Seven Kitchens Press is now accepting chapbook submissions for a new annual series co-edited by Ron Mohring and Eduardo C. Corral. This series honors the vision and teaching of Rane Arroyo and is open to all poets. The deadline is June 15, 2012. For more information, please look here.
Submissions are now open for the Keystone Chapbook Series by Seven Kitchens Press which honors Pennsylvania poets by publishing two chapbooks — one by a writer with, and one by a writer without, previous book or chapbook publications. Take a look at the guidelines here. The reading period is July 1 – August 15 and winners will be announced in October.
Fans of The Scrapper Poet know how much I love Seven Kitchens Press. Besides the recent publication of chapbooks from two of my favorite poets, Gabriel Welsch and Todd Davis, Ron Mohring (editor) has just announced the upcoming publications of several chapbooks in the ReBound Series, including Collin Kelley’s work, Slow to Burn. Congrats to all.
And Mary Biddinger is doing a different kind of rebounding — stop by her blog and wish her congratulations.
(Note to audience: WordPress has been a bit wacky today — I can’t provide links. When I have more time, I will go back and make corrections!)
Time is running out! The deadline for the 2010 Keystone Chapbook Prize (sponsored by Seven Kitchens Press) is July 15th. This contest is for an unpublished, original chapbook of poems by a Pennsylvanian writer. This year’s judge is Betsy Sholl. Past winners include Underground Singing by Harry Humes, Soot by Jeff Walt and Long Corridor by Lisa Sewell.
Full details can be found at the Seven Kitchens website.
I’ve been a bit behind in my blog reading — with the move, and the typical April frenzy of grading — so I am only now catching up. I’m watching poets celebrating National Poetry Month in different ways — from urging people to buy more poetry books to writing a poem a day for the whole month of April. However, what has fascinated me the most is Dave Bonta’s site, where he is trying to read one book (or chapbook) a day and then do a mini-review of the collection he completed. Wow. Could I read a book a day? Yes. Would I be able to write a review — mini or otherwise — every day. No. Nope. No way. So, needless to say, I have great admiration for anyone who could do this… Dave has been putting a special emphasis on chapbooks from one of my favorite small presses, Seven Kitchens Press. However, he also included a review of These Happy Eyes (Mammoth Books) by Liz Rosenberg. This book brings about many great memories for me because I was actually working at Mammoth Books when this book was first published. There’s nothing like working at a small press to really give a young writer a picture of the writing/editing/publishing world.
Maybe someday, when National Poetry Month doesn’t fall in April (ha!), I could try reading a poetry book a day and writing one review per book, but for now, I will be happy with the four poetry books on my nightstand.
The US Postal Service has been kind to me this week. First, I received my contributor’s copy of Copper Nickel — and it’s a great issue (I am not just saying that because one of my poem is found within its pages). There’s work from Mary Biddinger, Karyna McGlynn, Jericho Brown, Jessica Jewell, R.T. Smith, and Alison Stine. My favorite is Stine’s poem, “Canary” that opens this issue. In this work, the poet proclaims: “It’s not so bad, seventies/in March, coats off, daffodils opening/in a white blaze. But the polar bears/drowned, swum too far to look/for food. The ice floes lost their edges; each shore sunk further out. Frogs/the first barometers, on some banks/started exploding, blood turned. My canary/shutters against the man I thought/I knew, the one who promised to love me.”
I also received my copy of Green Mountains Review. Fans of The Scrapper Poet will know that I blogged quite a bit about Paula Bohince’s Incident at the Edge of Bayonet Woods on my old blog — and then I got the chance to write a more formal review of this great book for GMR. If you haven’t picked up Bohince’s début collection yet, you really should.
Finally, last year I was honored with a chance to judge the Keystone Chapbook Award from Seven Kitchens Press, and Soot by Jeff Walt was the winner. This chapbook arrived in the mail. What did I say about Walt’s poems? “Jeff Walt’s collection is filled with dirt, grit and dust. These tough poems squint in the bright light but focus, fear both real and imaginary dangers but still fact the day, fall but get up to brush themselves off and move on….”
When I connected to the Seven Kitchens Press website, I discovered more good news. Seven Kitchens Press is planning a big year with chapbooks! RJ Gibson’s Scavenge will be released soon (you have to check out that cover). Plus, two of my favorite Pennsylvania poets will also be publishing with Ron Mohring’s micropress. Gabriel Welsch’s chapbook, An Eye Fluent in Gray and Todd Davis’s chapbook Household of Water, Moon, and Snow are both due out later this year. More good reading, ahead! I know that times are tough, and that if you are a poet and/or blog reader, you are always being asked to support the poetry community. I can say that Seven Kitchens Press is one of the best places for poetry!
The Scrapper Poet 