Phylum by Laura Goldstein (2013)

 

Phylum

Laura Goldstein

Horse Less Press

Grand Rapids, MI

(c)2013

Ms. Goldstein added another 'a' to her first name since I knew her in Philadelphia. Nice wraparound cover effect. Good writing. hand sewn booklet. Worth the read. 

Stories and Articles of Eastern Native Americans by Reed Runk (2003)

 Stories and Articles of Eastern Native Americans

Reed Ruck

N&R Publishing 

St. Thomas, PA

(c)2003

More accurately this title should include A Compliation of Articles from Gene Niswander's Historical Indian Newsletter of Franklin County and Surrounding Area. Franklin County, PA. Informative collection of articles about the Native Americans encounters and then forcibly relocated from their lands by the descendants of those chronicling these tales. 52 pages. The tales are well written and yet thoroughly heartbreaking when you realize the outcome that led to them. The book might as well have been titled "white men remember those they killed off to take their land from". Such a tragedy. Such a loss. 

Spit-Curls by Keith Waldrop (1999)

 Spit-Curls

Keith Waldrop

duration press

(c) 1999

This one is special in the sense that it is duration press's first chapbook (stated on back as "duration.number.one.1999" and it one of only 200 printed. 31 pages of language gymnastics at its best. 

street mystery by Julia Vinograd (1985)

 street mystery

Julia Vinograd

J/S Press

(c) 1985

Through the arc of her publishing career, with the visual effects of her changing body as shown with her annual book release with corresponding cover photo; a sort of Dorian Gray in real time with written work that continues to become more perfected while she wanes due to the toll she pays for the life she chose to live; all represented in this 1985 chapbook published 40 page blast by a mysterious publisher who left no trace - puff of smoke. 

Packing by Hailey Higdon (2012)

 Packing 

Hailey Higdon

Bloof Books

(c) 2012

This chapbook was well received and reviewed upon it's release in 2012. I remember reading with her at a rather bizarre event outside of Towson, Maryland a few years ago. It was a odd meddling of country fair with absurdist/difficult poetry being read in a building but it might as well have been a freak show tent to the blue hairs who wandered in. I remember Hailey reading well that day whereas some of the other poets attended seemed determined to "shock and awe". 

This is #86 of the 100 numbered copies that were printed. Bloof has done good work presenting quality writing and this is an early example of that. I mean, I could quote heavily from one of those reviews but we are talking about a chapbook that is almost a decade old and has been digitalized for on-line consumption. But you can't feel the cover electronically, and I do enjoy holding a book that actually feels like something. Not slick plastic that makes me want to wash my hands afterward to remove the slickiness of the cover. Be that as it may, the writing is good here and the presentation is worthwhile and e-books are just texts, aren't they? 

Concrete Meat by Julia Vinograd (1981)

 

Concrete Meat

Julia Vinograd

Arc Press

Berkeley, CA

(c) 1981

Due to the nature of Ms. Vinograd's life and publishing history (a book a year for most of her life) we can to see the ever observant poet watching the world from street level while we also watch her age and wither year by year. At least until her sister began to provide the cover art for her annual missives. This is no exception. It is as she describes at the beginning of 'The Mirror's Edge' :

                          "We scare the monsters but not too far away"

no, indeed not. Otherwise, what would we write about?

Easter Sunday by Barbara Jane Reyes (2008)

 

Easter Sunday

Barbara Jane Reyes

ypolita press

(c) 2008

Back in 2015 I wrote a detailed accounting of this poet and her book printed the same year by Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs. Reyes had two books out the same year (Cherry). Pretty cool. This one came courtesy of a gentleman at Iowa State who was downsizing his massive chapbook collection (he works in that department and scores of items have ended up in his files over the years). Some of the pieces remind me of the work in Cherry , the chapbook printed by Brenda Iijima's press. Spatially, at least. It would not surprise me at all if the work in both of these 2008 chapbooks were merged in a book with a spine sometime later. 

Good stuff !

Complete Thought by Barrett Watten (1982)

 Complete Thought

Barrett Watten

TUUMBA 38

TUUMBA Press

(c) 1982

TUUMBA Press is one of those small presses that does not disappoint. Lyn Hejinian, who started the press in 1976, has done an incredible job creating a very distinctive series of poetry booklets. And this one just dazzles. 

2 Poets by Robert & Charles Bodner (2020)

 

I am giving this chapbook a title and an image here but nothing more. 

It definitely qualifies as a "no tree deserves this ending" item. 

Tough year plus

 I haven't posted much, sorry. The pandemic has shifted my focus from one place to another and back and I just remembered that I have this platform to use (not abuse) and here I am - not ready to discuss any specific chapbook just yet but to thank those who have posted useful and informative comments - as in the case of Carl W who revealed the "mystery" of Jean Stair. Thank you, kind sir.

I don't know if any of you are aware of or have been published by dancing girl press out of Chicago but they are NOT on the up & up. I paid for a 5 chapbook bundle from them in June and never received anything. Not a thank you for your purchase, nothing. When I wrote the owner - I didn't even get crickets back. BE WARNED. 

Firewater & Pixie Dust by Karen Lillis (2013)

 

Firewater & Pixie Dust

Karen Lillis

Words Like Kudzu Press

Pittsburgh, PA

(c) 2013

There is a history here - both of a small "micro" press and the poet helmswoman in charge of it. 2 years before this item appeared, in a review of a previous book published by WLK, a reviewer mentioned Ms. Lillis's background and her time spent in Austin, Texas. 

I will save those details for another time, should I have the opportunity to review Emergency Room Wrestling by The Dirty Poet. 

I want to say that this story, illustrated by Nate McDonough, is quite something in its own write. The story was originally published in Trip City while Words Like Kudzu Press started in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NYC in 2000 to publish experimental work by women and "other outsiders". 

eurekas by Albert Goldbarth (1981)

 Eurekas

Albert Goldbarth

Ion Press/raccoon series

Memphis, TN

(c) 1981

Albert Goldbarth is a much published poet with more than 40 books in print. He has won numerous awards as well. This collection is somewhere in the middle of his writing career. 

Well made book of well crafted interconnected poems, or perhaps it should be read as single piece. 

 Somewhere on the Interstate

Roy Neil Graves

raccoon /Ion Books

Memphis, TN

(c) 1987

The 23rd publication put out by the raccoon series. The author was a long time English Professor at the University of Tennessee - Martin Campus. 

A typically good production of the press; the writing is very good and the presentation is notable. 

Drawing Music Poem by Kirby Congdon (1976)

 Drawing * Music * Poem

Kirby Congdon

The Cycle Press 

Brooklyn, NY

(c)1976

Cycle Press was co-founded by Kirby Congdon in 1976. This book is a mimeo oversized book. It contains, as the title states, a drawing - a piece of music - and a poem. 

It's a beautifully made book to be sure. 

loosely tied hands by Joe Rosenblatt (1978)

 loosely tied hands 

Joe Rosenblatt

Black Moss Press

Ontario, Canada

(c) 1978

Small format chapbook. Illustrated and unpaginated. 

I became familiar with this author's work when I was in Toronto in 2018 (found one of his books in a used bookstore). And recently found this item online. It's pretty interesting. The subtitle is "an experiment in punk". Well, kinda but not really. The author is too old to "get" punk and the thrust of the booklet is Eve leaving the Garden. Possibly. It's not exactly spelled out precisely. There is more interest in the snake. The snake as a metaphor yadda yadda. 

I wanted to like it more than I ended up liking it but that's not unique to this book. There are a number of concepts that don't quite reach their goal. I fear that is the situation with this book. All the same, you should read it. It's worth the adventure. 

The Dry Season by Malcolm Cowley (1941)

 The Dry Season

Malcolm Cowley

New Directions

Norfolk, CT

(c) 1941

Malcolm Cowley was a writer, talent scout, editor, historian, literary critic, and poet. He is most well known for his book Exiles Return by he was also the author of Blue Juniata a book of poetry that was published in 1929. 

This collection of poetry, staple-bound, marked his return to poetry as well as marking an evolutionary step for New Directions as it moved from chapbooks into books with spines. Unpaginated. A fine representation of Cowley's poetic work. 

Chicago in Autumn and other poems by Flora Bishop Hendricks (1987)

 Chicago in Autumn and other poems

 Flora Bishop Hendricks 

The Estate of Flora Bishop Hendricks

(c) 1987

This 45 page collection of poetry is as much a remembrance of the author as a volume of work. As one can see, it was published by the Estate of - Ms. Hendricks and at the end of the book is a mention of where the poems in this small book came from: a 1928 book entitled Bowls of Phantasy published by Robert Packard in Chicago and an unpublished collection of work written in the 1930s. 

Ms. Hendricks died in Putney, Vermont but had Chicago roots. Her poetry is emblematic of her time (not my shot of Bourbon) but it is beautiful in its own way. 

The Amphora 6 (Fall, 1971)

 The Amphora 6

edited by David Gitin

The Headstone Press

Thorp Springs Press 

Berkeley, CA

(c) 1971

I got this gem because it was edited by David Gitin who I believe to be an under appreciated poet and it was only after it arrived that I realized the uniqueness of this book. It was printed by Thorp Springs Press which was quite active in the Berkeley/SF poetry world in the late 1960s - early 1970s. The Press was headed by Paul Foreman who I have written about earlier in this on-going blog. So, he printed it. For The Headstone Press which I never heard of before. 

This volume contains work by some of the best poets writing at the time. Am I kidding? Hardly. I am talking about Diane di Palma, Larry Eigner, Clark Coolidge, Ron Silliman, Carl Rakosi, Lewis MacAdams, Denise Levertov and the editor of this volume himself.  One of Silliman's pieces is a great concrete poem. This is a great find. So happy to have been the one to find it! (okay, it's a slight brag)

The Girl Who Came Out with the Stars by David T Manning (2012)

 

The Girl Who Came Out with the Stars

David T Manning

Old Mountain Press

Webster, NC

(c) 2012

David T Manning is a former Poet Laureate of North Carolina and the author of several books. Old Mountain Press is a self publishing operation. It's 37 pages, with a spine. So thin a spine that no text could appear on the tiny sliver of nothing, but it's all a trick of the eye. A blink and it's gone. Lost on the bookshelf of time. 

Three Suite by christophe casanmassimo

Three Suite
christophe casanmassiimo

Fortezza Press

Bari, Italy

3 chapbooks by this fine poet and Baltimore poetry FORCE. 3 book set. #24 of 250 printing. 

26rd / end lines / maa laa

great writing.