User:Openmh/Mike Harper

Mike Harper WIKI

Mike Harper(born October 13, 1985) is a North American poet and photographer, known mostly amongst his circles of friends as a nice guy. Harper began his writing career in college, attending California State University, Fullerton, focusing mainly on literary journals and poetic publications. His current projects include Lexicon Polaroid, BBQCHICKENROBOT and his personal blog, We Just Might Be Friends (or OPENMIKEHARPER.COM) which links to his own current works, as well as the works of his dearest friends.

Poetry
Mike's style of poetry is highly influenced by the Modernist poet, Ezra Pound. Having focused on studying Modernism in college, Mike picked up on Pound's style of poetry referred to as Imagism, and made sure that the concrete qualities of precision championed by this style would leak into his own writings. In 2008, Mike self-published a collection of poetry Exhaust, which chronicles his discontent with living in the suburbs of Orange County, California. Between 2006-2008, Mike focused mainly on publishing his poetry in literary magazines, thus having been published in Dash Literary Journal, Hibbleton Independent, Verdad, Origami Condom, New Verse News, and his own publication Lexicon Polaroid. Lexicon Polaroid was a literary zine that combined poems with their visual interpretations as illustrated by artists who had never met the poets themselves.

Music Writing
Since 2008, Mike has been writing for BBQCHICKENROBOT.COM, an independent music website originally based in Los Angeles, California, now with sources in New York, as well as Mike's focus on the Portland, Oregon music scene. From 2009-2010, Mike wrote for the Portland, Oregon based website PDX Pipeline, focusing on live music and up-and-coming bands from the Pacific Northwest.

Mike is currently the Portland editor of The Deli Magazine.

Photography
Mike is an avid photographer of everyday life, chronicling his quotidian experiences with musicians, in local events, and of friends he makes while traveling. He is a believer in analog photography, refusing to use digital cameras for his endeavors.

Personal life
Mike was born and raised in Fullerton, California and environs, and currently resides in Portland, Oregon.