This amazing book trailer began as a proof of concept video for a short film proposed by Thinklab, and was then doctored by Flatmancrooked in preparation for my book launch on November 15th.
Thanks to all who contributed, I am overjoyed to present you with:
Forecast by Shya Scanlon | Booktrailer from Flatmancrooked Publishing on Forecast.
Monkeybicycle is a wonderful print and web journal started by Steven Seighman back in 2003. Shortly before putting out the first issue, I met Steven, and we teamed up to produce three increasingly attractive issues over about two years. We did some cool things, including pack Seattle’s Jewel Box Theater a few times for debauched nights of literature, music and high jinx. In another reading, we had someone sit on a cake. During a music festival, we read a one act play written by Eric Spitznagel to teenagers preceding a punk rock show at an all-ages club in the University District. And cetera.
I parted ways to focus on my own writing, and in the interim, Steven moved the show to NYC, where he put out several more fantastic issues, and became an imprint of the against-all-odds thriving indie empire that is Dzanc.
Well, I’m thrilled to announce that after not really much consideration at all, Steven and I have decided to join forces once again, and from this point forward I will serve MB once again as Editor. Aside from making extremely excellent editorial decisions, we haven’t quite decided what this will mean for the future of Monkeybicycle, but I think it’s fair to say there will be more events around NYC. Events with cake.
Here are some nice things that have been said about my collection In This Alone Impulse. If you’d like to know what all the fuss is about, please consider picking up a copy, or asking me about my offer to send you one free in trade…
HTMLGIANT:
“Scanlon has truly forged from a seemingly simple set of building blocks a highly tuned and deceptively challenging machine of language and idea.”
Brooklyn Rail:
“Scanlon has birthed into the world a finely tuned, closely kept collection singing with life.”
Big Other:
“If I look at it from a certain angle, I can imagine the strings of an Aeolian harp, which, when placed in front of the windows of your skull, will produce a strange and beautiful music if you let it.”
Bookslut:
“Lively, funny, and intoxicating.”
Tarpaulin Sky:
“Scanlon connects the dots I normally ignore or forget about.”
The Collagist:
“There is a playfulness to Scanlon’s tone and a real exuberance for the acoustics of words.”
Having opened my mail to find contributor copies from a couple different rags this afternoon, I thought it would be good to post “from the shelf,” as it were, having recently seen my work appear here and there.
The first of these books to have reached my door was issue 4 of 1913: a journal of forms. I sent them In This Alone Impulse during an open reading for book length cross-discipline work a few years ago, and though they passed, the editors (Sandra & Ben Doller (nee Doyle, whose first book, Radio, Radio won the Walt Whitman)) asked to publish a handful of the poems–very nice, though it seems the journal was put on hold for a couple years, and I’d forgotten about it by the time I was contacted again, saying it would be soon, soon. And then it happened. Anyway, it’s a very chunky anthology, clocking in at almost 300 pages, and chock-full of strange goodness.
The second to arrive was issue first of Sententia, a lovely journal put out by Artistically Declined Press, and edited by ADP’s founder Ryan W. Bradley and the very smart and talented Paula Bomer. A few months ago, Paula read a few stories from my semi-autobiographical novel-in-stories (I’ve really got to find a more succinct way of describing it), Look No Further, and liked it enough to ask to read the whole thing. Always a nice thing to hear. Furthermore, she said it was good enough to inspire envy. Yowza, right? Well, so she took her pick from it, as she was putting together Sententia at the time, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. The collection is vast and varied, from obscure, language-y type stuff to the more straight-forward and narrative (Look No Further is basically the later, save some structural improvisations).
On the topic of Look No Further, the next book to arrive (actually, arriving at the same time as the final I’ll mention) was Flatmancrooked’s anthology entitled Not About Vampires. Fortunately, all my vampire thematics is subtextual, so it got by even the perspicacious eyes of Deena Drewis, editor. Anyway, in this book is published another story from the collection/novel, which Deena helped me polish a bit, as well as suggested a whiz-bang title for (much obliged). Deena also happens to be editing the full collection/novel–an arrangement we’ve worked out on the side. Go figure.
Finally, I was sent two (2) contrib copies of the second issue of trnsfr (want to buy a vowel?) magazine. They have a very nice product, and their first issue was filled with writers I like, so when editor Alban Fischer solicited work from me a month or so ago, I was happy to send him an excerpt of an unpublished novel entitled Interference–the second book of my thematic trilogy which includes Forecast (soon to be published by FMC). The issue also contains new work by a slew of folks I know and love, including Jac Jemc, Matt Briggs and co-Big Other contributor AD Jameson. It has an interesting binding.
So! That’s it for now. There are two other stories from Look No Further that should be coming out this spring, but I won’t post about it until I have them in hand. Don’t believe it till you see it, folks.
I have 25 copies of ITAI, and they’re burning a hole in… well, in the box they came in. The book normally costs 15 bucks. What a rip off. But wait! There’s another way to get a copy. All you have to do is record yourself reading one of the poems (on video), and post that video to YouTube. Here’s the skinny:
1. Express interest by emailing me.
2. I will send you a pdf of the manuscript.
3. You choose one you like, record, and post the results.
4. I send you a book in the mail.
Four easy steps. Recording and posting a video is a pretty easy process–if you don’t know how, chances are a friend of yours will. The poems themselves are about 100 words long. Take a look at the videos that have been made by generous, fun-loving folks like you–some I’ve posted myself, and others I’ve “favorited” and are thus linked to from my YouTube channel.
In a coup for my arrogance and solipsism, The Nervous Breakdown has run a self-interview about, well, me. And my impulses.
Delivery of In This Alone Impulse is imminent, and I’m putting together a list of people to be sent review copies. If you’d like to receive a review copy, please contact me with your shipping info, and your proposed review outlet. Thank you for your attention.
Yo. I’ve mentioned these in a couple of other posts, but what began as a disorganized, under-conceived activity has grown up and become a plan: I’m recording myself reading all 60 poems of my collection, In This Alone Impulse. Each weekday, and maybe sometimes on the weekend, I will be posting a new video on my YouTube channel. If you subscribe to my channel, you’ll be notified each time a new video posts, but I’ll also be posting links on my Facebook wall. So, hey, you’ve got options. Who doesn’t like options?
Much like the poems themselves, the videos vary in tone and presentation–some are pretty comical, others serious, etc. I don’t really know what I’m going to do before starting up iMovie, so it’s all rather spontaneous. Also much like the poems. Anyway, please take a look at them. And if you have any ideas or requests for something I could do (keep in mind, please, that I’m a nevernude), let me know: I’m taking requests.
At long last, In This Alone Impulse is available for pre-order at Noemi’s web site. Please buy a copy for yourself, and one for your favorite fan of “enigmatic” prose poetry!
Another way you can help this book become more accessible is to request that your local library carry it. In New York, this can be done quite easily online here. They ask for some info, including the ISBN (9781934819104), but can just fill in as much as you know. Most of it can be found in the SPD online catalogue. I also inserted that link in the space for “Source of Information.”
It’s easy to do, and quick! Please help make small press poetry available to everyone.
I’ve begun blogging for The Feed: the blog of The Nervous Breakdown. Please come by and share your thoughts. That is all.
