The Small Presses and Why We Love Them:

Prick of the Spindle Editors Survey the Small Press Chapbook Scene

"The terms small press, indie publisher, and independent press are often used interchangeably, with "independent press" defined as publishers that are not part of large conglomerates or multinational corporations. Defined this way, these presses make up approximately half of the market share of the book publishing industry. Many small presses rely on specialization in genre fiction, poetry, or limited-edition books or magazines, but there are also thousands that focus on niche non-fiction markets."

-thanks, Wikipedia...

Prick of the Spindle's latest survey of offerings from the little magazines includes:

* Where the Wind Blew by Bob Sommer
* Light in Hand: Selected Early Poems of Lola Ridge, ed. Daniel Tobin
* Call Me Waiter by Joseph Torra
* National Anthem by Kevin Prufer
* Living Proof by Mary Bonina
* Savage Machinery by Karen Rigby
* Donner: A Passing by Shana Youngdahl
* Sound and Noise by Curtis Smith
* In a Town Called Mundomuerto by Randall Silvis
* The Trembling in Us All by John M. Valentine
* wing'd by Kyle Simonsen
* The Lost Episodes of Beatie Scareli by Ginnetta Correli

See below for sneak peeks and links to full reviews:

New from The Wessex Collective . . .
Where the Wind Blew
The Wessex Collective, 2008
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

A former member of a 1960s extremist protest group has been living under an assumed identity for decades. Now a successful businessman, when Peter St. John decides to run for the school board, an ambitious reporter from his daughter’s high school newspaper uncovers his past. As Marcia pieces his story together, she also, unwittingly, unravels his family...
[read more]

New from Quale Press . . .
Light in Hand: Selected Early Poems of Lola Ridge, ed. Daniel Tobin
Quale Press, 2007
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

In Daniel Tobin's introduction to Light in Hand: Selected Early Poems of Lola Ridge, a picture of an ascetic, self-made woman emerges. Ridge, born in Dublin in 1873, was the American editor of the literary journal Broom, who hosted literary salons in her heyday. Alternately hailed and debunked by her modernist peers, Tobin underscores the legacy of "a vivid original whose life and work embody the tumultuous confluence of forces that shaped the twentieth century." [read more]

New from Pressed Wafer . . .
Call Me Waiter by Joseph Torra
Pressed Wafer, 2008
Reviewed by Erin McKnight

For twenty-five years Joseph Torra “lived a life of a writer and a servant by night.” In his autobiographical novel, Call Me Waiter, Torra recounts his time in the restaurant industry, where he started to pay for school and which culminated in a collection of skills, experiences, and friendships earned through his hard work in various Boston-area restaurants. [read more]

New from Four Way Books . . .
National Anthem by Kevin Prufer
Four Way Books, 2008
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

The poetry in National Anthem, simply put, is necessary. Gritty and vibrantly-realized, Kevin Prufer’s work is a concretization of an imagined apocalypse—an analysis of the nation's affairs and poignant observations on life in contemporary America. "Apocalypse" rings true in post-Katrina society... [read more]

New from Cervena Barva Press . . .
Living Proof by Mary Bonina
Cervena Barva Press, 2008
Reviewed by Jen Garfield

Mary Bonina’s Living Proof is a hefty 45 pages and worth every drop of ink Cervena Barva Press shelled out to bring it into the world. Each poem reads like a miniature story, stabbing at the heart of memory and nostalgia, capturing lifetimes in a single moment or turn of phrase... [read more]

New from Finishing Line Press . . .
Savage Machinery by Karen Rigby
Finishing Line Press, 2008
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

Karen Rigby, author of Festival Bone, will be publishing Savage Machinery, forthcoming from Finishing Line Press in September. Rigby's work is a must-read for appreciators of the language and craft of poetry... [read more]

Donner: A Passing by Shana Youngdahl
Finishing Line Press, 2008
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

Donner: A Passing, chronicles the voyage of the Donner Party. Those who lack a complete mental historical referent for the singular journey of this unfortunate group are given sufficient background in the epigraphs from two of the members and The Hastings Guide for Emigrants to California. A quote from Virginia Reed is chilling... [read more]

New from Casperian Books . . .
Sound and Noise by Curtis Smith
Casperian Books, 2008
Reviewed by Erin McKnight

What exists in the space between sound and noise? Between the children of a diving class, forming “an unruly line at the deep end, their bare feet slapping the puddled tiles,” as they prepare to leap from the high dive . . . abandoned at the edge of the world,” and the water beneath them, no doubt “ocean deep” in appearance... [read more]

New from Omnidawn Press . . .
In a Town Called Mundomuerto by Randall Silvis
Omnidawn Press, 2007
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

Randall Silvis, author of eight previous works of fiction, takes center stage with his latest novel. In a Town Called Mundomuerto is a pure delight of fabulist fiction from start to finish, and a must-read for anyone who appreciates a good story. Set in a fictional modern-day South American coastal town, known at the time of the tale as Mundosuave, a grandfather tells a boy he calls his nieto a story... [read more]

New from Pudding House Publications . . .
The Trembling in Us All by John M. Valentine
Pudding House Publications, 2008
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

The last line from John M. Valentine's poem "One Thing at a Time" provides the book's title, and the poem itself speaks to the inevitability of death. The universal fear of a force that swallows equally "the old oak,/ the lily,/ the child" are strong points in a poem that is marred by cliché. And in poetry, where space is precious and every word even more so, the slighest hint of cliché can ruin an entire work... [read more]

New from Blood Pudding Press . . .
wing'd by Kyle Simonsen
Blood Pudding Press, 2008
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

wing'd is one of the latest chapbooks from Blood Pudding Press. However, this reviewer does wish Kyle Simonsen hadn't started off on his poetic foot with a reference to pop's man-diva Kevin Federline... [read more]

Forthcoming from Marshmallow Press . . .
The Lost Episodes of Beatie Scareli by Ginnetta Correli
Marshmallow Press, Sept. 2008
Reviewed by Erin McKnight

The Lost Episodes of Beatie Scareli demands to be read in as few sittings as possible—in my case, one. A sense of responsibility is expected of the reader, as the narrator declares them to be crucial players in her “cast of lost people.” Before the introduction, though; before, even, the book opens, Beatie’s sense of desperation in readers’ involvement—in our very presence—is haunting. “Thank God you’re here,” she declares, inviting unwitting participants to fumble through the chapters of her life in search of a way to deliver her from the sequence they will form. [read more]

© 2008 prickofthespindle.com