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:

SPACFest This Weekend

Shaw Performing Arts & Crafts Festival This Friday and Saturday

Philip Gounis performing at the release party for his newest chapbook, Upgrading the Allusion

You should come see us this weekend (May 21st and 22nd) from 11 am to 3 pm at the Shaw neighborhood SPACFest. We will have a booth set up with our current catalog for sale (look for the most the 3 most recent editions of Bad Shoe, the new chapbook by Philip Gounis--Upgrading the Allusion, and handmade journals and crafted artbooks. There will also be a lot of favorites from the past few years on the table, from Michael Castro's The Bush Years to Ellen Herget's Thus Far, from Sean Arnold's Open Window series to the second edition of my own first chapbook, I & Apocalypse.


All of the above mentioned authors along with a slew of others will be reading in Saint Louis Projects and JKPublishing's performance space at the corner of Thurman and Shenandoah (Shaw Community Garden, across from Thurman Grill). This is a great opportunity to catch some live poetry in a relaxed, pressure-free, outdoor setting. So if you've never been to a poetry reading before, now's your chance. If you don't like it, you can scoot off to see a blues band, a drum circle, or a dance troupe. I'll post a complete list of performers and their scheduled dates/times in the next day or two.

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.

***

NEW Saint Louis Projects Facebook

Like us on Facebook!

Search for "Saint Louis Projects" under the Authors category. You'll find Bad Shoe there as well!

Phil Gounis Chapbook in the Works!

Phil Gounis Chapbook in the Works!


I am super excited to announce that Saint Louis Projects and JKPublishing will be releasing the newest chapbook from longtime poetry guru and culture enthusiast Phil Gounis. Titled Upgrading the Allusions, this book will probably hit the shelves in late January 2011.



Speaking of shelves, Left Bank Books has agreed to carry Bad Shoe! We are bringing them issues tomorrow, so do a little local Christmas shopping and bestow some awesome ladies' lit upon your loved ones. If this goes well, hopefully other SLP and JKP titles will appear there soon. Also, many thanks to Vintage Vinyl for having carried Bad Shoe for the past several months.

Getting back to Phil, here is a preview of the work that will appear in his forthcoming chapbooks. Several other poems are on his website:


http://philipgounis.com/




Jonah



all that screaming bombastic splatter & gaiety
at the municipal swimming pool
the afternoon before Independence Day
him outside the fence
just observing not partaking
in all the fun & frivolity
hoping to come upon at least one
magnanimous,gargantuan mouth
that can swallow whole
to take him all the way down
into the depths of the all time
aquatic delight

and then that tingling realization
that the owner of that lugubrious expanse
just might be you




We are super excited about this opportunity. Stay tuned!

Ellen and Erin read "A Kick Ass Poem" (Mature content)

Written by Ellen Herget and Erin Wiles, performed at the 2010 Kick-Ass Awards in St. Louis, MO.

Better not bring yo' kids. Please enjoy.