Matilda's Battle Waltz by Tracie Morell now available as a free e-book

In 2015, Crisis Chronicles Press had the honor of publishing poet Tracie Morell's Matilda's Battle Waltz (CC#70) in paperback. For some time recently, it has been sold out and unavailable. But now, at the author's request, we are happy to re-release this marvelous series of poems (with illustrations by Kris Risto) as a free e-book. Read Matilda's Battle Waltz at the Internet Archive or email jc@crisischronicles.com for a pdf copy.

“Tracie Morell’s work exhibits a lyrical acuity which illuminates and devastates. She leads us on a harrowing and electrifying journey through the life of Matilda, a being who dances on the brink of existence between what is marginalized and what has risen above to live in rarified air. Morell has no fear; our eyes blaze and dilate with Matilda, as we bear witness to our collective ruin. Morell’s poems celebrate the connections between the interior and exterior world and in doing so, take us closer to both.”
     —Kelly Boyker, Poetry Editor at Menacing Hedge

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

Matilda's Battle Waltz - by Tracie Morell (CC#70) - Free E-Book

Matilda's Battle Waltz is a powerful new collection of poems by Tracie Morell, illustrated by Kris Risto, featuring wraparound cover art by Ken Paul Johnson. Perfect bound, 5.5" x 8.5", 89 pages, ISBN 978-1-940996-22-6.  $10. The paperback is currently out of print.

 

UPDATE: As of August 2021, we have reissued this collection as a free e-book. It is now available at the Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/details/matildas-battle-waltz-final-2021-ebook. 

 
“Tracie Morell’s work exhibits a lyrical acuity which illuminates and devastates. She leads us on a harrowing and electrifying journey through the life of Matilda, a being who dances on the brink of existence between what is marginalized and what has risen above to live in rarified air. Morell has no fear; our eyes blaze and dilate with Matilda, as we bear witness to our collective ruin. Morell’s poems celebrate the connections between the interior and exterior world and in doing so, take us closer to both.”

     —Kelly Boyker, Poetry Editor at Menacing Hedge 

“Tracie Morell is the patron saint of every woman that is tough, beautiful...and pissed off. The thing I admire about her the most is, she doesn't bitch about life's short comings, she resolves conflict with a love that is bulletproof. Matilda's Battle is her recent attempt at reminding the world that if you want to be happy...you better ask questions.”
     —Danny Klecko, author of Houdini in St. Paul

These are not to be read with eyes — it takes but a few lines before you feel her words writing themselves into you, burning the beauty and the pain on the insides of your eyelids and the long bones of your ribcage. Tracie's poems are scrimshaw and snowflakes: permanent, yet glittering."
     —Amanda Gowin, author of Radium Girls 

"Reading Matilda’s Battle Waltz is succumbing to a mesmerizing liturgy of literary moves that includes Matilda’s pontifications, navigations, poetic landscapes, work woes, and foreign loves. The reader travels the path of a most beautiful way of living that does not deny or distinguish between the glorious and the seedy, but sees each poem as a song, a part of the poetic whole. Indeed, the roots of Matilda’s experience grow with you upon every read and you find yourself tapping your foot to her poetic rhythms as the highs and lows pull you into her life’s dance."

     —Kathleen D. Gallagher, author of I See Things are Falling

Click here to read Ron Hayes' review of Matilda's Battle Waltz at Five Writers.
Click here to read Juliet Cook's review of Matilda's Battle Waltz at Menacing Hedge.
Click here to see ratings and reviews at Goodreads.

Tracie Morell — by Kris Risto

Tracie Morell was raised on the savannah by a pack of feral gazelles. At a young age, she learned to bend iron bars with naught but her teeth and sheer determination. During her school years, she consistently wowed her teachers and mentors with her ability to dodge skepticism while performing feats of whimsical magic. In adulthood, she has birthed miniscule acrobats who assist her in her day-to-day tasks of smashing the banality of various poverties. In her spare time, she enjoys semaphore, scrimshaw, collecting rejection letters, and working on cars for the love of artistry and craftsmanship, despite her loathing of vehicular landscapes and the smell of ethanol. She resides in a land beyond your reach. Only Ben Frasier knows how to find her.  

Join us for the official book launch for Matilda's Battle Waltz on Friday June 12th 2015 at 5:30 p.m. during Poets and Painters at PACA, 1505 State Street in Erie, Pennsylvania.  

The launch event will feature poetry readings by Marisa Moks-Unger (whose chapbook, Mud and Stars, will be released that night by NightBallet Press), Tracie Morell, Shawn King, Veronica Hopkins, Juliet Cook, Dianne Borsenik and John Burroughs - plus music by Rodger Montgomery and an exhibition of work by Kris Risto and Ken Paul Johnson.  Not to be missed!