Snow Monkey

A new issue of John Burgess's journal Snow Monkey is up!  Poets are:  Nicole Taylor, Kevin O Cuinn, Lee Sitler, Mimi Ferebee, David Greenspan.

re: "A Heron in Buenos Aires" by Luis Benitez

A very thoughtful review of "A Heron in Buenos Aires" by Luis Benitez (translated by Cooper Renner) posted in the UK (South Wales) print journal, "Roundyhouse." Here is a portion: 

I particularly liked the short poem “When It Is Not Expected’” which talks about ‘that little song’ that appears at the moment of birth and reappears ‘when it is not expected’, sung by someone ‘absentmindedly’; we don’t know what this song is but it’s something comforting and uplifting which we have always known, ‘that old melody’. 

This selection, closely translated from the original Spanish, succeeds in conveying both the delicacy of Benitez’ imagery and the easy rhythms of the poems; it’s very much poetry for the ear as well as the mind. 


‘Some brush drew a swift letter S
thin and white.........
................................and there
unexpectedly, was the heron”

re: "Into the Rumored Spring" by Joannie Stangeland

A nice review of Joannie Stangeland's "Into the Rumored Spring" just posted at the Melusine blog.  After you read this, buy the book and support breast cancer research.  The fact that it's fine poetry is a bonus!

Re: "Thine is the Kingdom" by Garth Buckner

Now, here's something delightful! An email this morning: "I'm a freelance journalist in the UK and in 2012 I'm doing a project to read a book from every country in the world. I picked Garth Buckner's 'Thine is the Kingdom' as my Bahamian book and really enjoyed it.

Here's the link to Ann Morgan's review.

Take a look at this book for yourself at ravennapress.com.

re: "Erik Satie Watusies His Way Into Sound" by Jeff Alessandrelli

A nice, in-depth look at this title appeared Friday on HTML Giant.  Take a look!  Then why not follow through on your long-delayed wish and buy it.  A whole raft of happy readers have already done so!

re "Disbelief" by Cooper Renner

A fine review by Tsipi Keller of "Disbelief" by Cooper Renner: 

It is remarkable how much story Cooper Renner packs in this short book. The multilayered, intellectually gripping tale centers and revolves around fragments of a poem written and abandoned by Coleridge in Malta in 1805, as well as a memoir, both found by a young American scholar, who happens upon them in a monastery library while visiting the island. Also included are intriguing illustrations or “illuminations” signed by one CR, and integral descriptions of the stark landscape, which enhance the mystery and richness of “Disbelief.” Highly recommended.

re: The Anemone Sidecar

For awhile, either a long or short while, The Anemone Sidecar will go on hiatus after Chapter 20.  Chapter 18 is in preparation now, still wonderful in spite of a forthcoming pause in the series -- it is not the work's fault!  The Editor is just busy writing her own writing.  All Chapters will remain online, of course, a reliable source of reading delight.

New issue of Snow Monkey announced

John Burgess has announced another issue of Snow Monkey, Volume 22, featuring Sandra Ketcham, Tetman Callis and Nicolas Grenier.  Take a look.  For a sample, a short poem (in translation from the French) by Nicolas Grenier:


Between sky and earth,
Snow, as a Beauty 
Which is changing
Every moment
The form of the landscape. 

Re: Carl James Grindley and the Cathlamet Prize

Click here to read the press release.  Congratulations once again to Carl!  We are pleased that his book, "Lora and The Dark Lady," which takes two of poetry’s most compelling figures, the heroine of Petrarch’s sonnets and Shakespeare’s mysterious mistress, and re-imagines and re-configures them as characters in a disturbed and technologically-threatening world, will join the list of Ravenna titles in 2013.

re: "Into the Rumored Spring" by Joannie Stangeland

Take a moment for this very thoughtful and thorough review (plus interview) at The Smoking Poet with Joannie Stangeland on her collection, "Into the Rumored Spring,"  with such nice observations as "illness makes us hold our breath in waiting...musical exhalations are regularly interspersed in the collection by verses titled “Intermezzo”...[each] a poem of non-illness." 

re: "Magnificent Mistakes" by Eric Bosse

Check out this great review of Eric Bosse's "Magnificent Mistakes" which includes such as "The stories are lean and funny and perfectly poised between tenderness and something much more steely-eyed." 

2nd Annual Cathlamet Prize for Poetry

We are very pleased to announce that Carl Grindley has won the Ravenna Press 2nd Annual Cathlamet Prize for Poetry with his entry "Lora and the Dark Lady."  Second place goes to Nathan Neely for "Chapbook for the Recently Deceased," and Third to Mark Simpson for "Fat Chance."

Honorable Mentions go to Zachary Greenberg, David Wolf, Alessandra Bava and Carrie Gilstrap-Nettles, and special nods go to Paul David Adkins for Most Courageous Collection and to Judson Simmons for Best Title:  "Church of God with Signs Following."

Thanks very much to everyone who participated!  The high level of entries overall made judging pleasantly difficult.

re: "Magnificent Mistakes" by Eric Bosse

A really great presentation of a reading by Eric Bosse of "Seagulls," flash fiction from his Ravenna Press collection, "Magnificent Mistakes." Eric kindly credits us, but the film was all his and works wonderfully with his fine reading style. Click on the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWFyDPKU_bM&feature=youtu.be

New Title: "Disbelief" by Cooper Renner

We're excited to announce Cooper Renner's novella, "Disbelief," about the poet Coleridge in Malta (and werewolves.) Copies arrive at Ravenna on the 24th for shipping out to those of you who have already placed orders (thanks for that!)

Snow Monkey

A brand new issue of John Burgess' journal Snow Monkey has posted, featuring David Kinsey, Haris Adhikari and Sara Basrai.  Take a peek.

re: "A Heron in Buenos Aires" by Luis Benitez

From a review by Neil Leadbetter in the Canadian journal Dandylion Arts Magazine:   ...this book offers the reader meticulously observed, intelligent and moving poems by a writer whose reputation deservedly extends beyond his native country...  the team approach [to the translations] by Beatriz Olga Allocati, Veronica Miranda and Cooper Renner has been central to the production of the book.  Collectively they have made sure that the power and subtlety of Benitez' work has not been lost in translation.

Ravenna Press announces a new series: the Ravenna Triples.

The editors at Ravenna have become very interested in the longer form – material too extensive for a magazine or journal submission but not quite long enough to fill a complete book – so have devised the Ravenna Triples:  full-size volumes, each containing three substantial clusters of work by some of our favorite writers.  To launch the project we will publish this summer, all at once, the first three books in the series: 

Triple #1, with fiction by Brandon Hobson, poetry by Alek Lindus, drawings plus a graphic novella by Cooper Renner.

Triple #2, with poetry by M Sarki, Harold Bowes, Kathryn Rantala

Triple #3, with fiction by Kim Chinquee, Daryl Scroggins, Holly Tavel

This is a prime chance to collect a substantial work by a writer you know and at the same time introduce yourself to two other writers you may not yet have discovered.   

Look for these three books this summer and subsequent numbers in the series as they develop.  Each will be available from independent bookstores and from our website, individually or as multiples. 

re: "Into the Rumored Spring" by Joannie Stangeland

Blogger Randall Radic rhapsodizes about Joannie Stangeland's "unfettered imagination", singling out two Intermezzo's from her Ravenna collection "Into the Rumored Spring":

He brings her stories
from across the gray lake.
He brings her the wind,
the smell of outside creased in his coat.

(and)

Between the night
and the roof,
the sound of little creatures,
their small feet
tap, tapping
staccato revelry,
Oh, no –
it’s just the rain.

re: Alba

Another fine issue has posted at Harold Bose's magazine, Alba.  Click on the link to see Chapter 23, featuring these writers:

Don Russ, Howie Good, David Mohan, Matt Dennison, Neil Ellman, Brian Beatty, Tim Kindberg, Askold Skalsky, Neil Leadbeater, Robert Frazier, Garrin Riggin, Chelsea Rebekah Grimmer.

An example:

Garrin Riggin

Carnival
She stood alone in

the gasoline growl of

the Loop-o-plane's

musky breeze.

The last of summer,

speeding its pinks

and purples over the

edge of the world.

Down behind the

ring toss;

down behind the

Tilt-a-whirl and

the black trees.

Chapter 17 of The Anemone Sidecar

We have more than ten inches of snow on the South Hill bench above Spokane (the image is a sphinx, not a dog, don't worry)...

...but The Anemone Sidecar has still gotten through!  Follow the link to another fine issue with these able contributors:

Joel Allegretti, Darren C. Demaree, George J. Farrah, Brian Hardie, Mary-Catherine Jones, Dustin Junkert, Tim Kercher, Sandra Ketcham, Adam Neikirk, Diana Pollin, Juan Carlos Reyes, Ron Singer, Caitlin Thomson and Bill Wolak.

re: Snow Monkey

The latest issue of Snow Monkey, edited by John Burgess, has been published. Starting the new year with five new poems from regular contributor Simon Perchik.  

(logo by the late Linda Curtis)

re: "Erik Satie Watusies His Way Into Sound" by Jeff Alessandrelli

A new and entertaining, to say nothing of enlightening, interview with Jeff Alessandrelli by Weston Cutter at Corduroy Books regarding his "Erik Satie Watusies His Way Into Sound" (buy the book here.)

A New Ravenna Project for 2012

We will be announcing in the first quarter 2012 a new and interesting publishing project.  But in the meantime, the nice people at Vouched Books have given a nod in their December 1 blog posting to a poem by Harold Bowes posted originally at elimae.  See the post below, see the poem at elimae, see the poem again in the upcoming 2012 project (watch this space!)

Lately it’s been impossible for me to not think about travelling, even though I’m not going anywhere for a few weeks. Getting a letter seems like the nextbest thing to leaving town, but Harold Bowes’ poem/letter Letter With A Poem Attached/Email with a Poem Attached is the best thing.

Maybe it’s an air pocket, I don’t know
When you pull the sheet up over your body
The moment before it alights
On each toe
During the earthquake a few tiles fell

Read the rest at Elimae.

re: "A Heron in Buenos Aires" by Luis Benitez

Big thanks to the folks at Galatea Resurrects for posting a fine and thorough review by Scottish poet and critic Neil Leadbetter of Luis Benitez's "A Heron in Buenos Aires." Find the book at ravennapress.com/books.

Seconds ticking by...

...until the last day (December 31) to submit your entry to the Cathlamet Prize for Poetry.  Andrew Rantala, striding the stage like a behemoth, is awaiting your work!

re: "Magnificent Mistakes" by Eric Bosse

A very fine nod to Eric Bosse's "Magnificent Mistakes" from Jim Ruland in the San Diego City Beat: Bosse’s debut collection alternates between traditional short stories and shorter works of flash fiction, setting up a hard-hitting series of one-two combinations. Writing in the realist mode, he puts his characters in situations where they’re forced to confront their flaws; the degree to which they’re willing to accept that these shortcoming make them who they are determines their capacity to find what they’re searching for. Make no mistake, these are high-stakes fictions, but what I find most admirable is the way Bosse finishes: He really knows how to stick the ending. I felt each story’s finality all the way down to my bones.

re: "Into the Rumored Spring," by Joannie Stangeland

See the interview of our poet author Joannie Stangeland at Women's Quarterly Conversation.  And then go to ravennapress.com/books and pick up a copy of this fine collection.

re: "Magnificent Mistakes," by Eric Bosse

It's been a very public couple of months at Ravenna!  Eric Bosse's book, Magnificent Mistakes, is a Featured Book at the University of Montana Creative Writing Program web blog.

The Cathlamet Prize for Poetry

Just days remaining--send in your poetry chap by the end of the month.

re: "when the dust finally settles," by Kat Meads

Follow the link to a very fine review of Kat's book at the Greensboro News and Record.  "when the dust finally settles" has also been picked up by at least one book club, which is great!  Pick up a copy for yourself at ravennapress.com/books.

re: "Erik Satie Watusies His Way Into Sound" by Jeff Alessandrelli

We're happy to see that a poem from this interesting and sympathetic collection appeared on Verse Daily. Click on the link for a look, then watusi over to ravennapress.com/books to pick up a copy.

re: "A Heron in Buenos Aires" by Luis Benitez

The British web magazine Pulsar Poetry Magazine has reviewed Luis' collection of poems in its December issue.  It is a fine review, ending with "The poems require thought and time.  But this is what poetry should do - open a window to the cosmos.  After all this is where we all live.  Review by: John Plevin."  (Click on "Pulsar" for the link, go to ravennapress.com/books to purchase.)

"The River Within," by Ann Taylor

Announcing the release of "The River Within," Ravenna's latest poetry title, by Ann Taylor of Massachusetts, recording "her surprise at the natural world and her own surprising responses to nature's enduring harmonies." (quote by Parkman Howe, Poetry Editor of Appalachia)


"Enriched with felt experience, classical knowledge and fidelity to a shared literary heritage, the poems in The River Within are page after page of pure pleasure" (Joan Houlihan)
 

Cleopatra’s Conquest

"Where’s the bronze donkey bearing
baskets of fresh olives, and the sturgeon
delivered by slaves fingering flutes?

Where are the flamingo tongues,
ostrich heads, milk-fattened snails,
hares winged like Pegasus?"

Mark Antony mocked, nibbling
the plain pancake, chicken leg,
dessert fig placed before him.

"And where the other twenty-one courses,
the jesters, jugglers, revolving ceiling,
the sprinkler’s subtle perfume?"

"Call me the Queen of Plenty," she replied,
announcing her aim to devour
the most lavish meal ever all by herself.

She removed her huge pearl earring,
the largest in history, a king's treasure,
richer than all Roman banquets combined,

dropped it into her cup of wine vinegar,
and as it sizzled
drank it.

Cathlamet Prize for 2012

Don't forget to enter for the Second Annual Cathlamet Prize for Poetry.  Contest ends December 31, 2011.

"Into the Rumored spring" by Joannie Stangeland

Ravenna is celebrating publication of Joannie Stangeland's "Into the Rumored Spring," a fine collection of straight-forward, well-crafted poetry written for a friend with breast cancer. But we're celebrating in Spokane because it will snow 4-6" this weekend and make Snoqualmie Pass out of the question.  This is a great book in itself to give or to keep, even more affecting because of the dominant subject. Joannie is donating her proceeds to SCCA, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

Hear Joannie read with John Burgess ("Graffito") at Open Books in Seattle on November 20th!

December!

Coming right up to end one of our most productive years, two more fine books: Duane Ackerson's "Blinded by the Light Then the Dark," with the printer now; and very soon after, Patrick Lawler's "Trade World Center."  


Happy winter everyone!  Announcements for 2012 coming soon.

re: "The Year Book" by Hugh Fox

A fine and comprehensive review by Patrick James Dunagan posted in New Pages of "The Year Book" by Hugh Fox whom, we are sad to say, we lost in September. 

Please honor Hugh and his replete and luminous literary career by also reading Hugh's Wikipedia entry and the fine interview with Doug Holder from 2008. 


  

re: "A Heron in Buenos Aires"

Purple Patch, a 35-year-old magazine in central England, named Luis Benitez's collection A Heron in Buenos Aires as one of the top poetry collections of 2011. We are proud that Ravenna is the only US publisher listed for the top ten winners--Good one, Luis!--and thanks to Cooper Renner for the great cover image. 

Snow Monkey

The newest issue of John Burgess' magazine Snow Monkey has posted, with work by Eric Martin, Edward Manzi and Jim Bertolino.

NEW: "Erik Satie Watusies His Way Into Sound" by Jeff Alessandrelli

A poetical-musical event!  We have just released "Erik Satie Watusies His Way Into Sound" by Jeff Alessandrelli, and it is all as fresh and interesting as the title would suggest.  Take a look.