tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8847223384056739242024-03-17T23:00:00.310-04:00Poets Wear Prada | PWP BooksPublishing beautifully designed volumes of well-crafted poetry -- and now fiction -- you want to read, since October 2006 from Hoboken, NJ, birthplace of Frank Sinatra and professional baseball.
Have you had your poetry today? Get your brain fuel from Poets Wear Prada!ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.comBlogger357125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-69183419792578964802024-03-03T23:16:00.029-05:002024-03-04T20:44:08.712-05:00Publication Announcement: Bright-Eyed by Sarah Sarai<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3yj-n0nIls2duHE3vbkzn0V70M5Df9bvLaQ4fHmKrTINk4ZMqhuEAkWNAm5iqfmab8TmIt5OlHlNYWrwnuPb2We-FJ8iNjIST0oxjtbguzrhgBec9_cNomrtFJGeUAa3Ip0uWDrHejPMJIc7xkl4Z4VT6l2pEdvmhx8L3772vwNM8nmaw54LEhfNvwU/s2550/Bright-Eyed%20Cover%2002122024R%20LULU_page_1300.JPEG" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="Bright-Eyed by Sarah Sarai" border="0" data-original-height="2550" data-original-width="1650" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC3yj-n0nIls2duHE3vbkzn0V70M5Df9bvLaQ4fHmKrTINk4ZMqhuEAkWNAm5iqfmab8TmIt5OlHlNYWrwnuPb2We-FJ8iNjIST0oxjtbguzrhgBec9_cNomrtFJGeUAa3Ip0uWDrHejPMJIc7xkl4Z4VT6l2pEdvmhx8L3772vwNM8nmaw54LEhfNvwU/w259-h400/Bright-Eyed%20Cover%2002122024R%20LULU_page_1300.JPEG" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: default; font-size: x-small;"><i>Bright-Eyed</i><br />by Sarah Sarai<br />Poets Wear Prada: March 1, 2024<br />ISBN: 978-1946116284<br />Paperback: 60 pages<br />
Price: $18.00 (unsigned); $20.00 (signed)</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table>
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March is National Women’s History Month and Small Press Month. Jack Cooper and Roxanne Hoffman of Poets Wear Prada are delighted to announce the timely March 1st publication of Sarah Sarai’s poetry collection <i>Bright-Eyed</i>, “her deliciously quirky excursion into her California roots” [Alexis Rhone Fancher, Poetry Editor of <i>Cultural Weekly</i>]. The book is immediately available for next day delivery from <a href="https://amzn.to/4bTGfTT" target="_blank">Amazon</a>. Copies will also be available for purchase and signing at the <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/international-womens-day-celebration-at-w-hoboken-tickets-848553535467" target="_blank">International Women’s Day Celebration at W Hoboken</a> on March 8th, where Sarah will be featured. Please contact <a href="mailto: info@poetswearprada.com?subject=Orders" target="_blank">Poets Wear Prada</a> for direct individual and bulk orders from the publisher.</div>ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-34680131042626647402024-03-03T22:54:00.004-05:002024-03-04T23:03:18.120-05:00International Women’s Day at W Hoboken<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJq9Kr1JSxJ-9DpKkLBcXffgeXvvXVDDmlLOEjk0c1Q0xwc-SNmAbszONzltR4NM0yrpNqAeJBzWnO7f7cbBd6gkwz15gqx7l7BV53P0t1CSUg7HUdSyedb-kNteQXwf0ftXzt3neVTdLvRnRoa6SILfyck-Fbd7_ju74v0OyLG8gj0fJkbGUc7qNtI0/s3300/E04AE5F7-1592-4B88-AB55-1CFF62A0198F.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3300" data-original-width="2550" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJq9Kr1JSxJ-9DpKkLBcXffgeXvvXVDDmlLOEjk0c1Q0xwc-SNmAbszONzltR4NM0yrpNqAeJBzWnO7f7cbBd6gkwz15gqx7l7BV53P0t1CSUg7HUdSyedb-kNteQXwf0ftXzt3neVTdLvRnRoa6SILfyck-Fbd7_ju74v0OyLG8gj0fJkbGUc7qNtI0/s320/E04AE5F7-1592-4B88-AB55-1CFF62A0198F.jpeg" width="247" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Poetry publishers and promoters Jack Cooper and Roxanne Hoffman are delighted to announce that their independent press, Poets Wear Prada, is partnering with W Hotels for a local celebration of International Women’s Day at W Hoboken, 225 River St, Hoboken, NJ 07030, on March 8th from 6 to 9 PM. Please join us for wine tastings, a live DJ, and poetry! Featuring six distinguished women poets: Tantra Zawadi, Sarah Sarai, Rescue Poetix, Lynne Shapiro, Megha Sood, and Patricia Carragon. <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/international-womens-day-celebration-at-w-hoboken-tickets-84855353546%20" target="_blank">RSVP</a> for this free and public event on <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/international-womens-day-celebration-at-w-hoboken-tickets-84855353546%20" target="_blank">Eventbrite</a>.</div>ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-36310860351622576712024-03-01T09:00:00.137-05:002024-03-05T15:02:16.705-05:00Preorder Good Housekeeping by Bruce E. Whitacre<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR-SobbhfroEKVwg7CS-_xmdt9mexvnJAfcLQP3gTY_Tq1XNYo2KJbRiX0xzpurQQJ4BWhW_RAppVlS2NYuPDvqEABjWaGN4tVQqnL6yULvt4lFCAG95o7-nQ98tYLpiXj8bCoWUHiasc3IC1SgqmXavx0zTKpeo0JjWuoHhqspjnXkjz2WL-SCK4WCTo/s2250/E19A6B37-45B1-4BB8-921B-14CCB55AA378300.jpg" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="Good Housekeeping by Bruce E. Whitacre" border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="1410" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR-SobbhfroEKVwg7CS-_xmdt9mexvnJAfcLQP3gTY_Tq1XNYo2KJbRiX0xzpurQQJ4BWhW_RAppVlS2NYuPDvqEABjWaGN4tVQqnL6yULvt4lFCAG95o7-nQ98tYLpiXj8bCoWUHiasc3IC1SgqmXavx0zTKpeo0JjWuoHhqspjnXkjz2WL-SCK4WCTo/w251-h400/E19A6B37-45B1-4BB8-921B-14CCB55AA378300.jpg" title="Good Housekeeping by Bruce E. Whitacre" width="251" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Good Housekeeping</i><br />
by Bruce E. Whitacre<br />
Poets Wear Prada: April 1, 2024<br />
ISBN-13: 978-1-946116-27-7<br />
Paperback: 56 pages<br />
Price: $18 (unsigned); $20 (signed)</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>
Signed and inscribed copies of <i>Good Housekeeping</i> by Bruce E. Whitacre are available for preorder for $20.00 including shipping and handling directly from the author through the Square online store at his Crown Rock Media website. The book will be officially released on April 1st when it will be made available to the general public on Amazon. Get your brain fuel! Preorder your signed copy of this “joyful and precise exploration of the queer domestic” [JASON SCHNEIDERMAN, author of <i>Hold Me Tight</i>] from the author today, and save on shipping and handling: <a href="https://crownrockmedia.com/store-2">https://crownrockmedia.com/store-2</a>.</div>
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The contradictions of privilege and want, the dynamics of gay marriage, the joy of a good cocktail — all enter the mix as these 24 poems explore home, marriage, travel, war, sensuality, tea, and, yes, housekeeping. Selected as an Editor’s Pick by BookLife Reviews, <i>Good Housekeeping</i> includes “The Fold Out Couch,” which was nominated for a 2024 Pushcart Prize. Some poems have appeared in <i>The Journal of American Poetry</i>, <i>The Mandarin Magazine</i>, and <i>World Literature Today</i>, among other places.
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Mainstream audiences, LGBTQA+, and readers interested in social justice or climate issues will enjoy this book. Comparative titles include Carolyn Forché’s <i>In the Lateness of the World</i> and Mark Wunderlich’s <i>God of Nothingness</i>.
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EARLY PRAISE FOR GOOD HOUSEKEEPING:
<br /><ul><li><a href="https://booklife.com/project/good-housekeping-89141" target="_blank">Read about <i>Good Housekeeping</i> online at BookLife Reviews</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://compulsivereader.com/2024/03/02/a-review-of-good-housekeeping-by-bruce-e-whitacre/" target="_blank">Read Charles Rammelkamp’s review for <i>Compulsive Reader</i>.</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2024/03/01/good-housekeeping-by-bruce-l-whitacre/" target="_blank">Read Lynette G. Esposito’s review for <i>North of Oxford</i>.</a></li>
</ul> ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA40.744052 -74.027074512.433818163821158 -109.1833245 69.054285836178849 -38.8708245tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-79004117399421730442023-06-08T17:10:00.012-04:002023-06-08T17:24:25.108-04:00#Me Too, Anch'io Reviewed in Italian Americano<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Gu0_q7jREwG2U7CCudgqBvjHn0jXenkzPw0S6K88aX_YZAM4g2lTKxckiq0Sh5Fwuc3fAvtTDsuTUBvTdZVTJLaQHSGrExPikPZjDzwRf02m-iD7mIhQo0SyJ1YFXQelSEfjTWechF4xsNHgjvMwaHo5U3IOHV5gFMqTXJimB_MWdkGcdaWWSOub/s1360/%23MeToo,%20Anch%27io%20by%20Daniela%20Gioseffi.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="880" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Gu0_q7jREwG2U7CCudgqBvjHn0jXenkzPw0S6K88aX_YZAM4g2lTKxckiq0Sh5Fwuc3fAvtTDsuTUBvTdZVTJLaQHSGrExPikPZjDzwRf02m-iD7mIhQo0SyJ1YFXQelSEfjTWechF4xsNHgjvMwaHo5U3IOHV5gFMqTXJimB_MWdkGcdaWWSOub/s320/%23MeToo,%20Anch%27io%20by%20Daniela%20Gioseffi.jpg" /></a></div>
Congratulations to Editor Daniela Gioseffi and the other 22 contributors of <i>#Me Too, Anch'io: Writings by Italian American Women</i>, an anthology published by Poets Wear Prada, in 2020, on receiving a detailed and very positive 4+ page review in the most recent edition of <i>Italian Americana</i>, Vol. XLI, No. l, Winter 2023.
With permission of this fine journal, you can read Roxanne Christofano Pilat’s entire review, “Chasing Down the Shadows: Writings of Abuse and Harassment” online at PoetsWearPrada.com. Go to the Reviews tab and scroll down to the last review listed on our Reviews page for a link to a PDF copy.
Here's an excerpt from the <i>Italian Americana</i> review:
<blockquote>Within this compelling collection of prose and poetry, Gioseffi and her fellow
authors give witness to the emotional imprisonment of abuse and harassment. The
essays, micro-memoirs, and poems that make up the anthology speak of shadows
and secrets, shame and silence. These writings emerge·from each author's recall — and resistance. The narrative voices throughout are often hushed, as if each author
does not want to retell her experience but must retell it. In this volume, the reading
contract is clear: You may ask to know more, but this is what you need to know.
These are the words that can be revealed. Only these. And that is more than enough.
</blockquote><p> </p><blockquote> — Roxanne Christofano Pilat, North Central College
</blockquote>
ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-85801638466171789622023-04-04T03:38:00.001-04:002023-04-04T03:38:53.407-04:00Rhonda Zangwill is up on The Rainbow Project<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpbN6qsCpfn0mL2a87Pki6WmdaMNLqpJJCn1skytBSuG7hhM2YmnLVZyCiLYDS37nJ-XCaqKOOSZKU0IWOf0ouSLvZQWa3zNDPPtx_TYzHs_79dTNGXZn9SVn8sJ-igKJdFQSvo_V05e49-PmNZuCcvmQHWkGT4Kzke4Rg9l7Msl3cVhuAUPyte6bF/s1280/rzz%20@cape.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0; text-align: center; "><img alt="" border="0" height="320" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpbN6qsCpfn0mL2a87Pki6WmdaMNLqpJJCn1skytBSuG7hhM2YmnLVZyCiLYDS37nJ-XCaqKOOSZKU0IWOf0ouSLvZQWa3zNDPPtx_TYzHs_79dTNGXZn9SVn8sJ-igKJdFQSvo_V05e49-PmNZuCcvmQHWkGT4Kzke4Rg9l7Msl3cVhuAUPyte6bF/s320/rzz%20@cape.jpg"/></a></div>
Congratulations to Rhonda Zangwill! Jack Cooper and I have accepted her story “Fever” about her best friend’s mother for <a href="https://rainbowliterary.blogspot.com/">The Rainbow Project</a> (Red Theme). I first had the pleasure of hearing Rhonda read this piece at Leigh Anne O'Connor's <a href="https://www.evwordsmiths.com/">East Village Wordsmiths</a> Salon at <a href="https://www.bookclubbar.com/">Book Club</a> in February of this year (2023).
— Roxanne HoffmanROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-46225131922507057872022-10-06T21:37:00.004-04:002022-10-06T21:54:23.233-04:002023 Best of the Net Nominations<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1sNuF931WyEKBF1q485hE0TBQtBR9Z9OinR_tvevrax1HtsLscJnWSoosmkVSibaTqBJYiDJ0V8N5zm1YS3PHwTIcg3PJbDG6N1NWg3QfUr7sVCsmp4jxs0PBcWR014_bswFUGKHxBpRib7VN3tLUKDN9VhP2u2nskPUT3tPtIU0m7mztDGtXxS10/BestOftheNetLogoMedTransparentWEB.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="Best of the Net Logo" border="0" data-original-height="0" data-original-width="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1sNuF931WyEKBF1q485hE0TBQtBR9Z9OinR_tvevrax1HtsLscJnWSoosmkVSibaTqBJYiDJ0V8N5zm1YS3PHwTIcg3PJbDG6N1NWg3QfUr7sVCsmp4jxs0PBcWR014_bswFUGKHxBpRib7VN3tLUKDN9VhP2u2nskPUT3tPtIU0m7mztDGtXxS10/s16000/BestOftheNetLogoMedTransparentWEB.jpg" title="Best of the Net Logo" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><style type="text/css">
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Jack Cooper and I are pleased to announce our 2023 Best of the Net Nominations, selected from online <i>The Rainbow Project: A Literary Place of Sanctuary from These Trying Times</i>. Six poems, one piece of fiction, and one photograph have been nominated. Congratulations and best of luck to all the nominees!
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POETRY:
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Susan Justiniano aka RescuePoetix, “Rasberry Kisses,” posted 06/01/2022</p>
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Lynne Shapiro, “I’ve Read the Room,” posted 02/22/2022</p>
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Carrie Magness Radna, “This Thin Red Line,” posted 02/13/2022</p>
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Akshaya Pawaskar, “Red Blush,” posted 02/07/2022</p>
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Zev Torres, “Revelations Beyond Red,” posted 02/07/2022</p>
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Megha Sood, “Crimson Robe,” posted 02/04/22</p>
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FICTION:
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David Huberman, “Nighttime Rainbow,” posted 01/10/2022</p>
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ARTWORK:
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Belle Koblentz, “Tulips,” posted 03/01/2022</p>
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Please visit <i>The Rainbow Project</i> at: <a href="https://rainbowliterary.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">https://rainbowliterary.blogspot.com/</a>.ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-70942676821223046062021-12-01T05:03:00.099-05:002021-12-04T06:28:53.389-05:00<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9P3MQO0Aei_hlJC7Z28icCbq4wbkInIeZeabRAy5GiHbyhrZTfPeKCoPL8x2U7fMLO6qJpiVC4NLA6X5IU2gDYm4SxNQnfyjJhgy9PB-BoQ7qLBcUnhNsVbg7SmawaglZxGOcnGdVkD0/s1200/Pushcart+Prize+Anthology+2022.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="821" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9P3MQO0Aei_hlJC7Z28icCbq4wbkInIeZeabRAy5GiHbyhrZTfPeKCoPL8x2U7fMLO6qJpiVC4NLA6X5IU2gDYm4SxNQnfyjJhgy9PB-BoQ7qLBcUnhNsVbg7SmawaglZxGOcnGdVkD0/s320/Pushcart+Prize+Anthology+2022.jpg" width="219" /></b></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>2022 Pushcart Prize XLVI: Best of the Small Presses</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Jack, the envelope please! Drumroll! Drumroll! Guess Who? Congratulations and Good Luck to ALL the Nominees! @anthonyrobertgibbons @onagritz @irisnschwartz @akshaya_pawaskar #pushcart #pushcartprize #nominations #prize #smallpress #poetswearprada @repoocejjj #litcommunity #literarylife #goodluck #congratulations #books #anthologies #2021publication #goodnews
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Ona Gritz / “Persuasion,” “Troll Pox” / <i>Present Imperfect</i><div><br /></div><div>Robert Anthony Gibbons / “While Round Increase Rising Hills of the Dead” / <i>Whom the Higher Gods Forgot </i>(Kindle Edition)</div><div><br /></div><div>Bob Heman / “Cone Melts” / <i>Cone Transformed: Twenty-one Episodes from the Remarkable Life of Doctor Ephrastus Cone Medieval Metaphysician & Conjurer</i> (Kindle Edition)<br /><br /></div><div>Iris N. Schwartz / “Golden Opportunity” / <i>My Secret Life with Chris Noth</i> (Kindle Edition)</div><div><br /></div><div>Akshaya Pawaskar / “Indian Summer” / <i>The Rainbow Project</i> (Online Anthology), Editors Roxanne Hoffman & Jack Cooper</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-79674387535011698672021-11-23T06:30:00.003-05:002024-03-04T20:45:42.525-05:00Present Imperfect by Ona Gritz Available in Paperback<br /><i><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWD4gPgMQfQFJniYDGp6n65lnpKJxH7QWIj_vhB055ukQuDTePCZkjtZ6MaH_zIPbdfb_iapA5htYanf6LrruZBS-iZAToASS_9pGkM3G5xeGZBgRIedTqaa3P2KJSB4WxJ3lCP8Fuxgg/s1440/Present+Imperfect+Paperback.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><img alt="Paperback Edition of Present Imperfect by Ona Gritz" border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1440" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWD4gPgMQfQFJniYDGp6n65lnpKJxH7QWIj_vhB055ukQuDTePCZkjtZ6MaH_zIPbdfb_iapA5htYanf6LrruZBS-iZAToASS_9pGkM3G5xeGZBgRIedTqaa3P2KJSB4WxJ3lCP8Fuxgg/w320-h320/Present+Imperfect+Paperback.jpg" title="Paperback Edition of Present Imperfect by Ona Gritz" width="320" /></b></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Paperback Edition of <i>Present Imperfect</i> by Ona Gritz</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></i>A day early! In my hands this past Sunday — my copy of Ona Gritz’s new book, <i>Present Imperfect</i>, her essays — from <i>The New York Times</i>, <i>The Rumpus</i>, <i>Brevity</i>, and more! Now available in paperback as well as Kindle from Poets Wear Prada and Amazon. Get your brain fuel! DM me for more info. @onagritz @repoocejjj #newbook #hotoffthepress #essays #nonfiction #memoir #motherhood #sisters #sisterlove #runaways #truecrime #disabilityawareness #supportyourlocalwriter #independentpublishing #presentimperfect @amazonkindle @amazonbooks<div><br /></div>
<br /><div style="text-align: center;">Get your brain fuel!</div><div style="text-align: center;">Purchase your copy of the $15 paperback edition today:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3rgJJv5" target="blank">https://amzn.to/3rgJJv5</a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">or Go Green with a Kindle Edition for only $9.99 ($5.01 off the $15 paperback price, over a 30% savings!):</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/3zZ4k7N" target="blankk">https://amzn.to/3zZ4k7N</a></div>ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-56421762972861590922021-10-10T19:42:00.000-04:002024-03-04T20:47:16.580-05:00Preorder Present Imperfect by Ona Gritz on Kindle <p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1aNPI5-nT4qKBYkke2NOupM_rkxEytzIvT3ebdLFxXgRnwOTV4HL-lpguKk_vME8TIjaEX9xDmo4pNfUH9EeEJeuIBCd5qOWCzDv8_BHxb4aICeQrEOgIY9qUz0YF0CiHwvUzYqL3kKE/s1367/Amazon+Lisiting+Present+Imperfect.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="1367" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1aNPI5-nT4qKBYkke2NOupM_rkxEytzIvT3ebdLFxXgRnwOTV4HL-lpguKk_vME8TIjaEX9xDmo4pNfUH9EeEJeuIBCd5qOWCzDv8_BHxb4aICeQrEOgIY9qUz0YF0CiHwvUzYqL3kKE/w400-h201/Amazon+Lisiting+Present+Imperfect.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Amazon Listing for Kindle Edition of<i> Present Imperfect </i>by Ona Gritz</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Get your brain fuel! Pre-order your Kindle Edition today for $9.99, $5.01 off the forthcoming paperback's $15 price tag (over 30% discount!). On 10/15 the title will automatically be loaded to your Kindle device or the free phone app. The Kindle edition includes advance features such X-ray for your reading enjoyment. <div><br /></div><div><i>Note that, on 10/15, the title will be made available to A Kindle Unlimited subscribers for FREE.</i><p></p></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Here is the link to pre-order your copy:</div>
<a href="https://amzn.to/3zZ4k7N">https://amzn.to/3zZ4k7N</a><div><br /></div><div>This debut essay collection by the <i>NY Times</i>-published writer and longtime columnist for <i>Literary Mama,</i> reads like a blockbuster movie. There is a heroine with cerebral palsy, likeable and indefatigable. There is family conflict, romance, and true crime. Ona writes on disability, family dynamics, and the murder of her sister's family with candor and passion. A critically acclaimed essayist, two Notable mentions by Robert Atwan, <i>The Best American Essays</i>, a Best Life Story in <i>Salon,</i> among the recent accolades, Ms. Gritz has gathered some of the best of her work from the <i>NY Times</i> Disability series, <i>The Rumpus</i>, <i>Brevity</i>, and more for this fine and most riveting read. </div>ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-1908686890674342102021-08-13T03:20:00.002-04:002021-08-13T03:32:13.516-04:00HOT OFF THE PRESS: A NEW EXPANDED EDITION OF DOCTOR CONE FROM BOB HEMAN!<div style="text-align: center;">HOT OFF THE PRESS: </div><div><div style="text-align: center;">A NEW EXPANDED EDITION OF DOCTOR CONE FROM BOB HEMAN!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaigTNKVSYyIzdvwYbY_JCvHQO1nm0uVcNaV-44DrWloIsbp9CvwO20ZAFQUEgHdOIKV-Nb6FHi77ICf3YMeK99EbzlE_fm5WRWce4NF1plilb7Fm256tQszMTinweEPrWHJ-p-124tcI/s1360/Cone+Transformed+by+Bob+Heman.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="880" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaigTNKVSYyIzdvwYbY_JCvHQO1nm0uVcNaV-44DrWloIsbp9CvwO20ZAFQUEgHdOIKV-Nb6FHi77ICf3YMeK99EbzlE_fm5WRWce4NF1plilb7Fm256tQszMTinweEPrWHJ-p-124tcI/s320/Cone+Transformed+by+Bob+Heman.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhtiOZURSkFhpPG2ApCELbtc8SMll7m8qDoOJoFjkbZNsSSwc9vgh2U1beH58i64JD6ZH-kRvw99J6mQgJubqyG6UQXsfMBG4jfH8_UGT-naBWDOppn-GhRFnAlEbkQ4PfnFRsjAcnhOE/s1360/Cone+Transformed+by+Bob+Heman+back.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="880" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhtiOZURSkFhpPG2ApCELbtc8SMll7m8qDoOJoFjkbZNsSSwc9vgh2U1beH58i64JD6ZH-kRvw99J6mQgJubqyG6UQXsfMBG4jfH8_UGT-naBWDOppn-GhRFnAlEbkQ4PfnFRsjAcnhOE/s320/Cone+Transformed+by+Bob+Heman+back.jpg" /></a></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Cone Transformed:
Twenty-One Episodes </i></div></i><div style="text-align: center;"><i> from the Remarkable Life </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> of Doctor Ephrastus Cone </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> Medieval Metaphysician </i></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> & Conjuro</i>r </div><div><div style="text-align: center;">as recorded </div><div style="text-align: center;">by Bob Heman </div><div style="text-align: center;">Poets Wear Prada: 2021 </div><div style="text-align: center;">ISBN-13: 978-1946116222 </div><div style="text-align: center;">Paperback: 40 pages </div><div style="text-align: center;">List Price: $12.00 </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Get your brain fuel. Shop Amazon:</div><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://amzn.to/3CH8ZO9">https://amzn.to/3CH8ZO9</a></div></div></div></div>ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-63162639854566183172021-06-25T17:47:00.012-04:002024-03-04T20:48:18.636-05:00Preorder Present Imperfect by Ona Gritz<div class="separator"><p style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxF0pGT52y2ILE3FpFHq2NHezbMPcv8MKz7QG9IXUQ5O-SrNjEcKLHg0om-MvHrTUVJ3SKXKecPsXiXdqchlMzn7nDj-fl0fgNEyowmfAWmOVTNFU5OoUTvn0-s5vfTp7y4LnqQOIzMI/s1080/Self+portrait+with+proof.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Author Ona Gritz with Present Imperfect (proof copy)" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglxF0pGT52y2ILE3FpFHq2NHezbMPcv8MKz7QG9IXUQ5O-SrNjEcKLHg0om-MvHrTUVJ3SKXKecPsXiXdqchlMzn7nDj-fl0fgNEyowmfAWmOVTNFU5OoUTvn0-s5vfTp7y4LnqQOIzMI/w400-h266/Self+portrait+with+proof.jpg" title="Author Ona Gritz with Present Imperfect (proof copy)" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Ona Gritz with <i>Present Imperfect</i> (proof copy)</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">Poets Wear Prada is pleased to announce <i>Present Imperfect</i> by Ona Gritz, among our fall 2021 offerings. This debut essay collection by the <i>NY Times</i>-published writer and longtime columnist for <i>Literary Mam</i>a, reads like a blockbuster movie. There is a heroine with cerebral palsy, likeable and indefatigable. There is family conflict, romance, and true crime. Ona writes on disability, family dynamics, and the murder of her sister's family with candor and passion. A critically acclaimed essayist, two Notable mentions by Robert Atwan,<i> The Best American Essays</i>, a Best Life Story in<i> Salon</i> among the recent accolades, Ms. Gritz has gathered some of the best of her work from the <i>NY Times</i> Disability series, <i>The Rumpus</i>, <i>Brevity</i>, and more for this fine and most riveting read. </p><p style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">Get your brain fuel. Preorder your copy of the paperback edition today. Get FREE S&H plus other goodies. (For a limited time only.)</p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.poetswearprada.com/p/contact-us.html"><img alt="Click this book cover to preorder your copy." border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1325" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7PNDxyT230oCu2d3oON0p9oxra94j-3Zyx2Tjutun-HjAECfTQy2rKLe5UBENYXa-4s89_EKdKokBYHjT09Nw40FGihdzg0QEQrWcw5cgQgOeZSrArfG14RLJbqSPYQpKAgheGiSljhs/w207-h320/IMG_5605.JPG" title="Click this book cover to preorder your copy." width="207" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Present Imperfect</i><br />by Ona Gritz<br />Poets Wear Prada: Fall 2021<br />ISBN-13: 978-1-946116-23-9<br />Paperback: 104 pages<br />List Price: $15.00<br /><br /><i>Click this book cover to preorder your copy, today!</i><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-66216255511138101632019-10-10T13:42:00.002-04:002019-10-10T14:23:08.822-04:00FLASH SALE: National Coming Out Day Celebration<br />
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<img alt="Image result for national coming out day" class="rg_i Q4LuWd tx8vtf" data-iid="22" data-index="10" data-iurl="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcQKo4KcgpnLVbih51j1QlKuAH4wQMoY-HX1zvs6R9K_0Nfv_G72" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAQMAAADCCAMAAAB6zFdcAAABPlBMVEX////tLzH7xmp4wlNOoNgAAACXZaz7xWfg4OD19fX7xGR1wU9JSUnl5eXExMRJntfv7++np6eFhYXa2tpzc3OTXqntLzLR0dHtKixnZ2cgICAyMjLx8fE/mta0tLT6wl2PV6ZOTk5fX1+VlZXsFhltvkP82Z8pKSmNjY1BQUG9vb3sJCb7ynWHu+KcnJwXFxf///eVznvIsdO+o8tqrNxvb2/sDxP/58X0i4k4ODj98O/4ubj6zM/847PP6srk9eX85uXB4q7t9P+BxmDyc3LwWFf72dj2oaDvSEf3tbf/+uf+89j///D70Ymv26LvTEyn15bl89fk7v2i1Ij1mpm32O/60c/xYWDze3v82Jf936v70ILrAAD0jY//6czu+/K10vDQ6cCgx+ri0eSme7fu4Oy4lsOof7ia0X/R4/mE5RE3AAAVcUlEQVR4nO1daUPaSheeqnMhgMhWg2wRBdkUo1VURMWlbrgvtWpbt9vb6///A++ZSYCZSUC0Rux983yQEMNkzjNnec4EW4Rs2LBhw4YNGzZs2LBhw4YNGzZs2LBhw4YNGzb+GJSrm18qi4BK5cuXarnb03lTlL8sft/4PJgqlUqpOsjx4OHG/E7lP89FuXJ2MQjmFsLhD0aEw4VCqvTh4vtitdsTtQjlxfnDVAvreSoKqdT21/8eD9WtzwWw/ynzOR4Ozza7Pe3XQ3Vr+zn2N3koDX7/b9Cw+Ln0AgIoBj8USttbf3qWrM6nUi8koOkNG3+yM3y5+FaAxfxdFEqHi9025YWoHJZ+zwWaCKcGd7ptzgtQ2X41BjQWPvxpLGx+flUGPpD8mNqudNusZ6D8tWMGBlu+MSJcuvhjsuNWofCk7VQXa42C1jYUOlCQwMK81G3rOsGX7dRT1qdKBeiPtnYWK5ub1Wp1c7NS2dma3/gcLpUKT2iJwoc/oETMtwsDYv72xlalKqm7tbmlq8v9/evr/f39y7GludquqpYrO18PS+1FZWnjnYumzcHWYQBqZ3u+UlZ358auexTFBXA04HIpiuIYv1yqqVLlO/DQmoZC4V3nxq2WThAufLvYKau1q3EXWO/oMQdwoSjjYzW1vLPRhobS124b2hLSRatMUPj2eUdSl67bmM8QAT4xvrSLFje+FcLmpaKwXe22sebYLBRMZxxOFc7K6tK40oH9DbiUnqU9aWuwhWOFS+8yNe6YTzdMxH5t/1kE1GkYn0OVi5J5hil977bBRsyXzBkAWbPUozybAAqIiiu1+jVlykLqotsmi9gwSwWEAfVKcb2IgLozXO4BC2YuVth+V0WyfGi2VKnPm+rYC12AcQbCwoZZoIU/VLtteBPlbRMKiKK7cv2ODzR9YUw1VZ/hwrvpH8ofjIsUhpw153gNBggcyhLaMkkL4dSXbhuvoWrS7KS2N3evlVdigMDVUytfmKTd0rsgoWxCQekMXf12IuABaQHtmOTG90CCSSAUPmzujT8dBqRJaMDxNGMuR618aMwKqa7nBGnbQEFqAy094QSkLXCNX14tzc39+PFjjnSQ1+TUE0JKGTORIeFUtcscGItiaQvtt8sE0A30jM3tquhmZflu9YBg9W555Qah3bmrcaWtoHSNq5WU2EOEw93VCRsiBeFUZbdNOXApjrEfKjpePV1PA9x1kDe9/x4s30Bn2dNGVDmUWtXQnhe2u0nBdzE8C4PVWss4cCg9V7to5WCdGN9rBKFi/WgZ7YI7tHQGqJKfDSRsdI+CRTE4C4fSUqs4cCn7NXR85Da3v0lEOv0v0HDZMjdAfTAI89RZtyjYNFBwgcZaUEC6n5uD3nRb+xs0uI9W1KWeFiHhukbzIgndaqWlQaEkgEvum8+bMLDyb0cE1GmYWkZzLVhwjaPvIv1dKg5iPky1osChXKnHU89gQGNhfRktmfcbjnH1TCAh3JW8uCPMArzg2nTGyr668lwGGiyY952OHlVMx4Uu7DFWRQouzL3A5fhxc/oCBjQWpm52TRWnYxx9FUgovf1uM68PB8EXL80mC9Lu7oUMaCwcINNKAyQYYvGtKTjjVwG0mllFcLhqN1PpFzNAkF5f2TXLjVAdBJ3w1ipBjIRU1Wy1YJ7Lv+EEdRZW0aXZ4JdQmDjZ/MbR8Jkvi6VKzWSWEAenv+cEOglTaM5s+KUq54yDH8JvScEiHwmpsz2zOc7drLd3AtIouLW24YnrVnZNZKNSE4RqYf7tKJCEQLxA48ZUoNRW2phGeoPeqVNoGe+geTydWm+rod3pZbXHSIJLnednUnq7vQThzgXJWBIcLnW5ZRyQ3mj1WJXWHh9vb+/vb88fTyT1eHXK3Tp5QFIYN5AAxYEvT+E3e+bAhyEkA2O0OhzqXSsKoOrfqWuPEzNxioEB+tI3cbumLp+mW9GQPkJGpeC6EpLzm6VFvjAXvqpmFKyaUwBLfbC3djtDbO9jMQBc9N2fqKvrLbgDEow6VKntcAvyVpIZ2kWuJKFr0UkhEFpQkO69Q48zov1NHuIz5+hu3dwXiCcYwsEllKjU2zSQF5wblCpGZeBqEQhuiOrzvrip/XUa4gO36K7X9OPpI2NidF2WuWh4G0fgdw0KG8ZIUGrm6TB9qj72xc1dgPOGW3RgPsCBaoyG3S0uGt7EEfhskCrvi0ujzK2YWeB2H6/NPM0AQbzvZMVUWqTvdkXGxdrwFo7AJ+LUlkEguq5uTKf/r3rbGQOUhXt0ZEZkesVQg1xLFW5Kb7ClxGmD8KAhTTmukdkSQiaYaZsIxIDoWzNtNdw3Y2I4uNQLzhE+W01BWQg+w7I40KnZ1I9PWtSC1q7wuNdrHMm9bmDdNcanKMvF4hbnBtvIkKJqJiXB3bt3/hwn0Em4V008CoqDSLuyx+Uoy3eUuPyTWlwSHNM1dmNCwbp6/3wKgIQJZLL5kF4Wfc9xySepkrXf5/3C3szEDXpMksFLKQASZtC/JuGAxFIkOELK2m/5f+XvNSe4gbJr1IdAwcTLKIDMaEaC+xQJjiBkhPChpRywGZEUhacjwd3bhoIB0iWQH21ImDKQkD4Wpamicor5W9VCCri9k8KZqA0U44Td7r0WgUCsn4G++fz89n6iL95CO8QnjInR3SvWBtAI/Mws5IAPu7LQLClzRo2cPjatCNAvT5yvoZ8P0wQPPxF6nIibchW/3zM6wqpBLiL+j0Es5ICLug3DBhoy5K/03YmJZdAln6Of038PD3/UMDz896eftKE0IeH22MjsjZAWldoZszyDFgYD53CpyhWfEZUfhoToPl0zs6rvET38PfzxLxYfh/+aRidmLMRPjOOKIsGxz5XHwpZlHPA6GfFLAc2LIXDX0YzBpoH4OZr+yBNQp+ETeuwzfmDAWBzSN8L2HZ8VLawMbMgVvgsZ0cQN0ivGfBifkR7+MmOAsvDxARmryMCMKgaD+1RwBNcSt6FUsurrOZy7pTbHOD9wjKuGxVp9NFJwj/4ZbsEAwfAv6dwQDyYpQcwIjmtuL8WyXYQdTpUj3hldc2KjAJFgjO3HcksnaLjCmiEe4mtiI+Y+EkoDHwyWPWlgK2PhqzAHB1oXl8qgDAbiaw/tnEB3hWkkkgDRYMg1N3xlds2xS2TZTgqbDsSq4LoS3dV9ZCiLA51QACR8MqTS+LnoZelVXqiTysBohJQ1CYF7rPBNkGqKKubuNJoxeHRHFFASDJ5gaMbWhbqkIK6lteZBAyuUw4d8XnZci51C+k4UiPGTDikg4SCJjx/uRT9Lr/BJWamxDZ1FCoFVYlAZ+VCYEwvjOhIpOP/ZKQVAwoMYSPE1wdHErOha4hbJmqdu7K6dIR2InU16+ZY3YmBCMikIoJKHiWI2kvDzXPz8nphw+N0LxzVbu8PWtAxsV1Iqc+nAsS+GgsEN+tAv0dKPw7+mf/6M+X4+/GPCAprgo8FQH9PL/DooiO/oLKCgzAtl3g/FUEjf3QoWnEyLZg5/ijUGlwzq+eM/SMgIoiOIwaDsbrCeasXO6iYbbRvC7VVh42BdNOBeTAYff/m44SVRPg4/CNFgyAi9SFAIbMayRCmyGadwxhVnx/iNwQ2EUEB/i05guIFYNT4KxXVgQigN6ZVLlgTXFTdFKwoDs6s+mFrkQtF1JWyeuFUhqZ8LBoIWNOJB6KY/rQmOIGgENy+THPvsrqIlO+zfGUcrbXIdi+vHAT+5I75ZGphBH5+mwOAJw2U+LcZvebHonhKaR3aPx5LHTWzCEcqCIlTG9Iow+Uc+IUK+M8c0T8I/Ek9ln8p/ZymNBK3KZm0rOga2LUsJTSPi12d9TcwGQqi3vMk/HFfDPwUuT44Erjl3VPbYOVohEJgnTOFtzgkdl/zD9vQqXxjj59OCaS1vIgn+wpMpZkX3Hfeciy+OBQsEAvPXCuELbjvVtXTHL8+ekNARn+taRQKBwJbEN5ADiHsM6z7iFLurxm72WSCSJHa7jpcHrhrnou4pYfXu+Vw33PZxIE/XNJ9c44/8ndY5fxQEQvXVOShzGyjcXqKgkERxEF/7xdllVAYshALJay0xGNKI90d2G8UCochx8P0HF4eoXSgMzEi8G/ja34ijQMyKfXwwpG/Y+sR3jlZw0FomCmVBqAoD59zSfvz1xI0+cVd/4nvo+AnXOPFK0XXFPgCx4E/iq5wOZTlw7HNlwX3w2DYUHp64kdBYCMFwz8kkvnV0jXWNA9cYF6TpY8F9JSHVP3WntsEwwzWPvFq2noNSoYHU1pLS/JN1BboFdxNplT5SryM+8VB/qkjx95N3+sRePzx9Hm8OBl4lsZLUffBDafxTW4QDRixb8I8ClOeb+LpYG2Pw426Kwak0weFRe7Zcx1OhAMHwicX02gyLPqiODN9HtZ7xBnrGKoXBBt7PvxNiw4YNGzZs2LDxf4V+AniV6gfPB/morzmaSU/ty8odjeTrd3Z24asiiAnAdpkevOib4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FLASH SALE! Just in time to celebrate National Coming Out Day on October 11th, Poets Wear Prada is offering 3 titles, 3 contemporary LGBTQ classics -- PAYDAY LOANS by Jee Leong Koh, THE SLIP by Michael Montlack, and THE WOMAN WHO WOULDN'T SHAKE HANDS by Chocolate Waters -- all at a special discounted price. Please use the links here or on the right side bar for the discount. These books will be available starting today through this weekend on Amazon for the special price of $6 a copy. (They normally list for $12 a copy.) GET YOUR PRIDE ON!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo0HSRzGnfAzcZaEHzdq10Pw9tKCEMKRPk-VRMiqcQcddWmJEpwd28xqCt94F0J4itzmV2gj9cwqaSw35VyqTaP7BuGifvwe9KwYiaUXzFgYawJW9CmBffZ0Ys7sFo3mMMVLuab_PKKVU/s1600/The+Woman+Who+Woudn%2527t+Shake+Hands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo0HSRzGnfAzcZaEHzdq10Pw9tKCEMKRPk-VRMiqcQcddWmJEpwd28xqCt94F0J4itzmV2gj9cwqaSw35VyqTaP7BuGifvwe9KwYiaUXzFgYawJW9CmBffZ0Ys7sFo3mMMVLuab_PKKVU/s320/The+Woman+Who+Woudn%2527t+Shake+Hands.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
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THE WOMAN WHO WOULDN'T SHAKE HANDS by Chocolate Waters </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Release Date: October 12, 2011 </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
ISBN 978-0935060096 </div>
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Paperback: 46 pages </div>
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List Price: <strike>$12.00</strike> $6.00</div>
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Now available on Amazon:
<a href="http://amzn.to/2AZhIvi">http://amzn.to/2AZhIvi</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdLxtIeTaSW_BHplxCiJisUWDrNmSoy3ynnWT6JHwbVREN9N_00-6szs7YS6hf2fV0fJQaZ1zPovxtnOMkSxfXUcJMmmQWeX23j3siWV3qGLWWVf4IiahD2I9lZnAbfbOwxk5k5qUkZXc/s1600/Payday+Loans.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="394" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdLxtIeTaSW_BHplxCiJisUWDrNmSoy3ynnWT6JHwbVREN9N_00-6szs7YS6hf2fV0fJQaZ1zPovxtnOMkSxfXUcJMmmQWeX23j3siWV3qGLWWVf4IiahD2I9lZnAbfbOwxk5k5qUkZXc/s320/Payday+Loans.bmp" width="217" /></a></div>
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<span class="caption"><i>Payday Loans</i></span><br />
<span class="caption">Poems by Jee Leong Koh</span><br />
<span class="caption">Saddle-Stitched Chapbook: 2007</span><br />
<span class="caption">Mass Market Edition: 2010</span><br />
<span class="caption">ISBN-13: 978-0981767895</span><br />
<span class="caption">Paperback: 36 pages</span><br />
<span class="caption">List Price:<strike> $12.00</strike></span> $6.00 <br />
Now available on Amazon:<br />
<span class="caption"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="caption"><a href="http://amzn.to/2itVqKl">http://amzn.to/2itVqKl</a></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
The Slip<br />
by Michael Montlack<br />
First Printing (Saddle-Stitched Chapbook): October 2009<br />
Mass Market Edition: 2010<br />
ISBN 978-0-9841844-2-2<br />
Paperback: 32 pages<br />
List Price: <strike>$12.00</strike> $6.00 <br />
Now Available on Amazon:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="caption"><span style="color: orange;"><a href="http://amzn.to/eaV1i9">http://amzn.to/eaV1i9</a></span></span></div>
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Have you had your poetry today? Get your brain fuel from Poets Wear Prada.</div>
ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-86029087135515514082019-04-08T20:36:00.000-04:002019-07-09T13:04:31.942-04:00April Reads: More Short Fiction by Iris N. Schwartz<h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="April Reads: More Short Fiction by Iris N. Schwartz; SHAME: And Other Stories" height="339" id="Image4_img" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRi8LO1zNPSHvyqkAaqoZwtUFCNXcW4egJMxvsz1xHzQre6Ec7JMkRUn9bJ-7fDm4jEurLBP8146dxNry9jleVuVytq7wCVz_tQKdpaLqc7l2eMkf_PTgnAnXYYvtMHj6cBW0dLlHbiqc/s1600/SHAME-2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; visibility: visible;" width="220" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="caption"><span class="caption"><i>Shame: And Other Stories</i><br />by Iris N. Schwartz<br />Poets Wear Prada: 2019<br />ISBN-13: 978-1-946116-01-7<br />Paperback: 72 pages<br />List Price: $12.00</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1946116017/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thprpo-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1946116017&&linkId=e4d6e3a1fc1970ebf238713c224097a6" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</a><span class="caption">
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<span class="caption"></span></span><br />
<span class="caption"><span class="caption"></span><span class="caption"></span>Iris
N. Schwartz uses her razor-sharp prose to write about what no one wants
to talk about. Here are 15 unforgettable, fiercely honest, sometimes
darkly comic, more often unnerving stories about the human struggle to
conceal, circumvent, and transcend shame. Successively Iris's pen goes
in and twists -- till you say uncle and confess your shames. Cathartic!</span><br />
<br />
Look Inside / Buy on Amazon:<a href="https://amzn.to/2UGshQp" target="_blank"> https://amzn.to/2UGshQp</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Charles Rammelkamp calls these stories "succinct and dreamlike, hypnotic and enchanting" and says they have "a sort of New York Jewish sensibility and magic that make one think of Bernard Malamud." Read his complete review in <a href="https://northofoxford.wordpress.com/2019/01/02/shame-by-iris-schwartz/" target="_blank"><i>North of Oxford.</i></a><br />
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<br />
Niles Reddick says: "Iris N. Schwartz keeps the reader’s attention, keeps the reader turning pages, and at the end, keeps the reader wanting more of her stories. . . . For the flash fiction connoisseur, <i>Shame</i> is a must read." Read his complete review in <a href="http://tuckmagazine.com/2018/09/28/shame-iris-n-schwartz-review/" target="_blank"><i>Tuck </i>Magazine</a>.<br />
<br />
Order your signed copy directly from the publisher. Contact us with your shipping address and payment information or send us personal check. If you are in the USA, please add $3 to the list price to cover shipping and handling for a single signed copy. If you are ordering outside the USA or if you wish to order multiple copies, please contact us for more details.<br />
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ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-77793820138037954572018-08-27T04:21:00.000-04:002018-08-27T04:58:01.221-04:00A Note on the Type: ConstantiaJack Cooper and I love type and we've decided to share that love with you by posting excerpts from the colophons we have written about the typefaces we use in our books. Here's the first installment about Constantia, written by Jack Cooper.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0g8H7Sj9zILAHhpEBygDGyhpU_Kr-mkddMvrBsLXMtZFzHQ7LwcGoWEyrdIzbDM2vhX-798SgWB4jXlgKibD3tQD8ni9UzKbYNqZ6Gk-uIhd_JtRYatjTQ05g2hXZc5bLZ9a0clPe8ho/s1600/Constantia.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="848" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0g8H7Sj9zILAHhpEBygDGyhpU_Kr-mkddMvrBsLXMtZFzHQ7LwcGoWEyrdIzbDM2vhX-798SgWB4jXlgKibD3tQD8ni9UzKbYNqZ6Gk-uIhd_JtRYatjTQ05g2hXZc5bLZ9a0clPe8ho/s320/Constantia.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Designed by John Hudson, a multilingual specialist in the depiction of scripts ancient, exotic, and arcane (Ogham, Sinhalese, and Cherokee, for example), Constantia achieves benchmark fluency for continuous text, the lingua franca of contract lawyers. One of six typefaces created in conjunction with Microsoft’s ClearType text-rendering technology (and the initial letter “C”), Constantia, released in 1983, takes its name from Latin, meaning “constancy.” At odds with company lawyers whose fear of trademark infringement continued to narrow the choices of possible nomenclature, Hudson, one evening, singing psalms during vespers, heard “constantia” intoned. He later confessed that the sight of seabirds had made him regret that he hadn’t chosen to call the typeface Cormorant.</div>
ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-12053127505021247212017-12-01T13:11:00.001-05:002017-12-01T13:19:09.474-05:002018 Pushcart Nominations<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqEio3T19JJx1wxLqhxdADA-pSU-X6PrlNXoQ2yNjOzJAuuYTHSLbytZFqDuYnDoSbgvrbreQ_mNAoyh6cOtN4cyh8ui4dC9KRKN7xPKG57RYNsabptBRhENwMPdsmJy4HkFr7V0xh7eE/s1600/pwplogonegative.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="1197" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqEio3T19JJx1wxLqhxdADA-pSU-X6PrlNXoQ2yNjOzJAuuYTHSLbytZFqDuYnDoSbgvrbreQ_mNAoyh6cOtN4cyh8ui4dC9KRKN7xPKG57RYNsabptBRhENwMPdsmJy4HkFr7V0xh7eE/s320/pwplogonegative.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial narrow" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>C/O
Roxanne Hoffman</b></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial narrow" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>533
Bloomfield Street, Second Floor</b></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial narrow" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Hoboken,
New Jersey 07030</b></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial narrow" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>201.253.0561</b></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">November
30, 2017</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">PUSHCART
PRESS</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">P.O.
Box 380</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wainscott,
NY 11975</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">RE:
Nominations for the 2018 Pushcart Prize</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dear
Bill Henderson:</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Here
are our six nominations for the 2018 Pushcart Prize:</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="7" cellspacing="0" style="width: 618px;">
<colgroup><col width="137"></col>
<col width="202"></col>
<col width="237"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td width="137"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Author / </b></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Book</b></span></span></b></span></span><br />
<br /></td>
<td width="202"><div style="font-style: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Title of Poem / Story / Chapter</b></span></span>
</div>
</td>
<td width="237"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td width="137"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Daniela
Gioseffi</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Waging
Beauty: As the Polar Bear Dreams of Ice</i></span></span> </span></span></td>
<td width="202">“<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Vases
of Wombs”</span></span></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td width="137"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Daniela
Gioseffi</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Waging
Beauty: As the Polar Bear Dreams of Ice</i></span></span> </span></span></td>
<td width="202">“<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Some
Slippery Afternoon”</span></span></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td width="137"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jason
Morphew</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>what
to deflect when you’re deflecting</i></span></span> </span></span></td>
<td width="202">“<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Evangelical
Christianity”</span></span></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td width="137"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Iris
N. Schwartz</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>My
Secret Life with Chris Noth: And Other Stories</i></span></span> </span></span></td>
<td width="202">“<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The
Light Show”</span></span></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td width="137"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Iris
N. Schwartz</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>My
Secret Life with Chris Noth: And Other Stories</i></span></span> </span></span></td>
<td width="202">“<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">My
Secret Life with Chris Noth”</span></span></td>
</tr>
<tr valign="TOP">
<td width="137"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Patricia
Carragon</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The
Cupcake Chronicles</i></span></span> </span></span></td>
<td width="202"><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Saturday
After Midnight, August 5, 2023”</span></span></div>
<br />
<br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Thanks
for your time and consideration.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sincerely
yours,</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Roxanne
Hoffman, Publisher/Editor </span></span>
</div>
ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-51095554759235299152017-11-16T02:38:00.001-05:002017-11-16T03:40:55.987-05:00Appel à textes poétiques : Poésie de l’amour et de la paix<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmD3EUrPmM8S3UzWh75umzehS1eNlhMmFACc38AQwAHU_zYsnleiqAUvea0iPTJ1MLynTK0R-MsxiANTAs2EeRoNcB4edY9XMrkRuqMMI2p4mkSGAqGT38d0GQ1k-iurcFBGNMNgUl1A/s1600/pwplogonegative.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="1197" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmD3EUrPmM8S3UzWh75umzehS1eNlhMmFACc38AQwAHU_zYsnleiqAUvea0iPTJ1MLynTK0R-MsxiANTAs2EeRoNcB4edY9XMrkRuqMMI2p4mkSGAqGT38d0GQ1k-iurcFBGNMNgUl1A/s320/pwplogonegative.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>533
BLOOMFIELD STREET, SECOND FLOOR — HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY — TELEPHONE
201.253.0561 </b></span></span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="result_box4"></a><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Appel
à textes poétiques : Poésie de l’amour et de la paix</b></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Echéance
: 15 mars 2018</b></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 2in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hoboken, le
15 Novembre 2017</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Messieurs
et Mesdames les Poètes de la France;</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="result_box421"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="result_box5"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="result_box3"></a>
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Les éditions <span style="font-weight: normal;">Poets
Wear Prada, maison d</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">’</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">édition
américaine, lancent, sous la direction de John Edward Cooper, un
appel à textes poétiques écrits par des poètes de la France sur
le thème de l</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">’</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">amour
et de la paix. Les poèmes sélectionnés seront publiés en français
avec traductions en anglais américain dans une anthologie bilingue,
en ligne et imprimée, pour le public américain.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Pour commencer, nous vous invitons à vous exprimer sur le 1er sous-thème
« l’amour n’a pas de frontières ». Dans les mots de William Butler Yeats : « Il n’ya pas d’étrangers ici mais simplement des amis
<br />» que vous n’avez pas encore rencontrés. »</span></span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ouvert
à tous les poètes de la France. Les contributions doivent être
rédigées en français. Oeuvres non publiées uniquement. Envoyer
un maximum de trois poèmes. Les poèmes soumis ne doivent pas
dépasser 40 lignes. Les contributions doivent être accompagnées
d’une note biographique d’environ 100 mots. Ne pas oublier votre
nom et vos coordonnées : prénom, nom, adresse postale, mail, et
téléphone. Et éventuellement </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>v</b></span></span><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">otre
nom d’auteur (vrai nom ou nom de plume).</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Toutes
les contributions devront être envoyées </b></span></span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>pour
le 15 mars 2018</b></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
à </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>John
Edward Cooper</b></span></span><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(jack@poetswearprada.com) et </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Roxanne
Marie Hoffman</b></span></span><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(roxy@poetswearprada.com) avec pour sujet<br />« Soumission : + votre nom
de l’auteur ».</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Consignes
:</span></span></div>
<ul>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;">Chaque
</span><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">poème</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;">
devra être transmis sous format .doc, .docx, .odt ou .rtf
exclusivement, et comporter obligatoirement un titre. </span>
</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;">Police
Times New Roman, taille 12, interligne simple, marges de 2 cm
partout. </span>
</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="result_box"></a><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;">Au
début de chaque poème soumis, indiquez : </span><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><b>v</b></span><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">otre
nom d’auteur (vrai nom ou nom de plume), vos coordonn</span></span><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">é</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">es
(adresse postale, mail, et téléphone), le titre du poème, nombre
de signes (espaces compris).</span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Il est demandé une
exclusivité de soumission, c’est-à-dire que les textes qui seront
soumis à cet appel ne devront pas être proposés à d’autres
supports (concours, revues, anthologies…), tant que l’auteur
n’aura pas reçu de réponse à sa proposition. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Les
auteurs gardent les droits et la propriété intellectuelle des
textes publiés. Les auteurs ne sont pas rémunérés pour leur
contributions. Ils recevront un exemplaire gratuit et bénéficieront
également d</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">’</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">une
réduction sur chaque exemplaire acheté (jusqu’à dix exemplaires par auteur.)</span></span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Alors, à vos plumes et
claviers !</span></span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 2in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mme.
Roxanne Marie Hoffman</span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 2in;">
<span style="font-family: "theano didot" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rédacteur en chef </span></span>
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ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-8802937452277722372017-09-15T15:00:00.000-04:002017-11-23T03:57:33.585-05:00Praise for Have You Seen CindySleigh? by Diane Stiglich<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Reprinted from <i>Mom Egg Review</i>, Book Reviews, August 26, 2017 </span></b><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Have You Seen CindySleigh? & Other Stories by Diane Stiglich</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Review by Lara Lillibridge</span><br />
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<br />
Diane Stiglich, a writer and painter in Hoboken, New Jersey, captivates readers with her debut novel. A quick read at 134 pages, it is officially three interconnected stories, but they flow into each other so seamlessly that it feels like one continuous tale.<br />
<br />
A dreamlike work of magical realism, Have You Seen CindySleigh? takes us down many unexpected paths, filled with randomly appearing bottles of champagne, iPods, and a truck named Karen. We encounter a priest, gods, demons, and shape-shifting animals. In what feels like a dream within a dream, The Author herself appears to defend Cindy from El Diablo. “I, like you, sir, have no actual spoken name. I am referred to as the Author” (53).<br />
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It is as if we have entered a painting and it has come alive:<br />
<br />
In her mind, she creates a drawing, a self-portrait, graphite on paper: in a frontal stance, perfectly calm and normal, although her chest is open to expose her heart. No bone, muscle, or skin protect it from all of the feelings and emotions that spin around her like a whirlwind. This self-image make sense. In it, as throughout her entire life, her eyes are askew. (25)<br />
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This feeling that we have wandered onto a canvas is refined as the chapter progresses: “Details of Van Gogh paintings have been recreated on each wall; Starry Night swirls across the ceiling” (27).<br />
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This is reinforced again further on: “The empty space with a moving shadow, so much like a moving painting. Sand made a great negative space for the shape and figure of Cindy’s shadow as she danced in the desert” (55).<br />
<br />
It is a story of transition, acceptance, and desire. As CindySleigh tells Mephistopheles,<br />
<br />
I am a virgin of sorts, for no matter how many lovely, sordid sexual things I have done in this lifetime, I could never create a child…Vases are beautiful in and of themselves, but there is something so much better when they are filled with flowers: even one flower would make all the difference. (60-61)<br />
<br />
CindySleigh is given a demon child, called D.C., whom she tries to love into domesticity, but he is feral, shape-shifting and untamable. Yet the fulfillment of this desire is not the end of the story, but rather only one path it takes.<br />
<br />
The book is a dream-like art-come-to-life world, where there are truths that are as immutable in this reality as in the one on the page, and stumbling across these truths is as if we find something solid to hold onto—grasping a rock after clawing at clouds:<br />
<br />
One conundrum in life is that one can simply not go back. You can never go back to the way anything was, and what you remember rarely ever proves to be what was, anyway. (64)<br />
<br />
This loss cannot be found; this loss cannot be replaced. When you feel this non-feeling, your body takes on a surreal lightness. That is the numb. Yet, there also is a deep heaviness that gives all movement the sensation of stretching limbs though earth rather than air. (86)<br />
<br />
I don’t read much magical realism. I found the story hard to describe but achingly beautiful: “Pieces of pain were scattered about in the form of a broken mirror” (116). I felt a connection to CindySleigh as if I had entered someone else’s dream and dreamt it myself—the swirls of emotion and imagery lingered long after I closed the book.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Have You Seen CindySleigh? & Other Stories</i><br />by Diane Stiglich</b><br />
Poets Wear Prada, 2016, $20.00<br />
[paper] ISBN 9780997981117<br />
134 pp<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Lara Lillibridge</b> recently won both <i>Slippery Elm Literary Journa</i>l’s Prose Contest and <i>The American Literary Review</i>’s Contest in Nonfiction. Lara’s memoir will debut in fall of 2017 with Skyhorse Publishing. Some of her work can be found on her website: <a href="http://www.laralillibridge.com/">http://www.laralillibridge.com/</a>.ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-30535717257413099962017-07-15T15:00:00.000-04:002017-11-23T03:56:12.529-05:00Praise for Daniela Gioseffi and Waging Beauty: As the Polar Bear Dreams of Ice<strong><span style="font-size: x-small;">Reprinted from <em>Washington Independent Review of Books</em>, Poetry Reviews, June 23, 2017</span></strong><br />
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<h1>
June 2017 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri</h1>
<div class="single-page-excerpt">
A monthly feature that looks at books of and about poetry.<br />
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<br />
<strong>The Best Poetry to Begin SUMMER</strong><br />
<strong><em><a href="http://amzn.to/2ty4WjL" target="_blank">The Half-Finished Heaven, Selected Poems</a> </em>by Tomas Tranströmer</strong>, translated from the Swedish by Robert Bly. Graywolf Press. 118 pages.<br />
<a href="http://amzn.to/2rZFd1z" target="_blank"><strong><em>Scribbled in the Dark</em></strong></a> <strong>by Charles Simic</strong>. Ecco. 72 pages.<br />
<a href="http://amzn.to/2sZmmZe" target="_blank"><strong><em>Miss August</em></strong></a> <strong>by Nin Andrews</strong>. Cavankerry Press. 105 pages (with a kick-ass writer’s note at the end).<br />
<a href="http://amzn.to/2t00Ljd" target="_blank"><strong><em>Resurrection Biology</em></strong></a> <strong>by Laura Orem</strong>. Finishing Line Press. 56 pages.<br />
<a href="http://amzn.to/2rZX0pp" target="_blank"><strong><em>Inside Outside</em></strong></a> <strong>by Sue Silver</strong>. New Academia Press. 52 pages.<br />
<a href="http://amzn.to/2txQ0BX" target="_blank"><strong><em>Waging Beauty: As the Polar Bear Dreams of Ice</em></strong></a> <strong>by Daniela Gioseffi</strong>. Poets Wear Prada. 38 pages.<br />
<a href="http://amzn.to/2sYK5ZD" target="_blank"><strong><em>Getting Ready to Travel</em></strong></a> <strong>by Llewellyn McKernan</strong>. Finishing Line Press. 33 pages.<br />
<a href="http://www.linesandstars.com/ls-press/" target="_blank"><strong><em>Just Universes</em></strong></a> <strong>by Diana Smith Bolton</strong>. L+S Press. 31 pages.<br />
<a href="http://amzn.to/2tyvcu7" target="_blank"><strong><em>The Apollonia Poems</em></strong> </a><strong>by Judith Vollmer</strong>. The University of Wisconsin Press. 88 pages.<br />
<strong>Plus: Best Anthology, and Seven Other Books of Poems on June’s Best-of List.</strong><br />
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<strong><em><strong>+++++++++++++++++</strong> </em></strong><br />
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<br />
<strong><em>Waging Beauty: As the Polar Bear Dreams of Ice</em></strong> <strong>by Daniela Gioseffi</strong>. Poets Wear Prada. 38 pages.<br />
<br />
Gioseffi was marching, protesting, fighting and writing ever since
people were painting pickets. She’s always used her ability to activate
and stimulate. This book is no disappointment in her long canon of work.
People need their history and Gioseffi has dedicated her life to making
that an honorable one. More than ever, she shows that political writing
is lyrical, imagistic and vulnerable. Far from the rant attributed to
words that want to make change<strong>. </strong> “Big Hearted, Witty, and Wide Eyed”
ends, “paint, sing, taste everything lawfully possible, / and help save
the kids from Climate Crisis, / because you still have some hours left.”
The poem “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” credits its
folkloric origins in a high-flying poem that pierces the facade of a Pop
Culture that kills instead of cultivates. In a standout stanza<strong>, </strong>“<em>Where have all the young girls</em> — young boys — / <em>gone? / </em>In uniform / everyone?” Gioseffi proves her emotional connection to the future, in poetic structure, from a lifetime of good writing.<br />
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ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-1540653609530613862017-06-01T15:00:00.000-04:002017-11-24T11:14:06.141-05:00Praise for The Beautiful Moment of Being Lost by Michael T. Young<b><span class="mega-cat-name" style="font-size: x-small;">Reprinted from <i>Entropy</i>,</span><span class="cat" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span class="mega-cat-name" style="font-size: x-small;">May 31, 2016 </span></b><br />
<h1 class="post-title single-post-title">
The Beautiful Moment of Being Lost by Michael T. Young</h1>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Beautiful Moment of Being Lost </i>by Michael T. Young</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Poets Wear Prada Press<i>,</i> 2014</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">88 pages – PWP / Amazon</span></b></td></tr>
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</h1>
<div class="post-box-meta-single">
<span class="author-post">by </span><b>Therése Halscheid</b><br />
<b> </b>
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<br />
Titles lure us to books. They serve as a grounding cord, to situate
us in a particular location or overarching theme. They establish a
mindset to navigate content. This is what happened to me while reading
Michael T. Young’s collection: <i>The Beautiful Moment of Being Lost</i>.<br />
<br />
In Young’s title, the abstract noun <i>lost</i> is concretized in
poems that depict the poet as a wanderer in both familiar and foreign
locations. The poem “A Method of Escape” exemplifies this:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Whenever we go for a walk you ask<br />
where we are going and I think,<i> </i><br />
<i>Eventually, where we started. </i></blockquote>
Young then encourages us to step off the cyclical path. He invites us
to get lost during walks in a familiar place. For the poet, spontaneity
reveals unexpected treasures. “Never let the usual expectations plot
the course,” he writes.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
… let the time between be unplanned,<br />
as uncharted as the charted urban streets we allow….</blockquote>
In other poems <i>lost </i>represents a psychological state as in <i>lost in thought</i>, the meandering mind. Or lost in the sense of questioning who we are. <i>Lost</i> turns to <i>loss</i>
when it captures the powerlessness one feels when confronted with
illness and the death of a loved one, or events over which we have no
control.<br />
<br />
And there are other meanings, unusual interpretations for <i>lost</i>,
such as becoming lost through language, through something as miniscule
as a six-letter word. In the poem “The Word ‘Anyway’” the poet examines
how “anyway” works as a detour, which sets him off course: “like a ramp
off the highway leading me somewhere else,” which inevitably takes him
“in another direction, though not, / necessarily, in a better one….”<br />
<br />
The second abstract word in Young’s title is <i>beautiful.</i> For me, the word is representative of the poet’s consciousness. It is not the journey itself, but <i>the way</i>
he sets off through uncharted terrain that is reflective of an
enlightened mind. For the poet, lost paths are meaningful if we remain
open to what they present. In this sense <i>lost </i>is what happens, but <i>beauty</i> is the approach. This is this writer’s path, when exploring themes of life and death, physical and mental landscapes.<br />
<br />
Young is a lyric poet. He is adept at image making. The “oak’s bare
branches lurch / into the winter air” while “puddles release their
smallest / reflections.” Certain images act as a gong. They reverberate
long after our eyes move on, to another page, as in these lines of
“Random Note”:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
… where I sit on the bench, shade slips over me like a hood,<br />
and I’m whisked off, abducted by the day’s closing minions….</blockquote>
What I also admire about this collection is cadence. Many poems share
a rhythm of ease that leads us from one moment to the next. It is
obvious that Young is a careful crafter. Poems are mapped out using
intentional line breaks — end-stopped or enjambed. And this creates a
steady walk through words. Even the overall tone does not carry the
voice of someone frantic and lost. Instead the poet winds his way
through endless territory, skillfully as his use of enjambment. He
speaks of this in “The Continuous Thread” when he writes: “One thing
leads endlessly to another. / Even if this street is a dead end, / it
will continue in a different fashion…”<br />
<br />
Young’s book holds to this premise: where one is led to, one is led
to observe. In his signature poem “The Beautiful Moment of Being Lost,”
he addresses this: “The secrets of a place are in its small streets, /
its narrow passages…” (49). Traveling like this, even that which we tend
to avoid can seem profound. As in the poem “Slug”:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Watching his deliberate movement, I forgot<br />
he was a name we give each other in contempt.<br />
What I noticed was his strange beauty and slow power,<br />
and what in me refuses to be rushed….</blockquote>
Moving purposely, willfully, the poet remains a lifelong voyager but
without a definite map. What he encounters he accepts. In “As Is” the
poet shares “even before I recognize these things / for what they are,
/everything is / as it should be.”<br />
<br />
In “Eyewitness,” while crossing the Hudson River on a ferryboat, he ponders:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
… I would like to think, in spite of it,<br />
that my inner vision is sharper<br />
as if age alone could teach me the apostle’s words<br />
to ‘walk by faith, not by sight.’</blockquote>
This is what Young aspires to. Faith is required to journey in ways
that are foreign. Faith helps us move through the unfamiliar — that we
might come out of it, changed. In his poem “Directions” the poet relies
on this belief:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Our heads tilt in a slow nod or shake;<br />
our eyes cross figures in the air<br />
writing a tenuous language that seems to say<br />
there is no backward or forward,<br />
no behind or ahead, only movement<br />
from character to character, from stop to stop,<br />
in books, on trains, in memory….</blockquote>
This is the message that Young leaves us with. The poet is first
lured into the world “thrilled by the risk and uncertainty.” He then
gathers strength, as he says, “from the pleasure / of wondering if I
would make it home.”<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
<b style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="unnamed" class="alignleft wp-image-26782 size-medium" height="300" src="https://entropymag.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/unnamed-2-225x300.jpg" width="225" /></b><b>Therése Halscheid</b>’s latest book <i>Frozen Latitudes</i> (<i>Press 53</i>), won the Eric Hoffer Book Award, Honorable Mention for Poetry. Other collections include <i>Uncommon Geography,</i><i>Without Home </i>and a <i>Greatest Hits </i>chapbook award. Poems and essays have appeared in <i>The Gettysburg Review,</i> <i>Tampa Review, Sou’wester, Natural Bridge, </i>among others. Recent awards include first in <i>Welcome Table Press’s</i> Creative Nonfiction contest. By<i> </i>way
of house-sitting she has been writing on the road for several years.
Her photography chronicles her journey, and has been in juried
shows. Poems in <i>Frozen Latitudes</i> recount her time in the Arctic north where she lived with and taught the Inupiaq of Alaska. See <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.theresehalscheid.com/&source=gmail&ust=1463610741281000&usg=AFQjCNEtyhQu4srzsdNHNuxy-tz0bywhDg" href="http://www.theresehalscheid.com/" target="_blank">www.ThereseHalscheid.com</a>.ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-22757698266177540942017-06-01T12:07:00.000-04:002017-11-24T12:12:32.670-05:00Book Reviews: Patricia Carragon reviews Carol Wierzbicki’s Top Teen Greatest Hits for GLR<br />
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<h1 id="site-title">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></h1>
<h1 id="site-title">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Reprinted from <i>Gently Read Literature</i>, January 1, 2010</span><i><br /></i></h1>
<h1 class="entry-title">
</h1>
<div class="entry-title">
<span style="font-size: large;">The Regrettable Passage: Patricia Carragon on Carol Wierzbicki’s Top Teen Greatest Hits</span></div>
<div class="entry-title">
<br /></div>
</header><b>Carol Wierzbicki, <i>Top Teen Greatest Hits</i>, Poets Wear Prada Press</b><br />
<br />
<br />
For me, adolescence was the regrettable passage from childhood to the
demands of hormones and higher education. For Carol Wierzbicki, it
became the Top Teen Greatest Hits, an intriguing collection of poems
published by Poets Wear Prada Press (2009). Ms. Wierzbicki is tough and
sensitive. She writes as if she were an observer during her rite of
passage, even stepping back when she was five and six, taking in
situations and translating growing pains into mini stories. Mundane
occurrences, whether sad or funny, are refreshing to read, filled with
insight and lessons.<br />
For instance, in New Name (for Mom), the six-year-old Carol requested her mother to call her Lisa. Her mother said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Would you like a glass of milk … Lisa?Are you going outside now … Lisa?</blockquote>
And Carol wrote:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Mom gives me time to chafe at the name<br />
that has begun to rub spots on my psyche<br />
raw. She doesn’t quit<br />
until I tell her to abandon it.</blockquote>
Her mother was teaching her the value of being at peace with one’s
name and self, which is not an easy lesson for either child or adult to
absorb. Carol writes this without being sentimental or coy. Her words
are simple and her metaphors work. You feel the harsh rubbing on her
psyche’s sore spots—a lesson being learned.<br />
<br />
Another example is the poem, "Dorothy’s Poem (for Dorothy Friedman). "
Although this excellent piece was dedicated to Ms. Friedman, Carol makes
you feel it’s universal. I can relate to this. We, in many ways, are
little amputated people walking around and the past is not
black-and-white nor sepia tone. But the train is our home—life moves to
the next station and we learn to laugh or cry at the passing scenery,
knowing that rules make no sense.<br />
<br />
Carol Wierzbicki’s <i>Top Teen Greatest Hits</i> is a big hit. In each of
her fourteen poems, Ms. Wierzbicki mastered the technique of
storytelling through perception and simplicity—her rite of passage to be
read and shared by all.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
* * * <br />
<br />
<b>Patricia Carrago</b>n is a New York City poet and writer. Her publications include <span class="skimlinks-unlinked">Poetz.com</span>,
Rogue Scholars, Poets Wear Prada, <i>Best Poem</i>, <i>Big City Lit</i>, <i>CLWN WR</i>,
<i>Chantarelle’s Notebook</i>, <i>Clockwise Cat</i>,<i> Ditch Poetry Magazine</i>, <i>Mobius the
Poetry Magazine</i>, <i>The Toronto Quarterly</i>, Marymark Press, and more. She
is the author of <i>Journey to the Center of My Mind </i>(Rogue Scholars
Press). She is a member of Brevitas, a group dedicated to short poems.
Patricia hosts and curates the Brooklyn-based Brownstone Poets and is
the editor of the annual anthology.ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-66536370079247811462017-05-16T02:37:00.000-04:002017-11-23T02:42:54.328-05:00Praise for Simon Perchik and The B Poems<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNLYYtu298hEkxqhm8DckntvSYdJoeEMTtxjZAEC82flVqssudAD3owQSKWEXuONyTOjmVeWrEvG8Y5PyGH7PI8FXLzQaG_Lp7JDtPgOn07pBe1E81LwBOmVnpEYWdaB94qRWU7Nhk8w/s1600/The+B+Poems.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNLYYtu298hEkxqhm8DckntvSYdJoeEMTtxjZAEC82flVqssudAD3owQSKWEXuONyTOjmVeWrEvG8Y5PyGH7PI8FXLzQaG_Lp7JDtPgOn07pBe1E81LwBOmVnpEYWdaB94qRWU7Nhk8w/s320/The+B+Poems.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Reprinted from </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Sentinel Literary Quarterly, </i>April-June-2017, p. 70 - 71</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The B Poems</span><br />
Author:
Simon Perchik<br />
Publisher:
Poets Wear Prada<br />
ISBN:
9
78
-
0692450697<br />
Reviewer:
<b>Mandy Pannett</b><br />
<br />
In his article
"Magic, Illusion and Other Realities,"
published
in
<i>Sentinel Literary Quarterly</i>, October 2016,
Simon Perchik
offers a
definition of poetry as "words that inform the reader of that which
cannot be articulated ... Text need not always have a meaning
the
reader can explicate ... it informs, as does music, without what we
call meaning." In
<i>The B Poems</i>
we see this philosophy put into
practice: the book is non-linear, the poems may be read in any
order, there is no apparent direction or meaning, everything is "Just below the surface"
as
we
sense "
the endless under and under."
These are ideas that particularly appeal
to me. I love the concept
of the poet’s subconscious interacting with that of the reader. It
feels similar to Emily Dickinson’s maxim "Tell all the truth but tell
it slant" --
but with Simon Perchik there is no "telling." He allows
words to align, associate
, suggest, juxtapose, connect themselves
to
an infinite variety of emotions and experiences. As he says in
the poem B6, "the earth leans against you / from inside, starts its
turn / hand over hand."
There are many examples of associations and juxtapositions
in
<i>The B Poems</i>.
Some I particularly appreciate
are:<br />
<br />
"the way every star / smells from dying winds and grass"<br />
<br />
"the way this tiny rock / is pulling you closer / wingtip to
wingtip / is swallowing you / as if one by one / its feathers had
opened" <br />
<br />
"what makes the
door shriek / is just its darkness reaching out / for
crumbs, hungry, terrified"<br />
<br />
Then
there is this verse which I’ll quote in full:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Its ink is heavier at night<br />
though you can still hear the hum<br />
from some sea already faint<br />
when sunlight too was blac <br />
lost, floated lifeless </blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Associations in this
collection interweave, repeat and echo.
Through all the poems there are
images of rain, tombstones, dirt
, graves, circles, arms, lips, wind, waves, sky, sun , blossom and
shadow --
a great deal of shadow. There
is a sense of something
incomplete, reflected, glimpsed and
soon
vanishing. Here It is "half nightfall, half / no longer warm"; we learn that "you die / in two
places at the same time"; in an image of rowing a boat one is
moved "left, right, swinging your arms / half moonlight, half
almost makes out / the words rising from empty shells." This
shadow is constant and always "half/reaching out, breaking loose."<br />
<br />
Simon Perchik's poems
strikes me as exceptionally original. Not
only are they written without a narrative
or apparent theme but,
apart from the enigmatic Bs, they have no titles to lead the
reader in a predetermined direction. In his other collections
verses form an even looser sequence, delineated only by asterisks.
The writing is seamless, musical and
rhythmically hypnotic,
syntactically ambiguous and sounds intriguingly out of kilter to
the ear:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
... and what you swallow<br />
is already shoreline<br />
<br />
huddled around this table<br />
and your lips in the open<br />
the way small stones are left<br />
to help the dead wander back<br />
as the dim light they make<br />
and any moment now.</blockquote>
The mood is sad
in
<i>The B Poems</i>.
There is grief at "your mouth / no
longer lit for kisses / and songs about nothing" and
the bleakness of
death
surrounds everything
in "a mist / half ice, half crushed
between/the
first caress and darkness." There is such poignancy in
the scene where "after the funeral / you drown in the row by
row / where each photograph is overturned / shaken loose from the
family album." These are the dead who don’t know they are dead
who
are
still "holding hands / and what’s left
they share / as
memories ... for the grandchildren you almost forgot ...
they mix
up dates and places ...
form a circle
/ as if they still expect to sing
out loud / and you would hear it ..."
Yet these are visionary poems which of
fer the chance to repair,
and heal, to make whole. At the end, the poet suggests, the
unfinished will be made complete in ‘that slow love song/
from
before the sun grew huge’ and there will be a reuniting with the other half, the double, the twin -- <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
... in
the darkness<br />
that belongs to you both.
</blockquote>
ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-17915118749006627162017-02-15T15:00:00.000-05:002017-11-24T11:15:05.921-05:00Praise for Your Infidel Eyes by Brant Lyon<h3 class="post-category">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Reprinted from<i> At the Inkwell</i>, Book Reviews, Jan. 20, 2017</span></h3>
<h3 class="post-category">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Not Grenades, but Pomegranates </span></h3>
<h2 class="entry-meta">
by Mark Fogarty <time class="published" datetime="2017-01-20"></time> </h2>
<div class="entry-content">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://attheinkwell.com/?attachment_id=5099" rel="attachment wp-att-5099" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img class="wp-image-5099" height="235" src="https://i1.wp.com/attheinkwell.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Your-Infidel-Eyes-194x300.jpg?resize=262%2C392" width="157" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Your Infidel Eyes</i> </b><br />
<b>by Brant Lyon</b><br />
<b>Poets Wear Prada ($12)</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_5099" style="width: 272px;">
<div class="wp-caption-text">
<br /></div>
</div>
Poetry can be a very ephemeral
business. That’s why it is a pleasure to see a tenth anniversary edition
of Brant Lyon’s chapbook <i>Your Infidel Eyes</i> from Poets Wear Prada.<br />
<br />
It is also quite poignant, since Lyon died in 2012, after putting out another fine poetry collection called <i>You Are White Inside</i>.
He was also an influential poet and editor on the New York City scene,
helping to launch several anthologies for Uphook Press and to start the
group Great Weather for Media.<br />
<br />
He was an excellent poet, too, as can be seen by the 14 poems in <i>Your Infidel Eyes</i>,
and quite a traveler, as this chapbook has poems set in Mexico, India
and Egypt. The poem “Illusion” actually describes himself as starting
out as a prisoner of a “stupid” jailer. When he swipes the jailer’s keys
and frees himself, he opens the way to go traveling, both physically
and metaphysically.<br />
<br />
I’m not sure Lyon would relish being
called a romantic poet, since the book describes many of the aspects of
pain in “I Ching” and compares truth to a spoiled child in the opening
poem, “Truth.” And the rain in Mumbai (in “Homesick”) is “poison and its
own antidote / As pain is to love, and love to pain.”<br />
<br />
Yet <i>You Are White Inside</i> ends with quite a romantic <i>deus ex machina</i>,
and I was on the lookout for a similar one here. Even the poisoned rain
in India is leavened by the sweet flute music of “a blue skinned god /
(who) learned compassion for every living thing.” In “Quang Tri” he
remembers that a sick friend’s sketchbook contains images “not (of)
grenades but pomegranates.”<br />
<br />
There is a poem at the end of this book that give me the romantic <i>denouement</i>
I’ve been looking for. It is called “An Outlaw Sura” and it is an
exceptional poem, starting “Mine is not a book free / of doubt and
involution.” And he realizes in it that while he has made “my devotional
obligations” he will always be an infidel, in both physical and
metaphysical ways, even though “I have not denied / but been led astray /
obeying the forbidden / dictates of my heart.”<br />
<br />
And this poem of self-realization,
faith and hope ends “In the name of ever-merciful love / I have come to
cherish love’s / most benevolent blasphemies.”<br />
<br />
Now that’s romantic. And I think there
are very few poets who aren’t filled by “doubt and involution” and
wouldn’t love to think that by going through the process they might end
up with “ever-merciful love.”<br />
<br />
So it is a mercy, a tender mercy
perhaps, that Poets Wear Prada has chosen to re-issue Lyon’s first book
(and, their own first book). A world of pomegranates is infinitely
preferable to a world of grenades, and the words of someone who thought
so are well worth preserving.<br />
<hr />
<i><b><img alt="" class="alignleft wp-image-2689" height="138" src="https://i1.wp.com/attheinkwell.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Mark-Fogarty.jpg?resize=232%2C275" width="116" />Mark Fogarty</b>’s
poetry has been published in Hawaii Review, Viet Nam
Generation, Journal of NJ Poets, Exit 13, Unrorean, Eclectic Literary
Forum, Cokefishing in Alpha Beat Soup, Footwork, The Brownstone Poets
Anthology, The TEA Newsletter, Gallery and The Rutherford Red
Wheelbarrow. Mark, also a musician, is the author of three poetry
collections from White Chickens Press, Myshkin’s Blues, Peninsula and
Phantom Engineer.</i></div>
ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-77153040623964397232016-11-15T15:00:00.000-05:002017-11-24T10:41:54.939-05:00Praise for School for the Blind by Daniel Simpson<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_iNNU0m7nrmRkAnJKS7Ue8NnHlk2PE-b92GYnL3VmEIHGrZ_Aka6-JnQgKkC0GStKlI78nHmuf5Yk5eC9A71pkBgzB9bLX3_t4DfPYPqAUPISICqD2xrUBC7ewuLqAhVhkV7DZsuWiQ/s1600/School+for+the+Blind+by+Daniel+Simpson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1052" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_iNNU0m7nrmRkAnJKS7Ue8NnHlk2PE-b92GYnL3VmEIHGrZ_Aka6-JnQgKkC0GStKlI78nHmuf5Yk5eC9A71pkBgzB9bLX3_t4DfPYPqAUPISICqD2xrUBC7ewuLqAhVhkV7DZsuWiQ/s320/School+for+the+Blind+by+Daniel+Simpson.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>School for the Blind</i></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">by Daniel Simpson</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Poets Wear Prada, 2014</span></b></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h1>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></h1>
<h1>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Reprinted from <i>Wordgathering: A Journal of Disability Poetry</i>, Volume 8, Issue 4, December 2014, Book Reviews.</span></h1>
<h1>
Book Review: <i>School for the Blind </i> (Daniel Simpson)</h1>
<h2>
Reviewed by Kathi Wolfe</h2>
"I sat on a broad stone/And sang to the birds/The tune was God's making/But I made the words," Mary
Carolyn Davies wrote in "The Day Before April," her poem from her volume <i>Youth Riding</i> (The
Macmillan Company, 1919). In 1925, The Macmillan Company reprinted the poem in the popular children's reader
<i>Silver Pennies: A Collection of Modern Poems for Boys and Girls</i>. <br />
It's superbly fitting that Daniel Simpson quotes this stanza from Davies' work in the poem "The
Call of Poetry" in his stunning debut collection <i>School for the Blind</i> (Poets Wear Prada, 2014).
With the musicality of a modern-day Homer and the wisdom of a contemporary Tiresias, Simpson in this slim, yet
powerful volume takes us with him on his odyssey from "jumping on our twin mattresses" at four with his
twin brother to being "left tonight/with his twin brother/at the boarding school" (a school "for
the blind") to his musing, as an adult, "I don't know what a rainbow looks like/or that my life would be
better if I could see one."<br />
<br />
Simpson, a poet and musician, and his identical twin brother David were born blind in 1952. Dan attended
the Overbrook School for the Blind from 1956 to 1966. After that, he became the first blind student in his
Pennsylvania county to attend public school before earning a B.A. in English and music from Muhlenberg College,
a master of Music in organ performance from Westminster Choir College and a Master of Arts in English from the
University of Pennsylvania. <br />
Making up words — "Lickington, Waggington…/names I made up/for the houses I
passed" —enables him to both cope with and chronicle his institutionalized life — away from
his family and home in the "school for the blind." <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="indentwhole">
Chair, bed, <br />
dresser in a dorm: <br />
keep the rhythm running, <br />
get from Sunday to Friday, </div>
</blockquote>
Simpson writes in the poem "The Call of Poetry" in the deceptively simple, short lines that so
effectively evoke the homesickness, starkness and dehumanization of spending one's childhood in even the best
"school for the blind" or other institutionalized setting. <br />
It's not that all schools for blind people were bad, or that students who were blind couldn't live
happily and prosper academically in such places. I have friends, who attended schools for the blind in the
mid-20th century, and look back upon this as one of the happiest periods of their lives. In the late 19th century,
Helen Keller, who was deaf-blind, was saved from ignorance and isolation by her education at Perkins School for the
Blind. Today, most blind and visually impaired children and teens attend the same schools as students without
disabilities. Most schools now serve students who are not only blind but who also have
other disabilities. <br />
<br />
This having been said, many who grew up in schools for "the blind," (which were often state
run and/or poorly funded) experienced stark living conditions as well as, at times, verbal, physical or sexual
abuse. I know someone who, to this day, hates oatmeal because he was forced to eat it, at age 10, at a "school
for the blind." <br />
<br />
Too often, able-bodied people, even self-identified progressives, most likely out of ignorance,
romanticize institutional settings for people with disabilities. Perhaps, they can't envision what it would be
like to be taken from their home as a toddler and placed in such a setting — because this hasn't happened
to them. Or, they assume that everyone who works in such places, is kind and caring toward those under their
care. <br />
<br />
Political poetry is so often devalued that I almost hesitate to say this: Simpson skillfully writes
what Carolyn Forche has called "the poetry of witness." In poetry that calmly, but vividly packs a
narrative punch, Simpson bears witness to the longings, betrayals, sadness and, at times callousness, of the
school for "the blind." There is the misperception that political poetry is merely
polemics dressed up as poems. As Simpson's work makes clear, this is far from the truth. In the hands of a talented
poem, such as Simpson, the political begins with, and is entwined with the personal. <br />
<br />
Take the poem "About Chester Kowalski I Don't Know Much." I don't want to reveal too much
about Simpson's arresting, engaging, at times heartbreaking narrative. But these seemingly plain-spoken lines
from the poem, mirroring the drabness of the school's dormitory and reflecting the rhythm of boys speech, tell
more than any rant or policy paper about life at the "school for the blind": <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="indentwhole">
…at night we breathed <br />
the same fetid air of the open dorm<br />
with thirty other eight to ten year-olds, <br />
boys with healthy, shallow lungs who had played full tilt, <br />
then said their prayers by rote — <br />
"Now I lamey downda sleep." </div>
</blockquote>
One of the most harrowing stories of the impact of power, abuse and vulnerability is told in the prose
poem "When the Chips Were Down." With a less skillful poem, this poem might have been a dull exercise
in didacticism. In Simpson's telling, a lunch time hassle over potato chips is a quietly devastating tale of
deprivation and cruelty. "What else they served for lunch that day in the boys' dining room, I can't say,
but, dollars to doughnuts, whatever they passed off as nutrition was anything but," the narrative begins,
"It could have been their infamous sausage that greased your shirt…Whatever it was, we'd have to
count on the community bowl of potato chips…to carry us to dinner."<br />
<br />
Only one staff member, Mr. G, tries to intervene with the powers that be when the supply of chips on
the dining room tables runs out. "It wasn't life or death. After all, it was just one replaceable man
taking a losing and inconsequential stand," the narrator says after Mr. G. fails in his mission to replenish
the chips.<br />
<br />
Poetry is profoundly of the body, and the bodies of children, particularly, kids with disabilities,
are vulnerable to sexual and other types of abuse. Several of the poems in <i>School for the Blind</i> speak
to this. "A long day of hiking, and now the man/rubs alcohol on the backs of the boy's legs," Simpson
writes in the poem "Boy Scout Friend," "…The boy can't sleep;/it's those kisses on the
lips." <br />
If a person is blind, people frequently think that they want to be "healed" or that they
spend all of their time lamenting that they can't see. As someone who's legally blind, I've often encountered
(usually, well-meaning) people who believe that, if I pray more, in the after-life, I'll, at last, be happy,
and have 20/20 vision. Simpson deflects this trope with wit. Without being anti-spirituality or against religion,
he wittily offers a new vision of God and of eternity. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="indentwhole">
I'm thinking the next time I see Aunt Polly, <br />
I'm going to tell her about my new vision: <br />
<br />
"It's really going to be something," I'll say. <br />
"In Heaven, you'll finally get to be blind." </div>
</blockquote>
Without being sentimental or white-washing the darkness of life at the "school for the
blind," Simpson's work displays generosity and compassion toward those who were mean-spirited or behaved
inappropriately. In the poem "The Luxury of Being Children," the narrator recalls Miss Walters, a
cold-hearted dorm mother who "…when we said, 'Good morning,' …responded, 'What's good about
a morning with you!'"<br />
<br />
Yet years later, after he'd left the school for the blind and was in his senior year in high school,
his hateful feelings toward Miss Walters, who'd retired, evolved. "A friend called to ask if I'd heard the
story: / in a cheap apartment, alone, she froze to death."<br />
<br />
<i>School for the Blind</i> is filled with the sexual and romantic yearnings of the narrator as he
emerges from boyhood to adolescence and into adulthood. But, the most heartfelt love story in the collection is
that of Simpson's love for his brother. "Sometimes as you well know,/I still can plow ahead, forget
to call you,/but then something slaps me up against your absence,/and I'm stopped, that newborn baby boy
again,/listening for you," Simpson writes in the touching conclusion of the poem "A Letter to My
Twin Brother."<br />
<br />
Simpson is an emerging and important voice that brings new vision to the disability poetics movement.
<i>School for the Blind</i> is a stirring book that will become an indelible part of your memory and DNA. <br />
<br />
<div class="author">
Kathi Wolfe is the winner of the 2014 Stonewall Chapbook Competition. Her chapbook <b>The Uppity
Blind Girl Poems</b> will be published in 2015 by BrickHouse Books. Her
chapbook <a href="http://www.wordgathering.com/past_issues/issue26/reviews/wolfe.html" title="links to an external site"> The Green
Light</a> was published by Finishing Line Press in 2013. Wolfe was a finalist in the 2007 Pudding House
Publications Chapbook competition. Her chapbook <b>Helen Takes the Stage: The Helen Keller Poems</b> was
published by Pudding House in 2008. She is a contributor to <b>Beauty Is a Verb: The New Poetry of
Disability</b>, an American Library Association Notable Book for 2011. Wolfe's poetry has appeared
in <b>Gargoyle, Beltway Poetry Quarterly </b>and other publications.
</div>
ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-15479301413239906732016-10-15T15:00:00.000-04:002017-11-23T20:29:30.787-05:00Praise for Remembering Chris by Rosalie Calabrese<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: xx-small;"></span><br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: xx-small;">
Reprinted from<span style="font-weight: normal;"><i> ČERVENÁ BARVA PRESS NEWSLETTER</i>, Issue No. 90, September 2015</span></span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: xx-small;"><i><br /></i></span></h3>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgx_EZ-XDUZlPUsgjxxVL8ISzlAs68rmx1OUMmW4-i6mjZUlZkr17n-THNjDVdIhWIQ6-JkGY-1cyGi9ZwPoBlG4fcBjnluADFEHydZKqtJHwpuqxUcA1bcoqoBR8kpQ9q74fS2XlZDM/s1600/remembering+chris+with+titles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1029" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgx_EZ-XDUZlPUsgjxxVL8ISzlAs68rmx1OUMmW4-i6mjZUlZkr17n-THNjDVdIhWIQ6-JkGY-1cyGi9ZwPoBlG4fcBjnluADFEHydZKqtJHwpuqxUcA1bcoqoBR8kpQ9q74fS2XlZDM/s320/remembering+chris+with+titles.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: xx-small;"><i><br /></i></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: xx-small;">
</span>
<h1>
ČERVENÁ BARVA PRESS NEWSLETTER</h1>
<h3>
Gloria Mindock, Editor Issue No. 90 September, 2015</h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: xx-small;">
</span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: xx-small;">
</span>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: xx-small;">
<span style="font-size: small;">BOOK REVIEWS</span></span></h3>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><h4>
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Remembering Chris</i><br />
Rosalie Calabrese<br />
Poets Wear Prada - Hoboken, New Jersey<br />
ISBN: 9780692303795<br />
2015</span></h4>
<span style="font-size: small;"> "Huddled onshore while the waves churn<br />
as if coming and going at the same time<br />
I remember how my stormy Chris<br />
broke water breached against the tide<br />
and how resistance to the natural flow of things<br />
can cause more turbulence than one might expect."<br />
<br />
Calabrese's poems are about memory. She weaves her son Chris's
life into the present with strong threads a pattern forms. The
poems clothe us for life is often as deep and blue as any mourning.
"your shadow lingers like the scent of mint." Each word relates
what we grieve in our own lives. Traveling from birth to death
the poet carries her verse and offers the reader simple courage
about loss and comfort, comfort spread out on a solid ground
we partake and are filled by the poetic flow.<br />
<br />
"...an easy separation of rendered parts<br />
that once made up a whole.<br />
No, not so fast, not yet,<br />
if ever..."<br />
<br />
<b>Irene Koronas</b><br />
Poetry Editor: <i>Wilderness House Literary Review</i><br />
Reviewer: Cervena Barva Press</span></span>ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-884722338405673924.post-14349726162923475282016-07-15T15:30:00.000-04:002017-11-24T13:22:20.587-05:00RZ Wiggins Reviews Remembering Chris by Rosalie Calabrese for MER Book Reviews<div class="tinyText" style="height: 1px; line-height: 1px;">
Reprinted from <i>Mom Egg Review</i>, Book Reviews, June 21, 2016</div>
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<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">BOOK REVIEW: Remembering Chris by Rosalie Calabrese. Review by RZ Wiggins</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgx_EZ-XDUZlPUsgjxxVL8ISzlAs68rmx1OUMmW4-i6mjZUlZkr17n-THNjDVdIhWIQ6-JkGY-1cyGi9ZwPoBlG4fcBjnluADFEHydZKqtJHwpuqxUcA1bcoqoBR8kpQ9q74fS2XlZDM/s1600/remembering+chris+with+titles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1029" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgx_EZ-XDUZlPUsgjxxVL8ISzlAs68rmx1OUMmW4-i6mjZUlZkr17n-THNjDVdIhWIQ6-JkGY-1cyGi9ZwPoBlG4fcBjnluADFEHydZKqtJHwpuqxUcA1bcoqoBR8kpQ9q74fS2XlZDM/s320/remembering+chris+with+titles.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
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<br />
<b>Remembering Chris</b></div>
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by Rosalie Calabrese<span class="style_3"><br /></span></div>
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Poets Wear Prada,<span class="style_4"> </span>2015, <span class="style_5">$12.00 [paper]</span></div>
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ISBN 9780692303795</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Review by RZ Wiggins</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Mothers are simple,
complex, opaque, vivid, loving, distant, devoted, and neglectful, all in
a lifetime. From its first pages, this slim volume overflows with the
above and with a mother’s abundant love and commitment. Rosalie
Calebrese’s chapbook <i><span class="style_4">Remembering Chris</span></i> is a
memorial to a lost son. But the collection also shows the many sides to
mothering through a voice that is at once surprisingly pragmatic and
refreshingly honest.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="paragraph_style_6">
Aside from “Mixed Emotions” (3) which centers on mothering concerns (how many mothers haven’t felt these?), <span class="style_4">Remembering Chris</span>’s
poems ring with joy at both motherhood and grandmotherhood. Given the
absence of any mention of siblings, it appears that Chris, the
collection’s focus (a boy who loved his Lionel trains), is an only
child. </div>
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<br /></div>
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The poems explore a mother
who dutifully nurtures her son and teaches him what is needed. There is
the heartfelt sting of sternly eradicating obscene words and gestures
and the angst of removing the stowaway from the back seat to again
deposit him at sleepover camp. These are a mother’s duties that must be
done even though the heart is heavy. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I wanted more glimpses into
this bond, more details of days spent together in the boy’s younger
years, his falls and scrapes, more about his young mother. What were
their rituals? Cozying together reading books in bed? Baking cookies on
stormy days? Whispering to a favorite teddy bear in the dark? </div>
<div class="paragraph_style_6">
<br /></div>
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Where the boy is absent,
there is much of the mother: a divorced parent struggling to adjust to
her new single status; a woman juggling work commitments and the
coexistent guilt: </div>
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…I ran the shuttle</div>
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between career and motherhood.</div>
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So often, our line of communication</div>
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filled with static − almost disconnected;</div>
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I feared you’d lose your way. (16) </div>
</blockquote>
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<br /></div>
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In addition, there is the
struggle to hold onto some of herself, to be the woman who can go to
Europe without her son while carrying a mother’s guilt. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="paragraph_style_6">
The woman inside these
poems finds it difficult to tell her granddaughter “what Jewish people
believe in” (19) and instead defers to the Internet. Yet, Jewish
heritage bleeds across the pages, particularly in one of Calabrese’s
most poignant poems:</div>
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</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="paragraph_style_7">
<b>A Memo to My Son</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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You had no bris,</div>
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And you had no bar-mitzvah,</div>
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But make no mistake, my son: </div>
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You are the flesh of my flesh, </div>
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And the blood of my blood:</div>
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When all the scores are tallied,</div>
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You will still be a Jew. (8)</div>
</blockquote>
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Time and again Calebrese
reminds us that mothers must be many things: loving yet stern, strong
yet fallible. They must bend to meet life as it arises before and after
their children are born and especially after a child sadly passes on too
soon. Without a doubt, the essence that shines through these poems is
of the richness and devotion of a mother’s love despite all of life’s
varying circumstances. They remind us that mothers never let go, not
when they send you to summer camp, nor when career demands intrude, nor
when you get married and move into your own home. Mothers swell up with
joy and hold on forever— “I reach for your hand/and hold the memory”
(24).</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<b>RZ Wiggins</b> is a reformed
lawyer who has been writing since she was a wee child. She is working on
a collection of memoirs about 9/11 from outside NYC and WDC and on a
novel about a summer in Africa. She is a researcher at the Yale School
of Management.ROXANNE HOFFMANhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01692002974827319982noreply@blogger.com0