Jeff with William Electric Black at La Mama

About Us

LiVE MAG! was born to run at the Bowery Poetry Club. It began when Bob Holman asked Jeff Wright to produce a show. Wright conceived the show as a performance / publication event where publishers, writers, and audience could swap and share. The idea was that by reading, or staging, a poem it would be like publishing it.

When the poet Uche Nduka asked when his poem would be actually published, Wright decided to make it a real magazine to accompany the events. So, to coincide with the second event, Wright produced the first actual printed edition. The early events from 2007 to 2010 featured editors of other publications as guests—eg, Hannah Winarsky, editor of Princeton University Press, Matvei Yankelevich of Ugly Duckling Presse, Michael Andre of Unmuzzled Ox, Bob Hershon of Hanging Loose, and Akilah Oliver, the Monday night coordinator of the Poetry Project at St. Mark’s Church. They read some and then solicited poems from the audience to be read. Events were also held in other legendary East Village locations like Bar On A, Sidewalk Cafe, and Mo Pitkins.

LiVE MAG! has evolved from its original conception as an onstage event. Now, in addition to multiple shows yearly, it is an annual journal of art and poetry. Continuing a fifteen-year tradition, we carry on a unique partnership with La Mama, E.T.C., which hosts an annual print publication party. The Mag is fortunate to also be part of the Howl! Happening family and regularly hosts art, performance, and poetry events there.

Publisher and Editor, Jeffrey Cyphers Wright, moved to New York City in 1976 and began Hard Press, publishing poetry postcards and books. He attended workshops at St. Mark's Poetry Project with Ted Berrigan, Alice Notley, John Godfrey, and Jim Brodey. He went on to study with Allen Ginsberg and William Matthews at Brooklyn College where he earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Poetry. In 1987, Wright launched Cover Magazine, the Underground National. Its contributors included Molly Jong-Fast, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, John Yau, Robert C. Morgan, David Ulin, Jeanne C. Wilkinson, KK Kozik, and hundreds more. The 64-page monthly journal circulated nationally until 2000.

Wright has written 19 books of poetry including Doppelgängster, Blue Lyre, Triple Crown, Employment of the Apes, All in All, and Take Over with a forward by Ginsberg. He appears in numerous anthologies and regularly exhibits and publishes his artwork as well. He has reviewed poetry for the Poetry Project Newsletter, American Book Review, and The Brooklyn Rail, and written art criticism for Artnexus, Art & Antiques, White Hot, Chelsea Now, and other publications.

Visit jeffreycypherswright.com, Wikipedia, or write to Wright for more information. livemagnyc [at] gmail.com

Ilka Scobie, LiVE MAG! Deputy Editor, is a native New Yorker, poet and art critic. She has written extensively for artnet and currently contributes to London's Artlyst. Recent poems have appeared in Poetry in Performance, Vanitas, and here/there. She was also Deputy Editor of Cover Magazine.

Lori Ortiz, Associate Editor, Designer/Developer, holds a BFA from Alfred University has enjoyed an accomplished painting career. She has written arts journalism for NYC and national cultural trade and weekly publications since 2003 and is the author of Disco Dance. She has been a member of the design and web developer communities since 2009.