Poets Wear Prada is a poetry publishing house with excellent poets and affordable books with beautiful covers. Have you had your poetry today?--Meredith Sue Willis, Books for Readers * * * Stylistically, these beautifully designed and produced chapbooks bear their own distinctive signature.--Linda Lerner, SMALL PRESS REVIEW

Thursday, December 15, 2011

12/15 in NYC: Space on White fts. PWP Authors Efrayim Levenson & John J Trause

Come, help fill-up the page . . .


Thursday, December 15, 2011
from 7pm to 9pm
Poets on White
features
* EFRAYIM LEVENSON * JOHN J. TRAUSE * JACK TRICARICO *
+ open mic (Sign-Up 6:45 with Cindy Hochman

@
[space on white]

81 White Street,
(Tribeca,near Broadway)
New York, NY 10013
 (212) 227-8600

Hosts: Evie Ivy & Cindy Hochman
$4.00 donation

Directions: J, N, R, Q, B and #6,1 train, A,C,E trains slightly longer walk
to Canal Street; Space on White is two blocks south of Canal Street


About the Features:

JACK TRICARICO is a New York City painter, poet, and T'ai Chi instructor who has been published in numerous poetry journals and anthologies based in New York City and upstate New York . He has completed 9 chapbooks and is working on his 10th. He's been published in Hunger Magazine, Home Planet News, Long Island Sounds, 2009 Issue, Perhaps I Am Wrong About The World, Asbestos, Nomad's Choir, Dinner With The Muse, Pushing The Envelope, The Poets Gallery press, among others. His art work can be seen on two art sites: www.nyaw.com and bondandbowery.com.

*

JOHN J. TRAUSE, said to be the secret love child of Henri Langlois and Mary Meerson (Or is it Marie Menken and Willard Maas?), was nominated for the Pushcart Prize (2009-2011). The Director of Oradell Public Library, he is the author of Seriously Serial and Latter-Day Litany, the latter staged Off-Off Broadway. His translations, poetry, and visual work appear in many journals and anthologies in North America and Europe , including the artists' periodical Crossings and the Dada journal Maintenant. Appearing in the City Lights Books celebration (Poetry Project, St. Mark’s, NYC) with Steven Van Zandt, Anne Waldman, and Karen Finley, and in Visible Word (Stevens Institute, Hoboken, NJ) with Jerome Rothenberg, he is cofounder of the William Carlos Williams Poetry Cooperative (Rutherford, NJ) and serves as host and curator of its monthly reading series. Aside from his literary work, his artwork has been exhibited in The MoMA Staff Show (1995), at Il Trapezio Café ( Nutley , NJ ), and appears in the permanent collection of The Museum of Menstruation (New Carrollton , MD ) to whose website he has contributed.

*

EFRAYIM LEVENSON has presented his poems at bars, churches, colleges, libraries, and synagogues in Manhattan , Brooklyn, and Buffalo . His work has been published in Pure Light, ArtVoice, Medicinal Purposes, What Happens Next, Poetica, and other anthologies, and online as well. A member of Parkside Poetry Workshop, Efrayim is currently editing a chapbook (his third) of poems based on the music of guitarist Buckethead. A CD of poetry and jazz, with bassist Clif Jackson, is also in the works.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Hoboken Author’s New Illustrated Book Contemplates Love and Death


Hoboken author Roxanne Hoffman today announced the release of “In Loving Memory,” her gothic ballad tracing a small town congregation from funeral to marriage, illustrated by Edward Odwitt.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Roxanne Hoffman
201 795 3810

Hoboken Author’s New Illustrated Book Contemplates
Love and Death


Hoboken, New Jersey (December 10, 2011) – Hoboken author Roxanne Hoffman today announced the release of “In Loving Memory,” her ballad illuminating the gothic shadows surrounding a small town congregation from funeral to marriage, illustrated by Edward Odwitt. A recent widow, whose husband of 20 years, partner for 28, died suddenly last Valentine’s Day, Ms. Hoffman knows both rites of passage first hand. A self-proclaimed witness to life’s serendipities, she transports the reader from the scenes of deepest sorrow to ones of abounding joy through the voice of a male villager.

IN LOVING MEMORY
by Roxanne Hoffman
Illustrations by Edward Odwitt
 “‘In Loving Memory’ is an elegant, elegiac poem by Roxanne Hoffman, illustrated by Edward Odwitt in a style reminiscent of classic Edward Gorey. This somber, tender and darkly ironic verse is about the ceremonies of death and grieving ... as well as their parallels to the rituals of abiding love and remembrance. ‘In Loving Memory’ should be on everyone's shelves as it reflects on one of the darkest human experiences with insight and humanity in a charmingly gothic presentation,” says Garth von Buchholz, author, publisher and member of the National Book Critics’ Circle.

Written following her retirement in 2003 from a 20-year stint on Wall Street, the poem appeared in “Danse Macabre,” the Nevada-based online literary magazine published by Adam Henry Carriere. “Roxanne Hoffman has been a whirlwind of poetics for some time now. ‘In Loving Memory’ is not only a worthy addition to her oeuvre but an original, deeply human—and warmly humane—vision of the rites of final passage. Of course there is trauma, that of irreconcilable loss, but here Roxanne brings the full coin of her poetic mind to bear. In sustained elegiacal rhyme she paints a methodically wrought landscape that is beautifully subjective yet utterly universal. The portraiture is further enriched by the stark, almost child-like illustrations of Edward Odwitt. The sum effort is a melodic, imaginative riposte to the reverberations of loss, a moment heartbreakingly, heartwarmingly wrought into poetry,” says Adam Henry Carriere.

Ms. Hoffman says she had always envisioned her poem as an illustrated book in the style of Edward Gorey, but Gorey was, unfortunately, already dead in 2000. This past fall, at the Brooklyn Book Festival, she met Edward Odwitt, when he stopped by her table and presented her with his “Head for the Hills,” a book of short verse written and illustrated to encourage his younger brother to enjoy reading. Opening the book later at home, she realized she had met her illustrator. “Edward’s work ranks with that of Tim Burton, Edward Gorey, and Dr. Seuss, often echoing the gothic style of the late great Gorey, and with more than a whit of the whimsy of Seuss,” says Roxanne.

“It was a great pleasure working with Roxanne Hoffman having illustrated ‘In Loving Memory.’ Together, our collaborative efforts helped produce a complimentary visual for her astounding poetic ability,” says Edward Odwitt.

Edward and Roxanne are already at work on their next collaboration, “The Little Entomologist.”

“In Loving Memory,” by Roxanne Hoffman with illustrations by Edward Odwitt, paperback: 24 pages, publisher: CreateSpace (December 9, 2011), ISBN 978-1468019070, list price: $12.00, is now available at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/in-loving-memory/dp/1468019074) and from CreateSpace (https://www.createspace.com/3738388) . Signed copies can also be purchased directly from the author at http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/.

Roxanne Hoffman worked on Wall Street, now answers a patient hotline for a New York home healthcare provider. Her work has been published widely in literary journals like “Amaze: The Cinquain Journal,” “Clockwise Cat,” “Danse Macabre,” “The Fib Review,” “Hospital Drive,” “Lucid Rhythms,” “Mobius: The Poetry Magazine,” “The New Verse News,” “The Pedestal Magazine,” and “Shaking Like A Mountain,” as well as in several anthologies including “The Bandana Republic: A Literary Anthology by Gang Members and Their Affiliates” (Soft Skull Press), “Love after 70” (Wising Up Press), and “It All Changes in an Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure” (Harper Perennial). Her vampire poetry can be heard during Dave Gold’s 2005 indie flick “Love and the Vampire.” She runs the small literary press Poets Wear Prada, since 2006.

Independent author/artist Edward Odwitt’s portfolio veers from symmetrical illustrations to graphics and pastels, as well as cartoons drawn primarily in black pen or pencil. His first book “Head for the Hills,” an illustrated book of poetry written for middle school audiences, can be found on his website http://www.edwardodwitt.com/. He is currently compiling a collection of his artwork into a book due out by the end of 2011.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Poets Wear Prada Announces Six Nominations for Pushcart Prize


Small New Jersey Literary Press Picks Six for Shot at Annual Pushcart Prize
Recognizing Best of 2011 by Small Presses

Hoboken publisher Poets Wear Prada announced its six nominees for the Pushcart Prize, recognizing the best of 2011 published by Small Presses: Chocolate Waters, Davidson Garrett, Dean Kostos, Melinda Goodman, Dorothy Friedman and John Marcus Powell.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Roxanne Hoffman
201.253.0561

Hoboken, NJ (Dec 05, 2011) - Poets Wear Prada, a small literary press based in Hoboken, NJ, announced today its six nominations for the 36th Annual Pushcart Prize, the coveted award signaling the best work published by small presses the previous year. Nominations for the Pushcart Prize are made by little magazine (print and online) and small book press editors. Editors can nominate poems, short stories, essays, chapters from novels, or “literary whatnots” -- up to six selections -- by the postmark deadline of December 1. Translations, reprints, and both traditional and experimental writing are welcomed. Bill Henderson with the editors of the Pushcart Press select from the nominations for inclusion in an annual anthology printed and distributed with W.W. Norton since 1976.

Pushcart Prize XXXVI
Best of the Small Presses
Nominated works from Poets Wear Prada this year include “Desire” by Chocolate Waters from her recently released (October 2011), critically acclaimed chapbook “The Woman Who Wouldn’t Shake Hands,” a sometimes humorous often poignant collection of poems reflecting on a failed romance, and “A Hack’s Elusive Love or Arthur Miller Lives” by Davidson Garrett from the chapbook anthology of the Ninth Annual All Out Arts’ Fresh Fruit Festival, “Pears, Prose & Poetry,” edited by Caitlin Foster and Roxanne Hoffman, released July 2011. “Desire” first appeared in Soundzine, Lucky Issue #13, 2011. “A Hack’s Elusive Love or Arthur Miller Lives” was previously published in “Beyond the Rift: Poets of the Palisades Anthology,” edited by Paul Nash and Denise La Neve, The Poets Press, 2010.

From “Pears, Prose & Poetry,” four additional selections were nominated: “At the Barber’s” by Dean Kostos, “Just How Crazy Brenda Is” by Melinda Goodman, “Magic Bistro” by Dorothy Friedman August, and “St. Vincent’s” by John Marcus Powell. “At the Barber’s” first appeared in "OCHO 22," edited by Miguel Murphy, MiPOesias, 2009. “Just How Crazy Brenda Is” was previously published in "Middle Sister" by Melinda Goodman, MSG Press, 1987, and "Gay and Lesbian Poetry in Our Time: An Anthology," edited by Carl Morse and Joan Larkin, St. Martin’s Press, 1988.

“This year’s selection process was particularly challenging,” said publisher Roxanne Hoffman, “as all of the 19 poems included in ‘Pears, Prose & Poetry,’ selected from the over fifty solicited submissions by some of the best local poets in the GLBT community, are ‘winners,’ all deserving recognition.”

Poets Wear Prada, a small literary press based in Hoboken, New Jersey, was founded in October, 2006, to develop and promote new and established writers of narrative and lyrical poetry. Poets previously nominated by the press include Iris Berman, Carol Wierzbicki, Michael Montlack, Susan Maurer, Erik La Prade, Gil Fagiani, Bob Heman, Maria Lisella and Laura Vookles. Poets Wear Prada blogs at http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/. Titles are available at Amazon.com, BN.com, and CreateSpace.com, as well as directly from the publisher.

# # #


Poets Wear Prada is a small literary press based in Hoboken, New Jersey, devoted to introducing new authors through high-quality chapbooks primarily of poetry, since October 2006. Please visit us at: http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/. "Have you had your poetry today?"

Friday, December 2, 2011

Canio’s Books to Celebrate Emily Dickinson’s Birthday with a Talk by Poet George Held




The poet George Held will be giving a talk on the poet Emily Dickinson in honor of her birthday. Canio’s Books, 290 Main St., Sag Harbor, NY. 4 p.m., Saturday, December 10.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Roxanne Hoffman
201.253.0561


Sag Harbor, NY (Dec 02, 2011) –  The poet George Held will be giving a talk on the revered American poet Emily Dickinson, in honor of her 181st birthday, at Canio’s Books, 290 Main St., Sag Harbor, NY on Saturday, December 10, 2011, at 4 p.m. "Miss Emily´s Hymnal: The Art of Common Meter" will be a look at the formal structure and themes of Dickinson´s work with a chance to practice.

Maryann Calendrille, one of the owners of Canio's, where George has frequently given readings of his own work, took a haiku workshop led by him last summer and asked if he’d like to give a talk on Emily Dickinson on her birthday, which this year falls on a Saturday, the day Canio's Cultural Café normally offers readings and other programs. George, who taught Emily Dickinson’s poetry for years as a professor at Queens College, and led a workshop based on her verse, a few years ago, for the Live Poets Society in Bayshore, NY, promptly agreed.


Emily Dickinson, daguerreotype, circa 1848, Yale
 

 Emily Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. Though now considered one of America’s greatest poets, she had less than a dozen of her nearly 1,800 poems published in her lifetime.

"Common meter," the verse form of Protestant hymn Emily Dickinson often borrowed to construct a poem, also serves George Held as an occasional instrument. Its four-line stanza, or quatrain, combines an alternating rhyme scheme (abab) with alternating long (8-syllable) and short (6-syllable) lines as this untitled poem by Dickinson demonstrates:
It's such a little thing to weep --
So short a thing to sigh --
And yet -- by Trades -- the size of these
We men and women die!”
A satiric poem by Held, originally published in Light, follows that same pattern:
Tell All . . .
Tell all the lies but tell them well;
Make customers believe
The sales pitch blooming on your lips
So they won’t feel aggrieved.
Sell all the dreck despite its flaws,
Don’t worry ’bout the toys;
Just hope the folks won’t sue your ass
After the obsequies.
For more information about Canio’s Books and directions on how to get there, please visit their website at http://www.caniosbooks.com/ or call 631.725.4926.


George Held
George Held, a five-time Pushcart Prize nominee, is the author of two full-length collections, ten chapbooks, as well as two e-books of poetry, and the editor of “Touched by Eros,” an anthology of erotic verse. His “After Shakespeare: Selected Sonnets” was recently published by Červená Barva Press. A teacher, translator, writer and poet, his work has appeared in “The Philadelphia Inquirer,” “Confrontation,” “Notre Dame Review,” “New York Quarterly” and “Rattle,” among numerous other publications including two-dozen anthologies, and been featured on National Public Radio (NPR). Among his chapbooks is “Phased” (Poets Wear Prada, 2008). He holds a B.A. from Brown, an M.A. from University of Hawaii, and a Ph.D. from Rutgers, taught at Queens College for 37 years, was a Fulbright lecturer in Czechoslovakia (1973-76), and serves on the executive board of The South Fork Natural History Museum, Bridgehampton, NY. He lives in Greenwich Village with his wife Cheryl.

# # #

Poets Wear Prada is a small literary press based in Hoboken, NJ, devoted to introducing new authors through high-quality chapbooks primarily of poetry, since October 2006. Please visit us at: http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/ . "Have you had your poetry today?"

Friday, November 11, 2011

Tonite 11/11/11: Book Party: Chocolate Waters's The Woman Who Wouldn't Shake Hands 7:30pm 400 W. 43rd St. (at 9th Ave) Ellington Rm. FREE

come celebrate with us!

the woman who wouldn’t shake hands


and here's a cool trailer, w/audio


chocolate will be reading from her new collection



featuring Mark Larsen, Fran Witte and Chavisa Woods

with emcee/publisher Roxanne Hoffman

Manhattan Plaza, 400 W. 43rd St. (SW corner at 9th Ave.)
Ellington Room, 2nd Floor
Nov. 11, Friday @ 7:30 p.m.

(11/11/11)



FREE



Single copies will be on sale: $12.

Signed, numbered collectible edition plus bonus CD: $25.



If you’re unable to attend but would like a copy: A single copy is $12. + $3. postage.

Collectors’ edition is $25. postage free for U.S. orders (foreign add $5.) and includes a CD with six audio tracks plus an extra bonus track of a poem not in the book.

Paypal is the best (cwaters@nyc.rr.com) or snail mail Chocolate Waters 
@ 415 West 44 St. Apt. 7 , NY, NY 10036-4440.


About the line up:

Chocolate Waters, the “Poet Laureate of Hell’s Kitchen,” is one of the first openly lesbian poets to publish in the U.S. during the second wave of feminism, and her contribution is documented in Feminists Who Changed America 1963-1975 (U of Il. Press, Barbara Love, ed.). With 3 previous collections, including Take Me Like A Photograph (Eggplant Press), classics of the early women’s movement, Waters is also a founding mother of the radical women’s newspaper, Big Mama Rag, which was produced in Denver, Colorado from 1972 to 1982. We are celebrating the release of her 1st book in over 3 decades, The Woman Who Wouldn’t Shake Hands from Poets Wear Prada Press.


Mark Larsen has dabbled in stand-up comedy and poetry for over 25 years, refusing to go away and then refusing to show up, both at the same time. Recently married to Francine Witte, also on tonight’s bill, he lives in New York city and makes his living as a market researcher. He is happy to be a part of the book release party for Chocolate, and counts Ms. Waters as a close friend and mentor.

Francine Witte lives in NYC.  She received her MA from SUNY Binghamton and her MFA from Vermont College . Her flash fiction chapbook, The Wind Twirls Everything, was published by MuscleHead Press  in 2007. She is the winner of the Thomas A. Wilhelmus Award in fiction from Ropewalk Press, and her chapbook, Cold June was published in 2010. Her poetry chapbook, First Rain was published Summer 2009 by Pecan Grove Press.  She is a high school English teacher. She's happy to be a part of Chocolate's book release party!


Chavisa Woods is a Brooklyn based author whose work pushes boundaries of class culture, gender, literature and sexuality. Her debut collection of short stories, Love Does Not Make Me Gentle or Kind (Fly By Night Press, 2008) was a Lambda Literary Award Nominee for Debut Fiction. Chavisa Woods is the recipient of the 2009 Jerome Foundation Award for emerging writers. Woods has featured as a reader with a number of renowned institutions and festivals. She featured in a performance series, which ran for five days at The Whitney Museum in New York City, as a member of the Chorus of Poets. She has also been featured at the New York Vision Festival as well as the New York Hot Festival in multiple years. Woods’ poetry, short stories and essays have been published nationally and internationally in a number of magazines and journals. Woods is currently completing her first full-length collection of poetry as well as her second work of fiction.

Nominated for a 2010 Pushcart, Roxanne Hoffman's work appears in several anthologies including The Bandana Republic: A Literary Anthology by Gang Members and Their Affiliates (Soft Skull Press), Love After 70 (Wising Up Press), and It All Changed In An Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure (Harper Perennial). Her vampire poetry can be heard during the 2005 indie flick Love and the Vampire, directed and produced by Dave Gold. She runs Poets Wear Prada, a small literary press, since 2006 and blogs at http://roxanne-hoffman.blogspot.com/.


* * *


POETS WEAR PRADA
C/O Roxanne Hoffman
533 Bloomfield Street - 2nd Floor
Hoboken, NJ 07030
http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Poets-Wear-Prada/41483895438
http://twitter.com/pradapoet

POETS WEAR PRADA is a small press based in Hoboken, New Jersey devoted to introducing new authors through limited edition, high- quality chaplets, primarily of poetry.

New press, great authors, a publisher who is one miracle short of sainthood.-Angelo Verga, Poetry Curator of The Cornelia Street Cafe

Poets Wear Prada is a poetry publishing house with excellent poets and affordable books with beautiful covers. Have you had your poetry today?-Meredith Sue Willis, Books for Readers

Stylistically, these beautifully designed and produced chaplets bear their own distinctive signature.-Linda Lerner, Small Press Review

Proud Member of CLMP
http://flordelconcreto.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/flordelconcreto





Monday, October 31, 2011

LGBT Arts Festival Hosts Women's Poetry Event November 4th at Jan Hus Church in NYC

The 9th Annual All Out Arts' Fresh Fruit Festival presents a Women’s Poetry Invitational, Fri., Nov. 4 at Jan Hus Church - Masyrik Hall, 351 E. 74th St., NYC 10021 Showtime: 8pm. Admission: $12. Special guests plus open mic. Emcee: Roxanne Hoffman.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY (Oct 31, 2011) -- The 9th annual All Out Arts' Fresh Fruit Festival continues with a new Harvest Fruits Festival this fall. On Friday November 4th, Fresh Fruit presents a Women’s Poetry Invitational, an evening of women writers, inspiration and empowerment -- with special guests and an open mic -- followed by a meet-and greet-reception. This event will be hosted by Roxanne Hoffman, publisher of Poets Wear Prada and will feature four local area writers known for their outspokeness and activism -- Dorothy Friedman August, Vittoria repetto, Chocolate Waters, and Chavisa Wood -- plus an open mic.

Fresh Fruit Harvest Festival Women's Poetry Invitation Poster designed by Su Polo
The event takes place at the Jan Hus Church - Masyrik Hall, 351 E. 74th St., New York 10021, between 1st and 2nd Avenues. Showtime is 8PM. Tickets are $12. Advance tickets can be ordered online at the Fresh Fruit Festival website (http://www.freshfruitfestival.com/) or at OvationTix dot com (http://www.ovationtix.com/). The closest subway station is the 77th Street Station of the number 6 train.

Emcee for the event, Roxanne Hoffman, has run Poets Wear Prada, a small literary press, since 2006. Her work appears in several anthologies including "The Bandana Republic: A Literary Anthology by Gang Members and Their Affiliates" (Soft Skull Press) and "It All Changed In An Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure" (Harper Perennial).

Dorothy Friedman August founded "The Helen Review," a literary magazine and was the poetry editor of "Downtown," a magazine of the arts for ten years. She is currently working on a memoir, "The Bastard Heirs," an excerpt of which is being published in Clayton Patterson‘s "Jews: A People’s History of the Lower East Side" (Seven Stories Press). Poets Wear Prada is publishing her third poetry collection, "L-Shaped Room."

Vittoria repetto is the author of two books, "Head For the Van Wyck" (Monkey Cat Press) and "Not Just A Personal Ad" (Guernica Editions, 2006) , host of the Women‘s & Trans‘ Poetry Jam at Bluestockings Bookstore since its opening in 1999, and Vice President of the Italian American Writers Association (IAWA).

Chocolate Waters, “Poet Laureate of Hell‘s Kitchen,” is one of the first openly lesbian poets to publish in the U.S. during the second wave of feminism, and her contribution is documented in "Feminists Who Changed America 1963-1975" (U of Il. Press, Barbara Love, ed.). Founding mother of the radical women‘s newspaper, "Big Mama Rag," author of "Take Me Like A Photograph" (Eggplant Press), a classic of the early women‘s movement, she is celebrating the release of her 4th book, "The Woman Who Wouldn’t Shake Hands" from Poets Wear Prada.

Chavisa Woods’s debut collection of short stories, "Love Does Not Make me Gentle or Kind" (Fly By Night Press, 2008) was a Lambda Literary Award Nominee for Debut Fiction. Chavisa Woods is the recipient of the 2009 Jerome Foundation Award for emerging writers.

This year marks the 9th anniversary of the All Out Arts’ Fresh Fruit Festival created in 2002 to support and present LGBT Art and Artists to fight intolerance. The Festival’s refreshing, innovate approach to LGBT arts allows audiences to sample a wide range of events from performing and fine artists representing different ages, ethnicities, sexualities, and gender orientations. Attendees are certain to find something fresh and innovative to inspire them.

The Fresh Fruit Festival prides itself on the diversity of its performers and equally diverse audiences. All are welcome and encouraged to attend. The mission of the All Out Arts’ Fresh Fruit Festival is "to fight prejudice and homophobia by celebrating LGBT art and artists." For more about the Fresh Fruit Festival visit http://www.freshfruitfestival.com/ .

# # #

Poets Wear Prada is a small literary press based in Hoboken, New Jersey, devoted to introducing new authors through high-quality chapbooks primarily of poetry, since October 2006. Please visit us at: http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/. "Have you had your poetry today?"

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Mon. Oct 24: Saturn Series: Sarah Bedell & Roxanne Hoffman 7pm Nightingale Lounge NYC



Saturn:
A NYC Poetry Periodical
 ~ Poetry Open Mic every Monday nite for 18 years ~
Featuring Sarah Bedell and Roxanne Hoffman
 Hosted by Su Polo

Date: Monday, October 24th

Time: 7pm - 9pm. (Open mic sign up starts at 6:30pm.)


Place: Nightingale Lounge, 213 Second Avenue,  New York, NY 10003 ( NW corner of East 13th & 2nd Ave) 212.473.9398 http://www.nightingalelounge.com/

Directions: By subway take 4, 5, 6, N, Q, R to Union Square/14th St. or L to 3rd Avenue or 1st Avenue. NJ PATH to 14th Street and head west.

Admission: 2 Drink/$10 Minimum + $3 Suggested Donation. 21+.


About the Featured Poets:


Sarah Bedell is a poet who has been a New Yorker since college. By day she works in a law firm, and in the evening she teaches English as a Second Language and leads The Riverside Poets Workshop with Anthony Moscini. Her poems have appeared in the annual anthology of The Riverside Poets Workshop, including Volume 13 which was published this fall.




Roxanne Hoffman worked on Wall Street, now answers a patient hotline for a New York home healthcare provider. Her work appears in several anthologies including The Bandana Republic: A Literary Anthology by Gang Members and Their Affiliates (Soft Skull Press), Love After 70(Wising Up Press), and It All Changed in a Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure (Harper Perennial). She's run the small independent literary press, Poets Wear Prada, since 2006.





About the Host:

Su Polo is a multi-talented artist. A native New Yorker, her songs and stories convey unusual insights and surprises found in life's everyday events and encounters. She is a singer/songwriter with guitar and dulcimer, Jazz vocalist, photographer, painter and sculptor, set designer, computer graphic artist specializing in print production and created her website http://www.supolo.com/ . Her book, Turning Stones, a collection of poems and stories is available at St. Marks Books.

She is the founder and host of the Saturn Series poetry reading in it’s 18th year every Monday night at Nightingale Lounge. She hosts the Artists' Lounge Music Showcase & Open Mic, also at Nightingale Lounge. Su is the set designer for the last 6 years of the New Years Day Poetry Extravaganza held at the Bowery Poetry Club. You can find her on Facebook and Myspace.

Su is currently working on her second book and her one woman show.

Friday 11/18: Friedman, La Prade, Held, Lisella and Torrence-Thompson Read Poetry at Left Bank Books in Greenwich Village NYC



New York, N.Y., October 18, 2011 -- On Friday, November 18th,  Left Bank Books of New York invites book lovers and poetry lovers to celebrate the November birthdays of poets Stephen Crane (11/1), Marianne Moore (11/15), J.P. Dancing Bear (11/17), Sharon Olds (11/19), Paul Celan (11/20), William Blake (11/28), and Celia Lisset Alvarez  (11/30) with a late evening poetry reading by five noted local poets. 

Poets Wear Prada's founder and managing editor, Roxanne Hoffman, will host the poetry reading at Greenwich Village's Left Bank Books in New York City. Special guest, the prose poet David Joel Friedman, author of  The Welcome (National Poetry Series, University of Illinois Press. 2006) will introduce Erik La Prade (Chelsea), George Held (Greenwich Village), Maria Lisella (Astoria), and Juanita Torrence-Thompson (Flushing).  Each poet will each read work by a favorite November birthday poet, as well as from their own recent books and  new work.

The reading will start at promptly at 8 p.m. and will be followed by a brief Q&A.

Ms. Hoffman who lived in Greenwich Village for several years while attending NYU, says she was literally walking north west down her "memory lane" -- Bleecker Street, which ends at 8th Avenue -- and found herself browsing the shelves and stalls inside Left Bank Books.  She purchased a used 2nd edition of "Portrait of an Artist as a Young Dog" a collection of autobiographical stories by Dylan Thomas and inquired if the store would entertain a poetry reading.  The store has in fact hosted several previous literary events including a recent poetry reading, featuring Barry Wallenstein and Eve Packer, and an  annual Bloomsday Celebration.  During her conversation with Zeke Finkelstein, the store manager, she learned that one of the poets she has published, Erik La Prade, frequents the store on almost a daily basis. Mr. La Prade has recently completed a memoir regarding his time as an employee of the now closed Gotham Bookstore and will be reading an excerpt from this memoir, as well as his poetry and a poem by Stephen Crane, on November 18th.

Left Bank Books is located in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan between Bank and West 12th Streets at No. 17 8th Avenue, New York, NY 10014.

Directions: By subway, take the A, C, E, L trains to 14th Street at 8th Avenue and walks south on the west side of 8th Avenue. (Note: The L train connects with the N, R, Q, F, D trains at 14th Street.) Or take the 1, 2 or 3 to 14th Street at 7th Avenue, exit at West 12th Street and head west.


About the Readers:

David Joel Friedman, a native of Washington, D.C, is a graduate of Cornell University and Columbia University and currenty lives and teaches in New York City.  Friedman won the 2004 National Poetry Series open competition, selected by Pulitzer Prizewinner Stephen Dunn; his book of prose poems, The Welcome, was published by the University of Illinois Press in 2006 and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. Dunn describes Friedman's book The Welcome as "full of pleasures, both linguistic and ideational ...  David Friedman blends surreal hijinks with gestures toward the serious.  [These poems] give you, if you let them, one of literature's underrated virtues: a good time."  The book's title poem has been featured on Poetry Daily.


Erik La Prade has a B.A and an M.A. from City College. His most recent poetry collection, a chapbook titled False Confessions, was published by Alternating Current in 2011.  Breaking Through: Richard Bellamy and the Green Gallery 1960-1965, published by Midmarch  Arts Press in 2010, traces the history of Dick Bellamy's celebrated gallery through a collection on 23 interviews with artists Claes Oldenberg, James Rosenquist, Frank Stella among many others. A chapbook SWATCHES was released in 2008 from Poets Wear Prada. His first book, Things Maps Don't Show, was published in 1995, and his second, Figure Studies, was published in 1999. Some of his poems have appeared in Fish Drum, Night Magazine, The Hat, The Reading Room, The New York Times, and Artist and Influence. He also has articles and interviews in The Brooklyn Rail, Captured: A History of Film and Video On The Lower East Side, and The Outlaw Bible of American Essays.




George Held, a five-time Pushcart Prize nominee, will be reading from his new sonnet collection, After Shakespeare (Červená Barva). A teacher, translator, writer, and poet, he has had work in such places as The Philadelphia Inquirer, Confrontation, Notre Dame Review, New York Quarterly, and Rattle, as well as on NPR and in two dozen anthologies. Among his chapbooks is Phased (Poets Wear Prada, 2008).
Maria Lisella's Pushcart Poetry Prize-nominated work appears in Amore on Hope Street (Finishing Line Press) and Two Naked Feet (Poets Wear Prada). Her poetry has appeared in The New York Quarterly, Skidrow Penthouse, Paterson Literary Review, and New Verse News, among others; her latest short story appears in Sweet Lemons 2, Writing with a Sicilian Accent (Legas Press). She co-curates the Italian American Writers Association monthly literary readings at Cornelia St. Cafe on the second Saturday of each month. She is a travel writer by profession.


Juanita Torrence-Thompson is the owner, Editor-in-Chief and publisher of the 29-year old international literary magazine, Möbius, The Poetry Magazine -- named one the best magazines of 2007, 2008. 2009 and 2010 by Small Magazine Review.  Poems from her 6th poetry book, Breath-Life, (Scopcraeft Press 2009) were nominated for a Pushcart Prize.  New York and African Tapestries (Fly By Night Press, 2007) was a Small Press Review “Best Pick.”  Her poetry was recently published in the anthologies The Cento (Red Hen Press, 2011) and Forgotten Borough: Writers Come to Terms with Queens (SUNY Press, 2011). Juanita also writes fiction for children and adults, and edits a poetry column for several newspapers, and taught as an adjunct professor at the College of New Rochelle. 

About the Host:

A graduate of NYU Stern School of Business, and a retired Wall Street banker, Roxanne Hoffman has run the small independent literary press Poets Wear Prada, since 2006. Described as "a publisher who is one miracle short of sainthood," by Angelo Verga, Poetry Curator of The Cornelia Street Cafe, she personally and meticulously designs and lays out each book, occasionally providing cover art and illustrations.  Nominated for a 2010 Pushcart Prize by House of Horror Magazine, her work appears in several anthologies including The Bandana Republic: A Literary Anthology by Gang Members and Their Affiliates (Soft Skull Press), Love After 70 (Wising Up Press), and It All Changed In An Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure (Harper Perennial). Her vampire poetry can be heard during the 2005 indie flick  Love and the Vampire, directed and produced by Dave Gold.  Born in Manhattan, where she stills spends much of her time, she now resides across the Hudson River in Hoboken, NJ.

About the Bookstore:

Left Bank Books specializes in literary first editions (especially fiction, poetry, drama, and literary non-fiction), photography, art, music, and film, but we buy and sell quality used books of all kinds in all categories.  Their inventory runs from first editions of literary highlights, many of which are signed, to an impressive number of fascinating works on a variety of subjects.  "And don't be put off by the words 'first editions' or 'rare books';  our stock is not merely a collection of the expensive and eminent--- we have quality books to suit all tastes and pocketbooks" says Lauren Taylor of  Left Bank Books.

"Our staff is knowledgeable and book-loving.  Come in to buy, browse, or talk about books.  We like what we do, and we're there to help you find what you want."

For more information visit the store's website, http://www.leftbankbooksny.com/, or call 212.924.5638.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Mon Oct 3 Saturn Series: Richard Marx Weinraub & Kyle Benjamin 7PM Nightingale Lounge NYC

MONDAY, Oct. 3 at 7PM


Saturn Series
Poetry Reading & Open Mike

Featuring...

Richard Marx Weinraub  & Kyle Benjamin

Two Fine Poets!

NEW EARLIER START AT 7 PM

@ Nightingale Lounge
213 2nd Avenue at 13th Street
New York, NY

A short walk East of Union Square - Every Monday night at 7:00 pm
By Subway: Take 4, 5, 6, N, Q, R to 14th Street Union Square.  Take the L to 1st Avenue.

Open Mike + 1 or 2 features - Sign up at 6:30 pm, Reading 7:00pm to 9:30pm

Hosted by Su Polo - 2 Drink/$10 minimum at the bar, $3.00 donation

Age 21 and up.

http://www.supolo.com/

http://www.supolo.com/Saturn_Series_Poetry

http://www.nightingalelounge.com



About Richard Marx Weinraub:

Related to the Marx Brothers through his mother, Richard Marx Weinraub was born in New York City in 1949; he was a Professor of English at the University of Puerto Rico from 1987 through 2010. A book of his poetry entitled Wonder Bread Hill was published in 2002 by the University of Puerto Rico Press. His poetry has appeared in many journals including The Paris Review, Asheville Poetry Review, South Carolina Review, The Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, Green Mountains Review, North American Review, Measure, The Evansville Review, Slate, and River Styx. A Spanish translation of Wonder Bread Hill was recently published by Terranova Press. A chapbook of his poetry entitled Heavenly Bodies was published in 2008 by Poets Wear Prada Press, and a poem from it was nominated for a 2009 Pushcart Prize.

About Kyle Benjamin:

We welcome back this impressive voice in the poetry world. Kyle Benjamin is a poetic storyteller weaving tales of his experiences told in lyrical form, with his unique voice and meter adding rich texture and intensity to emotional encounters.



Thanks for your support, tell a friend, please forward!

Also - Featuring... MON.Oct 10 - Elizabeth J. Coleman and Mitch Corber



SATURN SERIES POETRY & SPOKEN WORD. . .

U P C O M I N G ... F E A T U R E S. . .



* MONDAY Aug 8 - Marty Levine and Norman Stock

* MONDAY Aug 15 - Adrienne Rooney and Erik Richmond

* MONDAY Aug 22 - Kathleen Crisci and Walt

* MONDAY Aug 29 - Cindy Hochman and Bob Heman

* MONDAY Sept 5 - Pui Ying Wong and Andy Gerenraich

* MONDAY Sept 12 - William Duke and Grace Weaver

* MONDAY Sept 19 - Josh Joffen and Barrett Wolf

* MONDAY Sept 26 - Joseph DeMasi and Bernard Block

* MONDAY Oct 3 - Kyle Benjamin and Richard Marx Weinraub

• MONDAY Oct 10 - Elizabeth J. Coleman and Mitch Corber

* MONDAY Oct 17 - Mary Orovan

* MONDAY Oct 24 - Roxanne Hoffman

* MONDAY Oct 31 - NO Reading Happy Halloween !!!

* MONDAY Nov 14 - Bruce Weber

* MONDAY Nov 28 - Demassi Bros. and Bernard Block

... and more....every Monday night !

Nightingale Lounge Poetry and Music Performers



Be the happiness you are today!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Poems Published in Literary Anthology Celebrating William Carlos Williams

I am pleased to announce that 3 of my poems "Life With Clocks," "The Family Tree," "The Pursuit of Progeny" appear in the 4th edition of the The Rutherford Red Wheelbarrow.  The literary journal also includes 6 poems and an excellent essay by John J. Trause, author of Seriously Serial (Poets Wear Prada, 2007) and several poems by Brant Lyon, author of  Your Infidel Eyes (Poets Wear Prada, 2006).

The Rutherford Red Wheelbarrow, No.4 - 2011 reflects a diversity of voices and styles rarely combined in one book. The fourth annual edition of the literary journal was published last month by the Red Wheelbarrow Poets.  A open call to poets connected with the William Carlos Williams Poetry Cooperative Reading of South Bergen County, past features including guest poets from the Tri-State region and regulars open mic readers, as well as participants of the peer-to-peer poetry workshops at the GainVille Learning Center and Café. Thirty poets are featured: John Barrale, Céline Beaulieu, Sondra Singer Beaulieu, Marian Calabro, the late George de Gregorio, Milton P. Ehrlich, Mark Fogarty, Thomas Fucaloro, Davidson Garrett, Elissa Gordon, Roxanne Hoffman, Jim Klein, Melanie Klein, Janet Kolstein, Kathy Kuenzle, Brant Lyon, Zorida Mohammed, Rick Mullin, Mike O’Brien, Jane Ormerod, George Pereny, S. Gili Post, Tony Puma, Dan Saxon, Claudia Serea, Francesca Sphynx, Madeline Tiger, John J. Trause, Dorinda Wegener and Don Zirilli.


In addition to the poetry, four essays give insight into the life and work of the Rutherford doctor/poet: "William Carlos Williams and the Baroness" by John J. Trause; "The Poetry Reading" by Madeline Tiger; "Friendship and ‘The Figure 5’" by Marian Calabro and "Medicine, Languages, a River and the American Muses in the Work of William Carlos Williams" by Céline Beaulieu. Noted poet Jim Klein, who leads the Gainville poetry workshop, shares his thoughts on creating a painting in "Don’t Talk Unless You Can Improve the Silence," and Mark Fogarty gives a preview of his novel in excerpts from "It’s So Easy to Fall in Love."


The journal was launched on Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at 7PM at the Williams Center in Rutherford, New Jersey.  Copies are available online at Lulu.com (http://www.lulu.com/content/10922431) and will be available through Amazon.com by the end of the year. For more information and mailorders contact the Editors.

Monday, September 19, 2011

AFTER SHAKESPEARE a new book by George Held from Cervena Barva Press

"After Shakespeare: Selected Sonnets," a new book by George Held from Cervena Barva Press $15 + $3 S&H http://bit.ly/ptELlL


Červená Barva Press
Announces a New Book


"After Shakespeare: Selected Sonnets" by George Held
$15 | ISBN 978-0-9831041-9-3 | 71 pp.


George Held is a teacher, translator, writer, and poet whose work has appeared in such places as The Philadelphia Inquirer, Confrontation, Notre Dame Review, New York Quarterly, and Rattle, as well as on NPR and in two dozen anthologies. A five-time Pushcart Prize nominee, he has published a book, ten chapbooks, and two e-books of poetry and edited Touched by Eros, an anthology of erotic verse. He holds a B.A. from Brown, an M.A. from University of Hawaii, and a Ph.D. from Rutgers, taught at Queens College for 37 years, was a Fulbright lecturer in Czechoslovakia (1973-76), and serves on the executive board of The South Fork Natural History Museum, Bridgehampton, NY. He lives in Greenwich Village, with his wife, Cheryl.


George Held's new collection of sonnets, After Shakespeare, is, at every turn, funny, surprising, and sharply observed. In poem after poem, Held follows Ezra Pound's injunction and "makes it new." Whether they are about Edmund Spenser on the E-train, painter Alice Neel or the Kennedy family, Held's poems delight with their music, and at the same time offer a deep wisdom. I love the way Held reinvents poetic tradition here and the way these poems, as he writes in "Discord, bring "joy beyond harmonic motion."
Nicole Cooley


Beginning with his cheeky title (a chronological placement rather than a stylistic description) there is much to enjoy and admire in this new collection of sonnets from George Held. It is as though the awareness of his own belatedness is liberating to the poet, allowing him to explore all manner of interesting topics in a variety of sonnet forms and styles. Anyone interested in the vitality and accomplishment of the contemporary sonnet will want George Held's After Shakespeare.
Charles Martin


To Hope


You're the thing with feathers, flying skyward
To inspire us when we lack the divine
Afflatus, lifting our spirits, like prime
Vintage or even swill like Thunderbird.

You're what springs eternal in the human
Breast, though eternity remains unproved,
Just hyperbole to cheer an unloved
One or fodder for some preacher's sermon.

But skeptical as we may be, inured
To loss of jobs and sinking stock prices,
Unfaithful friends and false mistresses,
Past the point where pride can still be injured,
Ears still prick up to your springtime twitter,
Unhibernating souls long in winter.

Order online at http://www.thelostbookshelf.com/cervenabooks.html


After Shakespeare: Selected Sonnets  $15.00
Shipping & Handling                          $3.00
--------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                             $18.00




Send check or money order payable to:

Červená Barva Press
P.O. Box 440357
W. Somerville, MA 02144-3222

e-mail: editor@cervenabarvapress.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Send me______copies of "After Shakespeare: Selected Sonnets "

Total enclosed: $________

Name______________________________________

Street______________________________________

City________________State_____Zip____________

e-mail_____________________

Phone_____________________

Monday, August 29, 2011

Chocolate Water's Forthcoming Book Reviewed in "Lamba Literary Review"



Julie R. Enszer, reviews Chocolate Water's forthcoming collection "the woman who wouldn't shake hands" for "Lamda Literary Review."  Poets Wear Prada in conjunction with Eggplant Press will publish groundbreaking feminist writer Chocolate Waters's first new book in over three decades this Fall.


"... The thirty-one poems in the 'woman who wouldn’t shake hands' (Poets Wear Prada) are short. At times pithy, at times wise, Waters is always a performer. The poems of this collection are carefully-timed with tricky meters and hidden surprises that emerge when you read them aloud. Some of the poems are bon mots in the tradition of Dorothy Parker, if she were speaking openly about lesbianism. Other poems echo Gertrude Stein’s play with language, though Waters, unlike Stein, is concerned with concision ... ," writes Enszer.


To read Enszer's complete review online visit:
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews/08/24/the-woman-who-wouldn%E2%80%99t-shake-hands-by-chocolate-waters-and-bad-wife-spankings-by-valerie-wetlaufer/

Author-signed copies of the books can be pre-ordered for $14  ($12 list price + $2 S&H) by check or postal order made out to Chocolate Waters from:

Eggplant Press, 415 W. 44th. St., Suite 7, New York, NY 10036 (USA).


or from Poets Wear Prada:

PayPal: roxy533 at myway dot com 
Mail Orders: Poets Wear Prada, c/o Roxanne Hoffman, 533 Bloomfield St., 2nd Floor, Hoboken, NJ 07030 (USA)




the woman who wouldn't shake hands
by Chocolater Waters
ISBN 978-0935060096
Soft Cover, Perfect Bound 46pp.
$12.00
Release Date: Fall 2010


911 Remembered in NYC with Encore Performance of “110 for 911” by Jed Distler

Poster for Jed Distler's '110 for 911' by Su Polo

On the 10th anniversary of 911, American composer/pianist Jed Distler reprises “110 for 911,” part of the "Crisis" project initiated by City Lore which incorporates the entire text of the collective poem “Tower Two” with contributions by 110 poets including Adrienne Rich, David Lehman, Denise Duhamel, Robert Creeley, Anne Waldman, Quincy Troupe, and Galway Kinnell. Distler’s performance will take place Sunday, September 11, 2011, 3pm at The Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson St., New York, NY 10013.

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=261321720558319

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Poets Wear Prada
Roxanne Hoffman
201.253.0561
roxy533@yahoo.com

911 Remembered in NYC with Encore Performance of “110 for 911” by Jed Distler


New York, NY (August 29, 2011) — On the tenth anniversary of the 911 terrorist attacks, American composer/pianist Jed Distler will reprise his performance of “110 for 911,” his extended solo composition for speaking pianist and electronics, which incorporates the entire text of the collective poem “Tower Two,” initiated by City Lore and curated by Bob Holman. Distler’s performance will take place Sunday, September 11, 2011, 3pm at The Jazz Gallery, 290 Hudson St., New York, NY 10013


The “Crisis” poem project was initiated by Steve Zeitlin, folklorist, writer, cultural activist and founding director of City Lore and curated by New York poet Bob Holman to reconstruct the Twin Towers with words. “In the days and weeks following September 11th, New Yorkers were numbed by the gloomy silence that fell upon Lower Manhattan…[When] a student from NYU laid out a sheet of butcher block paper in Union Square, New Yorkers broke the silence with stories, poems, rituals and commemorative art. At the heart of the response were words — words at first written in the dust near Ground Zero, on Missing Posters, makeshift memorials … The idea to build the towers back up in the way that only poets can in words came a few weeks later. Each poem tower would be 110 lines, one for each story of the Trade Towers,” writes Zeitlin.


For “Tower One” people from all over the world submitted lines in response to an open call. For “Tower Two,” one hundred and ten established poets were invited, including Adrienne Rich, David Lehman, Denise Duhamel, Robert Creeley, Anne Waldman, Quincy Troupe, and Galway Kinnell, to contribute one line each. Holman and the poet Eileen Myles open “Tower Two” with the invitational line, “In times of crisis, poets lose words. Find some:.” Both tower poems were displayed along with poetry from the shrines as a part of “Missing: Streetscape of a City in Mourning” at the New York Historical Society from March 12, 2002 to July 7, 2002.


Subsequently, Zeitlin and Holman invited Distler to incorporate music into their project. Distler had been developing piano theatre, speaking text while working with the piano, and was starting integrate subtle electronics into his compositions, at the time. He worked with director Arnold Barkus to shape the performance of his collaborative composition “110 for 911” before its premier in February 2003 at New York’s landmark West-Park Presbyterian Church.



Jed Distler
Jed Distler is hailed as "an altogether extraordinary pianist" (“Newark Star-Ledger”) and New York's “Downtown keyboard magus” (“The New Yorker”). He has premiered works by Frederic Rzewski, Lois V. Vierk, and Virko Baley, among others, many written especially for him, and has received commissions from Jenny Lin, IonSound, and Song in Music.


Dubbed a member of the “Poetry Pantheon” by “The New York Times Magazine” and featured in a Henry Louis Gates, Jr. profile in “The New Yorker,” Bob Holman founded the Bowery Poetry Club in 2002. His collection of poems, “A Couple of Ways of Doing Something,” a collaboration with Chuck Close, was published by Aperture.


City Lore was founded in 1986 to produce programs and publications that convey the richness of New York City's cultural heritage. Its staff includes folklorists, historians, anthropologists, and ethnomusicologists, all of whom specialize in the creation of programs and materials for public education and enjoyment. City Lore is located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, 72 East 1st Street, New York, NY 10003.


Contributors to “Two Towers” include Bob Holman, Eileen Myles, Martin Espada, Ed Sanders, Anselm Hollo, Kamau Braithwaite, Clifton Joseph, Tish Benson, E. Ethelbert Miller, Honor Moore, Maureen Owen, Naomi Shihab Nye, Joe Dobkin, Jill Bialosky, Kimiko Hahn, David Lehman, Kathleen Masterson, Ed Friedman, Bob Hershon, Ntozake Shange, Hettie Jones, Alex Jacobs, Cecilia Vicuña, Meena Alexander, Martha Rhodes, Andrei Codrescu, Edward Hirsch, Roger Bonair-Agard, Wanda Coleman, Dara McLaughlin, Lee Briccetti, John Yau, Nancy Mercado, C.D. Wright, Edwin Torres, Max Blagg, Everton Sylvester, Suheir Hammad, Jessica Hagedorn, Eliot Weinberger, Galway Kinnell, Maggie Dubris, George Tysh, John Kulm, Michael Warr, Nick Carbo, Toni Blackman, Jan Clausen, Tato Laviera, Anselm Berrigan, Dave Johnson, Carla Harryman, Steve Colman, John Rodriguez, Robert Creeley, Bart Droog, Maria Damon, David Trinidad, Denise Duhamel, Elaine Equi, Willie Perdomo, Russell Leong, Terry Gelber, Robert Kelly, Regie Cabico, Hal Sirowitz, Reesom Haille, Sarah Jones, Indran Amirithanayagam, Thomas Lynch, U Sam Oeur, Robert Chambers, Luis Rodriguez, Jeff McDaniel, Kenneth Goldsmith, Raymond Federman, Eliot Katz, Lucy Grealy, Jerome Rothenberg, Joan Retallack, Chris Funkhouser, Richard Martin, Emily XYZ, Vicki Hudspith, Janet Hamill, Gary Mex Glazner, Adrian Castro, Danny Shot, Marcella Harb, Sandra Esteves, Brenda Coultas, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Patricia Smith, Saba Kidane, Mary Ann Caws, Maggie Balistreri, Bill Berkson, Gary Lenhart, Michael Gizzi, Vincent Katz, Marjorie Welish, Staceyann Chin, Jerry Quickly, Anne Waldman, Charles Bernstein, Tony Medina, Quincy Troupe, Marie Howe, Adrienne Rich as well as anonymous contributors.


# # #

Friday, August 26, 2011

Poets Wear Prada at Brooklyn Book Festival on Sunday September 18th



Brooklyn Book Festival 2010,
Columbus Park
[Credit: Tantra-zawadi]
 Hoboken, NJ, August 26th, 2011 --   Poets Wear Prada, a small independent literary press based in Hoboken, New Jersey, will be showcasing and selling its thirty-plus poetry titles at this year's Brooklyn Book Festival.  The 6th Annual Festival,  the largest free literary event in New York City and one of America’s premier book festivals, will take place Sunday, September 18th, 2011 in downtown Brooklyn, in and around Borough Hall (209 Joraleman Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201) and the nearby Columbus Park.


Publisher Roxanne Hoffman,
2010 Brooklyn Book Festival
[Credit: Tantra-zawadi]
This will be the second year that Poets Wear Prada joins the vast array of literary stars, emerging authors, publishing industry leaders, editors, and literary insiders participating at the Festival and who represent the exciting world of literature today.  Roxanne Hoffman, Publisher and Senior Editor of Poets Wear Prada who shared a table with another small press, Pleasure Boat Studio, last year  will have her own table this year and states she is already "gearing up" for the event. 


The mostly outdoor festival takes place rain or shine. Last year, despite inclement weather, hundreds of book lovers stopped by to meet and chat with the authors and editors of  Poet Wear Prada as more than 20,000 visitors and media from around the world converged on Borough Hall. "It rained a little, but there were lots of smiling faces, readings, authors and so many delicious books to choose from.  Even with a few rain drops and a chill in the air, folks stopped by to chat with us and share a few stories. I enjoyed hanging out with Roxanne Hoffman, my publisher, authors Patricia Carragon and Joel Allegretti. It was also great sharing a table with Pleasure Boat Studio authors and enjoying the positive vibe,"  blogs Tantra-zawadi, author of "Gathered at Her Sky: Life Poems" (Poets Wear Prada, 2010).
Author Tantra-zawadi & Young Book Lover.
2010 Brooklyn Book Festival
[Credit: Tantra-zawadi]


Poets Wear Prada will be at canopied table no. 62 at the center of Columbus Park a few steps from the park entrance at intersection of Court and Montague Streets.


“Bookend” literary-themed events also return this year, with venues in clubs, parks, bookstores, theaters and libraries across the borough from September 15 through September 18.   For more details visit the Festival website at http://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/. Also follow the Festival on Facebook and Twitter @bkbf.


About Poets Wear Prada:
Poets Wear Prada is a small press based in Hoboken, New Jersey, devoted to introducing new authors through high-quality chapbooks primarily of poetry, since October 2006. Visit us online at pwpbooks.blogspot.com. "Have you had your poetry today?"


Contact:

Poets Wear Prada
Roxanne Hoffman
poetswearprada at myway dot com
201.253.0561



Read Poetry from Poets Wear Prada on Your iPhone

Hoboken, NJ, August 25, 2011 -- With three poetry titles now available on Apple's iBookstore, Poets Wear Prada expands its entry into the eBook market. "Dead Reckoning," a 50-page full-length poetry collection by Gene Auprey, originally released as a paperback last year, April 2010, recently joined the two chapbook titles already listed in the iBookstore catalogue -- "Thrum: Poems by Joel Allegretti" and "Gathered at Her Sky: Life Poems" by Tantra-zawadi. The iBook titles sell at a significant discount off the list price for the corresponding paperback editions -- iBook versions of the two chapbooks list at $4.99 -- an almost 60% savings off the paperback editions which each sell for $12  -- while Auprey's full-length collection sells for $8.99, about a 40% discount off the paperback version which lists for $15.  And of course there is never any shipping and handling.

Roxanne Hoffman, Founder and Senior Editor at Poets Wear Prada, was curious to see how well the books would transition to Apple's popular personal hand-held mobile devices.  She enlisted the assistance of Ms. Patricia Carragon, who curates the Brownstone Poets reading in Brooklyn, and who spent last summer working as a Marketing Intern for Poets Wear Prada, and owns a iPhone.  Ms. Carragon agreed and after first registering for iTunes, she downloaded the free iBooks app to her iPhone and then samples of the two chapbook titles from the iBookstore to take a look.



Patricia Carragon with her iPhone's personal iBookstore Library.
 
"Thrum: Poems" by Joel Allegretti Front Cover Display on Ms. Carragon's iPhone


Her first response "OMG, this is so cute! You've got to see the little bookshelf!" Today, Ms. Hoffman got to do just that when the two met in NYC's Little Korea at Kum Gang San for lunch and snapped the photos shown here.  Ms. Carragon was not able to display the cover for "Gathered at Her Sky" due to the WIFI  traffic at the busy restaurant but Ms. Hoffman was able to scroll through the sample pages with just a touch to the iPhone's  screen.  While she found taking photos of the luminous iPhone screen "challenging" she said she did not find it a challenge to read the sample interior pages for the iBooks.  "I'm not sure if this is the  best way to read a detective story or a best selling novel but for short poetry like  the haiku Patricia Carragon often writes and for micro fiction  -- what I like to call "subway stories" -- anything short enough to read as you commute standing up in crowded rush-hour mass transit -- it works and completely makes sense in  today's fast-paced environment and for the constantly texting and gaming on-the-go 'digital natives' of  Generation Z."

Ms. Carragon's haiku response: "iPhone library/easy reading/on a mini shelf."  Her third book, "Cupcake Chronicles," a chapbook length collection of micro fiction, will be published by Poet Wear Prada this winter. "iPad and iPhone users, keep a look out for this perfect additon to your iBookstore library," advises Ms. Hoffman.

About Poets Wear Prada:


Poets Wear Prada is a small press based in Hoboken, New Jersey, devoted to introducing new authors through high-quality chapbooks primarily of poetry, since October 2006. Visit us online at pwpbooks.blogspot.com. "Have you had your poetry today?"


Contact:
Poets Wear Prada
Roxanne Hoffman
poetswearprada at myway dot com
201.253.0561