THANKS, GR, AND WHINES

THANKS to brilliantly lyrical painter Ron Ehrlich who titled a painting after one of the words he discovered in The Light....the word is "Bayan" (Tagalog for "Homeland") and you can see the painting at the Stephen Hallery website (you have to click under artists for Ron Ehrlich's name and then see the images of his paintings). I'm so pleased by Ron's gesture; I'm honored as he's one of the few painters out there who still pays attention to poetry. And, Woooot! Apparently, "Bayan" is now in some major art critic/collector's collection...!

THANKS as well to Lars Palm whose prose poems over at PFS riff off some of the "footnote poems" in the ENGLISH BRICK. The footnote poems were printed at the bottom of an otherwise blank page in the BRICK, as it'd been my hope that people choose that opportunity to write/create what presumably my poems were footnoting....


THANKS as well (just full of gratitude today) to Pam Brown for supporting the Tiny Books program with THIS.

Now that THANKS are outa the way, let Moi nag y'all again, please, with checking out the review copies for Galatea Resurrects. We've been receiving mucho lovely items. Indeedy, we've just received our first review set of a movie on DVD, with DARK BRANDON with production and editing by Brandon Downing, Music by Rahul Dev Burman - Pinky Shale, and starring Robert Bailey, Ron Casella, Jana Klenburg, The Flarf Collective, J.D. Rage, Emily Glen and Madhubala. The synopsis begins, "Johnny Reeves, a simpleton from Fremont, CA wins all the competition in poets' conference....." and goes on to note "Dr. Flarf, probably the direct descendent of Mr. Alladin who used to do miracles with his lamp has a brain no less than this lamp...." How can you possibly not be curious? Do check out all of GR'S REVIEW COPIES HERE!

On to whining: Some folks have queried whether, when I say I "relish" a publication on moi Relished W(h)ine List, that means I think it's great or what. Actually, my threshold for putting a publication on that list is simply that I completed it. Often, I do think a publication is great and enjoyed it. Other times, I think it's mediocre....but, for some reason, I finished it. That's enough to get on the Relish List, for having contained something that made me finish reading the book. I say this as someone who begins but don't always finish reading a book, in which case those books don't end up on the Relish List. Kapischkie?

And with this post, I expand the Relished W(h)ines List to Three Categories -- I didn't do this last year because of too many big, burly men in the backyard....but, this year does mean this City Slicker once more -- and to the horror of Martha Stewart -- will attempt to garden. Hence, the new category "City Slicker's Harvest" -- as you can see by its first entry below, Martha has cause to shudder (the last time I did this, my gardening skills were so bad I could count the number of basil leaves I was able to eke from the plants. Basil, if you don't know, grows like a weed but I had to scramble to get enough to cup on a single palm. C'est la vie!)


CITY SLICKER'S HARVEST (TO DATE)
One strawberry (oh shut up, Peep. The appropriate response here is a sympathetic groan, not a bwahahaha!)


PUBLICATIONS
ENTER MORRIS IMPOSTERNAK, PURSUED BY IRONIES, poems by Eugene Ostashevsky

THE DEAD EMCEE SCROLLS: THE LOST TEACHINGS OF HIP-HOP, poetry by Saul Williams

FORGET READING, poems by Anthony Hawley

ALL THAT'S LEFT, poetry by Jack Hirschman

CLIMBING BACK, poems by Dionisio D. Martinez

FOURSQUARE, Feb. 2008, Edited by Jessica Smith

BAMBOO RIDGE:JOURNAL OF HAWAI'I LITERATURE AND ARTS, No. 91, Eds Eric Chock and Darrell Lum

PLYWOOD CHATEAUX, art monograph by James Westwater

TEN LITTLE INDIANS, short stories by Sherman Alexie

TEACH LIKE YOUR HAIR'S ON FIRE: THE METHODS AND MADNESS INSIDE ROOM 56, how-to-teach-guide by Rafe Esquith

A YEAR WITHOUT "MADE IN CHINA": ONE FAMILY'S TRUE LIFE ADVENTURES IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY by Sara Bongiorni

SHATTERED DREAMS, BROKEN PROMISES: THE COST OF COMING TO AMERICA, interviews by Michael Viner

LOST CITY RADIO, novel by Daniel Alarcon

THE ZOOKEEPER'S WIFE: A WAR STORY, novel by Diane Ackerman

REMEMBER ME, novel by Laura Hendrie

PREPARED FOR RAGE, novel by Dana Stabenow

THE HEARTS OF HORSES, novel by Molly Gloss

MARKER, novel by Robin Cook

CRISIS, novel by Robin Cook

SCENT OF MURDER, novel by Cynthia G. Alwyn

THE ABDUCTION, novel by Mark Gimenez


WINES
2004 Dutch Henry "Argos"
2003 Peter Michael Belle Cote chardonnay
2004 Peter Michael Ma Belle Fille chardonnay
1992 Dominus
1995 Henschke shiraz Mount Edelstein
R.L. Buller & Son Fine Muscat (a solera)
1994 Henschke Keyneton Estate
2005 JJ Prum Wehlenuhr Sonnenhur Spatlese
2005 Mad Hatter (barrel sample)
1985 Mouton
1985 Conterno Cascina Francia
1995 Rubino della Palazzola
1966 Palmer

POETRY FEEDS THE WORLD...LITERALLY!

Meritage Press Announcement

TINY BOOKS OF POETRY FEEDING THE WORLD…LITERALLY!

Meritage Press (MP) is pleased to announce the first “Tiny Book” release for 2008, following on five releases in 2007. MP’s "Tiny Books" are structured to align poetry with fair trade and economic development issues. The first 2008 release is

               from “The Tradition
               by Juliana Spahr

Juliana Spahr is a poet, editor, and scholar. Her most recent book of poetry is This Connection of Everyone with Lungs (University of California, 2005), a collection of poems that she wrote from November 30, 2002 to March 30, 2003 that chronicled the buildup to the latest US invasion of Iraq. Atelos also recently published the Transformation (2007), a book of prose which tells the story of three people who move between Hawai‘i and New York in order to talk about cultural geography, ecology, anticolonialism, queer theory, language politics, the academy, and recent wars.

MP's Tiny Books utilize small books (1 3/4" x 1 3/4") made in Nepal by artisans paid fair wages, as sourced by Baksheesh, a fair trade retailer. Photos of a sample "Tiny Book" are available HERE as well as at Crg Hill's Poetry Scorecard. Another illustrated review by Geof Huth is available HERE.

All profits from book sales will be donated to Heifer International, an organization devoted to reducing world hunger by promoting sustainable sources of food and income. This project reflects MP's belief that "Poetry feeds the world" in non-metaphorical ways. The Tiny Books create demand for fair trade workers' products while also sourcing donations for easing poverty in poorer areas of the world. Note, too, that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a $2.5 Million Matching Grant to Heifer, which means every dollar donated (e.g. through "Tiny Books") can be doubled!

Each “Tiny Book” costs $10 plus $1.00 shipping/handling in the U.S. (email us first for non-U.S. orders). To purchase the “Tiny Books” and donate to Heifer International, send a check for $11.00 per book, made out to "Meritage Press" to

Eileen Tabios
Meritage Press
256 North Fork Crystal Springs Rd.
St. Helena, CA 94574

Please specify which of the “Tiny Books” you are ordering, since the following “Tiny Books” from the 2007 Series also continue to be available:

               all alone again
               by Dan Waber

and

               Steps: A Notebook
               by Tom Beckett

and
               "…And Then The Wind Did Blow..."
               Jainakú Poems
               by Ernesto Priego

and
               Speak which
               Hay(na)ku poems
               by Jill Jones

and

               some hay
               by Lars Palm

With “Tiny Books,” MP also offers a new DIY, or Do-It-Yourself Model of publishing. You've heard of POD or print-on-demand? Well, these books' print runs will be based on HOD or Handwritten-on-Demand. MP's publisher, Eileen Tabios, will handwrite all texts into the Tiny Books' pages and books will be released to meet demand for as long as MP is able to source tiny books -- or until the publisher gets arthritis or debilitative carpal tunnel syndrome.

FUNDAISING UPDATE:
In addition to providing livestock, Heifer International also provides trees. In, 2007, Meritage Press' Tiny Books program sold enough Tiny Books to finance the donation equivalent of at least seven sets of tree-gifts. Here's what Heifer has to say about trees:

One of Heifer International’s most important commitments is to care for the earth. We believe development must be sustainable — that projects should be long-term investments in the future of people and the planet.That’s why in addition to livestock, Heifer often provides families with trees. On a steep Tanzanian hillside, Heifer International helped a family learn to plant trees and elephant grass to keep the soil in place. Today, they have flourishing rows of leucaena trees and corn.Through training, families learn how to keep their small plots of land healthy and renew the soil for future generations by planting trees, using natural fertilizer, and limiting grazing.By helping families raise their animals in harmony with nature, you can fight poverty and hunger while ensuring a healthy, productive future for us all.

Then of course there are the chickens, goats, water buffalos, pigs, ducks, honeybees, llamas....all of which can help ease hunger around the world. Meritage Press thanks you in advance for your support and hopes you enjoy Tiny Books -- small enough to become jewelry, but with poems big enough to resonate worldwide.


*****
ABOUT THE 2007 TINY BOOK AUTHORS:
Dan Waber is a visual poet, concrete poet, sound poet, performance poet, publisher, editor, playwright and multimedia artist whose work has appeared in all sorts of delicious places, from digital to print, from stage to classroom, from mailboxes to puppet theaters. He is currently working on "and everywhere in between". He makes his online home at logolalia.com. Meritage Press tapped Mr. Waber to inaugurate the series partly for his work in minimalist poetry.

Tom Beckett is the author of Unprotected Texts: Selected Poems 1978~2006 (Meritage Press, 2006), and the curator of E-X-C-H-A-N-G-E-V-A-L-U-E-S: The First XI Interviews (Otoliths, 2007). From 1980-1990, he was the editor/publisher of the now legendary critical journal, The Difficulties. Steps: A Notebook is Tom Beckett's first hay(na)ku poetry collection. The hay(na)ku is also a form that lends itself to minimalism.

Ernesto Priego was born in Mexico City. He lives in London. He blogs at Never Neutral and is the author of the first single-author hay(na)ku poetry collection, Not Even Dogs. The "jainakú" is Mexico's version of the hay(na)ku poetic form.

Jill Jones' latest book, Broken/Open (Salt, 2005), was short-listed for The Age Book of the Year 2005 and the 2006 Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize. In 1993 she won the Mary Gilmore Award for her first book of poetry, The Mask and the Jagged Star (Hazard Press, 1992). Her third book, The Book of Possibilities (Hale & Iremonger, 1997), was shortlisted for the 1997 National Book Council 'Banjo' Awards and the 1998 Adelaide Festival Awards. Screens, Jets, Heaven: New and Selected Poems (Salt, 2002) won the 2003 Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize (NSW Premier's Literary Awards). Her work has been translated into Chinese, Dutch, Polish, French, Italian and Spanish.

Lars Palm lives in southern Sweden where he works in health care, writes (mostly smallish) silly poems, translates some Swedish poets, edits a blog zine called skicka (in english) & at times publishes the first broadside series in the country. He's the author of mindfulness (moria, 2006), on stealing lips (The Martian Press, 2006) & is beside the point (Big Game Books Tinyside 34, 2007), and death is (skin of me teeth press, 2007).

For more information: MeritagePress@aol.com

HASTA LA VISTA (NUMERO DOS)

Still twirling about, unable to stay yet on po-blogland...as the Conjuration is still on-going (a stop-over in Hell is not just irritating but delaying). But in this brief touchdown, let me say thank you for

THIS (thanks Anny -- love being characterized as "could entice a critic into a labyrinth without escape")

and

THIS (high terror aesthetics, indeed!)

and

THIS (thanks for the hay(na)ku paintings, Tom!)

Let Moi also remind you please to consider joining the party over at Galatea Resurrects. Even as I'm a-whirl, I'm positioned to send out review copies which may interest you...and we've had some lovely additions recently to the list -- do check HERE for more info.

Until then, a catch-up on Relished W(h)ines:

PUBLICATIONS
FIELD OF MIRRORS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF PHILIPPINE AMERICAN WRITERS, Ed. by Edwin Lozada

LANGUAGE FOR A NEW CENTURY: CONTEMPORARY POETRY FROM THE MIDDLE EAST, ASIA AND BEYOND, Eds. by Tina Chang, Nathalie Handal and Ravi Shankar

LIKE THE RAINS COME: SELECTED POEMS (1987-2006) by Mercedes Roffe, Trans. by Janet Greenberg

THEORY OF COLORS, poems by Mercedes Roffe, Trans. by Margaret Carson

& PERSONA, poems by Mackenzie Carignan and photographs by Felicia Ohnmacht

ANON, poems by Chris Pusateri

THE DONNER PARTY, history in verse by George Keithley

IN GLAD THANKSGIVING: NEW POEMS by John Masefield

MIDNIGHTS, poems by Jane Miller and drawings by Beverly Pepper

POETRY FORUM: A PLAY POEM: A PL'EM by Judith Hall and David Lehman

BE THAT EMPTY: APOLOGIA FOR AIR, poems by Alice B. Fogel

2 POEMS FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL by Logan Ryan Smith

RED SHOES, poems by Honor Moore

A TEENY TINY BOOK OF WAR, poems by Sandra Simonds

GOLDEN LIGHTS, poems by Amanda Laughtland

THE MARVELOUS BONES OF TIME, poetry by Brenda Coultas

AN ARCHITECTURE, poems by Chad Sweeney

THE HEART THAT LIES OUTSIDE THE BODY, poems by Stephanie Lenox

EITHER SHE WAS, poems by Karin Randolph

GLAD STONE CHILDREN, poems by Edmund Berrigan

CLEAR ALL THE REST OF THE WAY: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS 1987-2007 by Warren Woessner

SHINY No. 14, Edited by Michael Friedman

MIPOESIAS, MARCH 2008 -- AMERICAN CUBAN ISSUE, Guest Ed. Emma Trelles

PAPER TRAIL, essays by Michael Dorris

DANCING UNDER THE RED STAR: THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF MARGARET WERNER, THE ONLY AMERICAN WOMAN TO SURVIVE STALIN'S GULAG by Karl Tobien

THE PRACTICE OF HOME: BIOGRAPHY OF A HOUSE by Charles Goodrich (hope you're enjoying it, Jean!)

RIVER FOR MY SIDEWALK, memoir by Gilean Douglas

THE GRASS WIDOW AND HER COW: AN ENCHANTING ACCOUNT OF COUNTRY LIFE IN WARTIME BRITAIN by Barbara Paynter

NORTHERN FARM: A GLORIOUS YEAR ON A SMALL MAINE FARM, memoir by Henry Beston

AN AMERICAN FAMILY, memoir by Jon and Michael Gallucio with David Groff

THE BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS: TRUE STORIES OF GINNY, THE DOG WHO RESCUES CATS by Philip Gonzalez and Leonore Fleischer

ANNIE DUNNE, novel by Sebastian Barry

THE RACE, novel by Richard North Patterson

BABY CRIMES, novel by Randall Hicks

FRONTERA STREET, novel by Tanya Maria Barrientos

THE DARKEST EVENING OF THE YEAR, novel by Dean Koontz

THE UNDERTAKER'S WIDOW, novel by Philip Margolin

TERMINAL, novel by Andrew Vacchs

WHERE TRUTH LIES, novel by Christiane Heggan

KILLER WEEKEND, novel by Ridley Pearson

THE LETTER OF THE LAW, novel by Tim Green


WINES:
1998 Finca Dofi Priorat
1996 Clos Clare shiraz
2004 Dutch Henry Los Carneros chardonnay
2004 Dutch Henry Napa Valley Argos
1993 St. Francis zinfandel Sonoma Valley
1994 Araujo cabernet Eisele Vineyard
1996 Araujo cabernet Eisele Vineyard
1997 Araujo cabernet Eisele Vineyard
2006 Araujo Viognier
2005 Peter Michael L'Apres-Midi
1998 Napa Reserve
1996 Greenock Acre cabernet
2005 Casseda syrah Sonoma Valley