A. Razor Bio

A. Razor was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Christmas Day in 1963. He was moved to Redlands, CA at the age of 1 and lived in San Bernardino, CA until he left home in the late 70's at the age of 14. He came to Hollywood Blvd. and lived on the streets around LA from Echo Park to Venice. He was a skateboarding, break dancing, party/club DJ, punk rock musician and graffiti artist that some would label as an outlaw, even though he made it back to San Bernardino High School long enough to graduate Automotive Mechanics and History/English Lit. AP before he ever went to prison. He never went to college, but he did start reading his prose pieces at readings that were held at the Lhasa Club, Variety Arts Center, Onyx Cafe, Al’s Bar, Beyond Baroque and Van Gogh's Ear in the LA area and the Barn at the University of California, Riverside. At a reading in 1984 he met Drew Bailey, owner and editor of Drew Blood Press, who published many So-Cal street poets from the early 80's on his D.B.P.L. chapbook series and who would publish 13 different titles of A. Razor's work, including Spare Blades, Everything is Shiny Grey, Evil and Other Safe Lubricants, War in the 13th Hour, Creeping Malaise, A Chapbook and Works, from 1984-1995. 

   Drew Blood began submitting the poet’s work for publishing in zines and underground publications and acted as his editor as A. Razor started traveling the country from east to west coast. He did readings along the way in places like the Cafe Babar in San Francisco, Rifle Sport Gallery and Mayslack’s Bar in Minneapolis, MN, Carousel in Dallas, TX, Carnival in Austin, TX, The Citadel in New Orleans, LA, 6 Feet Under, Phoenix, AZ The Beat Conference in Lawrence, KS, Naropa Institute, Boulder City, CO, Nuyorican Café and ABC No Rio in NYC, Satyricon in Portland, OR and Food for Thought and D.C. Space in Wash., D.C. He settled in Minneapolis., MN in 1989-90 for a brief time and started publishing and editing the Your Elbow Lit-Art Zine with Kim Koch and Erika Schlaeger. He has lived and written in many other cities, including New York, NY, Portland, OR, San Francisco, Oakland and Bolinas, CA. Recently he became a member of the Hollywood Institute of Poetics in Los Angeles, CA in 2009. This same year and in 2010 he published work in Gutter Eloquence, Shoots And Vines, The Bicycle Review, Heroin Love Songs, The Hobo Review, River Babble, Girls with Insurance, Paraphilia Magazine and The Chiron Review. He has also completed the manuscript for his first novel, “1979, A Hollywood Love Story” which has recently been bid on by several publishing concerns. He is also expecting to publish a new collection of poetry with Punk Hostage Press, entitled “Better Than A Gun In A Knife Fight” in 2012. 

   His writing has always explored the world that he has sought to be a part of and to rebel against at the same paradoxical moment. He has always written to express his perspective on the human condition and to connect with a world experience while attempting to make sense of his inner turmoil and joy. He has traveled extensively, seeking and enduring everything from homelessness and imprisonment to serenity and peace. He now resides as quietly as possible in Point Richmond, CA.