Showing posts with label John Swain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Swain. Show all posts

Friday, August 29, 2014

Remaining August in August

This has been an extremely busy month for me - but I guess that's par for the course.  I've had to run my grandson to appointments with his pediatrician, neurologist, neurosurgeon, occupational therapy, GI specialist and ENT specialist (I may be leaving something out) on top of his having to spend 24 hours in the hospital for multiple procedures at one point.  The good news is we now have a clearer idea what's causing his issues, and it seems these can be treated non-invasively.  I've also had several readings: 8/4 I hosted Monday at Mahall's in Lakewood. 8/5 I featured at Your Vine or Mine in Painesville.  8/15 I read at Voices from the Viaduct in Erie.  8/25 I attended Crisis Chronicles Press author Leah Mueller's reading in Canton.  And 8/27 we had our Oct Tongue -1 book launch at Mac's Backs in Cleveland Heights.  It's Crisis Chronicles' biggest book to date (by seven authors: Mary Weems, John Swain, Steven Smith, Lady, Shelley Chernin, Steve Brightman and myself), and getting it published in time for the event took up a lot of the first half of the month for me.  I've also been preparing for future events, including 9/1's Monday at Mahall's featuring Ray McNiece and Mary Weems.  I finally have the Mahall's lineup finalized through the end of December, and I'm really excited about it (more on that in a later post).


August also saw the official release of another big Crisis Chronicles Press book: The Night Market (poetry by D.R. Wagner with art by ReBecca Gozion).  I'm really proud of both of these books.  The Night Market took about a year and a half to publish. Oct Tongue -1 took nearly a year.  But both are well worth the wait.  I'm currently working on half a dozen other great books that are behind schedule (more on those in a future post).  And then I've had some minor car trouble.  I took my car in for an oil change and found out I had a nail in my tire and needed some kind of air filter replaced.  Then somebody walking down the street bashed my windshield with a hunk of black top.  Altogether, there went another $300.  I've only had the car slightly over a year and I've already had to invest nearly $2000 in repairs - something I had hoped to avoid when I got rid of my 1993 Buick for a 2013 Mustang.  And then, back to August, there's my on again off again job search, assorted other family needs, and I could go on and on.

The good news is I keep plugging away.  I owe you work or an email I will get to it as soon as I can.  Don't give up on me.

Much love....

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

New Book! Oct Tongue -1 by Weems, Swain, Smith, Lady, Chernin, Burroughs and Brightman to Be Released August 27th at Mac's Backs in Cleveland Heights

cover foto by Smith
Like seven 31-page chapbooks in one!

Published August 27th by Crisis Chronicles Press, Oct Tongue -1 is a collaborative book by Mary Weems, John Swain, Steven Smith, Lady [Kathy] Smith, Shelley Chernin, John Burroughs and Steve Brightman.  This book is our biggest yet, 300+ pages, featuring 217 poems (31 by each author), all written in response to the editor's October 2013 poem-a-day challenge.  [He borrowed the idea from a poem-a-day book called February 03 by Todd Colby, Alex Gildzen, Thurston Moore and Matthew Wascovich (published in 2003 by Slow Toe in Cleveland).]  Oct Tongue -1 is  a 6x9" paperback, ISBN 978-1-940996-08-0, available for $15 (now only $10) from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3344 W. 105th Street #4, Cleveland, Ohio 44111.  See October through the eyes of seven fine and quite different poets!


Please join us at these special launch events!

8/27/2014: Official Oct Tongue -1 Book Release at Mac's Backs in Cleveland Heights, Ohio
9/1/2014: Monday at Mahall's featuring Ray McNiece and Mary Weems in Lakewood, Ohio
...and perhaps more to be announced soon

About the authors:

Dr. Mary Weems is a poet, playwright, imagination-intellect theorist, social/cultural foundations scholar and former Poet Laureate of Cleveland Heights. Weems is the author and/or editor of twelve books and five chapbooks, most notably white (Wick Poetry Chapbook Series) and Tampon Class (Pavement Saw Press). Two of her books were full collections of poetry: An Unmistakable Shade of Red and the Obama Chronicles (Bottom Dog Press, 2008) and For(e)closure (Main Street Rag Press, 2012), both finalists for Ohioana Book awards.

John Swain of Louisville, Kentucky, is the author of several acclaimed books including Rain and Gravestones (2013, Crisis Chronicles), White Vases (2012, Crisis Chronicles) and Prominences (2011, Flutter Press). His latest, Ring the Sycamore Sky, is forthcoming in the summer of 2014 from Red Paint Hill Publishing.

Steven B. Smith was born, is living, will die. He's been a poet 50 years, artist 49 years, the publisher of ArtCrimes, editor of AgentOfChaos.com, he blogs on WalkingThinIce.com, and sings at ReverbNation.com/MutantSmith. Smith & Lady published his bio 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 in 2012 via The City Poetry Press.

Lady, a.k.a. Kathy Ireland Smith, is a poet, publisher, artist and surreal photographer from northeast Ohio. She and her husband Smith spent 31 months of traveling in 10 countries on 3 continents from 2006-9, and you can follow their ongoing adventures at WalkingThinIce.com. Kathy is also founder and editor of The City Poetry (thecitypoetry.com), a cutting edge art and poetry zine based in Cleveland.

Shelley Chernin is a freelance researcher, writer and editor of legal reference books and a ukulele enthusiast. Her poems have appeared in places like Great Lakes Review, Scrivener Creative Review, Rhapsoidia, Durable Goods, Big Bridge, and the Heights Observer. She was awarded 2nd Place in the 2011 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest.  Her chapbook, The Vigil, was published in 2012 by Crisis Chronicles.

Steve Brightman lives in Kent, Ohio. He firmly believes in two seasons: winter and baseball. His most recent chapbooks include 13 Ways of Looking at Lou Reed (2013, Crisis Chronicles Press), In Brilliant Explosions Alone (2013, NightBallet Press); Like Michelangelo Sorta Said (2013, The Poet’s Haven), Absent The (2013, Writing Knights Press) and Sometimes, Illinois (2011, NightBallet).

John Burroughs is the founding editor of Crisis Chronicles Press and hosts the Monday at Mahall’s Poetry and Prose Series in Lakewood, Ohio.  He is the author of It Takes More Than Chance to Make Change (2013, The Poet’s Haven), The Eater of the Absurd (2012, NightBallet Press), Barry Merry Baloney (2012, Spare Change Press), Water Works (2012, recycled karma press), Electric Company (2011, Writing Knights) and more.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Spider / Words & Wine / Voices from the Viaduct / Oct Tongue -1 Book Release

In my last blog entry, I told you about the Monday at Mahall's event I'm hosting August 4th at 7:30 p.m. with featured poets Sean Thomas Dougherty, John Dorsey and John Swain.  Now I'd like to tell you about three more readings in the coming month:

Sat. August 2nd 2014 at 3 p.m.: Green Panda Press presents a plethora of poets including Michael Salinger, Sara Holbrook, Bree, Krystal Sierra, John Swain, Russell Vidrick, Steve Goldberg, Adam Brodsky and John Burroughs at the Barking Spider Tavern on Juniper Road in Cleveland.

Tues. August 5th 2014 at 6:30 p.m.: Words and Wine featuring John Burroughs at Your Vine or Mine, 154 Main Street in Painesville, Ohio.

Fri. August 15th 2014 at 7:30 p.m.: Voices from the Viaduct featuring Ron Androla, Sean Thomas Dougherty, Ron Hayes, John Burroughs, Dianne Borsenik, Veronica Hopkins, Greg Brown, Kim Noyes, Michael Bennett, Marisa Moks-Unger, Tracie Morell and Keith Moses, hosted by Cee Williams at the McBride Viaduct, 12th Street and East Avenue in Erie, Pennsylvania.


Wed. August 27th 2014 at 7 p.m.:  The official Crisis Chronicles Press book release for Oct Tongue -1 (by Mary Weems, John Swain, Steven Smith, Lady [Kathy] Smith, Shelley Chernin, John Burroughs and Steve Brightman) will happen at Mac's Backs, 1820 Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

http://ccpress.blogspot.com/2014/07/055.html
Oct Tongue -1 cover photo by Smith

Monday, July 28, 2014

Monday at Mahall's to feature Sean Thomas Dougherty, John Dorsey & John Swain

August 4th 2014 at 7:30 p.m., join us for a fabulous night of live poetry, featuring literary treasures Sean Thomas Dougherty, John Dorsey and John Swain - plus, for any who dare, brews, bowling and a bowl-you-over open mic. It  happens at Mahall's 20 Lanes, 13200 Madison Avenue in Lakewood, Ohio.


Photo of Dougherty by John-Henry Doucette. Photo of Dorsey by Casey Rearick. Photo of Swain by John Swain

John Swain of Louisville, Kentucky, is the author of several acclaimed books including Ring the Sycamore Sky (2014, Red Paint Hill), Rain and Gravestones (2013, Crisis Chronicles), White Vases (2012, Crisis Chronicles). Oct Tongue -1 (a collaborative book by John Swain, Mary Weems, John Burroughs, Steve Brightman, Shelley Chernin and Smith and Lady) is forthcoming and may be available in time for this event.

Sean Thomas Dougherty was born in 1965 in New York City, and raised in Toledo, Ohio, and Manchester New Hampshire. As an adult he has lived significant years in Syracuse, New York, Cleveland Ohio and for more than a decade on and off in Erie, PA. He is the author or editor of thirteen books , They include All I Ask for Is Longing: Poems 1994- 2014 (2014 BOA Editions), Scything Grace (2013 Etruscan Press), Sasha Sings the Laundry on the Line (2010 BOA Editions) which was a finalist for Binghamton University’s Milton Kessler literary prize for the best book by a poet over 40, the novella The Blue City (2008 Marick Press/Wayne State University), and Broken Hallelujahs (2007 BOA Editions). His awards include two Pennsylvania Council for the Arts Fellowships in Poetry and a Fulbright Lectureship to the Balkans. Known for his dynamic performances. he currently works at a pool hall, teaches private students and travels widely for readings.

John Dorsey was born in a military hospital in Hawaii in 1976. Raised in Western Pennsylvania, he has traveled extensively reading his poetry and speaking all over the world for the past 20 years in esteemed venues such as Assumption College in Worcester, MA, Cleveland State University in Cleveland, OH, The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, The University of Toledo in Toledo, OH, and The Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center in Venice, CA. Full length collections include Holy Toledo: The Sonnet River Volume (Sleepy Brooklyn, 2008), Sodomy is a City in New Jersey (American Mettle Books/Grievous Jones Press, 2010), Tombstone Factory (Epic Rites Press, 2013) and Natural Selection: Early Poems (Kilmog Press, 2014). He is also the Co-Editor of Numbskull Sutra, the Selected, Collected, and Rejected Poems of S.A. Griffin (Rank Stranger Press, 2007). His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and has appeared in magazines and anthologies in at least 20 different counties. He may be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com