News, Reviews, Other Stuff

Our February e-zine is up.  Poetry by Roman Belo, J.H. Martin, and Garett Holden. Fiction by Elif Alp, and Eric Erickson. Photography by BL Pawelek. Edited by Tyler Gillespie and Lauryn Allison Lewis. Enjoy.

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Curbside Splendor Publishing will be part of this year’s Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) annual conference in Chicago, February 29 through March 3 at Hilton Chicago and Palmer House Hilton, tables F26 and H3.  Curbside authors Michael Czyzniejewski (Chicago Stories, March 2012) and Franki Elliot (Piano Rats, October 2011) will be at the table at various times to sign their books.  More on that soon.  

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AWP Parties:

We like to party, and so we’re partnering with fellow independent publishers to put on the following exciting off-site events.  We hope you will come and party with us.

Wednesday February 29:

AWP Kickoff Party at Empty Bottle (1035 N. Western Ave.) 9pm to close. 

FREE only with an rsvp to rsvp@emptybottle.com with “AWP Party” in subject line and full name of attendee in the body of the email.  One attendee per email please. 

Music by James Greer of Guided by Voices and friends, Mutts, and John Dugan of Chicago Stone Lightning Band and Nick Myers of Vee Dee.  Literary readings by authors James Greer, Chris Mazza, Lindsay Hunter, Sam Pink, Jeff Parker, and more.  Presented by Curbside Splendor, Other Voices Books, Featherproof Books, Artistically Declined, Orange Alert, and This Zine Will Change Your Life.

Pre-party at 7pm presented by Canarium Books featuring readings by Srikanth Reddy, Dan Beachy-Quick, Anthony Madrid, and Darcie Dennigan.

http://www.curbsidesplendor.com/curbside/blog/awp-2012-chicago-kick-off-party

Thursday March 1:

AWP Karaoke Idol Dance Party at Beauty Bar (1444 W.

Curbside Splendor’s Resident Romance Poet Delivers a Valentine’s Day Album to the delight of Fans Everywhere.

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Chicago, IL, February 14, 2012:  Chicago-based publisher Curbside Splendor announces the release of its first album, Undying Light:  Charles Bane, Jr. Reads His Poetry.  Undying Light features globally published poet Charles Bane Jr. reading select poems from his first book The Chapbook: Poems by Charles Bane Jr. (Curbside Splendor, July 2011) and his forthcoming book New Poems (Curbside Splendor, Fall 2012). 

“Mr. Bane exudes a command of classic, romantic poetry through his written verse.  But his voice takes this command to another level all together,” says Victor David Giron, President, Curbside Splendor.  “Listeners of Undying Light will find themselves transported to a lovely place they have only imagined.”

The cover of Undying Light features an illustration by Canadian artist Isabelle Pruneau, illustrator of The Chapbook and New Poems and includes piano accompaniment by Vincent Hurier, a burgeoning young musician from Cincinnati, Ohio.

“While Undying Light represents a new direction for Curbside Splendor,” Giron added, “it is entirely consistent with our vision to explore the variety of ways literature can be experienced.”

Undying Light can be purchased via digital download at http://curbsiderecords.bandcamp.com/album/undying-light-charles-bane-jr-reads-his-poetry.

Praise for Charles Bane Jr.:

"Charles Bane Jr.'s work does not only stand on the shoulders of giants, it shrinks them, makes them less daunting and more manageable, and translates their seemingly forgotten ideology into a modern tongue. He accomplishes an extraordinary task in balancing the past with the present, all the while communicating a sense of unison and heartfelt understanding between poet and reader.

When I was first given Rose Metal Press’ They Could No Longer Contain Themselves (TCNLCT) by my editor, I was at a loss as to how to go about reviewing it.  As my first—and only—anthology to date, tackling not one, but five, different chapbooks of flash fiction seemed almost insurmountable.  So, I did the only thing I knew how: I started with the first chapbook. 

The first four chapbooks in the collection were finalists in the Fourth Annual Short Short Chapbook Contest.  TCNLCT opens with a collection from John Jodzio, entitled “Do not Touch Me Not Now Not Ever.”  These stories tote the line of absurdity, taking readers from Renaissance fairs to panty stealers, from bad eggs and lazy sperm to children sleeping soundly in a car trunk.  The characters do things and act in ways that are barely believable, but yet you feel for them—could see yourself doing the same thing if you were there.  Each story comes alive, their deeper meaning hidden below the surface of what few words populate the page. 

The second collection is from Mary Miller called “Paper & Tassels.”  Miller writes with such precision that entire lifetimes are condensed into single paragraphs.  Stories written in the second person are so powerful that you forget you’re even reading, transplanted instead to a country club parking lot or watching your father do things you don’t yet understand.  Easily the most powerful collection of flash fiction stories in the anthology, Miller’s “Paper & Tassels” will make you want to read it again and again as soon as you’ve finished. 

“Dear Mother Monster, Dear Daughter Mistake,” by Elizabeth J.