so the ants made it to the cat food by Anselm Hollo (2001)

 so the ants made it to the cat food

Anselm Hollo

Samizdat Editions

Lake Forest, IL

(c) 2001

I admit that I came late to the awareness of what Samizdat meant during the Soviet half century of iron fisted rule over Eastern Europe and Russia (wondering if a similar discreet publishing effort is underway now with the Putin Soviet hard-on happening there now)

Husband/wife team in Lake Forest. IL did a series of chapbooks at the beginning of the century. This is the first I am writing about since it's by the "official" anti-laureate, Anselm Hollo. So US anti-establishment poet recognized by a US tiny press with a name that has murky 1960s-1980s Soviet underground connections comes to my attention via a repurposing gift from someone in Iowa. 

And this isn't the only press globally using this name, Samizdat Editions, by the way. 

I not only enjoy the poetry in this small collection but the footnotes are also worth reading as well. 

Conversation with the Stone Wife by Natalie Eibert (2014)

 Conversation with the Stone Wife

Natalie Eibert

Bloof Books Chapbook Series

(c) 2014

#33 of 100 printed. 

Natalie Elbert's rocket really took off shortly after the publication of this chapbook. She is the author of Indictus, winner of Noemi Press's 2016 Poetry Prize, as well as the poetry collection, Swan Feast (Bloof Books, 2015). Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming from POETRY, Granta, The Jewish Current, The New Yorker, Tin House, The Kenyon Review, The Brooklyn Rail, and elsewhere. She was the recipient of the 2016 Jay C. and Ruth Halls Poetry Fellowship at University of Wisconsin–Madison and is the founding editor of The Atlas Review.

This chapbook, although only produced in a run of 100 numbered copies, had multiple cover images; possibly by the same artist. Interestingly enough, nearly all of the poems in this collection were published previously in different publications and yet together are a "completed thought" and I truly do appreciate a book of poetry that is in fact a completed thought.

From the Face to the Bin by Kim Eggleston (1985)

 From the Face to the Bin (1978-1984)

Kim Eggleston

Strong John Press

Greymouth, New Zealand

(c)1985  2nd printing

I have few rules about this chapbook blog that I have been writing/keeping since starting and one of those rules is that books with spines that have text on them are not chapbooks. And while that is technically true and I often scoff at chapbooks with spines as "cheaters", in this case I will make an exception since this is a 38 page book which can qualify as a chapbook but it does have a spine, yet it is - seemingly - quite rare so I wanted to note its existence here. The only copy of it that I found on the "internets" is in an Australian National book catalogue. None for sale anywhere and the copy I received needed regluing. So, there was this female poet named Kim Eggleston who had this book come out and then reprinted (my copy is a 1985 reprint) but it's New Zealand and that's a bit of the English language frontier, isn't it?

A fair number of these poems are "location-specific" in the sense that they refer to people and places in New Zealand but I found the last piece, a prose piece entitled "Waiting" to be more universal (about squatting/roommate hell) This poet needs to be rediscovered.  

picking through the wreckage of another Pandemic year (2021)

 I do want to apologize for waddling through this year of collateral damage, supply chain interruptions and climate change disasters but there are still publishers making books and poets carving poems out of our shared experiences as though we, as humans, live beneath Mount Vesuvius as it begins to erupt. I will keep chronicling as we keep ignoring the DANGER signs flashing on the thin ice our civilization is built on. Maybe someone in the future will find these writings worthwhile. 

faster, faster by Stephanie Balzer (2009)

faster, faster

Stephanie Balzer

CUEeditions

Tucson, AZ

(c)2009

Prose poetry at its finest. (I know, but it's approaching midnight on a truly terrible year and I wanted to squeeze this in) 

Balzer is an extremely talented writer. CUE is a overachieving journal/press. Great things hiding in generically plain covers. It's worth the read, seriously

[Mary] by J. Hope Stein (2012)

 

[Mary]

J. Hope Stein

Hyacinth Girl Press

(c) 2012

Sometimes a chapbook is more than a fancy cover with a black ribbon, sometimes it is meant to be more and is in fact more. This is one of those times. [Mary] : is the 3rd installation of a mixed media project called “The Inventor’s Last Breath,” which includes a 10-minute film that premiered at the Henry Miller Library in 2011, and the chapbook [Talking Doll] : which was published Dancing Girl Press in 2012. 

“The Inventor’s Last Breath” gets its title from Thomas Edison’s last breath, which was supposedly captured in a test tube and is on display at the Ford Museum in Michigan. A future installation of the Inventor’s Last Breath may or may not have taken place on her website, jhopestein.wordpress.com (almost 10 years ago now, and the traces of her film have disappeared from the Net). 

It is fair to say that Ms. Stein has a highly creative mind as evidenced in her most reason book titled Occasionally, I remove your brain through your nose. 

Twenty Grand :the fin de siècle poems by Guy Birchard (2003)

 

Twenty Grand : the fin de siècle poems

Guy Birchard

Pressed Wafer 

Boston, MA

(c) 2003

tiny book of sizable words. The poet lives in Saskatchewan. Or did in 2003 when this collection came out. I like the way Grover on Sesame Street says Saskatchewan. The poems here are thin and tasty. Wherever Moose Jaw is.....

in case/this way two things fell by Beau Beausoleil (1982)

 

in case/this way two things fell                                                 

Beau Beausoleil

Potes & Poets Press

Hartford, CT

(c)1982

Potes & Poets Press has had a long and influential history (1972- 1998) From the University of Connecticut library archives page :

"Potes & Poets Press was a small press founded by poet and publisher Peter Ganick.

Peter Ganick was a private piano teacher, poet, publisher, artst and resident of West Hartford, Connecticut. He was born on December 14, 1946 in Boston, Massachusetts to parents William (an executive in advertising) and Virginia (a legal secretary and pianist). Ganick was raised in Needham, Massachusetts, twelve miles from Boston itself. He attributed his passion for the arts to his parents and to having grown up in the Boston area, where he had access to many exceptional art museums and venues.  

His profession as a publisher began in the early 1970s. Roxbury Poetry Enterprises, his first poetry press, was used to publish his book, SOME POEMS. The press also published poets including Larry Eigner, Will Bennett, Clayton Eshleman, and Brad Pearson. 

Ganick founded Potes & Poets Press in 1980. An influential L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetry publisher, Ganick printed and distributed the works of writers such as Charles Bernstein. Although the Press lacked a clear mission statement, Ganick always hoped to publish an array of writers whose work proved challenging. The press was ultimately given non-profit status and received four grants—two from the National Endowment of the Arts and another two from the Connecticut Endowment for the Arts. Ganick sold the Press in 2000, as he needed to focus on his own writing and newfound passion for visual art.

Peter Ganick died on April 16, 2020."

Beau Beausoleil is a poet and bookseller living in California. This chapbook is one of his earliest published collections. Published in a run of 300 copies in a famous Brooklyn print shop (The Print Center). Beau is best known now for being a founder of the Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition and the co-editor (along with Deema Shehabi) of the anthology Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here: Poets and Writers Respond to the March 5th, 2007, Bombing of Baghdad’s “Street of the Booksellers”

Harpsichord Hills by Merrill Gilfillan (2013)

 Harpsichord Hills

Merrill Gilfillan

Horse Less Press

Grand Rapids, MI

(c)2013

More interested in the history of this press than the words on the page with this one. Jen Tynes and crew are on a mission worth keeping track of. 

What Came First by Jennifer Campbell (2021)

 What Came First

Jennifer Campbell

dancing girl press & studio

Chicago, IL

(c)2021

Fairy tales meets 21st century media culture in this interesting blended collection. 

Ologies by Chelsea Biondoillo (2015)

 Ologies

Chelsea Biondolillo 

Etchings Press

Indianapolis, IN

(c) 2015

Published in 2015 by the University of Indianapolis' Etching Press, this small collection of prose pieces is unique in size and scope. I didn't know, for example, not that I am worldly wise but I have been to and through Indianapolis, THAT there is a University of Indianapolis. Or that this University has a press. Or that this Press published Ms. Biondolillo. But it's a handsome book to be sure. 

Dutch Baby Combo by Amber Nelson (2013)

 Dutch Baby Combo

Amber Nelson

dancing girl press & studio

Chicago, IL

(c) 2013

I continue to filter through a packet of seconds from this small press. By that I mean books that should have been pulped because they were defective but instead were bundled like dead fish for the unsuspecting boob willing to fork over money for a set of 5 (defective) books. 

I wonder how the poems were presented in Reb Livingston's No Tell Motel. They likely were presented better than this stinker. I have no faith in the quality of this press. 

windowboxing by Kirsten Kaschock (2012)

 windowboxing

Kirsten Kaschock

Bloof Books

(c) 2012

At least for the 2012-2013 season Bloof Books printed a run of 100 numbered chapbooks and then released the text digitally. 

The chapbook has a subtitle, actually, which is kind of novel in that most do not. The subtitle is "A Dance with Saints in Three Acts" which corresponds with the cover. 

This collection is hand-sewn and has drawings throughout by Koen Kaschock-Marenda. Ms. Kaschock is a multidisciplinary artist who teaches at Drexel University in Philadelphia. The work here skirts the edges of many of those disciplines. It's a beautiful dance. 

This is print #39 of 100 made. 

Unknown Pleasures by Anne Vitale (2013)

 Unknown Pleasures

Anna Vitale

Perfect Lovers Press

Cincinnati, OH

(c) 2013

The concept is not a new one, really. Poet writing about song tracks of a particular album by a particular band and full disclosure - I got to know the poet who in my estimation has done the best job of this construct is Daniel Nester (whom I know) in his books God Save My Queen (Soft Skull Press, 2003) and God Save My Queen II: The Show Must Go On (Soft Skull, 2004) which covers the entire discography of Queen. Song by song. Essay by essay. 

Here - distortion to avoid copyright infringement is hardly worth it. I am more interested in the Xerox series of this unknown (to me) publisher than the work itself. 

Small Pieces Loosely Joined by Buck Downs (?)

 Small Pieces Loosely Joined 

Buck Downs

self published

Washington, DC

Downs, the Mississippi transplant, the DC rebrand, the poet in the news currently in Washington, DC for his "poetry sticker" project made this hand sewn little chapbook more than a handful of years ago (I suspect). The paper reminds me of early computer paper. 

Buck produced a lot of work from the time he landed in DC. 

The History of a Lake Never Drowns by Julia Cohen (2008)

 The History of a Lake Never Drowns

Julia Cohen

dancing girl press

Chicago, IL

(c)2008

Perhaps it's because I just wanted a documentary about post-punk music but I am looking at chapbooks like DIY singles or cassettes. Except that most poets do not produce their own chapbooks and that many publishers are not also poets. 

dancing girl press, like a lot of indie record label is bootstrap tight on cash and start up floundering on recognition. This particular chapbook does no favors for the poet or the press (it feels like a copy that should have been pulped instead of added to a packet) 

Ktaadn's Lamp by Andrew Schelling (1991)

Ktaadn's Lamp 

Andrew Schelling

Rocky Ledge Cottage Editions

Boulder, CO

(c) 1991

Andrew Schelling is a well known and established poet and translator who taught at the Naropa University outside of Boulder, CO which explains why "Rocky Ledge Cottage Editions" published this collection. The book was designed by Anne Waldman. 

Controller/Seedbed by Catherine Daly (2014)

Controller/Seedbed

Catherine Daly 

limited cycle press

Finland 

(c) 2014

Never heard of the press before. The poem in 30 parts is an interesting "projection-analysis" of the world we live in. Frightening and accurate. Good read. 

Update: I reached out to Ms. Daly and piece together the following information upgrade. I asked about the piece or pieces in the book and she said, "My original intent was to use this to control steering through texts (ex. jumping).  Each section is from a different nintendo game (from about 15 years ago)." 

I asked about the publisher (limited cycle press) and learned that it was "Jukka-Pekka Kervinen!  I first met him though Peter Ganick @ blue lion, but he'd published some chapbooks of mine (Daly's) online."

I Love You Forever, No Matter by Robert Fitterman (2016)

 I Love You Forever, No Matter

Robert Fitterman

Counterpath 

Denver, CO

(c) 2016

Full disclosure: I know Robert Fitterman. In fact he was the judge of one of our poetry chapbook contests years ago for Plan B Press, which I run. So when I saw this thin sliver of nothing in a second hand shop, I immediately recognized the name and added it to my stack. After I got the home, I contacted Robert and asked him about this particular venture and he informed me that it was that book is somewhat of a companion piece to No Wait. Yep. Definitely Still Hate Myself published by Ugly Duckling Press in 2014. Not many folks know about I Love Forever, No Matter--that chapbook series with Counterpath never really got off the ground. The chapbook is actually a chapter from a longer unpublished ms. called "The Emotion Wheel"

Selected Tasty Shavers by Buck Downs (?)

 Selected Tasty Shavers

Buck Downs

self published

Buck Downs is in the news right now in Washington DC for a poetry sticker project that poetry haters are labeling "litter". Sad, really, that people who hate art so are quick to comment on things they don't understand. But it is in the cyber verse that we click in. 

Among the items I received from the poetry ephemera "trove" from Iowa were a number of Buck Downs self published poetry chapbook/booklets. This tiny formatted one is the first I will mention. Of course, I choose to mention within context as well. Downs is an outsider, not a DC native, but as so he sees through the hubris that breeds in our nation's capital. Coming as he does, from Mississippi