lummox update – fall 2013

Lummox Update – FALL 2013

The medico’s continue to carve me up…I lost a toe in late May. Finally back on my feet in September, but still haven’t worked the labor gig yet (may never at this rate). Just found out the Doc who operated on my toe didn’t do such a good job and I may have another operation looming. The skin Doc is taking biopsies…what’s next head shrinking? So, I’ve been trying to make my bones selling poetry and my services as an editor/poetry mentor. Right! You can guess how that’s going…so buy a book or two (see below), you don’t even have to buy one of mine! Or pickup some lummox swag! It’s all for a good cause…and saves me from having to come to you, hat in hand, begging for loose change (so embarrassing and humiliating).

Congrats to Lummox Authors Christine DeSimone and Rick Smith for making it into the Mal Pais Review, a dandy quarterly review out of Santa Fe, NM.

BIG DOINGS A-COMIN’!

The second issue of the LUMMOX Anthology will be out in November. 222 pages of poetic wonderfulness! Aside from the usual excellent poetry, this issue features interviews with Kevin P. Sullivan, co-founder of the San Luis Obispo Poetry Festival (30 years old this year!); former U.S. poet laureate Mark Doty; Judith Skillman, author of Broken Lines – The Art & Craft of Poetry; and Anne MacNaughton & Peter Rabbit, founders of the Taos Poetry Festival. There are also numerous essays on the craft of writing. This is the PLACE issue and some of the poets included are: Michael Adams, John Bennett, Dan Fante, Patricia Fargnoli, Michael C Ford, Ronald Koertge, Lyn Lifshin, Gerry Locklin, + over 170 other poets!

This year the cover price has dropped to $25 BUT you can order a pre-publication copy for only $20! Just go to www.lummoxpress.com and click on the LUMMOX 2 link. And while you are on the website, check out the Poetry Kit – a great gift for that poet in your life! We also have Tee Shirts & coffee cups for sale…support your local Lummox!

Next year Lummox Press, in association with Nine Toes Press, will publish a collection of poems inspired by NPR and PBS entitled, Liberal Media Made Me Do It! Edited by Lummox contributor, Robbi Nester, it will be a good book to be a part of…I have written 2 or 3 poems that were inspired by something I saw or heard on PBS…if I can do it, you should be able too. If you’d like to contribute to this anthology, you have until February 28th, 2014. Go here for further details.

Also coming out in November…a chapbook by wunderkind new-comer Mende Smith entitled Veritas Cabaret, which Josh Wagner stated, “Mende Smith slings lyrics that cling to the back of the throat.” And a first full-length collection by Alex Frankel entitled Birth Mother Mercy. Rounding out the year, we have two dog books. Though the dog days traditionally come in August, this year they come in December! Whispering in A Mad Dog’s Ear by Rick Smith (his 3rd book with Lummox) and What The Wind Says by Taylor Graham (Taylor has worked for over 30 years with Search & Rescue dogs, this is their story). Preview some of these books at the Lummox Press Issuu page.

Judith Skillman’s book, Broken Lines, is out and sales are starting to pickup. This is a wonderful book designed to help you improve your poetry, no matter what your skill-set. Broken Lines has been hailed as a must-have addition to the writer’s reference shelf, right next to The Elements of Style. $19.99 + S&H. Order direct from Lummox Press.

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN…

Sadly, we lost our good friend and poet Michael Adams at the end of Sept. Mike lost his battle with cancer on the 28th. Those of you who were fortunate enough to get a copy of his book STEEL VALLEY know what a tremendous loss this is for the Colorado poetry community as well as our world-wide readership. I shall be publishing a small tribute chapbook in Mike’s honor in December and, hopefully, his last manuscript tentatively entitled NEW POEMS – 2010 to 2013, next year. Preview it here.

Need a little poetry in your ear? Download Eyes Like Mingus – you’ll feel better, I’ll feel better…we’ll all feel better, at least for a little while! The Raft of Morphine is particularly poignant, given Mike’s recent departure…

ONE LAST THING

2014 marks 20 (twenty!) years of the Lummox Press! Twenty years? Really? How can this be? Look for some specials in 2014 to commemorate this achievement!

Well, take care of yourselves, my friends…

Editors Note: Please have a look by clicking here… and visiting RD Armstrong’s Lummox page.

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