Adam Robinson
http://www.publishinggenius.com
Adam Robinson lives in Baltimore, where he operates Publishing Genius Press. His book of poems, Adam Robison and other poems, will be published by Narrow House Books this year.
A Sorta Mean Review of Grease Stains etc
This morning I woke up early and read Mel Bosworth’s book, Grease Stains, Kismet and Maternal Wisdom. I read the Aqueous Books version, the original one. Apparently there was some sort of disagreement between the publisher and author, though, and Aqueous dropped it. It was quickly republished and is available again here for only $3.95. I thought I’d pan it for mean week, sorta.
The book is a quick read and a good story. The earnestness at the center is keen, the elation and vertigo and palpable excitement of infatuation. I understood the feeling from my own personal experience, so Bosworth’s accomplishment is how he draws that feeling out, how the writing comes together to remind me of that experience. READ MORE >
Absent
There’s a new issue of Absent. They’ve done 5 issues since 2006, which isn’t a brisk pace, but I’m glad they’re still plugging away. One of the most radical things a journal or press can do is exist (even if they are Cannot Exist), so good job everyone who’s still at it.
What are some of the things you’ve published in defunct places? How did that make you feel?
Elaine Kahn: Explain Yourself!
I was just reading the new issue of La Petite Zine for fun and then there was this thing by Elaine Kahn called “Imp, Imp” and I was like, dang Mom how did that happen? Here’s the bit that got me:
. . .
in the deep flit of your eyes
boldly rolling, high as a fruit palletYour voice, your voicely voice
. . .
Kahn blends sense sense and poem sense effectively, which is perhaps a challenging thing to do quickly as she does here. Also note that she uses fewer periods than most poets who’ve habituated Western Massachusetts, which is cool with me. My guess is the poem was written longer first and then reduced, but who cares what I think, what I’m asking is ELAINE KAHN, EXPLAIN YOURSELF! (applause)
(See earlier Explain Yourself! posts and rules to the game show here, here, here and here.)
Adam Robinson—
What is the best OpenSource word processing program for a Mac? Does your writing utility affect your writing?
Well That’s Interesting: Boats
Meanwhile, life continues to rule.
Chapbook Genius
I put a new face on Chapbook Genius and just released a collection of poems by Buck Downs. See the eBook here, where you can read it at Issuu, print it yourself, or get it for your eReader through Smashwords, all free.
Buck Downs is for real. I’ve seen him read a few times, laughing all the way. Seeing his poems on the page is a trick. They gloss brill and don’t wait but you go hallelujah back at them next Thursday all what.
Adam Robinson—
Check out the Teleportal Readings videos. They are stunning. The one of Dean Young reading, OMG, I was watching it, loving the amazing book art fly around, and I had that rare feeling of wanting something to last forever and simultaneously wanting it to end so I could find out who mad such a mad masterpiece.
Keyhole Book Submissions
Kudos to Peter Cole for writing the best submission guidelines since those at Muumuu House. From KeyholePress.com:
Books. Fiction Collections, Novels, Novellas, etc.We are not accepting book submissions. Really, we can’t do much for you that you can’t already do for yourself. We encourage authors to release books independently.
Right on. I am for that too, once he convinced me of it. I called Peter a while ago and asked him to put the Keyhole logo on Say, Poem so that later I could put it on a CV saying I had a book from them. He basically said, why bother? He said, get a backbone. Make self-publishing worthwhile and legitimate. If you’re smart, he said, that’s the way to go.