Poets John Dorsey & Ken Gierke to appear March 22nd at Mac's Backs

Friday, March 22, 2024 - 7:00pm to 8:00pm

Poets John Dorsey, author of Pocatello Wildflower and Ken Gierke, author of Glass Awash will read at Mac's on Friday, March 22nd at 7 pm.

John Dorsey is the former Poet Laureate of Belle, MO and the author of several collections of poetry, including Which Way to the River: Selected Poems 2016-2020 (OAC Books, 2020), Sundown at the Redneck Carnival, (Spartan Press, 2022, and Pocatello Wildflower, (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2023). 

Ken Gierke is a retired truck driver, transplanted to Missouri from Western New York. In spite of muddy water and a dearth of maples, after only ten years he is coming to think of Missouri as home. His poetry has been published or is forthcoming both in print and online in such places as Ekphrastic Review, Amethyst Review, Silver Birch Press, and The Gasconade Review. His first collection of poetry, Glass Awash, has been published by Spartan Press.

Mac's Backs Books on Coventry
1820 Coventry Road
Cleveland, Heights, Ohio
www.macsbacks.com

 

Self-Publishing Roundtable, April 6th in South Euclid

Curious about or considering self-publishing? Join us this Thursday, 6 April at 7 pm, at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library for A Self-Publishing Roundtable featuring panelists

* Juliet Cook (Blood Pudding Press publisher and co-author of Short Poems About Violence and Chickens),
* Michelle R. Smith (Literary Cleveland Programming Associate and author of The Vagina Analogues), and
* John Burroughs (Crisis Chronicles Press publisher and  author of The Wrest of the Worthwhile).

Please register here: https://cuyahoga.libnet.info/event/7616134.

1876 S Green Road
South Euclid, Ohio 44121

Christine Howey Has a Poem About That

Crisis Chronicles Press is ecstatic to announce the publication of their first title of 2023, I Have a Poem About That by Cleveland's own Christine Howey.

I Have a Poem About That is 36 pp, 6 x 9", perfect bound, with cover art by Jessie Herzfeld. ISBN 979-8-88596-993-2. Available for $10 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 535 Parkside Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 USA.

This volume features 23 poems, including "When We Die We Become Birds," "My Skiff," "Camus at Camp," "A Meeting of Suburban Deer," "Eternity on Elm Street," "Inside Out," "Invert at the Gem Saloon, Deadwood, South Dakota, 1876," "My Name Is John Doe," "Mount Everest," "Paul Desmond's Slot Machine," "Ten Ill-Conceived Kitchen Gadgets," "Maybe I Should Have Told Different Lies," "After I'm Gone," "Blueberries, Summer, 1944," "The Last One," "The Road Oft Taken," "Sign of the Cross," "A Bubble-Off Romance," "The Birds and the Bees," "The History of Television," "The Universal Usage Guide," "An Ode to Richard Howie," and "My Words Are Too Big Today."

 

Christine Howey is a performance poet and former executive director of Literary Cleveland. Her one-person play of poetry about her transgender journey, Exact Change, premiered at Cleveland Public Theatre and was selected by the New York International Fringe Festival. A film version of the play was an official selection of the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival. 

Christine has also been an award-winning theater critic in Cleveland for 25 years, currently with Cleveland Scene. She was named Transgender Leader of the Year in Northeast Ohio and received the Torch Award from the Human Rights Campaign for leadership on transgender issues. 

Charlotte Morgan interviews Judith Mansour for FreshWater Cleveland

Gratitude to Charlotte Morgan and FreshWater Cleveland for a fine interview with Judith Mansour, the author of Kan Zaman.

Read it here: https://www.freshwatercleveland.com/street-level/MansourMemoir122122.aspx.

Buy Mansour's Kan Zaman from Mac's Backs Books or at http://ccpress.blogspot.com/2022/10/mansour.html.

Kan Zaman by Judith Mansour to be released November 5th

Crisis Chronicles Press is thrilled to announce the imminent publication of Kan Zaman, a memoir in poetry and prose by Judith Mansour. Pre-order now for $15 and receive free shipping. Or meet the author at our book release event on November 5th at Beaumont School in Cleveland Heights.

Mansour, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, walks the minefield of grief and nostalgia in her first full-length collection. Soot-covered porches from the once-booming steel industry of the Mahoning Valley are the backdrop for visceral, playful and devastating memories.

The title, Kan Zaman, is Arabic for "a long time ago" — often used to mean once upon a time or way back when. Apropos for this collection born of losing people Mansour loved and who shaped who she is.

"Judith Mansour’s Kan Zaman is an irresistible evocation of the Lebanese household she grew up in. This magical book is both a love poem to her family and an invitation for all of us to revisit our childhood, that paradise to which we can only return through memory. Mansour’s writing, by turns both sensual and hauntingly lyrical, is as welcoming as a warm kitchen on a winter night."
— George Bilgere

You may also pre-order Kan Zaman from our friends at Mac's Backs Books on Coventry in Cleveland Heights.

What's New in Cleveland's Poetry Publishing Scene

Crisis Chronicles and NightBallet Presses Present

Streetlight Imaginations — Poets Read from Recent Books

South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch
Cuyahoga County Public Library
Meeting Room 162 (20)
1876 South Green Road
South Euclid, Ohio 44121

Saturday November 23rd at 2 p.m., join us for an afternoon of vital poetry. Hear from eight poets, all with recent books published by Crisis Chronicles Press and NightBallet Press.

Crisis Chronicles Press poets:

• Nick Gardner, So Marvelously Far (2019)
• Nicole Hennessy, Gypsy Queen (2019)
• Cat Russell, Soul Picked Clean (2019)
• Elaine Schleiffer, Our house on the sand (2019)
  
  

NightBallet Press poets:

• Karen Schubert, Dear Youngstown (2019)
• Lisa M. and Sean Thomas Dougherty, The Answer Is Not Here (2019)
• Julio Montalvo Valentin, Those Who Pray to Rice (2019)

Refreshments provided. Books will be available for purchase and signing, courtesy of the publishers.

Free event! Please register here: https://attend.cuyahogalibrary.org/event/2454819.

Registration is not required, but is helpful to the library in setting up for the event.
 

Vision of the Gypsy Queen

Flier art by Lauren Dulay

 

Join Cleveland writer and journalist Nicole Hennessy as she celebrates the release of her new book, Gypsy Queen, via Crisis Chronicles Press.

The opening is on Saturday, May 4th from 6pm-10pm, with book signing and poetry reading at 8pm. Sarah Cuturic will also be joining us for the opening to perform original songs from her band, Napsack.

To accompany Nicole's book release there will be a three week long poetry/art event, curated by Nicole with several poems written by women that have been illustrated by women in a variety of media. A section of the show will also include Rocky River High School girls from a writing club called Driftwood. The art show will run for 3 weeks, through May 25th. Hours: Wed. through Sat. 1-6 p.m. Also open by appointment.

More details at  https://www.facebook.com/events/390866121702315/.

The Good Goat Gallery
17012 Madison Avenue
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
thegoodgoatgallery.com

Queer Community Read - April 17th at St. John's in Ohio City

The largest gathering of queer readers northeast Ohio has seen in years, Queer Community Read promises you an evening of our top queer poets, storytellers, and spoken word performers.

Featuring:
Eris Eady
Elaine Schleiffer
John Burroughs
Lou Barrett
EF Schraeder
LS Quinn
Bonné de Blas
Ezhno Martín
Rowan Pappenhagen
Emily Lane
Sarah McIntosh
Hannah Zipple
Natasha Smith

Time: 7 to 9 p.m.
Wed. 17 April 2019

Read more about this special event in the new issue of PRIZM: https://www.prizmnews.com/2019/04/amplifying-queer-quills/

Sponsored by:
the Cleveland Bisexual Network
Crisis Chronicles Press
Reading Room CLE
the LGBT Center
Preterm
the She Collective
Jukebox
Dreamhouse Marketing

Location:

St. John's Episcopal Church

2600 Church Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44113

This event is free to the public. It will be in St. John's Parish Hall, the building next to the stone chapel.

Publishing Poetry in Northeast Ohio: Roundtable, Readings, Book Fair

Join in a lively discussion with regionally and nationally known poetry publishers on Saturday April 13th at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library.

12:30-2:00 Roundtable

Representatives from Bottom Dog Press, Cleveland State University Press, Crisis Chronicles Press, NightBallet Press, Poet’s Haven, and University of Akron Press will share their thoughts and insights about publishing poetry and answer questions from the audience. Moderated by Bonné de Blas, an MFA Candidate in the Northeastern Ohio Master of Fine Arts program at Kent State University.

2:00-2:15 Break

Enjoy free refreshments while you browse the book fair, talk with local publishers, and check out their publications.

2:15-3:45 Readings

Several authors published by presses in today’s roundtable will read from their work. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Readers will include Phil Metres, Ray McNiece, Rikki Santer, Holli Rainwater, Robin Mullet, Larry Smith and more.

3:45-4:30 Book Fair

Browse the book fair, talk with local publishers, and check out their publications.

Cuyahoga County Public Library
South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch
1876 South Green Road
South Euclid, Ohio  44121
Phone 216-382-4880

This event is FREE and open to the public. Please RSVP at http://attend.cuyahogalibrary.org/event/1408538.

Smith and Burroughs July 7th at Visible Voice Books in Tremont

Steven B. Smith is the author of Where Never Was Already Is [2018, Crisis Chronicles Press]. John Burroughs is the author of Loss and Foundering [2018, NightBallet Press]. They will read from their new books and more. An open mic will follow, for anyone else who wishes to share. For more info, visit www.visiblevoicebooks.com.

Kleft Crisis 2018 and Steven Smith Book Launch

Where Never Was Already Is by Smith
(2018, Crisis Chronicles Press)

This weekend, Crisis Chronicles Press (out of Cleveland) and Kleft Jaw Press (out of Denver) celebrate National Poetry Month by presenting a Friday/Saturday litfest you won't want to miss featuring authors from across the United States at three of the best bookstores in Ohio. Then Ray McNiece will follow it up on Sunday with a Tongue-in-Groove Poetry Jam featuring Cleveland art/poetry legend Steven Smith, whose new book, Where Never Was Already Is, was just published this month by Crisis Chronicles.

Friday 4/20, 7pm till ? at Guide to Kulchur Books
5222 Lorain Ave., Cleveland, OH 44102
featuring readings by
Iris Appelquist (Kansas City, MO)
Steve Brightman (Akron, OH)
John Burroughs (Cleveland, OH)
Ryder Collins (Milwaukee, WI)
Azriel Johnson (Canton, OH)
Mark S Kuhar (Medina, OH)
Frankie Metro (Denver, CO)
Jeanette Powers (Kansas City, MO)
Austin Price (New York, NY)
Gabriel Ricard (East Northport, NY)
Margie Shaheed (Memphis, TN)
Nathanael Stolte (Buffalo, NY)
RA Washington (Cleveland, OH)

Saturday 4/21, 2pm to 4pm at Main Street Books
104 N. Main St,, Mansfield, OH 44902
emcee: Mark Sebastian Jordan
featuring readings by
Iris Appelquist (Kansas City, MO)
Frankie Metro (Denver, CO)
Jeanette Powers (Kansas City, MO)
Gabriel Ricard (East Northport, NY)
plus open mic

Saturday 4/21, 7pm to 10pm at Mac's Backs
1820 Coventry Rd., Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
featuring readings by
Dianne Borsenik (Elyria, OH)
Theresa Brightman (Akron, OH)
Christina Brooks (Detroit, MI)
Shelley Chernin (Novelty, OH)
Ryder Collins (Milwaukee, WI)
Juliet Cook (Medina, OH)
Steve Goldberg (Cleveland, OH)
Clarissa Jakobsons (Aurora, OH)
Alynn Mahle (Mentor, OH)
Austin Price (New York, NY)
Heather Ann Schmidt (Oberlin, OH)
Margie Shaheed (Memphis, TN)
Kathy Smith (Cleveland, OH)
Steven Smith (Cleveland, OH)
Nathanael Stolte (Buffalo, NY)

Sunday 4/22, 6pm at the Millard Fillmore Presidential Library
15617 Waterloo Rd., Cleveland, Ohio 44110
Tongue-in-Groove Poetry Jam
emceed by Ray McNiece
featuring a performance by Steven Smith
plus open mic (your chance to perform with the band)

Please come celebrate with us!

An Erie poet visits Cleveland's Barking Spider Tavern for the first time to attend the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest and writes a poem about the experience

MY FIRST VISIT

by Chuck Joy

not my last

the same parking ramp

I made my way to the shrine

no madonna, not even a grotto

a tavern, a drinking place

named after a species of jungle arthropod

limited food options

it’s midafternoon

the joint soon to overfill

maybe only one guy without his poem included in the anthology

selling like hotcakes, a woman at the griddle

I sat at a table in the back

three of us: me, a guy like me

white tee-shirt, him with no jacket

and a poet from Erie

my turn came around halfway

I gave an honest reading

maybe that crowd would have preferred their poet

wearing a visor and hunched over the microphone

delivering his message in an antique drone

yellow glow pouring from a lamp with a metal shade

they liked me okay

the host, experienced, kept us to our agenda

the judges completed their work

winners were chosen

I might have toasted them with more porter

if I weren’t a designated driver

Chuck Joy [photo by Chandra Alderman]

Chuck Joy is the author of Said the Growling Dog (Nirala Publications). From Erie, where he frequents Poets' Hall, Chuck has brought his poetry to Mac's Backs, Mahall's 20 Lanes, and has appeared at every Snoetry. His poem "The Call of The Water" was included in the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology published by Crisis Chronicles Press.

The Barking Spider Tavern is located at 11310 Juniper Road in Cleveland.

Congrats to the Hessler Street Fair Poetry Winners!

Congratulations to Rosemarie Wilson ("One Single Rose") for her poem "Motown Blues," winning first place in the annual 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest, and to Tanya Grossner Pilumeli and Mindi Kirchner-Greenway for their second and third place finishes.

The winners of this year's Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest are:

• 1st place: Rosemarie Wilson, for "Motown Blues"
• 2nd place: Tanya Grossner Pilumeli, for "Sane"
• 3rd place: Mindi Kirchner-Greenway, for "In Media Res"

The poets will read the winning poems at the 2016 Hessler Street Fair on Sunday 22 May at 2 pm, with the reading simulcast on WRUW-FM 91.1.
Read the poems in the 2016 Hessler Street Fair anthology, available from Mac's Backs-Books On Coventry and at the Fair itself.  Read more about it here.

---

Hessler Reading This Saturday!

The annual Hessler Street Fair poetry reading is always the event of the year in Cleveland poetry, and it looks like this year it will be even more spectacular than ever.  This year's reading will be at the Barking Spider Tavern in Cleveland this Saturday, starting at 3pm, with the winning poems performed on stage at the festival, with a live simulcast on the radio.
And all the poems will be in the Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology, released by Crisis Chronicles Press at the reading on Saturday.  Can't make the reading? You can purchase the book at the Mac's Backs booth at the fair, or direct from Crisis Chronicles, or pick up a copy from Mac's Backs.
This year's book features a bounty of poets, both local and from distant cities:

• A.D. Adams, 
• Stephanie Alexander, 
• Michael J. Arcangelini, 
• Jameson Bayles, 
• Dianne Borsenik, 
• Colton Bose, 
• Jeffrey Bowen, 
• Nancy Brady, 
• Steve Brightman, 
• Theresa Göttl Brightman, 
• Christina M. Brooks, 
• Skylark Bruce, 
• William Burkholder, 
• Chad Burrall, 
• John Burroughs, 
• Joann Celleghin, 
• Michael Ceraolo, 
• Shelley Chernin, 
• Charles Cicirella, 
• Lorraine Cipriano, 
• Victor Clevenger, 
• Wanda Morrow Clevenger, 
• Caitlin Blair Cogar, 
• Juliet Cook, 
• A.S. Coomer, 
• Roger Craik, 
• Subhankar Das, 
• Lori Dean, 
• Patricia Dengler, 
• Christine Donofrio, 
• John Dorsey, 
• Kevin Eberhardt, 
• Poetessa Leixyl Kaye Emmerson, 
• Diane Vogel Ferri, 
• Richard Ferris, 
• Francine Flatley, 
• Justyce Foss, 
• Kelle Grace Gaddis, 
• Joshua Gage, 
• Hannah Gates, 
• Christopher Alexander Gellert, 
• Ken Gradomski, 
• Michael Grover, 
• Jennifer Hambrick, 
• Richard Harries, 
• Charles Robert Hice, 
• Veronica Hopkins, 
• Alina Howard, 
• Christine Howey, 
• Dionne D. Hunter, 
• Clarissa Jakobsons, 
• Azriel Johnson, 
• Chuck Joy, 
• Stan Kaufman, 
• Sue Kaufman, 
• Diane Kendig, 
• Kim the B-word poet, 
• Mindi Kirchner-Greenway, 
• Paul Koniecki, 
• Leonard Kress, 
• Tom Kryss, 
• Lori Ann Kusterbeck, 
• Jill Lange, 
• Phyllis Lee, 
• Lennart Lundh, 
• Susan Mallernee, 
• Marc Mannheimer, 
• Julie Ursem Marchand, 
• Elizabeth Marino, 
• Jonie McIntire, 
• Sarah McIntosh, 
• Frankie Metro, 
• Marisa Moks-Unger, 
• Anne Marie Moore, 
• Laura Moore, 
• Tracie Morell, 
• Leah Mueller, 
• Elliot Nicely, 
• Tanya Pilumeli, 
• Alois Polzer. 
• Tam E. Polzer, 
• Valentina Ranaldi-Adams, 
• Brianna Robinson, 
• Melissa Rose, 
• Damian Rucci, 
• Rikki Santer, 
• Sharon M. Senal, 
• Elizabeth Senn, 
• Aisha Marie Smith, 
• Kevin Frederick Smith, 
• Rob Smith, 
• Steven B. Smith,
• John Stickney, 
• Katherine Sturniolo, 
• Brian W. Taylor, 
• Jonathan Thorn, 
• Anna Marie Tokarsky, 
• Kerry Trautman,
• Mary A. Turzillo,
• D.R. Wagner, 
• Scott Wannberg, 
• Alinda Dickinson Wasner, 
• Laura Grace Weldon, 
• Madison Whitacre, 
• Rosemarie Wilson,
• Eva Xanthopoulos.

2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest & Anthology

During the month of March 2016 Crisis Chronicles Press is accepting submissions for the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest and its corresponding anthology. Contest is free to enter and open to anyone age 14 and up. Winners will receive cash prizes and get to read their poems live at this year's Fair.

• 1st Place winning poet will receive $100
• 2nd Place winning poet will receive $50
• 3rd Place winning poet will receive $25

 

When and where:

Submissions will be accepted from March 1st to March 31st 2016. We will let you know by April 30th if your work has been accepted for the anthology. Poets will be invited to read their accepted works during the contest reading. The poetry contest reading will take place May 7th, 3 pm, at the Barking Spider Tavern, 11310 Juniper Road, near the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Shortly after the reading, our panel of judges will select three winners to receive cash prizes and read live at the Hessler Street Fair itself.

The 2016 Hessler Street Fair will take place May 21st and 22nd from 11 am to dusk, rain or shine, on Hessler Road and Hessler Court in Cleveland. The exact time of winning poets' reading will be announced soon.

 

Before you submit, please read these guidelines:

• Submit up to 5 original poems or 5 images of your own original art via email to hesslerpoetry@crisischronicles.com (no snail mail entries, please).
• Please include your name, street address, city, state, zip code, telephone number and e-mail address with your submission(s).
• Please remember the deadline is midnight on March 31st. We will not have time to consider works submitted later than that.
• Poets and artists published in the book retain all rights to their work.
• Any accepted art work will be printed in black and white.
• Unpublished work is preferred. But previously published work is acceptable if we love it (let us know who the original publisher is so we may include them in our acknowledgments).
• The contest reading will be held at the Barking Spider Tavern on Saturday May 7th, 2016 at 3pm. About 20 minutes after all participating poets have read, the winners will be announced and prizes handed out. If you have won 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Place in the Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest in the last three years, you are welcome to submit to the book and read your poem, but you will not be eligible to win a prize. Prize winners are also expected to read on the designated day during the Hessler Street Fair.

 

Contributor copies:

Contributors to the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology will be able to purchase a copy of the book for half price from the Hessler Street Fair Booth during the Fair, or at Mac's Backs Books, 1820 Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights (216-321-2665 / macsbacks.com). We regret that we cannot afford to provide free contributor copies in print at this time. However, we will make a free pdf version of the book available to the public in late 2016.

 

FCC Guidelines:

Poetry has always been an integral part of the Hessler Street Fair, sometimes having its own stage on the street and sometimes combining with music on the main stage, but always doing something interesting. The top three winners will be given the opportunity to read from the stage at the Hessler Street Fair, simulcast on live radio and the web, during the Fair. Poetry read on air must not include any words designated to be obscene language by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

We welcome a diversity of styles and subject matter. Poems that don't meet the FCC guidelines can still be submitted and may be accepted for publication in the book. But they won't be eligible to win a prize since the winning poems will be read on air.

 

Special thanks to:

• Mac's Backs ~ Books on Coventry, 1820 Coventry Rd., Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
• Barking Spider Tavern, 11310 Juniper Road, Cleveland, Ohio.
• Crisis Chronicles Press, Cleveland, Ohio.

Poet's Haven Halloween Jubilee

The Poet's Haven will be holding a Halloween Jubilee on Saturday, October 31st at Oak Knoll Park in Massillon! Doors will open at noon with poetry and music performances starting at 1:00. This will be an all-ages event featuring poetry and music performances from; Steve Brightman, Theresa Göttl Brightman, Nikann Charney, Joshua Gage, Marissa Hyde, Azriel Johnson, KnowEyePoetry Collective (CUPSI team from College of Wooster), Kristen Laine, Lennart Lundh, Nick Mayberry, Jen Pezzo, Vince Robinson, Dan Smith, J.E. Stanley, and The Stetson-Marlowe Project. J.E. Stanley's new book, The Persistence of Night, will be making its debut here. We will also be joined by our friends from Blood Pudding Press, Crisis Chronicles Press, and Writing Knights Press. Food and drinks will be available, with sales in support of the Lake Effect Poetry slam team!

More info on Facebook.