The Rainbow Book Fair 2024

The Annual Rainbow Book Fair, the largest LGBTQ book event in the world, now in its twelfth year, will take place Saturday, April 20, 2024, from noon to 6 PM, at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center, 208 W 13th Street, west of 7th Avenue in New York’s Greenwich Village. 

Poets Wear Prada is proud to be a Silver Sponsor of this year’s fair.  We will be tabling with our friends from Brownstone Poets, Eggplant Press, and Crown Rock Media. Please stop by, browse and shop our books, meet our authors and the editors, and say hello! .

Admission is free, but a suggested donation of $5 is welcome at the door. .

 

The RBF brings more than 100 exhibitors and more than 1500 authors, agents, editors, publishers, and LGBTQ book lovers of all sorts together for full schedule of panels, book readings, an all-day Poetry Salon, and conversations. Special Featured Readers include Felice Picano, Torrey Peters, Samra Habib, and Andrea Lawlor. Panels include How to Get Published, The Male Muse Anthology at 50+, and Politics as Experience, Experience as Politics. 

For more information: www.rainbowbookfair.com. Or, contact is by email: rainbowbookfair123@gmail.com.

Publication Announcement: Good Housekeeping by Bruce E. Whitacre

Good Housekeeping
by Bruce E. Whitacre
Poets Wear Prada: April 1, 2024
ISBN-13: 978-1-946116-27-7
Paperback: 56 pages
Price: $18 (unsigned); $20 (signed)

April is National Poetry Month, and Jack Cooper and Roxanne Hoffman of Poets Wear Prada are delighted to kick off their press’s celebration with the April 1st release of the new poetry collection Good Housekeeping, Bruce E. Whitacre’s “joyful and precise exploration of the queer domestic” [JASON SCHNEIDERMAN, author of Hold Me Tight]. 

The book is immediately available for next day delivery from Amazon.  

Copies will also be available for purchase and signing at the following in-person events: Sunday, April 7th, 1:00 - 2:30 pm, Literary Sundays Reading Series at Victorian House, Friends of Maple Grove Cemetery, Intersection of Lefferts Blvd and Kew Gardens Road in Kew Gardens; and Saturday, April 20th, noon to 6 pm, The Rainbow Book Festival at the LGBTQ Community Center, 208 W 13th St, New York, NY 10011.

Bookstores and other retailers can contact Ingram to order copies. 

Libraries and schools may contact the publisher directly.

Publication Announcement: Bright-Eyed by Sarah Sarai

Bright-Eyed
by Sarah Sarai
Poets Wear Prada: March 1, 2024
ISBN: 978-1946116284
Paperback: 60 pages
Price: $18.00 (unsigned); $20.00 (signed)

March is National Women’s History Month and Small Press Month. Jack Cooper and Roxanne Hoffman of Poets Wear Prada are delighted to announce the timely March 1st publication of Sarah Sarai’s poetry collection Bright-Eyed, “her deliciously quirky excursion into her California roots” [Alexis Rhone Fancher, Poetry Editor of Cultural Weekly]. The book is immediately available for next day delivery from Amazon. Copies will also be available for purchase and signing at the International Women’s Day Celebration at W Hoboken on March 8th, where Sarah will be featured. Please contact Poets Wear Prada for direct individual and bulk orders from the publisher.

International Women’s Day at W Hoboken

Poetry publishers and promoters Jack Cooper and Roxanne Hoffman are delighted to announce that their independent press, Poets Wear Prada, is partnering with W Hotels for a local celebration of International Women’s Day at W Hoboken, 225 River St, Hoboken, NJ 07030, on March 8th from 6 to 9 PM. Please join us for wine tastings, a live DJ, and poetry! Featuring six distinguished women poets: Tantra Zawadi, Sarah Sarai, Rescue Poetix, Lynne Shapiro, Megha Sood, and Patricia Carragon. RSVP for this free and public event on Eventbrite.

Preorder Good Housekeeping by Bruce E. Whitacre

Good Housekeeping
by Bruce E. Whitacre
Poets Wear Prada: April 1, 2024
ISBN-13: 978-1-946116-27-7
Paperback: 56 pages
Price: $18 (unsigned); $20 (signed)

Signed and inscribed copies of Good Housekeeping by Bruce E. Whitacre are available for preorder for $20.00 including shipping and handling directly from the author through the Square online store at his Crown Rock Media website. The book will be officially released on April 1st when it will be made available to the general public on Amazon. Get your brain fuel! Preorder your signed copy of this “joyful and precise exploration of the queer domestic” [JASON SCHNEIDERMAN, author of Hold Me Tight] from the author today, and save on shipping and handling: https://crownrockmedia.com/store-2.

The contradictions of privilege and want, the dynamics of gay marriage, the joy of a good cocktail — all enter the mix as these 24 poems explore home, marriage, travel, war, sensuality, tea, and, yes, housekeeping. Selected as an Editor’s Pick by BookLife Reviews, Good Housekeeping includes “The Fold Out Couch,” which was nominated for a 2024 Pushcart Prize. Some poems have appeared in The Journal of American Poetry, The Mandarin Magazine, and World Literature Today, among other places.

Mainstream audiences, LGBTQA+, and readers interested in social justice or climate issues will enjoy this book. Comparative titles include Carolyn Forché’s In the Lateness of the World and Mark Wunderlich’s God of Nothingness.

EARLY PRAISE FOR GOOD HOUSEKEEPING:

• Read about Good Housekeeping online at BookLife Reviews


• Read Charles Rammelkamp’s review for Compulsive Reader.


• Read Lynette G. Esposito’s review for North of Oxford.

#Me Too, Anch'io Reviewed in Italian Americano

Congratulations to Editor Daniela Gioseffi and the other 22 contributors of #Me Too, Anch'io: Writings by Italian American Women, an anthology published by Poets Wear Prada, in 2020, on receiving a detailed and very positive 4+ page review in the most recent edition of Italian Americana, Vol. XLI, No. l, Winter 2023. With permission of this fine journal, you can read Roxanne Christofano Pilat’s entire review, “Chasing Down the Shadows: Writings of Abuse and Harassment” online at PoetsWearPrada.com. Go to the Reviews tab and scroll down to the last review listed on our Reviews page for a link to a PDF copy. Here's an excerpt from the Italian Americana review:

Within this compelling collection of prose and poetry, Gioseffi and her fellow authors give witness to the emotional imprisonment of abuse and harassment. The essays, micro-memoirs, and poems that make up the anthology speak of shadows and secrets, shame and silence. These writings emerge·from each author's recall — and resistance. The narrative voices throughout are often hushed, as if each author does not want to retell her experience but must retell it. In this volume, the reading contract is clear: You may ask to know more, but this is what you need to know. These are the words that can be revealed. Only these. And that is more than enough.

 

        — Roxanne Christofano Pilat, North Central College

Rhonda Zangwill is up on The Rainbow Project

Congratulations to Rhonda Zangwill! Jack Cooper and I have accepted her story “Fever” about her best friend’s mother for The Rainbow Project (Red Theme). I first had the pleasure of hearing Rhonda read this piece at Leigh Anne O'Connor's East Village Wordsmiths Salon at Book Club in February of this year (2023). — Roxanne Hoffman

2023 Best of the Net Nominations

Jack Cooper and I are pleased to announce our 2023 Best of the Net Nominations, selected from online The Rainbow Project: A Literary Place of Sanctuary from These Trying Times. Six poems, one piece of fiction, and one photograph have been nominated. Congratulations and best of luck to all the nominees!

 

 

POETRY:

 

Susan Justiniano aka RescuePoetix, “Rasberry Kisses,” posted 06/01/2022

Lynne Shapiro, “I’ve Read the Room,” posted 02/22/2022

Carrie Magness Radna, “This Thin Red Line,” posted 02/13/2022

Akshaya Pawaskar, “Red Blush,” posted 02/07/2022

Zev Torres, “Revelations Beyond Red,” posted 02/07/2022

Megha Sood, “Crimson Robe,” posted 02/04/22

 

 

FICTION:

 

David Huberman, “Nighttime Rainbow,” posted 01/10/2022

 

 

ARTWORK:

 

Belle Koblentz, “Tulips,” posted 03/01/2022

 

 

Please visit The Rainbow Project at: https://rainbowliterary.blogspot.com/.

2022 Pushcart Prize XLVI: Best of the Small Presses

Jack, the envelope please! Drumroll! Drumroll! Guess Who? Congratulations and Good Luck to ALL the Nominees! @anthonyrobertgibbons @onagritz @irisnschwartz @akshaya_pawaskar #pushcart #pushcartprize #nominations #prize #smallpress #poetswearprada @repoocejjj #litcommunity #literarylife #goodluck #congratulations #books #anthologies #2021publication #goodnews

Ona Gritz / “Persuasion,” “Troll Pox” / Present Imperfect

Robert Anthony Gibbons / “While Round Increase Rising Hills of the Dead” / Whom the Higher Gods Forgot (Kindle Edition)

Bob Heman / “Cone Melts” / Cone Transformed: Twenty-one Episodes from the Remarkable Life of Doctor Ephrastus Cone Medieval Metaphysician & Conjurer (Kindle Edition)

Iris N. Schwartz / “Golden Opportunity” / My Secret Life with Chris Noth (Kindle Edition)

Akshaya Pawaskar / “Indian Summer” / The Rainbow Project (Online Anthology),  Editors Roxanne Hoffman & Jack Cooper

Present Imperfect by Ona Gritz Available in Paperback

Paperback Edition of  Present Imperfect by Ona Gritz

A day early! In my hands this past Sunday — my copy of Ona Gritz’s new book, Present Imperfect, her essays — from The New York Times, The Rumpus, Brevity, and more! Now available in paperback as well as Kindle from Poets Wear Prada and Amazon. Get your brain fuel! DM me for more info. @onagritz @repoocejjj #newbook #hotoffthepress #essays #nonfiction #memoir #motherhood #sisters #sisterlove #runaways #truecrime #disabilityawareness #supportyourlocalwriter #independentpublishing #presentimperfect @amazonkindle @amazonbooks

Get your brain fuel!

Purchase your copy of the $15 paperback edition today:

https://amzn.to/3rgJJv5

or Go Green with a Kindle Edition for only $9.99 ($5.01 off the $15 paperback price, over a 30% savings!):

https://amzn.to/3zZ4k7N

Preorder Present Imperfect by Ona Gritz on Kindle

Amazon Listing for Kindle Edition of Present Imperfect by Ona Gritz

Get your brain fuel! Pre-order your Kindle Edition today for $9.99, $5.01 off the forthcoming paperback's $15 price tag (over 30% discount!). On 10/15 the title will automatically be loaded to your Kindle device or the free phone app.   The Kindle edition includes advance features such  X-ray for your reading enjoyment. 

Note that, on 10/15, the title will be made available to A Kindle Unlimited subscribers for FREE.

Here is the link to pre-order your copy:

https://amzn.to/3zZ4k7N

This debut essay collection by the NY Times-published writer and longtime columnist for Literary Mama, reads like a blockbuster movie. There is a heroine with cerebral palsy, likeable and indefatigable. There is family conflict, romance, and true crime. Ona writes on disability, family dynamics, and the murder of her sister's family with candor and passion. A critically acclaimed essayist, two Notable mentions by Robert Atwan, The Best American Essays, a Best Life Story in Salon, among the recent accolades, Ms. Gritz has gathered some of the best of her work from the NY Times Disability series, The Rumpus, Brevity, and more for this fine and most riveting read. 

HOT OFF THE PRESS: A NEW EXPANDED EDITION OF DOCTOR CONE FROM BOB HEMAN!

HOT OFF THE PRESS: 

A NEW EXPANDED EDITION OF DOCTOR CONE FROM BOB HEMAN!

Cone Transformed: Twenty-One Episodes 

 from the Remarkable Life 

 of Doctor Ephrastus Cone 

 Medieval Metaphysician 

 & Conjuror 

as recorded 

by Bob Heman 

Poets Wear Prada: 2021 

ISBN-13: 978-1946116222 

Paperback: 40 pages 

List Price: $12.00 

 Get your brain fuel. Shop Amazon:

  https://amzn.to/3CH8ZO9