June 14, 2011. Diary of a Billsticker – Lambertville/New Hope, USA

How to Put Up a Poster

This was the week after Gil Scott-Heron died and also the week that Errol Hincksman (Mr Asia drug ring) died. Gil Scott-Heron was one of the great poets and musicians of his generation. His work touched millions of people.

I was carrying posters by Janet Frame, Tusiata Avia and Roy Smith.

Richard Nixon declared the War on Drugs on June 17, 1971 – forty years ago this week. In those forty years there have been forty million arrests in the USA alone. The result? No different. As Gil Scott-Heron said about addiction: the first step is to be honest about it.

Here is the Starbucks/Borders method of postering:

Don't ask the staff whether you can put up a poster. Just walk in confidently, find the notice board, and put the poster up. If someone asks you what you're doing, say you're promoting a poetry event. Nine times out of ten they will say that's fine. The key is not to ask permission because then you are subject to bureaucracy.

Phantom Billstickers has always been built on going against the tide. That's where the good stuff is.

RIP Gil Scott-Heron. RIP Errol Hincksman (in his own way).

Keep the Faith,
Jim Wilson