Edson for Leap Day!

Today is Leap Day, that once-every-four-years date that keeps our earth spinning in sync with the calendar. Russell Edson, one of the great innovators and oddities in the contemporary poetry landscape is our official recommended reading for Leap Day.

Check out Oberlin College Press to read more about Edson's selected poems, The Tunnel, a truly mind-expanding and inimitable collection of prose poems from one of our great living poets.

Oberlin College Press's Field Translation Series is one of our personal favorites. We can't recommend this series enough.

Cheers!

Tavern salutes Barney Rosset, hero of indie print culture

Follow this link to hear Terry Gross's interview with the legendary Barney Rosset, publisher of Grove Press and the Evergreen Review:

Publisher Barney Rosset, who championed the works of beat poets and defied censors, died Tuesday. He was 89. Rosset's Grove Press published some of drama's most famous names — including Beckett and Anton Chekhov — and was known for printing books that other publishers wouldn't touch, from uncensored versions of Lady Chatterley's Lover and Tropic of Cancer to a highly profitable line of Victorian spanking porn. To publish them, Rosset became a crusader against American censorship laws, challenging Postal Service confiscations and fighting obscenity charges all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. His landmark legal cases opened doors for other publishers when he won.

Meet Tavern author Jo McDougall at AWP

Howdy Tavernites,

Just a quick note to let you know two things. Tavern Books will not be at AWP this year, but many of our authors will. Jo McDougall, author of the Tavern collection Under An Arkansas Sky, will be signing copies of her incredible new memoir, Daddy's Money. This happens at the University of Arkansas Press table on March 1st from 1:30-2:30. You can also find her books at the Autumn House table.

Under an Arkansas Sky just went into its third printing. Congrats Jo!

Cheers.

Baltics! On the way! At last!

At long last we've put the final touches on Tomas Tranströmer's remarkable Baltics!--we just signed off on the final galleys this morning! We've been working with Samuel Charters and Ann Charters over the past few months to get this very special edition of Baltics off to the printers. What started out as merely a reprint of Samuel Charters' seminal translation of  Baltics (published originally by Oyez in 1975) has turned into one of the most beautiful and serendipitous projects we've had the honor of working on. Not only does the book feature the original Swedish text en face, it also features an 80-page photo essay by Ann Charters, an icon of literary photography whose images of the Beats have occupied our imaginations for decades. At over 160 pages, this Tavern Books edition of Tranströmer's groundbreaking book-length poem is the most comprehensive in any language. We are waiting in anticipation for this book to hit the shelves. We've already pre-sold over 300 copies. For those of you who ordered your copies months ago, we thank you for your patience. We can't wait for you to hold this book in your hands. Cheers!

Tavern Recommends: Ai Weiwei Never Sorry

We were recently lucky enough to see this documentary of Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei at the Sundance Film Festival--and we HIGHLY recommend it. Here's a link:

Ai Weiwei is China's most famous international artist, and its most outspoken domestic critic. Against a backdrop of strict censorship and an unresponsive legal system, Ai expresses himself and organizes people through art and social media. In response, Chinese authorities have shut down his blog, beat him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention.

AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY is the inside story of a dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and blurs the boundaries of art and politics. First-time director Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai while working as a journalist in China. Her detailed portrait provides a nuanced exploration of contemporary China and one of its most compelling public figures.

Marfa Book Co. and Tavern Books

If you find yourself driving through West Texas be sure to stop by the Marfa Book Co. in Marfa. This book store is owned and operated by poet, artist, editor, music producer, and activist Tim Johnson. This is truly one of the finest indie book stores on the planet, and we are thrilled to say that Tim is stocking our complete catalog.

Cheers!

Tavern recommends: 40 Watts by C. D. Wright

C. D. Wright's 40 Watts has just been released by Octopus Books in paperback. This collection features 40 small poems by Wright. And they are STUNNING. Here's a sample:

BACK FORTY POEM

a barn held up by a pitchfork
surrounded by field on field
of wildflowers butterflies
cow pies beyond which
the snake-infested woods
the high-voltage fence
the big-stripe inmates

For those of you unfamiliar with Octopus Books, click here for more info. Our hats off to this great collection! This was printed in an edition of only 600 copies, so get while the gettin's good.

Cheers!

Thanks White Pine Press!

Many heartfelt thanks are due to Dennis Maloney of White Pine Press for his recent (and very generous!) donation of over 1,000 books to our Book Drive for Rural Oregon Libraries and Tribal Libraries. Dennis sent us some of White Pine's finest titles, and lots of them. This shipment of books showed up at our door via semi as a shrink-wrapped pallet that had to be unloaded by forklift. We can't wait to pass these books along to the libraries involved in our donation program. This project has exceeded our expectations, and we're thrilled to be taking part in getting great books of poetry into the hands of the reading public. Here's to White Pine Press and Dennis Maloney!

White Pine Press is a non-profit literary publisher, established in 1973, which publishes poetry, fiction, essays, and literature in translation from around the world. For the past thirty years we have been at the forefront in bringing the rich diversity of world literature to the English speaking audience. We seek to enrich our literary heritage; to promote the cultural awareness, understanding, and respect so vital in our rapidly changing world; and to address complex social and human rights issues through literature. 

Cheers!