Showing posts with label Steven Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steven Smith. Show all posts

Sunday, November 25, 2018

This Year's Crisis Chronicles Press Pushcart Prize Nominations

Crisis Chronicles Press has had the honor of publishing many excellent books by very talented poets this year. Alas, the Pushcart people only allow us to make six nominations. I would have preferred to have chosen twenty, as there were so many worthy candidates. But after some lengthy and very difficult deliberations, I finally narrowed down the field and submitted the following Pushcart Prize nominations:

"Serving"
by Kari Gunter-Seymour — from Serving (March 2018)

"Eclipse Myths"
by Steven B. Smith — from Where Never Was Already Is (April 2018)

"William Randolph Hearst, Diving Alone, San Simeon"
by Christine Howey — from Citizen of Metropolis (August 2018)

"Afterlife"
by Rikki Santer — from Dodge, Tuck, Roll (September 2018)

"assembly line doll head roach motel"
by Juliet Cook — from Malformed Confetti (October 2018)

"Questions for Google Home"
by Chris Stroffolino — from Drinking From What I Once Wore: Selected and Recent Poems (December 2018)

Best of luck to all of you!

Monday, April 9, 2018

Where Never Was Already Is - by Steven B. Smith (CC#98)

I am so very excited to announce the publication of underground art legend Steven B. Smith's magnum opus, Where Never Was Already Is, a collection of decades worth of his best poetry combined with a liberal array of his renowned collage art.

If not for discovering Smith and his work, I might never have attended a live poetry event or become a publisher. I cannot overstate his importance and influence, but not just on me. He is a master of language and rhythm and distilling innumerable harmonious essences from disparate parts. His humor is delightful and biting. His sensitivity and insight are unsurpassed. And no one is better at wordplay. Mix in love, lust, brain dust, the news, the blues and a lifetime of experiences that would make one hell of a series of movies and out comes Where Never Was Already Is, the must-have book of 2018.



Where Do You Want It?

Where Never Was Already Is by Steven B. Smith is perfect bound, 6" x 9", featuring 27 collages and roughly 250 poems on 324 pages. Nominated for an Ohioana Book Award. Cover collage and author photo also by Smith. ISBN: 978-1-940996-49-3. Available for $15 from Crisis Chronicles Press535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.

Meet and hear Smith at these special upcoming events:
4/21 at 7pm during the Kleft Crisis 2018 poetry festival at Mac's Backs in Cleveland Heights.
4/22 at 6pm during the Tongue-in-Groove Poetry Jam at the Millard Fillmore in Cleveland.
6/13 at 7pm at Mac's Backs in Cleveland Heights.
7/7 at 7:30pm at Visible Voice Books in Cleveland.

Self-portrait by Smith
Smith: poet 55 years, artist 54 years. His books include Zen Over Zero - Selected Poems 1964-2008 on City Poetry Press; Unruly on Crisis Chronicles Press; Hip Cat Femur Whack Give a Doc a Bone on NightBallet Press; and his memoir Stations of the Lost & Found, a True Tale of Armed Robbery, Stolen Cars, Outsider Art, Mutant Poetry, Underground Publishing, Robbing the Cradle, and Leaving the Country by Smith & Lady on City Poetry Press.

See his art and poetry on agentofchaos.com, Smith & Lady's blogs on walkingthinice.com, and his songs on reverbnation.com/mutantsmith where he sort of sings his words with music by Peter Ball and Billy Clarksville.

Smith says his greatest achievement is finding and marrying Lady K. 13 years ago and their selling his place to live for 31 months in 10 countries on 3 continents.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Forthcoming in 2018 from Crisis Chronicles Press (and subscription info)

Smith collage from Where Never Was Already Is
In 2018 I plan to publish twelve books by writers/artists whose work I have long admired. Many of these have been in the works for quite some time, and I am looking forward to finally midwifing them into print. All of them will be perfect bound. Some do not yet have finalized titles, but here are the dozen in no particular order:

Serving, poems by Kari Gunter-Seymour

Awaiting Time, poems by Helen Shepard

Malformed Confetti, poems by Juliet Cook

not yet titled, poems by Christopher Franke

Where Never Was Already Is, poems and collages by Steven B. Smith 

Ode to Horatio and Other Saviors, poems and photos by Carolyn Srygley-Moore

Drinking from What I Once Wore, poems by Chris Stroffolino

ouroboros, poems by Chansonette Buck and art by Jillian Mardin

Before the Next Ice Age, poems by Lisa J. Cihlar

Citizen of Metropolis
, poems by Christine Howey

not yet titled, poems by Julie Ursem Marchand

a super surprise book to be announced later

Where Are You?

Order all twelve in advance for $100, which will (1) save you $20 off the projected retail price, (2) get you an immediate bonus shipment of three recently published [2017] Crisis Chronicles Press publications, and (3) get you free shipping on all of the above.  Fifteen fabulous books in all!

Click the Buy Now button or send a check for $100 to Crisis Chronicles Press, 3431 George Avenue, Parma, Ohio 44134 USA. Please add $25 if you're ordering from outside the United States.

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 2015, 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.

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

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Oct Tongue -1 (by Mary Weems, John Swain, Steven Smith, Lady K Smith, Shelley Chernin, John Burroughs and Steve Brightman) - CC#55

cover foto by Smith
Like seven 31-page chapbooks in one!

Published August 27th by Crisis Chronicles Press, Oct Tongue -1 is a collaborative book by Mary Weems, John Swain, Steven Smith, Lady [Kathy] Smith, Shelley Chernin, John Burroughs and Steve Brightman.  This book is our biggest yet, 300+ pages, featuring 217 poems (31 by each author), all written in response to the editor's October 2013 poem-a-day challenge.  [He borrowed the idea from a poem-a-day book called February 03 by Todd Colby, Alex Gildzen, Thurston Moore and Matthew Wascovich (published in 2003 by Slow Toe in Cleveland).]  Oct Tongue -1 is  a 6x9" paperback, ISBN 978-1-940996-08-0, available for $15 (now only $10) from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.  See October through the eyes of seven fine and quite different poets!


Please join us at these special launch events!

8/27/2014: Official Oct Tongue -1 Book Release at Mac's Backs in Cleveland Heights, Ohio
9/1/2014: Monday at Mahall's featuring Ray McNiece and Mary Weems in Lakewood, Ohio
...and perhaps more to be announced soon

About the authors:

Dr. Mary Weems is a poet, playwright, imagination-intellect theorist, social/cultural foundations scholar and former Poet Laureate of Cleveland Heights. Weems is the author and/or editor of twelve books and five chapbooks, most notably white (Wick Poetry Chapbook Series) and Tampon Class (Pavement Saw Press). Two of her books were full collections of poetry: An Unmistakable Shade of Red and the Obama Chronicles (Bottom Dog Press, 2008) and For(e)closure (Main Street Rag Press, 2012), both finalists for Ohioana Book awards.

John Swain of Louisville, Kentucky, is the author of several acclaimed books including Rain and Gravestones (2013, Crisis Chronicles), White Vases (2012, Crisis Chronicles) and Prominences (2011, Flutter Press). His latest, Ring the Sycamore Sky, is forthcoming in the summer of 2014 from Red Paint Hill Publishing.

Steven B. Smith was born, is living, will die. He's been a poet 50 years, artist 49 years, the publisher of ArtCrimes, editor of AgentOfChaos.com, he blogs on WalkingThinIce.com, and sings at ReverbNation.com/MutantSmith. Smith & Lady published his bio Stations of the Lost & Found, a True Tale of Armed Robbery, Stolen Cars, Outsider Art, Mutant Poetry, Underground Publishing, Robbing the Cradle, and Leaving the Country in 2012 via The City Poetry Press.

Lady, a.k.a. Kathy Ireland Smith, is a poet, publisher, artist and surreal photographer from northeast Ohio. She and her husband Smith spent 31 months of traveling in 10 countries on 3 continents from 2006-9, and you can follow their ongoing adventures at WalkingThinIce.com. Kathy is also founder and editor of The City Poetry (thecitypoetry.com), a cutting edge art and poetry zine based in Cleveland.

Shelley Chernin is a freelance researcher, writer and editor of legal reference books and a ukulele enthusiast. Her poems have appeared in places like Great Lakes Review, Scrivener Creative Review, Rhapsoidia, Durable Goods, Big Bridge, and the Heights Observer. She was awarded 2nd Place in the 2011 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest.  Her chapbook, The Vigil, was published in 2012 by Crisis Chronicles.

Steve Brightman lives in Kent, Ohio. He firmly believes in two seasons: winter and baseball. His most recent chapbooks include 13 Ways of Looking at Lou Reed (2013, Crisis Chronicles Press), In Brilliant Explosions Alone (2013, NightBallet Press); Like Michelangelo Sorta Said (2013, The Poet’s Haven), Absent The (2013, Writing Knights Press) and Sometimes, Illinois (2011, NightBallet).

John Burroughs is the founding editor of Crisis Chronicles Press and hosts the Monday at Mahall’s Poetry and Prose Series in Lakewood, Ohio.  He is the author of It Takes More Than Chance to Make Change (2013, The Poet’s Haven), The Eater of the Absurd (2012, NightBallet Press), Barry Merry Baloney (2012, Spare Change Press), Water Works (2012, recycled karma press), Electric Company (2011, Writing Knights) and more.

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.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Unruly - by Steven B. Smith (CC#12)


front
Unruly is a new collection of poetry by Cleveland art legend Steven B. Smith.  This 25-page chapbook includes 25 poems on sideways college-ruled paper.

Unruly is available for only $7 US from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3431 George Avenue, Parma, Ohio 44134 USA.  You may also order via PayPal. This chapbook is currently sold out.

This chapbook is saddle staple bound with white cover stock and yellow endpapers lovingly hand-assembled — 8.5 x 5.5" with cover fotos by Smith (text added by JC).  Published 20 August 2011.  100 copies in print.



 

Sample poems et cetera:

Click here to read "No TV for Me" from Unruly in the Crisis Chronicles.
Click here to read "Now Zen" from Unruly at agentofchaos.com.

Click here to read "The Sociosphere vs. Mother Earth" from Unruly in the Crisis Chronicles.
Click here to read Smith's blog entry about Unruly (including "Me, Myself and Lie").
Click here to view ratings of Unruly at Goodreads.

Click here to read reviews of Unruly at Amazon.


Smith bio (as of 2011):

back
Steven B. Smith is a poet, memoirist, photographer, blogger and collage/assemblage artist who makes his home in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. He's been writing poetry for nearly five decades, and for more than twenty years he published the famed ArtCrimes journal. He created a massive online art/poetry archive at agentofchaos.com, and a wide array of his poetry and collages have been published in the critically acclaimed book Zen Over Zero: Selected Poems 1964-2008 [published by The City Poetry Press]. Smith and his wife Lady have traveled the world extensively, creating and living art in places like Croatia, Morocco and Mexico, while blogging about the best, worst and most unique bits of their journey at walkingthinice.com. They've also collaborated on a book about Smith's life entitled Stations of the Lost & Found. For more information on Smith, read his mutant bio.  Then check out his musical collaborations at reverbnation.com/mutantsmith.


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!