Thursday, April 29, 2010

New Books! (read below for the details)

It is my great pleasure to introduce:

B O X E S: poetry ready-to-hand.

3 new chapbooks, each consisting of 20 loose pages in a small cardboard box:

  • Yuko Otomo, "A Voice That Crawls in the Sky" SOLD OUT!
  • Paolo Javier, "The Feeling is Actual"
  • Tonya Foster, "Bibliography"

Carry them with you! Mix-and-match the loose leaves! Throw away the ones you don’t like! Save your favorites! Collect all three boxes! Use the pages to jot notes! As tokens to send with letters! To practice origami! To wipe up messes!
………………………………

These, we hope, are books that aren’t quite books, that disrupt expectations but in a good-faith manner, that gently dictate a fundamental shift in reading practice, while also inviting/daring more radical, more promiscuous approaches to the object(s): shuffling pages within a box; exchanging pages between different boxes; folding, crumbling, discarding certain pages; using pages for other purposes, practical or capricious.

Here are the specs for each BOX-BOOK, the dimensional facts of the vehicle each writer worked with and within:

  • 20 unbound, unnumbered rectangular pages (4 ¼" x 4 ½").
  • Fixed margins on all 4 sides, leaving exactly 15 lines-worth of space for 12 pt. Franklin Gothic Medium, the uniformly employed typeface.
  • Office-pink paper, standard 20 lb.
  • Thin, brown chip-board box housing [4 ¾ square]; an exoskeleton in place of the standard endoskeletal spine that structures most books.
  • Each work’s title is hand-stamped in black capital letters on the exterior face of the box, and the author’s name is stamped in lowercase below the title.
Each chapbook has been produced in an edition of 50. Some of these will be available directly from the authors, and the rest may be purchased via this website or in select bookstores. Details forthcoming; email Felix for more information. OR, if you want a first-hand look-see and a chance to snag one or more books, consider visiting Creature Press at the CUNY chapbook festival, info right underneath these words!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Creature Press Debut: CUNY Chapbook Festival

chapbook_festival_logoANNUAL CHAPBOOK FESTIVAL

Monday May 3 &Tuesday May 4, 2010

The Festival celebrates the chapbook as a work of art and as a medium for alternative and emerging writers and publishers. Now in its second year, the festival features a two-day bookfair with chapbook publishers from around the country, workshops, marathon poetry readings, and a closing-night reading of prize-winning Chapbook Fellows. At the CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue and 34th Street, NYC.

Co-sponsored by The Office of Academic Affairs, The Center for the Humanities, The Graduate Center and MFA Programs in Creative Writing of the City University of New York, The Center for Book Arts, Poets House, Poetry Society of America, and Poets & Writers


Schedule of Events

Chapbook FestivalBookfair

11:30am to 7pm both days (May 3-4)

in the Proshansky Auditorium Lobby, C Level

Free and open to the public

MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010

Workshops

C Level Breakout Rooms

Free registration required. To attend workshops, please register by e-mailing abozicevic@gc.cuny.edu


10 – 11:30am

Producing Chapbooks: A Workshop for Poets
Brenda Iijima (Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs) and Rachel Levitsky (Belladonna*), and Lonely Christopher (The Corresponding Society)

10 – 11:30am

Do-It-Yourself Chapbooks: Make and Distribute Your Own
Mary Gannon and Jean Hartig (Poets & Writers Magazine), Emily Goodale (Brave Men Press), Matvei Yankelevich (Ugly Duckling Presse), and Adam Robinson (Publishing Genius)

11:30am – 1pm

Producing Chapbooks: A Workshop for Publishers
Jan Heller Levi (Hunter College), Rachel Levitsky (Belladonna*), and Marshall Webber (Booklyn)

11:30am – 1pm

Chapbooks as Art Objects
Roni Gross (Roni Gross Design), and Jeremy Thompson (The Autotypograph), with Sarah Nicholls (Center for Book Arts)

Chapbook Poets: A Marathon Reading

2 – 7pm, C Level Breakout Rooms
Poets from participating presses read. Full lineup to be announced at www.chapbookfestival.org soon.
Free and open to the public.

Opening Reception

7 – 8pm, Proshansky Auditorum Lobby

TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2010

Workshops

C Level Breakout Rooms

Free registration required. To attend workshops, please register by e-mailing abozicevic@gc.cuny.edu


10 – 11:30am

Producing Chapbooks: A Workshop for Poets
Sommer Browning and Tony Mancus (Flying Guillotine Press), Jill Magi (Sona Books), and Daniel Lin (Love Among the Ruins)

10 – 11:30am

Do-It-Yourself Chapbooks: Make and Distribute Your Own
Mary Gannon and Jean Hartig (Poets & Writers Magazine), Emily Goodale (Brave Men Press), and Anna Moschovakis (Ugly Duckling Presse)

11:30am – 1pm

Producing Chapbooks: A Workshop for Publishers
Jan Heller Levi (Hunter College), Andrew Levy (CRAYON Magazine), Sueyeun Juliette Lee (Corollary Press), and Charmaine Wheatley (Booklyn)

11:30am – 1pm

Chapbooks as Art Objects
Roni Gross (Roni Gross Design) and Jeremy Thompson (The Autotypograph), with Sarah Nicholls (Center for Book Arts)

Chapbook Poets: A Marathon Reading

2 – 7pm, C Level Breakout Rooms
Poets from participating presses read. Full lineup to be announced at www.chapbookfestival.org soon.

Free and open to the public.

PSA Chapbook Fellowship Reading

7pm, Martin E. Segal Theatre
Alice Quinn with judges Mark Doty, Linda Gregg, and Arthur Sze, and winners Jocelyn Casey-Whiteman, Haines Eason, Heidi Johannesen Poon, and Stephanie Adams-Santos. Followed by reception.

Free and open to the public.

On Wednesday, May 5, The Center for Book Arts will host printing and bookbinding workshops, from 10-1 and 2-5. To sign up, call 212-481-0295. For more information, visit their website.


Participating publishers

2nd Ave Poetry
Bateau Press
Belladonna*
BOOK Works

Booklyn
BookThug
Cervena Barva Press
Concrete Wolf Chapbook Press
Corollary Press

CRAYON
Creature Press
Cy Gist Press

CUNY Lost & Found
DoubleCross Press
Dusie Kollektiv
Etched Press

Factory Hollow Press
Finishing Line Press
Five Spice Poetry
Flying Guillotine Press
Forklift, Ohio
Greying Ghost Press

H_NGM_N
Instance Press
Kissena Park Press
Little Scratch Pad
Love Among the Ruins
Magic Helicopter Books

Minutes Books
Noemi Press
Open Thread Publications
Pen Press
Plan B Press
Pleasure Boat Studio: A Literary Press
Poets Wear Prada
Poinciana Paper Press
Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs

PresShop
Rain Taxi
River Poets Journal/Lilly Press
Sarabande Books
Seven Kitchens Press
Slapering Hol Press
Small Anchor Press
Sona Books
Spire Press
sunnyoutside
Tarpaulin Sky Press
The Physiocrats
Toadlily Press
Ugly Duckling Presse
Upset Press
X-ing Press/Agriculture Reader
and others!