Alan Squire Publishing

A Small Press With Big Ideas

Rose Solari Came of Age as a Teacher at "The Writer's Center" In this short essay, Rose Solari muses on her time as a teacher working in the early '90s at Bethesda's up and coming "The Writer's Center", and on how a recent reconciliation led our 2019 book launch back to The Center. Rose Solari addresses a crowd at The Writer's Center. "I came into my own as a poet in graduate school. But it was at The Writers Center that I truly came of age as a teacher." Rose Solari I can no longer remember when I first heard about The Writer’s Center.  If you were a young, aspiring … [Read more...]

Grace Cavalieri and Other MD Poets Honor Stanley Plumly on Midday W/Tom Hall Elizabeth Spires and Michael Collier join Cavalieri in remembering the great Maryland Poet. The late Stanley Plumly (University of Maryland) Stanley Plumly, former Maryland Poet Laureate, Guggenheim Fellow, Capote awardee in literary critisism, PEN awardee in biography, Paterson Poetry awardee, LA Times Book Prize winner, passed away April 11th, 2019 at his home in Frederick, Maryland. He was 79 years old. Not only an artist but an educator as well, Stanley Plumly led the University of Maryland Creative … [Read more...]

"Melodic Recollections of Notable Musicians: Stories from the Stacks" Reuben Jackson on VPR Reuben Jackson discusses his twenty years working for the Smithsonian's Duke Ellington Collection in this hour long talk he gave over the Vermont Public Radio Airwaves in 2013. A baby-faced Duke Ellington fingering the keys "This isn’t HBO so I won’t go into any of the funny things I may have seen." Reuben Jackson thinks that hindsight is kind of funny, though in a disruptive way. That once you reconnect with a person you once were, you often end up not as smooth and contiguous a person … [Read more...]

Grace Cavalieri’s QUILTING THE SUN “Shines at Theater For The New City” NYC's Theater for the New City opens Grace Cavalieri's play "Quilting the Sun" to rave reviews. (directed by Shela Xoregos) "Step aside, Joseph; your amazing technicolor dreamcoat has some serious competition." Derek McCracken Art from Theater for the New City The Maryland Poet Laureate's 21st play, "Quilting the Sun"-- which was presented at the Smithsonian Institution and received its world premiere at Centre Stage, S.C.--is currently being performed by New York's amazing Theater for the New City. The … [Read more...]

Linda Watanabe McFerrin Interviewed in PANK Asian-American author, Leland Cheuk, sits down with Linda to discuss her own Japanese-American heritage and experience. Read the full interview here Excerpt from the Interview Cheuk: I loved the poem “Legacy” in which you write: “I’ve thrown out the kimonos, the costumes and robes / I’ve made a new self out of flowers and surgical steel / a shiny new self that blooms every spring / And I’ve cast all the ancestors / back over the sea”. Have you felt constrained by your heritage in your writing (or in the publishing of or … [Read more...]

INCOMING: The 2019 Book Launch is One Month Away! Join us at the writers center in Bethesda for the launch of three new books from ASP. Interesting story: The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland is where the co-founders of ASP, Rose Solari and James J. Patterson, first met. At the time Rose Solari was leading a poetry workshop there, while James J. Patterson studied the personal essay under former WaPo journalist and current novelist, Joanna Biggar. Interesting story Pt. 2: The last time ASP launched a book from the writer’s center was in Autumn, 2010. There, introduced by Rose … [Read more...]

The Existential Experience of Mystery: Joanna Biggar on Her new Novel "Melanie's Song" "I was attracted to the mystery genre not just because I love mysteries but because I think mysteries are at the heart of everything" Joanna Biggar A missing girl, a cultural revolution, a friend tangled in the mysteries of both. How did Melanie, the most reserved of the group of young women Joanna Biggar first introduced us to in That Paris Year, become a folkloric figure of so many stories: all at once a revolutionary, a young mother, a bank robber, a mystic and a spiritual healer? Joanna … [Read more...]

Linda Watanabe McFerrin Shares two Poems from her Upcoming Book "Containment" and "One Thousand Cranes" both "speak to the suffering, sacrifice, courage and price that is paid when horror trumps humanity." Earlier this month, August, I served again as a member of the Faculty at the 28th Annual Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference in Corte Madera California. This is a truly special conference for me as this is the forum that launched me into a career in travel writing back in 1991 when I won its first travel writing award. This year, 2019, the conference … [Read more...]

"Sakura no Sono" by Linda Watanabe McFerrin "And the branches of the cherry trees were lit with flames, the sparks—petals of fire, carried on the wind." In the early spring cherry trees are often described as being ablaze with blossoms. This is a good, if commonplace, description of that strange and enormous pink event which spreads through the treetops and consumes the sky in a colorful flurry. In "Sakura no Sono," an apocalyptic vision of a real event which happened to her mother, Linda Watanabe McFerrin's cherry blossoms have been struck ablaze by an American firebombing. "And … [Read more...]

David Downie on "Melanie's Song" David Downie a fellow francophile travel-writer and novelist in his own right, gives his thoughts on the new novel by Joanna Biggar. “Joanna Biggar explored Paris as a post-adolescent during the distant Age of Kennedy in That Paris Year. Now she explores the backwaters of American revolutionary culture during the so-called Summer of Love in Melanie’s Song. With wit and aplomb, Biggar reminds readers that love may be free but has its consequences. A poet and journalist, when she turns her talents to storytelling, the result is a page-turning novel where … [Read more...]

Joanna Biggar Presents a Chapter from her Upcoming Novel In the fifth chapter of "Melanie's Song" we "encounter a gathering of personalities and links that will weave into the fabric of the novel." At the beginning of the fifth chapter of Melanie's Song, we find J.J. leaving Mendocino after her first visit, as both friend and journalist, to investigate the burnt-out commune in the forest where her missing friend, Melanie, was rumored to have lived. Soon we also encounter a gathering of personalities and links that will weave into the fabric of the novel. We meet some of those tied … [Read more...]

Reuben Jackson Shares a Poem from his Upcoming Collection Like the city itself, the Northwest Washington, D.C. neighborhood in which I was raised has changed radically, and yet it has not. There is a certain way in which the streets -and the row brick houses- still provide context, and deep, deep, memory. The other day, I took a walk on my block and found myself standing in front of the house in which the neighbor/friend we called "Little Man" was raised. He kept the front porch company. And he was one of the saddest people I have ever met. He killed himself when he was 7. This poem is a … [Read more...]

Reuben Jackson Talks Life and Works with Rose Solari In ASP's first recorded interview, Reuben Jackson talks to Rose Solari about working, living, and writing his newest collection "Scattered Clouds". "Jazz, ballet, poetry, his life, and an exciting new project with Alan Squire Publishing..." So begins ASP Co-Founder and poet Rose Solari at the beginning of her interview with writer Reuben Jackson. The two go way back: Rose met Reuben when they were both publishing under the now-defunct "Gut Punch Press." Reuben won the Columbia Book Award for his first collection under Gut … [Read more...]

The Writing World is Raving About ASP's October Releases From National Book Award Winners to Poets Laureate to travel-writers, historical fiction authors, and even Jungian psychologists, it seems that ASP's October releases are on the collective mind of the writing world. Maryland Poet Laureate, Grace Cavalieri, speaks praise for Linda Watanabe McFerrin's new Legacy Book, "Navigating the Divide." "Scattered Clouds" by Reuben Jackson "Reuben Jackson's marvelous poems map the poles between ode and lamentation, politics and intimacy, sagacity and audacity. He writes for … [Read more...]

This August Linda Watanabe McFerrin Now that we are descending down the stairwell of the latter half of the year, counting all of our aches and sorenesses, collecting fruit like pomegranates, persimmons, things with long names and histories to couple with the widening mouth of nights, I have so little to say to you, considering how short the days have become. The sunlight, growing watery, is not shared easily.   You are opening up new spaces in the back of our bookshelves, hoping the shadows filling them will leave some kind of testament to this other world of subterranean … [Read more...]

See Literature Happening! August Readings, Workshops & More This August Grace, Reuben, Richard, and the indie community are braving the heat to spread the word. ASP and its authors have four awesome events to recommend for lovers of literature and supporters of indie publishing. The dog days bring rejuvenative tidings! Three exciting literary events in-doors and air-conditioned, and one event tree-shady and for-a-good-cause to bring together lovers of literature and champions of human rights! Huzzah! First, on Saturday, August 10th, the Maryland Poet Laureate is reading in … [Read more...]

Linda Watanabe McFerrin Breaks Down the Art of the Book Introduction Poet, author, travel-writer, Linda Watanabe McFerrin, speaks with us about the oft overlooked literary introduction, and breaks down the intent of her own author's introduction in "Navigating the Divide". What is the difference between a foreword, a preface, and an introduction? I prefer to go by the Chicago Manual of Style which, I believe, is what ASP uses. That’s what I usually use in my own editing, and what we [The Wanderland Writers] use for our “Wandering” series. I think the CMS says that an introduction … [Read more...]

Grace Cavalieri Reviews Linda Watanabe McFerrin's "Navigating the Divide" The Maryland Poet Laureate took special care reviewing Watanabe McFerrin's new Legacy Book for her review column in the Washington Independent Review of Books. Every month for the Washington Independent Review of Books, the Maryland Poet Laureate, Grace Cavalieri, author of Other Voices, Other Lives, does a round-up style review of the best recently released independent books of poetry and books about poetry. June 2019's review features fourteen books including two of ASP's upcoming … [Read more...]

This is What Author, Tim Cahill, has to Say about "Navigating the Divide" The noted travel writer and founding editor of “Outside” speaks out about fellow travel writer Linda Watanabe McFerrin’s ASP Legacy Book. "Navigating the Divide" collects the highlights of Linda’s own travel writing, fiction, and poetry into one neat, curated text. "Poetry like burnished steel and prose that reads like poetry. The most captivating and rewarding book I’ve read this year." —Tim Cahill, Author of Jaguars Ripped My Flesh and A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg Pre-Order Navigating the Divide Tim … [Read more...]

Joanna Biggar Reveals the Heart Center of her Newest Novel Novelist Joanna Biggar opens up about her latest novel "Melanie's Song," its impotant relationship to the setting, California, and its place in her body of work. "Melanie's Song," the latest novel from Joanna Biggar, focuses on unraveling the mystery of a missing girl somewhere in California during the cultural revolution of the 1960s and '70s. After 2015's That Paris Year which followed a group of young women on their year-abroad at the Sorbonne—their youthful flings as well as their many rites of adulthood— Joanna … [Read more...]