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Daphne Gottlieb, weaver of broken hearts, scattered dreams and post-punk politics, released a new book of poetry this month, "15 Ways to Stay Alive." In language that often has the force of violence, Gottlieb deconstructs our culture into a context that demands - and makes possible - honest expression. She says: "I'm entranced by the idea of reading the culture back to itself, because I'm conscious that we as people and also as a culture are myth-making machines. So I'm interested in a resistance to that: What we can bend, what we can break. And by using the detritus of the culture in my work, it's a hope to somehow put a virus in the system."

Joseph Lease, associate professor of writing and literature at California College of the Arts, recently celebrated a book release for "Testify," at City Lights. There to listen was a mix of Lease's students and older, familiar zealots of poetry. Writer and astrologer Rob Brezsny said of the reading: "That was beautiful. It's so rare to find a sense of humor in serious poetry. He doesn't want to assault you. He doesn't want to do what the culture does to us, to assault us, but he makes us aware of what the culture does. Very impressive."