Our 2018 Ohioana Book Award and Pushcart Prize Nominations

It's so hard for me to choose from among the many excellent works Crisis Chronicles Press has published recently. I love them all, and each book has one or more pieces I think supremely worthy of an award. I came close to having to flip a coin before making my ultimate decision. But here we go:

Pushcart Prize nominees (from books we published in 2017):

• "America, Land of the Brittle" - a poem by George Wallace, from Oct Tongue 2
• "The Black Between Stars" - a nine-senryu sequence by Elliot Nicely, from The Black Between Stars
• "Crystal" - a poem by Meg Harris, from Inquiry into Loneliness
• "Houglass Studies" - a twelve-part poem by Krysia Jopek, from Hourglass Studies
• "Jane in Her Business Suit" - a poem by John Greiner, from Turnstile Burlesque
• "Love Letters" - a poem by Victor Clevenger, from Sandpaper Lovin'

2018 Ohioana Book Award nominees (from Ohio-related books/authors we published in 2016-2017):

• Diary of a Feminist Thug, Volume I: His[tories] of Her Land by Lyz Bly (co-published by Crisis Chronicles and Guide to Kulchur Books)
• The Black Between Stars by Elliot Nicely
• Scraping the Sky by Luba Gawur
• Age of Aquarius: Collected Poems 1981-2016 by Dianne Borsenik
• Fractured Fairy Tales by William Merricle
• Special Watch by Richard M. O'Donnell

Good luck, everyone!

Hourglass Studies - by Krysia Jopek (CC#95)

Crisis Chronicles Press is very pleased to announce the publication of Krysia Jopek's stunning new poetry chapbook, Hourglass Studies, on 31 October 2017.

"Krysia Jopek’s poems in Hourglass Studies are not so much linear as Möbius: they twist back upon themselves in ways hauntingly familiar, while offering surrealistic flashes of the outré. Reading this book is like having your own Tarot cards read: you find yourself spellbound, immersed in questions and answers, hints and predictions, that all make sense in the end."

     —Dianne Borsenik, NightBallet Press publisher and
     author of Age of Aquarius, Collected Poems 1981-2016

Where Do You Want It?

United States $7.00 USD Elsewhere $10.00 USD

Hourglass Studies is available for only $7 US from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA. ISBN: 978-1-940996-46-2. Dimensions 5.5 x 8.5". Perfect bound. Cover design by Dale Houstman. 26 pages featuring 12 poems / studies. Nominated as a whole for a Pushcart Prize.
 

Read sample poems from Hourglass Studies at Meta/ Phor(e) /Play.
Read Michelle Reale's review of Hourlass Studies at Rag Queen Periodical.
Read John Sweet's review of Hourlass Studies at The Bleeding Horse, Avenged.
Read Chris Stroffolino's review of Hourglass Studies at Thing.
Read DeWitt Clinton's review of Hourglass Studies at The Café Review.
Find Hourglass Studies on Goodreads.
 
The official book release party was November 21st, 7:30 p.m., at The Outer Space, 295 Treadwell Street in Hamden, Connecticut.

Krysia Jopek’s poems have appeared in The Great American Literary Magazine, Crisis Chronicles Cyber Litmag, Gone Lawn 19, Split Rock Review, The Woven Press, Columbia Poetry Review, Prairie Schooner, The Wallace Stevens Journal, Phoebe, Murmur, Artists & Influence, and other literary journals. She has written reviews of poetry for The American Book Review. Maps and Shadows, her first novel (Aquila Polonica 2010), won a Silver Benjamin Franklin award in 2011 in the category of Historical Fiction.

Inquiry into Loneliness - by Meg Harris (CC#94)

Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the publication of Meg Harris' highly anticipated poetry chapbook, Inquiry into Loneliness, on 17 September 2017.

"Meg Harris gives us snapshots into a wildly imagined ordinary universe with rich metaphor turning everything she touches into an extraordinary occurrence. In Inquiry into Loneliness, 'the wind has winter in its mouth' and 'the stars fly / from fingertips.' Linger on each page for a glimpse into a beautiful and mystical world."
      —Amy King, author of The Missing Museum

"In Inquiry into Loneliness, Meg Harris regards the divine like a lover, noting even its smallest incarnations, overlooking nothing. In a somber funeral notice for a sandpiper, we are reminded of our own human inconsequence, yet the world is constant magic. Stars are 'mercury rolling,' a child’s newborn skull bears the imprint of the place it was first loved. These poems are generous and welcoming, even of pain’s inevitability. Meg Harris says yes, 'Yes to divine intervention / Divine anything.'"

     —Leslie McGrath, author of Out from the Pleiades

Where Do You Want It?

United States $7.00 USD Elsewhere $10.00 USD

Inquiry into Loneliness is available for only $7 US from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA. ISBN: 978-1-940996-45-5. Dimensions 5.5 x 8.5". Perfect bound. Cover art by the author. 34 pages featuring these 22 poems: "Yariguíes Brush-Finch," "Origins," "Inquiry into Loneliness," "Memory," "Apnea," "Paradise Lost," "Symbiosis," "Bird Sanctuary," "Hoboken 2012," "Vulture," "For Nonbelievers," "Sloth," "Poseidon," "Travel," "Vestigial," "A Rose from Roger," "Madonna and Child," "Yes, to Ghosts," "Starlet," "Crystal" [nominated for a Pushcart Prize], "Heartbreaker" and "My Name."

Read sample poems from Meg Harris' Inquiry into Loneliness at Meta/ Phor(e) /Play.
Read Michelle Reale's review of Inquiry into Loneliness at Rag Queen Periodical.
Read DeWitt Clinton's review of Inquiry into Loneliness at The Café Review.
Read more reviews of Inquiry into Loneliness on Amazon.
Find Inquiry into Loneliness at Goodreads.

The official book release party was November 21st 2017, 7:30 p.m., at The Outer Space, 295 Treadwell Street in Hamden, Connecticut.

Meg Harris is a writer, poet and teacher. Her work has appeared in Upstreet, Numero Cinq, Whiskey Island, River River, Pirene’s Fountain, and others. She lives in a magical place called Sol’s Path where she offers guided-writing workshops in the Patchwork Farms’ Writing Process. Meg Harris serves on the Connecticut State Independent Living Council and is the Managing Editor at the recently launched Diaphanous Press Journal of Literary and Visual Art, which will release a second issue in November of 2017.  She is an avid amateur photographer, miniaturist, and activist. She is most passionate about ending descriptor-discrimination because she believes everyone deserves their adjective. Round, white, feminist, witty, aging, empathic, Meg is well known in her family for both finding things lost and fixing things broken. She earned her MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Snap - by Dion N. Farquhar (CC#93)

Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the publication of Snap, a powerful new series of poems by Dion N. Farquhar.

"Snap by Dion Farquhar is a terse, dense, quick moving book of verse. Lines draw you forward, make your pulse quicken. On occasion there is an eye-opening gut punch that makes you stop and think... Snap. Therefore an appropriate title for a tough little poetry book. Highly recommended."
     —Christina Brooks, author of  A Thousand Voices: A City Shaman's Notebook

Only $7 US. Available 31 August 2017 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.

Where Do You Want It?

United States $7.00 USD Elsewhere $10.00 USD

28 pp. 5.5" x 8.5". Perfect bound. Cover photo by the author. Contents include "Chronic Edge," "Humanities 2.0," "Break," "Difference Within," "Path," "Contingency," "Branded," "Lost," "Unsustainable," "Loopy," "Zuccotti Park," "New Year" and "Climate Change." ISBN: 978-1-940996-44-8.

Find Snap on Goodreads.

Dion Farquhar has recent poems in Birds Piled Loosely, Local Nomad, Columbia Poetry Review, Shampoo, moria, Shifter, BlazeVOX, etc. Her second poetry book Wonderful Terrible was published by Main Street Rag Publishing Company in 2013, and her second chapbook Just Kidding is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. She works as an exploited adjunct at two universities, teaching mostly composition, but still loves the classroom.

Diary of a Feminist Thug, Volume I: His[tories] of Her Land - by Lyz Bly (CC#92)

Crisis Chronicles Press is ecstatic to team up with Guide to Kulchur Books to present a new Lyz Bly masterwork, Diary of a Feminist Thug, Volume I: His[tories] of Her Land.

Diary of a Feminist Thug is a poetically written narrative that is replete with stream-of-consciousness thoughts and original journal images of a white GenX grrrl-woman, growing up in rust belt America in the late 20th century. Bly’s text is memoir meets deposition, revealing the subtle and explicit ways in which patriarchy, misogyny, and toxic masculinity crush the psyches and abuse the bodies of women, even white, heterosexual, cisgender middle-class women of Generations X and Y, who grew up amid the promises of the 1960s and 70s social “revolutions” for gender and racial rights and equality. 

The 2016 election of trump reminded women how much they are despised, yet tolerated for their role as progenitors of racial identity and paternal “family” names. Bly’s Diary of a Feminist Thug reveals the insidious psychosis at the heart of heterosexual relationships and white middle-class families and the emotional and physical toll those they take on women who appear to be “just fine.” While there are obvious privileges connected to whiteness and heterosexuality, these privileges still come with a cost; Valerie Solanas once said, “He who won’t slit your throat will torture you to death slowly, often with diamonds.” 

Bly’s generational cohorts will relish her writing style, which varies from erratic to bitingly ironic, as well as her cultural references to GenX icons and defining historical moments. Millennials will get a glimpse into what may lie ahead for even the most privileged among them in these trump-era apocalyptic times.

Where Do You Want It?

United States $10.00 USD Elsewhere $13.00 USD

Find Diary of a Feminist Thug, Volume I on Goodreads.

Diary of a Feminist Thug by Lyz Bly is 70 pp, perfect bound. Design by Maggie Halm. Printing by Guide to Kulchur. Dimensions: approximately 5.5" x 10". ISBN: 978-0-998-1104-9-3. Available in July 2017 for $10 at the Guide to Kulchur Grand Re-Opening (8 July 2017 in Cleveland) or from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.  Please add $2 for shipping in the US (plus $3 more for overseas orders).

Nominated for a 2018 Ohioana Book Award.

Turnstile Burlesque - by John Greiner (CC#91)

Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the publication of Turnstile Burlesque, a stunning new collection of poems by John Greiner.

“The first thing you’ll notice when reading John Greiner is that his work changes like a spider web. The pieces in Turnstile Burlesque show a writer at the peak of his form, exploring his heart to push forward in the evolution of his own creativity.  These poems are our past and our future, they are the pulse of a city sidewalk, a love letter to Ted Berrigan’s New York and an accessible glimpse into what’s happening now and what’s happening now is John Greiner. Join him.”

          —John Dorsey, author of Appalachian Frankenstein.

Where Do You Want It?

United States $7.00 USD Elsewhere $9.00 USD

Turnstile Burlesque by John Greiner features 25 poems on 36 pages, is 6 x 9", perfect bound, with cover image by Steven B. Smith, and is available now for $7 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA. ISBN: 978-1-940996-43-1. Includes the Pushcart Prize-nominated poem "Jane in Her Business Suit."

See ratings and reviews of Turnstile Burlesque at Goodreads.

John Greiner is a poet, playwright and short fiction writer who lives in Queens, New York.   His previous publications include The Laundrymen (Wandering Head Press, 2016), Bodega Roses (Good Cop/Bad Cop Press, 2014), Modulation Age (Wandering Head Press, 2012), Shooting Side Glances (ISMs Press, 2011) and Relics From a Hell's Kitchen Pawn Shop (Ronin Press, 2010). Greiner's plays have been produced in New York City, Chicago and Gloucester, Massachusetts.  His work with photographer Carrie Crow has been shown in galleries, museums and public spaces in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Venice, Hamburg and Berlin.

The Black Between Stars - by Elliot Nicely (CC#89)

Dear Readers,

I’m beyond excited to announce the release of my latest chapbook The Black Between Stars through Crisis Chronicles Press. John and I saw this collaboration as an opportunity to create a book thats writing style and design would mark a major departure from the familiar conventions that our readerships have come to expect. We set out to develop a new work that is both startling and stark, a book which invokes a sense of disquiet and discomfort. Through John’s brilliant usage of binary colors and negative space, there is no question that the chapbook’s design, like the subject matter, has a timeless quality, and that his design deepens the poems’ resonance across the arc of the book. I hope you enjoy our most recent effort and thank you for supporting my haiku habit and Crisis Chronicles Press.

Sincerely,
Elliot Nicely
(Friday, May 12, 2017) 

The Black Between Stars is "a slight collection of nine haiku on the subject of loss; in particular, the loss of a partner. They are well-executed poems that together form a narrative that is made more powerful by their slim number."
— Paul Miller, editor of Modern Haiku

"The Black Between Stars builds a simple story from life and loss and attains a modest complexity that should not be undervalued or overlooked." 
— Patricia Prime, from her review in Kokako #27

Where Do You Want It?

United States $4.99 USD Elsewhere $6.99 USD

Elliot Nicely's work has received numerous accolades which include winning Lit Youngstown's Words Made Visible award and having been recently shortlisted for a Touchstone Award by the Haiku Foundation.  The Black Between Stars by Elliot Nicely is the latest release in our NineSense series of 9-poem chapbooks by writers you need to read.  It is 12 pages, perfect bound, 7" x 4.25" and available for only $4.99 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA. 1st edition of 125 copies. ISBN: 978-1-940996-40-0. 

Nominated for an Ohioana Book Award and a Pushcart Prize.

Read Randy Brooks' review of The Black Between Stars in Frogpond.
Read a review of The Black Between Stars in the inaugural issue of Scryptic. 
See ratings of The Black Between Stars at Goodreads.

Elliot Nicely is poet and teacher from Hunts Corners, Ohio. In recent years, he relocated to Lakewood, Ohio, and released his first chapbook, Tangled Shadows: Senryu and Haiku (Rosenberry Books, 2013).  Over the last decade, his poetry also has appeared across four continents and in more than a dozen anthologies. Today, Elliot is still pursuing all of the answers to all of his questions with the hope that not all of them will be answered.

Sandpaper Lovin' - by Victor Clevenger (CC#90)

Crisis Chronicles Press is ecstatic to announce the long awaited publication of Sandpaper Lovin' by Victor Clevenger.  This fine chapbook is currently sold out.

"If you like your pleasure spiked with pain you'll wanna rub up against Victor Clevenger's Sandpaper Lovin'.  Even if you don't, you'll still wanna. Say all the good things about him you like, but I wager he's got the most endearing scratch and bite of any sonofabitch writing today."
     — Hon. Jugborn Airbrush, editor of Cheap and Easy Magazine

Sandpaper Lovin' is hand assembled and saddle stapled. It features a white card stock cover, pastel green end papers and eggshell parchmentesque pages. Cover image by Steven B. Smith. 8.5 x 5.5". 16 pp. Laser printed. Poems include "the first words of the morning," "it came easy for us," "feeding my demons," "love letters" [nominated for a Pushcart Prize], "quill pen," "phallic & forgotten," "he'd even take one with warts like a toad," "a garden plot" and "november 10th." ISBN: 978-1-940996-42-4. Limited 1st edition of 100 copies.

See ratings and reviews of Sandpaper Lovin' at Goodreads.

Victor Clevenger’s most recent full-length poetry collection is titled Congenital Pipe Dreams (Spartan Press, 2017).  Selected pieces of his work have appeared in a variety of places online and in print.  He spends his days in a Madhouse and his nights with his second ex-wife. Together they raise six children in a small town northeast of Kansas City, Missouri. 

Meet the author on Friday 5 May 2017 at 8 pm during the Jawbone poetry festival at Last Exit Books and Coffeehouse in Kent, Ohio, and on Saturday 6 May 2017 at 7 pm during the Kansas City Pittsburgh Connection at White Whale Bookstore in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Scraping the Sky - by Luba Gawur (CC#88)

Crisis Chronicles Press is happy to announce the publication of Scraping the Sky by Luba Gawur, the latest release in our NineSense series of 9-poem chapbooks by writers you need to read. This chapbook is currently out of print.
 

Scraping the Sky includes "In One Day in New York City," "Almost Satori in Times Square," "Suspended," "The Girls of Midtown," "Christmas in Harlem," "Nostalgia," "Poem for Sasha," "Thief," "Defying Gravity" and more. The chapbook was available beginning 15 April 2017 and is now out of print.

Scraping the Sky is hand assembled and saddle stapled. It features a pale gray stock cover, sky blue end papers and eggshell faux parchment pages. Cover photo by Luba Gawur. 8.5 x 5.5". Laser printed. ISBN: 978-1-940996-41-7. Limited 1st edition of 99 copies. Nominated for a 2018 Ohioana Book Award.

View ratings of Scraping the Sky at Goodreads.

About Luba Gawur: Born in Cleveland, Ohio of Ukrainian parents who immigrated to the US in 1949 as post-war refugees. Studied at Kent State University, and the University of Toronto (Canada). Has lived also in Toronto, New York, NY, Prague, and Kyiv, Ukraine. Worked as a Slavic Languages cataloguer at the New York Public Library and the Cleveland Public Library. Presently works as a translator. Writes poetry in English and Ukrainian, and translates poetry and prose into both languages. Presently lives in Kent, Ohio.

13 Poems from the Edge of Extinction - by Adrian Manning (CC#87)

Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the long awaited publication of 13 Poems from the Edge of Extinction by Adrian Manning. This fine chapbook is currently out of print.

"Adrian Manning has a phenomenal ability to transform words into pictures. I love the way he paints his poems, brushed with this highly surreal and emotional tone. His newest poetry collection is no exception. Read it and see for yourself."

   —Janne Karlsson

"These short poems do a 'dance on your tongue,' delivering a feast for the mind. I was drawn to them like a moth is drawn to the heat of a lightbulb. Taste them like a hummingbird tastes the nectar of a flower in bloom. Each poem is like a step ladder, each rung leading you to the next one. Food for thought, digest them as you would a warm meal on a cold winter night."

   —A.D. Winans

"When I read work by Adrian Manning I fully expect to be challenged, intrigued, entertained and surprised. This little book is no exception to the rule."

   —John Yamrus

"Adrian Manning is a live-wire from Leicester, England, an old school old soul poet/publisher. Stay on your toes because these lean poems punch well above their weight."

   —Kent Taylor

Adrian Manning's 13 Poems from the Edge of Extinction is hand assembled and saddle stapled. It features white cover stock, pastel light yellow end papers and pastel ivory pages. Cover art by Kevin Eberhardt. 8.5 x 5.5". 18 pp. Laser printed. ISBN: 978-1-940996-39-4. Limited 1st edition of 100 copies.

Adrian Manning lives and writes in Leicester, England. He is a Pushcart nominated poet who has had a number of chapbooks published and many of his poems have appeared in print and online around the world.  For more, visit his Concrete Meat Press.

Bestiary - by Michael Estabrook (CC#86)

Crisis Chronicles Press is  pleased to announce the publication of Bestiary by Michael Estabrook. This modern bestiarum vocabulum is the latest release in our NineSense series of 9-poem chapbooks by writers you need to read. This chapbook is currently out of print.

Estabrook's writing has been described as growlingly good. His Bestiary includes "Extremophiles," "Humboldt Penguin," "Burmese Python," "Megalodon," "Colossal Squid," "Giant Huntsman Spider," "Mountain Gorilla," "Grendel" and "Swarm Bots." This chapbook is available beginning 24 March 2017 for only $4.99 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.
 

Bestiary is hand assembled and saddle stapled. It features white cover stock, pastel lavender end papers and pastel ivory pages. Cover art by John Burroughs. 8.5 x 5.5". Laser printed. ISBN: 978-1-940996-38-7. Limited 1st edition of 100 copies.

Michael Estabrook is a recently retired baby boomer child-of-the-sixties poet freed finally after working 40 years for The Man and sometimes The Woman. No more useless meetings under fluorescent lights in stuffy windowless rooms. Now he’s able to devote serious time to making better poems when he’s not, of course, trying to satisfy his wife’s legendary Honey-Do list.