Summer is upon us and great things are afoot at Sixteen Rivers Press! We have new books from our members, a new chapbook from our Poets Under Forty series, and our first translation project, all in the pipeline working their way toward you, our readers. We couldn’t be more excited. Read on to learn the details about these future books, upcoming readings and events, and more. And be sure to read the poem by Judy Halebsky at the end of this newsletter; it’s from her 2012 chapbook with the press.
Sixteen Rivers is pleased to announce the winner of the 2012 manuscript competition. Our newest member is Beverly Burch, for her manuscript How a Mirage Works. We look forward to working with Beverly and to publishing her book in 2014, when we will also publish The Master of Leaves, a second book by Sixteen Rivers member Murray Silverstein.
We are also happy to announce the winner of our second chapbook contest for poets under forty. This year’s winner, chosen by Camille Dungy, is Miriam Bird Greenberg. Her book will be published in the fall of next year.
The press is thrilled with our two new books for spring 2013: Barbara Swift Brauer’s At Ease in a Borrowed World and Gerald Fleming’s The Choreographer. Keep an eye on our blog and on future newsletters for more information about these books, their authors, and upcoming readers. We know you won’t want to miss out.
We are also working on our first translation project, I Know, by Ito Naga. Originally published in France by the poetry publisher Cheyne Éditeur as Je sais, the book has been translated into English by the author and Sixteen Rivers member Lynne Knight. It will be published in a bilingual edition in September 2013, along with Miriam Bird Greenberg’s chapbook, making a grand total of four books next year for the press.
On November 17, 2012, Sixteen Rivers will host their annual fundraiser at a beautiful home in Marin County. This year’s featured reader is acclaimed poet Jane Hirshfield, whose most recent book is Come, Thief (Knopf, 2011). Please save the date and join us for this wonderful evening.
Our two 2012 authors—Judy Halebsky (Space/Gap/Interval/Distance) and Jacqueline Kudler (Easing into Dark)—had a well-attended spring reading series and will read again this fall, beginning with the Petaluma Poetry Walk and the Sonoma County Book Fair. Keep an eye on our website and on future newsletters for further details.
Sixteen Rivers Press also has a Facebook fan page. “Like” us on Facebook and receive posts about upcoming readings as well as monthly excerpts from some of our books.
And now for a poem from Judy Halebsky’s chapbook:
A BREAKING WORD
There’s that part
after Basho writes
old still pond
of pressing a fingerprint into wet clay
where the word ya
holds a space in the air
a cloud changes shape in the sky
make it a dash, a murmur
a breath on the inhale
this old pond
so many have tried to open
a sigh, a hum, a—
frog jumps in
sound of water says Hass
plop says Watts
kerplunk says Ginsberg