I’m about to tune in to “Ozarks at Large” on the local NPR affiliate KUAF (streaming online at KUAF.org) to listen to Kyle Kellams interview the the two poets in anticipation of tomorrow’s Burning Chair Reading at Four Square Fine Art Gallery. The show starts at six and will air again tomorrow at noon.
Cannibal Books poet Claire Donato asked me if I’d be interested in contributing to the summer issue of the literary journal The New Yinzer. She said the theme was TINY. So I wrote about small run chapbooks and how we operate at Cannibal Books. HTML Giant also gave the issue some love.
A Bruegel illustration I discovered while working on garfish image research for a book.
Fresh off the presses are copies of Thomas Hummel’s Autumn it gestures. and Patrick Morrissey’s Transparency. They’re available to order here.
Each hand-sewn with a tipped in cover plate designed by myself, they’re both 32 pages of yumminess. Some of Hummel’s poems first appeared in journals ranging from The Boston Review to A Public Space. Morrissey’s chap acknowledges rad journals like Denver Quarterly and Harp & Altar. Hummel wears awesome spectacles and Morrissey is unbelievably tall (at least from my humble 5’4” perspective).
We’re about to host another poetry ensemble for August 15, with readers traveling from Chicago (Stephanie Anderson & Samuel Amadon **who just won the Iowa Poetry Prize, RAWK**), Milwaukee (Karl Saffran), Kansas City (Robert J. Baumann), Memphis (Friedrich Kerksieck), and Oxford, Miss. (Tim Earley). There will be a kickass book table set up since these poets are also known for their small press ventures including Projective Industries, Mitzvah Chaps, and Small Fires Press. There will be musical entertainment from Sam King and also readings from current Fayettevillians Thomas Andes, Jennifer Jabaily, and Don Lee to a little local flavor to the mix. The reading will take place from 3 to 6 p.m. at the recently relocated Four Square Fine Art (3996 Frontage Road, just off Joyce). Oh, and did I mention I will be baking pie again?
PS - Some exciting news: we just got word that our forthcoming author, Shane Jones, just sold the film rights to his novel Light Boxes to none other than Spike Jonze. We’ll be doing his chapbook, The Nightmare Filled You with Scary, later this year.
Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that I decided to join the Twitter fray. So far it’s just another communication tool for me. Find me, @helloloretta, if you’re so inclined.
No, I did not completely abandon this lonely blog, but this winter and spring have proven such a mighty force that I just couldn’t find a way to sneak in time for my dear little tumblr account. There was a massive ice storm that shut down the town for a week, two computer crashes, and much much more. I am still working without my very own computer at home, which has put a damper on all of my writing related tasks.
Somehow within that mayhem I did manage to interview Will Oldham just before the release of the new Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Bill Callahan, timed to coincide with the release of his new and amazing album, Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle. You can read the entirety of my interview with Will Oldham published in the April edition of The Brooklyn Rail. As for the Callahan, that is available at Venus Zine Online.
We also hosted two successful Burning Chair Readings in Fayetteville, one in April and another just this past week. We were uncertain of where they would take place, but we’ve now got a permanent home at the new Four Square Fine Art Gallery.
I promise to update again really soon! I mean, I have a smartphone now, so there are no excuses.
In December I tracked down the album Bird-Brains by Montreal-based Tune-Yards, the solo project of remarkable ukulele and lo-fi sample guru Merrill Garbus thanks to mentions by White Hinterland and Said the Gramophone. I went to the site and discovered the album was available for as little as 1 cent, but I donated 10 bucks anyway, because, as a DIY bookmaker, I know that every little bit helps. Merrill decided to try out the technique that was popularized by Radiohead, but it turns out that it works for the little guys too. I discussed the model and her music with the gal herself and you can read it at the Venus Zine website here. I think 2009 will be a grand one for the DIY-ers of this universe.
Matt and I seek nimble fingers to collate, fold, poke and stitch all the wares we’ll be dishing out at AWP in Chicago Feb. 11-14. We’re making many, many chapbooks, Cannibal 4 and Narwhal, a bound volume of seven chapbooks. If you’re nearby, please do holler at me.
I just discovered this write-up at the <HTMLGIANT> blog by friend and all-round rad radishes dude, Justin Taylor. First, I want to know where in the world he found this whack image:
He also posts a collage image of Brangelina with the caption “The Henriksens of Fayetteville.” Maybe the comparison will help sell a few Cannibal subscriptions. Either way, I’m blushing at the sweet words Justin lavished on our 2009 list.
The holidays were a fun-filled blur of family and friends. Just after Christmas several old friends came through Fayetteville to ring in 2009 with me.
A week in, and there are already massive changes. First off Matt and I will be opening a studio space for Cannibal Books right on the square in Fayetteville. We’ll be in the basement with a bunch of other like-minded folks in an artists’ collective. Those days of screenprinting on my bed in my apartment in Greenpoint are already beginning to feel downright quaint. We’re hoping to host regular readings there and also amass a book arts library open to the public. Right now we’re churning out books like crazy in order to have them all ready for the annual AWP lit conference in Chicago. I just finished the design of Keith Newton’s most delicious chapbook, Sent Forth to Die in a Happy City. We’re currently offering subscriptions for $60. Click here to read all about the massive goodies you’ll receive.
Second, I’ll be working a day job beginning Wednesday. As much fun as making your own hours, dress code and basically everything has been, I am thrilled to join the University of Arkansas Press as an editorial assistant. I’m thinking that, although I’ll be at an office five days a week, I might actually get more writing done than before, because so much of my energy has been dedicated these days to figuring out how to make rent.
I hope everyone else has good news to report too.
A holiday greeting via image only from Max, who often attaches pictures to go along with his messages.
