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 presses includes:

* The Doors of the Body by Mary Alexandra Agner
* At Night, the Dead by Lisa Ciccarello
* Lovesick by Howie Good
* After the Honeymoon by Nathan Graziano
* Tracer by Richard Greenfield
* 31 Hours by Masha Hamilton
* Penury by Myung Mi Kim
* Three Islands by Micah Ling
* Little Pockets of Alarm by Kat Meads
* Monkeybicycle 6
* The Illuminations by Arthur Rimbaud, trans. Donald Revell
* The Hunger Season by William Taylor, Jr.
* Where I Stay by Andrew Zornoza


See below for sneak peeks and links to full reviews:

New from sunnyoutside . . .
Three Islands by Micah Ling
sunnyoutside press, Sept. 2009
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

Three Islands is impressive, not just as a debut collection, but in its ability to invoke the voices of three long-dead figures from history who, until now, have largely remained just that: figures from history. Ling brings Stroud, Christian, and Earhart to life, her language transcending time and oceans. [read more]

After the Honeymoon by Nathan Graziano
sunnyoutside press, Sept. 2009
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

Graziano has a way of evincing distilled truth from every situation, and in language that feels just right for the moment. Some poems are autobiographical in just the way that such poems are most effective: at an objective remove. [read more]

The Hunger Season by William Taylor, Jr.
sunnyoutside press, Aug. 2009
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

The Hunger Season pinpoints moments of realization that surface in the mundane of ordinary life. The setting, that of San Francisco, is resonant throughout the book and colors its poems with the city's personality. [read more]

New from The Poetry Press of Press Americana . . .
Lovesick by Howie Good
The Poetry Press, 2009
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

There is reality, and there are possibilities, and Good's vision presents such dichotomies throughout. And why not in a book titled Lovesick? Lovesickness is a bifurcate state... [read more]

New from Omnidawn Publishing . . .
The Illuminations by Arthur Rimbaud, trans. Donald Revell
Omnidawn Publishing, 2009
Reviewed by Eric Weinstein

It’s not strictly rare to find a translation of poetry that is both faithful to the original work and a small masterpiece in its own right, but it’s certainly uncommon. Donald Revell’s translation of Arthur Rimbaud’s The Illuminations is such a collection... [read more]

Penury by Myung Mi Kim
Omnidawn Publishing, 2009
Reviewed by Eric Weinstein

Myung Mi Kim’s Penury instantiates exactly that: a poetics of extreme and devastating lack, an inadequacy and insufficiency of language designed to mirror the extraordinary poverty of its subject(s). The disenfranchised, the disillusioned, the war-ravaged, the unhomed... [read more]

Tracer by Richard Greenfield
Omnidawn Publishing, 2009
Reviewed by Eric Weinstein

Greenfield inhabits “the outskirts” “in the fringe month” in this collection, raising questions of locality: where and how one fits into and functions in the world... [read more]

New from Tarpaulin Sky Press . . .
Where I Stay by Andrew Zornoza
Tarpaulin Sky Press, June 2009
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

Andrew Zornoza’s expansive, fragmentaryWhere I Stay is a piecemeal construction of text and image. An epigraph, penned in 1938 by Walker Evans, simultaneously urges the reader and the eye behind the camera to focus on... [read more]

From Dzanc Books . . .
Monkeybicycle 6
Monkeybicycle Books, Spring/Summer 2009
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

Monkeybicycle 6, the journal from the Dzanc Books Monkeybicycle imprint, includes a diverse array of voices such as Matt Bell, Kim Chinquee, Drew Jackson, Michael Czyzniejewski, Laura van den Berg, Jason Jordan, Brandi Wells, and others. [read more]

New from Mayapple Press . . .
The Doors of the Body by Mary Alexandra Agner
Mayapple Press, 2009
Reviewed by Cynthia Reeser

Mary Alexandra Agner's debut poetry collection, The Doors of the Body, provides alternates to history and to fairy tales. Agner has a gift for speaking through her characters, giving them authentic voice. [read more]

New from Blood Pudding Press . . .
At Night, the Dead by Lisa Ciccarello
Blood Pudding Press, 2009
Reviewed by Erin McKnight

Clinging to the reader’s consciousness in much the same way that Lisa Ciccarello’s dead linger among the living, At night, the dead opens with an ominous prediction—“You lock the door. You lock the window. You dream of the dead... [read more]

New from Unbridled Books . . .
31 Hours by Masha Hamilton
Unbridled Books, 2009
Reviewed by Scott Bowen

Jonas, a young, impressionable American in his early 20s, feels that the world has drifted morally astray. Through a series of acquaintances—from Deirdre the IRA militant, to Harold the Buddhist, and finally Masoud, a young Muslim turned fundamentalist... [read more]

New from Main Street Rag . . .
Little Pockets of Alarm by Kat Meads
Main Street Rag, 2009
Reviewed by Erin McKnight

Across the expanse of life, it is within little pockets that alarm resides. Establishing itself as the underside of normalcy, Kat Meads’ flash fiction collection, Little Pockets of Alarm, probes these often-ignored and feared cavities for meaning. Boasting a wit... [read more]

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