THESE HERE SEPARATED TO SEE HOW THEY STANDING ALONE

This is exciting. The reprint of Publishing Genius's first perfect-bound book, these here separated, by Stephanie Barber, which comes with a DVD, is finally about to become a reality. After much deliberation on the artwork for all the different details of the project (from the jacket, to the DVD menu, to the DVD artwork, and so on), everything is ready to go. Here is the book cover, featuring a pretty slick drawing by Peter Barrickman, a great painter from Milwaukee.

Preorders coming soon. 

Next Saturday's Giveaway

I'm doing next Saturday's giveaway on this post at htmlgiant. The post is an interview with Andy Fitch and Jon Cotner, who wrote Ten Walks/Two Talks and to win you have to say what's the farthest you ever walked.

The Anthologist

If we could just--just stop. For one year. If everybody could stop publishing their poems. No more. Stop it. Just--everyone. Every poet. Just stop.

That's a paragraph from page 19 of Nicholson Baker's The Anthologist, which I'm reading now.

The speaker, Paul Chowder, a poetry critic, is clearly tired, and he's posing the question from a tired person's perspective.

But what if it were to happen? Perhaps this is a picture of that world:

The One-Eyed Cat Don't Never Hang Out

Dang dude I'm really starting to love summer Saturday mornings.

Today I finished the final book in Stieg Larsson's trilogy. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. I haven't plowed through so many pages so quickly since reading The Lord of the Rings ten years ago. The Girl With books were good. They have some messed up ways of treating the women in Sweden.

Anybody want a copy of the new version of Light Boxes? First commenter (at this blog) (not at Fbook) takes it. On the house.

The Genius Party, how'd it go? Well. Really well.

New Sweatpants video!!! :


Yeah, we got Darryl Hannah to sing some bgv.

New IsReads interview posted

At the blog, I just posted an interview with Daniel Joseph Wolfe, who hangs up poems around Baltimore for IsReads. The image above is from Daniel's doodle blog, Sad Bumblebee.

The new issue is coming soon, featuring more cities than ever. Poems!

 (Photos by Daniel Joseph Wolfe)

Barrelhouse presents a Recap of Barrelhouse Presents

To get pumped for the Genius Party, you could check out Dan Brady's recap of last Thursday's DC reading, which includes links to the tour updates for Mike, Rachel and Natalie.

Saturday Morning Book Giveaway

Do you have a copy of Say, Poem, by me? If not, comment in the box below or email me and I'll send you one. Five copies available.

What's the occasion? I'm feeling happy because indie press champion William Walsh recommended the book on his summer reading list at the Kenyon Review. How cool is that?

In his review he compares the poems to my writing at htmlgiant, which I never thought of but am pleased by.

June 17, 2010

The day started well -- I ate a ham, egg and cheese sandwich, a hashbrown, and drank an OJ at 8:30am.

At noon a vendor came by and dropped off donuts. I ate a Boston Creme. Two hours later I ate a glazed.

I decided to skip lunch for no good reason.

By dinner I was feeling weak. I was in DC. I ate a garden salad that cost $8. It consisted of some nice lettuce, 4 cherry tomatoes, 4 olives.

I drank two cups of coffee at work. In DC I drank a High Life, two Stella's, and two PBRs. When we got back to Baltimore, Joe and I went to iBar and had two Natty Bohs.

Today I feel a little woozy.

Unrelatedly, it's Joe's opinion the 90s were a valley for music, from which emerged 00s music, which was good (akin to the 60s drought into the 70s heydays?).

For the boy/girl duo category, I submit The Spinanes


versus Wye Oak


Tough call. Really tough. How do they do live? Wye Oak first this time:


Then a rougher video from The Spinanes:


I think I've got to disagree with Joe. "Entire" by the Spinanes takes it.

isReads in Indianapolis

Christopher Newgent posted poems for isReads #7 in his city, Indianapolis. They will appear in the new issue, coming soon. I interviewed Christopher about the project over at www.isreads.com.

Narrow House Birthday Party

So, Narrow House just turned 7.
To celebrate, if you buy a copy of Adam Robison and Other Poems, you get a total of SEVEN books/CDs including

•Adam Robison and Other Poems
•Say Poem - Adam Robinson
•Fear the Sky - Rod Smith
•Women in the Avant Grade
•Pictures for Private Devotion - Anselm Berrigan
•Surrealism's Bad Rap - Garrett Caples
•Verb Sap - M. Magnus

Only 10 available. Ends 6/18/10.

ALL THAT FOR JUST $12?

PLEASE!

Barrelhouse, Narrow House, Publishing Genius

This Thursday in DC
Rachel Glaser, Mike Young
with Natalie Lyalin, Ric Royer, Adam Robinson
(see also: Genius Party)

Saturday book giveaway

Dammit I have two copies of Kevin Sampsell's amazing memoir, A Common Pornography. 


First commenter can have my extra.

Can't have won anything in the last few weeks. Can't have already been planning to buy it. Can't already have it. If you think you qualify, leave a comment and then email your address to me (adam, publishinggenius, TLD [top level domain (eg .com, .info [NOT .tm (Turkmenistan) or .me (Montenegro) -- these are ccTLDs (ie. Country Code Top Level Domain])]).

Mailing the rest of Mike Young's first book to people who ordered the early edition. Going to close the orders for the early edition after tomorrow, so if you want a copy sooner than later, get up on that. It is a really good book, no doubt. No doubt.

I'm rocking the Saturday morning nude. I love routine.

Lately I've been thinking a lot of No.

Today I Wikipedia'd about Requiems. How could I have not noticed that there is no Dies Irae in the Faure? The Brahms is in town tonight and I don't know it, didn't know there was one, will maybe go. But -- German?



(It's actually very nice.)

Read the one with the dragon tattoo. Tore through that, sated my desire for the status quo.

Bunch of loud addicts out there.

The 2010 GENIUS PARTY will last only 2 (TWO) HOURS!!!!

Archivist Zoran Rosko put together a pretty exhaustive list of responses to my book, Adam Robison and Other Poems, over at the Vacuum Cleaner. It felt very nice to see all those words put together.

If you follow this blog, you might remember that I was looking for some sneaks. Well, I got some. Well, I still haven't done jogging yet, but maybe tonight.

Tonight cometh the advance edition of Mike Young's book, We Are All Good if They Try Hard Enough.

I put together this year's Genius Party. Thanks to Phu Pham and the Hexagon for facilitating what is sure to be the Baltimore Literary Event of the new tomorrow.

The 2010 Genius Party will feature these things, in this order:
1. YouTube open mic
This portion of the show will start promptly at 7pm and give partygoers an opportunity to show 3 minutes worth of their favorite YouTube videos. Cats playing the piano or standing up, kids doing swan dives off of houses, younger kids playing drums or doing insane bike tricks, LA dudes painting and exercising and making blended drinks, effing up on stage -- all that. But there is ONE RULE -- you can't show anything that in any way has big famous music in it.
2. Breath holding contest
Whoever can hold their breath the longest will win a copy of all three books that will be available at the reading (courtesy of the Baltimore City Paper) (not really -- courtesy of Publishing Genius).
3. Natalie Lyalin reading
At this point in the show, Natalie Lyalin, a poet with a new book from Coconut called Pink and Hot Pink Habitat, will read. Here is a poem and Blake Butler's take on it. Here is Zoran Rosko's Vacuum Cleaner (again!). That ought to give you a good introduction to this person I don't know named Natalie Lyalin.
4. David NeSmith performance
He'll do something with music that I bet you weren't expecting anyone to do, ever.
5. Rachel B. Glaser reading
Rachel has a new collection of stories out from Publishing Genius, called Pee On Water. During this portion of the show, Rachel will read from the book . . . while hovering above the stage! I know Rachel so I can tell you without doubt that she is great, and you won't want to miss her.
6. Stephanie Barber video
The lights will go down after Rachel's reading, and together we'll watch a spectacular new video called "Bust Chance" by Stephanie Barber. It's a world premier. It's seven minutes long. I previewed it on Tuesday and was kind of blown away. I was blown away. It's quiet but funny. Seriously, it's beautiful. Together we'll become antsy for the new release of her book and DVD (which is currently at the printer).
7. Stretch
This is a time to stretch/reflect. It is not an intermission. 
8. John Berndt explains the smartest thing he knows in five minutes
At this point in the show John Berndt will explain the smartest thing he knows really fast.
9. Mike Young reading
Finally, to wrap up the 2010 Genius Party, Mike Young will read from his new book (linked above). Mike is a champion of the Literary Death Match. If I have seen a better poetry reading than Mike Young's, I'll be a cock-eyed optimist. After the eight other things that will have happened, Mike will be under a lot of pressure to conclude in a satisfying way. When I say he'll be under a lot of pressure, I mean that he'll be reading from beneath "18,000 pounds of sludge from New York and New Jersey."

The show will start promptly at 7.

Genius Party 2010

Announcing the 2010 Genius Party

Featuring a new video by Stephanie Barber
and readings by Rachel B. Glaser, Natalie Lyalin and Mike Young
and a YouTUBE open mic
and more

June 24, 7pm
at the Hexagon
1825 N Charles St
Baltimore
FREE

A Couple Reviews

That prolific reader and writer named Ethel Rohan reviewed Mairéad Byrne's book, The Best of (What's Left of) Heaven, for Hobart. Go Read It with a pint of Guinness. The review says, "You should read this collection in its entirety. Then reread it." It also says,

I saw so much of myself, of my Irishness, in these poems and white spaces. While there are few surface references to Ireland, she permeates everything. I recognized the Irish obsession with the weather and place, with routine and everydayness. I saw how we use humor as salve, deflector, and to save our sanity. I also witnessed our psychic scars from colonization, brutality, and patriarchy. Our great joy and searing sadness. Strength. Courage. Imagination. Uniqueness.

I heard our gift of the gab and our stubborn silence. Above all, I heard echoes of the great Irish writers that have gone before us and that remain among us.

Meanwhile, I wrote about Maribor, a great book by Demosthenes Agrafiotis (and translated by John Sakkis and his Uncle Angelos) over at htmlgiant.

Annalemma Call for Subs

Annalemma just announced their theme for the seventh issue: "Endurance." Read Heavener's post about it. Submissions are due by August 5th. I've never written a short story specifically to submit it to one place, but there's no better reason to try something new than Annalemma.

Speaking of, Chris Heavener came to the reading I gave at Polestar on Sunday and took a couple pictures. Here they are.

(There's another one or me reading, X-rated, below the fold.)

Shoes

What is my world coming to? I bought an mp3 player so I could start jogging. Now I just need some sneakers, right? I went to the sneaker man, he told me the $60 Saucony's weren't for running. He told me the technology in those shoes was about 40 years old. They looked like sneakers for running but they were not.

What did I learn from this? It's easier to buy a jogging mp3 player than it is to buy jogging shoes.

Effing all I listen to anymore is Bruce Springsteen anyway. Not even the good stuff.

What am I talking about? It's all good:


I've been playing football. I play for the Falcons. We went 6-2 this year. I play safety and WR. I have at least one touchdown in every game except one. I only got one pick this year, ganked it from a girl. We're in the playoffs. The game is on Saturday at 2. Come on out and cheer on your Falcons.

But the thing is that every week my teammates harp on me for not having cleats. I keep meaning to get them, like off the Internet or something.

I woke up this morning confused. I was wrapped up in my blankets and it took me almost a minute to untangle myself. I had shredded last week's New Yorker in my sleep. That was weird.

Happy Birthday to Narrow House

publishers

Adam Robison is a Book of Poems

UBalt

I'm a met student.

ARAOP Review

Adam Robison reviewed my book about him at We Who Are About To Die.

Many thanks to Melissa Broder for facilitating this.

ARAOP Reading at Cake Shop

I'm really looking forward to reading at Melissa Broder's reading series, Polestar at Cake Shop, in Manhattan.

My band, Sweatpants played at the Cake Shop back in August. There was a carpet rolled up on the sidewalk, and we wacked each other with it for a while. It was heavy. Later, I was stuffed bodily into a trash can.

I hope a lot of the people I know who are in NYC will come to this.