A Throne in April

April is poetry month: I've already posted about special April sales for The Foliate Head (Stanza Press, and now the second printing is out of print) and Thaliad (Phoenicia Publishing), and thought that I should add a post for The Throne of Psyche, still in print in both hardcover and paperback from Mercer University Press. Both versions are handsome books; the hardcover won an Abby design award for Mary-Frances Glover Burt and the company of Burt and Burt. The cover image on both hardcover and paperback is by Clive Hicks-Jenkins.

At various times I've posted copies of poems, and so here's a little batch of samples from the book. The collection runs to more than a hundred pages, so this is just a snip:

The Marriage Bed, 

originally published in Mezzo Cammin,

from the title poem

*

A Fire in Ice (riposte to Billy Collins)

originally published in The Raintown Review

*

Southern to the Bone

originally published in storySouth

*

Here We Go Round

originally in Mezzo Cammin

At Cullowhee

originally in The HyperTexts

*

Snow White in Wildwood

originally in Mezzo Cammin

*

and three little poems for my three children:

Tears of a Boy, Age Six

originally in Books and Culture

A Child at the Tropic Pavilions

originally in Mythic Passages

In Extremis

originally in storySouth

Poetry on video by Paul Digby,

including In Extremis and A Fire in Ice

A Hilarious, Mad Saint--

Thaliad

The Throne of Psyche

The rain is tapping on the roof and making music in gutterpipes, recalling old paths into the house and testing the Amish roof--for days, men in straw hats and suspenders strode over its peaks in the long-vanished sunshine. I do hope it returns soon.

The Foliate Head

It's poetry month. I am afraid that I mostly ignore poetry month because I write poetry whenever I please (often, at the moment, as my life is exceedingly rambunctious this winter, and I don't have much novel-dreaming time) and not because poetry month tells me it's time for NaPoWriMo or because April is the cruelest month. However, I now remind you, O passer-by and reader, that I have three poetry books in print as of this April, and that they have had ethereal, glorious, vigorous, ridiculously fine reviews and posts and suchlike trumpeting of book-virtue.

It strikes me that writing poetry is the thing I do that most flies in the face of the times and American culture--the thing I am driven to do, despite knowing that readers of poetry are few and that the job of helping one's publisher peddle a few books is daunting. Somehow that just makes me more pigheaded and determined to do what I  do. I am not sure whether that looks mad, hilarious, or saintly from the viewpoint of the general passer-by.

Looking at the three in-print poetry books as a group, I can't help thinking that Clive Hicks-Jenkins has dressed them beautifully--three books from three countries, but all in the most lovely attire. Thanks, dear Clive! And also the designers, Elizabeth Adams for Thaliad, Burt and Burt for The Throne of Psyche, and Andrew Wakelin for The Foliate Head. These lucky books all have beautiful art and immaculate design work.

Selling like hotcakes!

Elizabeth Adams of Phoenicia Publishing

In honor of National Poetry Month, paperback editions of all Phoenicia Publishing full-length poetry books are on sale for the price of $12.50 rather than the usual $13.95. Titles included are:

Thaliad - Marly Youmans

70 Faces: Torah Poems - Rachel Barenblat

Angels & Beasts - Claudia Serea

Ancient Lights - Dick Jones

Mercy Island - Ren Powell

"Take advantage of the excellent price, and support poetry and independent publishing at the same time!" -- Beth Adams. 

I own paperback or hardcover copies of each of these except one--shall have to rectify that omission!--and can recommend them. In addition to reading some wonderful poetry, you may enjoy the immaculate design work of Phoenicia: it is no less than stellar.

Addendum after a day of car repairs:

Marly Youmans shared a link.

a few seconds ago

Okay, so MAYBE I was being radically optimistic when I said Phoenicia's poetry books were selling like wild, crazy, madly-spinning hotcakes. But you know, they could, they really could, and you could help by sharing this and other posts! Phoenicia Publishing paperbacks are on sale for the length of National Poetry Month, books by Rachel Barenblat / Dick Jones / Ren Powell/ Claudia Serea / Marly Youmans. They're just as tasty as the tastiest hotcake, they last a whole lot longer, and they feed the mind and spirit as well as, in emergency, the body. Some hardcovers also available via Phoenicia.

Poetry month shenanigans and more

APRIL IS POETRY MONTH (THANK YOU, ELIOT)

Dave Bonta will be doing a month of poetry reading--a book each day--for April, "poetry month." It's a good time to send him a book if you are a writer, and if you are a reader, he invites you to join in. Dave is one of the people I asked to participate in my upcoming series of posts on writing and publishing. (I have comments from four of the six writers I asked for comments, and am only waiting on the last two to begin.) He and Beth Adams are the founders of qarrtsiluni, that fascinating poetry 'zine, and Dave has moved from project to project, widening his presence on the internet. He'll talk about his kingdom on the internet here in the coming days.

MORE NEWS ABOUT MIKE IN VIETNAM

For the many who have paused to read my post from a few days ago about Mike's hilarious and sad adventure in Vietnam, the update is that he is thrilled with the volunteer work he is doing. It is exciting; every day he sees cases that are dramatic and that simply don't appear in the states. Every day he has chances to help and to change lives. The sweetest thing about all this is that the Vietnamese doctors and patients are grateful that he and his cohorts have come, and that in turn he is grateful to them for the experience and all that he is learning and seeing--it feels like the very reason a blue collar boy worked so very hard to pass through college, grad school, medical school, and a neuromuscular fellowship. Evidently it is neurology heaven for a doctor from a rural academic hospital!

MORE POETRY MONTH

Read an April book for April poetry month?

Pre-order discounts are still on for one of the loveliest books in the universe (hardcover and paperback), and that includes all distant galaxies. Design house Burt & Burt's use of a painting from Clive Hicks-Jenkins is wondrous, from the jacket to the leaves that sift through the pages of the book, linking prefatory pages to division pages. The contents are said to be pretty good as well!

Available by pre-order at your local independent bookshop and elsewhere in the brick-and-mortal world and online. To find ISBN numbers and such, check the Amazon page here. To see a big, beautiful version of the jacket, click on the image above.