As we continue to celebrate National Poetry Month, NightBallet Press is very excited to announce the publication of Coming to Terms by Cleveland Heights poet and visual artist Kathleen Cerveny!
Coming to Terms is Cerveny's first collection of poems. Containing 56 pages of 41 poems in a narrative arc, Coming to Terms is passionate and visceral. Titles suggest the alchemy that sparkles and sizzles throughout:
"Uncoupled"
"Falling Asleep at the Shoreline of a Pond"
"Too Much and Not Enough"
"Twirling"
"Unaccustomed as I was to public orgasms,"
"Trigger Point"
"Rung"
"Incantation"
"How to Build a Fire"
"My Father Climbed a Mountain Every Day"
"Waiting for the Mouse to Die"
"Forsythia"
"The centipedes in my shower"
"Leaves—and Leaving"
In her poems,
Birds drop shards of broken song
into the afternoon like chips of flint.
and
"Uncoupled"
"Falling Asleep at the Shoreline of a Pond"
"Too Much and Not Enough"
"Twirling"
"Unaccustomed as I was to public orgasms,"
"Trigger Point"
"Rung"
"Incantation"
"How to Build a Fire"
"My Father Climbed a Mountain Every Day"
"Waiting for the Mouse to Die"
"Forsythia"
"The centipedes in my shower"
"Leaves—and Leaving"
In her poems,
Birds drop shards of broken song
into the afternoon like chips of flint.
and
A broken shell
reveals its spiraled stair.
reveals its spiraled stair.
Her "Forsythia" is (excerpt):
Waterfall of honeyed promise
Buttered signal flags of April
Bangled arms of gypsy dancers
For prancing, can-can galaxy
canary-spangled chorus line
For kicking up the day
These poems wink at you, sharing secrets and self-discovery. They remember, reflect, reveal, rejoice, anticipate, question, and dream. They bewitch. They breathe fire. They whisper in your ear. They sing arias.
Kathleen Cerveny is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art (BFA) and of the University of Southern Maine Stonecoast Creative Writing Program (MFA). During the 1970s and ’80s Kathleen exhibited her ceramics locally and nationally. From 1987-90 she was Cleveland Public Radio’s first producer and broadcast journalist for the arts, winning more than 15 top awards and producing many features for National Public Radio. Since 1991 Kathleen has been the Director of Arts Initiatives for the Cleveland Foundation, the country’s first community foundation.
Her poems have appeared in the Southern New Hampshire University Journal: Amoskeag, the e-journal Shaking Like a Mountain, and in journals published by Pudding House Press, among others. A poem of Kathleen’s was selected for inclusion in an anthology published by Future Cycle Press, Poems for Malala Yousafzai. Kathleen is the 2014 recipient of the Robert Bergman Award from the Cleveland Arts Prize, and is the 2013-15 Poet Laureate of Cleveland Heights.
Coming to Terms is printed on textured snow-white paper, with a textured white cardstock cover and a lilac-lavender cardstock insert. The gorgeous cover photo was taken by New York poet and photographer George Wallace. You can pick up a copy for yourself, have it signed, and hear the poet read her own work at several upcoming events!
On Thursday, April 16, 2015, Kathleen Cerveny will be the featured poet at the Third Thursday reading at the Root Café, 852 W. Bath Road, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 7:30 PM, with an open mic to follow. This is the public debut of Coming to Terms, and the first time she'll be reading from the book.
On Saturday, April 18, 2015 Kathleen will be doing her farewell reading as Poet Laureate of Cleveland Heights, accompanied by Jeanne Marie Beaumont, her mentor from the University of Southern Maine, Stonecoast Creative Writing Program. The event will be held at 7:30 PM at Heights Arts, 2175 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, Ohio (216-371-3457).
On Monday, May 4, 2015, Kathleen will be one of the featured readers at Monday at Mahall's in Lakewood, Ohio. The event will start at 7:30pm; the address is Mahall's, 13200 Madison Avenue, Lakewood, Ohio, with an open mic to follow. Co-feature is Stephen Haven. NightBallet Press will be there with Kathleen's Coming to Terms, as well as a selection of other recent NBP publications!
If you are unable to attend these readings, you may purchase a copy of Coming to Terms right here for only $10 plus $4, or through Amazon. The link to PayPal is below; order your copy today!
