Flor del Concreto: John Amen's AT THE THRESHOLD OF ALCHEMY Due Out October 1

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

John Amen's AT THE THRESHOLD OF ALCHEMY Due Out October 1

Poems such as these, and there are plenty in this book — John Amen’s third — keep resounding in the mind the way great poetry does...
—RICARDO NIRENBERG, Offcourse Literary Journal

John Amen's third book
AT THE THRESHOLD OF ALCHEMY
to be released from Presa Press

~ October 1 ~

At the Threshold of Alchemy is a brutally realistic book of poetry. By immersing himself in the particular details of his most meaningful moments, John Amen transforms hurt into poems that are both imagistic & lyrically expressive. With metaphoric daring and offbeat grace, he guides us through haunting and sometimes violent memories of roving through America’s southland. Includes the major 260 line poem-sequence “Portraits of Mary,” hailed by poet Jared Smith as “perhaps the most complex, intricate, and thoroughly honest love poem in all of contemporary poetry.” Holding a compass below the stars, his surreal imagery unfolds like origami. A thoroughly human book of memorable poems of great intensity by one of our best younger poets.

John Amen flexes verbal muscles in lively poems filled with metaphoric daring and offbeat grace. He guides us through a haunting and sometimes violent
world as he draws mythological and Biblical references, entwined with wild memories of roving through America’s southland.
There is a memorable and intense beauty in these poems, and their excitement deserves an attentive audience.
—COLLETTE INEZ

THOMAS LUX writes of John Amen's debut collection: "Christening the Dancer is an intense, vivid, and stunning first book. "

John Amen is the author of three collections of poetry: Christening the Dancer (Uccelli Press 2003), More of Me Disappears (Cross-Cultural Communications 2005), and At the Threshold of Alchemy (Presa 2009), and has released two folk/folk rock CDs, All I’ll Never Need and Ridiculous Empire (Cool Midget 2004, 2008). His poetry has appeared in various journals and anthologies, including, most recently, Rattle, The New York Quarterly, The International Poetry Review, Gargoyle, and Blood to Remember. He is also an artist, working primarily with acrylics on canvas. Amen travels widely giving readings, doing musical performances, and conducting workshops. He founded and continues to edit the award-winning literary bimonthly, The Pedestal Magazine (http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/).

JIMMY SANTIAGO BACA describes Amen's second collection, More of Me Disappears, as "chock full of electric lines that sting the senses."

~Selected Events~

10/05/2009. Reading in Sacramento, CA 7:30PM Sacramento Poetry Center. 1719 25th St; Sacramento, CA 95816. 916.979.9706. Co-feature with Scott Weiss. For additional info, contact Tim Kohl: tnklbnny@frontiernet.net

10/06/2009. Reading in Redondo Beach, CA 8PM Redondo Poets Series. Coffee Cartel; 1820 South Catalina Ave (cross street: Elena Ave); Redondo Beach, CA. 310.316.6554. For additional info, contact Larry Colker: larry@redondopoets.com

10/07/2009. Reading in Fallbrook, CA 5:45PM Fallbrook's Writers Series. Café des Artistes; 103 S. Main St; Fallbrook, CA For additional info, contact KB Gressitt: KBGressitt@aol.com

10/09/2009. Workshop and reading in Modesto, CA Workshop, 6-7PM; Reading, 7:30-8PM, followed by open mic. Horizon Room; Homewood Village Mobile Home Park; 2000 Mable Ave; Modesto, CA. 209.522.1412 To reserve for the workshop and/or get additional info, contact Cleo Griffith by phone: 209.543.1776 or by email: cleor36@yahoo.com. The cost for the workshop is $20 and includes a copy of John's new collection, At the Threshold of Alchemy.

10/11/2009. Reading in San Francisco, CA 4PM Valona Poetry Series. Valona Deli; 1323 Pomona St; Crockett, CA. 510.787.2022. For additional info, contact Connie Post: livermorepoetlaureate@hotmail.com

10/14/2009. Reading in Woodbridge, NJ Reading at 8PM, preceded by short and informal workshop at 7PM. Poets Wednesday Series. Barron Arts Center. 582 Rahway Ave; Woodbridge, NJ. 07095 For additional info, contact Deborah LaVeglie: PoetRed@aol.com

10/16/2009. Reading in New York, NY 6PM Son of a Pony Poetry Series. Cornelia Street Cafe. 29 Cornelia St; New York, NY. 212.989.9319. For additional info, contact Kathi Georges: kgeokat@mac.com

10/18/2009. Reading in New York, NY 5PM NY Phoenix Series. Bengal Curry. 65 West Broadway; New York, NY. For additional info, contact George Spencer: nvega3ec@yahoo.com

11/07/2009: Reading in Charlottesville, VA 11AM The Virginia Writers Club (Annual Conference); held at the OMNI Hotel in Charlottesville; 235 West Main St; Charlottesville, VA 22902. 434.971-5500. For additional info, contact Sarah Collins Honenberger: honenberger@comcast.net

TO ORDER YOUR COPY:

For more information and to order you copy visit Presa Press online at http://www.presapress.com/

or the author's website at http://www.johnamen.com/

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Request From The Editor: Roxanne Hoffman

Friends and Writers, In addition to submissions calls, free (no reading fee) contests, writing workshops and book fairs, you are invited to contribute your Publication Announcements; Book Tour Calendars; Book, Magazine & CD Reviews; Author Interviews; Articles on Poetic Forms or Writing For Publication; Personal Essays on What Inspires Your Writing and the like. Got an idea not listed here, please query before sending your article to make your pitch. Address all contributions and inquiries by e-mail to: roxy at yahoo dot com.

Blue Ribbons

NABINA DAS wins 2nd Prize for her poem "Innuendo in the Cinema Theater: For Robert Hass" from Prakriti Foundation (Chennai, India)'s open poetry contest.
Austin Alexis is a finalist for the New Millennium Writings Competition (short-short fiction) for his story entitled "Behind the Cathedral."
Danse Macabre editor, Adam Henry Carriere nominates Kristin Fouquet, Levi Wagenmaker and Orlaith O'Sullivan for BEST OF THE WEB 2010 (Dzanc Books).
Roxanne Hoffman's "Macabre! Macabre!" was selected by editor Sam Cox for House of Horror Best of 2009 Anthology.
Amy Everhart wins the Individual World Poetry Slam in Berkeley, California. [October 2009]
Sian Lindsey & Brenda Levy Tate take 2nd & 3rd Place in the 2009 Poetry Superhighway Contest.
Jim Knowles has won 1st Place in the Poetry Superhighway Contest with his poem "Breccia."
Ona Gritz reports an essay out in the current issue of The Utne Reader. Originally titled "On the Whole," it placed second for Bellingham Review's Annie Dillard Award for Creative Nonfiction. Here it is as "The Body Divided," reprinted in Utne.
Congratulations to Francine Witte! Her "Movie of You" wins August 2009 Hayward Fault Line First Prize
Nabina Das has just signed and returned the agreement with Cedar Books (actually an Indian language publisher, that now brings out books in English) for their publication of her novella, tentatively titled Footprints in the Bajra. The initial chapters won two fiction scholarships from Wesleyan and Lesley writers conferences in 2007. In 2008, the book pitch won a place in the prestigious Kala Ghoda Literary Festival in Bombay, India.
Puma Perl's chapbook, Belinda and HerFriends, published in 2008 by Erbacce Press, has been awarded first prize in the first annual Erbacce Great Poetry Competition. The award includes a publishing contract and the publication of a full-length collection, due out late 2009 or early 2010.
Joel Allegretti is pleased to report that in April 2009, Kean University presented the world premiere of "A Cycle by the Sea," a song sequence based on his poetry by composer and cellist Frank Ezra Levy. the performance is available on the Kean website for viewing. You may access it at http://kutv.kean.edu/videovault/. The song cycle is the final part of a one hour, 22-minute concert of Levy's works. It lasts approximately 30 minutes and is performed by a glorious soprano and eight superbly accomplished musicians.

Forthcoming

JOEL ALLEGRETTI reports THINK JOURNAL accepted his story "Daily Life."
AUSTIN ALEXIS 's poem "After the Diagnosis" will appear in the next issue of LIPS.
A poem by AUSTIN ALEXIS "Ghost" will appear in THE BROWNSTONE POETS ANTHOLOGY 2010.
CYNDI DAWSON just got word her poem "1986: A No Heat Space" will be published in issue #8 of GUTTER ELOQUENCE MAGAZINE.
LINDA LERNER reports 2 poems accepted for a future issue of DANSE MACABRE: "Here's the Catch" and "Lost in a Comic Trying to be a Graphic Novel."
KEVIN WEHLE's poem "Long Island Railroad," has been accepted for DANSE MACABRE, Feb. 2010.
JOEL ALLEGRETTI reports Editor/Publisher Mark Sonnenfeld has accepted two of his poems for "a give-out sheet" from Marymark Press: "The Body in Equipoise," and "Post-Apocalyptic Haiku."
"Chopin" by ALISON ROSS will be included in Chopin with Cherries: A Tribute in Verse edited Maja Trochimczyk, due out 2010 from Moonrise Press.
The forthcoming anthology from Moonrise Press, Chopin with Cherries: A Tribute in Verse, edited Maja Trochimczyk includes work by LORI DESROSIERS: "Waltz."
MARTIN WILLITTS Jr. has a poem, "The Enemy is in the House," in the forthcoming anthology from Moonrise Press, Chopin with Cherries: A Tribute in Verse, edited Maja Trochimczyk.
"Frozen Tears" by RADOMIR LUZA will be included in the forthcoming anthology from Moonrise Press, Chopin with Cherries: A Tribute in Verse, edited Maja Trochimczyk.
AUSTIN ALEXIS's "Chopin and Sand" will be included in Chopin with Cherries: A Tribute in Verse, an anthology from Moonrise Press, edited Maja Trochimczyk.
KAREN NEUBERG reports from east to west: bicoastal verse has accepted her poem, "Little Wakes" for the forthcoming dream issue.
Joel Allegretti reports 2 poems accepted for future publication in Third Wednesday: "Melancholy," and "The Circus Is Coming to Town. "
Cindy Sostchen-Hochman's poem "A Partial View of a Six-Month Marriage" will be published in the Brownstone Poets Anthology 2010.
"Sealegs," a poem by Cindy Sostchen-Hochman has been accepted for an upcoming issue of Nuthouse.
Karen Neuberg reports her poem "After Illusion" has been accepted for future publication in Leveler.
David Landrum reports his poem "who are the girls?" has been accepted for future publication in lines written with a razor.
Nabina Das's 2nd Prize winning poem "Narrative Limits" from the HarperCollins-India-Open Space contest will appear in a print collection themed on "Borders" from Talking Poetry, a site run by the Indian poet Priya Sarukkai Chabria. Read the poem on her blog, Fleuve Souterrain
Roxanne Hoffman's tribute to Fryderyk Chopin and his relationship with George Sands, "G," will be included in CHOPIN WITH CHERRIES: A TRIBUTE IN VERSE An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry Edited by Maja Trochimczyk, due out February 2010 from Moonrise Press.
George Spencer reports 3 poems to appear in the Fall/Winter 09 Issue of 63 Channels: "What the Widow Douglas Knew," "New Year," and "Gumption: Horatio Alger Outdone."
House of Horror has accepted Roxanne Hoffman's "Macabre! Macabre!" for publication in issue 5.
Roxanne Hoffman will have 3 poems (etherees), "Winter," "May Day Mayday", and "The Rumor Mill," featured in SP Quill Magazine,Volume 6, Number 2 (or simply Issue #22) due out on November 1, 2009.
John J. Trause reports Plainsongs has accepted "Artichoke" for future publication. The Red Wheelbarrow Volume 2, due out September 2009, will include "Georgia O’Keeffe Giving Head at Lake George / to Big Al and the Viewer / in an Eternal Head Shot," "Her," "Nocturne," "Aubade," and "The Figure 5 Demythologized."
Rosalie Calabrese reports "Rap Flap" will appear in In The Black/In The Red, an new anthology from Helicon Nine Editions due out Fall ‘09.
George Held has work accepted in 5 AM, Talking River and the anthology Bridging New York.
Roxanne Hoffman is pleased to report "X'd," and "JUST WORDS: YOUR ARE WHAT YOU EAT OR HOW I BECAME A WRITER" will grace the pages of Pushing the Envelope, a new publication edited by Brian Damian Sabbats and Kevin Michael Wehle. The 1st edition is expected to be out on or about Labor Day.
Robert Ghiradella is pleased to report his poem "MANY YEARS AGO" has been accepted for publication in MOBIUS, The Poetry Magazine.
Roxanne Hoffman's poem "The Fruit Tree" will appear in the 2009 edition of MOBIUS, The Poetry Magazine due out this November.
Ona Gritz shares some good news: "A poem of mine, "Exodus," has come in second in Lilith Magazine's Charlotte Newberger Poetry Competition. It will appear in Lilith and on their website in the coming months. I'd send the link when it does. Also, my lyric essay, "On the Whole," which is in the current issue of Bellingham Review will be reprinted in the Utne Reader this September--in their 25th anniversary issue. I'm thrilled!"
Two poems by Cindy Sostchen-Hochman, "Ushering In," and "Anxiety Aubade," have been accepted for future publication in The New York Quaterly.
Two poems by Nabina Das "Shuddhi From Everything Living," and "And I saw Lotuses Out of Season" are accepted for Manorborn 09 collection from Harford Poetry Society. ("This call was posted on FDC, and I love your site for this reason."--Nabina Das)
Nabina Das reports Liberated Muse Productions, Washington, DC, will publish three of her poems “Chakra Walking”, “Purifying Rites By Water”, and “A Migrant’s Tune” in their forthcoming anthology Liberated Muse, Volume I: How I Freed My Soul.
Roxanne Hoffman just learned that her poem "The Fruit Tree" has been accepted for publication in Rutherford Red Wheelbarrow Poets Anthology Volume 2.
Michael Montlack reports 2 poems from his forthcoming chapbook The Slip (the title poem "The Slip," and "Faux Finish") have been accepted for the September issue of Ganymeade, edited by John Stahle. For more information regarding this new gay men's print publication vist www.ganymeadenyc.com.
Margery Hauser's story "Home" will appear in a future issue of Poetica.
Herb Fuerst's "One-Eyed Jack" has been accepted for publication in John Burrough's new zine Fu@k Poetry.
Joel Allegretti got a nice piece of news! The publisher of Tribute to Orpheus 2, an anthology on the theme of music, accepted Joel's poem "Architectural Guitar Constructions." The book is due out in 2010.
Nabina Das reports recent acceptances for forthcoming publication this May: "Three Poems of Irreverence" will appear in Danse Macabre and "A Soothsayer's Dilemma" in Pirene's Fountain.
Roxanne Hoffman just heard from editor John Burrough's that her abecedarian "Hail Mary" and her "Five Tanka Tricks" have been accepted for future publication in his new zine Fu@k Poetry.
Brant Lyon reports his first queer lit erotica fic pub in a future issue of Ganymeade, edited by John Stahle. For more information regarding this new gay men's print publication vist www.ganymeadenyc.com.
Valery Oisteanu reports Bernard Alain, Editor of The Cartier Street Review has just accepted two poems for the upcoming edition of the review: "The Glass Insects," and "Looking Under Skirts."
Austin Alexis reports The Journal (Ohio University Press) will publish his poem "The Rosebush" in the Spring issue. His poem "Park Lady" will be published in an anthology entitled Empty Shoes: For the Hungry (Popcorn Press).
Adam Henry Carriere reports one of his short-shorts, "6 lines and out, friend," has been accepted for the 2009 edition of A&M's Mayo Review.
"For Those On the Inside" by DubbleX has been accepted for inclusion in the anthlogy Angels With Broken Wings.
"Dada Cha Cha" by John J. Trause will appear in Maintenant 3.
Brant Lyon reports Editor Kat Georges has accepted his poem, "Picasso to Apollinaire, Once Imprisoned for Theft of the Mona Lisa" for publication in Maintenant 3, commemorating the Dada Salon at The Cornelia Street Cafe on March 20th, 2009.
Joy Leftow's poem "15-Minutes of Fame" will appear in Maintenant 3.
Brant Lyon reports his poem "Adios, Frida" will appear in Dinner with the Muse, The Anthology of the Green Pavilion Poetry Event, edited by Evie Ivy, due out this spring from Ra Rays Press,
Linda Lerner reports recent acceptances: BigCityLit took "Only One" for a forthcoming issue; Arsenic Lobster took "Blame it On The Sun."
Nabina Das reports the journal Maintenant 3 (Three Rooms Press) has accepted two of her poems for publication this spring: "Newsroom Novena" and "When Kali Speaks for Us." Editors Kat Georges and Peter Carlaftes are releasing the journal on March 20 in NYC.
Roxanne Hoffman has just heard from Editor JaySkills, that her recollection of jury duty service in NYC, "can't tell one nigga from the other," has been accepted for publication in Angels With Broken Wings, an anthology to raise funds and awareness to assist Death Row Inmates and Wrongfully Convicted Inmates in obtaining retrials and overturning wrongful convictions.
Linda Lerner reports The New York Quarterly has accepted her poem, "The Period Keeps Receding The Harder She Tries To Reach It & The Closer She Gets."
George Spencer has two poems forthcomining in Spinozablue: An Eclectic Journal of the Arts: "A line from Barbara Guest's Roseswill" be posted the week of 2/15/2009 and "Water: One Should Make of it What One May" will be posted in March.
Susan Maurer's poem "(Memory" is forthcoming in Quercus Review.
Roxanne Hoffman's "The Big Kahuna" was recently accepted by Pocket Change.
George Spencer reports acceptances from the following publications: 2008 Brownstone Poets Anthology: "how does the falling fruit sound to a summer boy," the Green Pavilion anthology Dinner with the Muse: "Short on Inspiration," New Verse News: "inaugural haiku," and Adirondack Review: "Diet of Worms."
Jee Leong Koh reports Cha: An Asian Literary Journal has just accepted his poem "Razminovenie, or Nonmeeting" for the February issue. The poem will also appear in his first full-length collection, EQUAL TO THE EARTH, due out this spring from Poets Wear Prada.
Nabina Das reports Quay Journal of Arts and Poetry (Texas) and The Liberated Muse anthology (Washington DC) will include some of her poems, forthcoming Spring '09.
Susan Maurer's "Blue Rose," originally published in her chapbook Raptor Rhapsody (PWP, 2007) will be reprinted in the next edition of the annual anthology Brownstone Poets.
Susan Maurer reports her poem "Tallahasse" was accepted by New American Writing to appear in a forthcoming issue.
Nabina Das has poems forthcoming in the Diaspora issue of Muse India journal.
Larissa Shmailo's first full-length collection Lit Crit, will be published by BlazeVox Books in Spring 2009.
Among George Held's forthcoming publications is a poem, "Walt," in New York Quarterly.
Richard Marx Weinraub reports that Editor Laura Boss has accepted his "Pantoum After Losing the Yale Younger Poets" for publication in Lips 32/33.
Susan Maurer reports she has work accepted by ISLE, Cafe Review, Volt, and House Organ.
Two poems by Valery Oisteanu, "Lenin’s Ghost in St. Petersburg" and "Drunken Submarine" will appear in Soul Fountain New York Fall 2008. Soul Fountain is published by The Vault. For more information visit www.thevault.org.
Larissa Shmailo's "New Life 2: Variations on a Theme by Joseph Brodsky et al." will appear in the Fall 2008 edition of Barrow Street.
Linda Lerner reports Nomad's Choir accepted her poem "The Persistence of Memory" for the Fall 2008 issue.
Efrayim Levenson's poem "Battle Lines" was accepted for future publication in Poetica.
Susan Maurer's poem "Digging Out" won an honorable mention in Poetic License's 2008 biannual contest. Her winning entry along with her two other entries "Adventures of Myself" and "Wave Watching" will be included in the resultant anthology Seasons of Our Lives (Poetic License, Yucca Valley CA), edited by this year's judge Alayne Gelfand, the editor of Prisoners of the Night.
Roxanne Hoffman's memoir piece "Yom Kippur, circa 1962" will be anthologized in Wisdom Of Our Mothers, a new e-book from Familia Books.

Flor del Concreto

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

John Amen's AT THE THRESHOLD OF ALCHEMY Due Out October 1

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