THE WORK POETRY NEWSLETTER
NOVEMBER 2010
BY CHRISTOPHER LUNA
My monthly workshop continues on Saturday, November 13. We will listen to spoken word recordings, discuss poetry and the poet’s role in the community, and do some writing together. Let me know if you’d like to speak to a former participant of the workshop to determine whether it would be right for you. The workshop will take place in the newly opened Niche, a wine bar owned and operated by Angst Gallery Director Leah Jackson. Niche is located at 1013 Main, right next door to the gallery. The workshop costs $20 and will take place from noon to 2:30 on Saturday, November 13. Hope to see you there.
Kazim Ali
On November St. Johns Booksellers and I present Kazim Ali, poet and author of a great new book of prose poetry, “Bright Felon.” Joins us at 8622 Lombard at 2pm Sunday, November 21 for what is sure to be a great afternoon of poetry. See item 7 below for more info.
On November 30 I will proudly serve as guest host for surrealist superhero Dan Raphael’s reading at Barnes and Noble in Vancouver. Dan’s reading from his new book, “Impulse and Warp: The Selected 20th Century Poems” will be followed by an open mic. See item 1 below for more info on Dan’s upcoming readings.
Photos of the fire at Mojos and
Cover to Cover Books
by Olinka Broadfoot
October 11, 2010
On October 11, just as our monthly open mic poetry reading was about to begin, there was a fire at Mojo’s, the bar and grill next door to Cover to Cover Books. No one was hurt, and much of the bookstore’s inventory was saved; however, it will be several months before
Cover to Cover Books (
http://covertocoverbooks.net/) will be open for business. Our thoughts are with
Mel Sanders, her employees, and her family during this difficult time. We eagerly await our return to the bookstore, but until then the Cover to Cover open mic will be touring the downtown area, visiting a different venue every month. Email me or consult my blog (
http://christopherluna-poetry.blogpsot.com/) for updates on our
Ghost Town Poetry Tour.
I’d like to thank
Leah Jackson for allowing us to use
Angst Gallery for October’s reading with Carlos Reyes. I’m proud to report that it was a great evening of poetry, with several new participants including Portland writers Mike G., Bob, and Jeff Ettlin, who entertained us with his hilarious Star Wars poems.
The first stop on our Ghost Town Poetry Tour will be The Stray Gallery, which is located at 1706 Columbia (between 17th and McLoughlin), just two short blocks west of the bookstore. I would like to thank Kori Sayer and Matt LeMieux for opening up their home to us. Because The Stray Gallery is a private residence, it is not handicapped accessible. However, we’d be happy to help people up the two steps that lead into the house.
You may want to bring a folding chair or two, as seating will be limited. Snacks and drinks are also welcome.
As always, the open mic will spotlight one of the area’s best published poets. Our featured reader for November is Penelope Scambly Schott.
Open Mic Poetry hosted by
Christopher Luna
7:00pm Thursday,
November 11, 2010
At a special location
The Stray Gallery
1706 Columbia, Vancouver
(between 17th & McLoughlin)
For more info call 360-910-1066
Penelope Scambly Schott's newest book Crow Mercies (Calyx Press, $14.95) was awarded the Sarah Lantz Memorial Prize. As one critic wrote, "To read these poems is to fall in love (again) with poetry." Schott's verse biography of Anne Hutchinson, A is for Anne: Mistress Hutchinson Disturbs the Commonwealth (Turning Point, $17.00) won the Oregon Book Award for Poetry in 2008. Along with the aforementioned, Schott’s Six Lips (Mayapple Press, $15.95) and Under Taos Mountain: The Terrible Quarrel of Magpie and Tia ($10.00) will also be available for sale at the reading. Anyone who buys one of these books will also receive a copy of a collaborative chapbook. In addition to writing, Penelope grades papers, paints, hikes with her girl gang, and spoils her family, particularly the lovely Ms. Lily Schott Sweetdog.
Excerpt of poem from Six Lips:
from "Counting the Body" section 6:
6. Six Lips
Six lips to sip the sublime,
two for the mouth and four for the vulva,
plump as succulents and shining with dew--
ah youth; ah, time.
Christopher again.
My thanks to Olin Unterwegner, Zachary Gray, Chris Stevens, and the staff at Paper Tiger Coffee and Northwest Shirts for hosting this year’s Culture Control event. Poets Alex Birkett, Jenney Pauer, Rick J., and Dan Nelson shared their well-crafted and thought-provoking words with an appreciative crowd from 5 to 6pm last Saturday. Remember that the art exhibit will be up for the rest of the month, including my apocalyptic tribute to the Godfather of Soul, “The Second Coming of the Sex Machine.” You can also see work by many local artists including Chelsea Rose, Olin Unterwegner, Pablito, and Toni Partington. Congratulations to Olin for a great event—planning and executing an all day concert in two venues is not easy.
I’m very grateful to Kate Dyer-Seeley and the Vancouver Voice for their favorable story on me and my role in the local poetry community. And special thanks to local photography genius Anni Becker for the head shot that accompanies the story: http://www.vanvoice.com/article?articleTitle=%27couv+connections%3a+some+things+are+better+live--1287421254--424
Please read my recent column for Sage Cohen’s “Writing the Life Poetic E-Zine” (link and article in item 9 below). Then take a look at my first review for the newly launched New York Journal of Books: http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/review/sarah%E2%80%94-fragments-and-lines. There is more info about the website in item 11 below.
St. Mark’s Poetry Project in New York has posted some great audio from some of their recent readings including David Shapiro, Laura Moriarty, my Kerouac School friend Cedar Sigo (see item 10 below for more info on his new book from City Lights), and filmmaker Jonas Mekas’s description of Allen Ginsberg’s death in 1997: http://poetryproject.org/multimedia/audio
Finally, check out “A Monk’s Tale,” Sam Hamill’s account of founding Poets Against the War: ht
tp://kagean.blogspot.com/2010/10/monks-tale.html
Smoke and fire won’t stop us
from slinging verbiage,
Christopher Luna
THE WORK
November 2010
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Upcoming readings to celebrate Dan Raphael’s selected poems, “Impulse & Warp” (Vancouver and Portland)
2. The Studio Series Poetry Reading John Morrison and Jessica Lamb + Open Mic Nov. 14 (Portland)
3. Figures of Speech with Penelope Scambly Schott and David Axelrod at 100th Monkey Studios hosted by Steve Williams and Constance Hall Nov. 17/ Looking Glass Critique Group (Portland)
4. Steve Williams and Constance Hall + open mic at Paper Tiger Coffee Nov. 18 (Vancouver)
5. Oregon Poet Laureate Paulann Petersen’s upcoming readings to celebrate her new book, “The Voluptuary” (Portland)
6. Break Into Business Writing: A Workshop with Sage Cohen and PDX Writers Nov. 20 at Tabor Space (Portland)
7. Kazim Ali, author of “Bright Felon: Autobiography and Cities” at St. Johns Booksellers Nov. 21 (Portland)
8. Moonstruck Chocolate Poetry Reading November 21 (Lake Oswego)
9. “How to Launch an Open Mic Poetry Reading” by Christopher Luna, from Sage Cohen’s “Writing the Life Poetic” E-Zine
10. Three Friends Reading Series is accepting proposals through December 3
11. New York Journal of Books Launch Announcement
12. City Lights Spotlight Series presents a new book by Cedar Sigo
13. Margin L, new poetry by Vernon Frazer
SUBMISSION CALLS
1.
Upcoming readings with Dan Raphael, in celebration of his new book, “Impulse & Warp: The Selected 20th Century Poems:”
Wednesday, 11/10, 7:00 @ Milwaukie Library’s pond house, just Dan reading for 45 minutes or so, followed by Q and A/discussion.
Tuesday, 11/30 7:00 @ Barnes and Noble Vancouver (7700 NE Fourth Plain Blvd., 98662)
Dan Raphael + open mic with guest host Christopher Luna
Barnes and Noble emcee Shawn Sorensen’s announcement: Barnes & Noble Vancouver is honored to host open mic icon DAN RAPHAEL for its last Tuesdays monthly Poetry Group. Poetry Northwest magazine voted Raphael one of the top 150 poets in Oregon's history. Come see why and read your own work during our open mic portion of the evening. Order Raphael's new greatest hits collection Impulse & Warp: Selected 20th Century Poems at www.bn.com or at the info. desk in the middle of our bookstore at least a week before the event. Barnes & Noble Poetry Group, Nov. 30th, 7-8:30 pm, 7700 NE Fourth Plain Blvd., 98662; more info. from regular host Shawn Sorensen, who will be at the 11/30 event: crm2679@bn.com. Special guest host: Christopher Luna.
2.
The Studio Series
Poetry Reading and Open Mic
This month, the Studio Series will feature
John Morrison and Jessica Lamb - see bios below
Sunday, November 14
7-9 pm
Stonehenge Studios
3508 SW Corbett Avenue, Portland 97239
Free and open to the public, The Studio Series is held monthly on second Sundays. For more information, please contact organizer and host Leah Stenson at leahstenson@comcast.net
3.
From Steve Williams and Constance Hall:
Our critique group meetings will be November 14th and December 12th, both at 5 p.m. at Looking Glass Books. Bring yourself and 8-10 copies of a poem.
On November 17th, we have Penelope Scambly Schott and David Axelrod at the Figures of Speech reading in the 100th Monkey Studio located at 110 SE 16th. Festivities start at 7 p.m. More info at www.figuresofspeechpdx.wordpress.com/about
The next evening (November 18th), Constance and I will be featured readers as a duo at a reading in Vancouver. The location is Paper Tiger coffee shop at 7 p.m. Address is 703 Grand Blvd. Directions and map available by clicking the above link 'paper tiger.' This is a well attended reading so come early to get a chair. :)
Our hearts go out to Mel at Cover to Cover books in Downtown Vancouver who is closed due to a fire in the restaurant next to her store. Chris Luna has up to date info. on the situation and where he will be moving his reading until Mel can get open again. Our last info. is that insurance is helping her out and she will be able to salvage 70% of her inventory. However, the process of cleaning the smoke out of books is not quick, plus the building needs repairs. The last estimate we heard is the store will re-open in Feb-March, 2011.
all for now
warmly,
s and c
4.
From Daniel Nelson
Welcome back, poetry fans,
Thanks to all the folks who promoted or attended last month's Poetry Night. It was a rousing success with a great time had by all. Special gratitude goes out to Ric Vrana for his inspired verse on being a not so ugly American in Central America, which made me want to buy a plane ticket south.
This month's 3rd Thursday, November 25th, at 7pm at Paper Tiger, 703 Grand Blvd in Vancouver, (between Evergreen and Mill Plain about a mile east of I-5) we will be featuring the dynamic duo of Constance Hall and Steve Williams. Steve lives and works in Portland, Oregon with a lovely woman who writes and edits much better than he, but refuses to admit it. Together they do literary community work for VoiceCatcher, OSPA, their own reading series (www.figuresofspeechpdx.wordpress.com), and a creative writing class as Regency Park Assisted Living Center. His chapbook, Skin Stretched Around the Hollow, was published by Rattlesnake press in 2007. You can find his work online at Stirring, Rose and Thorn, and most recently, two contest winning poems at www.scratchcontest.net. In addition, they own and operate an online critique forum at www.wildpoetryforum.com which has been operating with a world-wide membership since 1998.
Constance Hall writes under the penname M. Her work has appeared in Rattle, Harpur Palate, Pedestal, The Dirty Napkin, Babelfruit, and others – and will appear again in the Winter 2010 issue of Rattle. She has served for over a decade as an Associate Poetry Editor for an online poetry journal called Stirring: A Literary Collection. In addition, she’s an Administrator of an online poetry critique forum; Co-Chair of the Portland Unit of the Oregon State Poetry Association; Co-host of a monthly reading series/open mic called Figures of Speech; and Managing Editor/Board Member for VoiceCatcher, a non-profit collective that produces an annual anthology of Portland/Vancouver area women’s prose, poetry, and artwork.
Hope you will all join us and bring something to read during our open mic section showcasing the talents of some of the finest poets in the NW. Come on out an partake of great beverages and great minds. Here is a poem by M which will require any lover of great verse to attend our gathering to hear more.
Dan Nelson
360-334-1129
nelsondaniel59@yahoo.com
Salt
by M
In this room down a hall
at the Hopewell House
every Wednesday
from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.,
the widowed have agreed to meet
to lick the salt block.
My name tag reads
Albino deer (recessive rarity): widow at 35.
Dun-colored Helen and Marie
mistake me for a sheep or a goat
as we draw our chairs into a circle
of circumstance. Muscles in their aged faces
twitch with the greed of suspicion.
In the larger world,
Jean and I would sit in adjoining streetcar seats,
read our newspapers,
and never share a headline.
Even Doris, who drags the remains
of a personal god at the bottom
of her purse, tucked next to non-prescription
reading glasses she bought on sale at Walmart,
shrinks from my pink eyes.
Louise has ten grandchildren,
three she and Harry were raising
because her daughter is, well, you know,
she doesn’t want to say. She won’t tell you either
that when Harry up and died like that,
some small part of her wished
he’d had the decency to take those kids with him,
but he never even took them to the park.
Betty lost a husband and found
a lump. Elsie says when the ambulance
comes to the Ridgewood Nursing Home,
they don’t turn on the sirens
for fear they’ll incite a riot
of dying. Ida says yeah, she knows.
She’s lost two of them that way. I nod.
Judith’s raised eyebrow asks
What could one with hooves so pale know of loss?
A marriage must be long
to be 40-years deep,
and grief is a black market business
best kept to themselves. If I taste it,
others will want it.
Young bucks will be dying in droves.
In war, in the streets,
in flaming buildings.
Or quietly in a bed next to me at night.
That sting in the wound, that particular tang
on the tongue, are theirs.
Keep me away from the salt.
Their old ones are sanctified,
their sorrow is sacred,
denial alive in the hide.
© 2009 M
Featured in the Winter 2009 issue of Rattle, Issue #32
5.
From Oregon Poet Laureate Paulann Petersen
My latest book of poems, THE VOLUPTUARY, has arrived from Lost Horse Press, and I'm set to give some readings to help launch it.
I hope you can come to one of these. Christine Holbert---the Lost Horse Press publisher, editor, and book designer---has made a beautiful home for these poems dedicated to Walt Whitman and my parents, Grace and Paul Whitman. (Yes, my birth name is Whitman...........)
I do hope one of these readings will find a spot on your busy fall calendar.
POWELL'S on Burnside
Thursday, November 18th, 7:30 pm
ANNIE BLOOM'S
Monday, November 22nd, 7:30 pm
BROADWAY BOOKS
Tuesday, November 23rd, 7 pm
LOOKING GLASS
Thursday, December 2nd, 7 pm
And please, as you think about shopping for gifts this holiday season, remember to support our local independent book stores. Recently, I've been buying book store gift certificates to give as gifts. As much as I like picking out a book for a friend, I also like the idea of that friend being able to make his or her own pick from the treasures our book sellers have on hand.
All the best,
Paulann
6.
Break Into Business Writing: A Workshop with Sage Cohen and PDX Writers
You can write for love AND for money--and each type of writing can benefit the other! This workshop for writers of all genres will offer all of the basics for how to get started as a copywriter--from finding clients to establishing a scope of practice to setting prices to building long-term relationships. Through a series of guided exercises, you'll plant the first seeds of your copywriting future and prepare for next steps. You'll leave informed about what it takes to break into copywriting for businesses and inspired to get started.
Date/Time: Saturday, November 20, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Cost: $40.
Location: TaborSpace, 5441 SE Belmont, Portland, Oregon
Learn more:
http://writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com/writing_the_life_poetic/2010/10/break-into-business-writing-boost-your-income-and-creativity.html
Register:
https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e31hn0a6bc90168d&oseq=
7.
Kazim Ali, poet and author of
“Bright Felon: Autobniography and Cities”
2pm
Sunday, November 21
St. Johns Booksellers
8622 N. LOMBARD ST., PORTLAND
Contact:
Christopher Luna 360-910-1066
Nena Rawdah 503-283-0032
Bright Felon: Autobiography and Cities
This groundbreaking transgenre work—part detective story, part literary memoir, part imagined past—is intensely autobiographical and confessional. Proceeding sentence by sentence, city by city, and backwards in time, poet and essayist Kazim Ali details the struggle of coming of age between cultures, and overcoming personal and family strictures. The text is comprised of sentences that alternate in time, ranging from discursive essay to memoir to prose poetry. Art, history, politics, geography, love, sexuality, writing, and religion, and the role silence plays in each, are its interwoven themes. Bright Felon is literally “autobiography” because the text itself becomes a form of writing the life, revealing secrets, and then, amid the shards and fragments of experience, dealing with the aftermath of such revelations. Bright Felon offers a new and active form of autobiography alongside such texts as Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictee, Lyn Hejinian’s My Life, and Etel Adnan’s In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country.
Bio: Kazim Ali is the author of two books of poetry, The Far Mosque (Alice James Books), winner of Alice James Books' New England/New York Award, and The Fortieth Day (BOA Editions, 2008).
He is also the author of the novel Quinn’s Passage (blazeVox books), named one of "The Best Books of 2005" by Chronogram magazine;The Disappearance of Seth (Etruscan Press, 2009); Bright Felon: Autobiography and Cities (Wesleyan University Press, 2009); and Orange Alert: Essays on Poetry, Art and the Architecture of Silence (University of Michigan Press, 2010).
He is an assistant professor of Creative Writing at Oberlin College and teaches in the low-residency MFA program of the University of Southern Maine. His work has been featured in many national journals such as Best American Poetry 2007, American Poetry Review, Boston Review, Barrow Street, jubilat and Massachusetts Review. He teaches at Oberlin College and the Stonecoast MFA program and is a founding editor of Nightboat Books.
http://www.kazimali.com/
http://www.youtube.com/PoetryisNews
Praise for Bright Felon
“Bright Felon will steal your heart and outrage your poetics. Part memoir, part trip book, part literary discourse, there is in it an urgent sense of a life lived in words. The tale is one of both innocence and experience. Rigorous, romantic, experimental, true, and yet mysterious, it is a book for the ages.”
—Laura Moriarty
“Kazim Ali writes in Bright Felon a prose shaped by the various cities he has lived and loved in. This is a book that it so much more than memoir or autobiography. It is embodied and questioning and it carries through its politics a grace and generosity."
—Juliana Spahr
8.
GIVING THANKS THROUGH WORDS
On Sunday, November 21 at 6:30 PM, four local authors will read from their manuscripts or books of poetry at Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe, 45 S. State Street in downtown Lake Oswego.
Featured are Greg Chaimov, author of EVERYTHING IS WATER, Vincent Fitzgerald, author of BATHLESS, Noel Hanlon, author of BLUE ABUNDANCE, and Shelley Reece, previous English department chairperson and editor of FIREWEED.
The program is hosted by Joan Maiers, writing instructor at Marylhurst University.
The program is free and open to the public.
Proceeds from Vince Fitzgerald's book will be donated to the local Parkinson's Resource Group.
Arriving by 6 PM is recommended for prompt beverage service and best seating.
9.
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs010/1100476723030/archive/1103754989972.html
How to Launch an Open Mic Poetry Reading
By Christopher Luna
Christopher Luna
in David Madgalene's film
"Cities of the Dead"
Don't know if your community is welcoming to the arts? Not sure how to discover who the likeminded folks are? One good way to find out is by creating an event which provides a space for poets to share their work.
When I founded my open mic poetry reading at Ice Cream Renaissance in late 2004, I was new to Vancouver, Washington. Although the series was well attended from the beginning, it took a few years before the larger community was aware of our existence. I moved the reading to Cover to Cover Books in January 2007, and things really took off.
Today, we consistently draw between 20 and 40 people every month. I have a loyal group of regulars, and draw new readers every month. Nearly every month I have the great privilege of introducing people who are reading their poetry in public for the first time. We also have about half-a-dozen people who come just to listen. This is particularly gratifying; it is often very difficult to convince non-writers to attend a poetry reading. With the support of the community, the Cover to Cover open mic is a successful series that continues to evolve.
Most of the work one has to do to create such an event takes place at the beginning of the process. Dr. Timothy Leary wrote of the importance of "set and setting" when embarking on a psychedelic exploration. Similarly, a poetry reading has the potential to expand one's consciousness and alter one's mood. Think about the tone you would like to set. What kind of atmosphere would you like to create? Will there be a time limit for each reader? Will each reading have a theme? Will you invite featured readers to present their work?
If you do not have a space of your own that would be suitable for a poetry reading, you must do a bit of research to find a venue. It is important to discuss your philosophy about the types of people and writing that may be featured with the owner of the space--because you don't want to waste a lot of time and energy planning an event for a business that does not share your perspective.
Once you have found a venue, you must decide how often the reading will take place. Do your best to choose a date that does not conflict with another reading in town. In my experience, monthly readings have more staying power than weekly readings, for a variety of reasons, one of the most important being that they're less exhausting for the organizer.
Also, open mics attract both experienced readers as well as new writers, and most people do not write fast enough to have new poems every week. This can lead weekly events to become boring or repetitive. With effective publicity and good word of mouth, a monthly reading can become a special event that people will look forward to all month.
Once you know where and when the event will take place, begin getting the word out. Create a blog or website for the event. Make postcards and flyers. Begin building a list of people who would like to receive email notices of such events; invite everyone who attends to sign up for future announcements. Research the local press and make a list of email addresses of newspaper and magazine writers and editors. Then keep in touch regularly with pertinent news about your events.
A poetry reading is a bit like tending a garden. You plant a seed, nurture it, and watch it grow.
* * * * *
Christopher Luna is a poet, editor, artist, teacher, and graduate of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. Publications include Cadillac Cicatrix, eye-rhyme, Exquisite Corpse, and the @tached document. Chapbooks include tributes and ruminations, On the Beam (with David Madgalene), and Sketches for a Paranoid Picture Book on Memory. GHOST TOWN, USA, which features poems and observations of Vancouver, WA, is available through Cover to Cover Books and Angst Gallery, or from the author.
Email: christopherjluna@gmail.com
Blog: www.christopherluna-poetry.blogspot.com
10.
From Melissa Sillitoe:
Hi boys and girls,
Good grief...it's already time to think about Winter Semester even as we continue to dream up love poems under Autumn leave and to write inspiring election-y lyrics. But hey, you've performed on our small yet sufficient stage before, and we haven't forgotten you.
As you know, all of us at Show and Tell are artists and volunteers who love to provide an informal and nurturing forum for emerging beginners, seasoned amateurs and consummate professionals alike. We produce events that are collaborative, affordable, unpretentious; we like events that mix poetry or prose with music and other mediums. We’re about art, caffeine, community and good times. We’ve created a huge archive of local artists performances.
And here's your chance to submit to Portland's only invite-yourself invited series. And here's the Three Friends Mondays format: You and two creative friends have 60 minutes to perform poems, stories, songs, etc. We provide a basic sound set-up and we podcast any original material. The stage is small, but it’s big enough to hold three performers, if needed. Three Friends Coffee House holds about 50 people.
Show and Tell Gallery is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit that is run by unpaid volunteers. Any money we bring in through donations or grants is spent on web hosting, publicity and batteries.
Show and Tell Gallery wants to be as inclusive as possible – we welcome all genres and mediums. You can say anything you want on our stage, as long as your words are not hateful towards any persons or groups of people. You can play any music you like, but please be aware that this small venue has a chill SE vibe.
We are interested from hearing from poets, short story writers, slam poets, musicians of all stripes, dancers, actors… however you call what it is that you do.
We are especially interested in booking shows that have a collaborative theme, such as poets and musicians who create something together, or perform some of the set as a pair or trio.
To apply: please tell us about you and your two chosen creative collaborators and how you plan to spend your 60 minutes of performance time. You’re encouraged to include links to your blog, band page, or include poems in the submission line. Email your proposal to showandtellevents@gmail.com –
The deadline for January and February 2010 dates is Friday, December 3.
If your proposal is accepted, please be prepared to provide photos and biographical material for us to include in the website listing for your event.
We look forward to hearing from you, and meanwhile have fun making your art!
Hugs,
Melissa, Luke, Nikia, Christine and Wayne
Show and Tell Gallery
11.
new york journal of books
http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/
New York Journal of Books Launches to Fill a Gap
New York, NY, October 11, 2010 — Book lovers everywhere now have an exciting new resource for book reviews they can trust. The New York Journal of Books (www.nyjournalofbooks.com) launched on October 6 to meet the need for original online reviews of the same quality as disappearing print reviews.
“We intend to fill the gap that has resulted from the contraction, and in some cases the total elimination, of esteemed print book reviews,” says founder Ted Sturtz. “Unrestrained by page counts and printing costs, we are dedicated to delivering the most comprehensive detailed book reviews in North America written by credentialed reviewers whose knowledge, insight, voice, and measure of the written word permeate our book profiles.”
Thanks to the broad expertise of the NYJB’s team of reviewers, the free site features an eclectic selection of titles sourced from independent publishers as well as imprints of the largest publishers. To help readers make their book selections, reviews are enhanced with rich media, such as video, audio and book browsing.
Visitors to NYJB will also enjoy the immediacy possible only online. Going forward, reviews will be posted at midnight on the date a book is released. When users discover books they want to read, they’ll find that the ability to purchase is conveniently a click away for a truly one-stop experience.
NYJB Publisher, Lisa Rojany Buccieri, author of more than 100 books for children and young adults, lead author of Writing Children's Books for Dummies, and owner of Editorial Services of Los Angeles, noted “fierce attention to the editing and new reviewer selection process will ensure that, as the volume of reviews grows, the quality of reviews will be maintained.” She added, “At the same time, we also take great joy in the panorama of reviewers on our panel and their truly unique voices. They don’t simply judge books. They engage, inform, and even entertain our readers.”
Advertisers on the site have the choice of appearing on major landing pages to reach a broad audience, or appearing in specific genres (for example, romance or military) that reach a highly targeted demographic or enthusiasts and professionals (for example, cooking, wine, or technology).
For more info: media@nyjournalobooks.com
About NYJB Reviewers
Our more than 130 credentialed reviewers have published: 4,000+ book reviews, 500+ books, 500+ short stories, 20,000+ articles, 12+ screenplays and 24+ plays. They have received more than 75 literary and professional awards.
Meet a few:
• Kenneth Allard is a former army colonel, West Point faculty member and dean of the National War College. For almost a decade, he served as an on-air military analyst with NBC News and is the author of four books and an occasional contributor to The Daily Beast.
• Dorothy Seymour Mills is the author of Chasing Baseball: Our Obsession with Its History, Numbers, People and Places (McFarland, 2010). Her late husband was the acclaimed author of many baseball history titles, yet it was recently revealed that Dorothy was the actual author of much of the content of those books. As a result, Oxford University Press, for the first time in its history, changed the attribution of a scholarly work (actually three of them) to include Dorothy's name as an author.
• Andrew Rosenbaum has been a journalist for twenty years at Euromoney, Time, MSN Money, covering politics, business, and finance. He currently resides in France
• Jon Land is the bestselling author of dozens of books in the crime/thriller genre, including The Seven Sins, Strong Enough to Die and Strong Justice.
• Pól Ó Conghaile is a travel writer based in Ireland who has published in CondeNet, Guardian/Observer, Irish Independent, The Globe & Mail (Canada), The Irish Echo (US), Village Magazine and others. He has three times been named Irish Travel Journalist of the Year.
• Lezlie Patterson, is a syndicated romance novel reviewer for McClatchy newspapers.
• Vinton McCabe is the author of seven works of nonfiction on the subject of health and healing, including the now-standard tome Practical Homeopathy, The Healing Enigma, and most recently, The Healing Echo.
12.
The City Lights Spotlight Series is proud to announce the release of
Stranger in Town
by Cedar Sigo
Redolent of John Wieners, Philip Whalen, and Philip Lamantia, Stranger in Town is the second coming of the SF Renaissance.
SERIOUSLY UNDERDRESSED
by Cedar Sigo
Acid washed
Jeans, bitten down
Fingernails, I’ve been
Uptight all
This week wishing
Invisibility,
Scented tissue
I can tease
Into flowers, same
As ever My heart-
shaped collapsible
Locket is still
Missing & I miss
Wearing it open,
I remember a black
Fog inside so
Combed through, trapped
And willingly
Shining me on
"In this new century, there is without doubt further territory for poetry to enter into, and Sigo embraces what is currently available and holds out an offering for the future." —Patrick Dunagan
"Themes of love, ecstasy, darkness, and light are wrestled away from sentimental tourists and into the arms of Cedar Sigo, resident genius of this rare, honest romance." —Lisa Jarnot
"A reality made of poetry is all one could ask for, and here it is-created of skillful, elegant, lyric moments and lines." —Joanne Kyger
ISBN-13: 9780872865365
List Price $13.95
Buy it online for 30% off the cover price at www.citylights.com
13.
Margin L, poetry by Vernon Frazer:
http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/margin-l/13042003
"“The roots of Vernon Frazer's textual poetry lie as much in the free jazz of John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor and their successors as they do in language-centered poetry, Surrealism, Dada and abstract expressionism. In Margin L, Frazer's words and concepts play over the page until they create a sense that something has happened during each poem’s movement. The poems, however, leave their interpretation of what precisely has happened up to the reader.”
Featured writer in Counterexample Poetics: http://www.counterexamplepoetics.com/2010/10/vernon-frazer-featured-artist.html
BELLICOSE WARBLING blog update: NEW WORK, EBOOKS AND FELINO SORIANO
Portions of Conversational Assemblies by Felino Soriano. Highly recommended:
http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/portions-of-conversational-assemblies/12105086
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SUBMISSION CALLS
1.
Raft, a new spoken-word literary journal, is now online, at: www.raftmagazineonline.com Issue 1 features new work from: Scott Abels Niamh Bagnell Susan Powers Bourne Ric Carfagna Jan Carson Joel Chace Arkava Das Mark DuCharme Iris Jamahl Dunkle Bonnie Emerick Michael Farrell Adam Fieled Thomas Fink Vernon Frazer R. Jess Lavolette David Mohan Debrah Morkun Paul Nelson Francis Raven Chad Scheel Sam Schild Brian Seabolt Adam Strauss Mark Stricker Samuel Day Wharton Karena Youtz Raft is currently accepting new work for issue 2 (deadline: December 16, 2010). Best– Brian Seabolt Raft Magazine
http://www.raftmagazineonline.com/
2.
Circlet Press is seeking submissions for its new ebook anthology LIKE A CUNNING PLAN, erotic trickster tales, edited by Michael M. Jones.http://www.circlet.com/?p=1670#more-1670
Everyone loves a good trickster, and every culture has that one guy/gal/deity who insists on breaking the rules, challenging expectations, pushing boundaries, and questioning social mores. Coyote. Puck. Loki. Heyoka. Anansi. Odysseus. Bugs Bunny. Relying on their wits and the foolishness of others, they’re often amoral, capricious, and whimsical, pursuing their own goals no matter what the cost to themselves or others and crossing boundaries that no one else would dare to. So what happens when a trickster decides to have a little carnal fun? Will it be a good-natured romp in the hay, or will someone get their come-uppance? Will they get away scot-free, or will someone learn a valuable lesson? Make it interesting, playful, thoughtful, and above all, sexy. Choose an established trickster, or make one up, retell an old favorite tale or tell us a new one for the modern era. Just make sure you’re not the one being tricked!
It’s all about well-played tricks, cunning plans, disguises and fast talk, lies and half-truths. It’s about having fun and occasionally outwitting oneself. It’s about wondering what the hell just happened, but realizing you had a good time. Stories will be inspected for that subtle ‘heart’ that makes a trickster tale more than an asshole getting his way. In the best Circlet tradition, stories will be sex-positive and open to all sexualities and genders. Trickster is, after all, voracious and omnisexual and open to experimentation (or to having the tables turned on him/her/them).
Submission Details:
Deadline for submission is December 15th. Our preferred length is approximately 3500 to 7500 words, but we will consider the range from 2000 to 10,000 words. All submissions must be made via email to Michael M. Jones at the following address: Tricksterantho@gmail.com
More details: Submissions sent to other addresses/other editors at Circlet Press will not be considered. Standard manuscript formatting rules apply even though sending as an attachment (MS Word .doc or .rtf preferred). Please note that this means your name, address, and email contact must appear on the manuscript itself and not simply in your email message. (If you’re not sure what standard short story manuscript submission format should look like, Google is your friend.)
No simultaneous submissions (that is, don’t also send your story elsewhere at the same time, and don’t send it to multiple Circlet editors, either), and no multiple submissions to the same book. One story per author per anthology, thanks.
All stories must include explicit sexuality and erotic focus. Romantic content is welcome, but in a short story remember to keep the details on the action and its effects on the main character’s internal point of view. Whether first person or third person, a strong, singular narrative voice is our preference (no ‘head hopping’ or swapping points of view within scene).
For more details on our editorial preferences, see the general submission guidelines on circlet.com. We highly recommend reading the guidelines, especially the “do not send” list, to increase your chances of sending us something we’ll love. Try to avoid cliches. Fresh and direct language is preferred to overly euphemistic. Sex-positive, please, no rape/nonconsensuality/ necrophilia or other purposefully gross topics. We do not publish horror. Originals only, no reprints. We purchase first rights for inclusion in the ebook anthology for $25, with the additional rights to a print edition later which would also be paid $25 if a print edition happens. Authors retain the rights to the individual stories; Circlet exercises rights to the anthology as a whole.
3.
The February 2011 issue of the online poetry magazine Snakeskin,
, will be a theme issue on food. Send up to six poems on the topic of food to guest editor Jessy Randall, (replace (at) with @). No previously-published poems. Simultaneous submissions are allowed. No attachments – poems should be in the body of the email. The deadline is December 15.
