Pocatello Wildflower - by John Dorsey (CC#122)

Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the publication of our second title of the year, Pocatello Wildflower by John Dorsey. Pocatello Wildflower is a monumental sequence of around 350 original poems created by Dorsey through a process of erasure using selected works by undersung Idaho poets as source material. 

 

Pocatello Wildflower is c. 380 pages, 4.25" x 7", perfect bound paperback with cover art by Elena Samarsky.  Shipping on 14 February 2023. ISBN 979-8-88596-992-5. Available for $15 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.

Select US or Elsewhere

In the U.S. $15.00 USD International $22.00 USD

 

John Dorsey lived for several years in Toledo, Ohio. He is the author of numerous collections of poetry, including Teaching the Dead to Sing: The Outlaw's Prayer (Rose of Sharon Press, 2006), Sodomy is a City in New Jersey (American Mettle Books, 2010), Tombstone Factory, (Epic Rites Press, 2013), Appalachian Frankenstein (GTK Press, 2015) Being the Fire (Tangerine Press, 2016), Shoot the Messenger (Red Flag Poetry, 2017), Your Daughter's Country (Blue Horse Press, 2019), Which Way to the River: Selected Poems 2016-2020 (OAC Books, 2020), Afterlife Karaoke (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2021) and Sundown at the Redneck Carnival (Spartan Press, 2022). His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and the Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Prize. He was the winner of the 2019 Terri Award given out at the Poetry Rendezvous. You may reach him at archerevans@yahoo.com.

Maple Leaf Zen - by John Dorsey (CC#119)

Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the publication of our sixth title of the year, Maple Leaf Zen by John Dorsey, on 3 October 2022. Maple Leaf Zen is a brilliant sequence of 124 original poems created by Dorsey through a process of erasure using selected works of the late New Orleans poet Everette Maddox as his source material.

Maple Leaf Zen is c. 140 pages, 6"x6", available in perfect bound paperback as well as a special limited edition (only 10 copies!) signed & numbered case bound hardcover. Cover image courtesy of @MapleLeafNOLA on Instagram.

The paperback (979-8-88596-996-3) is available for $12 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA. 

Paperback: US or Elsewhere?

In the U.S. $12.00 USD International $17.00 USD

The special limited edition signed & numbered case bound hardcover (979-8-88596-995-6) is available for $40 directly from John Dorsey. Email him at archerevens@yahoo.com to get yours while supplies last.

Meet the author:

10/3/2022 at Truman State University, Kirksville, MO

10/8/2022 at Uncloistered Poetry Live - October, Toledo, OH

10/9/2022 at Mac's Backs-Books On Coventry, Cleveland Heights, OH

John Dorsey lived for several years in Toledo, Ohio. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Teaching the Dead to Sing: The Outlaw's Prayer (Rose of Sharon Press, 2006), Sodomy is a City in New Jersey (American Mettle Books, 2010), Tombstone Factory, (Epic Rites Press, 2013), Appalachian Frankenstein (GTK Press, 2015), Being the Fire (Tangerine Press, 2016), Shoot the Messenger (Red Flag Poetry, 2017), Your Daughter's Country (Blue Horse Press, 2019), Which Way to the River: Selected Poems 2016-2020 (OAC Books, 2020), Afterlife Karaoke (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2021) and Sundown at the Redneck Carnival, (Spartan Press, 2022). His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and the Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Prize. He was the winner of the 2019 Terri Award given out at the Poetry Rendezvous. He may be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com. 

[Photo of John Dorsey by Jeremy Proehl.]

47 Poems - by Victor Clevenger (CC#117)

Crisis Chronicles Press is very happy to announce the publication of Victor Clevenger's latest book, 47 Poems, on April 7th 2022. We are offering this volume in two formats: perfect bound paperback and (while supplies last) a limited edition (47 copies) signed and numbered case bound hardcover. This excellent collection takes inspiration from Richard Brautigan's seminal novel Trout Fishing in America and features a foreword by John Dorsey.

47 Poems is 50 pages, 6x6". Front cover collage by Victor Clevenger. Available from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA. 200 total copies in print. UPDATE: The limited edition hardcover is now sold out, but you can still order the paperback.

Choose Format / Location

Paperback (in the US) $10.00 USD Paperback (elsewhere) $15.00 USD

A special book release event occurred on April 7th 2022, 6 pm Eastern, at the B Side Lounge in Cleveland Heights. This event featured readings by Victor Clevenger, John Dorsey, Nicole Hennessy, Russell Vidrick and John Burroughs.

Victor Clevenger spends his days in a Madhouse and his nights writing. Selected pieces of his work have appeared in print magazines and journals around the world; they have also been nominated for the Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize. He is the author of several collections of poetry including Sandpaper Lovin’ (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2017), A Finger in the Hornets’ Nest (Red Flag Poetry, 2018), Corned Beef Hash by Candlelight (Luchador Press, 2019), A Wildflower in Blood (Roaring Junior Press, 2020), and Scratching to Get By (Between Shadows Press, 2021). He and American poet John Dorsey run River Dog. You can reach him at crownofcrows@yahoo.com.

 

 

Afterlife Karaoke - by John Dorsey (CC#113)

[Update: NOW IN ITS 2ND PRINTING!]

Crisis Chronicles Press is very happy to announce the publication of John Dorsey's new poetry chapbook, Afterlife Karaoke. Dorsey is widely esteemed as one of the best poets in America and his work is unique and essential. He has dedicated this book to the late, great Jack Hirschman.

 

Afterlife Karaoke is 32 pages, perfect bound, 6" x 6". Contents include "A Dry County," "Easy on the Eyes," "A Chicken Strip in the Shape of a Seahorse," "Walt Disney and Richard Branson Will Meet Again at Freedom Mausoleum," "For Scott Wannberg, Gone 10 Years" and so much more. ISBN: 978-1-64092-951-7. Front cover art by Steven B. Smith. 275 copies in print.

 

Afterlife Karaoke is available for only $10 (includes postage) from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA. CashApp: $crisischronicles. Venmo: @jesuscrisis.

 

The Afterlife Karaoke release party took place on October 16, 2021 at The Attic on Adams in Toledo, Ohio, where Dorsey was joined in reading by esteemed poets from around the country.

U.S. or Elsewhere

United States $8.00 USD Elsewhere $12.00 USD

 

John Dorsey lived for several years in Toledo, Ohio. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Teaching the Dead to Sing: The Outlaw's Prayer (Rose of Sharon Press, 2006), Sodomy is a City in New Jersey (American Mettle Books, 2010), Tombstone Factory (Epic Rites Press, 2013), Appalachian Frankenstein (GTK Press, 2015), Being the Fire (Tangerine Press, 2016), Shoot the Messenger (Red Flag Poetry, 2017), Your Daughter's Country (Blue Horse Press, 2019), Which Way to the River: Selected Poems 2016-2020 (OAC Books, 2020), Maple Leaf Zen (Crisis Chronicles, 2022), and Pocatello Wildflower (Crisis Chronicles, 2023). His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and the Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Prize. He was the winner of the 2019 Terri Award given out at the Poetry Rendezvous. He may be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com.

 

[Author photo by Dianne Borsenik.]

Triple Threat - by John Dorsey (CC#105)

Crisis Chronicles Press is ecstatic to welcome the new year with the publication of John Dorsey's Triple Threat, a perfect bound collection of three chapbooks in one. John is widely esteemed as one of the best writers in America and his work is unique and essential.

Where are you?

United States $10.00 USD Elsewhere $13.00 USD

Triple Threat is 55 pages, perfect bound, 5.5x8.5". Contents include The Dusty and Lofty Dreams of Middle Class Fairy Princesses (a very rare, long out-of-print chapbook from 2004) as well as Dorsey's more recent Street Maps for Lost Souls and Ghost on the Inside. ISBN: 978-1-64092-975-3. Front cover image by Steven B. Smith. 250 copies in print.

Triple Threat is available for only $10 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA. 

Join us in the St. Louis area on 18 January 2019 for a special book release event, George Wallace and John Dorsey Live at the Book House, 7352 Manchester Road, Maplewood, Missouri 63143.

John Dorsey lived for several years in Toledo, Ohio. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Teaching the Dead to Sing: The Outlaw's Prayer (Rose of Sharon Press, 2006), Sodomy is a City in New Jersey (American Mettle Books, 2010), Tombstone Factory (Epic Rites Press, 2013), Appalachian Frankenstein (GTK Press, 2015), Being the Fire (Tangerine Press, 2016) and Shoot the Messenger (Red Flag Press, 2017). He is the former Poet Laureate of Belle, MO and Co-Editor, with Jason Ryberg, of the Gasconade Review. His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. You may reach him at archerevans@yahoo.com.

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.

The Everyday Parade / Alone With Turntable, Old Records - by Justin Hamm (CC#41) - OUT OF PRINT

Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the release of The Everyday Parade / Alone With Turntable, Old Records, a dual poetry chapbook by Justin Hamm, on 22 August 2013.  According to the author, "the back cover is printed upside down...to approximate the experience of listening to a record. The reader will read to the middle and then stop, flip the book over, and read Side Two."

unfolded cover of The Everyday Parade / Alone With Turntable, Old Records by Justin Hamm

The Everyday Parade / Alone With Turntable, Old Records was chosen as one of The Best Chapbooks of 2013 by The Scrapper Poet and as one of The Best Chapbook Collections of 2013 by Karen J. Weyant.

Sandy Longhorn, author of Blood Almanac, says:

"With a wisdom beyond his years, Justin Hamm presents tributes, laments, and elegies for the everyday and the working class, influenced by the best tradition of American folk and country music. The ghosts of Elvis, Hank, Townes, and Dylan ride shotgun — 'the mangiest and most / loyal-looking mutts ever' — as Hamm exposes the 'underbellies of the last minstrels' and shines a perfectly wrecked light on 'the one period / in all of this long lie called history / without room for heroism or holiness.' And yet, that is exactly what these poems sing of, the heroic and the holy, and the choruses echoes on long after the last poem-track gives way to silence."

Norbert Krapf, former Indiana Poet Laureate, says:

"Put this poetry album on your turntable and listen as Justin Hamm spins you back into the origins of American song and the center of communal life. Share the voices he recovers and praise him for having the wisdom to savor 'the loveliness / of [his] wife’s hair tucked behind her ears / and the almost imperceptible music of [his] little daughter’s sneakers / swishing through the…backyard grass.' He knows what to sing!"

The Everyday Parade / Alone With Turntable, Old Records by Justin Hamm is approximately 40 pages, saddle staple bound and hand assembled, 5.33 x 7.9 ", laser printed on white cover stock, deep purple endpapers and white pages. 100 copies in print. $7 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3431 George Avenue, Parma, Ohio 44134 USA. CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT AND UNAVAILABLE.

More reviews:

Click here to read Kathleen Kirk's review of the chapbook in Prick of the Spindle.
Click here to read Michael Meyerhofer's review at Trouble with Hammers.
Click here to view ratings of this chapbook at Goodreads.

Sample poems:

Click here to read "The Everyday Parade" in Atticus Review.
Click here to read "Uncle Fat Elvis" in the Crisis Chronicles cyber litmag.
Click here to read "To a Folksinger Just Arrived" in the Crisis Chronicles cyber litmag.

Interviews:

Click here to read a 2013 interview with Justin Hamm in Speaking of Marvels.
Click here to read a 2013 interview with Justin Hamm in Sakura Review.
Click here to read a 2012 interview with Justin Hamm in Midwestern Gothic.
 

Justin Hamm - photo by Mel Hamm

Poet's bio (as of 2013, from the chapbook):Originally from the flatlands of central Illinois, Justin Hamm now lives near Twain territory in Missouri. He is the the founding editor of the museum of americana and the author of the chapbook Illinois, My Apologies (RockSaw Press, 2011). His work has appeared, or will soon appear, in Nimrod, The New York Quarterly, Cream City Review, Spoon River Poetry Review, Sugar House Review, and a host of other publications. Recent work has also won The Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Award from the St. Louis Poetry Center, been featured on the Indiefeed: Performance Poetry channel, and been nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology and the Pushcart Prize. Justin earned his MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2005.

Update:  Justin Hamm's first full-length collection of poems, Lessons in Ruin, will be published by Aldrich Press in 2014 and is now available for pre-order from justinhamm.net.