June 29th: M.J. Arcangelini & Friends and Ground & Sky Poetry

I'll have the pleasure of being a small part of this very special event on Saturday, June 29th, 2024 from 5:00pm to 7:30pm at Mac's Backs Books on Coventry. Joe Arcangelini is a fine poet and friend.

From the press release:

Mac's will host a gathering of poets with readings by MJ Arcangelini and Joel Lesses on Saturday, June 29th at 5 p.m. The event is also a book release celebration for Journeys of Sacred Community: A Collection Anthology of Ground and Sky Poetry

MJ Arcangelini, born in Pennsylvania in 1952, has resided in northern California since 1979. He has published in many magazines, online journals & over a dozen anthologies.  He is the author of six published collections, including  Pawning My Sins publlished in 2022 by Luchador Press.

Ground and Sky Poetry is a reading series in Buffalo and Rochester, NY and was inspired by the late poet Maj Ragain from Kent. 

Joel David Lesses is a counselor and the founder of Education Training Center in Buffalo, dedicated to reframing mental health distress as a potential spiritual marker and existential opportunity. He also does the Unraveling Religion podcast which focuses on spirituality, world religion, meditation and poetry.

Other poets scheduled to read include Dianne Borsenik, Chris Franke, Russ Vidrick, Steven Smith, Kathy “Lady” Smith, John Burroughs, Shelley Chernin, Ben Gulyas, Adam Brodsky, Steve Goldberg, Steve Thomas, Scott Silsbe and  Chandra "Peggy Honeydew" Alderman.

Mac's Backs
1820 Coventry Rd.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
https://www.macsbacks.com

Three Poems in the New Issue of Tinfoildresses

I'm happy that three of my poems ("Critical Condition," "A Superior Stimulant" and "Bilateral Heart Moon Resolution") appear in the new 2024 issue of tinfoildresses, alongside work by Marissa Prada, Rosa Jamali, Steven Smith, Kathy Smith, and Adam Schmidt. So many thanks to editor Heather Ann Shepard!

Download the issue for free at https://tinfoildresses.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/tinfoildresses-2024-2.pdf. 

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes Contempt of Gravity: The Complete Published Poems, 1981–2020, by William Merricle

Crisis Chronicles Press is pleased and privileged to celebrate the new year with the publication of Contempt of Gravity: The Complete Published Poems, 1981–2020 by Ohio treasure William Merricle. William is one of the sharpest, smartest, funniest writers we've ever had the pleasure of working with. And this book is everything including (to steal a phrase from one of his poems) "a massive sensory experience"!

Contempt of Gravity is 437 pages, perfect bound, 5.5 x 8.5". ISBN: 978-1-64092-952-4. Front cover photo by Steven B. Smith of a mural by Donald Black, Jr. Published 1 January 2022. 125 copies in print.

 

U.S. or Elsewhere?

United States $20.00 USD Elsewhere $30.00 USD

Contempt of Gravity is available for only $20 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 (plus $4 for shipping in the USA).

 

Contempt of Gravity: The Complete Published Poems, 1981–2020 includes several volumes of Merricle's work in one:

 

Living On Wormholes & Beer (previously uncollected poems from 1981-1990)

Love & Food By-Products (originally published by Iron Press in 1991)

Why Should I Suffer Alone? (originally published by Green Meadow Press in 1993)
Slubberdegullion Sonata (originally published by Big Easy Press in 1995)

Eye Sickles (originally published by Timelapse Press in 1997)

The Constellation Called Forget (previously uncollected poems from 1991-2000)
A Delicious Friction (previously uncollected poems from 2001-2010)
Heimlich the Donut (originally published by Pudding House Publications in 2010)

Grace, You Let the Screen Door Slam (originally published by Crisis Chronicles in 2011)

Chaos Theory (originally published by NightBallet Press in 2013)

Fractured Fairy Tales (originally published by Crisis Chronicles in 2016)

The Tongue Depressor Incident (previously uncollected poems from 2011-2020)

William Merricle was once the assistant manager of a ramshackle soft-porn movie palace. He would open the observation window and glide paper airplanes inscribed with quotes from Heidegger over the engrossed congregants below.

 

1981 copier-art portrait by Grace O’God. 

 

2020 portrait in radiation treatment mask by Jerri Merricle.

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes Afterlife Karaoke by John Dorsey

Crisis Chronicles Press is back (and catching up)! From May 2019 through September 2021 we only published 3 titles. But now we have at least three titles coming out between now and the end of 2021. Here's the first:

Crisis Chronicles Press is very happy to announce the publication of John Dorsey's new poetry chapbook, Afterlife Karaoke. Dorsey is widely esteemed as one of the best poets in America and his work is unique and essential. He has dedicated this book to the late, great Jack Hirschman.

 

Afterlife Karaoke is 32 pages, perfect bound, 6" x 6". Contents include "A Dry County," "Easy on the Eyes," "A Chicken Strip in the Shape of a Seahorse," "Walt Disney and Richard Branson Will Meet Again at Freedom Mausoleum," "For Scott Wannberg, Gone 10 Years" and so much more. ISBN: 978-1-64092-951-7. Front cover art by Steven B. Smith. 150 copies in print.

 

Afterlife Karaoke is available for only $10 (includes postage) from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA. 

 

Join us for the Afterlife Karaoke release party on October 16th, 4 p.m. at The Attic, 1791 Adams Street in Toledo, Ohio, where John Dorsey will also be joined in reading by esteemed poets from around the country.

U.S. or Elsewhere

United States $8.00 USD Elsewhere $12.00 USD

 

John Dorsey lived for several years in Toledo, Ohio. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Teaching the Dead to Sing: The Outlaw's Prayer (Rose of Sharon Press, 2006), Sodomy is a City in New Jersey (American Mettle Books, 2010), Tombstone Factory (Epic Rites Press, 2013), Appalachian Frankenstein (GTK Press, 2015), Being the Fire (Tangerine Press, 2016), Shoot the Messenger (Red Flag Poetry, 2017), Your Daughter's Country (Blue Horse Press, 2019), and Which Way to the River: Selected Poems 2016-2020 (OAC Books, 2020). His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and the Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Prize. He was the winner of the 2019 Terri Award given out at the Poetry Rendezvous. He may be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com.

 

[Author photo by Dianne Borsenik.]

Crisis Chronicles at the 2019 Annual Poets House​ Showcase in NYC

11/30/2018 selfie at Poets House

All of our recent (2018-2019) Crisis Chronicles Press​ titles will be featured in the 27th Annual Poets House​ Showcase in New York City from June 27th through August 17th!

Crisis Chronicles Press titles they will feature this year include:

Serving by Kari Gunter-Seymour
Where Never Was Already Is by Steven B. Smith
Citizen of Metropolis by Christine Howey
The Strength of Flowers by Steve Thomas
Dodge, Tuck, Roll by Rikki Santer
Malformed Confetti by Juliet Cook
Drinking From What I Once Wore by Chris Stroffolino
Awaiting Time by Helen Shepard
Triple Threat by John Dorsey
The Law of Almosts by Mindi Kirchner
Our house on the sand by Elaine Schleiffer
Soul Picked Clean by Cat Russell
Gypsy Queen by Nicole Hennessy
and whatever else I might get done in time.

Most of our earlier titles are also in their permanent collection.

https://poetshouse.org/event/27th-annual-poets-house-showcase/

Special deal on our 10 most recent Crisis Chronicles books

Our ten latest Crisis Chronicles Press books! They are a $110 value (plus shipping) if bought individually. But PayPal $100 to jc@crisischronicles.com to get all ten postage free.

Titles you'll get:

CC#106 - The Law of Almosts by Mindi Kirchner
CC#105 - Triple Threat by John Dorsey
CC#104 - Awaiting Time by Helen Shepard
CC#103 - Drinking From What I Once Wore: Selected and Recent Poems by Chris Stroffolino
CC#102 - Malformed Confetti by Juliet Cook
CC#101 - Dodge, Tuck, Roll by Rikki Santer
CC#100 - The Strength of Flowers by Steve Thomas
CC#99 - Citizen of Metropolis by Christine Howey
CC#98 - Where Never Was Already Is by Steven B. Smith
CC#97 - Serving by Kari Gunter-Seymour

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes The Law of Almosts by Mindi Kirchner

We are extremely happy to announce the publication of The Law of Almosts, the latest poetry collection by Mindi Kirchner, one of our favorite writers. Now available for only $10 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3431 George Avenue, Parma, Ohio 44134 USA.

Where are you?

United States $10.00 USD Elsewhere $13.00 USD

The Law of Almosts is 46 pages, perfect bound, 5.5 x 8.5". Contents include "The Law of Almosts"; "Globe-Spinning"; "X by X"; "Prize"; "Love Sonnet for a Perfectionist"; "High School Yearbook"; "Ray Ann Walker, Saint Rita Church Festival, 1971"; "The Good, The Bad, and The Ocean" "Remove Sunglasses"; "Desultory"; "The Duration of Events"; "Solving for Feeling"; "Dear Loneliness"; "Christmas Communion"; "The Last In-Flight Supper"; "Naming the Baby"; "Nomenclature"; "Not My Art"; "Split Ends" "The Sweet Spot" and "Fernweh." ISBN: 978-1-64092-976-0. Front cover image created by Steven B. Smith, who used Kathy Smith's Old Comb sculpture as his subject.

Mindi Kirchner’s first chapbook, Song of the Rest of Us, won The Wick Poetry Prize, judged by Jim Daniels, and was published in 2009. The chapbook was nominated for a Lantern Award and featured in an art exhibit, Penned by Penn Staters: Books by Alumni Authors, in University Park, Pennsylvania. Kirchner has also been a finalist in the Best of Ohio Writers contest and for the Whiskey Island Poetry Prize and the Robert Hare Award. Her poems can be found in the Wick Poetry Series anthology, The Next of Us is About to Be Born. Her work has also appeared in numerous independent journals. She spent 10 years teaching composition and developmental writing at Youngstown State University. She now lives with her husband and very delightful daughter in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and teaches at Albright College in Reading. 

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes Triple Threat by John Dorsey

Crisis Chronicles Press is ecstatic to welcome the new year with the publication of John Dorsey's Triple Threat, a perfect bound collection of three chapbooks in one. John is widely esteemed as one of the best writers in America and his work is unique and essential.

Where are you?

United States $10.00 USD Elsewhere $13.00 USD

Triple Threat is 55 pages, perfect bound, 5.5x8.5". Contents include The Dusty and Lofty Dreams of Middle Class Fairy Princesses (a very rare, long out-of-print chapbook from 2004) as well as Dorsey's more recent Street Maps for Lost Souls and Ghost on the Inside. ISBN: 978-1-64092-975-3. Front cover image by Steven B. Smith.

Triple Threat is available for only $10 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3431 George Avenue, Parma, Ohio 44134 USA. 

Join us in the St. Louis area on 18 January 2019 for a special book release event, George Wallace and John Dorsey Live at the Book House, 7352 Manchester Road, Maplewood, Missouri 63143.

John Dorsey lived for several years in Toledo, Ohio. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Teaching the Dead to Sing: The Outlaw's Prayer (Rose of Sharon Press, 2006), Sodomy is a City in New Jersey (American Mettle Books, 2010), Tombstone Factory (Epic Rites Press, 2013), Appalachian Frankenstein (GTK Press, 2015), Being the Fire (Tangerine Press, 2016) and Shoot the Messenger (Red Flag Press, 2017). He is the former Poet Laureate of Belle, MO and Co-Editor, with Jason Ryberg, of the Gasconade Review. His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. You may reach him at archerevans@yahoo.com.

Ohioana Award Nominations

I am pleased to announce that five recent Crisis Chronicles Press titles have been nominated for 2019 Ohioana book awards. They are:

Serving by Kari Gunter-Seymour
Where Never Was Already Is by Steven Smith
Citizen of Metropolis by Christine Howey
Dodge, Tuck, Roll by Rikki Santer
Malformed Confetti by Juliet Cook

Fingers crossed! Good luck, you beacons of brilliance!

This Year's Crisis Chronicles Press Pushcart Prize Nominations

Crisis Chronicles Press has had the honor of publishing many excellent books by very talented poets this year. Alas, the Pushcart people only allow us to make six nominations. I would have preferred to have chosen twenty, as there were so many worthy candidates. But after some lengthy and very difficult deliberations, I finally narrowed down the field and submitted the following Pushcart Prize nominations:

"Serving"
by Kari Gunter-Seymour — from Serving (March 2018)

"Eclipse Myths"
by Steven B. Smith — from Where Never Was Already Is (April 2018)

"William Randolph Hearst, Diving Alone, San Simeon"
by Christine Howey — from Citizen of Metropolis (August 2018)

"Afterlife"
by Rikki Santer — from Dodge, Tuck, Roll (September 2018)

"assembly line doll head roach motel"
by Juliet Cook — from Malformed Confetti (October 2018)

"Questions for Google Home"
by Chris Stroffolino — from Drinking From What I Once Wore: Selected and Recent Poems (December 2018)

Best of luck to all of you!

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes Citizen of Metropolis by Christine Howey

Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the highly anticipated publication of Christine Howey's newest poetry collection, Citizen of Metropolis.

"Christine Howey’s unique brand of conversational poetry blooms brightly in Citizen of Metropolis. Like a bee nuzzling flower after flower, I found myself buzzing from poem to poem, delighted to find tales of poems with wires showing, visitors from another world, reasons to sit, and babies in treetops. Howey asks questions we’d never think to ask, and then answers them, twinkle in her eye, with penetrating wit." 
—Dianne Borsenik, editor/publisher NightBallet Press, author of Age of Aquarius

Citizen of Metropolis is 32 pages, perfect bound, 6x9", featuring cover art by Steven B. Smith, and available beginning 2 August 2018 for $7 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3431 George Avenue, Parma, Ohio 44134 USA.  Add $2 for domestic shipping

Where Do You Want It?

United States $7.00 USD Elsewhere $10.00 USD

This volume features 19 poems including "Citizen of Metropolis"; "I Don’t Like This Title"; "Things That Make Me Sit"; "Satisfaction"; "Rock-A-Bye Baby"; "One Second"; "My Muse Eats Cheetos"; "Destination Vacation"; "Meals"; "Losing It at Age 73"; "Edward Hopper, Motivational Speaker"; "An Evening Out"; "Beowulf at Breakfast"; "I Want to Write a Poem with the Wires Showing"; "My Grandson on a Sled"; "Taking Bryn, Age 7, to MOMA"; "There are Parts of My Body I No Longer Encourage People to Handle Freely"; Weather Report"; and "William Randolph Hearst, Diving Alone, San Simeon." ISBN: 978-1-64092-971-5.

Christine Howey is an actor, director, theater critic and performance poet. She was the Poet Laureate of Cleveland Heights, Ohio for 2016-2018. Her one-person stage play of poetry about her transgender journey, Exact Change, was turned into a feature film. As a play, it premiered at Cleveland Public Theatre and was an official selection of the 2015 New York International Fringe Festival. The film was an official selection of the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival in 2018. Christine has had four books of poetry published. She is also a slam poet and competed in the National Poetry Slams, in 2013 and 2017, as a member of the four-person Cleveland team. Since 2002, Christine has been the theater critic for Cleveland Scene and she also posts reviews on her blog, Rave and Pan. She has been named Best Critic in Ohio by both the Press Club of Cleveland and the Society of Professional Journalists. Christine was awarded a Creative Workforce Fellowship in 2014 from the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, and an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council in 2016, which also granted her a 13-week residency at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA. She was honored to receive the Illumination Award as the transgender leader of the year in northeast Ohio for 2015, and the Torch Award for leadership on transgender issues from the Cleveland chapter of the Human Rights Campaign in 2017.

Inspiration Showcase 7/13 in Canton

Thanks to everyone who came out to Visible Voice Books last night. Fine words and people! Smith was all that and more. If you missed it :( - or if you didn't but just want more :) - you can catch me at The Local in Canton this Friday the 13th, where Paul Mangus and I will be the featured performers, plus Writing Knights will host their first-ever "sWord fight" (between Josh Romig and Jamie Laubacher). They'll have an open mic as well. Take the Knight Off: Inspiration Showcase.

Comfest in Columbus 6/23 and Visible Voice in Cleveland 7/7

Saturday June 23rd at 5:55 p.m., Shelley Chernin and I will perform a joint set of poetry and ukulele in Columbus, Ohio, at the Peace & Healing Tent Stage during ComFest 2018 in Goodale Park. Central Ohio poets Betty Bleen, Susann Moeller, Beverly Zeimer and Alexis Rueal will also perform.

Then on Saturday July 7th at 7:30 p.m., Steven B. Smith and I will read from our new books at Visible Voice Books in Cleveland, Ohio. An open mic will follow, for anyone else who wishes to share.

Steven B. Smith is the author of Where Never Was Already Is [2018, Crisis Chronicles Press]. Shelley Chernin is the author of The Vigil [2012, Crisis Chronicles Press]. John Burroughs is the author of Loss and Foundering [2018, NightBallet Press]. All three of us are co-authors (along with Mary Weems, Kathy Smith, John Swain and Steve Brightman) of Oct Tongue -1 [2014, Crisis Chronicles Press].

For my full 2018 poetry event schedule, click here.

Kleft Crisis 2018 Gratitude

The house is finally empty again. Kinda sad to see everyone go. But what a weekend of wonder! Many thanks to Frankie Metronome and Kleft Jaw Press for inspiring this blessed mess. Gobs of gratitude to our gracious hosts Guide To Kulchur Books, Main Street Books, and Mac's Backs-Books On Coventry. Special thanks to the featured writers of #KleftCrisis2018 who traveled from far and near to share their incredible work, including: Margie Shaheed, Jeanette Powers, Iris Appelquist, Gabriel Ricard, Austin Price, Ra Washington, Mark S. Kuhar, Steve Brightman, Nathanael William Stolte, Dianne Borsenik, Shelley Chernin, Christina M. Brooks, Juliet Cook, Steve Goldberg, Clarissa Jakobsons, Heather Ann Schmidt, Kathy Smith, Steven Smith, Azriel Johnson, Alice and, again, Frankie. I also wanna thank a number of other people who made this weekend even better in myriad ways, including James Borsenik, Mark Sebastian Jordan, Suzanne DeGaetano, Peggy Honeydew, Deva Lynn, Raymond McNiece, his Tongue-in-Groove band, Llalan Fowler, Nick Gardner, Cathie Joslyn, Mike Burroughs, Michael Salinger, Sara Holbrook, and I could go on and on. You all freaking rock and I love you. Now it's back to work until I head to Athens. Looking forward to Thursday 4/26, when Athens Poet Laureate: Kari Gunter-Seymour (author of Serving, just published in March by Crisis Chronicles Press) will read at Arts West. Cheers!

Check out https://www.facebook.com/events/2061025770809966/

Kleft Crisis 2018 and Steven Smith Book Launch This Weekend!

This weekend, Crisis Chronicles Press (out of Cleveland) and Kleft Jaw Press (out of Denver) celebrate National Poetry Month by presenting a Friday/Saturday litfest you won't want to miss featuring authors from across the United States at three of the best bookstores in Ohio. Then Ray McNiece will follow it up on Sunday with a Tongue-in-Groove Poetry Jam featuring Cleveland art/poetry legend Steven Smith, whose new book, Where Never Was Already Is, was just published this month by Crisis Chronicles.

Friday 4/20, 7pm till ? at Guide to Kulchur Books
5222 Lorain Ave., Cleveland, OH 44102
featuring readings by
Iris Appelquist (Kansas City, MO)
Steve Brightman (Akron, OH)
John Burroughs (Cleveland, OH)
Ryder Collins (Milwaukee, WI)
Azriel Johnson (Canton, OH)
Mark S Kuhar (Medina, OH)
Frankie Metro (Denver, CO)
Jeanette Powers (Kansas City, MO)
Austin Price (New York, NY)
Gabriel Ricard (East Northport, NY)
Margie Shaheed (Memphis, TN)
Nathanael Stolte (Buffalo, NY)
RA Washington (Cleveland, OH)

Saturday 4/21, 2pm to 4pm at Main Street Books
104 N. Main St,, Mansfield, OH 44902
emcee: Mark Sebastian Jordan
featuring readings by
Iris Appelquist (Kansas City, MO)
Frankie Metro (Denver, CO)
Jeanette Powers (Kansas City, MO)
Gabriel Ricard (East Northport, NY)
plus open mic

Saturday 4/21, 7pm to 10pm at Mac's Backs
1820 Coventry Rd., Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
featuring readings by
Dianne Borsenik (Elyria, OH)
Theresa Brightman (Akron, OH)
Christina Brooks (Detroit, MI)
Shelley Chernin (Novelty, OH)
Ryder Collins (Milwaukee, WI)
Juliet Cook (Medina, OH)
Steve Goldberg (Cleveland, OH)
Clarissa Jakobsons (Aurora, OH)
Alynn Mahle (Mentor, OH)
Austin Price (New York, NY)
Heather Ann Schmidt (Oberlin, OH)
Margie Shaheed (Memphis, TN)
Kathy Smith (Cleveland, OH)
Steven Smith (Cleveland, OH)
Nathanael Stolte (Buffalo, NY)

Sunday 4/22, 6pm at the Millard Fillmore Presidential Library
15617 Waterloo Rd., Cleveland, Ohio 44110
Tongue-in-Groove Poetry Jam
emceed by Ray McNiece
featuring a performance by Steven Smith
plus open mic (your chance to perform with the band)

Please come celebrate with us!

Gratitude and coming up this week(end)

Thank you so much, Foam, Brett Underwood, Mic Boshans, Jim Z McGowin, Stef Russell, Thom Fletcher, Jeanette Powers, Jason Preu, Dianne Borsenik, InterUrban ArtHouse, Kevin W. Peery, the Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry, Jim Holt, Brews, John Dorsey, Jason Baldinger and everyone else who's made this leg of the tour so special! Now I'm looking forward to getting back to Ohio for the following amazing events:

4/18 in Akron: Latitudes Poetry Night feat. Dianne Borsenik
4/20: Kleft Crisis 2018 - Cleveland
4/21 2pm: Kleft Crisis 2018 - Mansfield
4/21 7 pm: Kleft Crisis 2018 - Cleveland Heights
4/22 in Cleveland: Tongue-In-Groove Poetry Jam, featuring Steven Smith
.

Busy Be thru April

The next 12 days will be a WHIRLWIND. Friday April 13th is Burroughs and Borsenik Foaming at the Mouth in St. Louis. Saturday the 14th is our FountainVerse Poetry Reading in Overland Park, Kansas. The 15th we'll be in Oklahoma. The 16th is Brews-Zing Poetry with Burroughs, Borsenik, Baldinger & Dorsey in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The 18th is Latitudes Poetry Night feat. Dianne Borsenik in Akron, Ohio. Then comes #KleftCrisis2018, our 3-venue poetry fest featuring authors from across the country: Kleft Crisis 2018 - Cleveland (20th), Kleft Crisis 2018 - Mansfield (21st at 2pm) and Kleft Crisis 2018 - Cleveland Heights (21st at 7pm). Finally, on the 22nd will be the Tongue-in-Groove Poetry Jam featuring Steven Smith at The Millard Fillmore Presidential Library in Cleveland. And as if that's not enough, after that I'll find my way to Athens Poet Laureate: Just When You Think You Know Her... in Athens, Ohio on the 26th and the Poetry Forum featuring John Burroughs on the 30th in Columbus. But believe it or not, my May might be even busier.

My full 2018 poetry event schedule is here.

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes Where Never Was Already Is by Smith

I am so very excited to announce the publication of underground art legend Steven B. Smith's magnum opus, Where Never Was Already Is, a collection of decades worth of his best poetry combined with a liberal array of his renowned collage art.

If not for discovering Smith and his work, I might never have attended a live poetry event or become a publisher. I cannot overstate his importance and influence, but not just on me. He is a master of language and rhythm and distilling innumerable harmonious essences from disparate parts. His humor is delightful and biting. His sensitivity and insight are unsurpassed. And no one is better at wordplay. Mix in love, lust, brain dust, the news, the blues and a lifetime of experiences that would make one hell of a series of movies and out comes Where Never Was Already Is, the must-have book of 2018.

Where Do You Want It?

United States $15.00 USD Elsewhere $20.00 USD

Where Never Was Already Is by Steven B. Smith is perfect bound, 6" x 9", featuring 27 collages and roughly 250 poems on 324 pages. Cover collage and author photo also by Smith. ISBN: 978-1-940996-49-3. Available for $15 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3431 George Avenue, Parma, Ohio 44134 USA.

Meet and hear Smith at these special upcoming events:
4/21 at 7pm during the Kleft Crisis 2018 poetry festival at Mac's Backs in Cleveland Heights.
4/22 at 6pm during the Tongue-in-Groove Poetry Jam at the Millard Fillmore Presidential Library in Cleveland.

Smith: poet 55 years, artist 54 years. His books include Zen Over Zero - Selected Poems 1964-2008 on City Poetry Press; Unruly on Crisis Chronicles Press; Hip Cat Femur Whack Give a Doc a Bone on NightBallet Press; and his memoir Stations of the Lost & Found, a True Tale of Armed Robbery, Stolen Cars, Outsider Art, Mutant Poetry, Underground Publishing, Robbing the Cradle, and Leaving the Country by Smith & Lady on City Poetry Press.

See his art and poetry on agentofchaos.com, Smith & Lady's blogs on walkingthinice.com, and his songs on reverbnation.com/mutantsmith where he sort of sings his words with music by Peter Ball and Billy Clarksville.

Smith says his greatest achievement is finding and marrying Lady K. 13 years ago and their selling his place to live for 31 months in 10 countries on 3 continents.