Latest Additions to My Library

I am thrilled to have received this motherlode of wow in roughly the past month or so:

Breathturn into Timestead: The Collected Later Poetry: A Bilingual Edition by Paul Celan [2014, Farrar, Straus & Giroux]

Memory Rose into Threshold Speech: The Collected Earlier Poetry: A Bilingual Edition by Paul Celan [2020, Farrar, Straus & Giroux]

Poems of André Breton: A Bilingual Anthology by André Breton (trans/ed. by Jean-Pierre Cauvin & Mary Ann Caws) [2006, Black Widow Press]

The Idea of Perfection: The Poetry and Prose of Paul Valéry: A Bilingual Edition by Paul Valéry (trans. by Nathaniel Rudavsky-Brody) [2020, Farrar, Straus & Giroux]

The Secret Room by Kazim Ali [2017, Kaya Press]

Quinn's Passage by Kazim Ali [2005, BlazeVOX]

The Weight of the Minolta in Her Hand by Marianna Hofer [2017, Finishing Line Press]

A Threadbare Universe by Jason Baldinger [2020, Kung Fu Treachery Press]

Poems: Volume 01 by Camilla Jean Welsch [2021, BookBaby]

Waxworks by Frieda Hughes [2002, HarperCollins]

Tornado by Ted Lardner [2008, The Kent State University Press]

We Practice for It by Ted Lardner [2014, Tupelo Press]

The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck and Guidebook by Kim Krans [2018, HarperOne]

Whirl Away Girl by Tricia Johnson [2021, Atmosphere Press]

I Wonder as I Wander: An Autobiographical Journey by Langston Hughes [2011, Books on Tape]

The Lunch Bucket Brigade #3 by various [2021, The Lunch Bucket Brigade Press]

A Season of Significance by Jared Smith [2021, River Dog]

Still Marching by Alex Gildzen [2021, River Dog]

 

Stormy Whether

Four years ago today, my wife Geri Lynne unexpectedly passed away. Sometimes it still feels like yesterday. 

I took this photo of us after a severe storm destroyed part of the stage during the 2007 Warped Tour in Cleveland.

My "Flagging" in the 2020 BEAT Generation Anthology

I'm pleased to announce that my poem "Flagging" appears in BEAT Generation, the 2020 National Beat Poetry Foundation anthology published by Local Gems Press in December. The volume is edited by the current U.S. National Beat Poet Laureate, James P. Wagner, and features contributions from about a hundred poets from around the world including Donna Allard, Michael Amitin, Bengt O Björklund, Patricia Carragon, Alan Catlin, Andy Clausen, Juliet Cook, Beth Copeland, Joshua Corwin, Lorraine Currelley, Sandra Feen, Gabor Gyukics, Debbie T. Kilday, Mindy Kronenberg, Kate Lamberg, Geoffrey A. Landis, Catfish McDaris, Prince A. McNally, Carlo Parcelli, Dan Provost, Paul Richmond, Dave Roskos, Rikki Santer, Virginia Shreve, Tammi Truax, Pamela Twining, Chryssa Velissariou, George Wallace, Jon Wesick, Ron Whitehead and too many more to name here.

You can procure a copy from Mac's Backs or your own favorite bookseller.

The Ethics Provocateur of Poetry

Carolyn Srygley-Moore's latest poetry book, Ode to Horatio and Other Saviors, which I recently had the honor of publishing through Crisis Chronicles Press, continues to receive rave reviews. The latest is on Amazon from someone who goes by the name Shadow Wing:

"This is the ethics Provocateur of poetry without the dry experience often attributed to glib yet well-intended narratives. The insight is as eloquent as it is relevant to the cause. Images burst with anecdotal testimony and coupled with stunning photography; moments caught in art are often images etched in heart. This is a brilliant and riveting read...worth every cent (or more)."

U.S. or Elsewhere?

United States $12.00 USD Elsewhere $16.00 USD

Available for $12 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3431 George Avenue, Parma, Ohio 44134 USA.

And don't forget a percentage of all proceeds from the sale of this book go to support Rescue Dogs Rescue Soldiers, an organization that pairs shelter dogs with veterans and provides pet therapy programs.

Unfinished Novels: Yea or Nay? And Which Do You Recommend?

One of my favorite literary quotations is from the French poet Paul Valéry: "A poem is never finished, only abandoned." And I agree wholeheartedly, though there may be a vast difference between abandoning a poem as an infant and abandoning it as a young adult. (But that's a topic for a future blog post.)

Anyway, the quotation came to mind today after I read Matthew Redmond's new LitHub essay Why Should We Read Unfinished Novels?.

The only unfinished novel I remember reading is The Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway, which was actually the first Hemingway book I ever read. I was 19 or 20 at the time and had just finished a marathon of reading nothing but John Steinbeck books. Somehow I'd gotten into my head the notion that Hemingway was the next great American novelist I should binge read. So I went to Bookseller in Elyria, Ohio, and bought The Garden of Eden (which I had no idea was unfinished, though I guess I should have because I knew it was posthumously published) because it was his newest release (this was probably 1986) and because the title made me think it might be a little more fun than, say, For Whom the Bell Tolls. Though I loved a lot of the writing, in the end I found the novel rather unsatisfying (I wonder if I would feel the same today) and, coincidentally, unfinished. Then I kicked myself for picking that one to read first.

Anyway, I don't believe I've read any other "unfinished" novel. But now I'm thinking it's strange that I can easily consider every poem to some degree "unfinished" but not most novels. Why is that?  (Saving this to the future blog post file too).

Also, it's interesting that Matthew Redmond's article focuses predominantly on the 19th Century and does not mention The Garden of Eden or Hemingway's other posthumously published unfinished novels (Islands in the Stream, True at First Light) - or, for that matter, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Last Tycoon (one of two Fitzgerald novels I've not yet read).

After my Garden experience, I've spent decades avoiding reading unfinished novels. But now I'm thinking maybe I should reconsider.

Which unfinished novels have you read? Are they any you'd recommend?

Other New Books I've Picked Up in Early January 2021 (and a review)

Memorabilia by A.S. Coomer [2019, 11:11 Press]

Orange Alert: essays on poetry, art, and the architecture of silence by Kazim Ali [2010, University of Michigan Press]

The Invisible Waterhole by Joe Kidd [2020, JKSB Media]

The Prettiest Girl at the Dance by John Dorsey [2020, Blue Horse Press]

The Far Mosque by Kazim Ali [2005, Alice James Books]

Wooroloo by Frieda Hughes [1998, Harper Flamingo]
 

The first of these I've finished reading is John Dorsey's. I left this brief review of it on Goodreads:

Victor Clevenger, in his introduction to this wonderful new collection of poetic vignettes, calls it "quite possibly [John Dorsey's] greatest work to date." I have to agree. That's saying a lot when you consider we've read a stack of Dorsey books and loved his work for years. Boy or girl, I'm pretty sure you're gonna love taking a spin or two (or more) around the ballroom floor with The Prettiest Girl at the Dance.

A James Baldwin Yearning

Last summer I decided to read more books by Black authors. One who I admire (mostly based on a biography, YouTube videos of him, and the 2016 film I Am Not Your Negro) is James Baldwin. But I have never read any of his books. I want to rectify that.

Then earlier this month I saw that poet Michelle R. Smith is leading a year-long class on Baldwin's work for Literary Cleveland. I wanted to sign up. But looking at my calendar I realized I already have commitments on several of the Saturday afternoons when it happens.

However, I still want to participate in my own way. So though I won't be part of the class I did recently procure three volumes of Baldwin's work (pictured) and, beginning today, will be reading along with their schedule. First up: Go Tell It on the Mountain.

[Order books]

Pamela Anderson's "Favorite Poetry Books of 2020" Includes My Rattle and Numb

Thank you, Pamela! What an honor for my book to be included in such fine company. Read her post about it here. And check out her book as well.

Pamela R. Anderson-Bartholet is the author of Just the Girls: A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies; A Drift of Honeybees (2020, The Poetry Box Press).

Lunch Bucket Brigade

After a past twenty-four hours that has been disturbing on multiple levels, at least something good came in the mail: these recent publications from the Lunch Bucket Brigade, a DIY publisher based in Toledo, Ohio.

A Stocking Stuffer for Socialists by Dan Denton

Department Stores by Craig James Ackerman

The Lunch Bucket Brigade #1 (feat. work by Dan Provost, Tom Cline, Victor Clevenger, John Dorsey and Emmanuel Ojeikhodion)

The Lunch Bucket Brigade #2 (feat. work by Ed Werstein, Jason Ryberg, Akinwale Akindayo, Michael Grover, Cindy Bosley and John Dorsey)

Check out the LBB store at https://noduckstudios.com/store.

Eric Jerome Dickey, 1961-2021

I am sad to see that Eric Jerome Dickey has passed away. When I was a clerk in the library at Marion Correctional Institution (I'm guessing it was around 2001), we wrote to Mr. Dickey. He responded by sending us a personal letter and a box of free new copies of all of his books. We hardly expected a response, let alone one so kind and generous.

Read Author Eric Jerome Dickey Has Died At 59 in Essence.

[Photo credit: his Facebook page]