Smith Unruly & A Short History of Crisis Chronicles Press, part 1
Crisis Chronicles Press has been busy the past few months. Indeed 2011 has been our busiest year yet. We plan to continue that trend. I'm particularly excited about our latest release, Unruly, by Cleveland art legend and friend Steven B. Smith.
I wanted to write a long blog praising Smith, talking about his influence on me, and explaining why it means so much to me to have the opportunity to publish his uniquely brilliant work. But time, focus and good enough words have eluded me, so for now I will refer you to a blog I wrote about him in July of 2008, S Is for Smith (My Favorite Poets from A to Z volume 19), and urge you to buy Unruly. Hell, if you can't afford to buy it, I will happily give you a copy (while supplies last) just to spread the important word(s). Find more Smith at:
reverbnation.com/mutantsmith = music
walkingthinice.com = Smith & Lady life love art adventures
agentofchaos.com = Smith and friends art / poetry journal
A Short History of Crisis Chronicles Press, part 1
Crisis Chronicles Press began humbly in 2008 with my self published chapbook Bloggerel — a small edition of poems that had already appeared on my blog and gotten a favorable response. I had just attended my first poetry open mic in May 2008, and at that point all I really wanted to do was put together a little something with a few of my poems to give people as a token of appreciation if they heard me and said they liked my work — or to serve as a sort of calling card introduction to poetic people I might meet for the first time. I had my first featured reading (for the Poet's Haven) on August 23rd 2008 and began co-hosting the Lix and Kix Poetry Extravaganza with Dianne Borsenik in the fall. Though I didn't really think of it as a part of the press at the time, I created the Crisis Chronicles Online Library that year as well, and began filling it with work by my favorite writers, old and new.
I was inspired by discovering the small press publishing exploits of d.a.levy (1942-68) and new friends like Cheryl Townsend, mark s kuhar, Jim Lang, Bree (Green Panda Press), Lady K (The City Poetry) and the aforementioned Smith (ArtCrimes). So in early 2009, I decided to try my hand at publishing other writers, beginning with poetry partner Dianne's HardDrive/SoftWear. I also decided that my year-old half-serious fantasy of publishing an anti-censorship anthology called Fuck Poetry was worth pursuing (more on that in the next installment). That's when I started getting submissions from all sorts of people. By the end of 2009, Crisis Chronicles had also published chapbooks by Alex Gildzen, d.a.levy and Heather Ann Schmidt — as well as a second of my own, 6/9: Improvisations in Dependence.
[To be continued....]
[cover fotos for Unruly by Smith, text added by JC]
This 25-page chapbook includes 25 poems on sideways college-ruled paper and 2 cover fotos by Smith. Saddle stitched and lovingly hand-assembled, Unruly is available for $5 US from Crisis Chronicles Press, 420 Cleveland Street, Elyria, Ohio 44035. You may also order via PayPal.
I wanted to write a long blog praising Smith, talking about his influence on me, and explaining why it means so much to me to have the opportunity to publish his uniquely brilliant work. But time, focus and good enough words have eluded me, so for now I will refer you to a blog I wrote about him in July of 2008, S Is for Smith (My Favorite Poets from A to Z volume 19), and urge you to buy Unruly. Hell, if you can't afford to buy it, I will happily give you a copy (while supplies last) just to spread the important word(s). Find more Smith at:
reverbnation.com/mutantsmith = music
walkingthinice.com = Smith & Lady life love art adventures
agentofchaos.com = Smith and friends art / poetry journal
A Short History of Crisis Chronicles Press, part 1
Crisis Chronicles Press began humbly in 2008 with my self published chapbook Bloggerel — a small edition of poems that had already appeared on my blog and gotten a favorable response. I had just attended my first poetry open mic in May 2008, and at that point all I really wanted to do was put together a little something with a few of my poems to give people as a token of appreciation if they heard me and said they liked my work — or to serve as a sort of calling card introduction to poetic people I might meet for the first time. I had my first featured reading (for the Poet's Haven) on August 23rd 2008 and began co-hosting the Lix and Kix Poetry Extravaganza with Dianne Borsenik in the fall. Though I didn't really think of it as a part of the press at the time, I created the Crisis Chronicles Online Library that year as well, and began filling it with work by my favorite writers, old and new.
I was inspired by discovering the small press publishing exploits of d.a.levy (1942-68) and new friends like Cheryl Townsend, mark s kuhar, Jim Lang, Bree (Green Panda Press), Lady K (The City Poetry) and the aforementioned Smith (ArtCrimes). So in early 2009, I decided to try my hand at publishing other writers, beginning with poetry partner Dianne's HardDrive/SoftWear. I also decided that my year-old half-serious fantasy of publishing an anti-censorship anthology called Fuck Poetry was worth pursuing (more on that in the next installment). That's when I started getting submissions from all sorts of people. By the end of 2009, Crisis Chronicles had also published chapbooks by Alex Gildzen, d.a.levy and Heather Ann Schmidt — as well as a second of my own, 6/9: Improvisations in Dependence.
[To be continued....]
[cover fotos for Unruly by Smith, text added by JC]
Posted by Jesus Crisis at 9/7/2011 9:56 PM 
Categories: Writing and Poetry
Tags: Steven B Smith Dianne Borsenik Heather Ann Schmidt Alex Gildzen Kathy Ireland Smith Lady K Green Panda Press Bree Jim Lang Cheryl Townsend d.a.levy d.a. levy Crisis Chronicles Press Yahia Lababidi Fuck Poetry Lix and Kix
Categories: Writing and Poetry
Tags: Steven B Smith Dianne Borsenik Heather Ann Schmidt Alex Gildzen Kathy Ireland Smith Lady K Green Panda Press Bree Jim Lang Cheryl Townsend d.a.levy d.a. levy Crisis Chronicles Press Yahia Lababidi Fuck Poetry Lix and Kix
Thank you so much for this, J.C.!
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You're welcome. It was an honor to have the opportunity to publish Smith's work. I'm glad I didn't screw it up.
Thanks to both of you for your inspiration, kindness and friendship.
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Glad to be a part of this. "Unruly" is a great book. Looking forward to my 2nd chapbook with you down the line. Keep it up.
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What you've said means a great deal to me. A particular failing or weakness of mine is that I'm not always sure the work I've done is good until I hear other people I respect say that it is. But I did what felt right to me and figured that your poems were strong enough to withstand any fuck up on my part.
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very nice.. nice to hear.... good seeing some of the best poets and beyond getting published through CC. congratulations to you and all involved.
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