the werld by Claire Becker (2010)

 the werld

Claire Becker

Horse Less Press

(c) 2010

Unpaginated staple-bound chapbook. The werds float. 

Estrella's Prophecies : III 22 Shocking Poems by David Baratier (2004)

 Estrella's Prophecies : III (22 Shocking Poems)

David Baratier 

Luna Bizonte Prodz

Columbus, OH

(c)2004

This is simply an extremely bizarre booklet. Words beyond these are meaningless. 

Pneumatic Antiphonal by Sylvia Legris (2013)

 Pneumatic Antiphonal

Sylvia Legris

New Directions Poetry Pamphlet #4

(c) 2013

Quite the coup to be published by New Directions. 47 pages. Illustration in book by author. Cover art by Office of Paul Sahre. Interior design by Erik Rieselbach. 47 pages. Have your dictionary ready. 

Lament by Gina Myers (?)

 Lament

Gina Myers

unidentified publisher

signed by poet inside

#8 of 36 copies printed. Broadside. Staple-bound

more mystery than information. I am intrigued. 

A collection of ballads and folk songs Burl Ives (1946)

 a collection of ballads and folk songs

Burl Ives

Decca Records

(c)1946

This is a booklet that came with a 1946 vinyl record. Full of song lyrics. It's a booklet that I am counting as a "chapbook" since I have seen far too many chapbooks with spine so tiny that no words can be printed on them. 

Two more chapbooks by Megan Kaminski (2013 & 2014)

 This Place

Megan Kaminski

Dusie Kollektiv

(c) 2013

&

Wintering Prairie

Megan Kaminski

Dusie Kollektiv

(c) 2014

Published in Zurich, Switzerland

Just to show those lovely forgotten chapbooks that Ms. Kaminski doesn't acknowledge these days. 

Wichman Cometh by Ben Pease (2011)

Wichman Cometh

Ben Pease

Monk Books

New York City

(c)2011

This is a hybrid twice over. It's 41 pages with a spine, okay, so I technically don't call it a chapbook but the spine has no writing on it so what's the point of that? Dead empty space on a black spine which emphasizes the "tiny sliver of nothing" in black space that I am certain was not a conscious thought of the publisher here but - the book contains, in addition to some interesting language formations and topography has addition visual topography that mirrors and reenforces the words in a playful and almost harmonious way. The subtitle of the book, "Selections from a Blockbuster in Verse", ties the threads together well. And the last line of the last poem does not have a period, suggesting to me at least, that there is not "ending" like a good French film which stops without "concluding". Or, say the ending of the American film "Sideways". The "ending" is what you, the viewer, project it to be; the movie doesn't give it to you. It's satisfying in its unending-ness. 

 

WIZ (2011)

 

WIZ ("Ben"?)

The Song Cave

#57 of 100 printed. Signed by "Ben" who is also WIZ or not. This is the 22 book from the Song Cave. Hand printed, I mean, the entire book is written in the author's hand. I have not witnessed anything... well, I have actually but WOW. This is bizarre

Shrivel and Bloom by Emily Murman (2021)

 

Shrivel and Bloom 

Emily Murman

dancing girl press & studio

Chicago, IL 

(c) 2021

Emily Murman is a poet & educator from Chicago. In April 2019, she was awarded the Gail DeHerder Memorial Prize in Creative Writing. She holds an MFA in poetry from National University. She is the author of two chapbooks, “SHRIVEL AND BLOOM" (Dancing Girl Press, June 2021) and “I want your emergency" (Selcouth Station Press, July 2021).

Some really good poems in this thin slice of heaven. 

then again, they are all mysteries

 Since I started this divergence, this deep dive into the murky depths of small press publishing of staple bound (almost all of them) book of less than 50 pages, I have listed and mentioned and speculated about the poet and the press and the printer and the first recipient of each book. 

Each is unique in its singularity. I have only the single one of each. There is a singular relationship that exists between us all (author/publisher/printer/reader) that, since they are chapbooks,  are never really considered in the same way a novel by an established author from a prestigious publishing house is. 

It began with a book written by a woman who had her daughter stolen at a concert in San Francisco during the 1960s. A tragedy she has never fully recovered from (and how could she, how could any mother?). Some of the books I have written about were by poets and writers who have become well known, sometimes deciding in their own biographies to "forget to mention" the chapbooks that came before their first official books. Their first literary prize. Their first teaching assignments at the major universities that they now hail from. 

My mission or calling (if it is one) is different from the library in Brautigan's The Abortion. These books have all been published, some by the author themselves but all have seen the print of ink. All are physical objects because I do not consider e-texts to be proper books. 

And there are many people to thank for the horde of chapbooks I have now, and someday will pass forward. Daniel Nester, another gentleman from upstate New York, a righteous dude from Iowa City, and others along the way. Along the time. Between the margins. As one will. 

Visions by Mark Turner (1980)

 Visions

Mark Turner

(unknown/self published?)

(c) 1980

Every once in awhile I get a chapbook of poetry that as much mystery as any in a novel written by the best writer in their field. Not dramatic conclusion, I hope, but a mystery none the less. 

There is no publisher info anywhere in the book. Nothing on the back cover. The booklet was not trimmed so it was unlikely to have been a professional printing. 21 pages, staple bound, white paper. White cover stock. A bit dirty closer to the fold. There is a Mark Turner (cognitive scientist) whose first book was published in 1987. And there is a fair amount of repetition in the writing. But I can not presume to know. So, until further information appears; a mystery it will remain. 

Favored Daughter by Megan Kaminski (2011)

 Favored Daughter

Megan Kaminski

dancing girl press

Chicago, IL

(c) 2011

I have to say this is one of the best books I have seen from dancing girl. It's a bit of a shame that Ms. Kaminski doesn't mention her chapbooks published prior to 2012. There is a lot of good poetry before. 

Dynamic Positioning by Juliana Spahr (2012)

 Dynamic Positioning

Juliana Spahr

Belladonna 

Brooklyn, NY

(c) 2012

Chaplet #144 was published to commemoration of her performance with T C Tolbert on April 3, 2012 at Dixon Place (NYC). 11 pages. I have a number of Belladonna chapbooks and printed material. I took in a reading of Ms. Spahr at Georgetown University in DC. She definitely has a style. 

Before the Next Ice by Lisa J. Cihlar (2022)

 Before the Next Ice Age

Lisa J. Cihlar

Crisis Chronicles Press

Cleveland, OH

(c) 2022

Technicalities aside (this is a chapbook with a spine), this chapbook is a great read written by a talented poet and published by an interesting press out of Cleveland, OH. 

27 pages of cool prose poetry. Cover art by the poet herself as well. 

Glad to have it. Glad to have read it. 

If you know anything about Cleveland Ohio small press history, one name reverberated across the city and that name was d. a. levy. John Burroughs isn't exactly a replacement so much as someone who has picked up that baton and begun to carry it forward. Good for him. Good for publishing. Here's to Crisis Chronicles Press. 

Odalisque by Ben Fama (2014)

 Odalisque

Ben Fama

Bloof Books

#37 of 100 printed. Good presentation. Feels like a "best of" without it be said as such. 

Notes on Melancholia by M. A. Vizsolyi (2013)

Notes on Melancholia

M. A. Vizsolyi 

Monk Books

New York, NY

(c) 2013

#9/200, good writing. Good presentation. 

Sea Ranch (Winter 2012)

Sea Ranch (Winter 2012)

Elizabeth Robinson / Elaine Kahn

The Song Cave

(2012)

Sea Ranch is a quarterly journal. It publishes these journals through The Song Cave. There is a website. This booklet is a combo of poems by Ms. Robinson and Ms. Kahn. The booklet has a different cover image for each side, telling the reader whose work they are about to be reading. 

Ms. Robinson is an established and award winning poet. Ms. Kahn is a LA-based poet, musician, and artist. The work here is a little slice of each poets' work. 'Nuff said. 

Don't Try This On Your Piano or am i still standing here with my hair down

 

Don't Try This On Your Piano

or am i still standing here with my hair down

Steven Karl & Angela Veronica Wong

Lame House Press

Atlanta, GA

I just love this wrap around cover by Liz Wolf. This is #75 of 120 printed copies. Hand sewn. Presentation is excellent. In order to achieve the heft necessary for this book they single sided the poems which feels like a cheat to me, but what on earth do I know? 

I have written about Ms. Wong before in a chapbook published by Flying Guillotine Press and Ms. Myers as well I mentioned two years ago about a chapbook she published in 2007. 

Steven Karl is the author of Sisters (Noemi Press) and is the Editor of Sink Review. 

Saint Monica by Mary Biddinger (2011)

 Saint Monica

Mary Biddinger

Black Lawrence Press

Pittsburgh, PA

(c)2011

Black Lawrence is a big deal, slick producing publisher of quality poetry in a chapbook sized format. Books with spines that have writing on them. Even if only 41 pages tiny. It's a wonderfully produced book. Of poems with a maniacally repetitious similar title scheme.  Which, you might conclude, I did not favor. 

Fashion Blast Quarter by Krystal Languell/Chalky Undertaste by Emily Skillings (2014)

Fashion Blast Quarter / Chalky Undertaste

Krystal Languell / Emily Skillings

Flying Object

Hadley, MA

(c) 2014

Unusually sized folding broadside. Amazingly, this piece is fantastically made.