February 1st in Bloomington, Indiana: Burroughs, Hawkins & ORTET

My next live event is February 1st at the Backspace Gallery in Bloomington, Indiana, with the fabulous Joan Hawkins and music by ORTET. Many thanks to the Writers Guild at Bloomington and my friend Tony Brewer! For more info, see https://www.facebook.com/events/888305615712558.

April 6th: Self-Publishing Roundtable and John Burroughs Book Release in South Euclid

Early warning: On April 6th, Juliet Cook, Michelle R. Smith and I will be the featured authors at a self publishing roundtable hosted by the Cuyahoga County Public Library's William N. Skirball Writers' Center in South Euclid, Ohio.

As you may know, when I started Crisis Chronicles Press in 2008 it was with a tiny self-published chapbook. Then I published another in 2009 and another in 2010. My original plan was to self-publish one a year, but I got away from that and haven't done it in a long time.

Well, since the press is going on hiatus after we complete our current commitments this year, I thought it would be fun and appropriate to self-publish one more title before CCP makes her exit, a sort of bookend to our history, and release it at this April 6th roundtable.

The Wrest of the Worthwhile will feature all my best poems that didn't make their way into Rattle and Numb for whatever reason, including much newer work (some never before seen). I'll also fold in the contents of my recent limited edition (and no longer unavailable) chapbooks, You Can't Trust It to Remain and Dogging Catastrophe.

I hope you'll not want to miss this event! Register at: http://attend.cuyahogalibrary.org/event/7616134.

 

Crisis Chronicles Press to Go on Hiatus in June 2023

 

I already mentioned this briefly in my New Year's Eve blog entry about resolutions. But for anyone who missed it, here's the news again, with more cowbell.

For myriad reasons, by June of 2023 (our 15th anniversary), I am placing Crisis Chronicles Press on an indefinite hiatus.

Before that time, I will complete our outstanding commitments. And after that time, I will keep most of our still-in-print books available. But I must resist taking on any new publishing commitments (no matter how tempting) for the time being.

I've been mulling this decision for quite some time, and still have mixed feelings about making the announcement public because I don't want to distract from or dampen enthusiasm for the fine books that we've recently published and that we have forthcoming in the next several months. (You're gonna love them).

But every day I receive more submissions and queries and I can't keep up. Nor can I leave matters up in the air and undecided forever. So the time has come.

I've had the privilege of working with many fantastic writers over the past fifteen years. Some of them have become dear friends. And I've learned one heck of a lot along the way. I've evolved as a poet, editor, publisher, and even human as a result. And my appreciation and gratitude for indie publishers of all stripes has only continued to grow.

I wish I could have published every excellent manuscript that's come my way. But Crisis Chronicles Press has always been pretty much a one-man show with limited time, energy and resources. And as much as I've loved it, there are a lot of other things I would like to do.

Perhaps at some future date we will return. But in the meantime, it's not over yet. Check out our fabulous recent titles and stay tuned for more new ones coming soon.

With deepest gratitude,

John

P.S. Find us at http://ccpress.blogspot.com/.

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes new book by Christine Howey

We at Crisis Chronicles Press are ecstatic to announce the publication of our first title of 2023, I Have a Poem About That by the amazing Christine Howey. It's always a joy and privilege to work with her.

I Have a Poem About That is 36 pp, 6 x 9", perfect bound, with cover art by Jessie Herzfeld. ISBN 979-8-88596-993-2. Available for $10 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.

This volume features 23 poems, including "When We Die We Become Birds," "My Skiff," "Camus at Camp," "A Meeting of Suburban Deer," "Eternity on Elm Street," "Inside Out," "Invert at the Gem Saloon, Deadwood, South Dakota, 1876," "My Name Is John Doe," "Mount Everest," "Paul Desmond's Slot Machine," "Ten Ill-Conceived Kitchen Gadgets," "Maybe I Should Have Told Different Lies," "After I'm Gone," "Blueberries, Summer, 1944," "The Last One," "The Road Oft Taken," "Sign of the Cross," "A Bubble-Off Romance," "The Birds and the Bees," "The History of Television," "The Universal Usage Guide," "An Ode to Richard Howie," and "My Words Are Too Big Today."

 

Christine Howey is a performance poet and former executive director of Literary Cleveland. Her one-person play of poetry about her transgender journey, Exact Change, premiered at Cleveland Public Theatre and was selected by the New York International Fringe Festival. A film version of the play was an official selection of the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival. 

Christine has also been an award-winning theater critic in Cleveland for 25 years, currently with Cleveland Scene. She was named Transgender Leader of the Year in Northeast Ohio and received the Torch Award from the Human Rights Campaign for leadership on transgender issues. 

2023 Resolutions

Resolution #1: Buy no new books in January.

[In 2022, I acquired hundreds of books, but barely had time to read 75 of them, and most of those were small chapbooks.]


Resolution #2: Read more.

[Nikki Giovanni said: "If there is one thing to do today, it should be to read. Everybody says, 'Oh, you need to write every day.' No. You got nothing to say every day. Nobody does. Anybody that says, 'I have to talk to somebody every day,' good Lord! Who could live with you?"]


Resolution #3: Write more.

[I was gonna say write every day, but then I read that Giovanni bit. However, let me also add: Make more TIME to write.]


Resolution #4: Get back into the diligent exercise routine I got out of when I moved from Parma to South Euclid in the summer of 2021.

[Another thing I need to make more time for. My aches and pains have increased dramatically without it. But I've already started getting myself back into it over the past week or two.]


Resolution #5: Just say no.

[This is the only way I see to make more time for the above. Get more comfortable saying no. Consume less. Stop agreeing to do more than I can get done in a reasonable amount of time or committing to too many things. I end up doing a zillion things, none of them as well as I could if I had more time and focus. Then my stress level increases and I end up doing the things that I would usually love more out of pressure than pleasure, and then my health et cetera begin to suffer. Also, saying no to some new things will help me catch up on many old things that remain almost hopelessly behind.]


Resolution #6: Place Crisis Chronicles Press on hiatus (at least as far as publishing new books) by June of 2023 (our 15th anniversary) or as close to then as I can (once I've completed my current commitments). I will keep our in-print books available indefinitely, but resist taking on any new publishing commitments (no matter how tempting) through this coming year, though I may leave the door open to resuming in a future year once I've finished writing my long-suffering memoir.

seen in a northeast Ohio brewery bathroom
(2 August 2018)

 

Profiled in South Euclid Magazine

Another holiday gift for which I am most grateful! Many thanks to Carlo Wolff and South Euclid Magazine for a lovely profile in their Winter 2022 issue.

You may read the piece online here.

Pamela Anderson reviews Rattle and Numb for Tinderbox Poetry Journal

 

I just received one heck of a holiday gift! Immense gratitude to Pamela R. Anderson and Tinderbox Poetry Journal for a lovely review of my book, Rattle and Numb: Selected and New Poems, 1992-2019.

Read it at https://tinderboxpoetry.com/rattle-numb-by-john-burroughs.

 

Book publisher: Venetian Spider Press.

Cover painting by Cleveland artist Emma Anderson.

 

Charlotte Morgan interviews Judith Mansour for FreshWater Cleveland

I am so grateful to Charlotte Morgan and FreshWater Cleveland for this fine interview with Judith Mansour, the author of Kan Zaman.

Read it here: https://www.freshwatercleveland.com/street-level/MansourMemoir122122.aspx.

Buy Mansour's Kan Zaman here: http://ccpress.blogspot.com/2022/10/mansour.html.

Video: Desrosiers, Vannoy, Rescue Poetix & Burroughs read for NeuroNautic on 12/15

If you missed it (or want to relive it), here's video of last night's NeuroNautic Institute Presents - 12/15 - ONLINE EDITION. Stellar readings by co-features Lee Desrosiers, Chris Vannoy and Rescue Poetix followed by my set which consisted of all 2022 poems - a couple from You Can't Trust It to Remain [Between Shadows Press], some from Dogging Catastrophe [The Grind Stone], more from July's Tupelo Press 30/30, and a couple of newer ones. Then came a lovely open mic. Immense gratitude to Matthew Hupert for inviting me and to NeuroNautic Institute / Neuronautic Press for always being perfect hosts.

Watch: https://www.facebook.com/100060712987363/videos/510714121033286.

So Long, Twitter!