Tavern author Zubair Ahmed will be reading from his book Ashulia November 19 at the Hungryman Gallery in San Francisco. Joining him will be Jesse Nathan and Yosefa Raz. This reading will mark the closing reception for the current exhibit at Hungryman, IMPACT. For more information, click here. The reading and closing reception run from 6 - 10 pm.
Congrats are in order for Jesmyn Ward, winner of the 2011 National Book Award for Fiction. Jesmyn is a friend of Tavern Books, and we can't congratulate her enough for her stunning and well-deserved achievement. Here's to Salvage the Bones!
Congratulations are in order for Tavern Books author W. S. Di Piero (Night of Shooting Stars). His newest collection of poetry, Nitro Nights, is just out from Copper Canyon Press. Click here for ordering information.
To complement our publication of Tomas Tranströmer's For the Living and the Dead, we've published this broadside featuring the book's cover art (an ink drawing by our in-house artist Cecilia Yang) and an excerpt from "Six Winters." Click here for ordering information.
John F. Deane's translation of Tomas Tranströmer's 1989 collection For the Living and the Dead (För levande och döda) originally appeared with The Dedalus Press (Ireland) in 1994. Published in the United States for the first time, this new edition contains a revised translation as well as a new introduction and translator's note. For the Living and the Dead contains some of Tranströmer's most widely anthologized poems, including “Vermeer” and “Romanesque Arches.” At long last, this important work from one of the world's most celebrated poets is back in print in a single volume.
We're particularly excited to be bringing you this long-overdue reprint of Samuel Charters' translation of Tomas Tranströmer's Baltics, a classic of Swedish literature and a masterpiece by any standard.
Just a quick post to keep you up to speed with our many exciting titles in the works. Poems from the German, Swedish, Spanish, Hungarian, and English. Reprints from Poet Laureates and Nobel Prize winners. Poems never before translated into English. 12 full-length collections and 1 hand-sewn pamphlet. Books currently in production: Winterward by William Stafford, Batlics by Tomas Tranströmer, Selected Poems by Ferenc Juhász. Stay tuned!
To complement our release of Tomas Tranströmer's Prison, we've printed 5o promotional broadsides that feature the cover drawing by our in-house artist Cecilia Yang and a poem from the collection.
Tomas Tranströmer's Prison is the second of three books we're publishing this year by the 2011 Nobel Laureate.
Our 15th Tavern Books title!
In case you missed the great news, the Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature. The timing for this new Tavern Books title couldn't be better! We are thrilled that Tomas Tranströmer is the 2011 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, and we are equally thrilled to be publishing this amazing book. Here are the details:
This book collects two separate but related works, each translated for the first time into English by the noted poet Malena Mörling.
Tomas Tranströmer’s First Poems is a critical study by Jonas Ellerström that examines the connection between the poetry Tranströmer wrote as a teenager and the poetry that appeared in his first book, 17 Dikter (17 Poems). As requested by Tomas Tranströmer, the ten poems featured in Ellerström’s essay are never to be included in Tranströmer’s Collected Poems, making this publication the only venue in English where one can read the Nobel Laureate’s juvenilia.
The second piece in this volume, Notes From the Land of Lap Fever, is a lyrically driven personal essay written and published by Tranströmer in 1953. Like much of the poet’s work, this essay showcases a man in search of meaning, a writer whose journey into Lapland begins: “So, I’ve listened long enough to this timid cry from the wilderness. I am going back there perhaps to retrieve a part of myself I might have left behind.”
We've also printed a broadside with an excerpt from Note's From the Land of Lap Fever. Here's a link.
Cheers!
The Swedish Academy announced today that the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature has been given to Tomas Tranströmer! We have 3 Tranströmer books in the works here at Tavern Books, a reprint of Samuel Charters' translation of Baltics (which will include photographs by Ann Charters), and two books translated by Malena Mörling, Prison and Tomas Tranströmer's First Poems and Notes From the Land of Lap Fever. Stay tuned...these titles will be available in the next few months. Three cheers for Tomas Tranströmer!
Dear Tavern fans,
Check out W. S. Di Piero's translation of Leonardo Sinisgalli on Poetry Daily!
Our next two title
s, Adrian C. Louis's Archeology and George Hitchcock's Six-Minute Poems, are now available for pre-order. These titles should be back from the printer and stitched together by the end of the month. We are extremely proud to be publishing these major American poets. Throughout their careers, both Louis and Hitchcock have been defiant forces in the political / artistic landscape of American poetry and poetics. Louis opts for a hard-nosed, bitter realism that is damning, chilling, yet big-hearted. Hitchcock's vision is that of an absurd and surreal trickster. When asked to state his occupation in front of the House of Un-American Activities Committee, Hitchcock replied:
Just a quick note to let you know that Adrian C. Louis's Archeology is in production. This chapbook of new work is as heartbreaking as it is beautiful. We hope to release this book along with Six-Minute Poems by George Hitchcock sometime in the next month. Stay tuned!
Great news. Jo McDougall, author of Under an Arkansas Sky (Tavern Books, 2010), has just published her long-awaited memoir, Daddy's Money, with the University of Arkansas Press. McDougall brings the same lyrical concision and truth-telling to her prose that she does to her poetry. We can't recommend Daddy's Money highly enough. Congratulations, Jo!
Tavern Books author Joseph Millar has just published his third full-length collection, Blue Rust, with Carnegie Mellon University Press. Join us in celebrating!
We just received Zubair Ahmed's book from the printer, and we're excited to announce that it's now available for purchase on our website. Ashulia is Mr. Ahmed's first book publication, and we're thrilled to bring his work to its deserving audience.
If you find yourself in Portland this October, please stop by the Tavern Books table at Wordstock, Portland's annual celebration of books, writers, readers, publishers, and literary activists. We'll be at the Tavern Books table October 6-9. We're sharing a space with Airlie Press, an Oregon cooperative publishing house that specializes in poetry. Our founding editor, Carl Adamshick, will be on hand, so stop by and pick his brain about the press, future titles, and whatever else strikes your fancy.
Just a quick note to let you know that we received 4 new broadsides from our printer here in Portland--"Be Careful" by Natan Zach; [The rat can't resist] by Yosa Buson; "Shaving" by Zubair Ahmed, and an excerpt from "Notes on Sea & Shore" by Greta Wrolstad. We love these broadsides. They showcase the talents of our authors as well as the vision of our in-house designer, Cecilia Yang.
Dear Tavern fans--just a quick thank-you note for the support you've given the press lately. There are many myths in the book world that we've always found ridiculous. One of the big ones is that nobody buys poetry books. Well, the proof is in the pudding--this is just one mail day at the Tavern Books home office. And most of these are limited-edition pamphlets. We have faith in the books we publish, and we're delighted to see that you do, too! Cheers, and many thanks!
Greetings, Tavern fans. Just a quick update to let you know that, as of last week, we filed our 501(c)(3) application for charitable, not-for-profit status with the IRS. We're excited to transition into the nonprofit world, and we have a ton of plans for both future publishing and community outreach.
George Hitchcock (1914-2010) is one of the true inspirations in the landscape of postwar poetry in the United States. If you haven't already, head down to your local antiquarian bookseller or rare books librarian and check out some back issues of Hitchcock's kayak magazine (1964-1984). Take a seat, because these issues of kayak are, bar none, the most forward-thinking and brilliantly edited (and decorated) magazines in recent poetic history.
Tavern Books has been filling book orders and marching to the Post Office every day (literally!) in July since we released Greta Wrolstad's Notes On Sea & Shore. We are thrilled to have Greta's book in our catalog, and, as with all of our titles, we will keep this book in print for all to enjoy. Happy reading!
We've just added three great new titles to our catalog: Greta Wrolstad's Notes on Sea & Shore; Yosa Buson's Buson : Haiku (translated by Franz Wright); and Natan Zach's The Countries We Live In (translated by Peter Everwine). All three titles mark a first. Notes on Sea & Shore is the late Greta Wrolstad's first book publication. Buson : Haiku is the first time any of Franz Wright's Buson translations have been in print. And The Countries We Live In, in addition to being the most comprehensive Zach book in print, is the only book of Natan Zach's poetry available in English.
Congratulations are in order for Zubair Ahmed, whose first full-length collection, City of Rivers, has recently been accepted for publication by McSweeney's and will appear as a title in their forthcoming McSweeney's Poetry Series. Zubair's chapbook, Ashulia, is soon to be published with Tavern Books. You can find some of Zubair's handiwork in forthcoming issues of The Believer and Tin House.
The months of June and July will be big for Tavern Books. Among our forthcoming titles is the book featured here, Buson : Haiku, a collection of 39 Buson poems (including the last poem Buson wrote) translated by Pulitzer Prize winner Franz Wright.
For those of you looking to get your fine-press fix, check out Scott King's handiwork at Red Dragonfly Press. Scott casts his own type at an on-site foundry, sets all of Red Dragonfly's letterpress titles, and showcases literature in the way it's meant to be seen. What's striking about Red Dragonfly, and what sets them apart from most high-end printers, is the shocking affordability of their titles. Where else can you buy a hand-made, hand-set book for a mere $15?
Peter Howard, the mastermind behind Serendipity Books in Berkeley, California, died quietly on Thursday evening, March 31. Peter was and will continue to be a giant--a superhero--in the antiquarian book field. Browsing the seemingly unorganized stacks at Serendipity was a rite of passage. The poetry section alone contained nearly half a million books (on crank-driven, mobile shelving). And God only knows how many nooks, crannies, and warehouses of poetry Peter had in addition to the poetry titles at the book store. I once asked Peter what, as a bookseller, had been the most interesting poetry book he'd had the pleasure of selling. He said something like, "I hope you're not really asking me that! How could I choose!? Maybe some ephemera signed from Whitman to Emerson? This is an impossible and pointless question..." Peter was gruff, humorous, enigmatic, and ridiculously passionate. His encyclopedic knowledge and historical grasp of printed culture was astounding, to say the very least. Scanning my shelves and framed broadsides, I can spot some great gems that I picked up from Peter over the past four years. Among them are three copies of a Robert Bly and Tomas Tranströmer broadside (signed by both authors) called "Along the Lines." I never knew Peter as a friend, I knew him as a bookseller and a fellow book nut. I never left Serendipity without a book or some piece of random poetry ephemera. And I never paid for a book without Peter glancing over his glasses, grumbling in my general direction, then crossing out the listed price only to replace it with something far lower. I mourn his passing, celebrate his legacy, and raise my glass.
A few months ago Tavern author Paul Merchant (translator of Yannis Ritsos's Twelve Poems About Cavafy) asked us if he could underwrite the publication of Charles Simic's Prodigy. We were delighted! As a thank-you we printed the note "This edition of Prodigy was generously underwritten by Paul Merchant" on the inside flap. This has now turned into a bit of a tradition at the press. David Wevill is underwriting our forthcoming Zubair Ahmed title, Ashulia; Joseph Millar and Dorianne Laux are underwriting Peter Everwine's translation of Natan Zach's The Countries We Live In; and Matthew Dickman and Britta Ameel are underwriting Greta Wrolstad's forthcoming book, Notes on Sea & Shore.
If you're the type who likes to buy first editions and first printings, then you better act fast. Jo McDougall's Under an Arkansas Sky, Ferenc Juhász's The Boy Changed into a Stag Clamors at the Gate of Secrets, and Joseph Millar's Ocean are all headed into their second printings!
Great News! We got our copies of Charles Simic's Prodigy from the printers yesterday, stitched them up, and started filling orders. We're particularly excited about this title because it showcases both the poetry of Simic and the "Prodigy Drawings" of Charles Seluzicki, a veteran fine-press publisher who has designed and printed several high-end, limited-edition books for some of the greatest poets of the 20th century. This book is limited to a run of 200, so don't miss your chance to add this volume to your poetry library!
Our broadsides are now available for purchase exclusively through our website.
Here's a glimpse into W. S. Di Piero's translation of Sinisgalli's Night of Shooting Stars. See "Lucania" below.
Former National Poet of Wales and Tavern Books author Gwyneth Lewis received some stellar press for her recent collection, The Meat Tree (Seren Books, 2010). Here are some choice words from the Times Literary Supplement:"Gwyneth Lewis's astute handling to time... enables her to combine the archetypal themes of myth with concerns that preoccupy our twenty-first century consciousness. Power, morality, man and nature, gender relations, art and reality, and above all, notions of separation and exile, heritage and loss, are refracted through the prism of a spatially and temporally distant future, constantly in motion against both our own present and the mythic Blodeuwedd past. These temporal shifts are matched by Lewis's fearless mixing of the modes of poetry, prose and drama in h
er quest to conjure a world that will resonate long after the tale has ended, in the reader's mind."
"The successful recreation of myth requires a wiliness that exceeds that of the original mythmakers, and Lewis patiently and skillfully demonstrates that willingness in presenting to her readers 'the battle between meat and magic, between body and imagination.'"
"'What kind of being does a virtual world create?' asks Gwyneth Lewis's Campion. 'If two negatives make a positive, then can two virutals make an actual? Have we just conjured up a person who's real? Or one who is death?' Such thoughtful probing of existential and artistic issues shows a significant respect for the challenge that the Seren project presents to its writers."
We have just printed a limited run of broadsides from each of our Tavern authors. These 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 broadsides will be available for purchase through our website in the next few weeks.
We are pleased to announce that we'll soon be printing Greta Wrolstad's Notes on Sea & Shore. This long, sequential poem is an absolute stunner, and we can't wait to get it into the hands of its deserving readers.
Tavern Books author W. S. Di Piero, translator of Leonardo Sinisgalli's Night of Shooting Stars, has just published a new collection of art writings with Pressed Wafer. When Can I See You Again?, Di Piero's fourth collection of nonfiction, is available directly from Pressed Wafer or from Small Press Distribution. Keep your ear to the rail for Di Piero's forthcoming poetry collection, Nitro Nights, due to be released in 2011 from Copper Canyon Press.
There's a lot coming down the pipe here at Tavern Books. We have 8 new and forthcoming titles, so check here for news and updates regarding all-things-Tavern. At the moment we're working on both our trade and fine editions of Charles Simic's "Prodigy." Our latest addition to the catalog is Peter Everwine's translation of Natan Zach's The Countries We Live In, Zach's selected early poems. The publication of this volume will mark the only volume of Zach's work in English...in any country.