Jeff Callaway

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Jeff Callaway
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Jeff Callaway or Jeffrey Donald Callaway, also known as the Texas Outlaw Poet, is the LPTexas Candidate for US Congressional District 1 in the 2018 election. Texas Outlaw Poet is how he is known largely throughout the Texas Spoken Word scene. He is a co-founder and owner of Texas Outlaw Press and was born in Athens, Texas in 1976. Since then he has attempted to tour every bar and every jail-house in the great state. Fortunately he shares his experiences through his edgy southern poetry that can be as sultry as Texas itself. Jeff has written five chapbooks and two full-length volumes, all published by Austin publisher Texas Outlaw Press. He has appeared at countless open mics and performed many spoken word events since 2003. He recently had his first art show of original work at the Hal Samples Space Gallery in Deep Ellum, displaying his many multi-media renderings of beer bottles. He currently resides in Gun Barrel City, Texas where he continues to perform, write, paint, live and love.

Texas Outlaw Poet

Texas Outlaw Poet is the performing name of spoken word artist Jeff Callaway. He became known as such within the poetry and open mic circles around the Austin, Texas area in April of 2005, when it was discovered by the community that he had been a fugitive from the law for the previous months in which he had made a name for himself as one of the new up and coming poets of the area. The cause of his arrest in San Angelo in April of 2005 stemmed from a previous charge of Possession of Cocaine which took place September 12, 2013, the day that Johnny Cash passed away. He had been picked up in a bar in his hometown of Athens, Texas and was found to have both cocaine and methamphetamines as well as drug paraphernalia on his person by local authorities, while currently on parole for his original felony of Possession of Psilocybin in April of 2000. While being on trial for the possession charges he fled the area to hideout in Austin and perform at various venues all over the city. When he was later picked up by police in San Angelo on his way to Forrest Fest, an annual poetry festival in West Texas, the Austin poetry community caught wind of the news and the "Texas Outlaw Poet" was born. Texas Outlaw Press was then formed by Jeff Callaway and John-Paxton Gremillion to publish chapbooks for readings for both while Jeff was in and when he got out of the Penitentiary system in mid 2006. He wrote and published 5 books while locked up. Many events were also held in the Austin area in support of the Texas Outlaw Poet while he was in prison to help raise money for legalization and prison reform issues. Upon his release, a sold out headline gig at the Ruta Maya Poetry Open Mic was held to commemorate his new found freedom. Jeff Callaway still performs in the area to this day. -John-Paxton Gremillion, (Co-Founder)

Texas Outlaw Press

Texas Outlaw Press is a publisher of poetry, short stories, novels, articles, photography, art, and music. They also provides a wide variety of Texas Outlaw Press merchandise. They are passionately involved in politics and social issues, such as prison reform and legalization. In the future they hope to become a platform and a voice for those incarcerated for non violent drug offenses in Texas. "Texas Outlaw Press was founded when my good friend Jeff Callaway was sent to prison for the non-violent offense of possession of psilocybin mushrooms. Together we founded the Press to publish chapbooks for readings both while Jeff was in and when he got out of the penitentiary system. The legacy of our inception is our on-going interest in working with artist who have had to suffer the indignities and injustices of the hypocritical drug laws in Texas and the U.S. In the coming years we hope to shape the Press into a helpful resource for artists trapped in the Texas prison system for non-violent drug possession. We are also interested in collaborating with Texas's artist and political communities to bring further awareness to the injustices of Marijuana Prohibition and the harms to people's lives caused by incarcerating non-violent drug offenders. Ultimately we would like to help educate citizens and voters about the negative consequences of current drug laws and the benefits of treatment vs. incarceration in regards to serious addiction issues. At the same time we'd like to offer a rewarding forum for self-expression to those negatively impacted by those laws and to our readers and listeners." -John-Paxton Gremillion (Co-Founder)

Quotes About Texas Outlaw Poet

"...And self-expression takes many forms, as exemplified perfectly in Jeff Callaway, the self-described Texas Outlaw Poet. Callaway took to the stage, the dim, amber lighting serving as backdrop, and the slack body language, shaggy hair, and loose fitting clothing serving as a decoy, hiding his focused, fierce and shameless - no, proud - personal revelations through his spoken-word performance. Between drug abuse, stints in jail and harrowing life experiences bordering on nightmarish, no topic was off-limits. Make no mistake, though, Callaway takes ownership of his past, and transforms what might otherwise be construed as regret and despair, into a turbulent, poignant catharsis of the injured soul, and we were all better off for it." -- Tommy Thomas, local journalist Underground Arts Fair Remarkable Athens Event by Tommy Thomas

"It is my personal opinion that Burroughs, Kerouac & Rimbaud never died. A highly advanced alien civilization abducted them, extracted their DNA, & genetically engineered “Texas Outlaw Poet” Jeff Callaway. His first collection of poems, “Party Fouls”, is a harrowing road-trip through the fragmented Texas psyche of an artist who has truly survived a “season in hell”. Callaway’s “graduate degree” in poetry was earned in the bloodcurdling corridors of Huntsville State Prison. Like Jack Henry Abbott, Paul Verlaine & other “outsider artists” before him — Callaway has brought his “prison ink lessons” and a life spent-on-the-margins into gut-wrenching redemptive cinematic glory. I don’t read poetry. And I read Callaway’s electric collection in one sitting." -- C.M. Talkington, LOVE & A .45 writer/director

Bibliography

Books by Jeff Callaway

CDs & DVDs

External Links

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