Louisiana Calling by Bill Gainer Published Today!

NightBallet Press is very pleased and excited to announce a fantastic new chap of poetry, Louisiana Calling, by Californian Bill Gainer!

Bill Gainer was one of the many exciting poets who visited Cleveland during the Broken Pulpit event back in March of 2013...and he blew the roof off the place when he read!

Louisiana Calling kicks off the third season of NightBallet Press publications, and we couldn't be more thrilled! 

Boasting beautiful cover art by Elizabeth A. Soroka on a tan cardstock cover with a pale slate blue cardstock insert, and with text printed on soft-white cotton paper,  Louisiana Calling  is packed with tasty nuggets of Gainer's wry wisdom and wit.  Here's what others have to say about it:

"Bill Gainer is one of the masters of the short form.  He can remove vital organs from your body and replace them with his vital poetry before you even know they are gone."—D. R. Wagner

"Bill is known for his short poems and his sense of humor--he doesn't disappoint with this collection..."—A. D. Winans

 

"Bill Gainer's Louisiana Calling is a zany journey in short sentences that will grab you by your best and worst instincts.  When the wind stops howling, the lights go out, and the moon dances overhead, you need something--a laugh, a smile, a drink, a warning--it's all here in these romantic, lusty, bitchy poems."—Ann Menebroker

Gainer is recognized as one of the founding contributors to the modern movement of "After Hours Poetry".  As writer, editor, promoter, publicist and poet, he has read and worked with a wide range of poets and writers from the emerging to the nationally known, including readings on KUSF with punk rocker Patti Smith and performances with California's Poet Laureate, Al Young.  His work has appeared in The Bukowski Review, The Oregonian, and many others.  A past winner of the San Francisco Beat Museum's Poetry Contest and the Sacramento News and Review's Flash Fiction Contest, he currently edits for the Pen Award winning R. L. Crow Publications and hosts Poetry With Legs in Sacramento, California.

Available today from NightBallet Press for only $5 plus $3 shipping/handling, Louisiana Calling is a both a treasure and a steal!  Order your copy today and see what everyone's raving about!

New Book by Lyn Lifshin! Tangled as the Alphabet—The Istanbul Poems

 NightBallet Press is enormously pleased to announce the publication of Lyn Lifshin's new book, Tangled as the Alphabet—The Istanbul Poems.

                                               cover photo by Chansonette Buck, used with permission
  
Tangled as the Alphabet—The Istanbul Poems is a 68-page collection poems written during and about her trip to Turkey last year.  Haunting, lovely, and at times surreal, her journey through the city of Istanbul and the Cappadocian landscape will introduce you to blue-tiled mosques, mornings scented with incense and exotic flowers, a grandmother's protection against the evil eye, fairy chimney rock formations, and a people immersed in history.  As a special treat, the book contains 10 color photos taken by Lifshin and her friend Jordan during their trip! 

                                                     bio photo by Jordan, used with permission

The cover of Tangled as the Alphabet—The Istanbul Poems is a textured brilliant white with a chartreuse cardstock insert and boasts a stunning color photograph by Chansonette Buck.  The text is printed on thick, soft, snow-white paper.  In the book's 57 poems, Lifshin takes you by the hand, opens her heart, and whispers to you of a land that's foreign yet welcoming, alien yet familiar.  NBP promises you won't be able to put aside Tangled as the Alphabet—The Istanbul Poems once you've begun reading it!

(Another one of Lifshin's poems written during her trip to Turkey, "Dust Pink Tuff", appears in  Lipsmack!  A Sampler Platter of Poets from NightBallet Press Year Two 2013, also available on this website.  "Dust Pink Tuff' does not appear in Tangled as the Alphabet.)

The lovely and legendary Lyn Lifshin has written more than 125 books and chapbooks and has appeared in most of the poetry and literary magazines in the United States.  Her work has been praised by Robert Frost and Ken Kesey, and she is the subject of the award-winning documentary film  Not Made of Glass.  In 2012, NightBallet Press published her book-length collection of poems about her passion for dance, Knife Edge and Absinthe—The Tango Poems.  You can learn more about Lyn Lifshin on her website.

Tangled as the Alphabet—The Istanbul Poems is only $10 plus $4 shipping/handling, and is available beginning today, October 19, 2013!  Please see the link on this page. (For orders outside the United States, please contact the publisher at nightballetpress@gmail.com.)