Author Archives: John Biscello

About John Biscello

Originally from Brooklyn, NY, writer, poet, performer, and playwright, John Biscello, has lived in the high-desert grunge-wonderland of Taos, New Mexico since 2001. He is the author of four novels, Broken Land, a Brooklyn Tale, Raking the Dust, Nocturne Variations, and No Man’s Brooklyn; a collection of stories, Freeze Tag, two poetry collections, Arclight and Moonglow on Mercy Street; and a fable, The Jackdaw and the Doll, illustrated by Izumi Yokoyama. He also adapted classic fables, which were paired with the vintage illustrations of artist, Paul Bransom, for the collection: Once Upon a Time, Classic Fables Reimagined. His produced, full-length plays include: LOBSTERS ON ICE, ADAGIO FOR STRAYS, THE BEST MEDICINE, ZEITGEIST, U.S.A., and WEREWOLVES DON’T WALTZ.

The Argument

Posted on March 23, 2022 by John Biscello

Reality and me have disagreements all the time. Reality is, by nature, inviolable. And a bit of an existential bully. I am, by illicit union, a child of fiction. And tender in the center. Reality and me don’t always see … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Tagged gain, grail, loss, poem, Poetry | Leave a comment

Zoom Reading this Wed.

Posted on March 15, 2022 by John Biscello

Info here.

Posted in Audio, Books, Poetry, Press, Prose, Publications, Video | Tagged author, John Biscello, mick bennett, Poetry, Prose, Reading, unsolicited press, zoom | Leave a comment

In Praise of Honey

Posted on March 10, 2022 by John Biscello

Spoken word track w/ Ben Wright on bass and Nirmalan Mayura on flute. Image by James McNeill Whistler.

Posted in Artwork, Audio, Cinema, photography, Poetry, Video | Tagged honey, music, Poetry, Spoken Word, Whistler | Leave a comment

Mating Ritual

Posted on March 9, 2022 by John Biscello

Welcome to Wildlife, U.S.A. Today we’ll be taking you deep into the concrete jungle of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, where you’ll witness, uncut and uncensored, the primal mating ritual between the native male and female. Listener discretion advised.

Posted in Audio, Cinema, photography, Poetry, Prose, Video | Tagged Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, mating ritual, Spoken Word, street core, Video | Leave a comment

The Upstart Scarecrow

Posted on March 9, 2022 by John Biscello

Spoken word piece, backed by Ben Wright on stand up bass, in which we meet the derelict prophet and visionary, Willy Shakes.

Posted in Audio, photography, Poetry, Video | Tagged Brooklyn, music, Spoken Word, urban lore | Leave a comment

Jack Kerouac

Posted on March 5, 2022 by John Biscello

Cinematic poetic tribute to Jack Kerouac, honoring his centennial birthday (March 12, 2022).

Posted in Audio, Books, Cinema, photography, Poetry, Press, Prose | Tagged beat generation, beat tobop, film, jack kerouac, kerouac centennial 2022, Poetry, Spoken Word, Video | Leave a comment

The Last Days of Jack Kerouac, a film-poem

Posted on March 4, 2022 by John Biscello

March 12, 2022 marks the centennial birthday of Jack Kerouac. As one of my first literary crushes, and a seminal influence, I felt compelled to honor Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac and his singular contribution to the land of literature, with … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Cinema, photography, Poetry, Press, Prose | Tagged beat and bop, beat generation, Cinema, film poem, jack kerouac, kerouac centennial 2022, march 12 2022, Spoken Word | Leave a comment

After Party

Posted on January 26, 2022 by John Biscello

She, Lazarus, back from the dead, with a musical vengeance— A beat, Christ, please, she asks of her martyred D.J., half-light, half-man, and out climbs her voice, grinding through rubble, a dark velvet toy wound up for centuries, released, on … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | Tagged arclight, book, collection, don't call it a comeback, Indie Blue Publishing, Lady Lazarus, poems, Poetry | 2 Comments

God’s Word Against Mine

Posted on January 24, 2022 by John Biscello

And on the eighth day she was diagnosed an Artist, and saw that it was good and fierce and necessary, and went forth creating like a madwoman, rattling gravity shackles to the din of furor and crumbling towers within. (Poem … Continue reading →

Posted in Artwork, Books, photography, Poetry | Tagged arclight, Indie Blue, poem, poetry collection, publishing, the lyrical life, word to the mother | Leave a comment

Immigration Laws

Posted on January 21, 2022 by John Biscello

We areimmigrants in our own skin,flash-fire refugeeswho get by with falsified papers,fake IDs, and forged signatures.If caught and found guiltyof a trespassor transgression,we pardon ourselvesin our native tongues,language a placeholderfor the nameswe were forcedto annul. (Poem from the collection, Arclight.)

Posted in Artwork, Books, photography, Poetry | Tagged arclight, Indie Blu(e), Poetry, poetry book, word to the mother | Leave a comment