Chernin and Burroughs Return to Youngstown January 8th

On the second Wednesday of 2020, I will have the honor of returning to Youngstown to read with Shelley Chernin at The Soap Gallery as part of my Rattle and Numb poetry tour. Many thanks to Karen Schubert and Lit Youngstown for inviting us! Crisis Chronicles Press will reprint Shelley's 2012 chapbook, The Vigil, to honor the occasion. An open mic emceed by Rae McCann will follow our readings. And we'll be celebrating National Toffee Day! (Toffee is my favorite candy.)

John Burroughs & Shelley Chernin
Wednesday 8 January 2020 at 7 p.m.

The Soap Gallery
117 S. Champion Street
Youngstown, Ohio 44503

Hope to see you there! 

Though Youngstown is one of my favorite poetry cities, I've only read there two times before:

• 4 May 2016 with Dianne Borsenik & Mathew Minicucci at Susie's Dogs & Drafts
• 1 May 2011 with Dianne Borsenik, Shelley Chernin, Karen Schubert, Steve Thomas, Mindi Kirchner-Greenway and many more during the Ward Bakery Open Studio Reading.

What's Up with Crisis Chronicles Press?

People keep asking me what's up with Crisis Chronicles Press. Here's the short answer:

Our 2019 titles so far

1) EVENTS: A) We'll be in Kansas City this weekend (October 11-13) for Fountainverse: KC Small Press Poetry Fest. B) On November 23rd, we will team up with NightBallet Press to present readings by our Class of 2019 authors during Streetlight Imaginations with Crisis Chronicles & NightBallet at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library. C) I am also hosting (at least through March 2020) the Poetry+ reading series on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at Art on Madison in Lakewood, Ohio.

2) BOOKS: It's hard to believe we published 5 wonderful books (by John Dorsey, Mindi Kirchner-Greenway, Elaine Schleiffer, Cat Russell and Nicole Hennessy) in the first four months of 2019 and we haven't published a new one since (I've been too busy with a million things). But over the summer several of our recent titles did go into second printings. We still have eight books in our committed-to-publishing queue. We intend to publish three of them (So Marvelously Far by Nick Gardner, Ode to Horatio and Other Saviors by Carolyn Srygley-Moore and Alex in Movieland by Alex Gildzen) by the end of 2019. We'll space the final five out over the course of 2020.

3) SUBMISSIONS: In the past week I've written to dozens of people declining their unsolicited submissions. Technically we haven't even been open for submissions in years, though I sometimes bent that policy for a project I just couldn't pass up. For a while (years?) I flirted with (and at times seriously considered) the idea of reopening submissions after I got caught up. But I never caught up. Now I'm becoming more and more inclined just to wrap up the press for good after I complete my current commitments.

It's been an incredible ride. I've had the honor and privilege of working with some fantastic writers and people. And it's not over yet. Eight phenomenal books are coming. I hope you love them as much as I do.

Meanwhile, there's still time to complete your collection at http://ccpress.blogspot.com/.

Gratefully yours,
John

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. 

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