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).

The Forecast Calls for EARTHQUAKE WEATHER!

I don't know how the weather is in your part of the country, but here at NightBallet Press, we have Earthquake Weather!  That's right, NBP's latest chapbook publication Earthquake Weather by New York poet Joey Nicoletti has been officially released!

 

Earthquake Weather is a handsome 28-page chap containing 21 media-savvy, icon-contemporary, detail oriented, tightly crafted poems.  Each poem contains a tasty little slice of the author's life:

from "Risotto Elegy":

She talked about the time she tried
to build a campfire in their backyard
by rubbing my brother's Lincoln Logs together.

 

from "Condemned Mental Hospital Elegy":

...I put the key
in my sea-green hatchback's scratched ignition.

Factory smoke gathers
like street gangs in my rearview mirror.

from "What I Learned from Ringo Starr":

It's okay to leave
the company of the Maharishi
if the food is too spicy.

from "The Spot":

Snowflakes spit out of clouds
like slot machine coins.  My dog
scratches my leg;
he wants to go
to his favorite patch of grass

Nicoletti's poems are full of very natural references to the Death Star, Green Lantern, and Jay-Z, to super-sizing and disco balls and Guiness.  You'll feel like part of the Nicoletti family after reading Earthquake Weather!

Featuring a stunning cover photo by Chandra Alderman*, the chap is printed on a creamy ivory paper that matches the textured cardstock cover.  The cardstock insert is, appropriately for the time of year, a warm pumpkin color.  Earthquake Weather is a steal at only $5 (plus s/h), and may be ordered directly through PayPal on this website, or find it on Amazon!

NightBallet Press is very pleased and honored to have this opportunity to publish Joey Nicoletti's poetry- pick up your copy of Earthquake Weather today, and find out for yourself why Nicoletti's recent book Cannoli Gangster (Turning Point, 2012) was selected as a finalist for the Steel Toe Books Prize by Denise Duhamel. 

A former poetry editor of Puerto del Sol, Nicoletti currently teaches at SUNY Buffalo State College- learn more on the NBP Bio 2012-2013 page, and at www.joeynicoletti.com!

*Chandra Alderman, whose marvelous photos have graced previous NBP chaps and anthologies, continues to focus her artistic eye on the northeast Ohio poetic landscape.  Her photo for Earthquake Weather was taken at a Lakewood, Ohio eatery, Jammy Buggars, during the recent Fistful of Poets event.  Look for more Alderman photos in and on upcoming NBP publications!
                                               

Love Is In The Air (and On The Page)!

 

Happy Sweetest Day from NightBallet!

To celebrate, NightBallet Press is publishing TWO chapbooks of poems about love from two extremely talented, sensitive, and sensual poets:

 

Black Rainbow: All the Colors Are Still There by Californian Russell Salamon,

 

                                                   

                                and
                        Peeling the Apple by Ohioan Jacob Oet!

                                                                   















                                                                           ***

Black Rainbow: All the Colors Are Still There contains 40 pages of exotic and sensual poems written by Russell Salamon.  Salamon has authored numerous books of poetry, including Woodsmoke and Green Tea, Ascent From Cleveland: Wild Heart Steel Phoenix, and Descent Into Cleveland.  His evocative palette of poetic colors will amaze, astound, delight and excite you!  For example, this excerpt from his poem "Solid Women" promises to make your heart pound and your senses throb:

This is not a body but intense
pleasure.  I break into buds and
leaves and each green petal hurts
with joy—I shall shatter into butterfly
migrations.  Oh. 

Black Rainbow: All the Colors Are Still There features handsome gray cardstock with a deep olive insert, and boasts a stunning color photo taken by John Burroughs.  It is available for only $5 plus $3 shipping/handling...buy one for yourself, and another for that special loved one in your life!

                                                                          ***

Peeling the Apple contains 24 sweet and bittersweet poems by Jacob Oet, who is in his first year at Swarthmore College.  When we first heard Jacob read, we were stunned by the maturity and depth of his poems, many of which explore the landscape of love and relationships.  His first chapbook, Metamorphosis (Kattywompus Press), was published earlier this year, and NightBallet Press is extremely pleased to publish this newest collection of poems that peels off the layers of sentiment and gets right down to the core of feeling.  Here's an excerpt from his poem "Your Voice":

My siren, I swallowed a shard
Of your shot-glass voice

When we kissed.  It was so hard
Your lips into mine.  A word broke off

And lodged between my ribs.
I'm having difficulty swallowing.

Peeling the Apple features a creamy textured ivory cover with a golden yellow cardstock insert, and creamy ivory pages that complement the cover.  It also contains a wonderful photo by poet and artist Bonné de Blas, and is available for only $5 plus $2 shipping and handling.  These poems cry out for a jug of wine, a loaf of bread, some candlelight, and the touch of your sweetheart's hand in yours!

                                                                          ***

 

Timeless.  Ageless.  Inexorable.  Love is in the air... and on the page.  Explore its many colors and layers in Black Rainbow: All the Colors Are Still There and Peeling the Apple...
a double dose of delicious discourse.

 

photo by Chandra Alderman, used with permission

 

Here's Looking At You, Kid!

NightBallet Press announces the official publicaiton of an especially tasty treat: Lipsmack! A Sampler Platter of Poets from NightBallet Press, Year One 2012! This delicious 36 page collection of poems celebrates NightBallet Press' first anniversary. From September 2011 to September 2012, NightBallet Press published chapbooks and full-length poetry books for 18 different poets, and they are represented in this anthology by (98%) all new poems!

That's absolutely all new and exciting poems by Lyn Lifshin, John Dorsey, George Wallace, Jack McGuane, Chansonette Buck, Lady K (Kathy) Smith, Terry Provost, T. M. Göttl, Heather Ann Schmidt/Sukha-Prajna, Jim Lang, Steve Brightman, Elise Geither, Kara Johnston, Bonné de Blas, Alex Gildzen, and Russell Salamon!

The only two poems that have been reprinted from the original chapbooks are by the excellent and dynamic performance poets Zach Ashley and Ralph La Charity, and are immediately and perfectly representative of their body of work.

Lipsmack! is designed to expose and make readily available the originality and variety of poetry that NightBallet Press presents through its unique and diverse writers. The yummy vanilla-colored pages are packaged in a soft white cardstock cover with a mouthwatering candy-apple cardstock insert. But the real treats are the lipsmacking poems contained within!

This anniversary anthology is only $5 plus $2 shipping/handling, and is available NOW.  Be among the very first to sink your teeth into and sample Lipsmack! A Sampler Platter of Poets from NightBallet Press, Year One 2012. I promise... these poems will have you begging for more!

Yesterday, Saturday September 29, 2012, was One Hundred Thousand Poets for Change day across the globe.  And yesterday was the official publication date of Lipsmack!  Yesterday was also the day that Cleveland poet and friend John Burroughs' webcam failed him at the 100K Poets for Change event at Visible Voice.  NightBallet knows synchronicity when she sees it, so we will be donating 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this book to the New Webcam For John Fund.  For only $5 plus s/h, you'll be contributing to future juicy poetry webcasts by John Burroughs, AND you'll receive a book jammed with tasty poems!  We are all enriched by the work John does in the poetry community, and we will all benefit from his webcasts... so order your copy of Lipsmack!today!

Taking Pre-Orders for an Especially Tasty Treat!

NightBallet Press is taking pre-orders for an especially tasty treat:  Lipsmack! A Sampler Platter of Poets from NightBallet Press, Year One 2012!  This delicious 36 page collection of poems celebrates NightBallet Press' first anniversary.  From September 2011 to September 2012, NightBallet Press published chapbooks and full-length poetry books for 18 different poets, and they are represented in this anthology by (98%) all new poems!

That's absolutely all new and exciting poems by Lyn Lifshin, John Dorsey, George Wallace, Jack McGuane, Chansonette Buck, Lady K (Kathy) Smith, Terry Provost, T. M. Göttl, Heather Ann Schmidt/Sukha-Prajna, Jim Lang, Steve Brightman, Elise Geither, Kara Johnston, Bonné de Blas, Alex Gildzen, and Russell Salamon! 

The only two poems that have been reprinted from the original chapbooks are by the excellent and dynamic performance poets Zach Ashley and Ralph La Charity, and are immediately and perfectly representative of their body of work. 

 
Lipsmack! is designed to expose and make readily available the originality and variety of poetry that NightBallet Press presents through its unique and diverse writers.  The yummy vanilla-colored pages are packaged in a soft white cardstock cover with a mouthwatering candy-apple cardstock insert.  But the real treats are the lipsmacking poems contained within! 

This anniversary anthology is only $5 plus $2 shipping/handling, and will be available Saturday, September 29, 2012- the One Hundred Thousand Poets for Change day... but you can pre-order your copy NOW, to insure you won't miss out on this very special collection!  Be among the very first to sink your teeth into and sample Lipsmack! A Sampler Platter of Poets from NightBallet Press, Year One 2012.  I promise...  these poems will have you begging for more!

It's easy as pie- you can order directly through PayPal on this very site- the link is at the top of the page in the right column.  Order now, and I'll address your envelopes and have them ready to mail as soon as the books come hot out of the oven... er, hot off the printer, I mean!  ;)

WOWZA! WHATTA WEEK!

 

This has been an unprecedented week of wows here at NightBallet Press!  Starting off the week was a visit to Mac's Backs on Coventry in Cleveland Heights.  Mac's is a venerated and beloved independent bookstore owned by Suzanne DeGaetano, and has one of the best (if not THE best) collections of poetry books for sale in this region.  Suzanne has been very supportive of poets over the years, and hosts her own second Wednesday reading series every month.   She has also been very supportive of local presses, and has stocked NightBallet Press chaps on a regular basis.  During this past visit to Mac's, the editor/publisher of NBP was delighted and excited to see a shelf of a bookcase (in the back, by the stairs leading to the basement) labeled "NightBallet Press"!  There, you can easily find all the NBP titles!  Check it out... and while you're there, check out all the other wonderful offerings that Mac's Backs has.  I promise you, you'll find some toothsome tomes within.  Support your local bookstore!  Tell Suzanne NightBallet sent you! 

     
                               



As if that wasn't fabulous enough, Alex Gildzen of Santa Fe, New Mexico, hit town, received his copies of his brand-new NBP chap Passd Ports, and joined fellow poets Kara Johnston, Kathy (Lady K) Smith, Bonné de Blas, and John Dorsey (all with new NBP chaps!) at Jammy Buggars in Lakewood Thursday evening at the Fistful of Poets reading...  I'll let these photos show you the magic of the night (and to see ALL the photos from the event, please visit Dianne Borsenik's Facebook album):

      

And to cap off the week, a major announcement about this first year of NightBallet Press publishing... an anthology is imminent, consisting of (98%) new poems by the 18 poets whose chaps were published between September 2011 and September 2012! This includes Jack McGuane, Chansonette Buck, George Wallace, Ralph La Charity, Terry Provost, T. M. Göttl, Heather Ann Schmidt (soon to become Heather Ann Sukha-Prajna), Jim Lang, Steve Brightman, Elise Geither, Zach Ashley, Kara Johnston, Lyn Lifshin, John Dorsey, Bonné de Blas, Alex Gildzen, Kathy (Lady K) Smith, and Russell Salamon (whose Black Rainbow: All the Colors are Still There is due out by September 30th).  You can expect this tasty little treat of an anthology- Lipsmack! A Sampler Platter of Poetry from NightBallet Press, Year One- to be available for only 5 dollars by the end of next week... and, yes, Mac's Backs will be carrying it. ;)

TONIGHT SEPTEMBER 13: NIGHTBALLET PRESS PRESENTS A FISTFUL OF POETS!

 

Tonight's event A Fistful of Poets features five fantastic poets: Bonné de Blas with her excellent and unique poetry from The Act of Dwelling, John Dorsey with his brand-new chapbook of provocative poems and short stories, White Girl Problems, Alex Gildzen, freshly arrived from New Mexico, with his exciting NBP chap of travel poems and pieces, Passd Ports, Kathy "Lady" Smith with her much-anticipated new NBP chap that sparkles and snaps, Firecracker Mandalas, and Kara Johnston, with her sensitive and sensual poetry from Map Wrapping Paper Cradle Dangler. Kara's chap was published by NBP earlier this year, but this is the first time ever that NBP (and Clevelanders) will get to hear her read! All of these chaps will be available for sale both on this site and at the Fistful event tonight, September 13th.  

Jammy Buggars, located at 15625 Detroit in Lakewood, Ohio, has promised us our own bartender and our own server.  We'll have our own entrance to the venue, as well.  Come early and grab a chair!  The food is wonderful, and you'll want to come hungry.   This event will begin at 7pm!

One night, five poets, good friends and excellent poetry in a venue that features delicious food, a multitude of draft beers, a welcoming ambiance, and unrestrained grooviness. Let the magic begin!