AWP Highlights

2012 AWP Conference and Bookfair

Photographic highlights

JKPublishing and SLP have had a crazy couple of weeks, due both to the enthusiam of our supporters and our tendency to procrastinate. Last spring, we entered a panel proposal for the 2012 AWP Annual Conference and Bookfair. We learned that the AWP accepted this panel in August. We didn't start preparing for the panel until January. That's where you came in.

The Grand Supreme Ballroom at Hilton Chicago. Now serving "4th meal."

After certain outside funding options failed, we gave ourselves 3 weeks to throw a fundraising party and raffle in order to get ourselves to Chicago. You responded so kindly, with enthusiasm, your gifts and art. We had such a kick-ass selective raffle that strangers were coming by to participate. 

The raffle that sold 200 tickets to around 45 people.

I thanked you all specifically in the last blog post, so I will thank you generically but emphatically now. Although I won't post our press's exciting plans for the future until the next blog, let me say that going to this conference has exposed us to so many inspiring people and presses. They have lit a fire under us; they have challenged us to get better. And because you believe in us, you are helping us to get better.

       to be continued after the jump--

AWP Press Materials
JKP & SLP Hit the Big Time

As many of you know, JKP & SLP (consisting of Erin, CJ, and author Colleen McKee) will be heading to Chicago on Wednesday to attend this year's Association of Writers and Writing Programs Annual Conference and Bookfair. This is the largest literary gathering in North America (more information on the conference here), and we hope to meet colleagues and patrons alike. We will be chatting about our press, of course, but also about the amazing revival of literary culture in St. Louis.

Many of you supported us at our fundraiser last week, donating artwork and performances, gifting money, and buying raffle tickets and books. You helped us raise $515, or about 85% of the direct costs for attending this conference. These proceeds will cover our transportation, board, and nearly all of our registration fees. Thank you: we are blessed by your support.

In recognition of your gifts, here is a preview of the information we will be distributing at the conference this week.

A handbill advertising our conference panel on Thursday

The front of a new brochure advertising our accomplishments, history, and publications

The inside of the brochure

New business cards for Bad Shoe and SLP

And, or course, we'll be carrying dozens of gorgeous, handmade chapbooks:

Morning Poems by Justin Kinkel-Schuster

Bad Shoe 6, 5, 7

Both editions of Collen McKee's A Partial List of Things I Have Done for Money

Again, THANK YOU for your support and kind wishes. We couldn't do it without you.

Extra special thanks to:

Philip Gounis
Bob Reuter
Ellen Herget
Katie Clancy
Sue Clancy
Kristin Sharp
Alison Carrick
Local Harvest Cafe & Catering
Mangia Italiano
Thurman's Grill and Provisions
Michael Jackson
Nicky Rainey
Christopher Alex Chable
Maria & Alex Balogh
Mary Ruth Donnelly
Jill Bieker
Jeff Dodd
Billy Foster
Julia Gordon-Bramer
Aaron Dodd
Sean Arnold
Pamela Garvey

& anyone else I hope I'm not forgetting.

Bad Shoe Issue 7 Release Party

Bad Shoe Release Party to be held on Day of the Dead at the Archive

The women behind Bad Shoe literary magazine plan to raise hell on Tuesday, November 1^st. In honor of the release of the seventh issue of Bad Shoe (Vol. 2, Iss. 3), publishing imprint the Saint Louis Projects is throwing a party in the backyard of The Archive Bookstore (3215 Cherokee Street) from 7 to 11 pm.

Featuring readings from many of the issue's contributing authors, Bad Shoe is also hosting the Hobosexuals, local acoustic noisemakers. The editors are infinitely pleased to feature a short act from fire-breather Nova Beau Monde, a performer, writer, and member of St. Louis' only all-female fire troupe, Venus in Flames.

Nova Beau Monde

The issue features the artwork of Miss Delia Rainey, one half of 2-twin band Dubb Nubb.

People, by Delia Rainey

Contributors include: Julia Gordon-Bramer, Stefene Russell, Anna Ross, Jennifer Tappenden, Kelli Allen, Maria T. Balogh, Amanda Mincher, Becca Wilson, Alison Carrick, Jill Bieker, Katerina Canyon, Linda Novak, Tess Thompson, Allison Becker, Mary Ruth Donnelly, and Dena Molen.

Here's a small taste of what this issue has to offer:

Three Writers I Dated and Why It Didn’t Work
by Allison Becker

I

I’ve only said, “I love you” to
relatives, several foods,
numerous dogs and Nick.
Last spring he did something bad
with a table saw.
Nick said, “How can I love you when
I hate myself?”

II

Conor and I went to a concert.
A man in a cape threw
glowsticks at us and we
left with bruises and other
people’s sweat. Conor owned
a typewriter, a record player,
and a Macbook Pro. Never ate meat.
I admitted one night I never
read Howl, “I’m saving it for
harder times.”
The next day he wrote,
“12:16 pm yur super cool but i cant
SRY”
and I laughed because
he never used the typewriter

III

David invited me to his room.
He boiled beets for dinner,
“They make your piss pink,”
he said and led me to the
bathroom. “I didn’t flush so
I could show you.”
We stood over the toilet
bowl, pale pink, still.
A minute passed.
I admitted I expected it to be
pinker.
“You’re nuts, Allison, my piss
is incredibly pink!
Do you know how many
beets I ate?”

Come celebrate Dias de los Meurtos with the ladies who keep St. Louis literature alive.

Riverfront Times Contest

Enter the RFT's Limerick Contest for Bad Shoe prizes



Follow the link below to read about and enter a limerick contest sponsored by the Riverfront Times Music Blog. You could win free entrance to the release party on August 3rd and a stack of books from SLP and JKP.



RFT's Bad Shoe Limerick Contest

Upcoming SLP Events

This August will be a busy one for the Saint Louis Projects. We have a lot of projects coming to completion and a couple to start as well, not to mention a lot of events around town. Here's a rundown of where you can expect to see us in the next month.



Bad Shoe Release Party at El Lenador's STAG NITE (Aug. 3rd)




We have an awesome party planned for the release of the 6th Issue of Bad Shoe (Vol. 2 Iss. 2). We're taking over Johnny Vega$' Stag Nite, a long-running South City musical institution. In that vein, we are featuring wonderfully talented musicians to play after the poetry reading.

For about the past year, Stag Nite has occurred at El Lenador (3124 Cherokee Street). $5 affords you the opportunity to purchase $1 Stag, heckle Johnny Vega$, hear some amazing poetry from the area's finest women writers, and jam out to O Fool, Beth Bombara, and a super secret AWESOME mystery band (yes, we have booked them; this isn't a feint).

The newest issue of Bad Shoe will be available for a pretty hefty discount. Expect to save $4-5 off of bookstore prices. This issue features the divine artwork of Casey Miller, chief latte artist and owner of Cherokee Street's Mud House (her work just gets radder on paper). Not to mention that you will own a copy of the musings of ALL the following local literary rock stars:

Anna Ross, Stefene Russell, Maria T. Balogh, Julia Gordon-Bramer, Dawn Dupler, Elly Herget, Jennifer Tappenden, Katherine Mead, Christy Callahan, Erin Wiles, & Kelli Allen

Also expect a special spoken word/guitar collaboration between Wiles and local musician Tommy Halloran. El Lenador opens at 8; poetry reading at 9; music after 10 pm. Awesomeness all night long.







Erin Wiles to read at Firecracker Press and Chance Operations (Aug. 6 & Aug. 22)






The Firecracker Press is a gorgeously-run letterpress printing outfit on Cherokee Street. SLP is quite jealous of the luscious textures and old-school vibe of their work, but is also really happy to be sending their editor over to participate in their 2011 Summer Reading Series on Saturday, August 6th . At 2 pm, Erin Wiles, along with Mary Ruth Donnelly, will each perform a 20 minute set. During that time, the Firecracker geniuses will be printing handset broadsides of an excerpt of both ladies' work. The broadsides are ravishing and the conceit is quite clever. $5 gets you a reading and a print.

Chance Operations is a year-old reading that took Get Born's one-Monday-a-month spot at Duff's Restaurant (392 N. Euclid Ave.) in the CWE. Wiles read at the inaugural event last year and returns this Monday, August 22nd as a featured reader, along with 2 other yet-to-be-announced poets. The reading kicks off at 8 pm and will cost you a measly $3.





Stay tuned in the next few days for another posting about recently completed/soon-to-be-finished 100% RAD handmade books by SLP!



One last little goody for you. For the first time ever, Bad Shoe's featured artist has also designed a cover for the magazine. Here's Casey Miller's take:

Bad Shoe Issue 5 Preview

Art & Words Appearing in the Next Issue of Bad Shoe



We're hoping to see you at the Archive tomorrow night (3/15; 7 pm; see previous post for details) for the release party celebrating the newest Bad Shoe. Here's a small sampling of the wealth to be found inside issue 5.


Faith
Brett Lars Underwood


She saw a dog puppet licking the branch outside her window
She had 17 girly, vodka drinks and a bottle of wine
Painted naked in acrylic all night long
Later that afternoon the dog puppet
dissolved into pain

Betsy
Bob Reuter

Mirror Trees
Christy Callahan



When spring came that year, my fifteenth year,
the Magnolia tree sighed and grunted,
and feigning interest would only produce
russet-colored brittle buds
and as they bloomed, then died,
my mom cried a horrible cry,
the sound tires make as they try to dig
their claws in to wet pavement.
Dad hid in the garage, twisting metal
and swallowing scotch.
When fall came that year, my fifteenth year,
the pine tree coughed and spat
needles across our roof,
clogging our gutters and tingeing it green.
My dad cried a horrible cry,
the sound a brake pad makes with its final grind
on the rotor before death.
Mom hid in the greenhouse,
planting Brazilian Verbena
and sneaking Pall Malls.
When winter came that year, my fifteenth year,
mom moved us to Manassas
where Magnolia trees never disappoint
and dad lingered in the garage,
awaiting the pine tree’s next move.

The World is a Pinprick
Erin Wiles

Until next time.

NEW Bad Shoe To Be Released on the Ides of March

Bad Shoe Issue 5 Release Party

On March 15th (the Ides of March), St. Louis lit mag Bad Shoe releases its 5th issue, hosted by the Archive bookstore at 3215 Cherokee Street.

This is a special issue of the lit mag, which is the only periodical publication for emerging and eminent lady writers and artists in St. Louis. For the first time, the editors are publishing male perspectives on femininity.

Male writers and artists appearing in this issue are Chance Operations' Tony Renner, JK Publishing author Phil Gounis, local favorite curmudgeon Brett Underwood, Joe Sulier of Get Born, KDHX's Bob Reuter, and many more. This issue features the work of several women, some of them new to Bad Shoe, such as Kelli Allen and Christy Callahan.

Readers at the upcoming event:

Kelli Allen

Byron Lee

Brett Underwood

Matt Freeman

Tony Renner

Christy Callahan

Aaron Ruiz

Jake Cohen

Bob Reuter

Erin Nihiser

Nicky Rainey

Mary Phillips

Christoper Alex Chable

Matt Freeman and the Skekses will provide musical entertainment. Doors are at 7, reading starts at 8. The Cherokee Peach will sell snacks, wine, beer, and handmade sodas, and the Archive will also be open for book sales. Bad Shoe Issue 5 will be available at the special release price of $8.

***

Bad Shoe, a recent winner of a St. Louis Kick-Ass Award (curated by 52nd City), is the flagship publication of the Saint Louis Projects. SLP, an imprint of JKPublishing, provides St. Louis writers with a means to conceptualize a publishing project and actualize their vision by participating in editing, design, and promotion of their work.

Other SLP notable projects include chapbooks by Michael Castro and Sean Arnold, and an upcoming chapbook by Phil Gounis. SLP director Erin Wiles, along with Bad Shoe co-editor Elly Herget, have often been featured on KDHX's Literature for the Halibut.

The Saint Louis Projects is proud to a part of the continuing development of St. Louis literary culture.

***

Saint Louis Kick Ass Awards This Sunday!

Please join us this Sunday at the Kick Ass Awards to celebrate Bad Shoe and the other 2010 winners. This is our first award and Ellen and I are quite pleased that it is profane. We can't wait to get our horse-ass-karate-guy trophy. Joe's Cafe is an amazing place: the scenery alone will be worth the trip!



Sunday, November 7, 7:00 p.m.
Joe’s Cafe, 6014 Kingsbury, 63112
Free, BYO, limited seating, doors at 6:00 p.m.

About the Kick Ass Awards:

The Kick Ass Awards was begun in January of 2004, in Austin, TX, and was founded by writer Spike Gillespie. It was adapted for St. Louis that fall by Thomas Crone and Stefene Russell. In the next two years, KAA winners Andrea Avery, Brandyn Jones and Ann Haubrich have joined the core group of organizers for the event, which is held in interesting St. Louis venues every fall/early winter. Between 2005-08, the effort was part of the late culture and literature magazine 52nd City.

While it’s not an official not-for-profit entity, it is a completely grassroots, self-funded effort. All winners are determined by an ad hoc series of discussions during the latter portion of each year, with winners determined as individuals, businesses, organizations and projects that contribute to the health and vitality of the St. Louis region, especially the City of St. Louis. We have also aimed to recognize those who’ve gone without public notice for their work; in some cases, we’ve identified those who’ve gone on to much-greater, continued acclaim in the area, at early stage in their existence or residence in St. Louis. Each year, at least one Mystery Award is given out to a member of the audience, selected that night.