Chicago-based singer-songwriter, journalist and poet, Larry O. Dean's latest book, "I Am Spam," poems "inspired" by spam email, will be published September 1st by Fractal Edge Press, www.fractaledgepress.com.

Larry will be celebrating "Spam"'s release with a series of readings throughout Chicagoland as well as across the country. The official "I Am Spam" book release party will be held Friday, September 10 @ 8 p.m., at Quimby’s, 1854 W. North Ave. in Chicago, (773) 342-0910, www.quimbys.com.

In addition, Larry will appear live on the air Saturday, September 4 @ 7 p.m., on WNUR 89.3 FM's "Lit Show," www.wnur.org/lit, reading from "Spam" and being interviewed. The studio line is (847) 866-9687.

Please contact Larry regarding interviews, obtaining copies of "I Am Spam" for review, or with specific questions. Also see www.larryodean.com for additional info.

Thank you for your support of independent artists!

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LARRY O. DEAN BIO

Born in Flint, Michigan, Dean was a teen-aged arts editor and reporter for muckraking journalist and Oscar-winning director, Michael Moore at The Michigan Voice. Also a prodigious cartoonist, his illustrations were published frequently in the underground press. Attending the University of Michigan, he won three Hopwood Awards in Creative Writing in consecutive years. Dean considers himself "non-academic both by choice and temperament," and proudly calls himself a working class writer. "Both my parents were from blue collar backgrounds. As I’ve grown older and been exposed to more writing, I find working class writers interest me most; without seeking them out, I seem to be drawn to their work." Some of those writers include poets David Ignatow, Philip Levine, and Alden Nowlan; biographical novelist John Fante; satirist Charles Portis; and so-called 'hardboiled' writers David Goodis, Jim Thompson, and Marc Behm. After college, Larry moved to San Francisco, where he honed his poetry and published widely in the small presses, as well as giving frequent readings. (For a brief period, he edited his own magazine, Draconian Measures.) He also wrote about popular music and culture for such noteworthy periodicals as Option and Cake ("the best satiric rock mag since Creem in its heyday"). He continues to publish regularly in Amplifier as well as other publications. Larry was recipient of the 2004 Hands on Stanzas Gwendolyn Brooks Award.