Hosho McCreesh's Blog, page 19
June 1, 2019
Deep Surface Fissures...
Way back in 2002, my 3rd collection of poems originally launched. It was a self-published venture, limited to 50 copies, each with ‘fissures’ cut into the black linen stock that glowed like lava when held up to the light with its red vellum endpages. Deep Surface Fissures Revealing a Furious Molten Core... was a proud step towards putting out something beautiful and unique, something I’ve aimed to do throughout these last 19 years or so.
Now I am happy to announce that the book is back in print after well over a decade in limbo…and I have a few copies over in the STORE.
This is all thanks to Ternary Editions, an imprint seeking to unearth and reprint an entire catalog of great small press books otherwise lost to the ages. The re-release saves the book from greater obscurity because, like many small press gems with limited (and collectible!) print-runs, once the initial run has sold out are all but impossible to get a hold of. Ternary aims to keep these gems in print with affordable reading editions available from their store as well as online retail worldwide.
The particulars: Poetry from Ternary Editions (2018), 76 pages, ISBN 1937073785
For a limited time, get a free copy of BLOOD-RED when ordering FISSURES from OUR STORE. (Just mention this offer in the notes of your order!)
May 15, 2019
Taco Fairy CD
FREE with any ol’ order from the STORE (at least for a while) — A CD of yours truly reading the short story “Taco Fairy.”
For those who don’t know it, in “Taco Fairy” we wonder what will $2 get you at a nearby tacqueria?
The answer: A world of stupid trouble.
Many thanks to Jose Arroyo for the glorious woodcut artwork.
May 2, 2019
Handiwork...
If you have been following along here, you may have recognized a trend — I believe in the power of handmade and artisan editions. I submit work to places that push themselves to do more with their productions, and I support presses that take on projects designed to fill in the gaps that exist in publishing. There are tons of under-served readers whose appetites are wildly different than the prevailing winds from big publishing, and more and more those readers are looking to the smaller, independent presses.
It makes perfect sense: these are the only presses where the stakes are manageable enough to truly take risks. If you follow along here, then you already know the usual suspects: X-Ray Book Co., Tangerine Press, Bottle of Smoke Press…but now East London Press is joining the fight. Ibiza, a limited edition beauty from your friend and mine, Joseph Ridgwell continues in the tradition of travel yarns. Like Cuba, Mexico, the drunken hijinxs are sure to be punctuated by the eternal search for elation, and production-wise looks to share the same sensibility than those fine offerings from Pig Ear Press.
The small press is like small batch distillers, local farmers, and auteur filmmakers in that all have fewer hands in the jar and fewer compromises to navigate. The whole damned enterprise is just more self-contained. Chances can be taken. And gorgeous, handmade touches can not only be part of a release, they can be the reason for a new project.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
April 3, 2019
-Scare-Devil-
Scare-devil or "You know, words won't scare the devil…"
I’m proud as hell to land on the gorgeous pages of another Tangerine Press project. Scare-devil or "You know, words won't scare the devil…" is described as:
One-off 'chapbook journal' of new poetry; Volume two, issue two in an ongoing series. (Previous issues in the series include: Counterfeit Crank, Judas-hole, Quincunx, Schizzo, and Turpin's Cave if you’ve seen them, you know why I’m so jazzed!)
The release is limited to 100 numbered copies, £13 plus shipping
28 pages. Format approx. 6"/150mm wide x 225mm/9" tall. Handsewn at the Sick Tangerine workshop. Strathmore Grandee balboa blue card covers; front cover artwork embossed in silver; 100% recycled, acid-free, text paper; Fabriano Tiziano white endpapers. And the other contributors? Check out this murderer’s row of talent:
Michelle Storer, Adrian Manning, Anngo Genorga, Meena Kandasamy, Anna Wall, Joan Jobe Smith, Billy Childish, John Dorsey, Ford Dagenham, Jessica Jane Charleston, Hosho McCreesh, Claudia Bierschenk, Aimee Campbell, Paul Hawkins, Howard Cunnell, Karina Bush.
There might be presses somewhere making books as gorgeous as Tangerine Press…but there aren’t any that make them better!
March 24, 2019
Underground Lovers
Abbie Foxton and her friend Russ Daum had an expansive and insightful discussion about Chinese Gucci over at Underground Lovers. It’s a great way to dive a little deeper into the book, considering characters, themes, and choices throughout the book, and they both read the book and its intentions well. Of course, as a writer, it’s really a gift to get to see your book and characters discussed in such a meaningful way…so my deepest thanks to them both for taking the time to put this together.
March 9, 2019
Trailer Park Quarterly...
Many thanks to Rebecca Schumejda and the folks at Trailer Park Quarterly for publishing “19 Literary, Musical, and Cultural Allusions in Chinese Gucci.” It was fun to go back through the book and pluck these out.
Did you catch any of these with your initial read?
February 27, 2019
Yr Boy Finally Got Into Yale!
Well, sort of.
By Lauren Manning - Flickr: Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, CC BY 2.0, Link
Here’s an exciting announcement from your friend and mine, Bill Roberts — the madman behind Bottle of Smoke Press — whose archives have just been acquired by The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University.
What that means around McCreesh HQ is that there will be super-snazzy hardcover copies of (at minimum) the following titles, maintained in perpetuity ‘til the sun (or some such) takes it all away:
MARCHING
ATHENAEUM
SUNLIGHT (for OA Press)
THIRST (for Artistically Declined Press)
CHINESE GUCCI (for DrunkSkull Books)
Plus any issues of BOTTLE I was in, along with some broadsides, correspondence between Bill & I, and possibly an unpublished old manuscript.
Apologies for the click-baity misdirection…I’m just super-jazzed to be part of the whole enchilada. Since 2002, BoSP has been putting out really gorgeous books by heavyweights and newcomers alike, a proud body of work that can soon be researched.
Viva la small press!
February 18, 2019
Mañana...
Tuesday Night.
Slate Street Cafe Wine Loft.
5pm
Light Apps + Beer & Wine.
Veladoras! Prize Piñata!
Free stuff while it lasts.
See you there.
February 13, 2019
Are You Free Tuesday?
Remember to mark your calendars folks — next Tuesday is the shindig.
Here is a peek at just a few of the above average prizes that await you!
The Official Chinese Gucci Thank You Party
19th February 2019
5pm
Slate Street Cafe
Wine Loft
515 Slate Ave NW
Light Appetizers + Beer and Wine
Prize Pinata
February 5, 2019
Clash!
Ben Devos over at Clash Magazine was kind enough to give Chinese Gucci a read and here’s a taste of what he had to say:
It’s about that time in life, just beyond youth, where you’re not old enough to have a full scope of the consequences to your actions, but old enough for people to hold you accountable. It’s about that first realization in the real world that you shouldn’t trust everyone and that the people you should keep closest are the ones who have cared all along.
— Ben Devos, Clash Magazine
Read the review HERE.
