Big Poppa E is the performing name of Erik Ott.

After graduating from California State University, Chico, with a degree in journalism, in 1999, Ott put all his belongings in storage and headed out in a van with his cats, Aretha and Thelonious.

He's literally been "on the road" ever since.

"It's a lot safer than when Kerouac was hitchhiking," Ott says, cognizant of the obvious parallel. "The road is such a wonderful community of poets and fans of poets. Once you're out there, they take care of you.

"I do what's called poetry slamming, and there are poetry slams all over the country, in every major city and every town with a college," he says. "There are over 100 poetry slams a year and a community that networks. I have someone to pick me up at the bus stations, I eat their food and sleep on their couches. Most of these people I've never met, but we'll talk until 4 in the morning about poetry, and it's wonderful."

Ott is best known for his poem "The Wussy Boy Manifesto" and his ongoing Wussy Boy Chronicles, now up to book nine.

Ott says he writes, in part, because, "I want to say to all those kids growing up, 'It's OK you don't fit in with what they're telling you is a man.'"

The word "wussy" is often used in a derogatory manner, and having had it directed at him, Ott seized it "as an empowerment thing."

Ott's explanations tend to take detours, as his life does, but in the end he's where he wants to be.

"When you grow up like I did, being the kind of boy I was—I was short, I was not very strong, I was horrible at sports—all the ways of defining yourself as a young man from the sixth grade on.

"Before the sixth grade, when intelligence and literacy and a sense of humor counted for something, I was kind of a popular kid. Once the hormones hit, I was left behind and I was called fag or pussy or something worse."

So, in an effort to keep himself awake during a lecture on propaganda in a communications class, Ott wrote "The Wussy Boy Manifesto" in the margins of his notebook.

It reads, in part:

"i remember shouting in high school,

'no, dad, i'm not gay!

i'm just... sensitive.

i tried to like hot rods and jet planes

and football and budweiser poster girls,

but i never got the hang of it!

i don't know what's wrong with me...' "

Ott's writings in general, and that poem in particular, have attracted attention across the United States and from as far away as Australia. Utne Reader did a profile on him in 2000.

Although Ott seems to be perennially on the road, he technically does have a home in Austin, Texas.

"In March of 2002," Ott says, "I was on tour living in the back of my van. I met a girl, she had a couch, I stayed. We're no longer together, but the city has captivated me."

Austin is where Ott "took a break and got a job at a Kinko's.

"I much prefer frequenting Kinko's than working for Kinko's. I live there when I'm on the road, it's a great place to be, but working there is a different story. It's not Kinko's fault, it's any job. I don't want to be tied to a place or exchange my freedom for scraps of paper."

It was during this time that Ott wrote a series of haikus for his website, including:

"i can copy, fold,

staple, bind, score, collate, fax.

college served me well."

Ott's account of that period in his life, including the day he quit, ranges from poignant to humorous with insights into what mind-numbing jobs can do to the people performing them, as well as how they interact with one another. These entries, as well as what he's doing today, can be read on the Wussy Boy Chronicles section of his www.brokenword.org website.

Two weeks after quitting the Kinko's job, Ott says, "I packed my clothing, spent $500 on a bus pass and left with $6 in my pocket."

Now Ott is on the road again, using a Greyhound Ameripass giving him 45 days of travel anywhere in the continental United States.

Currently he's in the Bay Area, which Ott visited frequently while at Chico State. A Bakersfield native, he says he chose Chico believing it was in the Bay Area.

"I made the three-hour trip to the Bay Area once a week to be part of the poetry scene here. I was a part of the scene, but I've never lived here," he says.

After deciding to head to Northern California to attend a poetry slam in Big Sur, Ott called For Your Journey owner Donna Lopez and offered to do a performance.

"I was excited to hear some of Big Poppa E's samples," Lopez says. "It's very different from what we've had, and it brings a new diversity to our center.

"At our poetry nights, we make a point to explain the diversity of our different poetry styles and inspirations. It's not meant to persuade, it's meant to share what the poet feels.

"I'm very excited about this," Lopez says.

In his mid-30s, Ott won't give his exact age, quipping, "I'm as ageless and timeless as Dorian Gray."

Right out of high school, Ott joined the U.S. Navy.

"I was 17 at the time, I hated Bakersfield and I was tired of people telling me what to do," he says with an ironic laugh. "They shouldn't let 17-year-olds make those kinds of decisions, but if it wasn't for 17-year-olds making those decisions, we wouldn't be able to attack Iraq.

"It was a horrible time, but it got me where I am today, so I have a hard time regretting it."

After the Navy, Ott went to Chico State, where he embraced being a "wussy."

There, he says, he realized, "I could be a feminist and still be a man. My girlfriends could be stronger than me and I'm still a man. I could hang out with my girlfriend who wears combat boots and we could paint our fingernails together and I'm still a man."

Lately, Ott admits, "I'm starting to yearn for things I don't have, like a garden or a mailing address. I'd like to be in a nice, solid relationship with an address, but as far as getting a legitimate job...

"I was offered my dream job right out of college, as assistant entertainment editor with a big newspaper. It was $30,000 a year, a parking spot, health plan and pencils, but I couldn't take it.

"I looked at the cubicle I'd worked in all summer during my internship and I had to decide which side to be on—the person in the cubicle or the person on the outside. I traded financial stability for a whole lot of grief and a whole lot of beauty."

Now, Ott says, "My job is blowing minds."

Big Poppa E will perform from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. July 22 at For Your Journey, 1435 The Alameda, San Jose, 408.947.1508. The event is free. For additional information, visit www.foryourjourney.com or www.brokenword.org.