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“Message in a Bottle”
How a South Florida Writers Association and a Poet Are Sending an Anthology To the Moon
“Our hope is that future travelers who find these time capsules will discover some of the richness of our world today… It speaks to the idea that, despite wars and pandemics and climate upheaval, humankind found time to dream, time to create art.”
– Samuel Peralta
The WD Interview with Howard Camner
WD: Howard, please tell our readers about yourself.
Howard: I was born and raised in Miami. I moved to New York in the 1970s and founded two literary troupes: “The Literary Outlaws” and “The West End Poetry Troupe”. We would do shows of poetry and music throughout the tri-state area. The West End Poetry Troupe was headquartered at the West End Bar (aka The West End Gate aka the West End Jazz Club) which was a hangout for Jack Kerouac and the Beat Poets in the 1950s. Allen Ginsberg would attend some shows and helped promote us. Upon my return to Miami, I was nominated for Poet Laureate of Florida at the ripe old age of 23. I have authored 25 books including the Pulitzer Prize-nominated Poems from the Mud Room, I was named “Best Poet in Miami” in the 2007 New Times Newspaper’s “Best of Miami” edition and I received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Arts. I am an inductee into the Miami Dade College Hall of Fame for Literary Arts. My major works are housed in the Emerson Archives in Boston. There’s much more, but I still have to pay ten dollars for a cup of coffee like everyone else. Sometimes they charge me more.
What is the Lunar Codex?
I would prefer to talk about me, but okay. The Lunar Codex is the largest contemporary arts project in history. It includes poetry, art, writing, music and film created by 35,000 artists from 253 countries, territories, and indigenous nations from around the globe. The work is recreated on NanoFiche which is then placed into time capsules or “Moon Boxes” (as they are sometimes referred to) which are then rocketed to the moon for a three-day journey of 238,900 miles and brought by rover to the designated spot for placement of the time capsules. In the case of the Polaris, which will include the entire Codex, NASA’s VIPER rover will target the Nobile Crater in the vicinity of the Lunar South Pole.
WD: Who is Dr. Samuel Peralta?
Howard: Dr. Peralta is the founder and creator of the Lunar Codex. He is a physicist, poet, artist, art curator, and quite a gourmet chef! I haven’t actually tasted his cooking, but I’ve seen pictures, and it sure looks good.
WD: How did a poet and a South Florida Writers Association become involved in the Lunar Codex Project?
Howard: I absolutely forgot how I found out I was initially involved, so I was involved before I knew I was involved. That said, I had been published several times in a well-known arts journal out of Chicago called “Poets & Artists”. Some of my work was solo and some of it was collaborations with visual artists. One, in particular, Richard Frost, and I did some memorable work together. Richard would do the painting and i would write the corresponding poem inspired by the painting and sometimes vice-versa. The publisher, Didi Menendez was a longtime friend who happened to publish a poetry chapbook for a physicist named Samuel Peralta. So I think that’s how Sam and I connected. I also happened to be a member of a writers organization based in Miami called “The South Florida Writers Association”. They had kicked me out decades
ago because they knew I had a cable comedy talk show in Los Angeles in the 1980s and asked me to host a cable show they had called “Between the Lines”. I was interviewing a psychologist and things didn’t go well. I won’t go into details here. Anyway…eventually (under new leadership) they welcomed me back. Sam asked me if I would put together an anthology of poetry and flash fiction to be included in the Lunar Codex. I agreed to do it. He handed me the golden key and winked off. I sat there not sure what to do next. A few minutes later I was sure what to do next. I contacted Mort Laitner, the president of The South Florida Writers Association and explained the situation. Mort quickly pulled together a team to start compiling material and putting it together as an anthology. Our credo was “Quality over quantity.” We wanted good material and refused to accept any fillers. We also brought in some excellent artwork including three pieces from my “Poets & Artists” collaborator Richard Frost. Most of the work in the anthology, which Sam titled “Sea of Tranquility – A Literary Anthology” came from members of SFWA and some from a group that I belong to that I call “The Old Guard” which are longtime Florida poets that helped put a city that used to be a cultural desert on the literary map with the help of renowned bookseller / literary activist Mitchell Kaplan.
Please tell us how you went about compiling The Sea of Tranquility—A Literary Anthology
As I stated, it was “Quality over quantity”, so working together with Mort, Monica DeZulueta (who did the actual creation of the anthology) and Neil Crabtree (who was crabby sometimes, but in a much-needed way) we went over each submission as they came in, stated our opinions (primarily the opinions of Mort and myself, because no one else’s opinion counted for much) and we eventually reached our goal. The anthology was moon-themed, so the submissions had to meet that criterion. Several did not and therefore flew into a wastebasket instead of flying to the moon.
WD: When will The Sea of Tranquility—A Literary Anthology land on the Moon?
Howard: We’re not exactly certain of the launch and landing date. It’s been delayed twice. The Polaris is the largest and most comprehensive of all the launches, so it must be perfect. It will be going up on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. I have heard February or September of 2025. No matter when, I will be there, as this is quite literally history being made.
WD: What final words of advice do you have for the readers of WD?
Howard: Advice? The older I get the more I understand that I know nothing. You never know what’s going to happen in life. This shot at “immortality” came out of the blue. When I was a 22-year-old kid in New York, I’d finish my poetry shows on the upper west side, walk out to Broadway and squint up at the moon wondering what was going on up there. I had no idea that almost half a century later it would be the words that I just spoke into that microphone. Just keep being you.
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