Back to Rose Alley Press home page... News and Recommendations . . .

 

Thank you to the many friends of Rose Alley Press who have so generously supported it through its twenty-nine years of proud existence. Rose Alley Press is alive and well. To learn more about it, browse the site and feel welcome to contact me. Please note you can check this site for updates about events featuring Rose Alley Press poets by visiting www.rosealleypress.com/events/

 

 

Good journals have published many of my poems the past several years. Thank you to their hard-working editors! Most recently, two of my poems, "Substance" and "Talk Is Cheap" were published on August 26th, 2024, in the online journal Sparks of Calliope: https://sparksofcalliope.com. Other highlights include "Warm and Sunny" and "American Pastoral" in the Winter/Spring 2021 issue of Light: https://lightpoetrymagazine.com/david-d-horowitz/ and "First Stars, Last Light" and "Flicker" in Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built + Natural Environments: http://www.Terrain.org/2016/poetry/david-d-horowitz/. My epigrams are often up at The Asses of Parnassus: https://assesofparnassus.tumblr.com. Thank you, editor and publisher Brooke Clark! Also, Exterminating Angel: The Magazine publishes one of my essays in each of its quarterly issues. Check out "I Wasn't Mature at Their Age Either," my offering for the Summer 2024 "Memory Trace" issue: https://exterminatingangel.com/i-wasnt-mature-at-their-age-either/. Thank you, editor and publisher Tod Davies, and thank you to the other contributing writers! Last, thank you to Brian Soergel, editor of the Edmonds Beacon, who published an interview with me to help promote a recent reading at Edmonds Bookshop in downtown Edmonds, Washington. You can read the interview at https://www.edmondsbeacon.com/story/2023/04/13/news/advice-from-a-poet-be-yourself-be-real/28322.html.

 

 

Joannie Stangeland, whose Weathered Steps Rose Alley Press published in 2002, maintains an excellent blog: http://www.joanniestangeland.com. I encourage you to visit Joannie's blog, and I thank her for her support of Rose Alley Press and poetry generally. Her talent and persistence have been rewarded by Ravenna Press's publication of her three latest poetry collections, In Both Hands, Into the Rumored Spring, and The Scene You See. Many of her poems are published in fine journals or anthologized in small press poetry collections, such as For Love of Orcas: An Anthology edited by Andrew Shattuck McBride and Jill McCabe Johnson (Wandering Aengus, 2019). I list Joannie's and other Rose Alley Press poets' readings on our events page: www.rosealleypress.com/events.html. Congratulations, Joannie!

 

 

Congratulations to Michael Spence, author of the Rose Alley Press poetry collection Adam Chooses. In 2016 St. Augustine's Press published his fifth collection, Umbilical, http://www.staugustine.net/our-books/books/umbilical/, winner of the 2015 New Criterion Poetry Prize. Continuing congratulations, Michael!

 

 

Congratulations also to Donald Kentop, author of the Rose Alley Press poetry collection On Paper Wings. In 2014 Paper Wings Press published his collection, Frozen by Fire: A Documentary in Verse of the Triangle Factory Fire of 1911. Former Washington State Poet Laureate Kathleen Flenniken comments: "Frozen by Fire is personal, disturbing, and timely." Colorado Poet Laureate David Mason notes: "Frozen by Fire is an important act of remembrance." I appreciate Donald's strength of commitment in producing this fine book, and I wrote a laudatory review of it: http://www.quillandparchment.com/archives/Feb2015/bookreview.html. Let me note, though, that our good friend Donald passed away on November 18, 2024, at an assisted living home in North Seattle. He was eighty-nine years old, but his poetry will live on, and his generosity will not be forgotten.

 

 

One excellent way for writers, especially beginners, to find publishers for their work is to study several annually updated reference books:

 

The International Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses, 52nd Edition, CD-ROM, 2016-2017
Editor: Dustbooks staff
ISBN: 978-1-935742-39-5
Price: $30, CD-ROM
Pages: 800
For more information contact
Dustbooks
P.O. Box 100
Paradise, CA 95967
Info: 530-877-6110
Fax: 530-877-0222
E-mail: info@dustbooks.com
Web: www.dustbooks.com
Please note the International Directory is an annual and that Dustbooks publishes many other fine reference books useful to writers. Four of these, including the Directory, are now available as a CD-ROM package for only $49.95. Also, I offer a big bouquet of Rose Alley's reddest roses to the memory of Len Fulton, 1934-2011. Len founded Dustbooks and managed it for close to fifty years. A true American champion of the literary little guy, Len's directories helped me and thousands of writers find publishers for our work. I wish Dustbooks all the best keeping alive his wonderful legacy. With Len in mind, I pray a spirit of mutual support, not petty competition, influences writers' relations with each other.

 

2022 Poet's Market
34th Edition
Editor: Robert Lee Brewer
ISBN: 978-0-59333-211-5
Price: $29.99, paperback
Pages: 480
Note that Poet's Market is annually updated and its publisher produces many other titles useful to writers. For more information, visit the following sites:
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com; www.writersdigestshop.com; www.writersmarket.com

 

2022 Novel and Short Story Writer's Market
40th Edition
Editor: Amy Jones
ISBN: 978-0-59333-207-8
Price: $29.99, paperback
Pages: 512
For more information, visit the same websites listed for Poet's Market.

 

If you cannot afford these books, check your local library, which might feature reference copies of the latest editions. Consider, as well, purchasing e-book and CD-ROM versions of these books. Annual online subscriptions offer further options, as do used editions from one or two years ago.

 

  • Other recommendations: search "poetry journals directory" and "poetry websites" via Google. Two of my favorites, focusing on formal verse, are http://www.uncg.edu/~htkirbys/intro.html and The Democratic Republic of Poetry at http://www.trobar.org/prosody/

    •  

    Of course, you could always visit your local literature librarian and request assistance. Librarians often use google.com in their searches and can greatly help you.

     

    Again, please note Rose Alley Press does not consider or read unsolicited manuscripts, although we wish authors the best of luck finding publishers for their work.

     

     

    Several important book fairs survive in the Pacific Northwest, despite tremendous challenges to their survival and the recent demise of many. Most prominent among the surviving fairs is one linked to an annual literary festival in Portland, Oregon, called the "Portland Book Festival" (formerly "Wordstock"). The next Portland Book Festival will occur during November 2022, at various locations around Portland. Staffed by a marvelous group of volunteers, the event typically features many fine author performances and workshops, as well as a large book fair. For more information about this event, visit http://www.literary-arts.org.

     

     

    Many Western Washington poets maintain blogs and websites. I listed Joannie Stangeland's online addresses above. Here are links to some other addresses (including those of a few poets based in Portland and Spokane), preceded by the name of the poet:


    Below is a list of some literary organizations and prose writers, particularly in Western Washington, featuring Web sites and, or blogs:


    The Puget Sound region features some of the United States's best independent bookstores. I feel lucky and grateful to have various Rose Alley Press books and, or readings at these stores. Please patronize them; independent bookstores and literary small presses need customer support to survive. I list each store's name followed by its Web site address:


    Here are Web addresses for some American poets based outside of the Pacific Northwest:


    Here are Web addresses for some additional organizations, businesses, and people that I like, regardless of their location:


     

    Finally, I note the passing of four friends of Rose Alley Press. First, William Dunlop died from cancer on October 20, 2005. William was my teacher and mentor at the University of Washington many years ago. I was honored to know him and to publish his poetry. Of special interest to his friends and fans is the 2007 volume of William's Collected Poems. The book was published by Classic Day Publishing, 2925 Fairview Avenue East, Seattle, WA, 98102; phone: 877-728-8837; e-mail: info@peanutbutterpublishing.com. William's widow, Revelle, and some of his admiring friends produced this volume, which features previously unpublished poems and sells for $18. The back-cover blurbs are by William's friends Jonathan Raban and Margaret Drabble. These esteemed writers rightly valued William not only as a friend but as a great poet. Congratulations to Revelle and all others who contributed to the successful completion of this fine book!

     

    Second, I mourn the loss of Paul Havas, who at seventy-one passed away on February 16, 2012, of pancreatic cancer. Paul was an excellent Northwest landscape painter and exemplified artistic collegiality. For my poetry collection of 1999--Streetlamp, Treetop, Star--I paid Paul a modest fee for use of one of his untitled cityscapes. He said he did not want much, just what I thought I could reasonably afford. I paid him $100 for use of the photographic slide. What a beautiful cover, too! I have Paul's generosity and talent to thank for it. He once attended a reading I gave at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park and bought ten copies of the book to show support. As he was driving me home, he ordered eight more copies! Four people attended that reading, but because of Paul's generosity it stands as one my most commercially successful. He always bought a few copies of new Rose Alley Press books--until the most recent, Many Trails to the Summit. In late 2010 Paul sent me a card indicating he was suffering from cancer but was trying to continue his painting. I inferred that he had huge medical bills and mailed him a complimentary copy of the book. It was the least I could do to reciprocate his many kindnesses to me. These kindnesses included giving me a lift home each time I would visit his Queen Anne studio to show him a new book. He was one of the Northwest's most celebrated, skilled painters, and he was capable of such remarkable humility and consideration. He is survived by his wife, family, and many friends. RIP, Paul Havas.

     

    Third, I mourn the loss of Jack McCarthy, American poetry's raconteur of poignant humor, of stories showing how wounds can yield empathy and mistakes enough wisdom to reach tentative, but deeply valued, happiness. Jack passed away on January 17, 2013, the rightly acknowledged elder statesman of slam narrative. I sponsored, organized, and emceed about six or seven readings at which Jack performed--and he always satisfied his audience. Always. A great voice is now silent, but his books, CDs, and online videos remain accessible to all. Thank you, Jack.

     

    Fourth, I mourn the loss of Herb Sundvall, who at age 77 passed away on August 29, 2013. Herb maintained a poetry blog, herbsunpoems.blogspot.com, and often performed at Seattle-area poetry venues. Originally from New York City, Herb kept his accent despite having lived in Seattle for decades. He showed everyone consideration and respect--and his warm, wry voice and precisely imaged poems will be missed.

     

    Last, I mourn the loss of Ruth L. Horowitz, my wonderfully supportive mother, who passed away at age 83 on August 7, 2015. A native New Yorker, my mother earned her Ph.D. in political science from Washington University in St. Louis and taught political science at the University of Washington in Seattle from 1971 until her retirement in 2001. She was a remarkably skilled, popular teacher who conveyed her passion for the great political theory tradition to generations of UW students. And what a fabulously supportive mother Ruth was--always generous to my brother Carl and I, always there with a meal, smile, and room whenever we needed it. How lucky I was to have such a gem of a mother, and now, Mom, let me again honor you and your legacy of intellectual rigor and compassionate concern. You remain loved by thousands of fondly reminiscent students, dozens of respectful colleagues, and two wildly appreciative sons. Even during the last weeks of her life, when her body was ravaged by late-stage Alzheimer's, irregular heartbeat, arthritis, hearing loss, and other ailments, she found a smile, however faint, for me and the nurses and doctors who helped her struggle so resiliently. Bless you, Ruth, and may your memory always evoke the respect earned by the finest thinkers with the kindest hearts. You're with the angels--and, perhaps, finally at peace.

     

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