade Center (2006) - FDNY Lieutenant (uncredited)
- Cook Off! (2007) - Dave Carriere
- Red Velvet (2008) - Father
- Ashes (2010) - Peter Ehrlich
- The Great Intervention (2010) - Dr. Alan Griffin
- California Scheming (2014) - Mr. Rourke
References
- ^ a b c d e "S.A. Griffin". Poets & Writers. 2019-05-21.
- ^ a b c d "The Poetry Bomb: A Weapon of Mass Discussion". KCET. 2013-01-27.
- ^ a b "For poet S.A. Griffin, bombing at a reading won't be bad". DeseretNews. 2010-03-07.
- ^ a b "S.A. Griffin collection of underground poetry, Scott Wannberg, and The Carma Bums, circa 1950-2015". Online Archive of California. 2015.
- ^ "New Home for Bukowski". Los Angeles Times. 2016-06-15.
- ^ a b "Admiring an L.A. Poet". LAObserved. 2006-07-14.
External links
- The Open Ended It - official site
- S.A. Griffin at IMDb
- S.A. Griffin's poem "Walt Whitman's Beard" - a video
- The Poetry Bomb - a video