FUNDRAISING: EILEEN R. TABIOS BOOKS

[Please Forward]

FUNDRAISING: EILEEN R. TABIOS BOOKS

Dear All,

As Editor of the VERSES TYPHOON YOLANDA: A Storm of Filipino Poets, I am moved by the generosity of poets who've sent in their poems for this forthcoming anthology. In honor of them, Meritage Press has advanced proceeds from anticipated book sales to donate $100 to ShelterBox (http://www.shelterboxusa.org/) so that we can provide immediate relief. (Future other beneficiaries will be decided closer to book sales.)

However, due to the usual book production process, the anthology may not be out for a couple of months at the earliest. That's okay in the sense that fundraising no doubt will still be needed into next year to help Yolanda survivors rebuild. But, due to the time lag in releasing the book, I decided to run a more immediate Special of offering a package of my books for sale. All proceeds will be donated for Yolanda relief -- and all orders will receive a 30% discount on the future purchase of one copy of VERSES TYPHOON YOLANDA.

If interested in this offer, you can send a check made out to me (Eileen Tabios) for $42. This price does represent a 40% savings from the books' normal prices. The book packet will be comprised of the following titles below (links are provided to book info). Send check to Eileen Tabios, P.O. Box 361, St. Helena, CA 94574. Unfortunately, this Special is only available for shipment to U.S. addresses, as free shipping will be provided.

Eileen Tabios Books:
(2012) THE RELATIONAL ELATIONS OF ORPHANED ALGEBRA (with j/j hastain) http://www.marshhawkpress.org/tabios5.html

(2011) SILK EGG: COLLECTED NOVELS http://www.shearsman.com/pages/books/catalog/2011/tabios.html

(2010) THE THORN ROSARY: SELECTED PROSE POEMS & NEW (1998-2010)http://marshhawkpress.org/tabios4.htm

(2009) FOOTNOTES TO ALGEBRA: UNCOLLECTED POEMS 1995-2009 http://www.blazevox.org/index.php/Shop/Poetry/footnotes-to-algebra-uncollected-poems-1995-2009-by-eileen-tabios-169/

This Special Offer expires February 28, 2014 and as long as supplies last.

For queries: Ertabios@aol.com

You can send a check for an order without needing to alert me first. But if you email me, please note that I will be out of the country with limited email capacity in December. I will respond to your email but it may take me a while to do so. Orders received while I am out of country will be processed as soon as I return (expected to be no later than Dec. 20).

Best,
Eileen R. Tabios

POEMS IN THE TIME OF YOLANDA

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CALL FOR POEMS: A FUNDRAISER AGAINST YOLANDA


Mga Kababayan / Dear Filipino Poets,

Meritage Press is willing to publish an anthology whose net proceeds will go to relief organization(s) servicing the victims of Typhoon Haiyan (or Yolanda). The title: VERSES TYPHOON YOLANDA: A Storm of Filipino Poets.

Deadline: Nov. 23, 2013 (Yes, that's quick turn-around, but help is needed quickly!)

Submission: Send 1-3 poems. Send poems that, in your view, relate to Yolanda -- whether it's something you felt compelled to write as a result of the disaster or coverage thereof, or of issues related to Yolanda such as climate change, or of lessons that can be gleaned, or of hopes for improving the ways to survive or respond to such disasters in the future, or your "Beloved Philippines or Filipino" poems ... and so on. Poems need not be new as long as you feel they are relevant in some way to Yolanda and her lessons and other aftermaths.

Submmissions should be English poems or Filipino-language poems with English translation.

Email poems and/or queries to MeritagePress@aol.com

FUNDRAISING:
All net proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to Yolanda relief organization(s). I haven't had the chance to research this but will ensure the recipient(s) are effective helpers. As Filipinos gather to fundraise, please note that one can also order books to sell at your events (Meritage Press will work to give your fundraising organization the books at cost, and then your book sale "profits" can be donated to the relief organizations you support).

Poets, since your poems will be "donated," no comp copies will be given though you can acquire one copy at a discounted price. We're obviously trying to maximize sales proceeds to donate for Yolanda's victims. Maraming Salamat.

Thank you in advance,

Eileen R. Tabios
Editor


[P.S. This isn't the anthology referenced in prior post, but is a "sudden"-ly developed idea for obvious reasons...]

A PEEK INTO HOW MOI GETS HER BOOKS PUBLISHED

Love my publisher Marsh Hawk Press! I send them pretty thick manuscripts--see BRICK and SON OF A BRICK. Their fearlessness in the face of BIG POETRY (what commercial consideration?) inspired me, too, as a publisher -- see the two-volume bricks I've put out by Allen Bramhall and John Bloomberg-Rissman, as examples. (I could go on longer here as to how the poetry contest system and academic-assignment markets have artifically determined limits on poetry book length, but why bore us all...?)

Anyway, as ever, I recently sent Marsh Hawk a relatively thick manuscript for my next book. What does my savvy in-house editor say? GO BIGGER! I'm offering a reductive summary of what was a larger, more complicated discussion -- but the effect is (partly) I'm going longer again! Technically, one could say I just switched from a verse collection to a multi-genre collection. Heart Moi the multi-genre!

And one of the side-effects is reprinting some prose I've written on the visual arts ... which leads me to a morning email from an artist who expressed thanks for having first written on her. She's 31 now. Apparently, she was only 23 when I first wrote on her work and so it was quite meaningful for her. I learn that, just 8 years later ... but who's counting the years? Not Moi. I only count my white hairs.

Speaking of white hairs, I've had this idea for a long time -- that I keep all the white hairs I pluck out of moi purty head (yes, I know I'm not supposed to do it but sometimes it's like an addictive itch, like popping pimples). Then I use the white hairs to "draw" -- to make marks against, lessee, a white page so it can join the "white on white" genre, or against colored or black paper for a more dramatic impact. I could title it "Aging" or "Mortality" et al. But that titling would be too obvious, not complicated enough ...

... which is what my beloved in-house editor (whose name is no secret but I don't want to mention here because my blog jokes don't do justice to his intellect) said about my manuscript. Great poems but I might want to deepen its context/concept, include some "dialogic relations" (he's in academia; he talks this way sincerely).

I riposted, "Y'all just want more bricks by Moi. I know it!"

Unlike my shallow, jokey responses, he continued to go at length at how I need to stop futzing around and get back to widening the margins that currently propose the limits of poetry. I don't share my initial reply of BUT I JUST WANNA SIT ON MOI BUTT AND LAZILY FEEL IT GET LARGER! I mean, isn't it enough that the poems are good? (Thank you to the poet-editors who are currently gobbling them up for their journals -- I have 22 more new poems not yet published so shoot me an email if you want some.)

I'm also trying to save the world on another continent.

But, okay, you want more blather from Moi? On that, I can deliver asleep (and have to many an unlucky recipient). So, the manuscript that I thought I'd finished and finished titling? You know, REPRODUCTIONS OF THE LOST FLAG: STIGMATA SCULPTURES ...? That is now just Part I (a thick Part I) of my next book. Which means I have to go through another rumination of a new title for the updated, THICKER version. My first cuts at the title -- which I'm not totally satisfied it but share for the blog file are:

POST STIGMATA
PRAYING PAST STIGMATA

I know. Gotta keep ruminating.

And it's the least I can do to be part of Marsh Hawk Press -- a group of savvy, experienced poets who've been around enough to know that poetry's scope is not just radiant but can irradiate. And that'd be some ineffective radiation if you don't, ambition-wise, GO BIG.

Thank you, Marsh Hawk Press.

ON PUBLISHING ZOMBIES

Just when I thought I'd achieved EVERYTHING I could ever do in one's life, the Danes save me from Moi's hubris.

To wit, this week I received two copies of a book that I thought were sent as ill-suited review copies for Galatea Resurrects. I put them on the book stack for donations to the local library as I couldn't figure out why I would be receiving books with a book cover like this (definitely click on the images to enlarge!):

I know: que horror! Then, the slow gears in moi brain finally slipped forward another step and I realized, hey, they're published and sent from Denmark! Now, what is my relationship with Denmark? Oh yeah! There was a Danish publishing company who'd requested permission to reprint two Tom Beckett poems! Since I'd earlier published one of Tom's books, UNPROTECTED TEXTS. Sure enough, I flipped through the Danish book and on Page 38 saw two of Tom's Zombie poems:

And this is when I realize there is so much more to achieve in life. I mean, as a publisher, I hadn't realized that my goal was to publish poems that also would fit into an anthology like Conrad Kisch's HORROR! After all, look at some of the company:

This horrific book, though, is actually an educational text. It's used to facilitate creativity by middle-school aged students ... and of course at that age many such kiddos are into horror. Hence, the book also has pop culture representations, like Michael Jackson:

And guess who is a contributor, too? I bet, Mr. Tom Beckett, you never thought that as a poet you'd be in a book in the company of Stephenie Meyer! Who?, you ask? Actually, that was my first response, too. Well, that Meyer concocted the billion-dollar empire of the TWILIGHT movies!!

Ta-dah. I'm so amused at your company I'm going to emphasize it with a second shot -- and it's pure coincidence in moi choice that this second shot contains hunks ... as befits, of course, werewolves:

Oh, Edgar Allen Poe is also represented, but that's just clichetic at this point compared with the above company. I then shall leave you with the Study Questions for the children as a result of Tom Beckett's Zombie poems. Study Questions. I am so amused. Here they are:

--Why do you think zombies don't go to churches, synagogues, or mosques?

--Why don't zombies read scripture (religious texts), poetry, or pornography?

--Why does Tom Beckett say that zombies read telephone directories?

--Why do zombies eat cold pizza and warm beer?

--Why do zombies smell disturbingly sweet?

All great questions to facilitate the creativity of small people. Congratulations, Tom! An astounding, worthy result for some of your poems!

CARLOS VILLA, R.I.P.

Manong and Tata, it was an HONOR.

R.I.P.

ONE MORE TIIME FOR BEAUTIFUL EYES!

The "Holiday Special" for BEAUTIFUL EYES by Gayle Romasanta and Ramon Abad was so successful that I decided to extend its terms as a NEW YEAR'S SPECIAL through Feb. 28, 2013.  So if you're interested in ordering this very special bilingual children's book, you can go HERE for details or check out the lovely flyer below:

(Click on image to enlarge)

Feel free to email Moi at MeritagePress@aol.com for any questions!

BEAUTIFUL EYES FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

MORE INFORMATION on discounted pricings & free shipping over HERE!

UNIMAGINABLE SWEETNESS

is seeing your 82-year-old Mom see her very first book published!  Yep--first time author at age 82: that's inspiring!  Mom's book is DAWAC And Other Memoir Narratives, which was released in the U.S. but she only just saw her first copy last week when I went to the Philippines.  You see, Mom is bedridden from cancer now, which didn't stop her from knowing/feeling the  joy of her first book -- that first book is always special!  Here she is:

And here Mom is doing book-signings!  Grin!

I am so happy Mom experienced all this ...

Here's my cousin Dona at her sari-sari store, reading Mom's book (love these tiny stores that dot the Philippine landscape):

In fact, Dona will post a copy at her store for all the villagers to see that Mom wrote a book about them all!

This unimaginable sweetness of seeing your Mother experience her first book: Ay, nagsamit nga unay!

ALSO (ALWAYS!) FOR THE STUDENTS!

Meritage Press' fastest selling publication, to date, is BEAUTIFUL EYES!  Already on its third printing ... and you can see one reason why below -- it's the Cabinet members of Cal State Long Beach's Pilipino American Coalition:

CRACK MOI UP, why dontcha!  And you should order it to see what all the hoo-haa is about!

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

The International Examiner's review of CARLOS VILLA AND THE INTEGRITY OF SPACES, Edited by Theo Gonzalvez, hearkens a key component of Meritage Press' vision: expanding the light on what deserves our attention. The review begins:

How could this be? After reading Carlos Villa and the Integrity of Spaces, edited by American Studies Theodore S. Gonzalves, I was left wondering why, until this collection of writings, there had not been any significant acknowledgement of artist and teacher Carlos Villa in Asian American and mainstream art history scholarship.

Well, after all, you don't actually go to the canon to figure out what's really going on.  Check out the review HERE and, more importantly, check out the important Carlos Villa HERE.

LET US SEE EACH OTHER!

Meritage Press invites the public to what promises to be one of the most entertaining, cheerful and yummy book launches in the history of book launches!  To wit, the book launch for BEAUTIFUL EYES!

[Click on image for enlarged details]

WE EVEN WANT TO HORRIFY YOU!

My beloved kitchen table press, Meritage Press, may be small but as poet-writer-critic Kevin Killian once put it, "[It's] small but mighty!"  And now, UNPROTECTED TEXTS: Poems 1978-2006 by Tom Beckett, will have poems featured in Horror (CLOSE-UP), a themed book that will be used to teach 8th-10th graders in Denmark!

I know! Meritage Press, courtesy of Tom, is placing Zombie poems among Danish kiddos! Hey! Moi lives to serve you, World!

SAVE THE DATE FOR MY BEAUTIFUL EYES

Yeah!  More details later but do save the date for the Book Launch of BEAUTIFUL EYES by Gayle Romasanta and illustrated by Ramon Abad.  It should be in the afternoon of July 22 at the San Francisco Main Library.  It won't be your usual "book launch" -- this one will have a puppet show by the illustrator, music by "Lil Bits" (there was this punk band and then the band members had kids who then became Lil Bits -heee), snacks and even a pop up pastry shop by Dr. Dawn Mabalon (usually known for her incredible scholarly work!) and ... MOI!  Another illustration as to why this will be a special launch?  Check out this photo below (the girl is the author's niece):

This book always makes Moi grin!

KITCHEN TABLE PRESS

Want to know what a so-called "Kitchen Table Press" looks like?  Well, here's my kitchen table offering up the inaugural shipment of orders for BEAUTIFUL EYES, judiciously recycling mailers since I get so many from the review copies sent me for Galatea Resurrects.  I am also a tree-lover!

So, don't you want to support the press I headquarter on moi kitchen table?  BEAUTIFUL EYES is ... beautiful!  Share with your kiddos!

MOI WISHES YOU HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Yep, whilst I can receive Mommy Day Wishes, I actually send some to you, World ... through moi BEAUTIFUL EYES!  What am I talking about?  Just that my first foray into children's lit has just resulted in it being picked up by the San Francisco Unified School District for kindergartners at the Bessie Carmichael and Longfellow school.

How's zat! Love Moi some kindergarteners!

Which, by the way, means you need to pick up your copy quick (click on this LINK on how to do so).  Because it's a limited press run, it's perfect for a gift for your kiddo (even saving it for the holidays; it's not like there's anything like it out there!), and its copies may run out for textbook purposes!

GAZE INTO MOI BEAUTIFUL EYES!

[As a publisher, I'm so tickled to have the chance to publish this book. Please spread the word -- I promise it will enchant adults as much as the kiddos!]


[Please Forward]

MERITAGE PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT

 BEAUTIFUL EYES

A bilingual children’s book by Gayle Romasanta, Ramon Abad and translators Carmen and Pat Romasanta, in both printed chapbook and e-book formats

Release Date: 2012

Print chapbook: $12.00 from Meritage Press (email MeritagePress@aol.com)

E-book: $9.99 from Meritage Press’ Lulu account



Meritage Press is delighted to announce its latest release, the bilingual children's book Beautiful Eyes with text by Gayle Romasanta, Tagalog translations by Carmen and Pat Romasanta, and illustrations by Ramon Abad. More information is at its book link: http://meritagepress.com/beautiful.htm

Beautiful Eyes is based on the timeless motor skills and memory game taught to Filipino babies. An adult says to the baby, “Beautiful Eyes!” Based on memory, a baby will open and close her eyes, batting them for all to see! Beautiful Eyes also emphasizes the beauty that is the Filipino self. It aims to nurture this sense of self early on in the baby years for little ones to take into adulthood—and for adults to remember this sense of self as they read to their children.

This enchanting project can be ordered as a chapbook directly from the publisher for $12 + $2 shipping (email: MeritagePress@aol.com). It is also available from http://www.lulu.com/shop/gayle-romasanta-and-ramon-abad/beautiful-eyes/ebook/product-20064455.html as an e-book which can be read on iPhone, iPad, Kindle and other tablets that can read the PDF format. Kindle users may need to download the ebook to their computer then email the file to their Kindle. See Kindle instructions on transferring files to Kindle. For a full list of available devices, go to http://connect.lulu.com/t5/Digital-Media-eBook-Downloading/What-devices-can-I-view-my-eBook-on/ta-p/31639 (see 3rd column-PDF).

Meritage Press is proud to support this project, a needed addition to bilingual children’s literature involving Filipino culture.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR:
Gayle Romasanta was born in Manila, Philippines and moved to the United States when she was 1 ½ years old. When she was five she wrote a short story about the little people who lived underground. After this story, she knew she wanted to be a writer. Along the way she learned to play the violin, joined a funny theater group, went to art school, and had two babies. She continues to write and publish her creative writing.

Ramon Abad was born in Iligan City, Mindanao, Philippines and moved to the United States when he was almost 2 years old. When he was four he would draw on everything: on walls, in books, and on recycled paper from his dad’s work. Now as a grown-up he draws on a computer, but he still also draws on recycled paper.

Chapbook ISBN: 978-0-9826493-3-6
E-book ISBN: 978-0-9826493-4-3

For more information, please email the publisher at MeritagePress@aol.com

DEAR CHICAGO,

On behalf of Meritage Press and Barry Schwabsky, author of OPERA and [ways], you are cordially invited to

A CHICAGO READING: Barry Schwabsky
at Myopic Books in Chicago
Saturday evening, 7 PM, February 11, 2012!

Barry Schwabsky is a regular contributor to The Nation and ArtForum and has edited several books of art criticism, including Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting. He is the author of several books of poetry, including Opera: Poems 1981-2002 (Meritage Press, 2003) and Book Left Open in the Rain (Black Square Editions, 2009).

RESURRECTING THOSE POETRY BOOKS!

I don't know why public libraries deaccession poetry books. It's not like said libraries are for-profit institutions so why treat poetry the same way as out-of-date computer books or unpopular light fiction? Librarians--ye inherently cultural activists!--just make those books available! Anyway, here's another poetry book I plucked from a library's "freebie" section -- they didn't even bother to put it on shelves where they stock books for modest fundraising sales (I guess they, too, know it's difficult to sell poetry ... which is not a reason to deaccession them!)



Yep, Billy Collins didn't fare well at this library. But that's okay, I've placed it on my Community Book Shelf where it can have a second life by being yours for trade! So much for Mr. Poetry Bestseller...!

***

Great Recession poetry economics is even worse than the usual moronic oxymoron of poetry economics. For example, for the last fiscal year, I (as a poetry publisher) apparently generated net sales through SPD of $193.37. After covering my annual SPD distributor fee of $160, I net, yep, $33.37. Well, at least I ain’t in the red…

Nor do I want poetry publishers to be in the red! So I did my modest bit with this latest update to my BOUGHT POETRY List:

THE CURVED PLANKS: POEMS, A BILINGUAL EDITION by Yves Bonnefoy, Trans. by Hoyt Rogers

THE ERRANCY by Jorie Graham

THE BOOK OF MIRRORS by Frieda Hughes

STONEPICKER AND THE BOOK OF MIRRORS: POEMS by Frieda Hughes

PRACTICAL WATER by Brenda Hillman

Nevuh mind Black Friday. Give a poetry book or a book by a poet for the Holidays! For instance... As for Moi, I'm personally eye-ing THIS ONE as a Xmas present to moiself...! Because I know My Man! will not disappoint....! Do consider that a recommendation, too!


'

9.1.1

Thanks to all those sending birthday wishes...

Meritage Press author Luis H. Francia writes a column about "9-1-1" HERE for the Philippine Star, which movingly ends with one of the poems from his collection Museum of Absences.

Meanwhile, thanks to Lia Chang for sharing photos of the 9-1-1 Exhibit at the Library of Congress, curated by Reme Grefalda. Here's one shot of how my cut-up poem was cut-up-n-pasted, as well as a close-up thereof...

A HISTORIC NEW BOOK ON ARTIST CARLOS VILLA!

MERITAGE PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT
September 3, 2011

CARLOS VILLA AND THE INTEGRITY OF SPACES
Editor: Theodore S. Gonzalves
Release Date: Fall 2011
ISBN No.: 978-0-615-52120-6
Price: $40.00
For More Information: MeritagePress@aol.com, http://www.meritagepress.com, http://integrityofspaces.info (http://www.missionculturalcenter.org/MCCLA_New/gallery.html)

Meritage Press (San Francisco & St. Helena) is delighted to announce the release of CARLOS VILLA AND THE INTEGRITY OF SPACES, edited by Theodore S. Gonzalves. This long-overdue book takes a critical look at the life and work of one of the most celebrated Filipino American artists of our time and a leading light in the San Francisco Bay Area’s rich history of creative arts. The book includes essays and poetry by Bill Berkson, Theodore S. Gonzalves, David A.M. Goldberg, Mark Dean Johnson, Margo Machida, Moira Roth, and Carlos Villa; and features a gallery of 77 color and b&w images from Villa's career.

ADVANCE WORDS on this project include:

“For this beautiful book, cultural studies scholar Theo Gonzalves brings together the most relevant and important voices on the work of Carlos Villa, which spans more than half a century. Together with Gonzalves’ own detailed and nuanced essay, which provides a rich context for our understanding and appreciation of Villa’s art and life, they variously illuminate how the artist’s vision emerges from Filipino American history, how his work engages the work of other American visual artists, and how he thinks about and makes art. The book ends as powerfully as it begins, with Villa’s own words, both as a teacher and artist. Carlos Villa and the Integrity of Spaces is the definitive work on one of the most important American artists of our time.”
—Elaine H. Kim, author of Fresh Talk/Daring Gazes: Conversations on Asian American Art

“Here, finally, is the book that Carlos Villa so richly deserves. His fascinating art-and-life trajectory is explored by an equally stellar group of writers who weave the links (and ruptures) between Filipino/U.S. histories, art worlds, jazz, Asian American arts, San Francisco, and Villa’s gifts for friendship, teaching, and cultural activism. His art is memorable, powerful, and moving. So is this book.”
—Lucy R. Lippard, author of Mixed Blessings: New Art in a Multicultural America

“When I first moved to the Bay Area in 1990, I remember seeing a pair of feathered shoes in a glass box. The implication—that by lifting the glass the shoes might fly away—did not feel like mainstream art or party line culture. It felt like a leap both personal and tribal. Looking back, I can now see the leap that Carlos Villa took as something close to my own immigration, one having always stood for a non-ideological American multiculturalism firmly grounded in the steps of his—and our—own journey.”
—Hung Liu, Professor of Studio Art, Mills College

“Carlos Villa is a legendary figure in the arts and in the struggles of a multicultural generation. For over four decades he has created work from the soul of his ancestry, language, and ceremonial vision. His generous leadership in the movement for cultural rights has brought together the luminaries of our time. His contribution to global artistic expressions is immense and incalculable and his iconic work marks an era critical to the arts in America.”
—Amalia Mesa-Bains, artist and author of Ceremony of Spirit: Nature and Memory in Contemporary Latino Art

“A wonderfully rich and important anthology that generously offers several instances of Carlos Villa’s own words with writings by distinguished contributors. Editor Gonzalves critically coheres a lively collection of essays and a brilliant piece of pantoum poetry, from discussions of the manong legacy to an assertion of hybridity and the primacy of art. Carlos Villa and the Integrity of Spaces will ensure the artist his rightful place in art and cultural history.”
—Yong Soon Min, Professor of Studio Art, University of California at Irvine

“This remarkable book on Carlos Villa—artist, educator, curator, and author—reveals the breadth of his work worldwide. His World’s in Collision has been one of the most important texts for the education of students and artists for over two decades; and his own art extends the cultural range of visual perception.”
—Keith A. Morrison, art educator, curator, art critic, and administrator

*****

Meritage Press seeks to expand fresh ways of featuring literary and other art forms. Meritage Press publishes a wide range of artists – poets, writers, visual artists, dancers, and performance artists, among others. By acknowledging the multiplicity of aesthetic concerns, Meritage’s interests necessarily encompass a variety of disciplines – politics, culture, identity, science, humor, religion, history, technology, philosophy and wine. Based in St. Helena and San Francisco, Ca., Meritage Press is published and edited by Eileen R. Tabios. More information at http://www.meritagepress.com and http://meritagepress.blogspot.com.