Brand(t) New Chap - and you'll be Reaching for It!

One of Cleveland's dedicated founders of the Arts scene in the Tremont neighborhood is also one of its finest poets, and NightBallet Press is delighted to present her Brand(t) new chap of poetry!

That's right, Jean Brandt's debut collection of poetry, Reaching for It, is officially published today, and is ready for you to...well, reach for it!

From "The Importance of Smiling" to "Hood Bitch", and from "Santaland and Other Utopias" to "Brain Jam",  Brandt's poems will poke you in the ribs, dap you on the shoulder, and give you new insight into the everyday workings of a well-defined Cleveland neighborhood.  Her unflinching look at relationships, social politics, and the evolution of her surroundings draws you into her world, where things might not always be pretty, but they're always honest and real.  You will often find yourself breathless as with a punch to the gut after reading one of her three-line, haiku-form poems, as she's a master of the succinct. 

Reaching for It is 52 pages long, and contains 47 brilliant poems.  The chap has a textured white cardstock cover, with a textured deep chocolate brown cardstock insert and is printed on creamy white paper.  It can be yours today for only $5 plus $3 shipping/handling- simply order through PayPal on this website.  Or if you are in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, swing by and check out the Brandt Gallery on Kenilworth, right across from the Visible Voice book store, and reach for a signed copy from the poet herself!

     

Comets, Moons, & Congrats, O My—NBP Presents J.E. Stanley!

Big congratulations to J. E. Stanley—his poem "Random Facts About Halley's Comet" has been nominated for the Science Fiction Poetry Association's prestigious Rhysling Award!  This is his sixth nomination for the Rhysling, and NightBallet Press wishes him all the best this year.  You have our votes!

It just so happens that J. E.'s brand new chapbook, Selected Regions of the Moon, features that very poem, "Random Facts About Halley's Comet", as its centerfold... and NightBallet Press is extremely pleased to announce the publication of this chap!

Officially published on February 15, 2013—International Asteroid & Meteorite Day  (aka "Duck and Cover Day")—Selected Regions of the Moon is released today 03-03-13 for public consumption.

(NBP wishes to thank poet J. E. Stanley for being incredibly patient through interminable delays in the actual printing of all the copies of his chap.  NBP is now back on track and back in business!) 

Selected Regions of the Moon is a speculative fiction (think "science fiction") themed chap, and many of the poems in the chap speak of the Moon, asteroids, apocalypse, and a universe that's somehow...different... from the one we know.  In J. E. Stanley's masterful hands, these poems of speculation and science become exotic moonflowers that open just for us, drawing us in with their alien and elusory scent.  Once you've traveled into these pages, you won't want to come back to Earth!

J. E. Stanley is an accomplished poet, and has been widely published in both genre and mainstream journals and anthologies.  He is author of Dark Intervals (vanZeno Press), Dissonance (Deep Cleveland Press), Rapid Eye Movement (Crisis Chronicles Press), and co-author, with Joshua Gage, of Intrinsic Night (Sam's Dot Publishing- you'll need to scroll down the page quite a bit at the Sam's Dot site).  His work has appeared in Amaze, Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Cinema Spec, the Deep Cleveland Junkmail Oracle, Paper Crow, The Rhysling Anthology, Scifaikuest, Sein und Werden, Star*Line, Sybil's Garage, and numerous others.  "An accountant and on again/off again guitarist from the grayscale suburban wilderness of northeastern Ohio, he continues to assert that, winged or not, Man was always meant to fly; the moon and stars were just put there as incentives."

Selected Regions of the Moon contains 32 poems and scifaiku, and is 40 pages long.  Housed in thick creamy ivory cardstock with a moon-gray cardstock insert and printed on soft ivory paper, it features stunning cover art by Lady Smith.  The photo used is from a series of photos of a collage piece she's working on entitled, aptly, "Moon".  Lady explains "...it as it means something about the power of the feminine spirit via the moon & sparkling illumination. The light bulb shape is from packaging from an LED bulb. Also have a feather in there representing a bird as participant, protagonist, observer of light or primary character. The texture on it is partially made up of leaves in order to bring more of Nature into the piece."

This chap is available beginning right now here on the NightBallet Press website, with  the easy payment of $5 plus $3 shipping and handling through PayPal, or you can see the poet and obtain (if you're reeeeeally niiiiice to him) a signed copy at the Deep Cleveland reading next Friday night (March 8, 2013).  One way or another, get a copy of Selected Regions of the Moon, and begin your journey into Stanley's Universe!

New Reviews for Burroughs, Buck, Kelly, & Rihn!

NBP has received links to or copies of some extraordinarily well-written, thoughtful, and positive reviews this past couple of weeks.  John Burroughs' first full-length collection The Eater of the Absurd was reviewed by Ra Washington, Erren Geraud Kelly's debut chap Disturbing the Peace was  reviewed by John Dorsey, Andrew Rihn's The Hunger Dictionary was reviewed by Heavy Feather Review, and Chansonette Buck's debut chap blood oranges was reviewed by Victor Schwartzman.  Please link to these reviews and check out what others have to say about this excellent poetry!

And be sure to stay tuned for announcements concerning the publication of Kevin Eberhardt's Transitory Innocence, J. E. Stanley's Selected Regions of the Moon, and Jean Brandt's Reaching for It.  All three chaps are in current production, and barring unforeseen incident, will be available by this time next week, March 8 (and maybe sooner)!

Debut of Prayerbook Bouquet by Zachary Fishel!

This past weekend, the mega-event Snoetry Three and a Half rocked Erie, PA with two days and nights of poetic revelry.  Poets from various states gathered at the Poets' Hall, where emcee and cohost Cee Williams kept the poetry ball rolling with well over 50 features and open micers.  Lix & Kix (John Burroughs and Dianne Borsenik) cohosted with Cee, and an outstanding time was had by all!

And one of those moments that really stands out for this editor is the moment Zachary Fishel walked in the door of the Poets' Hall.  Beneath my seat was a box of chapbooks for Zach.  When a moment presented itself, we exchanged greetings and I presented him with his brand new chap, Prayerbook Bouquet, published that very day... 01-26-13!

Prayerbook Bouquet by Pennsylvanian/Ohioan Zach Fishel is a 24-page chapbook bristling with a bouquet of poetic gleanings.  Poet John Dorsey wrote an introduction - or, in the themed design of the book, an invocation - which states "These poems about love, disappointment and youthful abandon offer the reader tiny moments of joy and quiet revelations.  He is...making it a little safer to go into coffeeshops again...."

The front cover of Prayerbook Bouquet features a great photograph taken by Kathy Smith of her husband Steven B. Smith's hands. 

Fishel's fifteen short-but-exquisitely crafted poems are bracketed by Dorsey's invocation, and the photographical benediction taken by Chandra Alderman:

 

                                  

Alderman's photo features her daughter's hands, and as you move through the poems in the chap, you remember we were all children once upon a time, and that, in Zach Fishel's words from his poem "Telephone Calls About a Sandwich",

"we remember what breathing is...as we unlearn catastrophes"

Prayerbook Bouquet is printed on creamy ivory paper, with a white textured cardstock cover.  The heavy cardstock insert is a leather-textured chocolate brown.  The real beauty in this garden bursts forth from the poems; there are no weeds between the covers.  At only $5 plus $3 shipping/handling, how can you resist digging in? 

 

Hip Cat Femur Whack Give a Doc a Bone #1 in the New Year!

NightBallet Press is extremely pleased and honored to present the first publication of this New Year of  2013... Steven B. Smith's Hip Cat Femur Whack Give a Doc a Bone!

 

This 48-page, 40-poem chapbook contains some of Smith's finest work from recent years, including a poem from 1965, one from 2005, two from 2006, one from 2009, four from 2010, seventeen from 2011, and fourteen from 2012.  [Thank you, SBS, for those statistics!]  As he says himself in his blog, that's "47 years of poet Smith from age 19 through 66." 

Hip Cat Femur Whack Give a Doc a Bone (the title is taken from one of his poems) is loosely themed on picking up the threads of the years after his memoir Stations of the Lost and Found ended, and covers tales of Cleveland, the pain and recovery surrounding his bum hip and resultant surgery, and the peace he's found in the zen of his poetry and his life with his Lady.  Written with wry humor and penetrating pokes, this is a cannot-put-down-once-you-pick-it-up-must-read-it-straight-through-and-then-read-it-again book!

The cover cardstock is a textured pale blue, and the heavy cardstock insert is a deep forest green; the cover photo was taken by the editor last summer in Cleveland (on Carnegie, around E. 65th St.).  The text of the poems are printed on a heavy soft white cotton paper. 

Published today, January 13, 2013, this book is immediately available through PayPal on this website for only $5 plus $3 postage.  It will also be available on Amazon.  And Smith will certainly have copies for sale at upcoming Cleveland-local venues, and at the upcoming (Jan 25 and 26) Snoetry Three and a Half mega-event in Erie, Pennsylvania!

The cover title itself should give you some idea of the stunning punning and prime rhyme this poet employs throughout his work.  You'll want to hear him read his poetry aloud- catch him at a reading or listen at Mutant Smith... and get your copy of Hip Cat Femur Whack Give a Doc a Bone today!

POP, POP, BANG! A Happy New Year's Eve Publication!

One of NBP's Facebook friends, local (Cleveland) poet (and world traveler) Michael Salinger, noted "They're making the years shorter nowadays aren't they?"   That certainly seems to be the way of it here at the Press.  Just last week, we published Andrew Rihn's new chapbook of poems, The Hunger Dictionary.  All too soon, the days zipped by and 2012 passed into What Was... but, as promised, here's our twin end-of-the-year 2012 NBP treat, published 12-31-12:  Erren Geraud Kelly's first-ever chap, Disturbing the Peace!

 

Disturbing the Peace closes out the year 2012 and disturbs the peace with an M-80 BANG and dazzling mirror-ball scintillations!

Disturbing the Peace is a wonderfully autobiographical 56-page chap of poems by Erren Geraud Kelly.  Kelly, who has traveled extensively both in the US and abroad, was born in Louisiana and has lived in Maine, California, and New York.  Although he currently lives in Chicago, he's indicated to the Press that he's once again getting restless and may be relocating in the months ahead.

These 35 narrative poems are soul-baring slices of urban and family life; his Voice is powerful and true.  He's not afraid to let you know who he is, where he comes from, and how he feels about the world around him.  Check out these examples:

An excerpt from "Notorious":

days after roderick's death
i was cleaning out his closet
i found some novels one of them was
hemingway's the sun also rises
and a dvd of the movie juno
i smiled
maybe under that thug façade 
roderick was just
a
closet nerd
and didn't want anyone to find out


And the deliciously steamy poem, "A Southern Accent":


it's a red flag tied to a
2x4 on the back of a pickup truck
it's grits covered in butter (not sugar)
it strips one of any pretense
it's a hot summer afternoon
on a porch swing
it's a patsy cline song
during a slow dance with
someone
the vowels dragged out like
a sleek cat resting
it's the state trooper in your
rear view mirror
it's a clark kent disguise
when you want to be underestimated

it's your sexiness
which you'll never lose


Disturbing the Peace features a textured pale dove-gray cover with a dark gray textured cardstock insert, and a wonderful cover photograph by northern Ohio photographer Chandra Alderman.  Inside: you'll be treated to Kelly's unforgettable poetic Voice.  We assure you, once you've begun reading this chap, you won't be able to put it down.  Available through PayPay right here on the NBP page, it's only $5 plus $3 shipping!  Order your copy now!

Coming soon... Steven B. Smith's brand new chap and the first NBP publication of 2013:  Hip Cat Femur Whack Give a Doc a Bone!  Stay tuned!

Finishing the Old Year with (exciting) New Work!

2012 may be drawing to a close, but here at NightBallet Press, exciting new works by poets Andrew Rihn and Erren Geraud Kelly are keeping those New Year mirror balls bouncing around at a feverish pace!

Published today is Ohio poet Andrew Rihn's The Hunger Dictionary:

 

 

Andrew Rihn, a popular Kent-area poet who describes himself as a "Scholarly Vegetarian Atheist Radical Socialist Feminist Pacifist Childfree Poet", has had dozens of poems published in various journals, and has had several previous chaps published, including Rust Belt MRI (Pudding House) and Foreclosure Dogs (New Sins/Winged City Press).  Visit his blog Midwestern Sex Talk at http://arihn.wordpress.com to explore his poetry, videos, non-fictional prose, and much more. 

Andrew Rihn's The Hunger Dictionary has magical properties:  it both satisfies your appetite for delicious poems full of satire and wit, and it leaves you starving for more of those tasty little nuggets.  The cover cardstock is an eggshell cream, with a heavy black textured cardstock insert, and the (20 pages of) printed paper are smooth soft-white cotton.  A delight to both hold in your hands and to read and savor, The Hunger Dictionary is available on Amazon!

Watch this blog and posts on Facebook for more about this fantastic poet and upcoming places to hear him read from The Hunger Dictionary!

Also stay tuned for an announcement about the publication of Erren Geraud Kelly's Disturbing the Peace... coming very very very very very soon!  ;)

12-12-12! The Eater of the Absurd by John Burroughs!

NightBallet Press is very excited and immensely pleased to announce the publication of The Eater of the Absurd, a brand-new, sixty-page collection of poems by Ohioan John Burroughs. This long-anticpated thematic book of new work by Burroughs is stunning, thorough, and masterfully executed, and is quintessential John Burroughs-wordplay in its punning and juxtapositioning.  It also contains his poem/performance piece "Lens", which was nominated for the 38th annual Pushcart Prize! 

Packaged in a textured white cover with a heavy, deep olive green cardstock insert, and printed on creamy soft-white cotton paper, The Eater of the Absurd makes a striking statement of (in John Burroughs' own words) "pleasure, pain, and deprogramming."
         
To celebrate the publication of The Eater of the Absurd, NightBallet Press is honored to join with Suzanne DeGaetano and Mac's Backs Books on Coventry to present A Book Release Party with Burroughs, de Blas & Borsenik tonight, Wednesday evening 12-12-12,  in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. You can view the event page HERE   The festivities will commence promptly at 7pm, with NBP editor Dianne Borsenik reading from her own new chap of poems, Fortune Cookie, recently published by Kattywompus Press. Bonné de Blas will read from her (excellent) new NBP chap The Act of Dwelling. And then John Burroughs will present poems from The Eater of the Absurd, some of which he's never read in public before (even this editor hasn't heard him read them aloud). Open mic will follow the features. And there will be refreshments- wine, cheese, crackers, and maaaaaybeee even Christmas cookies!

Please plan on joining us for what promises to be an unforgettable evening of unrestrained grooviness!


Book Release Party with Burroughs, de Blas, & Borsenik
Mac's Backs Books on Coventry
1820 Coventry Road
Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Wednesday December 12, 2012 at 7pm (that's 12-12-12!)

Book Release and Reading PAR-TAAAAAY! with Burroughs, de Blas, & Borsenik

NightBallet Press is very excited and immensely pleased to announce the imminent publication of The Eater of the Absurd, a brand-new, sixty-page collection of poems by Ohioan John Burroughs.  This long-anticpated thematic book of new work by Burroughs is stunning, thorough, and masterfully executed, and is quintessential John Burroughs-wordplay in its punning and juxtapositioning.

This book is currently in the printing stage and has not yet been listed for sale.  If you wish to pre-order a copy, please contact me at nightballetpress@gmail.com and I will let John Burroughs know.  I'd like all initial sales to go through and to him.  An active PayPal link will appear on this website and on Amazon after the book's release on 12-12-12.  John plans on posting an active PayPal link on his Crisis Chronicles (www.crisischronicles.com) website soon.  Don't worry; if you want a copy, we'll make it happen.  Again, pre-orders should be sent via email to nightballetpress@gmail.com.  Thank you!

To celebrate the publication of The Eater of the Absurd, NightBallet Press is honored to join with Suzanne DeGaetano and Mac's Backs Books on Coventry to present A Book Release Party with Burroughs, de Blas & Borsenik this coming Wednesday evening in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.  You can view the event page HERE.  The festivities will commence promptly at 7pm, with NBP editor Dianne Borsenik reading from her own new chap of poems, Fortune Cookie, recently published by Kattywompus Press.  Bonné de Blas will read from her (excellent) new NBP chap The Act of Dwelling.  John will present poems from The Eater of the Absurd, some of which he's never read in public before (even this editor hasn't heard him read them aloud).  Open mic will follow the features.  And there will be refreshments!

Please plan on joining us for what promises to be an unforgettable evening of unrestrained grooviness!

Book Release Party with Burroughs, de Blas, & Borsenik
Mac's Backs Books on Coventry
1820 Coventry Road
Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Wednesday December 12, 2012 at 7pm  (that's 12-12-12!)

Pushcart Prize Nominations 2012

NightBallet Press is pleased once again to participate in the nominations process for the 38th Annual Pushcart Prize:  Best of the Small Presses XXXVIII, which will be published both in hardcover and paperback in late fall 2013. 

As editor of a small press, I was invited to make up to six nominations from work published by my press since December of last year (2011), or from a manuscript about to be published in the coming month.  If selected, both the press and the author will receive a copy of the Pushcart Prize book.  The deadline to nominate was December 1st.  Notification of selection for Pushcart Prize inclusion will be in April of 2013.  

It was extremely difficult for me to choose among the numerous excellent, unique, exciting and delectable poems, short stories, and plays that NBP has had the pleasure and honor of publishing this past year.  I truly struggled with the final decisions.  After all, I'm the one who accepted the works to publish in the first place because I loved them.  But to waffle and decline to nominate because I don't want to make hard and fast choices would be unfair to all those whom I've published.  I feel I have an editor's responsibility to participate.  After all, I've promised you respect, readings, reviews, and recognition wherever and whenever possible.  

Please know that if your work was not nominated, it had nothing to do with merit.  Your work deserved nomination, no doubt.  Your work is truly excellent, or it would never have appeared as a NBP publication.  As far as I'm concerned, you're all winners! 

But there were certain pieces that glistened, reverberated, ensnared, transcended, or just plain persisted in the editor's mind/heart/soul/body.  These are the six pieces that are this year's nominees:

Jack McGuane's poem "Deep Purple Desperado" from Lipsmack! A Sampler Platter of Poets from NightBallet Press Year One 2012

Terry Provost's poem "Consolations for a Cleveland Winter" from Lipsmack! A Sampler Platter of Poets from NightBallet Press Year One 2012

Steve Brightman's poem "Sputter and Fuse" from Sometimes, Illinois.

Jim Lang's poem "10 26 03 sexualize" from Coyote Moon.

Elise Geither's short play/prose poem "The Stone" from Lipsmack! A Sampler Platter of Poets from NightBallet Press Year One 2012
and

John Burroughs's poem/performance piece "Lens " from the very-soon-to-be-forthcoming The Eater of the Absurd.

I hope you will join with me in heartily and joyfully congratulating these six who are nominated by NBP this year!

For more information on the Pushcart Prize, please visit www.pushcartprize.com; for more information on Pushcart Press visit www.pushcartpress.org.   For this year's Pushcart Prize collection, or for past years' collections, go to www.Amazon.com.   And keep in mind that there will be numerous opportunities to participate in NBP publications next year, including in at least two anthologies (the theme for the 2013 NBP anthology will be announced around the New Year’s holiday, so stay tuned).