Summer reading, DIY style

New from Dusie Press, Logan Ryan Smith's The Singers! Kevin Killian gushes, "Music and its family of allied arts reigns high in the world Logan Ryan Smith has carved for his Singers. Dance and ritual act as counterforces to the martial law the poem has been written under, in this time of Iraq incursion that touches every aspect of our lives. Smith sends out these poems like bulletins to his heroes, his confreres, his girlfriends, his dead; in the serial form pioneered by Jack Spicer, John Ashbery, Robin Blaser, and Larry Kearney, the tropes rumble like card tricks—Spicer’s forests, diamonds, Giants and knights advance and retreat across a musical chessboard. If there was no one else writing poetry in all of the Bay Area, we would still be 'covered'; with Logan Ryan Smith at bat we’ll see angels in the outfield." Enough said. Order here for $13.00 plus s&h. (6x9, 104 pp., perfect bound.)


And speaking of Dusie, the Dusie Kollective chaps have started arriving. Participating poets (of which I am one this year) are making handmade copies of their chaps to swap among themselves, and PDF/electronic versions to be posted in the forthcoming summer issue of Dusie. So far, they've all been impressive, and there are several new-to-me poets in the group. I'm looking forward to receiving the rest. And gee, I should really finish mine and start stapling! Anyway, keep your eyes here for the PDF armory show. I believe it'll be posted in late June.


As of yesterday, Maureen Thorson's Big Game Books has unleashed another set of tiny yet powerful poetry in the form known as tinysides. "Tinysides 31-35: Games We Play to Win: The seventh installment of the tinysides series shows the value of luck and persistence. Our authors play their games to win. First up, and with aces in the hole, Jenna Cardinale brings us tales of infinitive advantage, and the pleasure of reversals. Next up to bat, Jordan Stempleman celebrates the strength of muscle and the unnerving statistical powers of monkeys, shipwrecks and healing. Ivy Alvarez follows coyly behind, with a basketful of solutions to life's most intractable problem -- itself. Lars Palm knows that even in the midst of life, there are Spanish pop songs, and the fun of phonemes. Finally, Michael Comstock brings up the rear, and wants you to know why he likes you. He really does. Really. As usual, Tinysides are the cheapest form of poem around. A buck a pop, or all five for a mere $4.50. (S&H runs you about $1.00)." These little goodies go fast, so don't delay. Order here.


Looky there: Amy King was recently elected Poet Laureate...of the Blogosphere. Even more importantly, she's got a new book out, which I haven't yet picked up. Let this note serve as my reminder and yours too. Says Linh Dinh, "These poems are meditative, subtle and deeply human, but beneath their cool, often gorgeous surfaces are darker currents, 'holes firing lyrics, free range.' Amy King 'pimps the abyss,' and she's not joking. Better kiss your 'trucker state' goodbye." Well all right. ISBN:1-934289-33-7, 7 x1o, 87 pp., perfect bound. $16. Available from Blaze-VOX here.


This one's been out a while, but somehow I missed it until yesterday, despite its author being a coeditor here, ahem! Sandra Simonds' The Humble Travelogues of Mr. Ian Worthington, Written from Land & Sea can be obtained from Mark Lamoureux's Cy Gist Press for $6 here. (16 pp. Saddle-stapled.)


Bill Allegrezza of Cracked Slab Books announces the release of The City Visible: Chicago Poetry for the New Century. "It's an anthology of some of the best innovative poetry being written currently in Chicago. Peter Gizzi says of it, 'When Carl Sandburg asked in his Chicago Poems, close to a hundred years ago, for 'a voice to speak to me in the day end, / A hand to touch me in the dark room / Breaking the long loneliness,' little did he know his city would be so fully and livingly answered and so honored. Chicago is again transformed by poetry. Here in these myriad acts of imagination, the poets of The City Visible give to it again, in Shakespeare's terms, 'local habitation and a name.'" ISBN: 0-9786440-1-8. Perfect bound. 254 pp. Edited by W. Allegrezza & R. Bianchi. $22.95. Order directly from the press, or look for it at Amazon & SPD (coming soon).


The first issue of Andrew Lundwall's new e-zine, Seconds, is now online, featuring work by poets Mathias Svalina, Eileen Tabios, Scott Keeney, Alexander Jorgensen, Sheila Murphy, Tomaž Šalamun, and Andrew Demcak.


Also, I've added Wintered Press, edited by Rachel Moritz and Sun Yung Shin in Minneapolis, to the sidebar links. Check out the blog for here for their catalog and mailorder info.


Last and least, I forgot to (duh) mention here the article I wrote for the Poetry Foundation website on how blogs have changed poetry publishing. Peruse it here.


[I still have a few more things to add to this, believe it or not. Check back this afternoon!]