DELIRIOUS — A Poetic Tribute to Prince (1958 - 2016)

NightBallet Press is pleased to announce an open call for submissions for a tribute book of poems honoring the artist Prince and his widespread influence on a generation of loving and appreciative fans.
The proposed publication date is June 7, 2016, Prince’s birthday.

IF YOU PLAN TO SEND A SUBMISSION, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING GUIDELINES AND ADHERE TO THEM RELIGIOUSLY.

I work full-time, twelve-hour days and I don’t have a lot of extra time.  In order to get this book out by June 7, I must be able to access and read the submitted poems quickly.  Failure to follow these simple directions will result in my not reading your submission.

1. In the subject line of the email, please put SUBMISSION PRINCE and your last name.  For instance, if John Burroughs were to submit a poem, he would put SUBMISSION PRINCE BURROUGHS.

2. Send one or two poems about Prince, his music, his influence, or his artistry in a single Word document.  Poems must stick to the theme.  No more than two poems, please.

3. Attach the Word document to the email, and send to nightballetpress@gmail.com.

4. Deadline for submissions is MAY 24, 2016.  That gives you 4 weeks to get them to me, and it gives me 2 weeks to get the book formatted for publication.  I will not read any submissions after the deadline.

5. Please do not send me the poems on Facebook.  Please do not snail mail the poems.  Please do not send the poems to any other of my emails.  Please do not fail to put SUBMISSION PRINCE and your name in the subject line of the email.  This is the only way I will find the submissions.

This is an open call, which means anyone and everyone is invited to submit poems.  If your poem is chosen for inclusion in the anthology, you will receive a free contributor's copy.  (Please note—if your poem is chosen and you live outside the U.S., mailing costs for the press are very prohibitive.  NBP will send you a PDF of the completed book.)

Updated Saturday, May 14, 2016. 
So I'm thinking, I have a lot of artist friends who don't write poetry...why don't I bring them into this project, too?

This is an open call for submissions of cover art for the Prince tribute anthology Delirious, due to be released on June 7, 2016. The same guidelines apply: send your work to www.nightballetpress.com with the heading SUBMISSION PRINCE (your last name). Attach your Word doc. files or jpegs. to the email. No pdf files, please. I prefer a head shot of Prince, but I'm open to whatever artistic vision about Prince that you may have. DEADLINE IS FIRM: MAY 24, 2016.  If your cover art is chosen, you will receive a free contributor's copy (or, if outside the U.S., a pdf of the completed book).

Please submit your Prince poems!  Send me your Prince art!  Tell your friends!  Spread the word! 

Look out - Steve Abbott has THE INCOHERENT PULL OF WANT!

 Look out, world!  Columbus, Ohio, poet Steve Abbott has The Incoherent Pull of Want...and once you experience it, you'll want it, too!

 

 

 

It is with great pleasure that NightBallet Press announces its March publication
of The Incoherent Pull of Want by Steve Abbott.  What?  It isn't March?  Well, NightBallet Press found that March didn't have enough days to go around, so we modified the time table. (Yes, there will be another April publication...stay tuned!)

Popular and beloved, Steve Abbott is a founding member in 1984 of The Poetry Forum, now Ohio's longest-running poetry series, for which he continues as co-coordinator.  He edits the Ohio Poetry Association's annual journal Common Threads, and in 2015 represented OPA on the Ohio Arts Council panel that selected Ohio's first Poet Laureate.  His poetry has appeared in dozens of literary journals as well as several anthologies, and NightBallet was beyond delighted when he sent us his manuscript. 

Containing such elegantly written (and instantly favorite) poems as "Landscapers" and "When We Sought Justice," this book Is a can't-put-it-down, cover-to-cover-read.  Intriguing titles draw you in: "The Present Doesn't Last as Long as It Used To," "Dead Man at the Centerfold Lounge," "Death Is a Waffle Iron," and "Dorothy's Other Dream."

 

 The Incoherent Pull of Want is 32 pages long and contains 23 poems printed on thick, textured, pale ivory paper.  The cover cardstock is palest green and the textured cardstock insert is fire engine red. The cover image is a photo of a piece of artwork, "Meteor Before Sunset" (paint on wood with found objects), by Ohio artist/poet Kevin Eberhardt, whose beautiful work has been featured on several recent NBP covers.  (All of Eberhardt's art is for sale; contact NBP for details.)

A dynamic reader, Abbott, who is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in English of Columbus State Community College, received an Ohio Arts Council Excellence Award in Poetry in 1993, and an OAC residency the following year at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts.  He has four previous poetry collections: A Short History of the Word (1996) and Greatest Hits (2004) from Pudding House, and Why Not Be Here Now? (11thour Press, 2016), plus a 2011 live CD recording titled Stardust in Franklin Park.  He has edited the anthologies Cap City Poets (Pudding House, 2008), a collection of work by 74 central Ohio poets, and Everything Stops and Listens (OPA Press, 2013), containing work by members of the Ohio Poetry Association. 

The Incoherent Pull of Want is available beginning today, Friday, April 8, 2016, for only $10 plus $3 shipping/handling.  You can get a signed copy from the man himself, Steve Abbott, or you may order through PayPal right here, right now...it's easy!  You don't even need to have a PayPal account yourself!  You're special and you deserve it, so treat yourself to some mighty fine poetry dining in this banquet of a book!