Ongoing notes: late late June, 2013

[evil sleepy Lemonade, sleeping upon his new perch, across on my black jacket]

I presume you’ve been properly checking out the above/ground press, Chaudiere Books, ottawa poetry newsletter and dusie blogs for their various updates? I don’t always have space to tell you everything here (I mean, really). But watch for an upcoming reading by Jessica Smith, Amanda Earl and Marilyn Irwin on July 13 as part of The Factory Reading Series, and another collaborative reading by myself and Christine McNair (our second annual, after last year’s appearance at The Dusty Owl Reading Series) at the In/Words Reading Series on July 31st.

Philadelphia PA: Some of the most attractive chapbooks I’ve seen out of the United States have to be Brian Teare’s Albion Books, the most recent of which, the first volume of the fifth series, is a double-binding, including Rachel Moritz’ “ELEMENTARY RITUALS” alongside Juliet Patterson’s “DIRGE.” There doesn’t seem to be any obvious reason why these two texts are paired, perhaps the authors are collaborators or close friends, writing poems in tandem? Or simply the editor/publisher has joined the two. 

The first bridges were probably made by nature—something as simple as a log fallen across a stream.

The original base of the word, bruw, or ‘log-road.’

Through the window you think of these words standing in the blunt arms of morning: stage, landing, gangway.

*

Your father was found hanging from a concrete footbridge

a few miles from your childhood home. The bridge

twenty-seven feet high, stretched over a busy thoroughfare, linking

a golf course and a wooded park. (“DIRGE”)

Juliet Patterson’s striking sequence “DIRGE” works through a meditation on the death of her father (or, the narrator’s father; since I know nothing about Patterson, one should never presume) from suicide. Her “DIRGE” scrapes out the heart in long, languid lines. Why haven’t I heard of Juliet Patterson before this? On the other side of the same chapbook, Rachel Moritz’s “ELEMENTARY RITUALS” is another small meditative work, composed out of six longer poems that stretch the loveliest lines that take up small spaces but a large attention. Her rituals, one might say, are startlingly precise, one that is the perfect blend of lyric language and absolute clarity:

In a clearing between loss and literal day-

light, his frame stood empty.

Kudzu trailing the base foundation.

Gutters bedded in leaves.

We passed a threshold the key given

us at the funeral parlor            from his pocket, his wallet,

his coat.

Nevertheless, stirring lights how oddly they flared, as if

shy of inhabitants.

Then it was done, going through an event

so event became abstracted.

Further titles forthcoming in the fifth series include works by Frank Sherlock (5.2), Jean Valentine (5.3) and CA Conrad (5.4).

Mt Pleasant ON: From kemeny babineau’s Laurel Reed Books comes CHORTLING AMERICAN SHOW GOO: thirty three poems by Toronto poet, editor and small press publisher Daniel f. Bradley (2012). Bradley has been an active writer and small press enthusiast for years, author of numerous small press publications going back two decades, including publications by curvd h&z, BookThug, tapt, Outland, Produce Press, above/ground press and many, many others. Given his years of publication, it might be interesting to see someone attempt to wrestle with his years of output for the sake of either an essay on his ongoing work, or a selected poems, to get a sense of just what he has accomplished over the years, through dozens of small-run missives. The opening poem to the collection nearly gives a description of what follows, asking the question of what this might be, as though the author is learning through the same process as the potential reader:

i suppose i could hot wire this thing

flat bread their is no escape

perfect for your boneless

wings failed

your highness you were right

you were right about me

i love my loll pop separated

at the feet almost

empty ignition switch

light reflecting metallic

what’s this all about

everything in a bag

that feeds me a secret

life

The sequence of pieces that make up the untitled poems of CHORTLING AMERICAN SHOW GOO: thirty three poems feel akin to the poems of American poet Kate Greenstreet for their fragmented structure and collage-aspect that accumulate into something larger, yet difficult to articulate, as the form itself is less static than constantly shifting. As Nic Coivert writes in his review of the collection (included inside the back of the chapbook) from Canadian Poetry Previews Magazine, “These poems are like smashed dreams.” Bradley’s poems also have a dark edge of surrealism, perhaps one more abstract and less of the obvious humour than others in the informal “Toronto surrealists” group, whether Lillian Necakov, Stuart Ross or Gary Barwin. In some of the pieces, there’s something of the single line-breath, as though they’re meant to be read quickly, without break.

three thousand an hour upgrade your family

back into the vault the new death toll

in bad taste this is cronyism all the way

more comedy who grew my soup good bye

horse pills transformation my bathroom of

freedom scurrying people panic setting in

stories of survival washed away telling

the tale twisted areas scrap the idea more

more that not the bottom line two hundred

thousand homes and worth the cost who’s

ruining the economy he broke the door

good old fashion hard work all back

to back snow

Lincoln NE/Portland OR: To understand how much I enjoyed American poet Matthew Rohrer’s small chapbook A SHIP LOADED WITH SEQUINS HAS GONE DOWN (Dkembe Press, 2013), you have to experience the first poem I did in the collection:

He wrote amazing poems because he

was fucking a wizard. This perspective

mutilated all his expectations

and he was naked. The wizard threw him

a small thin towel to cover himself with.

I’m sitting in a small bar in Brooklyn

discussing his next move: surely his wife

will climb the pyramid and leap off it

because she is a butterfly. He is

everywhere down there, in the air. Inside

a tiny black bean. It’s not necessary

to live like this, we decide. We crumble

into our highballs, the city outside

consumes things like an enormous creature. (“SONNET”)

In Rohrer’s six-poem chapbook, four of which are three-sonnet pieces, each titled “SONNET,” that twist the language of the first piece into the second two section, re-working the lines of the first to create entirely different poems with the same language, as here, the second part of the three-part “SONNET” (the first part is quoted just above):

I’m sitting in a small bar in Brooklyn

because she is a butterfly. He is

into our highballs. The city outside

mutilated all his expectations

to live like this, we decide. We crumble

everywhere down there, in the air. Inside

he wrote amazing poems because he

will climb the pyramid & leap off it.

Discussing his next move: surely his wife

was fucking a wizard. This perspective

consumes things like an enormous creature.

And he was naked. The wizard threw him

A tiny black bean. It’s not necessary.

a small thin towel to cover himself with.

Bookending the collection are two longer poems, each composed with short phrases that complete a single, fragmented, seemingly-endless and confused sentence, endlessly continuing. Throughout the poems here, is Rohrer attempting to shock, startle or confound? These poems require a shift in perception and perspective, one that playfully pokes at expectation and collision.

12 or 20 (small press) questions: kemeny babineau on Laurel Reed Books

Laurel Reed Books first began publishing small editions of poetry during the mid nineteen nineties. Sometime during the beginning of the 21^st century the literary rag mag The New Chief Tongue surfaced as an eclectic ensemble of mostly Canadian and American poets. Over the years LRB has published at least 30 different titles by as many as 20 different authors. The press also produces broadsides and pamphlets that sometimes appear under the title ‘Your In Samples’ which is a numbered series.

Laurel Reed Books is operated by poet Kemeny Babineau and roving editorial persona non-gratis Nic Coivert. Babineau’s latest work is After the 6ix O’clock News published by Bookthug. Coivert is best known for his series of mud-paintings and least for his infiltration of the Canadian literati, he also largely eschews the internet.

1 – When did Laurel Reed Books first start? How have your original goals as a publisher shifted since you started, if at all? And what have you learned through the process?

Laurel Reed Books began as a eureka. Back in the mid 1990’s I was still composing on a typewriter but I was short on paper so I was putting the same sheet into the typewriter but manipulating the page so I would have a clean space to type in. That was when I realized something everyone else already knows; if you arrange the words properly you can actually get 8 small pages out of 1 regular sheet of paper provided you do a little folding and cutting. That was my eureka, a discovery that was centuries old.  

2 – What first brought you to publishing?

Frustration with not getting published elsewhere.

3 – What do you consider the role and responsibilities, if any, of small publishing?

The role is to try and engage the public with poetry that is not mainstream, and to introduce authors and works to people who are already engaged in poetry culture.

4 – What do you see your press doing that no one else is?

Producing economical limited edition hand made chapbooks. The emphasis here is on the economical, my print runs don’t cost a lot, I save money with added labour and I use my off-cuts. Other presses are also doing this of course but I think Laurel Reed has achieved a look of its own.

5 – What do you see as the most effective way to get new books out into the world?

Personal sales. You need to go to small press and artisan fairs.

6 – How involved an editor are you? Do you dig deep into line edits, or do you prefer more of a light touch?

I don’t want to have to do a lot of editing. I do read texts over very closely and often offer small suggestions or spot typos but I find too much interference from an editor can ruin the terroi of the work.

7 – How do your books get distributed? What are your usual print runs?

I don’t have a distributor, obviously. Print runs are under a 100 and over 50.

8 – How many other people are involved with editing or production? Do you work with other editors, and if so, how effective do you find it? What are the benefits, drawbacks?

I mostly work alone. Nic Coivert lends a hand at times, and I have been known to press my daughters into paper folding or stapling.

9 – How has being an editor/publisher changed the way you think about your own writing?

Not sure.

10 – How do you approach the idea of publishing your own writing? Some, such as Gary Geddes when he still ran Cormorant, refused such, yet various Coach House Press’ editors had titles during their tenures as editors for the press, including Victor Coleman and bpNichol. What do you think of the arguments for or against, or do you see the whole question as irrelevant?

I find publishing my own work problematic because I either never finish, or I lose interest, or my plans become so complex I never begin. Consequently what I do produce through Laurel Reed is mostly of the impulsive nature.

11 – How do you see LaurelReedBooks evolving?

I’d like to hire someone more capable than myself to do set and design for a larger work at some point.

12 – What, as a publisher, are you most proud of accomplishing? What do you think people have overlooked about your publications? What is your biggest frustration?

I’m going to skip the first two parts of the question and answer the third part. Sales and marketing.

13 – Who were your early publishing models when starting out?

John Barlow and jwcurry.

14 – How does LaurelReedBooks work to engage with your immediate literary community, and community at large? What journals or presses do you see LaurelReedBooks in dialogue with? How important do you see those dialogues, those conversations?

I basically just ask people whose work I’ve enjoyed to send me a manuscript for consideration, or sometimes they send me something out of the blue.

15 – Do you hold regular or occasional readings or launches? How important do you see public readings and other events?

I don’t do either, although I have in the past. I’m sure such activity is very important but I live in a fairly rural area so artistic ventures are a little like watering a dead plant.

16 – How do you utilize the internet, if at all, to further your goals?

The usual. Blog, website, facebook, emails.

17 – Do you take submissions? If so, what aren’t you looking for?

I prefer to ask for submissions, my publications are labour intensive and I can only do so many before the rest of my life begins to overwhelm me.

18 – Tell me about three of your most recent titles, and why they’re special.

Monty Reid In the Garden

Amanda Earl Kiki

Richard Stevenson Jazz Pops for Jack

I think they are all lovely arrangements of words and paper. Something for people to enjoy.

12 or 20 (small press) questions;

12 or 20 questions: with Kemeny Babineau

Kemeny Babineau lives outside Brantford Ontario with his wife and two daughters. He edits an independent literary wag called The New Chief Tongue that appears courtesy of Laurel Reed Books. Babineau’s most recent work is After the 6ix O’Clock News published by BookThug.

1 - How did your first chapbook change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?

It became apparent that publication didn’t depend upon others. My recent work is as tentative and hopeful as the first but now I feel I understand better how it is I write my best work.

2 - How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?

I think through song lyrics, wanting to emulate that.

3 - How long does it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writing intitially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes?

I don’t write through projects. I have learned to distrust such intentionality in my work. The original draft often resembles the final product as what one must keep alive in the poem, whether it be long or short, is the initial flush of creativity, the original intent. My work does not come out of copious notes but it does arrive from the persistent study of a subject that interests me.

4 - Where does a poem usually begin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a "book" from the very beginning?

Poems are made one after another, and often on far ranging themes and ideas. The job of compiling a book is in pulling together similar elements from the seemingly scattered poems. Often a poem can have a companion piece that was written several years before with various other concerns lumped in between.

5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?

I value readings because often afterwards you can a hone a piece down to what you felt worked when reading it in front of an audience.

6 - Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the current questions are?

I am not pre-occupied by theory at all. I approach language as a toy but not a frivolous one. For me it’s a question of how far can you bend the language and still engage, or where does the construction of narrative end and for how long can it be strung out, if even upon falsified grounds. And when it does end, narrative, can you still be engaging, entertaining and provocative.

7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Does s/he even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?

The writer has a diminished role in larger culture but I think the writer will always have the providence of the sage. Writers have many responsibilities, as chronicler, entertainer, prophet, provocateur, bacchant.

8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?

Neither.

9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?

Al Purdy said (or something like it) “there aren’t any themes, only one poem after another.”

10 - How easy has it been for you to move between genres (poetry to fiction)? What do you see as the appeal?

I don’t consider myself much of a fiction writer, although I have a few short stories to my credit and do work on them from time to time, but in moving from poetry to fiction I find I like to pull fiction into the poetry camp somewhat and make it an exercise in economy.

11 - What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?

No routine for writing, I set time aside and use that, often when I’m very busy doing other things, especially manual tasks, that is when a poem will burst upon me.

12 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?

Read, read, read.

13 - What was your most recent Hallowe'en costume?

Aircraft carrier.

14 - David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?

Observation.

15 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?

Charles Olson I find fascinating, but as for opening up the poetic veins I turn to writers like Gerry Gilbert and bill bissett.

16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?

Write a book I didn’t write, in other words compile a book of erasure.

17 - If you could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been a writer?

Biologist.

18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?

Naiveté.

19 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?

The selected work of Vladimir Mayakovsky. Inland Empire by David Lynch.

20 - What are you currently working on?

20 questions from rob mclennan, and a handful of recent poems.

12 or 20 questions (second series);