Terre Haute Performance Poet Ready for His Mic Check

If you like Jack Kerouac and Douglas Adams, then you'll enjoy the works of Indiana poet and queer youth activist Walter Thomas Beck III. In a recent interview, published here, Walter Thomas Beck III explains the origins of his queer youth advocacy and activism and the growth and development of his poetic style. Beck's political activism began at age 16, and his advocacy for the rights of queer youth led him to found the group "Equality Speaks." From Equality Speaks, Beck has turned his efforts to Wabash Valley Pride and Terre Haute PFLAG.

Currently, Beck is a columnist and reviewer for The Front Row Report. "My last column was all about the Death of Punk."

When asked to describe himself, Beck answered "I'm not the pretty boy, Glee-watching, Lady Gaga-singing type. I'm a long-haired, chain-smoking, rock-n-roll ****sucker. If you want to understand my writing, how it works, dig deeper than the subject matter, be it camp, politics or sex, when you dig deeper, it all goes back to rock-n-roll. My poetry and writing is very influenced by my love and addiction to music."

Walter T. Beck III and blues musician Eli Van Sickel recorded their most recent performance, "Head for Gigs" on November 20 at the Verve Nightclub at 677 Wabash Avenue in Terre Haute, Indiana. It is available as a free download at Media Fire.

Mark December 15th on your calender and head to the Coffee Grounds at 423 Wabash Avenue in Terre Haute, Indiana for the first-ever public performance of excerpts from Beck's upcoming novel, "Fear and Doughnuts."

THIS THURSDAY AT COFFEE GROUNDS! Come on out to Poetry at the Grounds on Thursday for a very special show.

Circulating in the underground for years, on Thursday, the controversial gonzo camp epic "The Smell of Fear and Doughnuts" is finally unveiled to the public in a series of readings from excerpts of the work. These readings will be spaced throughout the night as people get their chance to get into the mind of Crossroads of America Council's gonzo camp outlaw. Hear true tales of dirty politics, rebellion, unity, brotherhood, personal downfall and redemption. This will be Walter Beck's 30th and final performance for 2011.