HOLLYWEIRD by Alan Catlin

 

NightBallet Press is excited to announce the publication of
Alan Catlin's new book of poetry,
Hollyweird!

 

 

For those of you familiar with Alan Catlin's work, you know you're in for a treat.  With such teasing and tantalizing titles as "Zombie Strippers," "Elevator to the Gallows," "Betrayed by Rita Hayworth," and "Pulp Fiction," Hollyweird explores and exploits the attraction of the strange. Cynical and sharp-tongued, these poems will follow you down dark streets, breathe on the back of your neck, and invite you to blur the division between what is seen on film and what is experienced in life:

Elevator to the Gallows

They must stay up nights
thinking up stupid cocktails
to foist off on the young
impressionable, cynical shit
made with stuff that doesn't go
together, like gin, vodka, rum
and rye, partial shots of each topped
off with Irish cream and stirred,
served as a shooter and given
gross names with sexual connotations,
knowing full well that the name will sell
the drink and all they will taste is
Irish cream until they chuck it all up.
None of the names will turn up in
an over the counter bar guide:
Bloody Orgasms, Blow Jobs, Blow Jobs
with Extra Tongue, Purple Jesus Motherfuckers;
cumshots, we call them in the trade,
and I'm willing to bet there is some
slick, greasy, smartass fuck in NYC
who's taking all the credit for inventing
the trend. If there is, and someone finds him,
this Between the Eyes with a Silver Bullet
is for him.

Hollyweird boasts stunning cover art, "Blue Plate Special," by Ohioan Kevin Eberhardt. The cover is white linen cardstock, with a textured cool-green cardstock insert. The text is printed on bright white paper. Hollyweird, forty pages long, contains thirty-one poems printed on bright white paper.  Alan Catlin has had over sixty chapbooks and full length collections published over five decades, among them, Beautiful Mutants (NBP, 2015), Blue Velvet, the 2017 Slipstream chapbook contest winner, and Walking Among Tombstones in the Fog (Presa Press, 2017).

Hollyweird was scheduled to appear in October to accompany the publication of Kevin Eberhardt's book Before the Puppets Could Sing, but unavoidable personal issues delayed its printing. NBP warmly thanks Alan Catlin for his kind patience and understanding. 

                       

Hollyweird is available right here, right now, through PayPal, for only $8.00.  You don't have to be a member of PayPal to order; all you need is your debit or credit card number.  Shipping is only $3.00. 

BONUS OFFER!  Order before midnight on December 31, 2017, and NBP will include a copy of Kevin Eberhardt's new book, Before the Puppets Could Sing, for free!

Artifacts by Kerry Trautman

NightBallet Press is very pleased to announce the publication
of two new titles by two fantastic Ohio poets:

Artifacts by Kerry Trautman and Beyond the Sidewalk by Jonie McIntire!

The actual print date was November, but due to some unforeseen and unavoidable delays, NightBallet was unable to announce publication until today. These two books are incontrovertible proof that some things are well worth waiting for!

 

 

(This is one-half of two announcements.  For Jonie McIntire's Beyond the Sidewalk, please go here.)

Artifacts is a stunning journey of discovery. Its thirty-two pages contain twenty-two poems, all rich in language and masterfully written. Among Trautman's "Archeological Surveys" are those of "the CD Collection of a Somewhat-Poor Girl," "a Curated Native American Clothing Exhibit," and "Drummers and Poets." Trautman does not hold back, does not flinch, as she explores themes of both darkness and light.

The Archeological Survey of a Girl Who Stumbles Over Words

She's dead now,
       so she doesn't fear in-class presentations

       and unplanned conversations.

Or, at the grocery store, bumping into
someone she doesn't know well but really likes.

Notice how her fingertips are clenched into her palms.
Note the nailmarks.
See where sweat would have pooled--
        the armpits and between the breasts--
where panic would liquefy and try to escape her body
        when she herself could not escape her body,
        could not stop pretending she was true.

 

Kerry Trautman is a founding member of Toledo's Almeda Street Poetry Co-op, the Toledo Poetry Museum, and ToledoPoet.com. She is often seen at local poetry readings and events, such as Artomatic 419, Back to Jack (Toledo's annual Jack Kerouac tribute), 100 Thousand Poets for Change, and the Columbus Arts Festival.  Her poetry and short fiction have appeared in various journals and anthologies, including Midwestern Gothic, The Fourth River, Hawaii Pacific Review, and Journey to Crone (Chuffed Books Press, 2013). Previous books include Things That Come in Boxes (King Craft Press, 2012), and To Have Hoped (Finishing Line Press, 2015).

Artifacts is printed on creamy ivory paper.  The ivory, linen-textured cover features a magnificent art piece by Bree, "Raven Gorget 3.29.16," which is complemented by the deep grape-colored cardstock insert.  Artifacts is available beginning today, December 10, 2017, for only $8 plus $3 shipping!  (For customers outside the U.S., please contact NightBallet Press for postage pricing.)  Get your copy today to unearth its "artifacts" of beauty and truth!

Beyond the Sidewalk by Jonie McIntire

NightBallet Press is very pleased to announce the publication
of two new titles by two fantastic Ohio poets:

Beyond the Sidewalk by Jonie McIntire, and Artifacts by Kerry Trautman!

The actual print date was November, but due to some unforeseen and unavoidable delays, NightBallet was unable to announce publication until today. These two books are incontrovertible proof that some things are well worth waiting for!

 

  

This is one-half of two announcements.  For Kerry Trautman's Artifacts, please go here.
 

                                 

Beyond the Sidewalk is a beautiful homage to McIntire's beloved city, Toledo.  Its thirty-two pages contain twenty-four poems and one photo, including several of her "zip code" poems, written in response to Toledo City Paper's "Ode to the Zip Code" contest. Among the gems contained within its pages are "I Hate the Factory that Takes You So Often" and "What the Dog Buried."  McIntire's love for her hometown shines throughout the book, and her wry humor takes you along with her as you both travel "beyond the sidewalk."

Cycles
(for the poets Toledo has lost)

The open-palmed pushes
of John, Patrice, Don,

Greg move us all
sidewalk blocks forward.
Even after they let
go, we roll on,
peddling our poetry.


 
(photo by Chuck Schmitt, used with permission)

 

Jonie McIntire is poetry editor of the Toledo Streets Newspaper, a founding member of the Toledo Poetry Museum and Almeda Street Poetry Co-op, and organizer of the annual 100 Thousand Poets for Change events in Toledo.  Her work has appeared in Red Fez, Sam and Andy's Uptown Cafe (Westron Press, 2001), and the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Anthology (Crisis Chronicles Press), among others.  A number of her poems have been stamped into cement as part of the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo's Sidewalk Poetry series (a photo of one of her poems is included in the book).  She is the author of Not All Who Are Lost Wander (Finishing Line Press, 2016). 

 
Beyond the Sidewalk is printed on crisp, thick, white paper.  The white linen-textured cover contains stunning artwork by Kevin Eberhardt, his "The Memory of Sun in an Aqueous Sky," which is complemented by the deep aqua cardstock insert.  Beyond the Sidewalk is available beginning today, December 10, 2017, for only $8 plus $3 shipping!  (For customers outside the U.S., please contact NightBallet Press for postage pricing.)  Get your copy today and discover what treasures exist "beyond the sidewalk"!