The Tao of Jesus Crisis

Poetry and music tonight in Elyria and beyond

2012-05-22T12:57:16Z

Places I'll be sharing poetry in the next couple of months include:

May 22nd in Elyria, Ohio between 6:30 and dusk under the pagoda on Ely Square during Main Street Elyria's 4th Tuesday celebration. All are welcome to come share! There will also be three bands playing at various locations around the square.

June 24th at in Willoughby, Ohio during Living Poetry of Karma Koffee: Reading

June 30th in Erie, Pennsylvania during the 4th Annual Poetry in the Park at Frontier Park

July 13th in North Royalton, Ohio during the Deep Cleveland Poetry Hour -- Writing Knights Invade Deep Cleveland!!! at MugShotz

July 27th in Ypsilanti, Michigan at The Ugly Mug Cafe and Roastery

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This Is How She Fails by Lisa Cihlar just published by Crisis Chronicles

2012-05-08T11:58:26Z

This evening I will be collating and carefully assembling copies of our latest Crisis Chronicles Press chapbook, This Is How She Fails by Lisa J. Cihlar. I imagine you'll love it as much as I do. Order online before I go to the post office Wednesday and I'll throw in a free poetic surprise.

This is How She Fails (CC#23) -- cover art by Lisa Marie Peaslee

Or order via snail mail by sending $7 US (includes shipping) to Crisis Chronicles Press, c/o John Burroughs, 420 Cleveland Street, Elyria, Ohio 44035.

Lisa J. Cihlar's poems have been published in South Dakota Review, Green Mountains Review, In Posse Review, Bluestem, and The Prose-Poem Project. One of her poems was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her first chapbook, The Insomniac’s House, is available from Dancing Girl Press. She lives in rural southern Wisconsin.

Lisa J. Cihlar

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Yahia Lababidi Tucked Up

2012-05-03T03:48:01Z

Egyptian-American poet and aphorist Yahia Lababidi -- whose fab Fever Dreams Crisis Chronicles had the privilege of publishing in 2011 -- is featured/interviewed in the May issue of Tuck Magazine. Read here: tuckmagazine.com/2012/05/01/may-feature-interview-poet-yahia-lababidi/.

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In the Works

2012-04-28T15:21:56Z

I've picked up four or five days of warehouse work for my former employer (2006-7), City Buddha -- unloading boxes and so on. Though I am not used to this much physical labor and am sore all over, I'm happy to have a bit of work outside the press, even though it's thrown me behind on a few other things.

For a glimpse at my other recent physical labor doings, see Alex Gildzen's blog. I actually appear (in one form or another) in three of his entries in a row (23, 25 & 25 April).

And finally, here's hoping to see you at one of my upcoming readings:

5/2 at 9:20 p.m. during a Writing Knights event in conjunction with the Occupy the Heart Festival at the Free Stamp (E. 9th and Lakeside) in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. (But come early in the afternoon and catch a whole lot more poetry and grooviness.)

5/5 at 2 p.m. during Recycled Karma Book Release (for my Water Works and Dianne Borsenik's Cravings) at Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room, 114 South Main St. in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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The Poet's Haven, Crisis Chronicles, NightBallet and Writing Knights will be at the 43rd annual Hessler Street Fair in Cleveland, Ohio

2012-04-25T12:01:44Z

Poet's Haven publisher and impresario Vertigo Xi'an Xavier just posted this on Facebook. Since the cat's out of the bag, here's what he said:

"I can now officially say, The Poet's Haven (along with our friends at Crisis Chronicles Press, NightBallet Press, and Writing Knights) will be at the 2012 Hessler Street Fair!"

Many thanks to VXX for making this happen and inviting us to participate! We'll share more details on the poetry part of the festival as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, if you wanna know more in general about the Hessler Street Fair, now in its 43rd year, visit their website at www.hesslerstreetfair.org.

The Poet's Haven = http://www.poetshaven.com.
NightBallet = http://nightballetpress.blogspot.com.
Writing Knights = http://wkroundtable.blogspot.com.

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Poetry tonight at the Lorain Public Library

2012-04-24T18:22:14Z

Poetry slam and open mic event tonight (4/24) from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the main branch of the Lorain Public Library, 351 West 6th Street in Lorain, Ohio. For more info, see: http://www.lorain.lib.oh.us/news_article.aspx?NewsID=256&PID=5

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Live where I want?

2012-04-24T00:07:01Z

I clipped this out of today's Elyria Chronicle-Telegram:

Now the ridiculous rule that I can't live at my mom's house because it's 998 feet from a school but I CAN live right next door because it's over 1000 feet away no longer applies to me. Of course the rule didn't protect anyone any more than he or she was protected before it was retroactively imposed on people like me many years after we were convicted. Its primary effect is punitive (and political). Ex post facto punishment is unconstitutional in the United States of America. If I was convicted of DUI in 1993, paid my fine, served my time, and then the state decided to increase the DUI penalty in 2005 to more than I'd served/paid 12 years earlier, should the state have the right to haul me back into court all these years later and impose an additional penalty on me? Of course not. What's different about a sex offense? The retroactively applied 1000 feet law is an arbitrary and failed sham. Of course many convicted much later to me are still subject to it. But it's no less an arbitrary sham in most of their cases.

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A radiant celebration: Chansonette Buck's desire lines published 4/22

2012-04-23T01:12:40Z

Today, April 22nd 2012, Crisis Chronicles Press publishes one of our finest chapbooks yet, desire lines by Chansonette Buck. It also happens to be Channie's birthday, giving us twice the reason to celebrate. Join us in wishing the author more happiness than any book can hold.

desire lines features 17 poems on high quality ivory paper with a cover consisting of ashen orange and white cardstock and bearing an image captured by Steven B. Smith in Oaxaca, Mexico. Dimensions: 8.5 x 7 inches. It is available for $5 from Crisis Chronicles Press, 420 Cleveland Street, Elyria, Ohio 44035.

Chansonette Buck spent her childhood “on the road” as stepdaughter of a Black Mountain poet, living all over the American West, in England, and in Spain. She holds the PhD in English from the University of California, Berkeley, where she concentrated on 20th-century poetry and poetics and wrote a dissertation on childhood trauma as the source of William Carlos Williams's poetic obsessions. She has a BFA in painting from Massachusetts College of Art, and has won awards for her visual art, her poetry, and her teaching. Chapters of her memoir Unnecessary Turns: Growing Up Beat have appeared in Why We Ride: Women Writers on the Horses in Their Lives (Seal Press, May 2010) and Polarity eMagazine (Fall 2010). Her poems have appeared online and in print, including a feature in the journal tinfoildresses 2012. Her first chapbook, blood oranges (NightBallet Press, 2011), was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She lives in Berkeley with her family, her boa constrictor, and way too many cats and dogs.

Chansonette in Lorain, Ohio, 2011 -- photo by Dianne Borsenik

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Woo Woo Stir This Weekend

2012-04-20T02:36:42Z

The second annual Wooster Jam, a festival of music and other arts, is happening this weekend. Crisis Chronicles Press and friends have been granted two hours to perform - one Friday 4/20 at 9:30 p.m. and the other Saturday 4/21 at 8 p.m. There will be a whole lot of poetry and music over the course of both days. But just during our two hours we'll feature performances by eight poets, four (including me) already published by CC Press, two scheduled to be published by CC Press in the coming year or so, and two more I hope we'll have the opportunity to publish soon (I'm buttering them up). Catch us on the Literary Arts stage in the 4-H building at the Wayne County Fairgrounds, 199 Vanover Street, Wooster, Ohio.

If you can't make it all the way to Wooster, I hope you'll check out one of the many other fine poetry events going on this weekend. One I regret I must miss (oh, to be able to attend two at once!) is a reading and autograph party Saturday 4/21 featuring Cee Williams (whose 12 Poems chapbook Crisis Chronicles published this past week) at Poets' Hall in Erie, Pennsylvania.

And then on Tuesday 4/24 I'll be attending a poetry slam at the main branch of the Lorain Public Library, 351 W. 6th Street in Lorain, Ohio. As far as I know, this is their first poetry event, and though I don't consider myself much of a slammer (I've been to hundreds of readings, but only competed in one slam ever), I am thrilled to see poetry events occurring in Lorain County and feel I simply must be there.

I'd love to see you at one or all of these special happenings!

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Why Are Prisoners Committing Suicide in Pennsylvania?

2012-04-19T20:00:09Z

Read Matt Stroud's article in The Nation:
http://www.thenation.com/article/167459/why-are-prisoners-committing-suicide-pennsylvania

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Rock and Rollin' with NightBallet

2012-04-18T00:02:05Z

A couple of my rock and roll I-ku ("Danger Cruise" and "No More Dark Horse") appear in a new broadside called Noteworthy Travelin', recently published by northern Ohio's NightBallet Press to correspond with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland. The broadside also features rockin' works by Renay Sanders, J.E. Stanley and Jane Rosenberg LaForge. Thanks to editor Dianne Borsenik for including me!

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12 Poems by Cee Williams released tonight at our Poets' Hall reading

2012-04-14T16:28:39Z

Dianne Borsenik and I will be reading in Erie tonight at Poets' Hall, one of my favorite venues, and Crisis Chronicles Press will release Hall proprietor and Erie living legend Cee Williams' new chapbook, 12 Poems, as well. With titles like "Monkeys, monkeys everywhere and not a one can think" and "Strippers and Spilled Beer," you can imagine it is both seriously provocative and a whole lot of fun. But I recommend that you read the book and decide for yourself. Send $5 to Crisis Chronicles Press, 420 Cleveland Street, Elyria, Ohio 44035.

Or order securely via PayPal:

Visit our event page on FB: http://www.facebook.com/events/252682954827482/

Find Poets' Hall on FB: http://www.facebook.com/groups/108743522514378/
or in person at
1136 E. Lake Road
Erie, Pennsylvania 16507

Befriend Cee Williams here: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001017378617

And See Cee spit a bit at the first Snoetry a couple of years ago:

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Go Green?

2012-04-13T23:35:42Z

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Missile Any?

2012-04-06T11:41:14Z

With so much going on I barely have time or focus to blog, and I don't really know where to begin. So I'm just gonna drop a pile of stuff on you in a stream of consciousness and get my ass to work. I've lots of family birthdays in the past month and thru the rest of April: three grandchildren, my mom, step-dad, sister-in-law, brother Mike, uncle Bob and more. I've also lots of events, in part because this is National Poetry Month.

Dianne Borsenik posted a video of me reading Lens (accompanied by Vince Robinson and the Jazz Poets) at the last event I attended, 3/27 at St. Alban Episcopal Church. While you're at her NightBallet site, you'll find granddaughter Jada's smile on the cover of Elise Geither's new chapbook, Monologues for Poets. If you missed the St. Alban event -- which served to launch a new series, spearheaded by Kathy Smith, focused on Being at Peace in Our Community -- I encourage you to catch the next one, Introducing Ourselves, on 4/21.

Eliot called April the cruelest month, but at Crisis Chronicles Press we are determined to beat back any would-be cruelty. So we will celebrate the 4th month of 2012 by publishing four new chapbooks. I still haven't made up my mind which the 4th will be, but here are the first three:

CC#21 -- 12 Poems by Cee Williams (which we plan to have available on 4/14 when Dianne and I read at Cee's venue, Poet's Hall, in Erie, PA). This book will be unusual for us in that its first printing will be done in Erie instead of here at home. So I'll see the finished product for the first time the same day you do.

CC#22 -- desire lines by Chansonette Buck. It will be officially published on 4/22, the author's birthday. If you're friends with Chansonette on Facebook, you can see a video of her reading poems from this chapbook at a recent event in Berkeley.

CC#23 -- This Is How I Fail by Lisa J. Cihlar. Lisa talks about the genesis of this book and more in a recent blog on Stella Pierides' website.

Christina Johns recently reviewed Dianne Borsenik's Blue Graffiti (published by Crisis Chronicles) and my own Electric Company (published by Writing Knights) for the Midwest Book Review.

Crisis Chronicles Press and friends will be performing at Wooster Jam 2012 on 4/20 and 4/21 -- different poets each night -- and I'll post more details as soon as I have a chance to iron them out. For my other upcoming readings, see the main crisischronicles.com page.

And it is with great sadness that I lament the passing of two major Lix and Kix Poetry Extravaganza venues: the 806 Wine and Martini Bar where we started it all in Tremont closed without notice a couple of months ago, and the Bela Dubby Art Gallery and Beer Cafe where we ended it all in Lakewood is being converted into a Taco joint that serves liquor. Perhaps they anticipate that a lot of former patrons will wish to drown their sorrows in the same building.

Let's see.... What else is going on?

My job search continues. I attended a Re-Entry Employment Seminar at Gargus Hall and a Goodwill Job Fair in Lorain in the past couple of weeks. I've concluded that there are more people interested in helping people with criminal histories find jobs than there are people who have jobs to give and are willing to give them to people with criminal histories. Maybe I'm innocent and my alleged crime dates from 1992. No matter. So I throw myself into more publishing projects and a few more events. Maybe I should write about it. But have you ever tried to write around this house? It's taken me 8 days to get to this poor excuse for a blog. And I really should be working on other things instead, like finalizing the Wooster Jam details, posting event pages, finishing the formatting of Chansonette's and Lisa's chapbooks, and picking up essentials at the store (we're now out of -- or almost out of -- laundry detergent, Q-tips, toilet paper, toothpaste, dog food, dog treats and doggone it, that's only the tip of the list).

The beautiful thing about a rambling blog like this is there's something for everyone to like or dislike (or for me to imagine liked or disliked). But it seems the same could be said of anything I say or do. Like or dislike (or both) -- it's on you (and me too).

Okay, that's enough spewing for now.

Peace, love and poetry (not necessarily in that order),
John

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Lens

2012-03-29T14:18:44Z

[Cross posted from the Crisis Chronicles Press blog:]

Composed and published 23 March 2012 in a limited edition of 30 copies, Lens is a handmade chapbook featuring a four-page dramatic poem (also called "Lens") by Crisis Chronicles Press publisher John Burroughs, a.k.a. Jesus Crisis. It is not for sale, but was given away during the 27 March Nia Coffeehouse event Poems of Power, Words of Life at St. Alban Episcopal Church, 3555 Euclid Heights Blvd. in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Lens is printed in black and red ink on white recycled paper. Its cover uses "metallics" cardstock by Wassau Paper: Sparkling Merlot on the outside b/w Black Knight on the inside. JB drew the title and eye glyph with a red Sharpie.

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May the Schwartz Be with You

2012-03-27T10:55:37Z

Thank you to Haiku & Horror blogger and (I presume) gentleman Greg Schwartz for his affirmative review of J.E. Stanley's Crisis Chronicles Press chapbook Rapid Eye Movement. Read what he has to say here: http://greg-schwartz.blogspot.com/2012/03/book-review-rapid-eye-movement-by-je.html.

Rapid Eye Movement (CC#17) -- cover image by Steven B. Smith

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On Exhibit at Project Space in Vancouver

2012-03-26T11:29:31Z

3 poetry chapbooks I've had a hand in -- 1 as author and 2 as publisher -- will be part of the Arte Factum exhibition from March 30th to May 5th 2012 at Project Space, a studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The chapbooks are:

Unruly by Steven B. Smith (2011, Crisis Chronicles Press)
Blue Graffiti by Dianne Borsenik (2011, Crisis Chronicles Press)
Electric Company by John Burroughs (2011, Writing Knights Press)

Here's the press release from Project Space:

"Project Space will open its first exhibition, Arte Factum, on Friday, March 30 at 8pm with an opening reception that doubles as the launch of Poetry Is Dead issue five.

Arte Factum is an exhibition of poetry chapbooks from across North America that features twenty contemporary works—including new releases by Jordan Abel and Dina Del Bucchia, commissioned by Poetry Is Dead—and is accompanied by curator Daniel Zomparelli’s personal chapbook collection along with additional donated chapbooks from derek bealieau and Warren Dean Fulton.

Arte Factum, the Latin phrase “to make,” acknowledges the chapbook as an object of literary and publishing craft that originated in the nineteenth century as a small, inexpensive pamphlet or booklet of literature. Today it is common for poets to publish collections of their work as chapbooks using low-cost printing and hand-binding techniques like sewing and stapling. These booklets are hand sold or exchanged, often at readings or other events that feature literary work. Although advances in technology continue to make online publishing and the production of digital books increasingly accessible, this nostalgic book-making practice continues to rise in popularity. This resurgence of an antiquated book production and distribution process reflects a rebellion against mass dissemination online or through traditional distribution channels—a push towards localization versus globalization. How do we create in a time of digitalism? We revert back to physical production."

Check out Project Space on Facebook, on Twitter and at http://projectspace.ca.

Project Space
222 E Georgia St
Vancouver, BC
V6A 1Z7, Canada

Open Tuesday to Saturday
12pm to 6pm

Thanks to Steven B. Smith for the images that appear on the covers of Blue Graffiti and Unruly. I took the cover photo for Electric Company in front of Conrad's on Broad Street in downtown Elyria after dropping my car off to be fixed in 2011.

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Long Island Nice See

2012-03-21T00:27:58Z

I received a copy of the 3/8/2012 issue of The Long Islander (newspaper founded by Walt Whitman) in the mail yesterday, and was thrilled to see my poem "Prison Scene" featured in Walt's Corner. Thank you, brother editor George Wallace!

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Goodreading Pinteresting

2012-03-17T23:13:26Z

A few weeks ago, I joined Goodreads. I love the site, got named a librarian, added all of our Crisis Chronicles Press titles and now invite you to check out my page and maybe rate and review some of our books: www.goodreads.com/jesuscrisis.

Today, I finally tried Pinterest as well, not sure how much I wanted to do with it, but hoping to snag the jesuscrisis URL before anyone else. Too late. But the site looks like it has potential to be cool, and I used it to "pin" some book covers, though I'm not nearly as enamored yet as I am of Goodreads. Check out my page at pinterest.com/shakeyourbuddha.

And if you're active at either site, please befriend me there.

Peace, love and poetry,
John

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To Kindle or Not to Kindle

2012-03-16T11:50:40Z

This morning, my friend Jay Passer initiated a thought-provoking conversation about whether or not making books available as Kindle editions is compatible wiith a small-press publishing philosophy. My short answer is that I'm still not sure. Last year, I would've leaned heavily toward saying no. Now I'm more than ever inclined to say yes -- thinking that our main responsibility is to disseminate the word (by any means necessary?). Here's most of what I wrote to him while brainstorming how I felt. I'd love to hear what you feel or think about it as well. Please share your thoughts in a comment below.

"For a long time, I was resistant to the whole Kindle phenomenon. But then my friend Helen Shepard donated one to the Press for Christmas 2011, with some books already on it. Within the first hour of picking it up, I became surprisingly enamored. This was a brilliant idea and I could now see why so many people prefer reading on Kindle. That said, I still love print and wouldn't want to totally replace it (nothing like having a real book in my hands). But I began to become open to the idea that the two formats could peacefully co-exist and even complement each other. I also began to consider: if the only way some people are gonna read one of our books is if it's available as a Kindle edition, perhaps we ought to make it available that way -- for the author's sake, for the book's sake and for the readers' sake. Then I learned from Lynn Alexander that there is a way to easily convert print books into Kindle editions. So I'm hoping to figure that out in the near future and experiment with making a few titles available. I still have mixed feelings, though. Selling Kindle editions for $5 would definitely save me work and make the press profitable (right now, I'm lucky to just break even). It would also enable me to start paying the poets royalties and not just free copies. It might also save a tree or two. But I love the art of making a book, and I hate the thought of losing that. So I guess I'm still negotiating with myself."

I'm thinking it's probably inevitable that Crisis Chronicles Press will release some chapbooks (maybe all of them, eventually) in a Kindle/e-book format. Now I just have to find the time to do it.

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