Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene: Robin Stratton

Showing posts with label Robin Stratton. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

The Essential Doug Holder to be released in the Summer of 2020

Click on pic to enlarge

New from Big Table Books.....

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Poem During the Plague" Poem 17

Robin Stratton is the author of four novels, including one which was a National Indie Excellence Book Award finalist (On Air, Mustang Press, 2011), two collections of poetry and short fiction, a memoir in poetry form, and a writing guide. A four-time Pushcart Prize nominee, she's been published in Word Riot, 63 Channels, Antithesis Common, Poor Richard’s Almanac(k), Blink-Ink, Pig in a Poke, Chick Flicks, Up the Staircase, Shoots and Vines, and many others. Since 2004 she's been Acquisitions Editor for Big Table Publishing Company, Senior Editor of Boston Literary Magazine since 2009, and she was Director of the Newton Writing and Publishing Center until she moved from Boston to San Francisco in 2018. Now she leads the popular "Six Feet of Poetry" and "Fiction by the Foot" series.

AFTER THE VIRUS

After you finally stop thinking this

is no worse than the regular flu

After your last dinner party when you

didn’t hug hello but you recklessly hugged goodbye

After your last guilt-free non-essential

jaunt to Crate & Barrel

After the last puzzle is done and

the banana bread is gone

After you’ve posted on Facebook the covers of

ten record albums that influenced you most

After you’ve sought recommendations for

movies to watch and books to read

After you’ve accepted that you can’t stay

focused long enough to read a book

After you’ve watched season one of

Gray’s Anatomy again, and also season two

After you post your 40-year old high school graduation picture because

you think that will somehow bring comfort to the class of 2020

After you see that drone shot of

the mass graves in New York City

After you hear that people have 14

days to claim the bodies of their loved ones

After you stop being shocked

After you stop keeping track

After it starts to feel a little normal

After you’re able to go back to reading a book, even if

it’s only a biography of the Bee Gees

After all of that what

will you do and who will you be

After the virus?

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Longtime Somerville, Mass. Poet and Publisher Received Allen Ginsberg Award

Gloria Mindock

By Doug Holder

(Somerville, Mass.)

For years I heard about Gloria Mindock the founder of the Cervena Barva Press, but I never met her in the flesh. She was the editor of the Boston Literary Review for a decade; she was involved in avant-garde theatre, ( her theatre company won a Rockefeller Grant) as well as being an accomplished poet and a strong presence in the arts scene in these parts. About 10 years ago I finally got the chance to meet her. I had noticed that she started a new venture--the Cervena Barva Press. I was intrigued--Somerville has always been a home for small presses--and so I want to see what this lady was about. She agreed to meet me in the basement of the now defunct Finagle-a-Bagel in the heart of Harvard Square. Our early meetings of the literary group the Bagel Bards met there every Saturday. At first glance she seemed to be very reserved and a bit nervous. But we all know what can be beneath placid waters. Gloria Mindock proved to be a dynamo -- with an infectious, zany laugh. With the help of her partner Bill Kelle, she has published over a hundred titles, including translations, plays, fiction, poetry collections and has received international recognition for her work--especially in Eastern Europe.

The Ibbetson Street Press of Somerville published her poetry book Blood Soaked Dresses that pays tribute to the Salvadoran people who suffered greatly during their civil war in the 1980s. I am also glad that Mindock published my first perfect bound collection of poetry The Man in the Booth in the Midtown Tunnel.

Mindock has now established a studio and bookstore for her press in the Somerville Arts Armory and has established a number of reading series, the current one being The First and Last Word Reading Series with her cohort Harris Gardner.

Mindock is an accessible, warm and kindhearted women, but doesn't suffer fools gladly.

Robin Stratton, the founder of the Newton Writing and Publishing Center presented Gloria with the Allen Ginsberg Community Service Award on May 14, 2016 at 1PM. For more info go to http://newtonwritingandpublishingcenter.com

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Special Reading: Newton Free Library: Robin Stratton Presents: Big Table Publishing Poets: Feb 9, 2016

Robin Stratton will be our host. She is the founder of Big Table Books and the Newton Writing and Publishing Center. The poets reading this evening are ones that she has published recently.