Book Launch: MADCAP by James Henry Zukin

James Henry Zukin is a prize-winning poet and renowned investment banker. He has devoted much of his life to the simultaneous pursuit of these two distinct fields. In each, he is an innovator. Zukin brings his unique style to topics largely untouched by poetry. Join us for the release party of his chapbook MADCAP, featuring pianist and composer Greg Spero for an exciting collaboration in The Wanda Coleman Theater.

MADCAP was one of six chapbooks chosen for publication by the Finishing Line Press. It is a work of fiction. In MADCAP he shares poems that call out disaster capitalism’s rapacious effects on countries rendered insolvent by odious loans or epic corruption, and poems that share a powerful perspective of the horrors of war. Zukin’s vignettes from a dozen countries include Liberia, Uganda, Turkey, Iraq, and China, providing a fascinating tour of the dark world of disaster capitalism.

Zukin is the Editor-in-Chief of Financial Valuation: Businesses and Business Interests, published in 1990. Zukin played a leadership role in the standardization of the modern fairness and solvency opinions. He has advised on hundreds of M&A transactions and over a dozen sovereign debt restructurings. Zukin has been involved with a number of poetry organizations and currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Beyond Baroque Foundation, an Advisory Board Member of Get Lit, and is a major supporter of the Amanda Gorman Future Voices Poetry Prize and Scholarship Contest.

Reception: 7:00 PM I Readings: 8:00 PM

Livestream: If you can’t join us in-person the event will be livestreamed on Beyond Baroque’s YouTube channel at the scheduled time of the event.

James Henry Zukin is a prize-winning poet and renowned investment banker. In each field he is an innovator. Zukin brings his unique style to topics largely untouched by poetry. In MADCAP he shares poems that call out disaster capitalism's rapacious effects on countries such as Russia, China, Liberia, Uganda, Iraq, etc. In "Hand & Viz," winner of the 2023 Robert Creeley Prize from Marsh Hawk Press, Zukin intertwines historical events with the economic theories of Adam Smith and others. in 2021, Zukin won the Gemini Magazine award for best poem, "Gimp Boy and I." Zukin is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Beyond Baroque Foundation. Mr. Zukin is the co-founder of Houlihan Lokey, one of the 5 largest global investment banks.

Greg Spero is a Chicago-native pianist, composer, and entrepreneur, now based in Los Angeles CA. He has performed extensively with Halsey and the Miles Electric Band among other notable acts, performing at venues such as Madison Square Garden and The Forum, and on shows including SNL, Kimmel, and Fallon. Spero the founder of Tiny Room Studios, a combination concert venue/member’s club/content studio in Inglewood CA. He also is a technology entrepreneur building the first AI Artist Manager.

This event is Free & In-Person at Beyond Baroque. Masks are encouraged while inside our center.

Event attendees are expected to behave in a respectful and considerate manner while in our space. Beyond Baroque reserves the right to remove individuals from our events, virtual or otherwise, if they are not respecting the space, fellow attendees, or performers.

Because this is a free event seating is limited. Please arrive early.