Hosho McCreesh's Blog, page 18

Words, Artwork, and Animation...

One of the best things about the small press is the community we can find there — often times a wide-reaching and vast array of talents and ideas. Our friends over at Alternating Current Press have worked diligently over the years to build up and support writers of all stripes, giving home and voice to an entire ambitious stable of talent. So when they come knocking, I always do my level-best to deliver. Above are two covers: the first, Jennifer Roche’s 20 is a sparkling and prescient collection of erasure poems using Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as source material. I was lucky enough to do the interior art — pen & ink + watercolor quadtychs of seafaring imagery that, like the book itself, leaves behind only hints of the larger original. The second cover, as you’ll see, was one I got to blurb. Larry Beckett’s Wyatt Earp is an astonishing accomplishment that was exhaustive in its historical truth and honed down to an exquisite, razor-sharp vision as rich and full-blooded as any film. Both are worth a look, and if you’re headed to AWP, can be found at the Alternating Current table or any events they’ll be part of.

Then there’s this:

It’s a sneak-peek at the 4 forthcoming animations that will accompany the A DEEP & GORGEOUS THIRST - UNABRIDGED AUDIO release.

Helluva Decade...

Pictured here are the various editions of a few of the highlights from the last decade. It seemed to be a good time to take stock — remind myself of the victories. I imagine it’ll be hard for me to top this — poetry, short stories, a book of letters, and my first novel — so I thought I’d take this opportunity to thank the editors and publishers who took a chance on the bigger projects over the last 10 years.

Jason Behrends of Orange Alert Press, Bill Roberts of Bottle of Smoke Press, Ryan Bradley of Artistically Declined Press, and Pete Lally of Pig Ear Press. I also managed to place some work with Johnny & Giselle Brewton’s BAGAZINE and a couple of offerings from Michael Curran’s Tangerine Press, as well as a re-release of two out-of-print titles with Matthew Ward’s Mary Celeste Press and a new imprint from Bill Roberts, Ternary Editions. I sure can’t thank each of them enough for believing in my work.

With the release of Chinese Gucci, I also started my own DrunkSkull Books, and with a cache of ISBNs under my arm, I will likely look to self-publish the occasional new title from here on out as well

And while I’m giving thanks — let me thank each of you reading this for your interest and support over the years. Your support of writers, small presses, and.artists makes the whole dang thing possible and that means more than you know to me.

3 Anniversaries...

This time of year is always special for me. It brings with it 3 separate personal anniversaries:

It’s been 35 years since my mom left the hospital following her first cancer remission — a tremendously important thing for my entire family. Her Life Day is always worth celebrating.

It’s also been 20 Years since my very first acceptance. It’s hard to believe I’ve been stalking the wilds of the small press for two decades now.

And last but not least, it’s been 1 year since the release of my first novel Chinese Gucci.

To commemorate these 3 high-water marks, use the code 3ANNIVERSARIES between now and December 1st to take 30% off everything in the STORE.

Nothing Small About It...

The Reverend Kane has included me among 10 Poets You’ve Never Heard Of But You’re Going To Love — which is awful of him, and feels great to be wedged in among that talent.

I know I probably sound like a broken record when it comes to the small press, but I thought I’d give a little glimpse into why I feel it has so much to offer readers. What follows are a few small press books that, for me, stand out for either their content, their production, or both — as evidence of just some of what the small press can do that the larger presses either won’t or can’t.

I first stumbled on Albert Huffstickler’s work in the late 1990s, when diving head first into as many small press magazines as I could get my mitts on. Poem to poem, and magazine to magazine, his was one of the very first otherwise unknown names I began to recognize as consistently great. I can’t remember if we ever appeared in the same magazine, but I never missed one of Huff’s poems if I saw his name among the contributors. This book, Why I Write in Coffee Houses and Diners: Selected Poems seems to speak to everything Huff loved: people as poems, diner coffee, a warm plate of grub, a few cigarettes and delving deep into the human mysteries of love and of sadness. His lines are profoundly exact, and ring like a centuries-old church bell.

Another early discovery was the tough-nosed yet deeply-felt struggle and strength of Anne Menebroker’s work. She was in a lot of my target magazines — places I tried with early poems — and there was always something so steady and maternal about her lines, and a down-to-earth sense of no bullshit about her work. She was just rock-solid poem to poem. This book, Tiny Teeth, collected loads of work from Wormwood Review — a true titan among the small press scene for decades — and I jumped at the chance to have so many poems gathered together in one spot.

Mike Kriesel’s Feeding My Heart to the Wind is, like haiku-poets of old, razor-sharp and sweeping, with compact poems covering an array of rural, Midwestern experiences with a piercing eye and open heart. To top that all off, the production by sunnyoutside — letterpress covers, saddle-sewn — showed me that a book need not be huge to read huge. I was honored to eventually land a manuscript at sunnyoutside, and shocked to share a press with such amazing writers.

Quiet as a press, with books only landing occasionally, yet when Centennial Press does one up, they really shake the branches. Like Huffstickler, William Taylor Jr’s poems were (and are!) great every time I ran across them and when this book was coming out, I was really excited. And when it landed on my doorstep — even more so. The beautiful card cover and thick, rich paper stock along with typesetting that paid attention to every detail, I realized that the limits of design — so often forced by cost — sometimes just need to be ignored. I knew Centennial to have a strong base in graphic design (their Anthills magazine was proof positive), and it convinced me that finding professional design help was a must. I love everything about the book, and have even given away a couple copies.

It was with Rebecca Schmejda’s Cadillac Men that I witnessed a giant artistic leap, convincing me that not only did she have laser-focused collections in her, but maybe a novel too. Rebecca asked me to do some cover art, and NYQ Books (associated with the poetic torch-bearing New York Quarterly) was nice enough to use my atmospheric (if slightly imperfect) work. The book, while traditionally produced, felt like a high-water mark at the time…with pro-level distribution and a proud feather in both Rebecca and my respective caps! The cast of characters is riveting, and the anger and compassion for each in turn is unblinking.

And last, the project that is most responsible for my approach to small press projects and productions, the project that destroyed Bill Roberts’ wrist — but was worth it! — as Buddha smiles by Charles Bukowski. Bill, and his then-new Bottle of Smoke Press, letter-pressed 20 individual baseball-card-sized broadsides of Bukowski poems who, in 2003, was a towering figure in the small press. Using a Kelsey 5”x 8” hand press, a mere 2000 impressions later this masterpiece was complete. Click through to scroll through each, and marvel at what a single artist is capable of when determined to do something gorgeous.

Not all of these books can still be found, but if you ever do happen on them, I certainly recommend giving them a shot. Maybe you’ll be inspired to dream bigger yourselves — but even if not, you’ll have some damn fine poems to revisit over and over.

The GORGEOUS Vocal Talent...

Here’s a little teaser highlighting the terrific collection of vocal talent assembled for the A Deep & Gorgeous Thirst - Unabridged Audio project.

I honestly can’t thank each and every one of them enough — so if you see them before I do, thank them for me!

Spring 2020...

146 Drunk Poems.
37 Voices.
3.5 Hours.
3-discs
1 insanely good time.

Shop News...

Get Thee Behind Me, Bumper Sticker!

Just a quick update here: all our original COLLAGES are on sale until the end of the month. Look for the discount code in the banners on this site.

And if that ain’t enough, we’ll soon have the first official KEEP BOOKS DANGEROUS bumper stickers in the house. Pre-order in the webstore today. Both the collages and the new bumper stickers are half off right now…so, I mean, why not, right?

Virtual Ownership?!

I saw a few calls recently for a return to physical ownership of products instead of the virtual ownership of media that we all believe we “own" with a purchase. It’s probably just a matter of time before some corporate overlord decides to block us all from accessing whatever stuff we thought we’d bought. After all, isn’t that the unwritten promise of late-stage Capitalism?

It’s hard to overstate the convenience of streaming, of digital downloads of movies, books, and music. We can carry entire libraries in our pockets. I get that…and I’m not opposed to it.

And yet, fail to update a dying machine or lose your back-up drive — and even without the shareholders voting ‘to hell with the customer base’ — what did our money get us?

What is actually ever ours?

These are just a few of the gorgeous, handmade books I’ve been lucky enough to have out. They often come with extras and freebies — from temporary tattoos and stickers to broadsides to original collage covers and laser-etched flasks. They are all things that, should you own one, won’t just up and disappear in the night.

I talk about it only because I have such admiration for the artists behind such creations — folks kind enough to share their tremendous talents with my humble projects. To me, this remains the most amazing thing about the small press — that together we can do things like this.

Yes, there aren’t massive print runs or enough sales to ever rub two nickels together.

No, this stuff is never covered by the powerful promotional engines behind big publishers, or mention much across bookish social media. That’s too bad…because there are those few people and places out there who still do care about such things.

Anyhow, this was just a way to say — if you are one of the people that support such things — thank you. Keep supporting these publishers and people who try harder to go the extra mile.

I promise I’ll keep trying to make the coolest stuff I can.

Until then, I guess all this will remain our little secret…

3 Poets Volume 2

It’s go time!

3 Poets Volume 2 is now available — 50 copies

If you don’t yet know the work of either Jose Pepe Arroyo or Mike Mahoney, my two compatriots in the American trio on display here, I suspect you will someday soon. Both have been writing with the passion and insight necessary to carry them over the years, and, to my mind anyways, both are criminally under-published. That puts the folks at East London Press on the cutting edge, and makes this an especially exciting book to be a part of.

The book is described as: "A super slim volume of poetry, letter pressed, hand-sewn, hand bound and pocket sized. Featuring the work of Mike Mahoney, Hosho McCreesh & Jose Arroyo. The books are of such dimensions as to be easily fitted into the back pocket of your jeans. Sexy is what they are and exclusive is what they will always remain.”

Publication date - 30th August 2019. Pre-orders now welcome. £4.99 per book plus P&P

East London Press, and all the gorgeous things they’re getting up to, is yet another outfit in the small but loyal crew of small presses out there working hard to Keep Books Dangerous, all of whom are worthy of whatever support feels right for you. Their books typically sell out, so if you know you want a copy — sooner is better than later. The book’s got a blend of old and new work from me, none of it published anywhere (if I’ve kept my bookkeeping straight), plus a chance to get to know Arroyo and Mahoney.

That’s a whole lotta love for your back pocket!

Something Like Forgiveness

Congratulations to Rebecca Schumejda, whose terrific new book is available from Stubborn Mule Press. Rebecca asked me to do some collage for the book, and little did I know the text and the images would pull together so well. It’s really a triumph for her, as she bravely pushes herself into some difficult new poetic territory, writing raw and close to the bone about a recent family tragedy. I consider it an honor to have just a small part in this ferocious and honest book, and encourage anyone reading this to go give it a look. The folks at Stubborn Mule went big, doing beautiful full-color art within the pages of this book-length rumination on potentially forgiving the unforgivable.