Saturday, April 28, 2012

WOO HOO! GEORGE WALLACE is HARD STUFF!

Woo hoo and howdy do to YOU!  April is National Poetry Month, and NightBallet Press has been celebrating all month long, with a good number of delectable publications.  Now, we leave April with a BANG:
New York poet George Wallace's brand new chap of audacious, outrageous, ambrosial poetry, the hard stuff is officially published!

Featuring 36 pages of poetry, the hard stuff covers everything from "easy money" to "an american education", and everything from "subway music" to a "toolbox of desire"!  If you've never experienced George Wallace, now is the time.  This is his 25th chapbook of poetry, and the 2nd by NightBallet Press (sleeping beauty's revenge was the first NBP chapbook by Wallace).  the hard stuff is available through PayPal right here on this website, for only $5 plus $2 s/h!

George Wallace will be doing a very special reading in the Cleveland area on Friday, May 11, 2012, where he will be reading from both sleeping beauty's revenge and the hard stuff, among others.  This reading, sponsored by Clevelanders Russ Vidrick and Charlotte Mann, will be at The Gypsy Beans and Baking Company, 6425 Detroit Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, at 7pm.  The last time Wallace read in Cleveland was during the Tres Versing the Panda event in May of 2009, so you won't want to miss out on this wonderful and rare opportunity.  NightBallet Press will be there.. yes, with copies of the hard stuff and sleeping beauty's revenge!

Many thanks to all the poets and poetry lovers who have celebrated along with NightBallet during this official National Month of Poetry- Poetry lives, poetry rocks!

"You should always be trying to write a poem you are unable to write, a poem you lack the technique, the language, the courage to achieve. Otherwise you're merely imitating yourself, going nowhere, because that's always easiest." - John Berrryman
"We are one species. We are starstuff." - Carl Sagan

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

NightBallet at Hessler Street Fair 2012!

Vertigo Xavier of Poets' Haven and John Burroughs of Crisis Chronicles Press have both already announced the great news: Poets' Haven, Crisis Chronicles Press, Writing Knights, and NightBallet Press will come together at this year's Hessler Street Fair in Cleveland on May 19 and 20, 2012!


We'll have tables full of delicious chaps for your perusal, delectation, and acquisition.  George Wallace's new chap the hard stuff will be published on May 5th (in time for his Cleveland visit May 11th), and we'll have it at Hessler, along with all the chaps that have been published by NBP to date.   NightBallet also plans to have at least two more new chaps out by then- one, by the prolific and fantastic poet Lyn Lifshin.

Check out the fair here:  Hessler Street Fair 2012... and the weekend of May 19-20, be sure to stop by and say hello!

A big thank you to VX for working out the details and making it possible.  We'll post more news of the event as it gets closer to the date.   

Thursday, April 19, 2012

HOT OFF THE PRESS! MAP WRAPPING PAPER CRADLE DANGLER by Kara Johnston!

Hot off the press today- a new chapbook of poetry by Kara Johnston:  Map Wrapping Paper Cradle Dangler!

Kara Johnston, a recent graduate of Kent State University, has been called "a terrific young poet (whose) attention to sound and image and collaged narrative is sometimes breathtaking" by Robert Miltner.  NightBallet agrees with him- Johnston weaves a sensitive and quietly sensual thread of ocean, seashells, sunlight, and love throughout her poems in Map Wrapping Paper Cradle Dangler.
The cover features a photo taken by Bonné de Blas, whose own chapbook of poetry, The Act of Dwelling, is forthcoming from NightBallet Press.

Beginning today, Map Wrapping Paper Cradle Dangler is available through PayPal right here on the NightBallet Press website- order your copy today!   You won't be sorry.  I was spellbound from the moment I began reading the manuscript.  :)

Monday, April 16, 2012

ONLY 2 WEEKS LEFT UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD!

ONLY 2 WEEKS LEFT UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD! 

Until the "end of the world" Buzzkill: Apocalypse submissions of poetry, flash fiction, and photos are due, that is... the deadline is May Day, May 1st, 2012.  What are your visions of apocalypse? Catastrophe? Cataclysm? Climate change? Alien invasion? Biohazard or germ warfare? Radiation? Rogue asteroids?  Don't delay!  Send your submission in an email (with "submission, your name" in the subject line) to nightballetpress@gmail.com.

All submissions will be read, and the decision to include works will be based on subject relevance and merit, so previously-unpublished poets have just as much chance for inclusion as veteran writers.  Photos must indicate, in some way, the theme of "end of the world'.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent after the May 1st deadline.  Confirmed contributors so far include science fiction luminaries Geoffrey Landis and James J. E. Stanley, artist-photographers Eleanor Bennett and Amy Mothersbaugh Roos, and celebrated poets Lyn Lifshin, Robert Miltner, and George Wallace, with many more surprises in store.

Publication is scheduled for summer solstice, June 21st, 2012.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Friday the 13th- Zach Ashley Is POETICALLY INCORRECT!

We are allllmost on the third week of National Poetry Month, and the celebration here at NightBallet Press continues with the publication of Zach Ashley's Poetically Incorrect
Michigan performance poet Zach Ashley has long been known for his outrageous, hilarious, and magnificently performed tirades on getting a flu shot, finding the colors in his rainbow, hearing voices, and explaining his guardian angel.  An announcement that he's going to make an appearance always generates frissons of anticipation and excitement.  Now, you can experience Zach a whole new way:  Poetically Incorrect contains 18 of Zach's "greatest hits", as well as a list of links to online live performances.  Don't miss out on the excitement- order your copy today!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Second Week of National Poetry Month!

The second week of National Poetry Month here at NightBallet Press begins with the announcement and unveiling of the first four broadsides in the 2012 Series! 

The entire 2012 Series will be available for sale through PayPal at the end of the year. However, if you absolutely cannot wait (and who could blame you? These poems are fantastic!), NightBallet has figured out a way to make these first four broadsides available to you right away. Buy any NightBallet chapbook, and I will include these first four broadsides in the order free of charge. This is a limited-time offer, good only until the next batch of broadsides are announced.

The first four broadsides are:
"La Seducción en Español" by Skylark Bruce  (This delightful performance poem written in English and Spanish will thrill you with its musical wordplay! Canton, Ohio poet Skylark Bruce comes across as both naughty and nice in this first broadside in the 2012 Series. For a sophisticated chuckle, grab a Spanish dictionary and get bilingual with Bruce. And you simply MUST try to catch a live reading of this poem!)




"Of Ashes and Dreams"/"Dike 14" by Miles Budimir (Written with Cleveland in mind, and with a nod to dan smith's poem "I Am Down With You, Crooked River", these two poems, "Of Ashes and Dreams" and "Dike 14", are a must-read for any northern Ohio denizen. Miles Budimir's clear, narrative style will grab your heart and not let go. Thanks to John Burroughs for the cover photo.)

"Contradance", a collaborative poem by Shelley Chernin, Joshua Gage, T. M. Göttl, Geoffrey Landis, and J. E. Stanley (This is NightBallet's first broadside to feature a collaborative poem. Written at Cleveland Poetics by (alphabetically) Shelley Chernin, Joshua Gage, T. M. Göttl, Geoffrey Landis, and J. E. Stanley, this poem is a stunning display of five fine poets working together to achieve a strange beauty. Science fictional in tone and masterfully structured, "Contradance" is not to be missed. Thanks to Steven B. Smith for the cover photo.)
and a mini-collection of musical tribute poems titled "Noteworthy Travelin'", by Renay Sanders ("Noteworthy Travelin'"), John Burroughs ("No More Dark Horse" and "Danger Cruise"), Jane Rosenberg LaForge ("Rock Star Watching"), and J. E. Stanley ("Wayfaring Pilgrim" and "Humbuckers").  (This broadside is another first for NightBallet Press, with a (very) short collection of poems written on the subject of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, and the rock-n-rollers who make the music happen. Featuring a wonderful poem by Renay Sanders, "Noteworthy Travelin'", two insightful "rock-ku" by John Burroughs, and tribute poems by New Yorker Jane Rosenberg LaForge and Ohioan J. E. Stanley, this one-time, one-of-a-kind broadside pays homage to the Hall of Fame induction festivities taking place in Cleveland, Ohio during the month of April.)


With a projected total of 12 broadsides in the series, NightBallet promises to satisfy every possible poetic taste with outstanding poems by a broad spectrum of diverse poets. Stay tuned for more announcements!


Note:  The poets in the collaborative poem "Contradance" have been listed alphabetically.  If you wish a "key" to which poets wrote which lines in "Contradance", send a request to nightballetpress@gmail.com, and I'll email it to you.  Thanks to J. E. Stanley for providing the key!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Happy National Poetry Month!

April is National Poetry Month, and NightBallet Press is celebrating all month long!  To kick off the festivities, we posted the exciting video "Lens" by John Burroughs yesterday; for an exclusive peek at his amazing performance, go here. 

To continue the joyous celebration and appreciation of poetry, NightBallet Press is extremely pleased and honored to announce the publication of Elise Geither's new chap Monologue for Poets!

With three sections of monologues (Poetry, Excerpts from Plays, and Performances for Two Poets), this chap is a treat for the mind, ear, and tongue.  Elise Geither's Voice is strong and consistant throughout, and her images will burn themselves into your retinas and into your hearts. 

NightBallet is deeply grateful to John Burroughs's granddaughter Jada for the beautiful smile that graces the cover of Monologues for Poets, and to the artistpoet (yes those two words are inseparable) Bonné de Blas, who graciously permitted the use of three of her artbook photos for the chap. 

Beginning today, Monologues for Poets is available for sale right here on the website, and of course, Elise Geither will have a number of her own for sale.  Stay tuned for announcements concerning upcoming readings where you can experience Elise live, on stage, aloud, and monologuing!


NightBallet promised we'd wallow in poetry this month, and wallow we shall:  there will be a number of publications following Elise Geither's Monologue for Poets

The first of the poems in the NightBallet Broadside Series 2012 will be printed during April; the first two are "La Seducción en Español" by Skylark Bruce, and "Of Ashes and Dreams" & "Dike 14" by Miles Budimir.  Both broadsides feature very different Voices, and NightBallet is proud to present them to you for your poetic  pleasure.  I'll post photos when they've been printed and are available.

We'll be publishing another chap within the coming week or two:  Map Wrapping Paper Cradle Dangler by recent Kent State University grad Kara Johnston.  Her delightful poems interweave themes of ocean, sunlight, wings, and love in a quietly sensual way. 

Time and the gods permitting, NightBallet plans the publication of at least one additional chap after Johnston's, and perhaps even two, during the month of April, so stay tuned for further news!

NightBallet strongly urges you to write poems, read poems, attend poetry readings, submit your poems to journals, support your local poets by buying their chaps, versify, rhymify, rappify, shout it from the rooftops, howl during this National Month of Poetry.

Thank you for your past and continued encouragement and support.  NightBallet Press is proud to present the musicality of language and originality of expression, and could not do so without the many wonderful Voices of all you poets who make up my world.  I love poetry, and I love you.

For more information on National Poetry Month, please visit Poets.org.