Dear Friends of Alan Squire Publishing, Rose Solari here, co-founder of ASP. I write to say that the press will be going on hiatus, effective August 2. We are not closing. But we will not be publishing any new titles in 2024 or the first half of 2025. Our online literary magazine, The ASP Bulletin, will also be on hiatus during this time.  As many of you know, indie publishing — actually, all publishing — is currently facing unprecedented challenges. We had already decided to seek a new distributor for ASP before the big distribution crisis of this past spring that left hundreds of … [Read more...]

This past week, Alan Squire Publishing released the newest edition of our literary magazine: Issue 9 of The ASP Bulletin. As always, we included stirring poetry, thought-provoking nonfiction, and compelling fiction – this issue also contains a thoughtful book review written by Alex DiFrancesco, an interview with author John Vercher about his new book Devil is Fine, and the featured story “Feeding Time” by Jen Soong, from ASP’s anthology Already Gone: 40 Stories of Running Away. You can read all of these and more at the ASP Bulletin’s website. In addition to publishing The Bulletin, ASP’s … [Read more...]

There’s less than a month left until the AWP 2024 conference in Kansas City, Missouri. As you decide what panels you’ll attend, where you’ll wander in the bookfair, and what writers you absolutely can’t miss, make sure to add ASP to your itinerary! To kick off the conference, join us at our reading on Wednesday, February 7th at 7 PM. Tired from your travels? Never fear. The reading will take place in the Bennie Moten room inside the Kansas City Marriott. Listen to incredible readings from our 2023 titles without leaving the conference hotel! James J. Patterson will read from Junk Shop Window: … [Read more...]

Celebrations for the launch of Already Gone: 40 Stories of Running Away continued in Bethesda over the weekend. Editor Hannah Grieco and contributors Matt Barrett, DeMisty D. Bellinger, Michael B. Tager, Zach Powers, and Deesha Philyaw gathered alongside ASP staff at The Writer’s Center for a night of readings and book signings.  “In the summer of 2021, I decided I couldn’t take another full Pittsburgh winter…so I rented a house in Miami Springs for a month,” contributor Deesha Philyaw recounted while introducing her piece “Mother’s Day.” “So when Hannah invited me to contribute to an … [Read more...]

This weekend, team ASP and authors from Already Gone: 40 Stories of Running Away gathered in the Upper West Side to celebrate the launch of our 23rd title. It was a night of literary excitement and excellence. Authors Kathleen McKitty Harris, Emily James, Matt Cantor, Aubrey Hirsch, and Lilly Dancyger gave incredible readings that embodied the spirit of flight and transformation. From a story of an astronaut’s journey of grief to a vibrant retelling of the biblical tale of Lot’s wife to pensive and humorous essays on the desire to break free of family and everyday life, the full talent of the … [Read more...]

On Wednesday, October 18th, the Maryland State Arts Council announced that Grace Cavalieri’s tenure as Poet Laureate of Maryland had ended. Cavalieri served as Poet Laureate since 2018. Throughout her literary career, she has authored 26 books and chapbooks of poetry, written 26 produced plays, and constantly uplifted the voices of other poets. In her role as Poet Laureate, Cavalieri embarked upon projects like Teens Seen and Heard, which offered monthly poetry workshops to teenagers in Howard County, Prince George’s County, and Salisbury, Maryland. Her radio program The Poet and the Poem has … [Read more...]

Writing can be a labor of love. Finishing a piece that you’re proud of feels like a Herculean accomplishment at times. Taking the next step and starting a whole new process by sending that work to literary journals can be just as intense and exhausting. As a writer who has been on both ends of the Submittable scene—sending off poems in hopes of publication, as well as screening submissions to either accept or reject—I try to always keep these tips in mind. While every publication is different, and every writer has their own approach, it never hurts to circle back to the basics. 1. A cover … [Read more...]

On June 16th, following the release of Junk Shop Window: Essays on Myth, Life, and Literature, James J. Patterson gave a reading at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland—“the center of the universe,” according to Patterson—alongside novelist Aaron Hamburger, author of Hotel Cuba. In a discussion moderated by Zach Powers, these writers talked about their inspirations, their writing methods, and their upcoming projects. In conversation, Patterson and Hamburger recalled the origins of their latest books. “To warm up, I would work on essays,” Patterson said, describing how the essays in … [Read more...]

By Eylie Sasajima To celebrate the upcoming release of Junk Shop Window: Essays on Myth, Life, and Literature, on June 6, ASP’s James J. Patterson was interviewed on E. Ethelbert Miller’s WPFW radio show, On the Margin. The conversation included personal reading and writing practices, science fiction, and the origin of ASP itself, along with discussion of the work in Patterson’s upcoming essay collection, which he described as “memoir meets The Twilight Zone.” Miller, evoking a writing exercise he uses in workshops, asked Patterson to name inspirational figures whom he considered his … [Read more...]

It was chilly, cloudy, and lovely in Seattle when I arrived half an hour early for the first of several panels I’d picked all the way back in December: “Grief in the Asian Diaspora” featuring panelists Chris Santiago, Victoria Chang, Sequoia Nagamatsu, and Sejal Shah. Reading from an essay in Dear Memory (which I was lucky enough to have signed the next day), Victoria Chang quoted a fellow poet on the topic of their parents not talking about their pasts: “maybe it’s us, the next generation, who will write in response to that history.” Coming from a Japanese American family, that thought is at … [Read more...]

ASP Bulletin Announces Nominations for Best of the Net 2022 ASP's in-house literary journal nominates nine authors for the Best of the Net 2022 The Best of the Net is an awards-based anthology started in 2006. Online publications can submit pieces in four categories: poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and art. For this year, the Bulletin submitted a total of nine authors in three different categories. They are as follows: Leslie Pietrzyk: Keep Your Dead Close (NF) James J. Patterson: Hermes at the Kakistocracy Hotel (NF) dave ring: Non-Volatile Memory (Fic) Ellen White Rook: … [Read more...]

"A wonderfully detailed treat!" Kirkus Reviews David Downie's Long Awaited ROMAN ROULETTE The American book review magazine and cultural gatekeeper Kirkus Reviews raves about David Downie's new thriller, Roman Roulette, calling it "a wonderfully detailed treat" all while praising it as not just a remarkable thriller but a loving tour of Rome and Italian culture. Roman Roulette is the continuation of Det. Daria Vinci's adventures first explored in Downie's Red Riviera. A new scene, a new adventure, a new case, follow the intrepid detective to the stunning conclusion of this … [Read more...]

Innisfree Poetry Journal Takes an In-Depth Look at the Career and Works of Grace Cavalieri In their newest edition, Innisfree Poetry Journal, takes a deep dive into the work and career of Grace Cavalieri. The article features thirteen poems by the Maryland Poetry Laureate including many featured in her Legacy Book, Other Voices, Other Lives. The poems are drawn from her historical-literary explorations of the lives of three famous women of vastly different backgrounds: Mary Wollstonecraft, Anna Nicole Smith, and Madame de Stael. Of her work on Mary Wollstonecraft, the … [Read more...]

The American Scholar features Grace Cavalieri's "Work Is My Secret Lover" In this audio-only feature, the Maryland Poet Laureate's poem is read by Amanda Holmes of The American Scholar Phi Beta Kappa's The American Scholar recently featured a beloved poem by current Maryland Poet Laureate, Grace Cavalieri. The feature is audio only and TAS' Amanda Holmes offers her vocal stylings for an introduction of Cavalieri and reading of the poem, "Work is my Secret Lover." "Work is my Secret Lover" appears in Cavalieri's Other Voices, Other Lives part of Alan Squire … [Read more...]

Saida Agostini is Torch literary Arts Featured Artist of July Torch Literary Arts, a non-profit literary organization with the goal of raising the creative voices of black women writers, has selected Saida Agostini as their featured artist of July. Included in the feature is a sampling of her work and a substantive interview with Saida. Read the entire feature here and find an excerpt of the interview below. Saida Agostini is a queer Afro-Guyanese poet whose work explores the ways Black folks harness mythology to enter the fantastic. Her first full-length poetry collection, let … [Read more...]

LET THE DEAD IN Receives Glowing Review in Lightwood Press #10 "Agostini's socially and spiritually aware poetry collection 'Let the Dead In' focuses on the duality between love and hate along with the way that these concepts integrate and clash" Poet Robyn Hager reviews Saida Agostini's daring first collection let the dead in in the 10th edition of Lightwood. In her review, Hager praises Agostini's social and spiritual awareness as she contends with the violence and oppression facing black people in the United States. Below, read a small excerpt. Read the entire review … [Read more...]

James J. Patterson to Write Liner Notes for New Country Rock Record The North Star Band, formerly managed by ASP's own James J. Patterson, release a new LP, Then and Now James J. Patterson, famed himself in the music world for his onstage-persona, Jimmy Pheromone, writes the liner notes for the new North Star Band album Then and Now. The North Star Band was formed in the 1970s by Patterson's erstwhile co-writer and co-performer Al Johnson (Al Pheromone). After recording two albums under the Patterson's management, the band went on a long hiatus from which they only recently … [Read more...]

Saida Agostini Poem Appears in Pride Poems 2022 For pride month 2022 Saida Agostini reads her (VERY NSFW) poem "Adventures of the Third Limb" "Adventures of the Third Limb," Saida Agostini's boisterous and celebratory love poem was chosen as part of DC Pride's poem a day celebration. The project hosts 30 short videos of queer DC-area poets reading a love poem and archives them all on their website: pridepoems.com. You can watch Saida read her poem HERE. The full text is below (NSFW WARNING) and you can help out DC pride by volunteering or donating at capitalpride.org. You can … [Read more...]

Elizabeth Hazen Essay Lands in Coachella Review Elizabeth Hazen's new essay "Click Here to Relive This Memory" explores the warmth and the chill of nostalgia " The future brims with uncertainty and violence and harsh colors; it is no surprise that we prefer looking back," writes Elizabeth Hazen in her new essay that contends with a societal and personal obsession with nostalgia. In the course of her essay, she charts her life as a young child devouring handfuls of cereal in front of Saturday morning cartoons, to a young mother mired in a failing marriage, to the struggles and … [Read more...]

ASP Celebrates AAPI Month With Selections from the Work of Linda Watanabe McFerrin ASP celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with works by Japanese-American poet and writer, Linda Watanabe McFerrin. The two poems and one essay below are featured in her Legacy Collection, Navigating the Divide. LEGACY I. In the first act, remember her madness- her wide gash of sorrow, her obi of blood? The tragic Kabuki heroine, she committed seppuku, hid the cross-wise cut under mulberry robes. We walked like obakes, like unsettled ghosts. She cut my long hair. It frightened … [Read more...]