June’s Crispy Bacon

Poems for Ivan by Sara Adams (cover: Nicci Mechler)

Everything I Own by Angela Just (cover: Nicci Mechler)

hiku [pull] by James A. H. White (cover: Nicci Mechler)

Rooed by Thirst // Tina Mozelle Braziel (cover art: Kathleen Piercefield)

My Heart in Aspic by Sonya Vatomsky (cover: Shannon Perry)

Set the Garden on Fire by Chen Chen (cover: Nicci Mechler)

Pray, Pray, Pray by E. Kristin Anderson (cover: Nicci Mechler)

All the good news (we’ve heard about) from our contributors:

Poems for Ivan (Porkbelly Press, 2016)
by Sara Adams // kartoshkaaaaa.com

• “But You Haven’t,” an erasure of pages from The Old Man and the Sea, is up over on Nostrovia! Tavern.
• Poems for Ivan was released 11 June 2016!

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Ghost Skin (Porkbelly Press, 2016)
by Jennifer Hanks

• Jennifer’s chapbook Prophet Fever (Hyacinth Girl Press, 2016) was just released. (Her chap from Porkbelly is forthcoming as of this writing.)

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hiku [pull] (Porkbelly Press, 2016)
by James A. H. White

• hiku [pull] was released 24 June 2016!

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Everything I Own (Porkbelly Press, 2016)
by Angela Just

• Everything I Own was released on 7 June 2016!

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Rooted by Thirst (Porkbelly Press, 2016)
by Tina Mozelle Braziel

• a blog interview at Live Your Poem with Irene Latham, in which she says things like “We plan to burn lines of poetry into walls of our house.” Yesssss.

Emerson claims that “Colleges and books only copy the language which the field and the work-yard made.” That rings true to me, especially when I discover words like “rock-bar” and “squarings” that feel so invigorating. Lately, I’ve been thinking about the term “sistering” which means nailing one board against another for additional strength. Such concepts and words recalibrate my perspective of what makes a home, what it means to claim a place as our own. And that feeds my writing. // more

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My Heart in Aspic (Porkbelly Press, 2016)
by Sonya Vatomsky // @coolniceghost

• Sonya interviews Kate Litterer at Cosmonauts Avenue.

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Set the Garden on Fire (Porkbelly Press, 2016)
by Chen Chen // chenchenwrites.com

• “I am reminded via email to resubmit my preferences for the schedule” is part of the American Academy of Poets poem-a-day series at poets.org.
• Four poems (with audio!) at Infoxicated Corner: 2016 Spotlight Series via Thethe Poetry.

“Except let’s not hold off on the giant cake. & let’s not hold off on being

irreversibly in love. Happiness needs no preparation or warrantee
or reason. I’m ready to say that. I’m ready to watch any romcom/action
combo where two people topple tyranny, fall in love. I’m ready
for the movie where four people topple tyranny, fall in love,

& make consensual arrangements to keep it open.
Or six people just stay in & become best friends. Or seven
billion people befriend themselves…” | more

• Episode 55 of the SAFTAcast features Chen Chen. (SAFTAcast is a Sundress Academy for the Arts production.) This is a podcast pretty much about everything but writing, though they do sneak in a little bit about the art of translation.

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Pray, Pray, Pray: Poems I wrote to Prince in the middle of the night (Porkbelly Press, 2016)
by E. Kristin Anderson // @ek_anderson

• EKA’s poem “Between 50 and 64% of rats will self-administer diazepam” is up at The Boiler!

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hiku [pull] (James A. H. White)

hiku [pull] by James A. H. White (cover: Nicci Mechler)

James A. H. White’s work feels at once breathless and intense, reaching to capture vivid blooms of a life-history in poems grown so intricately together that they’re tangled, almost inseparable. It is the story of mother and father, of identity and travel and seeking and ghosts both behind and before. This is a tessellation of light, color, memory and story, a gay son fitting the pieces of self together and offering it up in poems. Each poem feels like a secret, each leaves you wanting more. (Porkbelly Press, 2016) // available in our shop

about the poet

James A.H. White earned his M.F.A. in Creative Writing with a concentration in Poetry from Florida Atlantic University. A winner of the 2014 AWP Intro Journals Project award in Poetry, his writing appears in Colorado Review, Gertrude, Hermeneutic Chaos, Cha, and DIAGRAM, among others. Born in Surrey, England, James currently resides in South Florida, where he teaches creative writing and serves as an editor for 3Elements Review.

cover & art

The cover is inkjet printed on premium matte paper. It’s trimmed down to just under 6 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches and bound by hand with heavy thread.

Nicci Mechler » portfolio
“Jasmin on Red”
acrylic on paper& 9×12 inches

Poems for Ivan (Sara Adams)

Poems for Ivan by Sara Adams (cover: Nicci Mechler)

 

Poems for Ivan is a journey through the language, mausoleums, and barbed-wire-lined tracks against the backdrop Ukraine, via trains and walking and food. Ivan is the guide at first, it seems, but that isn’t all. The more beer consumed, the deeper the journey goes. With roasted meat and sharp sticks, through intimate conversation, packs of dogs and lights in the distance, Adams keeps you walking with her narrator and Ivan, racing through this cluster of poems and re-reading—you’ll likely devour it in one sitting as we did, just to find out how it ends, go back for more and share it. If it ends, that is—look for more of her work; you will not be disappointed. (Porkbelly Press, 2016) » more info

about the poet

Sara Adams is a Montessori teacher in Portland, Oregon. She has work in literary magazines such as tNY Press’s Electronic Encyclopedia of Experimental Literature, and/or, Shampoo Poetry, and DIAGRAM. She co-wrote a full-length New Translation of Twilight with Greg Petrovic, which is available at www.fredwardbound.com. Links to publications and contact info at www.kartoshkaaaaa.com.

cover & art

The cover is inkjet printed on premium matte paper. It’s trimmed down to just under 6 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches, and bound by hand.

Artist:
Nicci Mechler » portfolio
“Mausoleum Candles”
gouache on paper, 9×12 inches

Everything I Own (Angela Just)

Everything I Own by Angela Just (cover: Nicci Mechler)

These poems are about storytelling, things handed down and examined, from the gifts a mother might give to her daughter to the embrace of two Neolithic skeletons. This micro is intimate and brave—a little wicked, a bit bruised. Ultimately, Just’s poems are darn intriguing. (Porkbelly Press, 2016) // more on this micro

about the poet

Angela Just grew up surrounded by quiet cemeteries and tiny woods dark and deep. That, along with her Italian-American and Catholic upbringing, encouraged introspection, observation, and alternating seizures of guilt and rapture. She writes lakeside in Chicago from the 10th floor of a distinctively pink building.

cover & art

The cover is inkjet printed on premium matte paper. It’s trimmed down to just under 6 1/4 x 5 1/4 inches, and bound by hand. Cover art by: Nicci Mechler » damnredshoes.wordpress.com