National Poetry Month Book Fair 4/28 in Old Brooklyn

Come hang with NE Ohio presses including Crisis Chronicles Press, NightBallet Press, Blood Pudding Press, The Poet's Haven and Writing Knights Sunday afternoon, 4/2/2019 at Coffee Coffee Coffee in Old Brooklyn from 2 to 4 p.m.

Coffee Coffee Coffee
4193 Pearl Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44109
www.oldbkcoffee.com

My "Rough Cure" in the 50th Anniversary Hessler Street Fair Anthology

I'm happy to announce that my poem "Rough Cure" was selected as a finalist in the 2019 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest and will be published soon in the Fair's 50th anniversary anthology. I don't plan to compete at the final competition reading on May 11th, however (though I'll be there cheering everyone else on), because the ultimate winner has to be available to read at the Fair itself on the first weekend in June and that's when I'll be in Long Island for the Walt Whitman Bicentennial Convention. I'm happy, though, that my poem will be in the book alongside work by so many other fine folks.

More info: https://writingknightspress.blogspot.com/2019/04/hessler-street-poetry-finalists.html

Video of Last Night's Inspiration Showcase in Canton, Ohio

Many thanks to Writing Knights for hosting us on July 13th at The Local. The evening began with a reading by Akron poet Paul Mangus. My reading (begins around the 17:30 mark on the video) was next, followed by Writing Knights' first ever "sWord Fight" (between JM Romig and Jamie Laubacher). Skylark Bruce served as emcee and Azriel Johnson ran tech. The poems I read were:

"Suite Melissa"
"Sibyl"
"From Genesis to Exodus"
"Inner Expedition"
"Tell Them I Am Sent You"
"Odd Missive"
"Unfounded"

Watch it all here: https://www.facebook.com/writingknights/videos/2252418084783421/

All of these poems I read came from my recent NightBallet Press book, Loss and Foundering, except three: "Odd Missive" (new and unpublished), "Inner Expedition" (from Beat Attitude, NightBallet, 2015) and "Tell Them I Am Sent You" (from Electric Company, 2011, Writing Knights).

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.

Three Bits of Good News Today

1) The doc says that Geri's colonoscopy this morning is clear. That should be the last hurdle before she is officially put on the liver transplant list.

2) Writing Knights Press has just released a new updated edition of my 2011 chapbook Electric Company. Now it's perfect bound with a color cover and includes three poems that weren't in the first edition. If you want a signed copy, please PayPal $8 to me at jc@crisischronicles.com. Postage included in the US.

3) A month or so ago, Columbia Gas dug up part of our yard, including the tree lawn, to lay new pipe. Today they came back to restore and replant.

Leda watches the Columbia Gas contractors

Buzzing at the 'Bin 4/21 in Canton

Theresa Göttl Brightman, Mary A. Turzillo and I will be the featured poets Thursday 21 April 2016 (7 to 9 pm) at Buzzbin Art & Music Shop, 339 Cleveland Ave NW in Canton, Ohio.  This event is part of a diverse series of National Poetry Month happenings organized by Writing Knights. Musical guest Tori Scwejk will also perform.

For more info, click here.

Breakdown of books I read in 2015

In 2014, I read 75 books, which at the time tied 1994 for the year I read the most books.  This year, I planned to exceed that by reading 100, which I knew was attainable because I planned to read smaller books.  Well, by the end of 2015 I will have finished reading 124.  Of course I've read more than that. But the 124 does not include books that I abandoned in midstream or am still somewhere in the middle of reading.  

In the past, I read a lot more in different genres.  But recently, and especially in 2015, I have focused more on poetry, especially by small presses, and much of it local.  I find myself curious as to how it breaks down, so here are a few statistics on this year's finished books.

110 were print books
14 were e-books

115 were poetry books
9 were other genres

114 were published by small presses
10 were by big presses

73 were published in Ohio:
30 by NightBallet Press
14 by Crisis Chronicles Press
5 by Writing Knights Press
4 by Blood Pudding Press
4 by The Poet's Haven
1 or 2 each (16 in all) by other Ohio presses

56 were written either a) by Ohioans (loosely defined) or b) by multiple authors including Ohioans prominently

50 were published in 2015
18 were published in 2014
56 were published in earlier years

69 were written by men
43 were written by women
12 were collaborative works by both men and women

The last statistics surprised me, because I was fairly certain I read at least as many books by women as by men.

I'm sleepy, and tired or counting, so I guess that's enough for now.  You can check out the full list of books I finished in 2015 at Goodreads, if you wish.

Meanwhile,  I still have stacks and stacks of books I want to read and haven't yet.  So let's keep reading!  And I'll be back soon.

Flashback to Meet the Presses

photo of Juliet Cook, me (holding Matilda's Battle Waltz)
and Dianne Borsenik by Alexandria Mitchell

Saturday I had the privilege of representing Crisis Chronicles Press at Meet the Presses in Toledo.  Thanks to Lorraine Cipriano for inviting me, and to my co-presenters Dianne Borsenik (NightBallet Press), Azriel Johnson (Writing Knights Press), Vertigo Xi'an Xavier (The Poet's Haven) and Juliet Cook (Blood Pudding Press) for contributing to a fantastic event.

Each of us gave a presentation of 20-or-so minutes. A question and answer period followed.  I read poems from four recent CC Press books, Matilda's Battle Waltz by Tracie Morell, The Night Market by D.R. Wagner, Balefire by Susan Sheppard and Ghost on the Inside by John Dorsey.

Many thanks to Women Unbound for this video of the proceedings:

Permalink: https://youtu.be/frbQxlipcoI

Saturday: Toledo, Detroit - my last two scheduled events until February

Saturday afternoon at 2, Crisis Chronicles Press and I will join Dianne Borsenik (NightBallet Press), Azriel Johnson (Writing Knights), Juliet Cook (Blood Pudding Press) and Vertigo Xi'an Xavier (The Poet's Haven) for Meet the Presses at the Sigmond Sanger Branch Library, 3030 W. Central Avenue in Toledo, Ohio.

Then that evening at 7:30, Dianne Borsenik and I will share poetry during the Ultimate Artist Extravaganza at the SOUL Community House, 32905 Grand River Avenue in Farmington, Michigan (just outside of Detroit), as The Soul Collective of Collaborative Arts celebrates its one year anniversary. Also performing:  Natasha BeautifulThought Anée, One Single Rose, Nina Robb, Ania Ela, and Carla Dodd.  Special music by Kristopher Lamont, an exhibition of Tanya Britt's photography and an open mic!

Meet the Presses - November 7th in Toledo

Release from the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library:

Come to Meet the Presses to meet and speak with various small and independent literary presses from the greater northeast Ohio metropolitan area. Speakers from Writing Knights Press (Canton, OH), NightBallet Press (Cleveland, OH), Crisis Chronicles Press (Cleveland, OH), The Poet's Haven (Massillon, OH), and Blood Pudding Press (Medina, OH) will share their works and give advice on how to get published. Refreshments will be provided. All are welcome to attend.

Saturday November 7th
2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Sanger Branch
3030 W. Central Ave.
Toledo, Ohio 43606
Phone: 419.259.5370

Contents of My Books So Far

I had planned to have the final version of my Beat Attitude manuscript to NightBallet Press by now.  It's supposed to be released 19 September during BeatStreet Cleveland, and time is getting short.  This evening, for some reason, in deciding what to include in it while half dozing off and watching the Hall of Fame game, I thought it would be helpful to make a list of which poems appeared in my previous books.  Who knows?  But here they are:

Bloggerel [2008, Crisis Chronicles Press]:

Peer through
Prison Scene
Oppressed
At Mass
Holier than Thou
Past Present Future Tense
Allen Ginsberg Wants You
John Cage Engaged and Uncaged
Lobal Warman
Rapists [*later renamed "Bloodshot"]
Gas Hike Coup


Identity Crises [2009, Green Panda Press]

Identity Crisis
[plus a poem each by Bree and Douglas Manson]


6/9: Improvisations in Dependence [2009, Crisis Chronicles Press]:

Karma Souptra
"One of the Most Illuminating"
Tol' Story
Met a Mat, a Door I Didn't Like
17 June 2009
Do Dew
Rough Love
Preacher Gunn [*later renamed "Fire, Brimstone"]
Tell a Vision
rip


Identity Crisis [2010, Crisis Chronicles Press]:

Identity Crisis [revised]


Electric Company [2011, Writing Knights Press]:

I Hear Change
For One [*bonus poem only appears in the 2nd edition, 2014]
Out and In Audible
Strongsville Coffee
Mercy Less
K(lar)iss(a) [*renamed Kiss in the 2nd edition, 2014]
More, Man [*bonus poem only appears in the 2nd edition, 2014]
Cannot Believe William S Burroughs Is Dead
Tell Them I Am Sent You
Think You Very Much
A Poem Like John Dorsey
Zzzz Bra
Plus Sighs [*bonus poem only appears in the 2nd edition, 2014]
Come Pass
Electric Miasma
Alarm Blocks


Water Works [2012, Recycled Karma Press]

Cover Girl
Wet
Dish Work
Peace in Queues
Been Dover Beach
After Kao Ch'an
A Taste of Heaven
Rain Blow
Is Rain or Rhyme the Greater Crime?
Dry Cast
Can Do
Bier
O T
Numb And
Peacing It Together
Loveshot
Halfwet Dream
Heart
Stream of Con
Jesus Drank
Green Heart
Piss on Arson
Much Adieu (or, The Opposite of Coming)
Last Call
(Therefore) I Am?


Lens [2012, Crisis Chronicles Press]:

Lens


Barry Merry Baloney [2012, Spare Change Press]

Clothes n Time
Red
Trans Mission
Statuesque
Lady Leda
The Wanterror
Pa Tricked
Sleep Indictment
Angler
Bone


The Eater of the Absurd [2012, NightBallet Press]

The Final Frontier
Idée Unfixe
Lit (Er, a Tour)
     I. See
     II. Leave
     III. Land
Art Achoke
Kill All
Unwhet Dream
Roué Let
Low Kaye Shun
Fuck Poetry
Disciples
Ahem (A Hymn)
Christianity
Dry Blind
Three Nights' Drafts
Two Against Nature
From Here to Inequity
Stimulus
Numb and Numbered
Three Dot Night
The Beater of the Absurd
Diarrhea of a Mad Mind
Will, or "A Way of Heming"
Kenyon: A Review
Gatha
Under Aware
Mark This
Lens


It Takes More Than Chance to Make Change [2013, The Poet's Haven]

Top Less
Keyed Up
Note to Self While Writing
Horror Scope
First Watch
Razed
Out (Not Fade Away)
Going Mobile
This Un
Et Tu?
Tooth Telling
On Cadillac Mountain
Slipping Backwards into Blue Eden
Align
More Than Sax
Met Hymn
Perfection Per Fiction
pAR(T)adox
A Wrinkle in Time
Jean Cocteau
Down
HermAphrodite
CRYst
Break Fast
My BIOS
Expiration Date
Deep Seated
Solstice
Can It
Moment Tarry
Being the Change Is Not Enough
Way Erred Scenes Inside a Jazz Mine
Change You Can Believe In


Oct Tongue -1 [2014, Crisis Chronicles Press]

Oct. Dawn
Pitching a Wake
Hungry in Cleveland
Fuck It
Words Dance
Training Camp
Need Not
What's Left?
Bubbly
Ink Welling
Makes Her Mark
Blank Et
Reggie Bush in Cleveland
Three Sum
Iamb Not
Hell In
Rough Morning
Going Garbanzo
Near Black Jack
Slo Brr
Po-Poetry
De-Carton
Bon Appétit
Po' 'Em
Y in Tasting
Soft Opening
Dead
Priorities
Cheating
Muddle Fruit
Fine
[plus 31 poems each by Mary Weems, John Swain, Steven Smith, Lady, Shelley Chernin and Steve Brightman]


Beat Attitude [2015, NightBallet Press] 

Divided, We Fall Together
Unfinished
Allen Ginsberg Wants You
Orlovsky
Magnetic Repulsion
Hopper
Primacy
Pullet
Inner Expedition
Holy Sheet
Call of Poetry
A Cross Tic
To a Fruit
Reapetition
In Due Season
Aye, Pod
Baloney
LadySings
From BS to BA
More, Man
Mastering Ascension
Cannot Believe William S. Burroughs Is Dead
Invocation


Loss and Foundering [2018, NightBallet Press]

My Me Mine
Booking
Sibyl
Running at Empty
[ ]ending
No
Howl
Half Write
Instrumental
Climate Change
Birther
An Augur Ration
Maybe Both, at Least the Latter
Le Ruse et le Waaa
Abbreviate
Fucking A
Tiger Woods
LeBron Jesus Returns to Cleveland
From Genesis to Exodus
N' yet
Twilight
Unfounded
Whend
Suite Melissa


* 

Update:
On 9/21/2015, I added the titles of the poems in Beat Attitude.
On 1/23/2019, I added the titles of the poems in Loss and Foundering.

Get Thorny This Friday

Let's hang out in Canton on Friday night. Buzzbin is a supercool place, and when I was there last year, I thought, "Someone needs to have a poetry show here." Now it's happening. On 24 April, Writing Knights will be featuring several young talents including Columbus poet Jonathan Thorn, whose chapbook Cutting the Möbius was recently published by Crisis Chronicles Press. What's the buzz? Come find out.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1555972251319491/
Buzzbin Art & Music Shop
339 Cleveland Ave. NW
Canton, Ohio

Nineteen books I read in February 2015

The silver lining to having to spend so much time in doctors' offices and the hospital with loved ones this past month is that I was able to knock a few books off my ever growing to-read pile.  The silver lining's silver lining is that most of these were pretty darn good.

Mutant Neuron Codex Swarm by Juliet Cook & Robert Cole [2015, Hyacinth Girl Press]
The Paris Notebooks by R.A. Washington [2015, NightBallet Press]
Captain Head by Dustin Holland [2013, Kleft Jaw Press]
Personal Myths by Howie Good [2012, Writing Knights Press]
Android by Lek Borja [2011, Plan B Press]
The Slop of Giving In, The Melt of Letting Go by Nikki Robinson [2009, P2B Press]
So Damn Sure of Us by Bree [2015, NightBallet Press]
Fortune Cookie by Dianne Borsenik [2012, Kattywompus Press]
The Ides of March: An Anthology of Ohio Poets edited by Hannah Stephenson [2013, Columbus Creative Cooperative]
dueling poets / poets dueling by Russell Vidrick & Jim Lang [2014 reprint, Jim Lang]
Disturbing the Peace by Erren Giraud Kelly [2012, NightBallet Press]
Selected Regions of the Moon by J.E. Stanley [2013, NightBallet Press]
Hurricane Mouth by Amanda Oaks [2014, NightBallet Press]
Prayerbook Bouquet by Zach Fishel [2013, NightBallet Press]
Poems for Explosion by John G. Hall [2015, Crisis Chronicles Press]
Hotel Room by Bradley K. Meyer [2013, Vostok East]
Meditations: a suite for John Coltrane by John Sinclair [1967, Artists' Workshop Press]
congregations by David Highsmith [2009, Plan B Press]
Jerry in the Bardo by Tsaurah Litzky [2014, NightBallet Press]

https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/2067883

Twelve books I've read in January 2015

Vending Machine: Poetry for Change, Volume 5 [2014, The Poet's Haven Press]
Double Life by Heather McNaugher [2014, NightBallet Press]
When I Pick Up My Wings from the Dry Cleaner by Lisa Cihlar [2014, Blue Light Press]
Where You Are by Jason Irwin [2014, NightBallet Press]
Unscathed by Jennifer Hambrick [2014, NightBallet Press]
Sister, Blood and Bone by Paula Cary [2013, Blood Pudding Press]
oh yes, this was earned: blood poems for non-violent lovers by Kate Sopko [2005, self published]
They Talk About Death by Alessandra Bava [2014, Blood Pudding Press]
Be Closer for My Burn by Robin Wyatt Dunn [2015, Crisis Chronicles Pres]
Men and Their Whims by Laura Madeline Wiseman [2013, Writing Knights Press]
Blink-Ink #18 edited by Doug Mathewson [2015, Blink Ink Print]
Rotations by Jake St. John [2015, NightBallet Press]

https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/2067883

2nd edition of my Electric Company released with three new poems added

The self portrait I took is in color, but we ultimately
chose to use black and white for the book cover

I hear that the folks at Writing Knights have just released the 2nd edition of my classic 2011 chapbook Electric Company. Merry Christmas!  This version includes three new bonus* poems that appear nowhere else.  I've also revised a couple of the book's other pieces.  Here's the new order of poems:

I Hear Change 
For One*
Out and In Audible
Strongsville Coffee
Kiss
More, Man*
Mercy Less
Cannot Believe William S. Burroughs is Dead
Zzzz Bra
Plus Sighs*
Tell Them I Am Sent You
Think You Very Much
Come Pass
A Poem Like John Dorsey
Alarm Blocks
Electric Miasma

Speaking of order, click here to get your copy of the new 2nd edition of Electric Company for $8 from Writing Knights Press.

Video of my reading at the Writing Knights Apocalypse last night

Thank you, Writing Knights!  And thanks to Journey Art Gallery and the evening's other featured artists: Zach, Andi Line and Styles83.



My set list:

Poetry [by Christian O'Keeffe]
(Dis)quiet Illusion
Plus Sighs
In Due Season
Milk Stout
Need Not
Bloodshot
Lens

My last Ohio reading for a long time

This is the last Ohio reading I'll be giving for a long time, and I hope to make it a doozie.  This is the third Apocalypse I've read for - and this time it's in a new (for me) and exciting location.  Andi Line, styles83 and Zach will also be featured performers.  Check us out Friday December 12th, 7 pm, at the Journey Art Gallery in Canton, Ohio.