Remembering Geri

Three years ago today, Geri posted this photo of us on Facebook. We never imagined that exactly one year later, when I left her at the hospital to go home and get some sleep, it would be the last time I saw her alive. She passed away on the morning of February 8th 2017. It feels like yesterday, or tomorrow. And there remain gaping holes that can never be filled.

With Her or Wither

On our way home from the hospital yesterday we passed the elections office and decided to go in and cast our ballots on the first day of early voting. I've spent more time than you know reading all the news, facts, opinions and conspiracy theories, and I've made the decision that I believe, all things considered, is best for me, my family, the American people and the world. When we got home, as I was trying to get my wife inside and settled in, some guy who was driving down our street saw this sign in our lawn, stopped in front of our house and started screaming at us at the top of his lungs and in a menacing fashion, "Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!" 

The last I checked, sending someone to prison who hasn't been found guilty of a crime by a jury of his or her peers (after due process of law) is unconstitutional, un-American, inhumane and even criminal. This type of crap (and not just this, by any means) is precisely why I feel we must vote for Hillary Clinton and ensure the defeat of hatemongering bully Donald J. Trump. In a more perfect world and time, I might have voted for a third party candidate (as I've done in the past), though it sure wouldn't have been the Libertarian. But this isn't that world or time, especially as I live in the too-close-to-call swing state of Ohio. 

So the deed is done and I feel good that we gave our votes to Hillary Clinton, Ted Strickland, Marcy Kaptur and the Parma City School District. I don't call you names or try to bully you or scream at your house if we disagree, so I hope you will extend the same courtesy to me and my friends and family.

Peace, love and respect,
John

Delirious: A Poetic Celebration of Prince

Many thanks to NightBallet Press for including my poem "From Genesis to Exodus" in their marvelous new anthology, Delirious: A Poetic Celebration of Prince. I'm also thrilled that they used one of my photos on the front cover. The book's official release date is June 7th, which would have been Prince's 58th birthday, but you can order now for only $10 plus shipping.

Three June Gigs, 2016 So Far, and Crisis Chronicles Press Titles to Come

It's been a busy busy busy past five months for me.  For the first time ever, Crisis Chronicles Press published 10 titles before the midpoint of the year.  Good thing, too, as we still have 19 more titles we plan to publish in the next twelve months. I've also given 11 readings so far this year, with 7 more to come.  I made my first-ever trip west of the Mississippi River and first-ever visits to Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Iowa. My father-in-law Arthur passed away in March. And I began a new day job in May, which soon gave way to an even newer and more time consuming job.

The next three titles Crisis Chronicles Press plans to publish are Ode to Horatio and Other Saviors by Carolyn Srygley-Moore, Inquiry into Loneliness by Meg Harris and an as-yet-untitled collection by Helen Shepard.  After those are out, the press will be caught up to October 2014 and less than two years behind for the first time in, well, years. Titles we are committed to publishing after that include work by Juliet Cook, Christopher Franke, Eric Anderson, Mark Sebastian Jordan, George Wallace, Lyn Lifshin, Margaret Bashaar, Dianne Borsenik, Kathleen Cerveny, John Greiner, Lisa Cihlar, Luba Gawur, Elliot Nicely, Michael Estabrook, Christopher Mulrooney, Dion Farquhar, Sarah Frances Moran, Steven B. Smith, John Dorsey, Victor Clevenger, Chansonette Buck and John Swain.

Finally (for now), I'm very much looking forward to my next three reading gigs, all in new (to me) venues and with a wide and fine assortment of poets.

Shout out to Chandra Alderman, who took this photo of me. Not sure who the other photographers are.

Sat. June 4th - Cleveland OH - 8 to 10:30 pm
Gather at Twelve Literary and Performance Arts Incubator.  Hosted by Eris Eady. "This debut edition of Gather features poets John Burroughs, Daniel Gray-Kontar, Alishia McCoy, Terry Provost, and Marisol Ramos performing work in the tradition of improvisational jazz solos." 

Sun. June 12th - Toledo, OH - 6 to 8 pm
Cloistered Poetry at the Black Cloister Brewing Company. Hosted by Jonie McIntire.  Featured poets John Burroughs, Dianne Borsenik, Bill Hurley, Leonard Kress, Jackie Koch and Tom Barden will throw down. Open mic too.

Sat. June 18th (Please note: rescheduled to August 27th) - Pittsburgh, PA - 8 pm
Free Jesus Poems About Jesus at Most Wanted Fine Art. Hosted by Rachael Deacon and Margaret Bashaar.  Featured performers will include Requiem, Art Ettinger, Skot Jones, T.A. Noonan and many more.  Hyacinth Girl Press will release the book Free Jesus Poems About Jesus.  Open mic too.

See the rest of my 2016 poetry reading tour dates here.

2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest Winners

What a great day of poetry and friends new and old from far and near at the Barking Spider Tavern Saturday! Many thanks to everyone who contributed and participated. I am pleased to announce that the winners of this year's Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest are:

1st Place: Rosemarie Wilson (a.k.a. One Single Rose), "Motown Blues"
2nd Place: Tanya Grossner Pilumeli, "Sane"
3rd Place: Mindi Kirchner-Greenway, "In Medias Res"

These three fine poets will read their winning entries at the historic 2016 Hessler Street Fair Sunday 22 May between 1 and 2 p.m., simulcast on WRUW-FM 91.1 Cleveland.

Copies of this new anthology are available from Mac's Backs-Books On Coventry and at the Fair itself.  Read more about it here.

1st Place winner Rosemarie Wilson - photo by William Clarence Marshall

Crisis Chronicles Press presents the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology

Crisis Chronicles Press is pleased to present the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology, featuring 108 poems by 106 writers from Greater Cleveland and around the world. Join us for the official release 7 May 2015, 3 p.m., at the Barking Spider Tavern, 11310 Juniper Road in Cleveland, Ohio. This book is perfect bound, 154 pages, edited by John Burroughs and available for $14, either at the launch event, from Mac's Backs or on May 21-22th at the Hessler Street Fair itself. Cover art by Frankie Metro.
 

Mac's Backs - Books on Coventry
1820 Coventry Road
Cleveland Heights, Ohio  
(216) 321-2665
info@macsbacks.com
 

This edition of the annual Hessler Street Fair anthology is our biggest yet, featuring poems by A.D. Adams, Stephanie Alexander, Michael J. Arcangelini, Jameson Bayles, Dianne Borsenik, Colton Bose, Jeffrey Bowen, Nancy Brady, Steve Brightman, Theresa Göttl Brightman, Christina M. Brooks, Skylark Bruce, William Burkholder, Chad Burrall, John Burroughs, Joann Celleghin, Michael Ceraolo, Shelley Chernin, Charles Cicirella, Lorraine Cipriano, Victor Clevenger, Wanda Morrow Clevenger, Caitlin Blair Cogar, Juliet Cook, A.S. Coomer, Roger Craik, Subhankar Das, Lori Dean, Patricia Dengler, Christine Donofrio, John Dorsey, Kevin Eberhardt, Poetessa Leixyl Kaye Emmerson, Diane Vogel Ferri, Richard Ferris, Francine Flatley, Justyce Foss, Kelle Grace Gaddis, Joshua Gage, Hannah Gates, Christopher Alexander Gellert, Ken Gradomski, Michael Grover, Jennifer Hambrick, Richard Harries, Charles Robert Hice, Veronica Hopkins, Alina Howard, Christine Howey, Dionne D. Hunter, Clarissa Jakobsons, Azriel Johnson, Chuck Joy, Stan Kaufman, Sue Kaufman, Diane Kendig, Kim theBwordpoet, Mindi Kirchner-Greenway, Paul Koniecki, Leonard Kress, Tom Kryss, Lori Ann Kusterbeck, Jill Lange, Phyllis Lee, Lennart Lundh, Susan Mallernee, Marc Mannheimer, Julie Ursem Marchand, Elizabeth Marino, Jonie McIntire, Sarah McIntosh, Frankie Metro, Marisa Moks-Unger, Anne Marie Moore, Laura Moore, Tracie Morell, Leah Mueller, Elliot Nicely, Tanya Pilumeli, Alois Polzer. Tam e. Polzer, Valentina Ranaldi-Adams, Brianna Robinson, Melissa Rose, Damian Rucci, Rikki Santer, Sharon M. Senal, Elizabeth Senn, Aisha Marie Smith, Kevin Frederick Smith, Rob Smith, Steven B. Smith, John Stickney, Katherine Sturniolo, Brian W. Taylor, Jonathan Thorn, Anna Marie Tokarsky, Kerry Trautman, Mary A. Turzillo, D.R. Wagner, Scott Wannberg, Alinda Dickinson Wasner, Laura Grace Weldon, Madison Whitacre, Rosemarie Wilson, and Eva Xanthopoulos. 

Contributors may show up at either event or contact Suzanne at Mac's to procure a copy for half price.

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes God Save Your Mad Parade by Austen Roye

cover photo by Chandra Alderman

Crisis Chronicles Press is very pleased to announce the release of God Save Your Mad Parade by Austen Roye, a thirty-three piece collection of poetry, both narrative and otherwise, depicting the moments comprising a world far too evolved for its own good.

Where Do You Want It?

United States $10.00 USD Elsewhere $13.00 USD

God Save Your Mad Parade is 60 pages, paperback, available for only $10 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3344 W. 105th Street #4, Cleveland, Ohio 44111 USA.

Officially published 6 April 2016.
ISBN: 978-1-940996-36-3.

Austen Roye is a writer and musician from Cleburne, Texas.  He has previously published a wide range of work in numerous literary magazines and has recently begun work on his next poetry collection, as well as a novel. In recent years he has relocated to Denton, Texas, where he lives with his girlfriend and a blue-eyed, food-thieving, lovably lazy catahoula/lab mix named Reggie.

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes Ship of Theseus by Christopher Willard

Crisis Chronicles Press is very pleased to announce the publication of Ship of Theseus, a brilliant new poetic work by Christopher Willard.

Where Do You Want It?

United States $7.00 USD Elsewhere $10.00 USD

"Prepare for an ascent into the maelstrom, where the huckleberries howl and butterflies twirl, caught in the F5 tornadoes they created 10,000 wingflaps ago. The pitch and yaw of the deck is so scintillating you'll know why Christopher typed this with his tongue, and you'll never guess it's a replacement crew until they sing a sick sea shanty explaining why there is something rather than nothing. Walking the plank will never be the same." 
—William Merricle, author of Fractured Fairy Tales and Grace, You Let the Screen Door Slam

Ship of Theseus is 32 pages, perfect bound, 5.5 x 8.5", featuring cover art by Steven B. Smith. ISBN 978-1-940996-35-6. Published 31 March 2016. Available for $7 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3344 W. 105th Street #4, Cleveland, Ohio 44111 USA.

Brief bio of Christopher Willard:

Published novels: Sundre and Garbage Head.  Shorter works have have appeared in Salon, World Literature Today, Canadian Verse 2, Third Wednesday, Ranfurly Review, Ars Medica, Ukula, Coffee House Press, Broken Pencil, Sobriquet, and in the anthologies Can’t Lit: Fearless Fiction;  Double Lives: Reinventing & Those We Left Behind;  and Poet to Poet: Poems Written to Poets and the Stories that Inspired Them. My writing often takes place under the watchful eyes of my cats, Squeaky and Twinkle. I currently teach at the Alberta College of Art and Design.

Six Inches of Beat Attitude

Thank you so much to Charles Joseph and Five 2 One Magazine for this review of my Beat Attitude chapbook (from NightBallet Press). Comes with interview. Six Inches of Glory indeed. I appreciate you giving it to me good.

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes Under My Dark: Poems by Lana Bella

Crisis Chronicles Press is very pleased to announce the publication of Under My Dark by Lana Bella. This is the latest release in our NineSense series of 9-poem chapbooks by writers you need to read.

Where Do You Want It?

United States $4.99 USD Elsewhere $9.99 USD

Lana's writing is uniquely beautiful.  Highlights of Under My Dark include "The House of Wrinkled Bones," "A Violet Rain" "The Trumpet Man," "A Night in Harlem" and the title poem. This chapbook is available beginning 17 March 2016 for only $4.99 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3344 W. 105th Street #4, Cleveland, Ohio 44111 USA.

Under My Dark is hand assembled, saddle stapled, bound with white cover stock, black card stock end papers and ivory parchment pages. Cover photo by Steven Smith. 8.5 x 5.5". Laser printed. ISBN: 978-1-940996-33-2. Limited 1st edition of 99 copies.

A Pushcart nominee, Lana Bella is an author of two chapbooks (her second is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press). She has had her poetry and fiction featured in over 180 journals, including Chiron Review, Coe Review, Columbia Journal, Elohi Gadugi, Foundling Review, Fourth & Sycamore, Galway Review, Gravel Review, Literary Orphans, Lost Coast Review, Poetry Salzburg Review, Poetry Quarterly, Roanoke Review and Sentinel Quarterly. She resides in the US and in the coastal town of Nha Trang, Vietnam, where she is a mom of two far-too-clever frolicsome imps.   

Find her at facebook.com/niaallanpoe.

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes When You Don't Know Who You Are by Alinda Dickinson Wasner

Crisis Chronicles Press is very happy to announce the imminent publication of When You Don't Know Who You Are, a stunning new cycle of poems by Alinda Dickinson Wasner.

Choose Your Location

United States $10.00 USD Elsewhere $15.00 USD

"Alinda Wasner has long been known as one of Detroit's finest poets, and this stunning, stark and deeply felt collection shows us why. Readers can see an experienced poet at work with her craft exploring the very essence of her own being and her own unique past. The poems in When You Don't Know Who You Are are filled with brilliant poetic sensibilities that will allow readers to grasp the poet's painful memories as she faces the buried ghosts of her past. Ms. Wasner's poetry allows us to feel, question and consider our own reality and who we really are. Through this poetic journey, we see our own journey as we 'swim into someone else's dreams.'"
          —M.L. Liebler, author of I Want to Be Once.

"In When You Don't Know Who You Are, Alinda Wasner takes on questions of identity and the meaning of family. These poems glow with clarity and a willingness to use imagination to uncover the truth. In "Faith," the narrator questions the Bible, the adoption story she's been told, and the myths of loss. In the title poem, Wasner shows the adopted adult as she experiments with alternative identities.  Every casual contact wants to know her ethnicity, and it's painful because she doesn't know the answer. Yet the narrator has to admit not being tied to a single story leaves room to 'make things up.' It's this longing to know the truth and also to find 'a God / who can take two halves of a baby / and put them together again' that gives these poems their strength and makes reading them a pleasure."
          —Dawn McDuffie, author of Bulky pick Up Day and Flag Day in Detroit

When You Don't Know Who You Are is 66 pages, paperback, ISBN 978-1-940996-32-5, and available 17 March 2016 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3344 W. 105th Street #4, Cleveland, Ohio 44111 USA.

Alinda Dickinson Wasner’s work has appeared in 40 small press print and online journals. She has won many literary prizes including several Tompkins Awards, a Wittenberg University Writer’s Award, an Atlanta Review Prize, a Mr. Cogito Press Award, a Chicago Poetry Center juried prize, MacGuffin prize, Metro Times award, the Judith Siegal Pearson prize, and a Prague Writer’s fellowship, among others, and in 2012 received 2nd place in Ireland’s International Poetry Prize. She was also nominated for the 2011 Best of the Net Award.

Her collection, Still Burning [2015], is available from Ex Libris, Amazon, and B&N. Listed in Poets and Writers, Wasner lives and writes in Beverly Hills, Michigan.

Accepting Submissions for Hessler Poetry Contest / Anthology

During the month of March 2016 Crisis Chronicles Press is accepting submissions for the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest and its corresponding anthology. Contest is free to enter and open to anyone age 14 and up. Winners will receive cash prizes and get to read their poems live at this year's Fair.

• 1st Place winning poet will receive $100
• 2nd Place winning poet will receive $50
• 3rd Place winning poet will receive $25

 

When and where:

Submissions will be accepted from March 1st to March 31st 2016. We will let you know by April 30th if your work has been accepted for the anthology. Poets will be invited to read their accepted works during the contest reading. The poetry contest reading will take place May 7th, 3 pm, at the Barking Spider Tavern, 11310 Juniper Road, near the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Shortly after the reading, our panel of judges will select three winners to receive cash prizes and read live at the Hessler Street Fair itself.

The 2016 Hessler Street Fair will take place May 21st and 22nd from 11 am to dusk, rain or shine, on Hessler Road and Hessler Court in Cleveland. The exact time of winning poets' reading will be announced soon.

 

Before you submit, please read these guidelines:

• Submit up to 5 original poems or 5 images of your own original art via email to hesslerpoetry@crisischronicles.com (no snail mail entries, please).
• Please include your name, street address, city, state, zip code, telephone number and e-mail address with your submission(s).
• Please remember the deadline is midnight on March 31st. We will not have time to consider works submitted later than that.
• Poets and artists published in the book retain all rights to their work.
• Any accepted art work will be printed in black and white.
• Unpublished work is preferred. But previously published work is acceptable if we love it (let us know who the original publisher is so we may include them in our acknowledgments).
• The contest reading will be held at the Barking Spider Tavern on Saturday May 7th, 2016 at 3pm. About 20 minutes after all participating poets have read, the winners will be announced and prizes handed out. If you have won 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Place in the Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest in the last three years, you are welcome to submit to the book and read your poem, but you will not be eligible to win a prize. Prize winners are also expected to read on the designated day during the Hessler Street Fair.

 

Contributor copies:

Contributors to the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology will be able to purchase a copy of the book for half price from the Hessler Street Fair Booth during the Fair, or at Mac's Backs Books, 1820 Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights (216-321-2665 / macsbacks.com). We regret that we cannot afford to provide free contributor copies in print at this time. However, we will make a free pdf version of the book available to the public in late 2016.

 

FCC Guidelines:

Poetry has always been an integral part of the Hessler Street Fair, sometimes having its own stage on the street and sometimes combining with music on the main stage, but always doing something interesting. The top three winners will be given the opportunity to read from the stage at the Hessler Street Fair, simulcast on live radio and the web, during the Fair. Poetry read on air must not include any words designated to be obscene language by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

We welcome a diversity of styles and subject matter. Poems that don't meet the FCC guidelines can still be submitted and may be accepted for publication in the book. But they won't be eligible to win a prize since the winning poems will be read on air.

 

Special thanks to:

• Mac's Backs ~ Books on Coventry, 1820 Coventry Rd., Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
• Barking Spider Tavern, 11310 Juniper Road, Cleveland, Ohio.
• Crisis Chronicles Press, Cleveland, Ohio.

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes Fractured Fairy Tales by William Merricle

Crisis Chronicles Press gleefully announces the publication of Fractured Fairy Tales, a new chapbook by William Merricle, on 26 February 2016.  Merricle has long been one of my favorite writers, with incomparable wit, wordplay, dark humor and insight. And this collection of 29 poem tales showcases his work at its finest.  Only $7 US from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3344 W. 105th Street #4, Cleveland, Ohio 44111 USA.

Choose Your Location

North America $7.00 USD Elsewhere $10.00 USD

Fractured Fairy Tales is 34 pages, hand assembled and saddle stapled, with red card stock cover, black card stock end papers and white pages. Laser printed. 8.5 x 5.5". ISBN 978-1-940996-31-8. Limited first edition of 99 copies.

Merricle in Cleveland [photo by Chandra Alderman]

William Merricle, of Lima, Ohio, has had many poems published in this and a previous century. His most recent chapbooks are Grace, You Let the Screen Door Slam (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2011) and Chaos Theory (NightBallet Press, 2013).

Ryberg, Pavey, Bayles, Borsenik & Burroughs this weekend at Mac's & Kulchur

[Cross-posted from Cleveland Poetics:]

Cleveland: A Premier Literary Destination

Poets from all over hear (or already know) about the lively Cleveland area literary scene and look forward to coming (and coming back) as soon and as often as possible.  This week is no exception, as several well-regarded out-of-state poets will be here to share their literary wares. Two of the more notable events will happen Saturday 2/27 at Mac's Backs and Sunday 2/28 at Guide to Kulchur.  So whether you're an east-sider, a west-sider, or the more adventurous sort who enjoys the best of both, you have something to look forward to. It won't be the same reading twice, but it will be supremely worth your while both times.  The visiting poets will include: 

Jason Ryberg is the author of nine books of poetry, six screenplays, a few short stories, a box full of folders, notebooks and scraps of paper that could one day be (loosely) construed as a novel, and, a couple of angry letters to various magazine and newspaper editors. He is currently an artist-in residence at The Prospero Institute of Disquieted P/o/e/t/i/c/s and an aspiring b-movie actor. His latest collections of poems are Motel, Diner, Liquor (co-authored with John Dorsey, Jason Hardung and Seth Elkins, Spartan Press, 2014) and Beauty Parlors,Train Yards and Everything In Between (co-authored with George Wallace, David Smith and Charly Fasano, Spartan Press, 2014). He lives in Kansas City, Missouri with a rooster named Little Red and a billy goat named Giuseppe.

Shawn Pavey has delivered newspapers, mowed lawns, bagged groceries, cut meat, laid sewer pipe, bussed tables, washed dishes, roofed houses, crunched numbers, rented cars, worked in hotels, worn an apron at Kinko's, and been paid to write everything from résumés to music reviews. Currently, he earns a living as a Technical Recruiter in Mission, KS where he lives with his fiancée and three worthless but adorable cats. He is the author of Talking to Shadows (Main Street Rag Press, 2008) and Nobody Steals the Towels From a Motel 6 (2015, Spartan Press), Co-founder and former Associate Editor of The Main Street Rag Literary Journal, and a former board member and officer of The Writers Place, a Kansas City-based literary non-profit. His poems, essays, and journalism appear in a variety of national and regional publications. He's hosted poetry readings in bars, coffee shops, haunted houses, bookstores, libraries, front porches, and abandoned warehouses. A graduate of the University of North Carolina's Undergraduate Honors Creative Writing Program, he likes his Tom Waits loud, his bourbon single barrel, and his basketball Carolina Blue.

Jameson Bayles: A side effect of the military industrial complex, Jameson Bayles was born at the hospital at Forbes Field AFB just south of Topeka, KS. By the age of eighteen, Jameson had participated in a refueling mission with F-16s over the skies in South Dakota, stood atop of an active missle silo, and was the bait in a counter terrorism exercise with Air Force Special Forces at Whiteman AFB. After watching Krist Novoselic obtaining a head injury at the 1992 MTV music awards, Jameson decided to pursue the path of becoming a poet and eventually crawled into a dimly lit coffeeshop in dowtown Topeka in 1997 participating in his first open mic. Jameson Bayles is the senior editor of Asinimali Publications based in Kansas City, MO and the curator of The Cellar Poetry Series at the Weston Wine Company in Weston, MO. Jameson has been published in numerous literary journals and magazines and currently, his work can be found in three books. “The Cataman Years”, published by Mistop Publications, “The Artistic Muses” published by True Color Press and the collaborative reader "A Case For Ascension" by Asinimali Publications. Jameson resides in Kansas City, Missouri and can be reached at jamesonbayles@gmail.com.

And they will be joined by two Cleveland favorites:

Dianne Borsenik is active in the northern Ohio poetry scene and regional reading circuit. Her poems have appeared in Great Lakes Review, Slipstream, Rosebud, and many others; upcoming publications include Pittsburgh Poetry Review, Dirty Chai, and The Stars Look Very Different Today: A David Bowie Tribute (Poems-For-All). Her poem "Disco" was chosen to be printed on the 2015 Youngstown Summer Festival of the Arts tote bags and on Lit Youngstown tee shirts. In 2011 she founded NightBallet Press, and in September 2015 produced BeatStreet Cleveland as part of the International Beat Poetry Festival. She lives in Elyria with husband James and dog-sons Bodhisattva and Michel-Angelo. Find her at www.dianneborsenik.com.

John Burroughs was born in West Virginia, raised in Elyria, Ohio, and now lives and works in Cleveland. Along the way, he won the first poetry competition he entered as a high school student, served for several years as playwright-in-residence at Marion Correctional Institution, became a number one blogger on MySpace, won his first-ever poetry slam in his 40s, has hosted several esteemed reading series, and co-founded the annual Snoetry: A Winter Wordfest. John's poetry volumes include Beat Attitude [2015, NightBallet Press], It Takes More Than Chance to Make Change [2013, The Poet's Haven], The Eater of the Absurd [2012, NightBallet], Barry Merry Baloney [2012, Spare Change Press] and the collaborative book Oct Tongue -1 (with Weems, Swain, Smith, Lady, Chernin and Brightman). Since 2008, Burroughs has run Crisis Chronicles Press, publishing fine indie writers from around the world.

So please join us this weekend and give our visiting artists a warm Cleveland welcome!

February 27th at 7 pm - KC & CLE: A Case for Ascension at Mac's Backs
Mac's Backs - Books on Coventry
1820 Coventry Road
Cleveland, Heights, Ohio
(216) 321-2665

February 28th at 7 pm - Guide to Kulchur Red Room Reading Series
Guide to Kulchur: Text, Art & News
5900 Detroit Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio
(216) 314-4644

Bye Bye Bushie

As much as I didn't want another Bush president, to me Jeb Bush was the sanest, brightest and least frightening of the remaining GOP lot. But he also had the least pizzazz. People tired (or not) of money buying elections still want pizzazz. His exclamation point wasn't enough for most voters.

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes xx poems by Jennifer MacBain-Stephens

Crisis Chronicles Press is very happy to announce the publication of xx poems by Jennifer MacBain-Stephens. This is the latest release in our Ninesense series of 9-poem chapbooks by writers you need to read.

"Clearly, MacBain-Stephens understands the texture of words, understands the need to feel them on teeth and tongue.  In one poem, she writes 'We are accustomed to the language of the torso.'  Her language is that of the synapse, firing off psychedelic sparks that invite, intrigue, and infiltrate."

      —Dianne Borsenik, editor at NightBallet Press

xx poems is hand assembled, saddle stapled, bound with white cover stock, black card stock end papers and ivory/cream parchment pages. Cover photo by Steven Smith. 8.5x5.5". ISBN 978-1-940996-30-1. Available beginning 11 February 2016 for only $4.99 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3344 W. 105th Street #4, Cleveland, Ohio 44111 USA.

Jennifer MacBain-Stephens went to NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and now lives in the DC area. Other chapbooks are out or forthcoming from Grey Book Press, Dancing Girl Press and Shirt Pocket Press. Her first full length collection is forthcoming from Lucky Bastard Press. Recent work can be seen or is forthcoming at Jet Fuel Review, Pith, Freezeray, So to Speak, Entropy, Right Hand Pointing, Chiron Review, Cider Press Review and decomP.

Visit http://jennifermacbainstephens.wordpress.com.

Bernie Sanders’ lack of religion makes him better for America

Please read this very thoughtful essay by Jennifer Michael Hecht at Quartz:

http://qz.com/609533/bernie-sanders-lack-of-religion-makes-him-better-for-america/

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes Special Watch by Richard M. O'Donnell

Crisis Chronicles Press is happy to announce the publication of Special Watch, a chapbook by Richard M. O'Donnell, on 31 January 2016. These prose poems are sensitive and often dark true accounts from the author's time working around maternity, pediatrics and the mentally disturbed at the nation's oldest naval hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Choose Your Location

North America $7.00 USD Elsewhere $10.00 USD

Special Watch is 24 pages, hand assembled and saddle stapled, 8.5 x 5.5", laser printed on white pages with black card stock end papers wrapped in pale charcoal cover stock. ISBN 978-1-940996-29-5. Limited edition. Only $7 US from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3344 W. 105th Street #4, Cleveland, Ohio 44111.

O'Donnell [photo by Kathleen Horton]

Richard M. O'Donnell‘s works have appeared in many venues including Sniplits audio stories, Everyday Poets, Everyday Fiction, the North Coast Review and The Gamut, to name a few.  He is the co-founder and facilitator of The Oberlin Writers Group and the founder and facilitator of the Infinite Monkey Sci-fi/Fantasy Writers.  A link to his online publications and YouTube films is available at www.wormsview.com.

Crisis Chronicles Press publishes Azriel Johnson's The Gravity of Chainsaws

cover photo by Steven B. Smith

Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the publication of Azriel Johnson's latest poetry chapbook, The Gravity of Chainsaws,  on 18 January 2016. This themed cycle of poems is being called Johnson's best work yet, and we agree. Get it while it's hot.

The Gravity of Chainsaws is 34 pages, hand assembled and saddle stapled, 8.5 x 5.5", laser printed on white pages with dark cream parchment endpapers wrapped in blue-gray cover stock. ISBN 978-1-940996-28-8. Limited edition. Only $7 US from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3344 W. 105th Street #4, Cleveland, Ohio 44111.

Choose Your Location

North America $7.00 USD Elsewhere $10.00 USD

author photo by Jen Pezzo

We  had  the official book launch (and author's birthday bash) on 18 January 2016 from 7 to 9 p.m. during Stark Knights at Cultured Coffee Co, 309 Cleveland Avenue NW in Canton, Ohio.

Azriel Johnson is a poet, novelist, and all around shady character; an ink spatter analyst by day and a serial writer by night; shaman of the International Temple of Self Expression; and the founder and director of Writing Knights Press. His other books include Hellfire, Heavensent thru Writing Knights, Poemaholic thru The Poet's Haven and his recently released fantasy / alternate history novel Sunset Red.

Happy new year to me from Alex Gildzen

The postman brought me a lovely gift of Gildzen memories today <3

A photo posted by John Burroughs (@crisischronicles) on Jan 13, 2016 at 4:24pm PST

More on Gildzen's blog.