Edgewise

a word in

could I get

just

no

you

*.*

Don't let my previous post fool you into thinking I was unhappy about my experiences as poet/publisher at a Fair--My post was following "scripts" found almost by accident when thinking about my various engagements in writing, as they reflect relationships between writing and the rest of it--living--the overlap, bleed and blend of the ongoing, and the art as a central part of that. The joyous actual time I had at the fair, and the changes and efforts in what the future holds in store led to "style" of the post as a reflection/reframing of sight/prior texts: to show how the work of art looks back at the artist. Thanks to Chris Fritton and everyone who made the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair last weekend such an amazing success. I had a wonderful time and was so happy to meet so many different, amazingly creative people. It was a real pleasure to be able to talk with readers, writers, artists and the just plain curious. We talked about small press, writing, markets, town & gown, and much more. I wish I had the resources to speak in more detail, but really, right now I don't. Can't get a word in. A disposition of uncertainty makes a lot of my turns in the ongoing conversation feel like interruptions.

More books from LSP to come!!

Small Press Memories

A Table Fable
[plagiarized/altered from the imdb capsule plot summary for Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories"]

A poet/publisher named Randy Fishman is a man who simply doesn't want to make goofball poems and chapbooks anymore, and it seems these lyric salads and sandwiches are all that society wants from him. He's unhappy at the moment because his first "serial" poem isn't well received by the public. He decides to stay a weekend at an apartment in Brooklyn to reflect upon his life, body of work, and relationships of the past while a festival showcasing his poems is occurring. Meanwhile, he encounters groups of his fans who ask him to publish their chapbooks, compliment him on his "youtube funnies", his style of recitation, and he encounters a beautiful woman named Darlin', with whom he falls in love.


Sherwood Anderson
from Winesburg, Ohio

"Sophistication"
...George Willard, the Ohio village boy, was fast growing into his manhood and new thoughts had been coming into mind. All that day, amid the jam of people at the Fair, he had gone about feeling lonely. He was about to leave Winesburg to go away to some city where he hoped to get work on a city newspaper and he felt grown up. The mood that had taken possession of him was a thing known to men and unknown to boys. He felt old and a little tired. Memories awoke in him. To his mind his new sense of maturity set him apart, made of him a half-tragic figure. He wanted someone to understand the feeling that had taken possession of him...


Fragment of a Poem composed at the Small Press Book Fair
(to be jointly published in an edition of 5 by presenting artists: a paper maker, a book arts designer, an illustrator/lithographer and a poet)

Jesus glass
broken with rock
at the same place wounded
by a Roman spear
while cameras flash

and salmon swim in bottle-shaped pools
cut into old encyclopediae

Smiles may be
glad hands or may be
happy thoughts
what may unfold what find:
the scale
on which is weighed some

such unmeasurable
is such as this
such that
ah

AH!

*.*

MOST FUN ON INTERNET

This blog is now going to be the "Most Fun On Internet" site. Since a recent Google search for "most fun on internet" brought no results, we here at Unbecoming Normality decided to fix a remarkably horrible situation in computerland.

Welcome!

We are Most Fun on Internet site!

Hey, its better than going to hospital!



*.*

Small Press Month Begins. Mark Your Daybooks!

Small Press Month! Mark you Calendars and Daybooks

little scratch pad press is happy to be taking part in a host of events this month, from small press book fairs, readings and panel discussions, fundraisers for local presses, and a special Endocrinology evening of readings/performances to celebrate the poetry of Bonita Z. who suddenly passed away on February 27.

Here is the upcoming calendar:

March 6:
STARCHERONE BOOKS is celebrating NATIONAL SMALL PRESS MONTH with an
event called NAKED KITCHEN YOGA on FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2009, 7 pm, at RUST
BELT BOOKS, 202 Allen St., Buffalo, NY. Participants will share a 5 minute or less work written by themselves or others that has been published by a small press book, magazine, journal, chapbook, or other construction strongly or loosely affiliated with small presses. A $5 donation entitles the contributor to ONE FREE DRINK (beer, wine, or nonalcoholic) and one lucky attendee will also win a complete set of the 18 (maybe 19) Starcherone Books published to date!

Starcherone Books is itself a nonprofit small press publisher of innovative fiction
and hybrid prose stuff, and intends this celebration as a fundraiser, as well as a fun occasion where we get to see old and new friends and together celebrate non-mainstream contemporary literature and its offshoots.

Readings by: Mike Basinski, Aaron Lowinger, Lisa Forrest, Kristi Gansworth, Geoffrey Gatza, Gregory Gerke, Mark Gunther, Paul Hogan, Steve McCaffery, Ted Pelton, Ethan Paquin, Douglas Manson, Chuck Richardson, Gary Earl Ross, Forrest Roth, Mike Sikkema, Ed Taylor AND MORE!!!

March 10:
Endocrinology Open Mic at Sugar City:
POETRY/PERFORMANCE :: ENDOCRINOLOGY MARCH 10, 7:00 PM
WE LOVE YOU BONITA “ELECTRIC PANCAKES LADYLAND”
19 WADSWORTH in ALLENTOWN BUFFALO

THIS WILL BE A NIGHT OF POETIC CELEBRATION OF BONITA Z.’s POETRY. PLEASE
MEMORIZE A POEM OR THREE FROM OSCAR WILLIAMS’ TREASURY OF AMERICAN
POETRY, or LOUIS UNTERMEYER’S MODERN AMERICAN POETRY, or READ A POEM
sing a SONG or CHANT a CHANT FOR/ABOUT BONITA. She also loved the poetry of Sylvia Plath and William Stafford.

March 12 & 13:
Poet/Publisher Douglas Manson will be in Kent, Ohio to give a featured reading for the Wick Poetry Center Anniversary Series, 8:00 p.m. at the Kent Student Center Room 306 at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. There will also be panel discussions on Internships, Arts Administration and Teaching Poetry in Higher Education on the 12th and 13th during the day. To see the full schedule go to:
http://dept.kent.edu/wick/Events/PublicEvents.html

March 20: A special night of poetry readings centered on Buffalo Small Presses at 7:00 p.m. Location TBA

March 21:
THE BUFFALO SMALL PRESS BOOK FAIR.
The Buffalo Small Press Book Fair is a regional one day event that brings booksellers, authors, bookmakers, zinesters, small presses, artists, poets, and other cultural workers (and enthusiasts) together in a venue where they can share ideas, showcase their art, and peddle their wares.

The 3rd Annual Buffalo Small Press Book Fair
will be held on March 21, 2009 at Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, 453 Porter Avenue, Buffalo, NY.

More information at: www.buffalosmallpress.org

See you there!!