Ahead of the Curve

The remarks on the previous post express the ideas of the ULA, but applied to literature. (Not an exact parallel, but a useful one.)

The similarities have always been there. I noticed them when I stumbled into the zeen scene of the 90's-- all around me, an explosion of original D-I-Y writing with more energy and authenticity than anything produced by the mainstream.

The tragedy of the movement is that, while some icons like Aaron Cometbus continue on, many of the best zeen writers quickly abandoned their independence and sold out in ways large and small and thereby threw away the chance of making history. In the mid-90's for instance Jen Gogglebox was a natural writer who went on to get the proper education, the right "training" that has given her modest standing in the mainstream, under her real name, but robbed her of the transparent unaffected TALENT she once owned abundantly.

There are right now dynamic punk writers, striking performers, who have everything needed to be superstars but by some misguided reasoning are sitting in ridiculous creative writing classes which are only going to tame them and destroy them.

This is the time not to be one of 400,000 production-line flunkies, but to make history-- cultural history-- by embracing this genuine movement; by throwing off the mental chains of training, classes, unnaturalness, process, which is all the MFAs give us and have given us the past thirty years until we're gagging on their parade of manufactured wannabes. Zeensters and other independent writers need to embrace what's unique about their art-- what sets them apart from the plastic mob. They need to accept their wonderful spontaneity and raging voice and be proud of their history and its Jack Saunders Wild Bill Lisa Falour underground pioneers.

The Underground Literary Alliance is the first location to find real cultural happenings; the best underground writers with the most authenticity. If you're a reader or writer who seeks big beat verbal dynamic energy prose and poetic excitement the ULA is the place. Stop by the ULA hangout. See www.literaryrevolution.com for more details.