THE FLOOID: NEW POETRY FORM & SUBMISSIONS CALL TO ITS ANTHOLOGY

DEAR READERS: YOU ARE INVITED!

The Flooid is a short poetry form, no longer than five lines. It is rooted in a prior “good deed.” The Flooid poem can be written only in the aftermath of the author’s action to benefit others--whether it’s the community, the environment, and other worthy causes. I hope you will be interested in participating in this project: 

WHAT MAKES US HUMAN: The First Flooid Anthology

Editor Eileen R. Tabios

 

Deadline: March 31, 2022 

 

Submissions: You can submit as many poems as you wish. Each poem should be accompanied by 1-2 paragraphs explaining the underlying “good deed” undertaken by the author and that inspired the poem. 

 

Send Submissions in the body of an email to Eileen R. Tabios at nalandaten@gmail.com

Please GO HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION, including the official Submissions Call for the Flooid Anthology. 

Here are some EXAMPLES from four poets:

SARAH BROOKS

 

I walk with the children to the river

to give their young mother time to grieve.

I watch as a butterfly hovers over them,

somehow it resembles their father to me.

 

The daughter of my good friend, who I have known since she was born, suddenly became a widow when her children were just two and four years of age. I've spent many days and hours with them, trying to bring comfort amidst an impossibly deep pain in their lives. It made me realize how hard it is for most of us to sit with death, to acknowledge it and accept it. To be with people in their time of need and try to provide support even when we feel helpless to alleviate their suffering is as important as it is difficult.   

 

~

Sarah Brooks is currently pursuing an MA in English/Lit. at Mills College and have also focused on poetry. She lives in Humboldt, CA where she studies with poet laureate David Holper. She says, “Interconnectedness and community are essential to the work I do and I strive to find ways to communicate the immense importance of these subjects in my writing.”

 

~~~~~

 

SOFIA M. STARNES

 

Memory Care

 

She may not know her husband is far closer

Than the aide insists I tell her: 

In the other wing, confined to bed….

But he has died. His winter and his 

Spring as near to her as every word that misses.

 

When I’m not writing, editing, or mentoring, I volunteer, through St. Bede Catholic Church, at a retirement community, which includes a memory care center. Recently, one of the women I visit lost her husband, and her children thought it best that we not tell her—so I abided by their wishes. I wonder, though, if she heard him nonetheless, nearby, whenever I left his name out of our conversation. There is presence in the absence of the beloved.

~

Sofia M. Starnes, Virginia Poet Laureate, Emerita, is a Critique Editor & Literary Translator. She serves on the Editorial Boards of The Journal of the Virginia Writers Club and Poetica Magazine. More information is available at www.sofiamstarnes.com

 

~~~~~

DENISE LOW

 

Under the Meyer Lemon Tree

 

A jar of marmalade waits

on the wicker table, a gift.

 

Alcohol wipes sit between us,

 

dear Marisha, my friend during Covid.

I pop a good bottle of pinot.

 

During the 2020-2021 lockdown in Sonoma County, my friend Marisha turned eighty. She had a daughter in a neighboring town, but otherwise no contacts. We had become friends at jazz concerts, as the only single women in attendance. We became much better acquainted over the couple of years, almost, of this quarantine. We shared a love of the arts, cuisine, and people’s quirks—and the motivations for them. I miss these conversations during the depths of the United States political vagaries and the disease that brings so many deaths. Remaining hopeful became our mission.

 

*

A Poet Visits Council Grove, Kansas

 

In a Carnegie Library basement the director serves iced tea.

 

Ghosts of Buffalo Bill and General Custer darken the corner.

 

I am the visiting state poet laureate. 

 

The crowd awaits words as fancy as a six-shooter quick draw.

 

As Kansas Poet Laureate I traveled the geographic distance of the four-hundred by two-hundred-miles state rectangle. Other traveling was through layers of history contained in places and in words themselves. The Old West of cowboy narratives lives in buildings still standing from the 19^th century. The Hays House is the oldest continuously operated restaurant west of the Mississippi River. In its basement, made of vernacular limestone, a bar remains from the time of Custer. He had a meal there in the spring of 1876, just before he headed out to the Battle of Greasy Grass/Little Big Horn. When I gave a poetry reading at the Carnegie Library building, across the street, I found the place haunted as strands of time converged. Words are bundles of the past carried forward, so these tools of the poet similarly are haunted. This archaeology of language is the realm of librarians. As poet laureate, I came to honor those who keep buildings of books and histories alive. My good deed was to contribute in a small way to the daily work of these book angels.

 

~

Denise Low, Kansas Poet Laureate 2007-09, is winner of the Red Mountain Press Editor’s Choice Award for Shadow Light. Other recent books are Wing (poems, April, 2021); The Turtle’s Beating Heart: One Family’s Story of Lenape Survival (a memoir, U. of Nebraska Press); A Casino Bestiary (Spartan Press); and Jackalope, fiction (Red Mountain). She has won 4 Kansas Notable Book Awards and recognition from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Sequoyah National Research Center, Poetry Society of America, The Circle -Best Native American Books, Roberts Foundation, Lichtor Awards, and the Kansas Arts Commission. Low has an MFA from Wichita State U. and Ph.D. from Kansas U.

~~~~~

 

DAVID HOLPER

 

You Never Know 

 

What Sticks 

 

During my years teaching college English, I developed a themed course in environmentalism. I talked a good deal about the need for environmentalists to be active not only in exercising their political voice to save the environment but also in cleaning it up or restoring what has been damaged. I remember reading and sharing a study that demonstrated that altruism is a learned skill: it takes practice for people to be able to pull off heroic deeds, such as running into a burning building to save someone. I framed it in the context of environmentalism, but I definitely used the idea of practicing, so when there is an emergency, such as someone trapped in a burning building, that you’re able to do what is needed. One student, Daniel, stayed after that class and discussed this idea with me at some length, in terms of global warming. 

 

Probably ten years later I found a voicemail in my office from this same student, Daniel. He said that same day he’d been driving home from work. He lived somewhere in a rural part of Oregon, as I remember. He saw smoke pouring out of a barn just off the road, so he pulled off to see if anyone needed help. As he got out of his car, he saw a woman climbing a ladder to the upper story of the barn—and then going into the burning building. Seeing how dangerous it looked to her, he immediately climbed the ladder and helped rescue both her trapped dogs and her as well. He said, “If I hadn’t been there, she probably would have died, along with her dogs.” As the poem’s title suggests, you never know how what you teach can have a future impact on someone’s life. It’s a lesson I’ll never forget. 

 

~

David Holper is the first Poet Laureate for Eureka, Calfornia. He is a teacher, veteran, and activist.

 

~~~

 

EILEEN R. TABIOS

Five poems in descending order as 5 lines, 4 lines, 3 lines, 2 lines, and 1 line:

 

We adopted a dog 
like others in Covid lockdown 
But we chose the puppy
others would not want:
Nova, most charming when asleep 

 

*

 

Trauma

Love is infinite 
until it’s not—
from kibble to hugs,
the dog can’t receive enough

 

*

 

Nova’s Diet

Joy
from rough
fur becoming silk

*

History defined as ancient dirt
stuffed deep into your ears 

*

 

Perhaps monsters most need mommies 

 

When Covid-19 lockdowns began in March 2020, many animal shelters put out an emergency call to their various networks since the lockdown would constrain their ability to manage their animal rescue programs. We decided to adopt one more dog. We identified two German Shepherd (GSD) candidates. One dog was well-behaved and we would have wanted him for our family. Instead, we put a GSD rescue organization in touch with him and helped find him his adoptive family. We decided to adopt the other dog, Nova, because we knew she would be a difficult challenge for most families—she’s a loud and frequent barker and bears a past of being rehomed four times that made her skittish and suffer attachment issues. An inherently wonderful dog, Nova since has calmed down as she’s been persuaded we are her “forever family.” Unfortunately, her behavior calmed down by only two percent. We are looking forward to much more calm in the future (please please please!). 

 

~

Eileen R. Tabios likes to play with new poetry forms. Inventor of the hay(na)ku and the MDR Poetry Generator, the Flooid is her latest creation. She first revealed the Flooid to the public through her first novel, DOVELION: A Fairy Tale for Our Times (AC Books, New York, 2021).

~~~~~

More examples, the anthology's Call for Submissions, and information about the Flooid is available HERE.

PUBLICATIONS READ IN 2021

 I share my list of 2021 Reading List below. From them, I cull—not “best” or “most enjoyed” readings but—“My Favorite Discoveries” because the authors were mostly previously unknown to me:

(I also discovered that my switch in focus to Writing a Novel had the result of decreasing my reading attention span, and lowering numbers. In part, the effect is from reading books relevant to my novel-in-progress versus reading for exploration/discovery. In 2020--see HERE--I'd read 403 books versus 2021's Total of 209.) 

My Favorite 2021 Discoveries:

POETRY: The Matrix by N. H. Pritchard (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2021).

FICTION: WHEREABOUTS by Jhumpa Lahiri (Knopf, 2021) and BONE by Philip Terry (Grand Iota, U.K., 2021).

 

 

2021 Reading List Summary:

POETRY: 98

FICTION (novels & short fiction): 17

OTHER (incl. memoirs & essays): 24

MINIATURE BOOKS: 70

 

POETRY (96)

Three pamphlets from Rabble, an imprint of Insert Blanc Press:

     What's Happening in The Firesign Theater's I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus as Best as I Can Make Out by Doug Harvey

     The Urgency of History Painting by Michael Ned Holte

     The Spectre by Jason Ramos

Except for This Unseen Thread by  Ra'ad Abdulqadir, Trans. by Mona Kareem (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2021). Poetry. July 2021.

 

Inkwells: An Event Poem by Sacha Archer (Simulacrum Press, 2020). Concrete Poetry. Simulacrum Press has been presenting visual/concrete poems to the genre’s good advantage, including these two by Sacha Archer. Models presents the interesting premise of taking off from 4 possible ways the post-Covid economy might recover, ways captured by 4 letters: V, W, U or L. And Inkwells presents how the tools of writing—paper and ink—progress after being abandoned to a downpour. The results are surprising and surprisingly both touch on abandonment (though that may have to do with reading/viewing them in tandem). Models depress with the same black donut-type of visual result despite the 4 different types of recovery (readings of such are subjective with mine being of the depressing conclusion that the recovery paths will leave a core result unchanged: there remains a gulf between haves and have-nots). But Inkwells presents the beauty in abandonment as it straddles the concepts of abandon vs abandoned.  Intriguing and resonant work by Sacha Archer that I’m grateful to experience.

 

Models of Economic Recovery by Sacha Archer (Simulacrum Press, 2020). Concrete Poetry. July 2021

 

Continuity by Cynthia Arrieu-King (Octopus Books, Portland, OR, 2021). Poetry. July 2021.

 

Walkers in the City edited by Dennis Barone (Ohm Editions, 2021). Poetry.und, New York2021). Poetry. Outstanding.

Object Performance by Nica Bengzon (Gaudy Boy/Singapore Unbound, 2021)

 

The Book of URIZEN by William Blake (Shambala / Random House, Boulder/New York, 1978). Poetry/Art. July 2021.

 

Spring Cleaning by Marshall Blood (Ugly Duckling Press, 2021). Poetry. July 2021.

 

April on Olympia by Lorna Dee Cervantes (in manuscript). Poetry. Fabulous from this Master-Poet. I was honored to edit the manuscript on behalf of its publisher, Marsh Hawk Press. July & August 2021.

 

The Asian American Literary Review: Feelings, Editor Lawrence-Minh Bui Davis (The Asian American Literary Review. 2020). Literary & arts journal. July 2021.

 

New and Selected Poems 1990-2020 by Nick Carbó. Poetry. Wonderful! Read in manuscript to provide a blurb.

 

I Have A Dream: Inaugural Poems For A New Generation by San Mateo County Youth edited by Aileen Cassinetto & Jim Ward (San Mateo County Arts Commission, 2021). Poetry.

 

Fata Morgana by Joel Chace (Unlikely Books, 2021). Poetry. Read in preparation for helping launch book during a virtual reading. Collection manifests its theme, per title, well.

 

SALT, poetry journal edited by Billie Chernicoff (Catskill, N.Y., 2021). Inaugural issue in Winter 2021. Poetry.

 

SALT, poetry journal edited by Billie Chernicoff (Catskill, N.Y., 2021). Spring 2021. Poetry.

 

SALT, poetry journal edited by Billie Chernicoff (Catskill, N.Y., 2021). Summer 2021. Poetry.

 

SALT, poetry journal edited by Billie Chernicoff (Catskill, N.Y., 2021). Fall 2021. Poetry. November 2021.

 

Late Human by Jean Day (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). Poetry. May 2021.

 

POEMS by Emily Dickinson, edited by Brenda Hillman (Shambhala Pocket Classics, Boston and London, 1995). Poetry. September 2021.

 

ALL YOU ASK FOR IS LONGING: New and Selected Poems by Sean Thomas Dougherty (BOA Editions, 2014). Poetry. Fabulous! May 2021.

 

ALL MY PEOPLE ARE ELEGIES: Essays, Prose Poems and Other Epistolary Oddities by Sean Thomas Dougherty (NYQ Books, 2019). Poetry. Moving, Occasionally Amusing, Fluid reading. June 2021.

 

forget thee by Ian Dreiblatt (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). Poetry. July 2021.

Judith: Women Making Visual Poetry edited by Amanda Earl (Timglaset, Sweden, 2021). Visual Poetry. Glad to be included in its list. A long-overdue and historic survey that's highly recommended.

Abalone by Melissa Eleftherion (Poems-for-all, #1390, San Diego, 2021). Poetry. October 2021.

 

Green glass asterisms by Melissa Eleftherion (Poems-for-all, #1382, San Diego, 2021). Poetry. October 2021.

 

The leaves the leaves by Melissa Eleftherion (Poems-for-all, #1383, San Diego, 2021). Poetry. October 2021.

 

little ditch by Melissa Eleftherion (aboveground press, Ontario, Canada, 2018). Poetry. December 2021.

 

trauma suture by Melissa Eleftherion (aboveground press, Ontario, Canada, 2020). Poetry. December 2021.

 

GUEST: a journal of guest editors, Editor Melissa Eleftherion (Yellow Field, 2021). Poetry. August 2021.

Our Book: Selected Poems by Florbela Espanca (Brooklyn Rail, 2018). Poetry--a poet worth discovering. May 2021.

A Pageant for Every Addiction by Thomas Fink and Maya Mason (Marsh Hawk Press, 2020). Poetry with style, verve and virtuosity.

 

The Country Between Us by Carolyn Forche (Copper Canyon Press, 1981). Poetry. July 2021.

Gathering the Tribes by Carolyn Forche (Yale University Press, 1976). Poetry. July 2021

 

A Looking-Glass for Traytors by Edward Foster (Marsh Hawk Press, 2021). Poetry. Lucid.

 

The Supposed Hunstman by Katie Fowley (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2021). Poetry. July 2021

 

THORN GRASS by Luis H. Francia (University of the Philippines Press, 2021). Poetry. December 2021.

 

I Want Something Other than Time by Lewis Freedman (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). Poetry. December 2021

 

TO A NEW ERA by Joanna Fuhrman (Hanging Loose Press, Brooklyn, 2021). Poetry. October 2021.

 

Upper Volta by Yanko Gonzalez, Trans. by Stephen Rosenshein (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). Poetry.

 

God is a Bitch Too by Maria Paz Guerrero (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). Poetry. November 2021.

 

Chiaroscuro by Ayo Gutierrez (GMGA Publishing, 2020). Poetry.

 

To Hear Unspoken Things by Elizabeth Henley (Press 22, Portland, 2000). Poetry. Clear-as-the-proverbial-bell music.

 

Vibratory Milieu by Carrie Hunter (Nightboat Books, 2021). Poetry.

 

To Stand at the Precipice Alone and Repeat What is Whispered by Aisha Sasha John (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2021). Poetry. July 2021.

 

SULAY w/ Instructor Jeffrey B. Javier, by Elio Bayan, Rosemarie Padillos, Jessamai Villaluz, and Sandy Shin Agravante (Univ. of the Philippines - Mindanao, 2021). Poetry. Wonderful: the future of Philippine poetry is not just bright but brilliant! December 2021.

 

POETRY, July/August 2021, Guest Editor Ashley M. Jones (Poetry, 2021). September 2021.

Paper Trail of FREEDOM by jxtheo, with art by Malaya Tuyay (Versus Odds Publishing, San Francisco, 2020). Art, Poetry, and Activism.

Vice-royal-ties by Julia Wong Kcomt, Trans. by Jennifer Shyue (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). Poetry. December 2021.

Sappho Does Hay(na)ku by Scott Keeney (Sephyrus Press, 2006-2018). Poetry. Excellent hay(na)ku!

The Velvet Protocol by Julia Lewis and Nathan Hyland Walker (Knives Forks Spoons Press, U.K., 2021). Poetry. Fabulous work--read in manuscript to provide a blurb.

Jackalope by Denise Low (Red Mountain Press, 2016). Poetry. May 2021

Shadow Light by Denise Low (Red Mountain Press, 2018). Poetry. May 2021

WING by Denise Low (Red Mountain Press, 2021). Poetry. Wonderful collection. I particularly love the Rodin poem.

GUEST 20: a journal of guest editors / Yellow Field 12 edited by Edric Mesmer (Yellow Field, 2021). Poetry. December 2021.

 

Dream Pattering Soles by Miguelangel Meza, Trans. by Elisa Taber (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). Poetry. December 2021.

 

Bagels with the Bards #14 anthology edited by David P. Miller (ISCS Press, 2020). Sent and signed by Brookline, MA Poet Laureate Zvi Sesling who wrote 3 hay(na)ku in it.

Liberamerica by Monchoachi, Trans. by Patricia Hartland Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). Poetry. December 2021.

For the Good of All, Do Not Destroy the Birds by Jennifer Moxley (Flood Editions, 2021). Essays. September 2021.

BATTLEFIELDS, poems by Anne Murray and sculptures/photographs by Zolt Asta(AC Books, New York, 2021). November 2021.

BACK PAGES: Selected Poems of A.L. Nielsen, edited by Jean-Philippe Marcoux (BlazeVOX Books, Buffalo, N.Y., 2021). Poetry. September 2021.

 

I Can't Breathe: A Poetic Anthology of Social Justice edited by Christopher Okemwa (Kistrech Theatre International, Kenya, 2021)

Horses Drawn With Blue Chalk by Rocio Agreda Pierola, Trans. by Jessica Sequeira (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). Poetry. December 2021.

The Recluse #18, edited by The Poetry Project Staff (New York, 2021). Poetry anthology. October 2021.

The Recluse #17, edited by The Poetry Project Staff (New York, 2021). Poetry anthology.

The Matrix by N. H. Pritchard (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2021). Poetry. So fabulous, and I think I was also impressed because I sensed, as a practitioner, the difficulty in approaching poems in this manner and pulling it off to to magnificent effect. 

Between Spaces by Cristina Querrer (Your Artsy Girl, Florida, 2020). Size: 2.75" x 4.25". Poetry. December 2021.

SHREELA RAY: On the Life and Work of an American Master edited by Kazim Ali and Rohan Chhetri (University of Houston, 2020). Poetry. July 2021.

Hats Are the Enemy of Poetry by Bill Rector (Finishing Line Press, 2021). Poetry.

Coastal Geometries by Marthe Reed (above/ground press, Ottawa, 2018). Poetry.

Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke (University of California Press, 1961). Poetry.

A Poet's Last Stand by Ed Roberts (sp, 2001/2014). Poetry. June 2021

ATANG: an altar for listening to the beginning of the world by Patrick Rosal and collaborators (sp, New Jersey-plus, 2021). Poetry.

Life in Space by Galina Ryumbu (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2021). Poetry. July 2021

Mortal City by Jocelyn Saidenberg (Parentheses Writing Series, 1998). Poetry.

Second Factory: Issue Two (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). Poetry journal.

Essential Truths: The Bay Area in Color, edited by Shizue Seigel (Pease Press, Sean Francisco 2021). Poetry and art anthology. October 2021.

Hesitancies by Sanjeev Sethi (Classix, New Delhi, 2021). Poetry. Fine poems; loved the book's opening.  July 2021. 

QUOTES OF LIFE by Radhey Shiam, edited by Rama Kant (Cyberwit, India, 2021). Poetry. The first hay(na)ku collection in India!

walls't's' by harry k stammer (Sandy Press, 2021). Poetry. June 2021

The Glass Constellation: New and Collected Poems by Arthur Sze (Copper Canyon Press, 2021). Poetry--magnificent poetry!

POLITICAL LOVE by Eileen Tabios (Booksby Press, Parma, OH, 2021). Poetry. Photo also features its prospectus. July 2021.

 

Ova Completa by Susana Thenon, Trans. by Rebekah Smith (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2020). Poetry.

 

By Bus by Erica Van Horn (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). Poetry. July 2021

THELMA BUCHOLDT, a creation hay(na)ku by Justine Villanueva (reviewed in manuscript). Text for Children's Picture Book. Poetry/Hay(na)ku.  June 2021

My Body Remembers by Justine Villanueva (reviewed in manuscript). Text for Children's Picture Book. Poetry/Hay(na)ku.  May 2021

Afternoons with Mungan and her Lola, a Hay(na)Ku by Justine Villanueva (reviewed in manuscript). Text for Children's Picture Book. Poetry/Hay(na)ku.  May 2021

A Book of Citations: Unwinding by Donald Wellman (read in manuscript). Poetry.

They Rise Like A Wave: An Anthology of Asian American Women Poets, Editors Randy White, Christine Kitano, and Alycia Pirmohamed (Blue Oak Press, 2021). Poetry. Read in manuscript; one of my poems in it.

Women’s Wit (History & Heraldry, U.K., 1999). Size: 2” x 2.25”. Non-fiction. August 2021.

ELSA: An Unauthorized Biography by Angela Veronica Wong (Black Radish Press, 2017). Fabulous poetry.

SONGS TO COME FOR THE SALAMANDER: Poems 2013-2021 by Mark Young (Sandy Press & Meritage Press, CA, 2021). Honored to have this co-published by my Meritage Press. August 2021.

The Toast by Mark Young (Luna Bisonte Productions, 2021). Poetry.  July 2021

The Sasquatch Walks Among Us by Mark Young (Sandy Press, 2021). Poetry. Read in manuscript to provide this blurb:

These are poems conscious of mortality’s fate. What results is music as would be played, not in but by, dusk. Thus, wryness, anger of the type refusing to go gentle in the night, acceptance, humor, irony, and more until “the noise / divides & / the song /breaks through.” They form a read so compelling that instead of “reading out of books,” you “read things into them.” Specifically, you read your life into these poems so that you can only hope your life will have contained enough of what creates the lyric: “A light moves on the north sky line … & a world is covered with jade,” or “the moon got in / under his finger- / nails like a fragment of / a Bach cantata.”

Pet Sounds by Stephanie Young (Nightboat, New York, 2019). Poetry. July 2021.

The Cambridge Companion to TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY AMERICAN POETRY edited by Timothy Yu (Cambridge University Press, 2021)

 

 

FICTION Novels & Short Stories) (17)

ULIRAT: Best Contemporary Stories in Translation From The Philippines edited by Tilde Acuna, John Bengan, Daryll Delgado, Amado Anthony G. Mendoza III, and Kristine Ong Muslim (Singapore Unbound, 2021). Outstanding.

 

MARSHLANDS by Andre Gide (New York Review of Books, 2021). Novel. Adore-able Preface by Dubravka Ugresic--first Preface I've ever adored.

 

LESS by Andrew Sean Greer (Little Brown/Lee Boudreaux Books, 2017). Fiction. To my surprise if not horror, I adore this book.

 

THE PLOT by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Celadon Books, New York, 2021). Novel. Highly entertaining.  June 2021.

 

WHEREABOUTS by Jhumpa Lahiri (Knopf, 2021). Novel. Structurally smart with deft prose. A lovely and satisfying read.

Imagine A Death by Janice Lee (Texas Review Press, 2021). Fiction. September 2021. Outstanding.

LEAVE SOCIETY by Tao Lin (Vintage, N.Y., 2021). Fiction. December 2021.

TAIPEI by Tao Lin (Vintage, N.Y., 2013). Fiction. December 2021.

Dakota Born by Debbie Macomber (MiraBooks, 2000). Novel. September 2021.

 

The Man Who Would Not Bow & Other Stories by Askold Melnyczuk (Grand Iota, London, 2021). August 2021.

 

Journeys On A Dime by Toby Olson (Grand Iota, U.K., 2021). Fiction. May 2021.

ANGEL & HANNAH by Ishle Yi Park (One World/Random House, 2021). Novel in verse. December 2021.

Riverrun by Danton Remoto (Penguin, 2020). Novel. Lovely writing ... by the translator-into-Filipino of my novel DoveLion. July 2021.

The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rainer Maria Rilke (Norton, 1964). Autofiction novel. Dare I say: Knausgaard did it better...

The Ruin of Everything by Lara Stapleton (Paloma Press, San Mateo, 2021). Short stories. June 2021

 

BONE by Philip Terry (Grand Iota, U.K., 2021). A wonderful novel--see brief review below.

It's been a while since I so relished a bit of Oulipian writing: I'm grateful to Philip Terry's novel, BONE, out from stellar Grand Iota. I found the writing charismatic -- seemingly effortless as it transcends its constraints, which is also what we want from constraint-based writing. The story's inspiration is interesting, but the story's unfolding flew impressively far from its root source -- a testament to the author's own intellect. 

We Are No Longer Babaylan by Elsa Valdimiano (New Rivers Press, 2020). Essays and Stories. Masterful portrayals of unease.

 

 

OTHER (Incl. Memoir &, Essays) (24)

The Betweens by Cynthia Arrieu-King (Noemi Press, 2021). Essay. Important addition to Asian American literature. July 2021.

 

Notes on Mother Tongues: Colonialism, class, and giving what you don't have by Mirene Arsanios (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2020). Essay. Excellent read. July 2021.

 

FRANTUMAGLIA: A Writer's Journey by Elena Ferrante (Europa Editions, 2016). Memoir/Diary. Decided to put it aside after Page 77. I didn't find it sufficiently compelling on its own, i.e., I should read her novels first and if I like them then I'd probably be encouraged to read this.

What You Have Heard is True: A Memoir of Witness and Resistance by Carolyn Forche (Penguin, 2019). Memoir. Important reading. Memoir shows well what poets and poetry are for, as well as how the poet is significant but not the most important part of poetry. June 2021.

Slow Down and Walk: A Conversation by Nadine George-Graves & Okwui Okpokwasili (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2020). Conversation. October 2021.

 

Of Forests and Farms : On Faculty and Failure by Adjua Gargi Nzinga Greaves (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2020). Essay. December 2021.

 

The Diary of Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith (The Folio Society, London, 1989). Humor. Quite humorous.

 

Poet Warrior by Joy Harjo (Norton, 2021). Memoir / Poetry. November 2021.

 

Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo (Norton, 2012). Memoir / Poetry. November 2021.

 

Electric Sarcasm by Dimitra Ionnou (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2020). Essay. December 2021.

 

Umbra Magazine (1963-1974): An Introduction and Bibliography by David Grundy (Among the Neighbors 15/The Poetry Collection, SUNY-Buffalo, N.Y., 2021). Little Magazine History.

 

Pagtinabangay: The Quilts and Quiltmakers of Caohagan Island by Dana E. Jones (Friends of Caohagan, 2015). Non-fiction. November 2021.

Invisible Horizon: A Religious Pan by Sibyl Kempson (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). Essay. December 2021.

Letters: The classroom is burning, let’s dream about a School of Improper Education from the KUNCI Study Forum & Collective (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2020). Essay. December 2021.

Quartet by Claudia La Rocco (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). Essay. October 2021.

M/W: An Essay on Jean Eustache's La maman et la putain by Matt Longabucco (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). November 2021.

The End by Aditi Machado (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2021). Essay. October 2021.

PLAN B: A Poet's Survivors Manual by Sandy McIntosh (Marsh Hawk Press, 2022). Read memoir in manuscript in order to provide blurb. Recommended! November 2021.

 

Say Translation is Art by Sawako Nakayasu (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2020). Essay. December 2021.

On the Doris by Tamas Panitz & Billie Chernicoff (Among the Neighbors 14/The Poetry Collection, SUNY-Buffalo, N.Y., 2021). Little Magazine History.

A Poetics of the Press: Interviews with Poets, Printers & Publishers edited by Kyle Schlesinger (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2021). Poetry / History. July 2021

Dust Speckson the Sea: Contemporary Sculpture from the French Caribbean & Haiti, curated by Arden Sherman (Hunter East Harlem Gallery, New York). Art Monograph. September 2021.

SORTIES by Mark Young (Sandy Press, 2021). Essays/memoir.  June 2021

Being Human Is an Occult Practice by Magdalena Zurawski (Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, 2020). Essay. August 2021. An intelligent and admirably passionate essay against capitalistic encroachment on the study of and practice of creating literature. She advocates feelings, play and other motivations that disregard monetization through not just currency but cultural capital. I was struck by her use of “feelings” (which I appreciated) as such alone is critiqued in certain contexts for lacking “rigor.” Yet the language in promoting feelings is quite rigorous enough to be at home in an academic setting. This particular effect was not picked up in the essay, even as it notes type of speech as a source of credibility. That might have been too self-indulgent for the author to do so, but certainly not for this appreciative reader. As always, Ugly Duckling Presse remains a favorite poetry, art and culture press for projects such as this one. Kudos!

 

 

MINIATURE BOOKS (70)

A Pair Most Rare: An Odd Little Book About Friendship by T. Abbondandolo (Andrews & McMeel, Kansas City, MO, 2001). Size: 3.25” x 3.75”. Non-fiction. August 2021.

 

ALDUS MANUTIUS: A Footnote to History by Caroline Y. Brandt (Cyclone Books, Richmond, VA, 2021. Signed by author and printer Tony Firman. Copy 4). Size: 2.25" x 2-7/8"

 

Recipe for Moon Tea by Gertrude S. Bridge; illustrations by C. Ernest Massman (REM Miniatures, 1986). Size: 1-5/16” x 2”

Half-moon shaped red cloth wrapper; pictorial label; original envelope. 12 pp., shape book; 3 hand-colored illustrations by Ernie Massmann; recipe is in the form of a poem 

 

The MicroBibliophile, Vol. XL, No. 1 Issue 229, January 2021, Editor James Brogan. Journal about Miniature Books and the Book Arts. October 2021.

 

The MicroBibliophile, Vol. XL, No. 2 Issue 232, March 2021, Editor James Brogan. Journal about Miniature Books and the Book Arts. September 2021.

 

The MicroBibliophile, Vol. XL, No. 3 Issue 231, May 2021, Editor James Brogan. Journal about Miniature Books and the Book Arts. October 2021.

 

The MicroBibliophile, Vol. XL, No. 4 Issue 232, July 2021, Editor James Brogan. Journal about Miniature Books and the Book Arts 

 

The MicroBibliophile, Vol. XL, No. 5 Issue 233, September 2021, Editor James Brogan. Journal about Miniature Books and the Book Arts

 

The MicroBibliophile, Vol. XL, No. 6 Issue 234, November 2021, Editor James Brogan. Journal about Miniature Books and the Book Arts

 

Pigs is Pigs by Ellis Parker Butler (Ward Schori, Evanston, IL, 1990. Blue velvet cover). Size: 2" x 2.5". Fiction. August 2021.

 

THE MURDER: A Battle in the Civil War by Robert J. Burdette (The Press of Ward Schori, Evanston, IL, 1995. Size: 2-5/8" x 2-3/8". History.

 

Books and Bears: Moving to a New Country, text by Patricia Caernarven-Smith & photos by Tony Firman (Tony Firman Bookbinding, 2019). Size: 3" x 3". Memoir produced as a keepsake for the Miniature Book Society Grad Conclave XXXVII in Bloomington, IN, 2019.

 

A Small Brown Pond: Another View of Plum Park, text by Patricia Caernarven-Smith, photos by Tony Firman (Plum Park Press, Texas, 2017). Size: 3” x 3”

 

The Plum Park Flyway and International Rest Center  by Patricia Caernarven-Smith (Wild Onion Press, Texas, 2016). Size: 2.25” x 3”

 

GARDENS compiled by Cindy Chang (Intervisual Books, Inc., 1995). Size: 3.25" x 3.75". Quotes about gardens. September 2021.

 

Br. Curtis's Carriage: A Letter to Dea. Button by Harvey Curtis (Peggy Christian, Los Angeles, 1972). Correspondence. December 2021.

 

Rock Star & The Old Country Priest (Joe Walsh and Msg. Francis Weber) by Marla Dailey (Bound by Mariana Blau & Printed by Patrick REagh, Sebastopol, CA, 2015. 200 copy-edition). Size: 2-1/8" x 2-7/8". Biography. August 2021.

 

GLEN DAWSON: An Autobiography (Miniature Book Society, San Diego, 2019). Size: 2-1/8" x 2-7/8"

 

On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away by Paul Dresser (Stephen & Marian Byrne / The final Score, Sorbie, Scotland, 2019). Size: 2.5" x 1-7/8". Music. May 2021.

 

All You Need is a Friend illustrated by Mary Engelbreit (Andrews & McMeel, Kansas City, MO, 1995). Size: 3.25” x 3-7/8”. Non-fiction. August 2021.

Indiana Authors compiled by The Kelmscott Bookshop (Baltimore, MD, 2019). Size: 2" x 2.5". Survey as Keepsake for the Miniature Book Society 2019 Conclave. May 2021.

Matchbook, Vol. 4, Editor by Friedrich Kerksiek & Guest Editor Jessica Elsaesser (Small Fires Press, 2007). Size (folded): 1.75” x 1.5”. Poetry & Arts Journal. Enchanting.

 

Matchbook, Vol. 5, Editor by Friedrich Kerksiek & Guest Editor Michael Jeffrey Lee (Small Fires Press, 2007). Size (folded): 1.75” x 1.5”. Poetry & Arts Journal.

WILLIAM MORRIS by M.J. Mackail (The Hillside Press, Reswell, Georgia, 1983. 78/275). Size: 2" x 2-3/8". Biography / Art. August 2021.

Dream Dictionary: What Your Dreams Mean by Susan Magee (Lawrence Teacher Books, Philadelphia, 2001). Size: 3" x 3.5". Dictionary. July 2021.

Bibliography of REM Miniatures Fourth Supplement as well as R.E.M. Ego Extra 1978 by Robert Massman (REM Miniatures, New Britain, CT. Supplement covers 1994-1999. Ego is 1978). Sizes: 2.25" x 2-7/8 and 2-1/8" x 2-1/8". September 2021.

WINE GRAPES with text by Nina Mazzo and design by Ken Silverman (Cider Press, Lincoln, CA, 2021. 9/12). Miniature book on wine.

WINE BOTTLES with text by Nina Mazzo and design by Ken Silverman (Cider Press, Lincoln, CA, 2021. 7/12). Miniature book on wine.

ANTIQUE CORKSCREWS with text by Nina Mazzo and design by Ken Silverman (Cider Press, Lincoln, CA, 2021. 9/12). Miniature book on wine.

Island Treasures by Jone Small Manoogian (Island Heritage Publishing, Hawai'i, 1996). Size: 2.75" x 3.25". September 2021.

 

The Hoosier Poet: James Whitcomb Riley by Patrice Miller (Aredian Press, Dallas, 2019). Size: 3" x 2.75". Poetry/Biography. May 2021.

In These United States by Gail Newman (sp, 2020). Miniature book of poetry and collage-art. Fabulous!

Laughing Up Your Sleeve by Ilo Orleans (Black Cat Press, Skokie, IL., 1984). Size: 2" x 2-5/8". May 2021

 

CHITS and a CHINAMAN by Robert J Pearsall (Winthrop Press, 1914-1915). Size: 2.25" x 2.75. Fiction. August 2021.

The Squirrel Army by Victoria Rose (Booksby Press, OH, 2021). Short story with author's illustrations. A charming miniature book.

Memories: An Anthology compiled by The Schori Press (The Press of Ward Schori, Evanston, IL, nd. 31/330). Size: 2-1/8” x 1.75”. October 2021.

 

The Great Western: The Saga of Sarah by Ward Schori (The Press of Ward Schori, Evanston, IL., 1994). Size: 2-5/8" x 2.25". Biography.  May 2021

 

BLANKNESS by Todd Sommerfeld (a journal in which I requested he handwrite a Title Page of BLANKNESS by him. Booksby Press, Parma, OH, 2021 for inscribed book; journal was 2020). Size: 1-7/8” x 2.5”

 

BOOK PEOPLE by Todd Sommerfeld (Booksby Press, Parma, OH, 2021). Size: 1.25” x 2”. Accompanied by smaller book attached to verso of back cover: WHAT’S IN A NAME. Size: 1” x 1”

 

Book People are Just Nice (Mostly) / Todd’s Tiny Tales VII by Todd Sommerfeld (Booksby Press, Parma, OH, 2021). Size: 1.25” x 2”

 

KINDNESS or the Time I Made A Little Old Lady Cry by Todd Sommerfeld (Booksby Press, Parma, OH, 2017). Size: 1.25” x 2”

 

WHY? by Todd Sommerfeld (Booksby Press, Parma, OH, 2021). Size: 1.25” x 2”

 

The Donkey and the Thistle by the Thomases: Retold by Tanya and Peter with illustrations by Suzanne and Donna (Just for Fun Press, 1993. 53/150 regular and 25 special copies). Size: 2-5/8" x 3". Fiction. August 2021.

 

Gregory Peck: Legend of Hollywood by Francis J. Weber (El Camino Real Press, 2017). Size: 2-1/8” x 2-7/8”. Biography. November 2021.

 

Sister Corita and the “Love Stamps” by Francis J. Weber (El Camino Real Press, 2015. 150 Edition). Size: 2-1/8” x 2-7/8”. Biography. November 2021.

 

The Franciscan Crown Rosary and the City of Los Angeles by Francis J. eber (MatMichel Press Los Angeles, 1998. 500 Edition). Size: 2” x 2.75. History. November 2021.

 

The Inverted Jenny by Francis J. Weber (El Camino Real Press, 2015. 150 Edition). Size: 2-1/8” x 2-7/8”. History. November 2021.

 

RAMONA by Msg. Francis J. Weber (Booksby Press, Parma, OH, 2021). Size: 1.75" x 2-5/8". History of the first novel set in Southern California. Photo also shows its prospectus. July 2021 

The Feast of the Nativity by Francis J. Weber (El Camino Real Press, Sebastopol, CA, 2016. 200 ed.). Size: 2-1/8" x 2-7/8"

God’s Signature on Planet Earth by Francis Weber (Junipero Serra Press, 1934. 150 copies). Miniature Book Size: 2" x 2-7/8"

Gilt red leatherette by Mariana Blau. 13 pp. letterpress by Patrick Reagh; decorative endpapers; 1934 postage stamp frontispiece; in Apache folklore, God visited Earth shortly after its creation and returned to heaven only after He had left a distinct impression, the Grand Canyon.

 

Poems-for-all Mini Books:

1102 (2014): Regole Della Poesia (Poetry Rules) by Alessandra Bava

1375 (2016): Oranges by Alina Borger

1336 or 1337 (2015): Tree Stories by V.S. Chochezi

1371 (2017, 2015): Ear Buds by Eve Gaal

1587 (2020, 2017): The Afterlife of a Poet by Bill Gainer

2026 (2020): breathe we by Juan Felipe Herrera

19 (2021, 2016): The Xibalba Arcane: No.13 by Jack Hirschman

2036 (2020): Path by Jack Hirschman

1160 (2021, 2013): Red Leaves by Jack Hirschman

2037 (2020): Winter Solstice by Jack Hirschman

833 (2007, 2020): Within by Richard Kostelanetz

1673 (2017, 2018): The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

1 (2001, 2021): The Bells of the Cherokee Ponies by d.a. levy

1801 (2018, 2019): Cheating at Monopoly by Katie Manning

1275 (2015): “All my life,” by Alice Notley

1301 (2015): Heart Thoughts by Brianna Lea Pruett

1985 (2020): Blooming by Kim Shuck

1984 (2020): Bridges and Crossroads by Kim Shuck

1986 (2020): Stories of the Great Blue Heron by Kim Shuck

1180 (2014): The Madness of Kong by William Trowbridge

~~~~

P.S. I also wrote books I read :). In 2021, they were:

 

DOVELION: A Fairy Tale For Our Times, novel (AC Books, New York): https://eileenrtabios.com/fiction/dovelion-a-fairy-tale-for-our-times/

 

The In(ter)vention of the Hay(na)ku: Selected Tercets 1996-2019 (Marsh Hawk Press, New York): https://eileenrtabios.com/poetry/the-intervention-of-the-haynaku/

 

La Vie érotique de l’art, une séance avec William Carlos Williams, Trad. de l’anglais (États-Unis) par Samuel Rochery (serie discrete, Bordeaux, France): 

https://eileenrtabios.com/poetry/la-vie-erotique-de-lart/

 

Political Love (Booksby Press, Parma, Ohio): 

https://eileenrtabios.com/poetry/political-love/