Billy Childish's Army

Pictured right and below is Billy Childish's Army, a pre-production formation of his poem booklet for the Poems-For-All Series. The pictures were taken Sunday afternoon (4/23) as I got booklets ready to be given to Billy Childish and to be distributed at his reading that evening at Old Ironsides. Childish got about 80 to do with as he pleases; 120 were dispensed to the audience. Another 200 didn't get made in time and are now being set about by myself and others.

Tim Foster who helped bring Childish to Sacramento is also largely responsible for securing the poem from Childish for publication in the series.

The cover art incorporates Childish's own artwork. On the front cover is a self portrait taken from his painting titled, The Potential Pyschopath II (2005). On the back cover are elements of his painting, Burning in Water Drowning in Flame (1982), named after the Charles Bukowski book pictured in the original painting (but not on this PFA cover.)

615, 616 | Karyne de Contreras

Designed these today after a polite email from the author asking when the $%#^^$ her poems would be published. (Actually, she was very nice about it.) Answer: within the week.

611 | Hannah Tello

I was fortunate to come across the Hannah Tello's poetry in Crawdad Nelson's Tough As Nails MySpace group (which has proved to be a showcase for some interesting poets and poetry.) Just finished the design for her first poem in the series (which I requested after its presentation in the group.) There is some nuanced overlay going on with the cover imagery that may not be readily discernable in the .jpg version above, but its classical art superimposed over classical art (following references made in the poem.) The little green guy proffering a bottle obviously represents absinthe (duh.)

The Book Collector

The Book Collector
1008 24th Street
(between J & K Streets)
Sacramento, CA 95816
(916) 442-9296
bookcollector@sacfreepress.com

Hours:
Monday - Saturday, 10 to 6pm
Sunday - 11 to 4pm


The Book Collector is a used bookstore located in Midtown Sacramento. We've been in business since 1995, celebrating our 11th anniversary in February, 2006.

The Book Collector is a general bookstore with books for readers and collectors. The name does throw some people off, since it suggests a store full of collectible books. We were a book dealer cooperative when we first opened and back then we did focus on collectible books (hence the name.) But for the last eight years we've been a general bookstore emphasizing affordable books in categories like literature, poetry, art, history, religion, children's, cooking, and science.

Our emphasis is literature and poetry. And we pride ourselves on having one of the largest selections of local writers and poets in the Sacramento area. In 2004 we received a Best of Sacramento nod from the Sacramento News and Review as the "Best place to buy Local Poetry."

Events & Reading Series
The Book Collector is home to two regularly scheduled poetry readings in addition to other occasional readings, book signings and an irregular fluxus aktion or two. The Rattle Snake Press holds its monthly reading every second wednesday of the month (7:30pm). The Poems-For-All Second Saturday Series (8pm) features poets during the monthly Art Walk held in midtown.

Home of the snake
TBC is the proud "home of the snake." Spearheaded, masterminded, and inspired by poet/publisher Kathy Kieth, Sacramento's-own Rattlesnake Press represents an amazing outpouring of energy in the name of the literary arts. Available for sale at the store are over 22 titles in their Rattlechaps Chapbook Series ($5) including poets like Joyce Odam, Susan Kelly-DeWitt, James DenBoer and Victoria Dalkey. Also available are titles from the Snakerings Spiralchap Series ($8) featuring poetry with visuals in a larger, spiral-bound format. And pick up the many free publications offered by the press, including: Rattlesnake Review, the quaterly journalzine of poetry, arts, photos, reviews, and articles; Snakelets, a magazine of poetry by and for kids ages 0-12; Vyper, a journalzine of poetry and art from teens 13-19, and; littlesnake broadsides, issued monthly.

Poems-For-All
The Book Collector is also the headquarters of the Poems-For-All miniature chapbook series. To date over 600 chaplettes half the size of a business card have been published, featuring poets and writers from around the world. On most occasions, a selection of PFAs are available for you to take (free) when you visit the bookstore.


Other bookstores
We are happy to recommend the other general used bookstores in the downtown/midtown area. Just a few blocks from us is Time-Tested Books at 1114 21st Street and there's Beers at the new location on 10th & S Streets. Both are exceptional used bookstores worth repeated visits!

547, 548 | Izzy Kaminski

Worked on the covers for Izzy Kaminski's two poems today. An British poet, izzy expressed some interest in forming his own Poems-For-All like project in The United Kingdom. The more miniature poetry chaplettes out there the better, I say!

What kind of guest refuses the body of the host?

What kind of guest refuses the body of the host? A line distilled from a Victoria Dalkey poem. (The notes don't say which one.) The poem Reading a Used Book was "Excellent," as was the sentiment that years from now you (we) might find ourselves reading this poem from a used book. "Sometimes you have to drown to fuck a mermaid." -- John Dorsey. "everything starts here..." (from the notes written one's journal. --Jane Blue)

Overheard...

Rolling past the bookstore on a skateboard he turns to his friend, says "That's not how I roll."

Photo Galleries

Images from the March Poems-For-All exhibition can be seen at http://www.kodakgallery.com/poems-for-all. (password: maybe)

Additionally, there are galleries of photos from other literary events in and around Sacramento, including those taken at the S.A. Griffin, Ellyn Maybe, John Dorsey, Robert Roden, Lob, Scott Wannberg reading; the Rattlesnake Press 2nd Anniversary Reading, and; the Anatole Lubovich Memorial.

More galleries will be added, so check back often. I have an archive of images from events going back four years that I plan to upload as time permits.

The password will change occasionally. You'll find the new one hereabouts on the PFA website.

417 | Geof Huth

Poet Geof Huth will be visiting Sacramento this week, which is the perfect opportunity to show off the cover for his PFA contribution which was designed by Kevin Porter.

For those of you in the series visiting Sacramento, do send me email in advance and I'm happy to make copies of your booklets for you to pick up at my bookstore at 1008 24th Street.

The best minds of our generation...

Last night (5/8) HQ filled to overflowing for what was described on the Sacramento Poetry Center website as "American River College students present an interpretive reenactment of the 1955 'Six Poets at Six Gallery' poetry reading during which Allen Ginsberg first read his seminal poem Howl."

I've been posting event reviews both here and at the SPC blog because I think it's important to report on those events that make up the local literary scene. The effort is largely one of promotion; getting to people the who what and where of things. Something of an annoying habit has evolved from this process, however. As you might expect, not every reading, not every poet I encounter has been enjoyable. Instead of just coming out and saying that, I've instead found myself articulating such disappointments in private emails with fellow travellers in the poetry community. I do so while keeping a smiling-happyface-isn't-everything-great! approach to the more public posts. This is disingenuous.

In some small effort at honesty, I submit my reaction to last night's Howl, written privately, when it didn't really have to be:

Tonight's reading was a bit of a strain. I'm all for novice efforts at poetry (and encourage them), but the whole effort came off as soul-less. Not one of the readers had any sense of cadence or timing. Just a little of both would have helped a great deal. And it was amusing that Howl, a poem that awakened a generation to the idea of radical revelation in staid times, generated titters and giggles at words like cocksucker, asshole, etc. Allen Ginsberg... meet Beavis and Butthead.

In a recent interview, Neil Young noted that he'd been waiting for a songwriter from this generation to come forth with some musical antithesis to the darkening mood in America brought on by the War in Iraq and the Bush Administration's corruption of empire. No one stepped forward, he said, so he set out, once-again, to produce a protest album. Similarly, I wondered how many present at last nights re-enactment really got how much impact Howl had on a generation as a cry from the wildnerness, in desperate (heartbreaking) times? That time is upon us again. And I'm still waiting for those voices to emerge from the wilderness.

Sacramento Poetry Center: Donald Sidney-Fryer reads the poetry of George Sterling

Sacramento Poetry Center: Donald Sidney-Fryer reads the poetry of George Sterling

Bob Dylan films at Kabinet

Kabinet has a great line-up of films for May under the "Happy Birthday, Bob!" Theme. Check out details for each screening at www.kabinet.org