Saturday, December 29, 2018

Video: Judge Marks in Mansfield, 10/20/2018

Sandra Feen, Dianne Borsenik & me
10/20/2018 at Main Street Books
Many thanks to Voices from the Borderlands for this video of me reading my poem "Judge Marks" on 20 October 2018 during the Borderlands open mic following Concrete Wink's feature at Main Street Books in Mansfield, Ohio!

The title "Judge Marks" is a play on the name Mark Judge, who once upon a time was [in]Justice Brett Kavanaugh's drinking buddy. I wrote the poem after learning of Kavanaugh's confirmation.

Watch: 

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes Awaiting Time by Helen Shepard

Crisis Chronicles Press is very pleased to celebrate the December holidays by publishing Awaiting Time, a duende-infused poetry collection by the inimitable Helen Shepard

Where are you?


Awaiting Time is 48 pages, perfect bound, 5.5x8.5" and features 37 of Shepard's most engaging works, some in Spanish but mostly in English, including "Listening to Flamenco," "Ilusiones," "Más Ilusiones," "Blood Stains," "Garden of Delights," "I Need to Take Apart My Thoughts," "Circular Reincarnation," "Living with Eternity" and "When Blue Was Green." ISBN: 978-1-64092-974-6. Cover art: Ya tienen asiento by Goya

Available for $10 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3431 George Avenue, Parma, Ohio 44134 USA.

Helen Shepard of Oberlin, Ohio, taught for decades at Lorain County Community College and retired as an Associate Professor of Spanish. For many years after, she continued giving courses for their Center for Lifelong Learning. Helen has lived all over, from American Samoa to Spain, and traveled extensively. Her previous publications include "Camilo Castelo Branco and the Portuguese Inquisition" in New Horizons in Sephardic Studies. She has presented poetry at Snoetry: A Winter Wordfest, the Cleveland Museum of Art and countless other noteworthy locations. To find out more about Helen, please visit www.helenshepard.com or contact her on Facebook.

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

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!

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Dianne and I Cousins and my Top Songs in 2018

Still ill. But awoke to some very interesting news. 1) Dianne Borsenik got her DNA tested (I had mine done 2013) and we have discovered that we are 3rd cousins. 2) I also learned that one of our mutual ancestors, Guy Keith (my great great great grandfather on my father's mom's side), was a Union soldier who died as a prisoner of war at the Belle Isle Confederate prison in Richmond. 3) Finally, but less surprising, Spotify sent me my 2018 stats. The artist I listed to most was Prince (37 hours!). But the songs I listened to most (at least on Spotify) over the course of the year were: 
https://open.spotify.com/user/spotify/playlist/37i9dQZF1EjgE44NdBQroU?si=x32e8zLoRj2vRRoFVzoBLQ





Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Home, Sick, PoetryBay, Pizzazz

11/29 during Neuronautic Institute Presents at the
KGB Bar's Red Room in New York City
[photo by Matthew Hupert]
It's good to be home, except for coming down with a cold. Maybe it's from touching too many poles in subways.

I am even more behind than usual on messages and work. I planned to spend today catching up, but my head feels like it weighs 50 pounds, so I'm taking it easy. I apologize to anyone I haven't gotten back to expeditiously. As soon as I can....
Meanwhile, I am extremely grateful to Francine Witte and PoetryBay for this review of Thursday's New York reading with Matthew Hupert and Kat Georges:

Downtown Legends & ‘Mr. Cleveland Pizzazz’ Heat Up NYC Night At KGB.

11/29 during Neuronautic Institute Presents
[photo by Max Chernin]
https://www.facebook.com/notes/poetrybay/downtown-legends-mr-cleveland-pizzazz-heat-up-nyc-night-at-kgbs/2108260409224896/