Showing posts with label Dianne Borsenik. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dianne Borsenik. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Oct Tongue 2 - by George Wallace, Lyn Lifshin, Mark Sebastian Jordan, Juliet Cook, Kathleen Cerveny, Dianne Borsenik, Margaret Bashaar and Eric Anderson (CC#96)

Achtung! Crisis Chronicles Press is pleased to present the long-awaited Oct Tongue 2, our biggest book yet (it's like eight books in one!). See October (and so much more) through the eyes of eight of America’s finest poets: George Wallace, Lyn Lifshin, Mark Sebastian Jordan, Juliet Cook, Kathleen Cerveny, Dianne Borsenik, Margaret Bashaar and Eric Anderson.

Where Do You Want It?

Each of these eight writers wrote and submitted at least 31 poems in response to editor John Burroughs' October 2014 poem-a-day invitation. Life intervened and it took awhile to get this fine collection into print, but we believe it is well worth the wait.  Oct Tongue 2 features 258 poems on 328 pages, and is 6"x9",  perfect bound, with cover photo by Chandra Alderman. ISBN: 978-1-940996-47-9. It will make you laugh, make you cry, make you angry and make you glad you read it.

Now on sale $10 from Crisis Chronicles Press535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.

Please join us for a special book launch event Saturday, November 18, 2017 from 2 to 4 p.m. during the Borderlands: Poetry on the Edge series at Main Street Books, 104 N. Main Street, Mansfield, Ohio 44902.

About the authors:

Eric Anderson is a graduate of the Vermont College of Fine Arts. His poetry has appeared in The Sun, Connotation Press, Prairie Schooner and other journals. His novella, Isn't That Just Like You? (Cleveland State University Press) won the inaugural Ruthanne Wiley Memorial Novella Contest. His "A Couple of Scars on My Back" earned a Lantern Award for best poem from The Lit. And his first full-length collection, The Parable of the Room Spinning, is available from Kattywompus Press.

Margaret Bashaar’s first book, Stationed Near the Gateway, was released by Sundress Publications in 2015. Her poetry has also been collected in four chapbooks and dozens of literary journals and anthologies. She co-organizes the annual event FREE POEMS with Rachael Deacon. And she lives in Pittsburgh, PA, with her partner, her son, and her kitty cats, and edits Hyacinth Girl Press (hyacinthgirlpress.com).

Dianne Borsenik is active in the northern Ohio poetry scene and regional reading circuit. Her work has been widely published in journals and anthologies, including Pittsburgh Poetry Review, Rosebud, Slipstream, Lilliput Review, The Offbeat, Chiron Review, Poems-For-All, A Rustling and Waking Within (OPA, 2017), and Resist Much/Obey Little: Inaugural Poems for the Resistance (Spuyten Duyvil, 2017). Crisis Chronicles Press published her first full-length collection, Age of Aquarius, in 2016. She won first place in the Best Cleveland Poem Competition in 2013 and 2014, and Lit Youngstown put her poem “Disco” on their tee shirts, which makes her feel like a rock star. Founder/editor at NightBallet Press and producer of BeatStreet Cleveland, Borsenik lives in Elyria with husband James and dogs Bodhisattva and Michel-Angelo. Find her at dianneborsenik.com.

Kathleen Cerveny, has been a working artist, an award-winning producer for Cleveland Public Radio, and Director of Arts Initiatives for the Cleveland Foundation. Her poems have appeared in the Southern New Hampshire University journal Amoskeag, the e-journal Shaking Like a Mountain, and in several Pudding House anthologies, as well as in in Future Cycle Press’ international anthology Poems for Malala Yousafzai. In 2014 Kathleen received the Robert Bergman Award from the Cleveland Arts Prize and she served as the 2013-14 Poet Laureate of Cleveland Heights. Her first collection, Coming to Terms, was published by NightBallet Press in 2015. Kathleen’s blog, Pay Attention, can be found on her website, kathleencerveny.com. She currently teaches arts management in the Conservatory at Baldwin Wallace University.

Juliet Cook's poetry has appeared in a small multitude of magazines, including Arsenic Lobster, Diagram, Diode, FLAPPERHOUSE, Hermeneutic Chaos, Menacing Hedge and Reality Beach. She is the author of numerous poetry chapbooks, recently including Red Demolition (Shirt Pocket Press, 2014), a collaboration with Robert Cole called Mutant Neuron Codex Swarm (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2015), and a collaboration with j/j hastain called Dive Back Down (Dancing Girl Press, 2015), with more forthcoming. Cook's first full-length individual poetry book, Horrific Confection, was published by BlazeVOX and her second full-length individual poetry book, Malformed Confetti is forthcoming from Crisis Chronicles Press. Her most recent full-length poetry book, A Red Witch, Every Which Way, is a collaboration with j/j hastain published by Hysterical Books in 2016. Find her at JulietCook.weebly.com.

Mark Sebastian Jordan is a refugee of the corporate business world, where he spent a decade in packaging purchasing. Finding himself compulsively writing and creating to escape the unfulfilling day job, he fled when a corporate buyout ended his position. Since then, he has only worked jobs that offer personal fulfillment and creativity. He has written three full-length plays, several one-acts, and four books. He covers concerts of the Cleveland Orchestra for Seen & Heard International and performs widely as a director, actor, storyteller, and improv comedian. His humorous mystery Slammer, Private Dick was published by Sinister Hand Media in 2017.

Lyn Lifshin won the Jack Kerouac Award for her book Kiss the Skin Off, the Paterson Poetry Award for Before It’s Light, and the Texas Review Award for The Licorice Daughter: My Year with Ruffian. She’s been praised by Robert Frost, Ken Kesey, and Richard Eberhart, and is the subject of the award-winning documentary film Not Made of Glass. Lifshin earned the distinction “Queen of the Small Presses” for her dedication to the small presses which first published her, and for surviving on her own apart from any major publishing house or academic institution. Her most recent books include Femme Eterna (Glass Lyre, 2014), #AliveLikeALoadedGun (Transcendent Zero Press, 2016) and Little Dancer: The Degas Poems (NightBallet Press, 2017). Find her at lynlifshin.com.

George Wallace has been described as ‘a kind of Max Ernst stuck in the up-down elevator of America’ (A.D. Winans) and a poet who ‘navigates between high and low diction with generosity, elegance and power’ (Angelo Verga). “If you want to know what America feels like in your mouth, read his poems out loud,” writes Huffington Post’s Robert Peake. The editor of Poetrybay, co-editor of Great Weather for Media and author of 31 chapbooks, George is a fixture on the NYC scene and travels internationally to perform, lecture and teach workshops. Poet Laureate, Suffolk County, LI NY (2003-2005). Writer in residence, Walt Whitman Birthplace (2011-2017).

Friday, December 1, 2017

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):


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


Good luck, everyone!

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Get four of our best and newest books for $30

We're thrilled to have published ten great books so far this year.  Here are four of them.  And now you can buy all four together for $30, postage free.


Titles included:

God Save Your Mad Parade by Austen Roye (Denton, Texas)
Age of Aquarius: Collected Poems 1981-2016 by Dianne Borsenik (Elyria, Ohio)
Ship of Theseus by Christopher Willard (Calgary, Alberta)
When You Don't Know Who You Are by Alinda Dickinson Wasner (Detroit, Michigan)

And if you have one of these already, you can pick three along with any other Crisis Chronicles Press title in print and still get the $30 deal.

Most grateful for your friendship and support,
John

Friday, May 6, 2016

2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology - by 106 authors (CC#85)

Crisis Chronicles Press is pleased to present the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology, featuring 108 poems by 106 writers from Greater Cleveland and around the world. Join us for the official release 7 May 2016, 3 p.m., at the Barking Spider Tavern, 11310 Juniper Road in Cleveland, Ohio. This book is perfect bound, 154 pages, edited by John Burroughs and available for $14, either at the launch event, from Mac's Backs or on May 21-22th at the Hessler Street Fair itself. Cover art by Frankie Metro.

 
Mac's Backs - Books on Coventry
1820 Coventry Road
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
 
(216) 321-2665
info@macsbacks.com


 
This edition of the annual Hessler Street Fair anthology is our biggest yet, featuring poems by A.D. Adams, Stephanie Alexander, Michael J. Arcangelini, Jameson Bayles, Dianne Borsenik, Colton Bose, Jeffrey Bowen, Nancy Brady, Steve Brightman, Theresa Göttl Brightman, Christina M. Brooks, Skylark Bruce, William Burkholder, Chad Burrall, John Burroughs, Joann Celleghin, Michael Ceraolo, Shelley Chernin, Charles Cicirella, Lorraine Cipriano, Victor Clevenger, Wanda Morrow Clevenger, Caitlin Blair Cogar, Juliet Cook, A.S. Coomer, Roger Craik, Subhankar Das, Lori Dean, Patricia Dengler, Christine Donofrio, John Dorsey, Kevin Eberhardt, Poetessa Leixyl Kaye Emmerson, Diane Vogel Ferri, Richard Ferris, Francine Flatley, Justyce Foss, Kelle Grace Gaddis, Joshua Gage, Hannah Gates, Christopher Alexander Gellert, Ken Gradomski, Michael Grover, Jennifer Hambrick, Richard Harries, Charles Robert Hice, Veronica Hopkins, Alina Howard, Christine Howey, Dionne D. Hunter, Clarissa Jakobsons, Azriel Johnson, Chuck Joy, Stan Kaufman, Sue Kaufman, Diane Kendig, Kim theBwordpoet, Mindi Kirchner-Greenway, Paul Koniecki, Leonard Kress, Tom Kryss, Lori Ann Kusterbeck, Jill Lange, Phyllis Lee, Lennart Lundh, Susan Mallernee, Marc Mannheimer, Julie Ursem Marchand, Elizabeth Marino, Jonie McIntire, Sarah McIntosh, Frankie Metro, Marisa Moks-Unger, Anne Marie Moore, Laura Moore, Tracie Morell, Leah Mueller, Elliot Nicely, Tanya Pilumeli, Alois Polzer. Tam e. Polzer, Valentina Ranaldi-Adams, Brianna Robinson, Melissa Rose, Damian Rucci, Rikki Santer, Sharon M. Senal, Elizabeth Senn, Aisha Marie Smith, Kevin Frederick Smith, Rob Smith, Steven B. Smith, John Stickney, Katherine Sturniolo, Brian W. Taylor, Jonathan Thorn, Anna Marie Tokarsky, Kerry Trautman, Mary A. Turzillo, D.R. Wagner, Scott Wannberg, Alinda Dickinson Wasner, Laura Grace Weldon, Madison Whitacre, Rosemarie Wilson, and Eva Xanthopoulos. 

Contributors may show up at either event or contact Suzanne at Mac's to procure a copy for half price.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Age of Aquarius: Collected Poems 1981-2016 - by Dianne Borsenik (CC#83)

Crisis Chronicles Press is overjoyed to announce our latest book. Age of Aquarius: Collected Poems 1981-2016 contains 139 pages of poems by poet-performer-producer-publisher Dianne Borsenik, almost all of which were published in various journals, magazines, anthologies, newspapers, and chapbooks over the past thirty-five years. Chosen from her vast body of work, these poems represent her most popular and enduring material, both on the page and on the stage. Covering years of tie-dye and travel, laughter and loving, meditations and performances, her poems are, by turns, wicked, willful, wonderful, and wild.

Where Do You Want It?
Nominated for a 2018 Ohioana Book Award. Available for $12 US (plus $3 postage) from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.

5.5 x 8.5", perfect bound. 144 pages. Cover art is a finger painting by Camren (editor John Burroughs' 2-year-old grandson). ISBN: 978-1-940996-34-9.

Dianne Borsenik [photo by James Borsenik]
Dianne Borsenik is active in the northern Ohio/Cleveland area poetry scene and regional reading circuit. She is a member of Literary Cleveland, Heights Arts, the Ohio Poetry Association, the Haiku Society of America, and the Ohioana Library Association. In 2011, she founded NightBallet Press and has since published over 80 titles for poets across the U.S. In September 2015, she produced BeatStreet Cleveland as part of the International Beat Poetry Festival. Her poetry has appeared in hundreds of journals, magazines, and anthologies, including Great Lakes Review, Pittsburgh Poetry Review, Rosebud, Slipstream, Lilliput Review, bottle rockets, Voices of Cleveland, Modern Haiku, Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac and The Magnetic Poetry® Book of Poetry. Her poetry has also appeared in numerous galleries and projects, including Heights Arts' EKPHRASTACY, the Wick Poetry Center's Speak Peace: American Voices Respond to Vietnamese Children's Paintings, Amy Mothersbaugh's Studio 2091, & S. A. Griffin's cross-country project The Poetry Bomb. A copy of her haiku chapbook Blue Graffiti (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2011) is in the Decatur Haiku Collection at Millikin University. Actor Jonathan Frid ("Barnabas Collins" on 60s television's Dark Shadows) used three of her poems in his live, one-man show Genesis of Evil. Her poem "Let's Get It On" (from her chapbook Thunderclap Amen) was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. In 2013, and again in 2014, she won first place in the Best Cleveland Poem Competition. In summer 2015, her poem "Disco" was selected by Lit Youngstown and the Summer Festival of the Arts to appear on tee shirts and reusable tote bags. Borsenik was born in Oberlin, Ohio, on February 2, 1955. Her Zodiac sign is Aquarius, her Chinese Zodiac sign is the (wood) Sheep, and the bat is her totem animal. She believes in the musicality of language and the originality of expression in poetry, and is willing to travel for readings. Learn more at dianneborsenik.com and nightballetpress.com.

Friday, November 27, 2015

Our Pushcart Prize and Ohioana Book Award Nominees

I love everything we publish in various ways, so it's always hard to choose what to nominate for this prize or that.  In 2015 alone, Crisis Chronicles Press will have published seventeen books (three of them forthcoming) including hundreds of poems.  First I narrowed down my potential Pushcart Prize nominees for this year to a couple dozen favorite poems.  But I can only nominate six. I then spent hours more mulling before I finally forced myself to make some hard decisions.

So here they are, our nominees for the next Pushcart Prize.

"Creepy Dolls" by Kevin Ridgeway, from Contents Under Pressure
"Deadtime" by Susan Sheppard, from Balefire
"Let's Get It On" by Dianne Borsenik, from Thunderclap Amen
"Poem for Christian O'Keeffe" by John Dorsey, from Ghost on the Inside
"The Road" by Michael Ceraolo, from Readings / The Road
"The Fine Line of Beautiful Living" by Tracie Morell from Matilda's Battle Waltz

We've also nominated Alex Gildzen's Ohio Triangle for an Ohioana Book Award.

Good luck to you all!
John Burroughs, editor
Crisis Chronicles Press

Saturday, May 9, 2015

2015 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology - by 104 authors (CC#69)


Crisis Chronicles Press is pleased to present the 2015 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology, featuring work by 104 poets from around the world. Join us for the official release 13 May 2015, 7pm, at Ensemble Theatre, 2843 Washington Heights Blvd. in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. This book is perfect bound, 129 pages, edited by John Burroughs and available for $14, exclusively from Mac's Backs or on May 16-17th at the Hessler Street Fair itself. 

Click here to buy.  Contributors may show up at either event or contact Suzanne at Mac's to procure a copy for half price.

Mac's Backs - Books on Coventry
1820 Coventry Road
Cleveland Heights, Ohio

(216) 321-2665
info@macsbacks.com

This edition of the annual Hessler Street Fair anthology is the biggest yet, featuring work by word artists including Alexis-Rueal, Michael Joseph Arcangelini, Dana Aritonovich, Thandiwe Augustin-Glave, Stephen Benefit, Cyndi Birkmeier, Kim Boccia, Rose Mary Boehm, Dianne Borsenik, Jeffrey Bowen, Steve Brightman, Christina M. Brooks, Patricia Brodsky, Skylark Bruce, Chad Burrall, Michael Ceraolo, Kathleen Cerveny, Shelley Chernin, Charles Cicirella, Caitlin Cogar, Roger Craik, Subhankar Das, Natalie Dickerson, Christine Donofrio, John Dorsey, Sean Thomas Dougherty, Robin Wyatt Dunn, Poetessa Leixyl Kaye Emmerson, Michael Fiala, Giselle Fleming, Diane Vogel Ferri, Ethan Fittro, Luba Gawur, Ken Gradomski, Dana Grant, Susan Grimm, Zachary Scott Hamilton, Austin Heath, Charles Hice, Veronica Hopkins, Christine Howey, Preston & Paul Hrisko, Clarissa Jakobsons, Azriel Johnson, Krysia Jopek, Jeremy Jusek, Janne Karlsson, Diane Kendig, Kim theBwordpoet, Ian Koenig, Leonard Kress, Tom Kryss, Craig Kurtz, Lori Ann Kusterbeck, Geoffrey A. Landis, Jim Lang, Jessica D. Lewis, Lennart Lundh, Caitlyn Lux, Susan Mallernee, Marc Mannheimer, J.W. Mark, Molly McCann, Bob McNeil, Ray McNiece, Lila McRainey, Philip Metres, Marisa Moks-Unger, Patrick O’Keeffe, Mary O’Malley, Ashley Pacholewski, Renee Pendleton, Tanya Pilumeli, David S. Pointer, Sally Queen, Ben Rader, Valentina Ranaldi-Adams, Georgia Reash, Poetess REDD, Elizabeth Rees, rjs, Amy Rosenbluth, Elizabeth Rudibaugh, S. Renay Sanders, Heather Ann Schmidt, Erika Schoeps, Dennis Shanaberg, Kevin Frederick Smith, Larry Smith, Steven B. Smith, Vladimir Swirynsky, Brian Taylor, Joseph Testa, Steve Thomas, Jonathan Thorn, Kerry Trautman, Nick Traenkner, Mary A. Turzillo, D.R. Wagner, Mary Weems, Batya Weinbaum, Laura Grace Weldon, Eva Xanthopoulos and Shkehlaht Yisrael.  ISBN: 978-1-940996-20-2

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Thunderclap Amen - by Dianne Borsenik (CC#66)

cover photo by Steven B. Smith
Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the publication of Thunderclap Amen by Dianne Borsenik on 11 March 2015. The third release in our NineSense series of loaded nine poem chapbooks by authors whose work you need to know, Thunderclap Amen features 24 pages of fiery work that challenges even the coldest February on record in northern Ohio. As you would expect, Borsenik's blazing poetic tongue triumphs.


Get your Thunderclap Amen for only $6.99 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.

8.5 x 5.5", hand bound and saddle stapled. Textured cream card stock cover. Caramel construction endpapers. Ivory parchment pages laser printed recto side only. Poems include "Mother Tongue," "Karma Café," "Let's Get It On," "Polar Vortex," "Happy Hour," "'S No More," "Transcending Gender," "Around the Block" and "Cue Brick, or How I Learned to Stop Loving the Bomb and Start Worrying."

Print run: 99 copies.  ISBN: 978-1-940996-17-2.
 
Dianne Borsenik ablaze during Words Dance at Mahall's
photo by John Burroughs

Dianne Borsenik is active in the Cleveland, OH poetry scene and regional reading circuit.  Her work has been widely published in journals and anthologies, including Rosebud, Slipstream, Lilliput Review, Pudding Magazine, and Modern Haiku. She won first place in both the 2013 and 2014 Best Cleveland Poem Competitions.  As editor of NightBallet Press, she has published over 70 books for poets across the US.  Borsenik lives in Elyria with her husband James and dogsons Angelo and Bodhisattava. 

The author will give her debut reading/performance from Thunderclap Amen on 7 April 2015 at 6:30 p.m. during Words & Wine at Your Vine or Mine in Painesville, Ohio.
 

Thursday, December 25, 2014

#ThisIsCLE: An Anthology of the 2014 Best Cleveland Poem Competition (CC#63)

cover photo by Steven B. Smith
Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the publication of #ThisIsCLE: An Anthology of the 2014 Best Cleveland Poem Competition on 5 January 2015. 

The second annual Best Cleveland Poem Competition was held on Sunday, June 1, 2014 at the Willoughby Brewing Company.  #ThisIsCLE features contest highlights including poems by Geoffrey Landis, Theresa Göttl Brightman, Jeffrey Bowen, Mary Turzillo, JP Armstrong, Anita Herczog, Danya Eichhorn, Michael Murray, Steven B. Smith, Frannie Lograsso, S. Renay Sanders, two-time Best Cleveland Poem winner Dianne Borsenik and competition emcee Ray McNiece.

The book is 40 pages, perfect bound, 6x9" and a steal at only $10 from Crisis Chronicles Press,
535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.


Available now by mail and online — and soon from particular independent bookstores across the country!  Please join us for the official #ThisIsCLE release party on January 5th 2015 during Mondays at Mahall's Poetry and Prose series at Mahall's 20 Lanes, 13200 Madison Avenue in Lakewood, Ohio.  Meet and hear many of the contributors there. 

Project editor for #ThisIsCLE: Dianne Borsenik 

Executive editor: John Burroughs
ISBN:
978-1-940996-13-4
1st printing: 125 copies.

For more information about the annual Best Cleveland Poetry Competition sponsored by attorney Tim Misny, please click here.


https://www.facebook.com/events/570764059724426/

Friday, February 28, 2014

Songs in the Key of Cleveland: An Anthology of the 2013 Best Cleveland Poem Competition (CC#54)

cover photo by Michael Spear
Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the long-awaited publication of Songs in the Key of Cleveland: An Anthology of the 2013 Best Cleveland Poem Competition on 28 February 2014. 

The first annual Best Cleveland Poem Competition was held on Sunday, May 5, 2013 at the Willoughby Brewing Company.  Songs in the Key of Cleveland features the best poems shared that day, including work by area lit stars Catherine Criswell, Katie Daley, T.M. Göttl, Dianne Borsenik, Geoffrey Landis, Joshua Gage, Terry Provost, Jack McGuane, Ruth J. Coffey, Martin Snyder, Jeffrey Bowen, Mary A. Turzillo and competition emcee Ray McNiece.

The book is around 40 pages, perfect bound, 6x9" and a steal at only $10 from Crisis Chronicles Press,
535 Partkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.

Dr. Claire McMahon says "This is a great collection...!"


Available now by mail and online — and soon from particular local independent bookstores across the country!  Please join us for the official Songs in the Key of Cleveland release party on March 3rd during Mondays at Mahall's Poetry & Prose series, hosted by Catherine Criswell at Mahall's 20 Lanes, 13200 Madison Avenue in Lakewood, Ohio.  Meet and hear many of the contributors there. PLUS... the evening will feature a reading by Cleveland lit superhero Brad Ricca, author of Super Boys.  Talk about a dynamic duo!

Project editor for Songs in the Cleveland: Dianne Borsenik 

Executive editor: John Burroughs
ISBN: 978-1-940996-07-3

Update: Now its second printing.  250 copies in print so far.


For more information about the annual Best Cleveland Poetry Competition sponsored by attorney Tim Misny, please click here.




Friday, November 22, 2013

Cheap and Easy Magazine, volume 1 - by various authors (CC#44)

Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the late but worth-the wait publication of Cheap and Easy Magazine, volume 1 on 22 November 2013. This decidedly lo-fi, raw art over gloss production, edited by Hon. Jugborn Airbrush, features 42 pages of writing and images by William E. Berger, Dianne Borsenik, Julie-Marie Bristol, C.M. Brooks, Chansonette Buck, Shelley Chernin, Wanda Morrow Clevenger, Roxy Contin, C.O. Dauber, Lee Dish, John Dorsey, Giselle Force, Alex Gildzen, Michael Grover, Hermes F. Hernandez, Meribeth Hutto, Chuck Joy, Lady, Geoffrey A. Landis, Chris Mansel, Gail Mansel, MaryAnn McCarra-Fitzpatrick, Alex Nielsen, Jay Passer, Siddartha Beth Pierce, Misti Rainwater-Lites, Sparkplug O’Shea, SĂ©an M. Poole, Dave Roskos, Heather Ann Schmidt, Steven B. Smith, Merritt Waldon, R.A. Washington, Kathleen Whelan, A.D. Winans and Beverly Zeimer. Get yours for the decidedly lo-ball price of $5 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44134 USA.


The critics speak (though they've not yet read it):


"This is prime masturbation fodder."
— William Shake Spear

"I'll force feed Cheap and Easy to George Bilgere if you pay me $500."
— Bill E. Collins

"I'd rather lick the sweat from Bukowski's balls than read this."
— Haight R. Poet

"I did not have sex with that book."
— President Bill Clinton

"Quit listening to the critics. Buy the book and make up your own mind."
— Hon. Jugborn Airbrush


Click here to rate Cheap and Easy at Goodreads.
Click here to like Cheap and Easy on Facebook.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Crisis at Kindle

Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the recent publication of several titles as e-books via Amazon Kindle.  They are:

Elyria: Point A in Ohio Triangle by Alex Gildzen -- Originally published as a chapbook (CC#4) in 2009. This new Kindle edition includes a couple of new poems and a bunch of added photos.

Blue Graffiti by Dianne Borsenik -- Originally published as chapbook  CC#11 in 2011.

This Is How She Fails by Lisa J. Cihlar -- Originally published as chapbook CC#23 in 2012.

White Vases by John Swain -- Originally published as chapbook CC#26 in 2012.

Angel by Sandy Sue Benitez -- Originally published as chapbook CC#33 in 2012.

Barry Merry Baloney by John Burroughs -- By Crisis Chronicles' founder, originally published as an extremely limited edition chapbook (30 copies) by Spare Change Press in 2012.  Because we weren't ready to see it go out of print so soon, we republished it on Kindle.


Thursday, July 7, 2011

Blue Graffiti - by Dianne Borsenik (CC#11)

Foto by Smith, scrawled on by JB

Blue Graffiti is a new collection of Dianne Borsenik's best haiku/senryu.  A careful hand creation, this 34-page chapbook is saddle staple bound on gray-blue card stock, printed on high quality cotton paper and features front and back cover photos by Steven Smith.  8.5 x 5.5".  Published 7 July 2011.  We created 144 copies (featuring 48 different endpaper designs). The first 96 were inkjet printed; the last 48, laser. When they're gone we will not reprint. A feast for both the eyes and mind, the print edition of Blue Graffiti is available for only $7 (US) from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.  You may also order via PayPal:




Or click here, if you prefer, to buy the Kindle ebook edition of Blue Graffiti for $2.99.

J.E. Stanley, author of Dark Intervals and Rapid Eye Movement, has this to say:

Blue Graffiti rocks. I like the fact that you mixed traditional and modern haiku. It lets the poems be what they should be, rather than forcing the poems into a form which may or may not suit them. Your use of metaphor is extremely effective in this collection ("dry riverbed rocks flowing between the trees," "watching darkness / bleach minutes into day," "laughter showing in the air" and too many more to mention). Too many favorites to list, but "favorite" favorites are "dry riverbed rocks...," "bonfire" and the chilling "no guardrail." And, by the way, "Blue Graffiti" is a perfect title for a book of haiku. Excellent work!!

Click here to read Krysia Jopek's review of Blue Graffiti at The Tao of Jesus Crisis.
Click here to read reviews of Blue Graffiti at Amazon.
Click here to rate Blue Graffiti at Goodreads.

Rear cover, foto by Smith

Bio (as of 2011, from the book):

Dianne Borsenik, a former flower child and current redhead, lives with husband James near Elyria, Ohio's beautiful Cascade Park, where she found the "blue graffiti." She has had poems and haiku published in a number of journals and anthologies, including Rosebud, Slipstream, Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac and The Magnetic Poetry Book of Poetry. With poetry partner John Burroughs, she co-produces/co-hosts the Lix & Kix Poetry Extravaganza and Snoetry: A Winter Wordfest series.  Find her at dianneborsenik.com and nightballet.com.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Fuck Poetry - by 40 authors (CC#7) - OUT OF PRINT

I've called it an anthology, a periodical, and other less polite names, but I'm still not sure what it is exactly.  I do know, however, what's in it.  Fuck Poetry includes 70-some works by 40 poets from across the globe (with probably half of them from northern Ohio).  I'm very excited about it!  And it is finally available 15 March 2011 from Crisis Chronicles Press. 

I especially appreciate the patience of the contributors, at least one of whom submitted his poems as far back as 2008, when the project was barely a sperm cell in my mind sac.  Fuck Poetry features words by (in quasi-alphabetical order) Susan Amethyst, Sarah Black, Dianne Borsenik, Bree, Christina Brooks, Geri Lynne Burroughs, John Burroughs, Patricia Carragon, John Dorsey, DubbleX, Kevin Eberhardt, Mike Finley, Herb Fuerst, Maria Gornell, Sammy Greenspan, Charles Hice, Roxanne Hoffman, Colin James, Lady K, Joy Leftow, Yannis Livadas, David McLean, Jennifer Napier, Puma Perl, Jen Pezzo, Dan Provost, Misti Rainwater-Lites, rjs, Suzanne Savickas, Teleri Schakel, Heather Ann Schmidt, Helen Shepard, Dan Smith, Steven B. Smith, Willie Smith, Don Stabler, Cheryl Townsend, Lisa Vicious, Chocolate Waters, and Linnea Waters.

Fuck Poetry is approximately 50 pages, 8.5" x 11", inkjet printed on white paper and staple bound using yellow and black card stock and black duct tape.  Design, cover photo, inner collage and hand ink stamps by editor John Burroughs.  50 copies in print.  As of 24 May 2014 I only have one left (I was out until Mom died and I got her copy back). I'm not eager to part with it, but I will do so (and include a bunch of other other titles with it) to the next person who donates $300 to Crisis Chronicles Press (and helps us fund our next publication).


Thank you for supporting independent presses!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

HardDrive/SoftWear - by Dianne Borsenik (CC#2)

HardDrive/SoftWear is a chapbook by Elyria/Cleveland poet Dianne Borsenik, published 10 March 2009 by Crisis Chronicles Press. Refreshing as a mint julep, it features some of Borsenik's tastiest early poems.  


HardDrive/SoftWear is 30 pages, 8.5" x 5.5", inkjet printed on cool mint green paper, saddle staple bound using speckled cream card stock.  Design and cover photo by editor John Burroughs.  Approximately 250 copies in print (we've lost count).

Here's a sample:  


    Muse
             
   She has been with you again,

   I can tell.
   You have that furtive look
   about you, and you have the smell

   of ink on your breath.
   I know that she has taken you
   by your thin white wrist,
   and caressed the fine hair
   that furs your arm.  I imagine
   her guiding your hand
   to her lap, you touching her,
   her touching you. 

   I close my eyes, and I can see
   her moving closer to you, whispering
   in your ear, her exhalations
   hot on your stubbled cheek.
   I know
   you took her
   in your arms, opened your lips
   for her kiss; I know you let her
   explore your teeth, the roof of your
   mouth, your tongue.

   And I am quite certain

   that when you wake up
   in the morning, the indentation
   of her wanton form
   will be reflected in the crumpled sheets
   of your poetry.
 
 

Poet's biography (as of 2009, from the chapbook):

Dianne Borsenik, former flower child, current redhead, and Ohioan born and bred, lives in a temple of happiness with her husband James.  She is active in the Cleveland poetry scene and attends as many local readings as possible.  She has been the featured reader at Mac's Backs in Coventry, Borders in Akron, the Collingwood Arts Center in Toledo, Bela Dubby in Lakewood, the Poet’s Haven podcast at Phoenix Coffee in South Euclid, and was the "house poet" at Northrops Books in Olmsted Falls, Ohio.  Her signature poem "Lovechild" was chosen by the RTA "Moving Minds" Project to ride the buses and trains of Cleveland in 2008, and her poem "HardDrive/SoftWear" was chosen for inclusion in the 2009 Cleveland RTA project.  She is also co-founder of the Lix and Kix poetry series.

Her poems, haiku, and lyrics have appeared in a number of publications, including: the Voices of Cleveland anthology, The New Haiku anthology (Great Britain), Slipstream, Nerve Cowboy, Ship Of Fools, Blue Unicorn, iota (Great Britain), Modern Haiku, Frogpond, Haiku World: An International Poetry Almanac, Ko (Japan), Lyricist Review, The Magnetic Poetry Book Of Poetry, The City Poetry, Zygote In My Coffee (online), The Cartier Street Review, and Naturally magazine.  Actor Jonathan Frid, who played "Barnabas" on Dark Shadows, used three of her poems in his one-man performance Genesis Of Evil.

Find Dianne Borsenik at www.dianneborsenik.com and www.nightballet.com.


Click here to read the title poem from
HardDrive/SoftWear in Mnemosyne.
Click here to read "Greenheart" and here to read "Blue Moon" in the Crisis Chronicles.
Click here to see reviews of HardDrive/SoftWear at Goodreads.