Poets Wear Prada is a poetry publishing house with excellent poets and affordable books with beautiful covers. Have you had your poetry today?--Meredith Sue Willis, Books for Readers * * * Stylistically, these beautifully designed and produced chapbooks bear their own distinctive signature.--Linda Lerner, SMALL PRESS REVIEW

Thursday, December 15, 2011

12/15 in NYC: Space on White fts. PWP Authors Efrayim Levenson & John J Trause

Come, help fill-up the page . . .


Thursday, December 15, 2011
from 7pm to 9pm
Poets on White
features
* EFRAYIM LEVENSON * JOHN J. TRAUSE * JACK TRICARICO *
+ open mic (Sign-Up 6:45 with Cindy Hochman

@
[space on white]

81 White Street,
(Tribeca,near Broadway)
New York, NY 10013
 (212) 227-8600

Hosts: Evie Ivy & Cindy Hochman
$4.00 donation

Directions: J, N, R, Q, B and #6,1 train, A,C,E trains slightly longer walk
to Canal Street; Space on White is two blocks south of Canal Street


About the Features:

JACK TRICARICO is a New York City painter, poet, and T'ai Chi instructor who has been published in numerous poetry journals and anthologies based in New York City and upstate New York . He has completed 9 chapbooks and is working on his 10th. He's been published in Hunger Magazine, Home Planet News, Long Island Sounds, 2009 Issue, Perhaps I Am Wrong About The World, Asbestos, Nomad's Choir, Dinner With The Muse, Pushing The Envelope, The Poets Gallery press, among others. His art work can be seen on two art sites: www.nyaw.com and bondandbowery.com.

*

JOHN J. TRAUSE, said to be the secret love child of Henri Langlois and Mary Meerson (Or is it Marie Menken and Willard Maas?), was nominated for the Pushcart Prize (2009-2011). The Director of Oradell Public Library, he is the author of Seriously Serial and Latter-Day Litany, the latter staged Off-Off Broadway. His translations, poetry, and visual work appear in many journals and anthologies in North America and Europe , including the artists' periodical Crossings and the Dada journal Maintenant. Appearing in the City Lights Books celebration (Poetry Project, St. Mark’s, NYC) with Steven Van Zandt, Anne Waldman, and Karen Finley, and in Visible Word (Stevens Institute, Hoboken, NJ) with Jerome Rothenberg, he is cofounder of the William Carlos Williams Poetry Cooperative (Rutherford, NJ) and serves as host and curator of its monthly reading series. Aside from his literary work, his artwork has been exhibited in The MoMA Staff Show (1995), at Il Trapezio Café ( Nutley , NJ ), and appears in the permanent collection of The Museum of Menstruation (New Carrollton , MD ) to whose website he has contributed.

*

EFRAYIM LEVENSON has presented his poems at bars, churches, colleges, libraries, and synagogues in Manhattan , Brooklyn, and Buffalo . His work has been published in Pure Light, ArtVoice, Medicinal Purposes, What Happens Next, Poetica, and other anthologies, and online as well. A member of Parkside Poetry Workshop, Efrayim is currently editing a chapbook (his third) of poems based on the music of guitarist Buckethead. A CD of poetry and jazz, with bassist Clif Jackson, is also in the works.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Hoboken Author’s New Illustrated Book Contemplates Love and Death


Hoboken author Roxanne Hoffman today announced the release of “In Loving Memory,” her gothic ballad tracing a small town congregation from funeral to marriage, illustrated by Edward Odwitt.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Roxanne Hoffman
201 795 3810

Hoboken Author’s New Illustrated Book Contemplates
Love and Death


Hoboken, New Jersey (December 10, 2011) – Hoboken author Roxanne Hoffman today announced the release of “In Loving Memory,” her ballad illuminating the gothic shadows surrounding a small town congregation from funeral to marriage, illustrated by Edward Odwitt. A recent widow, whose husband of 20 years, partner for 28, died suddenly last Valentine’s Day, Ms. Hoffman knows both rites of passage first hand. A self-proclaimed witness to life’s serendipities, she transports the reader from the scenes of deepest sorrow to ones of abounding joy through the voice of a male villager.

IN LOVING MEMORY
by Roxanne Hoffman
Illustrations by Edward Odwitt
 “‘In Loving Memory’ is an elegant, elegiac poem by Roxanne Hoffman, illustrated by Edward Odwitt in a style reminiscent of classic Edward Gorey. This somber, tender and darkly ironic verse is about the ceremonies of death and grieving ... as well as their parallels to the rituals of abiding love and remembrance. ‘In Loving Memory’ should be on everyone's shelves as it reflects on one of the darkest human experiences with insight and humanity in a charmingly gothic presentation,” says Garth von Buchholz, author, publisher and member of the National Book Critics’ Circle.

Written following her retirement in 2003 from a 20-year stint on Wall Street, the poem appeared in “Danse Macabre,” the Nevada-based online literary magazine published by Adam Henry Carriere. “Roxanne Hoffman has been a whirlwind of poetics for some time now. ‘In Loving Memory’ is not only a worthy addition to her oeuvre but an original, deeply human—and warmly humane—vision of the rites of final passage. Of course there is trauma, that of irreconcilable loss, but here Roxanne brings the full coin of her poetic mind to bear. In sustained elegiacal rhyme she paints a methodically wrought landscape that is beautifully subjective yet utterly universal. The portraiture is further enriched by the stark, almost child-like illustrations of Edward Odwitt. The sum effort is a melodic, imaginative riposte to the reverberations of loss, a moment heartbreakingly, heartwarmingly wrought into poetry,” says Adam Henry Carriere.

Ms. Hoffman says she had always envisioned her poem as an illustrated book in the style of Edward Gorey, but Gorey was, unfortunately, already dead in 2000. This past fall, at the Brooklyn Book Festival, she met Edward Odwitt, when he stopped by her table and presented her with his “Head for the Hills,” a book of short verse written and illustrated to encourage his younger brother to enjoy reading. Opening the book later at home, she realized she had met her illustrator. “Edward’s work ranks with that of Tim Burton, Edward Gorey, and Dr. Seuss, often echoing the gothic style of the late great Gorey, and with more than a whit of the whimsy of Seuss,” says Roxanne.

“It was a great pleasure working with Roxanne Hoffman having illustrated ‘In Loving Memory.’ Together, our collaborative efforts helped produce a complimentary visual for her astounding poetic ability,” says Edward Odwitt.

Edward and Roxanne are already at work on their next collaboration, “The Little Entomologist.”

“In Loving Memory,” by Roxanne Hoffman with illustrations by Edward Odwitt, paperback: 24 pages, publisher: CreateSpace (December 9, 2011), ISBN 978-1468019070, list price: $12.00, is now available at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/in-loving-memory/dp/1468019074) and from CreateSpace (https://www.createspace.com/3738388) . Signed copies can also be purchased directly from the author at http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/.

Roxanne Hoffman worked on Wall Street, now answers a patient hotline for a New York home healthcare provider. Her work has been published widely in literary journals like “Amaze: The Cinquain Journal,” “Clockwise Cat,” “Danse Macabre,” “The Fib Review,” “Hospital Drive,” “Lucid Rhythms,” “Mobius: The Poetry Magazine,” “The New Verse News,” “The Pedestal Magazine,” and “Shaking Like A Mountain,” as well as in several anthologies including “The Bandana Republic: A Literary Anthology by Gang Members and Their Affiliates” (Soft Skull Press), “Love after 70” (Wising Up Press), and “It All Changes in an Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure” (Harper Perennial). Her vampire poetry can be heard during Dave Gold’s 2005 indie flick “Love and the Vampire.” She runs the small literary press Poets Wear Prada, since 2006.

Independent author/artist Edward Odwitt’s portfolio veers from symmetrical illustrations to graphics and pastels, as well as cartoons drawn primarily in black pen or pencil. His first book “Head for the Hills,” an illustrated book of poetry written for middle school audiences, can be found on his website http://www.edwardodwitt.com/. He is currently compiling a collection of his artwork into a book due out by the end of 2011.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Poets Wear Prada Announces Six Nominations for Pushcart Prize


Small New Jersey Literary Press Picks Six for Shot at Annual Pushcart Prize
Recognizing Best of 2011 by Small Presses

Hoboken publisher Poets Wear Prada announced its six nominees for the Pushcart Prize, recognizing the best of 2011 published by Small Presses: Chocolate Waters, Davidson Garrett, Dean Kostos, Melinda Goodman, Dorothy Friedman and John Marcus Powell.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Roxanne Hoffman
201.253.0561

Hoboken, NJ (Dec 05, 2011) - Poets Wear Prada, a small literary press based in Hoboken, NJ, announced today its six nominations for the 36th Annual Pushcart Prize, the coveted award signaling the best work published by small presses the previous year. Nominations for the Pushcart Prize are made by little magazine (print and online) and small book press editors. Editors can nominate poems, short stories, essays, chapters from novels, or “literary whatnots” -- up to six selections -- by the postmark deadline of December 1. Translations, reprints, and both traditional and experimental writing are welcomed. Bill Henderson with the editors of the Pushcart Press select from the nominations for inclusion in an annual anthology printed and distributed with W.W. Norton since 1976.

Pushcart Prize XXXVI
Best of the Small Presses
Nominated works from Poets Wear Prada this year include “Desire” by Chocolate Waters from her recently released (October 2011), critically acclaimed chapbook “The Woman Who Wouldn’t Shake Hands,” a sometimes humorous often poignant collection of poems reflecting on a failed romance, and “A Hack’s Elusive Love or Arthur Miller Lives” by Davidson Garrett from the chapbook anthology of the Ninth Annual All Out Arts’ Fresh Fruit Festival, “Pears, Prose & Poetry,” edited by Caitlin Foster and Roxanne Hoffman, released July 2011. “Desire” first appeared in Soundzine, Lucky Issue #13, 2011. “A Hack’s Elusive Love or Arthur Miller Lives” was previously published in “Beyond the Rift: Poets of the Palisades Anthology,” edited by Paul Nash and Denise La Neve, The Poets Press, 2010.

From “Pears, Prose & Poetry,” four additional selections were nominated: “At the Barber’s” by Dean Kostos, “Just How Crazy Brenda Is” by Melinda Goodman, “Magic Bistro” by Dorothy Friedman August, and “St. Vincent’s” by John Marcus Powell. “At the Barber’s” first appeared in "OCHO 22," edited by Miguel Murphy, MiPOesias, 2009. “Just How Crazy Brenda Is” was previously published in "Middle Sister" by Melinda Goodman, MSG Press, 1987, and "Gay and Lesbian Poetry in Our Time: An Anthology," edited by Carl Morse and Joan Larkin, St. Martin’s Press, 1988.

“This year’s selection process was particularly challenging,” said publisher Roxanne Hoffman, “as all of the 19 poems included in ‘Pears, Prose & Poetry,’ selected from the over fifty solicited submissions by some of the best local poets in the GLBT community, are ‘winners,’ all deserving recognition.”

Poets Wear Prada, a small literary press based in Hoboken, New Jersey, was founded in October, 2006, to develop and promote new and established writers of narrative and lyrical poetry. Poets previously nominated by the press include Iris Berman, Carol Wierzbicki, Michael Montlack, Susan Maurer, Erik La Prade, Gil Fagiani, Bob Heman, Maria Lisella and Laura Vookles. Poets Wear Prada blogs at http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/. Titles are available at Amazon.com, BN.com, and CreateSpace.com, as well as directly from the publisher.

# # #


Poets Wear Prada is a small literary press based in Hoboken, New Jersey, devoted to introducing new authors through high-quality chapbooks primarily of poetry, since October 2006. Please visit us at: http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/. "Have you had your poetry today?"

Friday, December 2, 2011

Canio’s Books to Celebrate Emily Dickinson’s Birthday with a Talk by Poet George Held




The poet George Held will be giving a talk on the poet Emily Dickinson in honor of her birthday. Canio’s Books, 290 Main St., Sag Harbor, NY. 4 p.m., Saturday, December 10.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Roxanne Hoffman
201.253.0561


Sag Harbor, NY (Dec 02, 2011) –  The poet George Held will be giving a talk on the revered American poet Emily Dickinson, in honor of her 181st birthday, at Canio’s Books, 290 Main St., Sag Harbor, NY on Saturday, December 10, 2011, at 4 p.m. "Miss Emily´s Hymnal: The Art of Common Meter" will be a look at the formal structure and themes of Dickinson´s work with a chance to practice.

Maryann Calendrille, one of the owners of Canio's, where George has frequently given readings of his own work, took a haiku workshop led by him last summer and asked if he’d like to give a talk on Emily Dickinson on her birthday, which this year falls on a Saturday, the day Canio's Cultural Café normally offers readings and other programs. George, who taught Emily Dickinson’s poetry for years as a professor at Queens College, and led a workshop based on her verse, a few years ago, for the Live Poets Society in Bayshore, NY, promptly agreed.


Emily Dickinson, daguerreotype, circa 1848, Yale
 

 Emily Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. Though now considered one of America’s greatest poets, she had less than a dozen of her nearly 1,800 poems published in her lifetime.

"Common meter," the verse form of Protestant hymn Emily Dickinson often borrowed to construct a poem, also serves George Held as an occasional instrument. Its four-line stanza, or quatrain, combines an alternating rhyme scheme (abab) with alternating long (8-syllable) and short (6-syllable) lines as this untitled poem by Dickinson demonstrates:
It's such a little thing to weep --
So short a thing to sigh --
And yet -- by Trades -- the size of these
We men and women die!”
A satiric poem by Held, originally published in Light, follows that same pattern:
Tell All . . .
Tell all the lies but tell them well;
Make customers believe
The sales pitch blooming on your lips
So they won’t feel aggrieved.
Sell all the dreck despite its flaws,
Don’t worry ’bout the toys;
Just hope the folks won’t sue your ass
After the obsequies.
For more information about Canio’s Books and directions on how to get there, please visit their website at http://www.caniosbooks.com/ or call 631.725.4926.


George Held
George Held, a five-time Pushcart Prize nominee, is the author of two full-length collections, ten chapbooks, as well as two e-books of poetry, and the editor of “Touched by Eros,” an anthology of erotic verse. His “After Shakespeare: Selected Sonnets” was recently published by Červená Barva Press. A teacher, translator, writer and poet, his work has appeared in “The Philadelphia Inquirer,” “Confrontation,” “Notre Dame Review,” “New York Quarterly” and “Rattle,” among numerous other publications including two-dozen anthologies, and been featured on National Public Radio (NPR). Among his chapbooks is “Phased” (Poets Wear Prada, 2008). He holds a B.A. from Brown, an M.A. from University of Hawaii, and a Ph.D. from Rutgers, taught at Queens College for 37 years, was a Fulbright lecturer in Czechoslovakia (1973-76), and serves on the executive board of The South Fork Natural History Museum, Bridgehampton, NY. He lives in Greenwich Village with his wife Cheryl.

# # #

Poets Wear Prada is a small literary press based in Hoboken, NJ, devoted to introducing new authors through high-quality chapbooks primarily of poetry, since October 2006. Please visit us at: http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/ . "Have you had your poetry today?"