Five Tips on How To Make Perfect Chapbooks

(by Christina Anne Taylor of Middle Island Press)

I share these tips for self-publishers as well as for competitors who need guidance on how to improve their craft for the good of all. Caughtcha!

1) Begin with clean hands and a clean surface. There is nothing more grotesque than seeing smudges on paper, be they from dirt or jelly donuts. I begin with a clean table cloth and clean hands washed with a standard bar of soap that will ensure no oily residue.

2) Fold no more than two sheets of paper at a time. It’s time-consuming but a crisp crease is important, and to fold too many is to increase the likelihood of ironing wrinkles into the pages. There is no undoing wrinkles except by reprinting pages.

3) Use top-quality staples in your saddle stapler. (You do have a saddle stapler, yes?) It sounds small, but get the “premium” staples, because there is no surer way to make a new book look instantly used than by pulling staples and restapling.

4) Use a heavy-duty paper cutter (you know, the ones that begin at $130). It’s a wise investment if many chapbooks will be made. It allows you to trim three or four books at a time without books sliding toward the blade, and without deep indentations on the top and bottom books as the cutter secures the stack.

5) Use top-quality paper. 16-lb copy paper encased in 65-lb cardstock looks as cheap as it is, so please do your words a favor by packaging them in a way that shows that your words deserve respect.

Okay, make that six tips. If you feel a bit intimidated or just don’t have the time, hire an experienced subsidy publisher to do it for you. It can cost less than all materials needed to begin.

“Do What You Love”

A surprising number of times, writers have said to me, “work your magic,” and it always takes me to the memory of a coffee mug that I received as an office party gift some twenty-ish years ago. On the mug were lines of quotes, and I’ll never forget one in particular:

“Do what you love.” –anon.

I vowed to do just that to the best of my ability for the rest of my life.

Many years later and beyond employment, the household cash stash had dissipated and we (two bright but mildly dysfunctional creative types) were in need of maintaining basic necessities somehow. At some point I opened a book of quotes to a random page and read a quote by Aristotle:

“Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, therein lies your vocation.”

I enjoy weaving magic into my existence and assuming a higher sense of purpose, so I took it as a guiding message. I decided to grow Middle Island Press which combines my inherited meticulous craft skills, an uncanny eye for spotting things that are “out of place,” and learned visual-spatial experience. It weaves these gifts with my love of poetry and my anti-tech love of books in hard-copy so I can turn pages and rest my eyes as I read.

Indeed, I understand why people choose the word “magic” in summing my craft of chapbook design and presentation. It is because I do it with my whole heart (in part because I am dealing with the hearts of others through their poetry). Many people believe that business and emotion should not commingle, and I understand, but I “do business” with my heart and it has spoken of its effectiveness in little luxuries not afforded in a few years until recently, so…

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the ambitious writers who have allowed me to create a vocation of “doing what I love,” and have also allowed me to upgrade my coffee back to the original Starbucks in time for my 40th birthday.

ENJOY!

Windows to the Ocean (and a Fine Introduction) by Mohineet Kaur Boparai

Windows to the Ocean (by Mohineet Kaur Boparai) is being finalized and is available for pre-orders now through Middle Island Press. We are excited about this collection for a few reasons: 1) the sensibilities of her poetry are unique in contrast with the Western mindset; 2) this young poetess amazes me with her wisdom and accomplishments (see her biography here); and 3) she has included her own introduction which is an essay in itself, and so I would like to share it here (having obtained her permission).

Enjoy, and don’t forget to purchase an extra copy of her book for a poetry-loving friend.

Windows to the Ocean Introduction:

Windows to the Ocean begins from hints. Immensity never burdens us. The universe never becomes a weight, because it comes to us in bits and pieces and through windows. What would it be like if we experienced and perceived everything at once? Life is about minuteness, about our minuteness, which ironically makes us moving- we think- to immensity. And yet, in our day to day life, we are aware somewhere, instinctively of our vulnerability and littleness. Life is all about escaping this littleness. When I write poems, I try to get over my minuteness. I try to become immortal. And yet immortality is only cultural. We can never know if we are always already immortal. Thus, poetry in a big way is cultural but tries in a misinformed way to be universal. Not only writing poems, but every kind of human attempt at knowledge is a jostle with our minuteness and an attempt at immensity. In this sense, poetry is like any other occupation. Only, it is not so conscious. There is more serendipity in poetry than in ordinary knowledge. This is what creativity is like. It is sudden, is a stumbling over, a chance meeting, and has a flow like dreams.

This book is an impression of the minuteness that infuses life with meaning through its meaninglessness. Poetry comes from what impresses on the mind and the spirit making it both imaginary and prophetic. Imaginary poetry does not mean that it is limited to the inborn and inherent creativity of one’s self. Prophetic poetry, on the other hand, does not mean that it is merely a communication from without; it can very well come from the prophetic voices that are inside a person’s being and life. The poems in this book are based on the minuteness of day to day life as perceived by limited human perception. In an age which is philosophically scientific, but is becoming philosophically imaginative, I indulge with poetry that is a mix of the two. It is universal in tone and hence speaks to humans in general. On the other hand, the poetry in this collection uses images that are personal and hence also exudes personality of the author in particular. This collection lies somewhere between confession and universality in its extent. Humans in general create the world (that is cultural) to understand the universe. This book, too, is a world. This world is both cultural and pseudo universal because the universe is seen through the microscope of culture and hence is never a firsthand vision. The world is a human creation to understand the universe. Thus all books are a world in themselves. Something is always left out but isn’t the world essentially incomplete?

The frailty of the body, the limitlessness of the soul, the idea of the relation between the body and the soul, but also the reversing of the ordinary notions of both the body and the soul, I found later are some of the movers of poetry in my book. The soul and the body of life come up in accidents. If there were no accidents, we would not know either body or soul. How does the body and soul emerge in life, is the root also of the emergence of poems in this book. The love poems in “I Keep Realizing Love, Dispelling My Own Fears” begin from a personal experience of love, but are not personalized. They move away from the soul, “the body is pulled from the soul” and they open “windows to the ocean” where life began.

This book about the bits and pieces of life ironically seemed complete in its sweep as I walked to each poem. And after writing every poem, the world was suddenly incomplete all over again. This kept the process of writing going. The poems came not because I knew the truth but because I knew nothing about the truth. Every time I was intimidated by a tree in a photograph, an empty cup or even colours, I wrote a poem to record my awe. In these recordings, sometimes, I reached the understanding of the objects and experiences I wrote about, but this understanding was always partial because before I understood the universe, I had to understand the sweep of language and what was in the human and universal unconscious, and hidden from direct view.

My poetry from the first collection has moved to this one in one major way. It has become philosophical rather than merely perceptive of physicality. It has attempted to enter the sphere of the unconscious more consciously. Often the meaning in poetry does not come prior to writing, but after it. When the complete poem, if there is one, is read, it seems that new meanings uncurl and the author’s meaning becomes not ‘the’ meaning but ‘a’ meaning in the several meanings that the poem takes on. A poem is inexplicable and has no edges like the constantly expanding universe that we live in. For the author to contend that the poem has specific meanings according to her and that she knows all the meanings of the poem, would mean an arrogance that surpasses patriarchy and colonialism. Such an author must be thinking that she is Divinity. On the other hand, all humans in their respective professions are nanotechnologists. We are all shoveling some kind of nanotechnology in our lives and trying to reach the immense through the minuteness. Immensity is formed of molecules, oxygen is molecular, and emotional arousal is cellular and molecular in essence. The smallest bone in the human body is the stapes that is in the ear. Catch the poetry, sprinkle it on the grave of the invisible and enter the mirror palace that stands on the end of the world.

Mohineet Kaur Boparai
April, 2012

MIP Release: The Pathway by Raymond Neely

We are happy to present The Pathway which is Raymond Neely’s second release through Middle Island Press. Its subtle resonance is that which lifts the reader from here and now and into the higher and grander realms of being as only poetry can do. Pick up a copy of The Pathway through the MIP website and soon through Amazon.com.

Raymond is also our most recent guest for “Coffee with the Poets.” Read the interview here at Poetica~Place.

Coffee with Raymond Neely

Regional poet Raymond Neely is known of the locale of Mercer County [WV] as live reader and arts organizer, and throughout greater Appalachia as author of Appalachian Rivules as well as other chapbooks. His most recent publications include The Bluestone Review, Holler, and A Word With You Press. He is most devoted to the active practice of the art form of poetry.

(Read his full biography at Middle Island Press.)

****************

(“Coffee With the Poets” interviews
are conducted by Christina.)

MIP: Hi, Raymond, and how do you prefer your coffee?

RN: I’ll have my coffee very strong with a lot of cream and a lot of sugar. Thanks for asking.

MIP: Having gotten to know many aspects of you through your heartfelt and insightful Appalachian poetry, it’s difficult to decide where to begin, so I’ll just start at the beginning. How long have you been writing poetry, and what initially inspired you?

RN: I began writing poetry at about the age of fourteen, and have loved doing it everyday since. I was first inspired to write poetry by the stars themselves.

MIP: That’s beautiful. In what forms did those early expressions manifest, and how do you feel that your poetry has evolved over the years?

RN: It took the form of “Gazed a Boy and His Father” of our latest project The Pathway. I’ve over time incorporated more forms and rhyme into my poetry from this early free verse writing.

MIP: You live close to the land as well and are certainly in tune with its communicative subtleties. What aspect of nature moves you to write most of all, and why?

RN: Both the Bluestone and New River Valleys are extremely inspirational to me about nature. The places are of pristine and extreme natural beauty, unforested, and ancient are the rivers and their valleys.

MIP: You connect with that which is pristine, where ancient truths echo from their source. This reflects in the clear imagery that elevates your poetry to a higher plane. If you were to be remembered for one stand-out quality within your work, what would it be, and why?

RN: It might actually be the use of nature imagery and the interactions between humans and nature.

MIP: Along that same note, if you were to be remembered for one singular poem, which would it be?

RN: Perhaps, “You Are My World.”

You bring forth before me
the life and essence
of the lands and places
for me, my mind and life.
Your emanations gladden the posies,
so sunshine smiles,
colors live, and
all that is does give.

You spurn the green from dormancy
and inspire romance.
You pull the lighted petals apart,
Cause the roaming rivers’ rapids,
and allow to live my labors’ love.
You beautify the dove.

You make the days and lands and skies
livid before my eyes.
You make me hear its sounds and cries.
All loves us.
You are my world.

MIP: Empowerment of femininity through a gentle sort of living hyperbole! I love it. We share a mutual love of chapbooks, and you have crafted several of your own collections in a time-consuming, “made with love” fashion that is inspiring. What drew you to chapbooks as a means of delivering your poetry?

RN: I was first inspired to begin producing chapbooks by a few competitions which I wanted to enter, and by delighting in the compilation of poems into collections with commonality, with a backbone of relatedness. I also love the length and easy-to-read nature of the chapbooks. I love the artwork and format of chapbooks.

MIP: How many chapbooks of your poetry have you compiled, and which one is your personal favorite, and why?

RN: I have ten chapbooks which are penned and compiled, some awaiting professional publication. My favorite of these is entitled The Pathway that I hope will soon be available from Middle Island Press.

MIP: Certainly. The sense of accomplishment that comes with completed projects is the reward for hard-working, goal-oriented poets, and speaking of The Pathway, [with time elapsed between the onset and completion of this "coffee break"] it is now being finalized. How do you feel that The Pathway differs from your earlier work, and what are your hopes regarding this collection?

RN: The Pathway is actually of my earlier work, and I only hope that it finds readers, and, where it does, that the poems may become dear to them.

MIP: You are active in your literary community. What projects have you been working on to enrich the literary art of West Virginia?

RN: Live readings, meetings, publishing…

MIP: You are too humble but I’ll respect your brevity. Your home and heart is in Appalachia. What is it about Appalachia that you strive mostly to communicate to others?

RN: Natural beauty is a primary aspect of Appalachia that I strive to communicate, and also, that which is “hillbilly” or stereotypical of our people makes for a good subject to write about.

MIP: I agree. “Get ‘r done!” as they say around here. You are a poet of the people, and I wish you an enthused and attentive readership in your life and beyond. *Clink*

****************
(Raymond’s new chapbook The Pathway as well as Appalachian Rivules can be purchased through the Middle Island Press website. He has also self-published several chapbooks.)

MIP Release: roots and branches by Stephen Godfrey

I am proud to say that over 50% of the authors who have published through Middle Island Press have returned to us for a second chapbook.

Most recently having published his second collection through us is Stephen Godfrey of West Virginia. His roots and branches is certain to be a success equal to his Homespun Truths, which is to date the top seller of Middle Island Press. Support Mr. Godfrey’s efforts to share his words by purchasing a copy through our website. (Click here.)

O Dear Deer, by Linda Dove

(Reviewed by Christina Anne Taylor of Middle Island Press)

Upon reading O Dear Deer, by poetess Linda Dove, I am not surprised that it stood out as a winner amid over a hundred entries in quest of the 2011 Eudaimonia Chapbook Prize. Once a manuscript and a living aspiration with tendrils extending in all directions, O Dear Deer, is now perfect-bound in Penguin style and presented by Squall Publishing for the instinctual intrigue and intellectual delight of poetry readers.

In its entirety, O Dear Deer, is an intense and multi-faceted perceptive unveiling of the paradox of ramifications within a courtroom situation, a search for a killer, and a need for direction. It tells of the irony of conclusion without resolution; it illustrates many forks of possibilities, like the antlers of deer, like the branches of trees, like veins in the soil washed away by water, like pathways scrubbed clean by the seasons.

All the while, the reader’s mind is swirling in sensations of intelligence confused, of clarity diffused, of truth torn in a million pieces and cast to the west wind, and yet…

Linda Dove is brilliant innately and through her studies, and she seized an opportunity to do what all great poets aspire toward: She analyzed a real situation and raised a multi-verse of abstractions to life in a picturesque panorama of clever metaphor.

From her first poem, “Voir Dire”:

We keep branches of want in our heads
and gather little else, our arms heavy

with the dead wood of deer.

The situation told through a series of poems is erudite with meaning, which makes Linda’s use of couplets a welcome format that allows space for the mind to process thoughts…thoughts that flow, thoughts that divide and branch out in wonder, thoughts that engage the reader in the same search as the jurors who seek the evasive. It’s so hyper-real that it’s surreal…

Congratulations to Linda, a winner worthy of the prize!
Purchase a copy of O Dear Deer, through Amazon.com.

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Linda Dove holds a Ph.D. in Renaissance poetry and taught literature and creative writing for many years. Her full-length collection of poems is In Defense of Objects (Bear Star Press, 2009). Poems have been nominated recently for a Pushcart Prize and as a finalist for the Robert H. Winner Award from the Poetry Society of America and have appeared in such publications as the L.A. Review, Diner, Horse Less Review, and the North American Review. She lives in Altadena, California with her husband, daughter, and two Jack Russell terriers.

TRENDING: Publishing Services That Pay (Upon Being Paid)

(By Christina Anne Taylor of Middle Island Press)
Fortunately, it has become common enough that writers pay for publishing services that it should not be an embarrassment for writers to compare notes amid their peers. In my opinion, there are some extraordinary writers who paid someone to turn their manuscripts into marketable books (I have published some exemplary poets, myself).

It’s a relatively recent trend: publishers focusing their efforts on accommodating the transformative “pandemic” of writers with needs to share their words in a tangible fashion. Some are up front with services (the publisher’s time) charged to the writer. Others are more subtle with “free publishing” bound to a book-buying requirement, but the price of “books” then pays for the books, the publisher’s time, and then some. Another downside to the “free publishing buy books” strategy is that the author comes to realize that his/her thin paperback must sell for $30 (and it must sell) for the writer to ever dream of recompense (when, truly, a reasonable retail price is likely lower than what the publisher charges the author). That’s why I stand behind up-front subsidy publishers in practice. It’s a step up from the vanity label, it’s not criminal, and it’s win-win.

Either way, it’s all the same: far more often than not, writers pay to get their words in print, and it’s obvious that they have no problem with it (considering the mind-bogglingly immense industry that has manifested of necessity).

HEX To Feature “Lord & Lady”

Our friends Henry, Arrowyn & Markus of HEX magazine have been hard at work the past few weeks in preparation for the Spring & Summer 2012 issue of HEX. I (under the name Christina Finlayson Taylor) have within it a brief narrative essay on the subject of love within marriage. Arrowyn gets credit for titling it “Lord & Lady” for me, and how uncannily suitable it is! I am excited to be a three-time contributor for HEX (this being my first prose contribution).

Show your support for people who work from the heart to water the World Tree in celebration of “Old Ways for a New Day” by subscribing or ordering a copy.

And by the way, SPLENDID SPRING TO ALL! We in West Virginia are enjoying sunny daffodils and forsythia. It doesn’t get much more cheery than yellow amid green.

Birdsong & Sunshine

My muse isn’t a goddess, but the sun, the moon,
and all beauties that flutter and bloom.

“Reawakening”

Birdsong awakens my slumber,
gathers my mind from the grave.
It never was dead,
it never was dead,
but buried, aware
it was warmer down there.
Whitewash of winter,
summoning spring.
In currents of color,
I dream.

Appalachian Rivules

Middle Island press has just released Appalachian Rivules, an insightful collection by poet Raymond Neely of West Virginia. It is available through the MIP site and soon will also be available through amazon.com. Copies can also be purchased directly from the poet (contact middleislandpress@yahoo.com for his contact information).

An Interview with Andrew Buckner

Andrew Buckner, along with acting in three Independent motion pictures, is the author of two full-length poetry books. They are The Human Condition and Song of Survival: Poetry in the key of Freedom. His children’s book Grand Poppa’s Favorite Chair and his dual autobiography Into Existence’s Immortal Flame have just been released. He has also released poetry through Middle Island Press:
The Flesh Is a Prison and Unity Amidst Our Suffering. As a screenwriter, he has co-authored the horror work Whispers in the Darkness with Russell Stiver. Currently, he is working on his first novel.

***************************************

(“Coffee with the Poets” interviews are conducted
by Christina.)

[Andrew joins us from Ohio, dressed smartly and greeting politely, and he takes his coffee with French vanilla creamer.]

MIP: Beautiful September day! Being that poets have sensibilities for these things, what is your favorite month of the year, and why?

AB: My favorite month of the year would undoubtedly be October. With the beauty of Fall abounding and the hot suns of summer officially vanquished, it is always the time when I find myself most inspired by nature.

MIP: You just released another collection of poems through Middle Island Press: a two-volume collection called Unity Amidst Our Suffering, and you also have a child forthcoming. (Congratulations!) When your little one is big enough to listen to your poetry, which poem amid Unity would you be most enthused to read aloud to him or her, and why?

AB: Although I speak of many subjects such as police brutality, political corruption and the horrors of racism, which are absolutely vital subjects for older children to be made brutally aware of, I would have to chose “When the Curtain Falls” as the single poetic work I would be most excited to read to my child. It is a true First Person recollection from the eyes of an innocent that tells of what a genuinely wonderful person my grandfather was, and of the crushing pain and sorrow I felt as I watched him helplessly fall victim to Alzheimer’s. The reason I selected this for my child to hear of would be for two reasons. The first would be the great chance it would be to find out about what a genuinely terrific individual, and true inspiration, the child’s great-grandfather was to me. My second reason would be to learn of the unfailing, eternal bond and positive impact of family which is the perfect lesson for a father to carry on to the next generation of his kin.

MIP: Your mode of expression reads as lyrically on the page as it sounds to the ear when you rhapsodize. How long have you been honing your poetic skills, and what qualities do you strive for?

AB: I would say my first few fledgling attempts at poetry were in either the First or Second Grade when I first became mesmerized with the advanced spoken word poetry style of Rap music and also rhymed verse on the page. So in that sense I would say it has been over two decades, yet it wasn’t until I was about twelve or thirteen when I began to make it a goal to write as often as I could. Perhaps it is because of the roots of my inspiration to write being woven from a foundation of musical verse that expressed the problems of society as well as the agony of the oppressed but these have become the qualities I have striven for. As I became older and became inspired by the works of poets such as Langston Hughes, Maya Angelou, and Saul Williams, I swore a silent vow to myself to always inject content into my personal verse that reflected the social and political struggles of my time. Being that these forms of oral and penned verse have had such an overwhelming impact on me, I wanted to craft my style as a bridge between poetry on the page and the popular form of spoken word that is Rap. Also, as in the work of Hughes, Angelou, Williams, as well as Hip Hop emcees such as Tupac Shakur, whose honesty and brilliance guide me to this day I would like to assess awareness, honesty and knowledge of the events shaping the world around me as the cornerstone of my work.

MIP: Your poetry in general is extremely passionate and at times boldly strident, yet you are a gentle person ruled by heart. If you could improve something within your community, what would it be?

AB: We definitely need to see more organizations and programs which help those in need: after school programs, shelters for the homeless, more kind-hearted charities and gatherings of activists. These are absolutely vital in aiding not only a community, but the world entire to thrive and grow in a way which is absolutely necessary to any area in our age. If we were to see more of these types of assemblies it would not only provide the positive change mentioned locally, but also it would give those who are involved a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem which are the seeds which make good men and women become great.

MIP: Much of your poetic work is free-flowing in style, but you also have a talent for crafting forms (as becomes evident in your being selected to contribute to an anthology titled A Fancy of Formalities). What is your favorite form to write in, and what do you like about it?

AB: Of the various forms I’ve worked with, I would say that I enjoy Sestinas the most. The reason for this would be that it really underlies that various meanings a single word can take on through repetition. Also, I admire the unpredictable, avant garde style a poem in this form usually takes.

MIP: Is it also your favorite form to read, or do you have another preference for reading enjoyment?

AB: Sestinas are truly beautiful poetic works for many reasons but being a lifelong admirer of the works of Shakespeare I feel more inclined to say the sonnet is my favorite form. The iambic pentameter is a bit daunting at first but the end result is well worth the patience and dedication the form demands.

MIP: What are your literary aspirations?

AB: My aspirations always have been to right the wrongs of the world through the eternal, undying power of words as well as leave an honest chronicle of the thoughts, attitudes, political and social events of my time. I have always believed that is every serious author’s duty to do so. This way, we can have someone hundreds of years from now who is curious as to what it would have been like to live in our time look at our works and get a clear vision of the era in which we dwelled.

MIP: So you aspire for your words to be a bridge that facilitates the unity of cultures and societies, and you wish for the people of 2200 to have a clear picture of 2011. That sounds ideal! Would you consider yourself an idealist in the realm of poetry?

AB: Yes, I would say I am an idealist in the sense that I whole-heartedly believe words can shape our present as well as our future. Also, I am an idealist in my manner of thinking that with my aspired hopes, my penned sentiments will be able to paint a timeless portrait of my age for the sake of upcoming generations.

MIP: It is my pleasure to share your words with the world, and I wish you many successes in poetry and in life. May I also share some lines from one of my personal favorite poems of yours?

AB: Absolutely!

MIP: “Incriminating Time” (Lines 16-40)
from Unity Amidst Our Suffering, Volume II

So inescapable, incriminating time!
For I can see the encapsulating gates
Of adulthood and its prison-like barbed wire
And the streetlights of old age rising,
Yet I’m
Still lost in adolescence’s cerulean fire!

So inescapable, incriminating time!
Release me,
For I am fed up with being stepped on!
Losing my strength,
Being a forsaken pawn
At arm’s length!

More than anything I’m tired
Of sinking beneath life’s murky undertow!
More than anything I’m tired
Of believing I can survive
This ocean of distress and its infuriated flow!

For who is this man in the mirror?
I think I realize him
Less and less every day!

Though in this moment,
These eyes of green
Shall never see clearer

The reason
Why I must exist this way!

MIP: Forthright honesty from your innermost depths is one of your endearing qualities, and on that note, thank you for allowing me an opportunity to interview you.

AB: Thank you for this great opportunity!

*************

Andrew Buckner’s poetry and prose can be found online through various websites, and his most recent collections can be found through Middle Island Press.

Publishing Poetry in Full Bloom

(By Christina Anne Taylor)

Beyond the art of poetry, publishing poetry is an art in itself. That is why Middle Island Press has been publishing in full color since the birth of Hills & Hollows in 2008. It goes beyond the cover and extends into the text itself. (Why not?)

Below is a “transplant” article that I wrote some time back:

“The Hundred Hues of Black”

In the realm of printing, black is more than black. As page-designers develop their eyes, they can see when black looks too blue for an ivory page, or too brown against the cool hues of an image placed on an opposing page. In this, they learn to opt for a hue of black that is most complimentary to the overall work (images and paper considered). It is a valuable application that lends a genuine look of quality.

Middle Island Press has realized and employed this concept. We analyze the colors within the cover or a predominant image provided by the writer. We take the primary or secondary color within the palette and run it through the “more options” software process which displays a range of color from the lightest tint to the darkest shade within a given hue. One of the darkest shades becomes the custom-made “black” that Middle Island Press is proud to apply as a particular chapbook’s text color.

Black is not so narrow-minded in its all-absorbing value. If black were only black, no colored ink would be required in attaining the right finished look. That would save a bit of money. If black were only black, it would also save time, but time is an absolute necessity for creating professional-looking chapbooks sealed with the mark of perfection.

Redefining Poetry

Redefining Poetry: My Liberated “Definition” and the Experience That Formed My Final Conclusion

(by Christina Anne Taylor)

It’s a progressive process as our experience shapes our perception in positive ways, and a gift to the heart as the perpendicular mind also expands to accept broader possibilities. In poetry, it wasn’t so long ago that I acquired the narrow-minded view that poetry must be an exercise of mind, a demonstration of mastery of form and structure. I suppose that’s because I was one who could apply the rules of a given form relatively quickly and painlessly. Furthermore, despite the necessary skill, sophistication isn’t required for versifying or formal “word play,” so I qualified, and like all writers who take their craft seriously, I wished to establish my place, so to speak – just like everyone else who discovers their “destiny” in poetry only to learn in time that there are a million other living poets with similar aspirations.

It took me a while to descend from my high horse and accept that my own smallness in poetry was very real. It was the discovery of my smallness that helped me to let go of the competitive edge (which was at times defensive and at times offensive, and almost always uncharacteristically aggressive). In my smallness, I became capable of stepping beyond myself and realizing the satisfaction, the joy derived through helping others to share their poetry.

Spending time as a micro-publisher has opened both my mind and my heart (not of polite necessity but of innate impulse), and has helped me to reshape my own definition of poetry. As a non-competitor whose ego fell some time ago and only rears its head when another ego taps its shoulder for play, I no longer need to justify a narrow definition that is exclusive of most everything that doesn’t resemble my own style. I have come to the common conclusion that there are as many acceptable definitions of poetry as there are poets and readers of poetry – and that’s okay. So it is my opinion that if it was written with the intent of being poetry (however “good” or “bad”), then it is poetry in the mind of the poet who crafted it, and that’s all that really matters. If you call it poetry, then I respect your personal definition and the fact that within your perception, my definition does not apply.

That said (and moving into the emotional realm), I give more credit to heartfelt expression than I once did, because I have been more moved by a lot of free verse than by villanelles and sonnets (etc.) which do not aspire to touch people’s hearts so often as to impress their minds with skill. It is a desire to establish one’s respectability in literature rather than to share a bit of one’s heart by way of words. I have spent my time analyzing the execution of poetic structures for my own self-satisfaction, for my ability to “connect” on a literary level of order. But I no longer need to judge poetry – I need to feel it!

To form-crafters, poetry is the music of mind. I prefer to call it the music of the heart, the song of emotion as it fuses with language (regardless of technique), and as a glimpse of life experience and/or an expression of creativity, it is that which is worthy of recording and sharing with anyone who wishes to listen.

Though I will undoubtedly respect and play in form and meter for the rest of my life, it will be a far greater challenge – a real exercise of courage – to let go of my literary crutches and stand on the strength of my thoughts alone, and to let them shape my lines as they will.

Middle Island Press Poets’ Recent Successes

Congratulations are in order for some of my favorite literati:

Poet ANDREW BUCKNER (author of The Flesh Is a Prison, Unity Amidst Our Suffering and several other works of both poetry and prose) has another book due for release on February 15th: The Catharsis (Requiem Press).

Poetess YELENA DUBROVINA (author of The Dying Glory, forthcoming through Middle Island Press) has written a full-length book titled Russian Poetry in Exile which was recently accepted for academic publication.

Poet STEPHEN GODFREY (author of Homespun Truths) has a radio spot on the 1380 AM station of the Hinton, WV area (February 3rd at 10:50 a.m.). On March 20th, he will be doing a reading and book-signing at the Princeton Public Library (6:00 p.m.).

I am continuously edified to represent such a fine and respectable caliber of creative people.