Julia Vinograd

Zeitgeist Press poets honor Andy Clausen, Eli Coppola, David Lerner, Julia Vinograd

5 MAY 2024 — sunday

Poetry Flash presents a Zeitgeist Press reading honoring releases by their late authors: The Fabled Damned, by Andy Clausen; Make of Me Many Miracles, the collected chapbooks of Eli Coppola; A Bouquet of Nails, by David Lerner; and The Book of Jerusalem, by famed 'Bubble Lady' Julia Vinograd; Zeitgeist Press poets Deborah Fruchey, Richard Loranger, Anita May, Paul Corman Roberts, Jan Steckel, and David West, Zeitgeist publisher Bruce Isaacson and Poetry Flash host the event, Art House Gallery & Cultural Center, 2905 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, two blocks north of Ashby BART, refreshments, free, 3:00 pm PDT (poetryflash.org).


Thank you for continuing to support Poetry Flash and our reading series.
Featured books for this reading will be available for signing at the event. The video of this event will be posted on the Poetry Flash YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/channel/UClwdR-uPFNz7XxbBbLcnoEA.

MORE ABOUT THE READERS

Paul Corman-Roberts's recent book is a collection of independently-published experimental poems, Exquisite Zombie OWLS of the Heights. His previous collection is a graphic poetry chapbook, The Sincere, with illustrator Ray Swaney, from Libran Apocalypse Books. He is the author of Bone Moon Palace, Black Lawrence Press, a CLMP Firecracker nominated full-length poetry collection. He is a founder and organizer of the Beast Crawl Lit Festival in Oakland, California, and has taught workshops for the San Francisco Creative Writing Institute. He sometimes fills in as a drummer for the U.S. Ghostal Service, The Jennifer Blowdryer Band, and the Poznansky Sisters.

Deborah L. Fruchey is the author of five books: two comedy romance novels, Armadillo, poems, one self-help manual for the mentally ill, and a flash fiction collection, Priestess of Secrets. Connie Post says of Fuchey's book Three Kinds of Dark, "The poems in this collection have verve, have a kick, and will leave your senses wanting more." Deborah Fruchey's first novel was chosen as a Best Book by the American Bookseller's Association. She was included in the Babarian anthology, Poets from Hell, and edited Our Lady of Telegraph Avenue, a tribute anthology about the late poet Julia Vinograd. Fruchey was part of the Above Paradise and Café Babar scene. She is never going to get used to going to poetry readings where Julia is not in the front row.

Bruce Isaacson's new book of poems is Anthems of the Damned, in which the poet shows how it feels "to be human in an age of the ghosted soul." His most recent previous collection is Leningrad to Las Vegas; his is new novel is Vegas Dirt, as he says, "These are human stories of the Great Recession—the salesman with two families, the mogul in misery, the erotic dancer who took the stage name America." Isaacson was the first Poet Laureate of Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas. He's publisher of Zeitgeist Press.

Richard Loranger is the author of Sudden Windows. Joan Gelfand says, "To my mind, the prose poem has never had a more adept practitioner. Echoes and enjambment, like the eddies themselves, drift and float throughout the text. Add a pinch of anger, a tablespoon of despair and a cup of rage and you have a book that, shot out like a rocket to space, shall endure through the ages. I'd like to read this book in heaven." His previous collections are Poems for Teeth, The Orange Book, and ten chapbooks. His work has been included in over one hundred publications and thirty anthologies, including Revival: Spoken Word from Lollapalooza, Poetry Flash, and Nomadic Journal. He is a multi-genre writer, performer, musician, and visual artist.

Anita May is the author of All of it, So Far. Marvin R. Hiemstra says, "Beautiful, often terrifying, based on both love and indifference. The honesty of Anita May's poetry is absolutely nonpareil: an amazing candor that quickly bonds with the reader. Reading All of it, So Far brings understanding, forgiveness, and a new appreciation of the rich variety in the human experience." She has self-published multiple chapbooks, and is included in the anthology Between the Fault Lines: 8 Bay Area Poets, from Sugartown Publishing. She lives for words and music in Northern California.

Jan Steckel's new book is her short story collection, Ghosts and Oceans. Thaisa Frank says, "…Jan Steckel has created her own magic realism, exploring fluid realms between rumor and myth. A woman becomes the color of a mango. An angel makes a hurried appearance at the hour of death. The sea is alternatively seductive and dangerous. The language is so musical; you can hear the book." Jan Steckel's latest poetry book is Like Flesh Covers Bone; previous books include The Horizontal Poet, Lambda Literary Best Bisexual Book Award-winner, her fiction chapbook Mixing Tracks, and her poetry chapbook The Underwater Hospital. She lives in Oakland, California.

David West is the author of Evil Spirits and Their Secretaries. He is a poet of humor, insight, and power. This book was all written during the era of the Café Babar readings in San Francisco in the 1980s and early-1990s. Here is an excerpt from his book: "The new blues are gray / There's no money in pain / I feel very little / They just bill me."