Sunday, December 4, 2016

Age of Aquarius Is Nominated for the Ohioana Book Award!

This morning, I am honored and thrilled by the news that Crisis Chronicles Press editor/publisher John Burroughs has nominated my book, Age of Aquarius: Collected Poems 1981- 2016, for the esteemed Ohioana Book Award! 

The
Ohioana Library, based in Columbus, Ohio, is dedicated to "Collecting, Preserving, and Celebrating Ohio Literature."  Ohioana gives the Ohioana Book Awards for outstanding books published each year in the  categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, juvenile literature, young adult literature, and books about Ohio or an Ohioan.

Tony Moffeit, the co-founder of the Outlaw Poetry Movement and winner of the Jack Kerouac Award for his volume of poetry Pueblo Blues, had this to say about Age of Aquarius:

“Age of Aquarius…is a gem…celebrating in poetry the popular culture Age of Aquarius as well as [the] zodiac sign, Aquarius. The title poem begins the volume ecstatically, charging the book with a special energy. The marvelous energy is continued in the poem, Disco, with the opening lines Earth. Air.  Fire.  Water./These are sequins/in the eternal disco. The eternal dance is continued in the poem Lovechild, with the ending lines chase the clouds/and catch them/then laugh!/and drink the rain. Continuing the incredible energy in a different kind of way is my personal favorite, Bad, Inc., an outlaw howl that begins with I keep bad company my posse is wild at heart and builds and builds to an exciting finish. The book is delicious! Hip! Sexy! Politically astute!...It is profound and it is fun!...Congratulations on a superb collected works!”

Many thanks to John Burroughs (a remarkable man, gifted poet and performer, and dedicated publisher) for nominating my book.  I am truly grateful and humbled by his confidence in my work.  Much gratitude to Tony Moffeit for taking the time to read and review Age of Aquarius. I appreciate everyone who has read, published, commented on, or otherwise supported my poetry. 

If you should wish to get your very own signed copy of Age of Aquarius, just click on the link HERE (Amazon).  And thank you!


Saturday, October 8, 2016

Wallowing in Poetry: Next Week, Tim Staley and Indie Fest Maryland!

 
This weekend, I'm feverishly preparing for two looming mega-events: 

Wednesday, October 12, at 7 pm at Mac's Backs in Cleveland Heights, New Mexico performance poet Tim Staley arrives for his first Cleveland reading!  I'm honored to be sharing the stage with this dynamic and engaging poet, and I'm proud to say that NightBallet Press will be publishing a new book for him, The Most Honest Syllable Is Shhh, next year.  As for me, I'm working on some new and different material for the event, wink, wink.  Join us for a delectable evening: a jug of wine, a loaf of cookies, poetry and thou...what could be better?



Then, on Friday, October 14, NightBallet Press will be road-tripping to (and participating in) the storied Indie Fest in Frostburg, Maryland!  John Burroughs of Crisis Chronicles Press and Dianne Borsenik of NightBallet Press will be bringing Ohio to the campus of Frostburg University, along with books by Lyn Lifshin, George Wallace, Margie Shaheed, R. A. Washington, Alex Gildzen, Bonné de Blas, Jim Lang, Christopher Franke, D. R. Wagner, M. J. Arcangelini, and many, many more!  This event continues on Saturday, October 15, from 10 am t 6 pm.  Take time to stop by the tables and smell the sweet wafts of poetry plattered thereon!



Yes, it's gonna be a blast!  Join me in this whirlwind week of poetry, won't you?
 

 
 

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Buffalo! Bocchicchio! Burroughs & Borsenik! and Hertneky! Reading in Cleveland!

This coming Friday, September 24, 2016, the Cringe-Worthy Poets Collective from Buffalo joins forces with local poets Burroughs & Borsenik and Bocchicchio to present a very special evening of fun, friendship, and word-slinging!

Where?  Mac's Backs Paperbacks, 1820 Covington Road, Cleveland Heights, Ohio
When?   6:30pm to 9:30pm Friday September 24, 2016
Who?    This "Small Press Poets Read Their Poems" reading will feature:


Nathanael William Stolte
Julio Montalvo Valentin
Mistral Khan-Becerra
Joseph Bocchicchio
Dianne Borsenik
John Burroughs
Cassandra
One surprise poet!

Aaaand, as a special treat, there will be an appearance by author Paul Hertneky. Paul is on tour for his new book Rust Belt Boy: Stories of an American Childhood.

John is the editor in chief of Crisis Chronicles Press.


Dianne is the creative genius behind the expansive NightBallet Press

Nathanael, Misty, & Julio are CWPCollective Press

This rare event is not to be missed...all this and it's free!  It will only be made more wonderful by your being there, so do join us, won't you? <3

Sunday, July 31, 2016

New Poems Just in Time for Words & Wine!

I've written three new poems since my trip to Buffalo two weeks ago!  Since I'm not normally a prolific writer, I'm inordinately pleased about having three new poems in such a short span of time, and just in time for my feature reading this coming Tuesday, August 2, for Words & Wine in Painesville, Ohio!

Who, When, Where:

Words & Wine w/ Dianne Borsenik
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
6:30 PM
Bistro 70
70 N. St. Clair St.
Painesville, OH

hosts Margie Delong and Tobin Terry


Words & Wine is one of my very favorite reading series: the atmosphere is groovy, the audience delightful, the hosts charming.  I can't wait to read in the new venue, Bistro 70! 

I'd love it if you could join us for a night of poetry, great friendship, sweet wine, and tasty vittles.  I'll have my new book, Age of Aquarius: Collected Poems 1981 - 2016 with me, and if you buy one, I'll give you a free copyyour choiceof either Corpus Lingua (my chapbook about getting older, my relationship with James, and memories of my hippie days) or Bad Ink (my audacious, irreverent, naughty, sexy, profane chapbook)! 

As for the three new poemsa skinny poem, a haibun, and a free verse featuring the Thursday Dictionary.com Word of the Day, virguleWords & Wine will be the first place I've read them aloud. I've already submitted two of them (one to Rattle, one to Slipstream), and I'm working on getting the third one out.  I'll also read some of my "Road Tripping" poems from the Kansas City trip last April, and I'll be reading from Age of Aquarius.  The theme of the reading?  Sin, Sweat, Summer!

This Tuesday, it's a poetry roundup in Painesville! Why not ride on out, grab some grub, cop a squat, and hang with (pun intended, lol) some mighty fine folks for an evening of poetry, food, and fellowship?  It's gonna be beautiful!

Monday, July 11, 2016

Burning for Buffalo!

I'm honored and excited to be performing my poetry this coming Wednesday at Burning Books in Buffalo, NY, alongside best friend and road trip partner John Burroughs, NBP poet extraordinaire Joey Nicoletti, and our friend from Snoetry, George Guida!

We'll be reading from
5 pm to 6:30 pm at
Burning Books,
420 Connecticut Street
Buffalo, NY
 

(photo courtesy of Burning Books Facebook page)

I'll be reading from my new collection, Age of Aquarius, as well as some poems from my completed manuscript Raga for What Comes Next (which is actively looking for a home). 

And as editor and publisher of NightBallet Press, I'll be releasing Joey's new chapbook Counterfeit Moon at the reading!


(cover photo by Geoffrey Landis)
 

I'd be thrilled to see you there!  Please join us as we shake the rafters and fan the flames of poetry at Burning Books!

 

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Next Saturday, a Very Local Appearance by Yours Truly!



Next Saturday, May 21st, I'll be reading from my new collection Age of Aquarius in  downtown Lorain.  John Burroughs, my poetry partner and best friend, is a co-feature, along with the acclaimed poet Bruce Weigl, performer extraordinaire Tom Adams, local favorite Ryan Sagert, author Robert Moore, and poet Liz Delgado.  As far as I know, this will be my only Lorain County appearance for the rest of the year.  The evening is going to rock!  Please join us in joyous celebration of the spoken and sung word!

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius!

I am thrilled, ecstatic, and over the moon to announce
the official publication of my new book -
Age of Aquarius: Collected Poems 1981 - 2016 by Crisis Chronicles Press!


I recently turned 61 years old, and I've found it to be a time of reflection, gratitude, and anticipation.  I am extremely grateful to, and humbled by, the many journals, anthologies, newspapers, magazines, and chapbook publishers that have given homes to my poems, lyrics, and haiku over the years.  The poems chosen for inclusion in this collection are a good representation of my body of work the past 35 years, while offering glimpses into the life, mind, and crazy times of this former flowerchild and current redhead.

Age of Aquarius: Collected Poems 1981-2016 is exactly that, a 150-page collection of my most popular and enduring poems, including

Lovechild (make incense from the flowers, dance naked in the light...)
Incontinence (Oh my god, you're leaking! Can you tell?...)
Fortune Cookie (Fortune, smile upon this blue-eyed, tie-dyed, cloudy skied wild child...)
One Peachy Day  (smear the white juice of crushed sunlight over my breasts...)
These Places (- sound like some astronomer's wet dream: labia majora, clitoris...)
Serious Flannel (It's ten degrees outside, and though warmer inside, she's breaking out...)
Cupid (Cupid at long last is dead/I shot that bastard in the head...)
Few Dollar Man (My Cleveland, I don't mind him being a blue collar, few dollar man...)
Pink Hell (the other day, I read where someone had written that hell was not black and hot, after all...but pink, and wet)
Making Scents (the smell of you, the coming closer tell of you...)
Going Braless (she's spent too many decades defined by edges, now she's taking...)
HardDrive/SoftWear (sit you down on my laptop, baby, make love to my motherboard...)
Pools of- (evening's window/setting sun bleeds...)
and
Got Soul? -"The City Poem" (Cities have souls too, you know, some...)

Also included in this collection are the poems I wrote as BeatStreet Cleveland and Snoetry invocations, the poem for which NightBallet was named, the poem I wrote for Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin if we ever find ourselves alone together in an elevator (lol), eulogy poems for when Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Arthur Lee, and David Bowie died, the poem that's permanently housed in the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, 2 poems co-written with John Burroughs, and 7 never-before published poems, one of which is my only experimental concrete poem, plus 2 that are new for this year of 2016. 

Please visit Crisis Chronicles Press - check out the official announcement and the entirety of their impressive catalog, slow down and smell the poetic roses that grow there, and support Burroughs' fine press.  Deep gratitude to John Burroughs of CCP for his tireless work and deft touch on this collection - it means a lot to me.

You may also preorder (the book is currently at the printer) Age of Aquarius here, now, through PayPal, and I'll get it in the mail to you the moment the books are in my hands!   At CreateSpace, it lists for $15 plus postage, but you can get it from either CCP or me for only $12 (plus $3) postage.  And thank you, my dear friends, for giving audience to my poems. I appreciate you.