Saturday, March 20, 2010

PWP Releases FOR LINCOLN by AUSTIN ALEXIS. 3/28 Book Launch at Bengal Curry!


[cover thumbnail]
FOR LINCOLN
& OTHER POEMS
by Austin Alexis
ISBN 978-0-9841844-3-9
soft cover - saddle-stitched - 36 pp.
$10 (+ $1.50 S&H)
Poets Wear Prada
Release Date: March 2010

Austin Alexis contemplates the way time's passage alters our sense of artists such as Chopin, Haydn, Poe, and Martha Graham as well as, among others, grandparents, Einstein, and presidents Lincoln and Obama. The way the poet cultivates sound, sense, and form, he grows, as he writes George Sand did for Chopin, "the branch he needs / in order to soar."
— George Held, author of Phased, Grounded, and other poetry collections

By use of precise imaginings, Austin Alexis allows us an intimacy with select artists: Chopin, or a street poet, or Lincoln, that great artist of rhetoric and vision. An engaged and observant poet, Alexis reveals grace, connection, legend and mortality. This book is an ode to all of us.
— Sarah Sarai, author of The Future Is Happy

The poet's vision enables the reader to see connections between Einstein and Merce Cunningham whose choreography "penetrates... the mysteries of space time [and] weight," and how Lincoln's last day actually culminates in another with the inauguration of Barack Obama: "each verse a fetus / waiting to be born / in the heart of a reader."
— Linda Lerner, author of Something is Burning in Brooklyn, and thirteen other collections


About the Author

Poems and stories by Austin Alexis have appeared in journals such as Six Sentences and Tuesday Shorts and in the chapbook Lovers and Drag Queens (Poets Wear Prada, 2007). Recently he served as a panelist for The Bronx Council on the Arts Literary Fellowships. One of his poems won a prize in the 2008 Poets for Forest Competition. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in a number of anthologies, including Bowl of Stories (Oregon Council of Teachers Anthology Winners Publication), Off the Cuffs (Soft Skull Press), Dinner with the Muse (Ra Rays Press), Art's Buoyant Felicity: Art/Healing/Creativity (Lickle Nine Press), and And We the Creatures (Dream Horse Press), among others.


Meet the Author at the Following Events:


Sunday March 28
5:30PM - 7:30PM
Phoenix Reading Series
~ presents ~
*Linda Lerner & Austin Alexis*
@ Bengal Curry
65 West Broadway
(Between Murray & Warren Sts. 11/2 blocks South of Chambers)
New York, NY 10007
212.571.1122
$3 Donation
Dinner, Snacks & Soft Drinks Available for Purchase
Open Reading
Hosts: Michael Graves & George Spencer
Take A, C, 1 to Chambers or E to last stop WTC


Saturday May 1st
4PM-6PM
(Note: open mic sign up ends at 5PM)
The Shout Out
~AUSTIN ALEXIS~
Otto's Shrunken Head
538 East 14th Street
Between Avenues A&B
Hosted by Hobo Bob and Obsidian
$3 Hobo Fee (and please patronize the bar!)
Time Square Shout Out!: timessquareshoutout.blogspot.com
Hobo Bob:
theadventuresofhobobob.blogspot.com
OBSIDIAN:
obsidianthemystic.blogspot.com
A SHOUT OUT AT OTTOS! Anthology Blogsite:
theshoutoutatottos.blogspot.com


Monday July 12th
7:30PM till 10PM
Saturn Series
~AUSTIN ALEXIS~
Nightingale Lounge
213 2nd Avenue at East 13th Street
New York, NY
Age 21 & up
Open Reading
$3 Suggested Donation + 2 Drink/$10 Minimum at the Bar
Hosted by Su Polo & David Elsasser
http://www.supolo.com/



* * *

POETS WEAR PRADA
C/O Roxanne Hoffman
533 Bloomfield Street - 2nd Floor
Hoboken, NJ 07030
http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/
http://poetswearprada.blogspot.com
http://thesmokingbook.blogspot.com/


POETS WEAR PRADA is a small press based in Hoboken, New Jersey devoted to introducing new authors through limited edition, high- quality chaplets, primarily of poetry.

New press, great authors, a publisher who is one miracle short of sainthood.-Angelo Verga, Poetry Curator of The Cornelia Street Cafe

Poets Wear Prada is a poetry publishing house with excellent poets and affordable books with beautiful covers. Have you had your poetry today?-Meredith Sue Willis, Books for Readers

Stylistically, these beautifully designed and produced chaplets bear their own distinctive signature.-Linda Lerner, Small Press Review

Proud Member of CLMP

http://www.myspace.com/poetswearprada
http://www.youtube.com/pradapoet
http://gcast.com/u/pradapoet
http://twitter.com/pradapoet
http://twitter.com/flordelconcreto

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

New from Muse-Pie Press: SHOT GLASS JOURNAL

WHAT’S NEW AT MUSE-PIE PRESS?

30th Anniversary of Muse-Pie Press
1980-2010

http://www.musepiepress.com/


NOW ON THE MUSE-PIE PRESS SITE
THE INAUGURAL ISSUE OF


SHOT GLASS JOURNAL

Our new online poetry journal for short poetry
EDITED BY MARY-JANE GRANDINETTI





This inaugural issue features an international collection of poetry from widely published poets to first-time published poets who have submitted their work from Australia , Canada , Japan , the Netherlands , New Zealand , the UK , and the US . The wide range of poems includes Free Verse poetry and poetic forms such as Cinquain, Rondolet, Sijo, Tanka, Triolet and Zen poetry.



CHECK US OUT AND ENJOY THE POETRY






    Poets House 2010 Showcase:
    June 28, 2010 (Opening Reception)
    Submission Deadline:
    May 31, 2010


    Dear Publisher,

    This summer Poets House invites you to celebrate the 2010 Poets House Showcase, a festival of the art unlike any other—where all of this year's new books, from publishers large and small across America, will be on display. Now that we are in our new home on the banks of the Hudson River, the Showcase will fill Kray Hall, and the voices of poets and audiences will spill out into the park. This year marks the first of a new summer festival of poetry. Please join us by making your new books a part of it.

    Opening on June 28, 2010, the Showcase will be on view throughout the month of July, including all of the year's new poetry and poetry-related books, chapbooks, and multimedia titles published in the United States. Over 2,000 books were in last year's exhibit, representing close to 600 publishers—commercial, university, independent, small, and micro-presses.

    Inclusion in the Showcase is entirely FREE. To participate, please email maggie@poetshouse.org to let us know of your interest in participating in the Showcase and then send us review copies of your latest poetry books. The 2010 Showcase will include all poetry and poetry-related titles (volumes by individual authors, anthologies, chapbooks, biographies, critical studies, essay collections, CDs, DVDs, etc.) published since April 2009.

    Why participate?


    • Books are organized by publisher and displayed face-forward, offering free publicity not only for your latest titles but for your press as well.

    • Exposure to national prize and library acquisition committees.

    • Free listings in our online Directory of American Poetry Books, the country's most complete bibliographic resource for contemporary poetry books.

    After the Showcase, all titles are incorporated into Poets House's 50,000-volume, noncirculating poetry library.

    To ensure your new books are included:



    • Please send an email to maggie[at]poetshouse[dot]org to let us know which books you will be sending no later than May 15, 2010.

    • Send two copies of each book to Poets House as soon as they are available. All books must be received by May 31 , 2010 to ensure a spot in the display.

    If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

    Truly,

    Maggie Balistreri, Librarian
    Poets House
    10 River Terrace
    New York NY 10282

    SPECIAL CALL FOR SUBMISSION FOR 2011 BIG BRIDGE

    Big Bridge announces a call for submissions
    from Jason Braun for:

    THE FUSION,
    A guest edit anthology he is doing for the 2011 Big Bridge issue.

    Jason says, "We want poems that work on the page and on the stage. Specifically we’re trying to weave a tapestry of Beat Poets, Slam Poets, Black Arts Poets and Hip Hop Poets. We’re looking for poets from those movements and peripheral to them, as well as poets inspired by any and all of those movements.We're working to show the similarities of these movements as well as celebrate the cultural and individual differences."

    Please send three poems, a photo, and short bio to: jason[dot]lee[dot]braun[at]gmail[dot]com

    Big Bridge
    www.bigbridge.org

    Reposted message sent to members of The New Word Order on Ning.

    VWA: POEMS FOR HAITI Now Available at CreateSpace

    Vwa: Poems for Haiti
    Edited by Lisa Marie Basile
    Trade Paperback - 76pp. - $9.50
    ISBN 9781451510027
    Caper Literary Journal
    Release Date: March 16, 2010



    Vwa: Poems for Haiti is a literary charity effort edited by Caper Literary Journal Editor Lisa Marie Basile.

    ALL PROCEEDS ARE DONATED TO HAITI RELIEF.

    The anthology's contents include breathtakingly talented poets and authors from all over the world who have felt the sorrow of the January 2010 earthquake. Titled Vwa, the Kreyòl word for voice, the anthology aims to turn the pain and inspiration into literary works.

    More about Caper Literary Journal can be found at www.caperjournal.com. All of the Vwa: Poems for Haiti work can be found at http://www.poemsforhaiti.wordpress.com/

    CONTRIBUTORS:
    Lisa Marie Basile (Editor)

    Martin Willitts, Jr.
    Kenneth Karrer
    Robert Gibbons
    Mary Strong Jackson
    Jabou McCoy
    James G. Piatt
    Val B. Russell
    William Doreski
    Jasper Ballard
    Dillon Mullenix
    James Lee Jobe
    Annmarie Lockhart
    David L. Wright
    Tony Rivera
    Austin Alexis
    Lee Transue
    Thelma T. Reyna
    Richard Antonio Phelps
    Michael Shorb
    Mara Buck Aaron
    Middlepoet Jackson
    Joel Shulkin
    David Basile
    Yolaine M. St.Fort
    Cassie Preemo Steele
    Telly McGaha
    Olivia Arieti
    Shayla Hawkins
    Brigit Truex
    Caroline Depalma
    Renee Petersen
    Lisa Marie Basile


    About the Editor:

    Lisa Marie Basile is a writer and editor living in New York. She is Editor-in-Chief of Caper Literary Journal, a journal of poetry and prose. She has had work published work in several journals and magazines. You can view more information at
    lisamariebasile.com

    Tuesday, March 16, 2010

    MidMarch Arts Releases Erik La Prade's BREAKING THROUGH

    BREAKING THROUGH
    Richard Bellamy and The Green Gallery, 1960-196523
    Interviews by Erik La Prade
    ISBN 9781877675782
    Soft Cover - Perfect Bound - 215pp.
    $24.00
    MidMarch Arts Press
    Release Date: March 2010



    Engrossing history of Richard (Dick) Bellamy's Green Gallery conducted through interviews by Erik La Prade with: Alfred Leslie, Mark di Suvero, Philip Wofford, Mimi Gross, Claes Oldenburg, Tadaaki Kuwayama, Rakuko Naito, Pat Passlof, Richard Smith, Sally Hazelet Drummond, Lucas Samaras, Wolf Kahn, Emily Mason, Hanford Yang, James Rosenquist, Frank Stella, Charlotte Bellamy, Jeannie Blake, Sam Green, Virginia Dwan, Paula Cooper, Robert Morris, Richard Bellamy. Includes introductory essay, limited illustrations, and chronology of exhibitions at the Green Gallery.







    Now available at Ursus Books on Madison Avenue, Spoonbill & Sugartown Bookseller in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, and St. Marks Bookstore in the East Village, or online from Specific Object (http://www.specificobject.com/objects/info.cfm?inventory_id=14676).



    Erik La Prade has a B.A and an M.A. from City College. His first book, Things Maps Don't Show, was published in 1995, and his second, Figure Studies, was published in 1999. His chapbook SWATCHES was released in 2008 from Poets Wear Prada. Some of his poems have appeared in Fish Drum, Night Magazine, The Hat, The Reading Room, The New York Times, and Artist and Influence. He also has articles and interviews in The Brooklyn Rail, Captured: A History of Film and Video On The Lower East Side, and The Outlaw Bible of American Essays.

    Monday, March 15, 2010

    Little Sky Press Launches Peter Chelnik's STRAWBERRY HARMONY

    "Peter Chelnik's poems take us across America's highways, down back roads, up city streets, across the tracks and into open fields. They sing a song of America and they swing with the blues and be-bop." -- Bob Feldman


    STRAWBERRY HARMONY
    New Poems
    By Peter Chelnik
    ISBN 978-0-964 270 9-9-3
    $12.00
    Little Sky Press
    Release Date: March 2010
    "Peter Chelnik's Strawberry Harmony is an odyssey across the physical and spiritual plains of America with the fast paced images that are his signature poetry snapshots. In an age where voices often express cynicism and rage, Chelnik's energetic ovice always resonates with affirmation and optimism. Fans of Peter Chelnik with cheer his newest and strongest book of poems Strawberry Harmony." -- Laura Boss, Editor of Lips

    ~Book Launch + Open Mic~
    ***PETER CHELNIK with BOB FELDMAN on Tenor Sax***
    Monday, March 15, 2010
    at 7:30pm
    @
    S A T U R N S E R I E S P O E T R Y R E A D I N G
    Nightingale Lounge
    213 2nd Avenue at East 13th Street
    New York, NY
    Age 21 & up

    $3 Suggested Donation + 2 Drink/$10 Minimum at the Bar
    Hosted by Su Polo & David Elsasser
    "Peter Chelnik's Strawberry Harmony tantalizes with its odd juxtapositions, its American Highway jump cuts. Using refrains and a broad range of cultural allusions, from "Baptist wood pew prayers" to "Matisse paint joy," Chelnik creates a 21st Century vision: three-dimensional, speedy, ecstatic and reverent. Chelnik's new book will entertain as it surprises readers and satisfies our humber for poems that resonate in the mind."
    -- Austin Alexis, Author of Lovers and Drag Queens

    STRAWBERRY HARMONY
    New Poems
    By Peter Chelnik
    ISBN 978-0-964 270 9-9-3
    $12.00
    Little Sky Press
    Release Date: March 2010


    Peter Chelnik’s books include Railroad Heart, East Coast Line, Manhattan Wilderness, Eternity Road and Wildflower Serenade. He has had seven plays produced Off-Off-Broadway. These dramatic works include Street Rag, Prairie Fire, Parking Lot, Moving Target, Scarsdale Station and Tremont Vortex. Peter has also written Trick Bag, a novel of the 1960's. And yes, he does believe "the word will set you free."



    Friday, March 12, 2010

    S4N Books releases full-length poetry collection by Adam Penna

    *FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FROM S4N BOOKS*



    LITTLE SONGS & LYRICS TO GENJI
    Poems by Adam Penna
    Release Date: March 1, 2010
    127pp 978-0-9798707-1-2
    S4N BOOKS





    Little Songs & Lyrics to Genji are two sequences of poems where, in the author’s words, he was attempting daily to “right” himself.

    The poems of Little Songs take an unrhymed sonnet form that looks back to the religious work of Donne and Hopkins, and the autobiographical element in Dante’s New Life, to weave a spiritual meditation on the natural world and the sacred minutiae of everyday living. In each poem we are shown suburban streets, homes, and front-yards, and the trees and animals and human inhabitants that fill those spaces, all presented through the mind of the quietly-seeing poet. What we emerge with is a evocation of a world akin to Wallace Stevens’s vision of New Haven, alive with eternity.

    The poems in Lyrics to Genji are filled with the same subjects, but approach them more playfully. Addressed to an invisible friend named Genji (a name which means “treasure”), the poet begs answers to the universal and mundane questions of his day (“Genji, do you have a brother?”, “Who could bear a full life, Genji?”), and ruminates over recurring dreams, childhood memories, questions of ethical responsibility as well as home repair, and the frequent, mischievous presence of Genji’s wife. Whereas Little Songs approaches something like direct prayer, Lyrics to Genji come closer to Zen meditations, or koans.

    The overall vision of this unique collection is one of abiding mystery and gratitude for the natural and invisible worlds, and for a state of quiet contemplation that brings such awareness about. As the poet says to his friend: “I’m grateful, Genji./How do I know?/I sing.”


    Adam Penna lives in East Moriches, New York, with his wife, and teaches at Suffolk County Community College. He is the author of The Love of a Sleeper (Finishing Line Press, 2008), and his poems have appeared in numerous magazines and journals, including Cider Press Review, The Basilica Review and Verse Daily.



    S4N BOOKS
    6904 Colonial Road #28 Brooklyn, NY 11209
    online:
    http://www.s4nbooks.com/
    email:
    editors@s4nbooks.com


    * * *

    Dear Fellow Poets, Editors and Publisher Friends:


    S4N has just published my first full-length collection of poetry. Please follow this link to purchase from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Little-Songs-Lyrics-Genji-Penna/dp/0979870712/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1268411217&sr=8-1.


    All my best,
    Adam Penna

    Monday, March 8, 2010

    PWP Releases THRUM by Joel Allegretti




    THRUM by Joel Allegretti


    THRUM
    Poems
    by Joel Allegretti
    ISBN 978-0-9841844-4-6
    soft cover, saddle-stitched, 40 pp.
    $12.00



    "In Thrum Joel Allegretti, deftly and delightfully, strums his magical musical instrument, which is poetry, as he forges fresh forms of songs and stories that are inspired by strummers' strings. “Context is everything,” Allegretti reminds us, and we’re planted in the heart of a global ancient/modern orchestra. Prepare yourself for the revelatory performance."

    Martine Bellen
    Author of Tales of Murasaki and Other Poems,
    1997 National Poetry Series selection


    "Joel Allegretti's latest collection of poems is as enjoyable as it is different. Thrum takes the reader on a journey that explores known musical instruments, such as the mandolin, dulcimer and fiddle, as well as some not-so-known instruments, such as the oud, koto and theorbo. But what makes this journey unique is that each instrument is in a sense personified as the emotive element of each instrument is brought to life. Allegretti does a wonderful job tuning every poem so that the music of each instrument is realized again and again in the words on the page. An intriguing and must read for anyone who has a sense of all that culminates in the commingling of the arts."

    Raymond Hammond
    Editor, The New York Quarterly



    About the Author
    Joel Allegretti is the author of The Plague Psalms, which appeared in 2000 and is now in its third edition, and Father Silicon, selected by The Kansas City Star as one of 100 Noteworthy Books of 2006. Allegretti’s work has appeared in many national journals, including The New York Quarterly, Margie, The Laurel Review, Art/Life Limited Editions, Rattapallax, Slipstream, Confrontation, and Xcp Cross-Cultural Poetics. He is represented in the anthology Chance of a Ghost (Helicon Nine Editions, 2005), and his poem in that collection received an Honorable Mention in the 2006 edition of The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, published by St. Martin’s Press. In April 2009, Kean University in New Jersey presented the world premiere of a song cycle based on Allegretti’s poetry, “A Cycle by the Sea” by Frank Ezra Levy, who served several decades as cellist with the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra and whose symphonic work is available in the American Classics series on Naxos. Allegretti is a graduate of New York University and lives in Northern New Jersey. His website is www.joelallegretti.com


    Meet the Author at the Following Events:
    Sat., March 13:
    Smalls' Jazz Club
    183 W. 10th Street, NYC
    5PM-7PM
    Sun., March 28:
    Literary Lounge
    Studio Luna
    406 Tompkins Street, Orange, NJ
    3PM-5PM
    Sun., April 11:
    Polestar Literary Series
    NATIONAL POETRY MONTH SOIREE
    Cakeshop
    152 Ludlow Street, NYC
    4PM-6PM
    Sun., May 2:
    Polestar Literary Series
    NIRVANA NEVERMIND NIGHT
    Cakeshop
    152 Ludlow Street, NYC
    5PM-7PM
    Sat., May 15:


    Greek American Writers Association Reading Series
    Cornelia Street Cafe
    29 Cornelia Street, NYC
    6PM-8PM

    Sat., June 26:
    North Jersy Literary Series
    The Classic Quiche Cafe
    330 Queen Anne Road
    Teaneck, NJ
    8PM-11PM
    Tues., July 13:
    Word for Word
    Bryant Park
    6th Ave. between 41 & 42nd Sts., NYC
    12:30PM to 1:45PM



    POETS WEAR PRADA
    C/O Roxanne Hoffman
    533 Bloomfield Street - 2nd Floor
    Hoboken, NJ 07030
    http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/
    http://poetswearprada.blogspot.com
    http://issuu.com/pradapoet

    POETS WEAR PRADA is a small press based in Hoboken, New Jersey devoted to introducing new authors through limited edition, high- quality chaplets, primarily of poetry.

    Proud Member of CLMP

    Have you had your poetry today?