Alan Squire Publishing

A Small Press With Big Ideas

Rose Solari reads "Margaret in Oxford" from her debut novel A Secret Woman Event Notification: Rose Solari and David Gewanter at Second Story Books in DC this Weekend! "[In A Secret Woman,] Rose Solari explores the eternal literary theme of self — who we are, who are the ones we love, and how we invent and reinvent these people, trying always to paint ourselves into the vast canvas of life and history. A very promising fiction debut." Robert Olen Butler Robert Olen Butler loves Rose Solari's debut work of fiction for its sense of the eternity. This is one of the many reasons all of Rose … [Read more...]

"On the Road, Columbia, South Carolina, Spring 1959" A Poem by Reuben Jackson "There's much said in what's not said in Reuben Jackson's poetry. His cleverly sparse style often convincingly veils the complexities of which he writes, just until the poet sharply corrects our deception." Linda Stiles Those deceptions Ms. Stiles refers to above often come from Reuben's use of the child's point of view. As a child, the narrator, and reader by proxy, is looking up at the absurdity of adult interests and actions with a renewed curiosity. The narrator misses the cut of the barber's words when asked … [Read more...]

Radio Nights by Reuben Jackson ASP is proud to premier the new Reuben Jackson poem, "Radio Nights."  From Reuben: As I mentioned during the interview with Rose Solari, my childhood love for radio was two fold: It was (and still is, kinda…) a gateway to new music, and it provided programmers a chance to work with the musical qualities inherent in what we now often refer to as the spoken word. This unpublished poem is a nod (or another nod) to the magic of the medium, and a curious child’s life in Washington, D.C.  Radio Nights  Left hand working the dial quietly ….  quietly (My parents … [Read more...]

Reuben Jackson Reads "Second Grade" "Reuben Jackson's poems are gateways to possible worlds. With the finesse of a real sleight-of-hand artist, he transforms the truly personal—hopes, dreams, desires—into universal memories." Richard Peabody Reuben Jackson is a treasure trove of memories. In his brilliant interview with Rose Solari over on the ASP Podcast, he recalls childhood with a fully-formed, grown-into clarity. As with his poem, "fingering the keys," there is a vivacity in the memories he shares with us about second grade which seems to extend beyond puberty, college, marriage, … [Read more...]

Reuben Jackson reads fingering the keys Yes, the lowercase is by design. If you've met Reuben you know that he's perhaps allotted himself one or two exclamation points for this half-lifetime, and when they come, well, you'll know. In this case, when one is as evocative in language as Reuben is, the naked words are all one needs. In this, the titular poem from Reuben's first collection, a collection which prompted Joseph Brodsky to pick him for the Columbia, Reuben looks at how the simple memory of shaving with one's father can accompany one for a lifetime. Hear Reuben read "fingering the … [Read more...]

Why We Believe Them. At ASP we try to stay non-political, but there are times when we feel it's necessary to join in the national conversation. We feel the conversation surrounding the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearing is one such moment. This is a conversation that touches our own Rose Solari, and she has shared her story in her book "Difficult Weather". We all have different ways of healing; Rose writes, and through her writing, hopes that she is able to help others heal. A Story You remember waiting in your friend’s boyfriend’s house where she was supposed … [Read more...]

Joanna Biggar's "Thoughts on Books and Such" "It’s a given nowadays that at some point in our distant ancestral past, bipedal and no doubt hirsute forebears marched out of Africa. Thousands of years later, mine showed up in Northern Europe, from whence they sailed to North America only hundreds of years ago—hardly a blink in the continuum of time. But in the millennia between the African exodus and their establishment in the British Isles and Northern France, where were they? What were they doing? I have no idea in specific terms. But in general terms, the limestone rocks and caves of … [Read more...]

Linda Watanabe McFerrin and The Legacy Book: A Look Back This past week we've spent looking at Linda Watanabe McFerrin's literary breadth; she's read poetry for us, shared stories from Japan, where she grew up, taken us to the world of Namako: Sea Cucumber, served us a sensual Italian feast in English, and guided us through the streets of her own home, San Francisco. In a lot of ways we've been looking back on these wonderful pieces by Linda, pulling them from piles and old publications--from a harddrive or two perhaps. After all, a Legacy book is designed to be backwards-looking. That is: … [Read more...]

Linda Watanabe McFerrin reads "Noche de los Muertos" McFerrin is adept at describing the concerns of women of various ethnic backgrounds, from different geographic regions of America and showing that despite race, country of origin, or physical location, some feelings and difficulties are universal. Elizabeth Millard "Tonight we remember, we make room for the dead. Tonight, they are among us." Linda Watanabe McFerrin, consummate traveler, didn't have to stray too far from home to experience this San Franciscan tradition. As a resident of the Bay Area she could hardly have avoided it. … [Read more...]

Hear Linda read from her YA novel Namako: Sea Cucumber Namako is a novel about a child’s virgin dance with the truth with lies and secrets. Each new violation of trust is like a footprint on the tundra, refining the way the child walks through life. Los Angeles Times Namako: Sea Cucumber may be classified (or hastily genre-fied) as a Young Adult Novel, but it sure doesn't pull any punches. Namako is a coming-of-age story set in a defiantly real world. In it, the naive and small universe of the child is conquered by a reality in turns sublime and beautiful, horrific and wondrous. These young, … [Read more...]

Linda Watanabe McFerrin reads her poem "Sakura no Sono" Rare is the writer that I know who has created her own genre… Linda writes with such verisimilitude that you’ll never have to leave home again. Perry Garfinkel Having grown up in Japan, Linda Watanabe McFerrin's poetry can often seem kindred to that of the great annalists of the cherry blossom. She is calm, observant, nature-focused, a perfecter of the line, with a tight guard on syllable count and an ear for economy. The brilliance of her visceral calm and her sense, as a travel writer, of the construction of place, come through … [Read more...]

Linda Watanabe McFerrin reads "On Pleasures Oral" McFerrin’s writing is strong and beautiful, almost like poetry, and the result is provocative, sometimes humorous, and always colorful. Library Journal Yesterday we explored the playful and experimental side of Linda Watanabe McFerrin's vivacious poetry with "Speaking in Tongues." Today we move on through her literary abîmes into territory quite different, not for lack of lyrical wordplay, but because as you will hear, feel, taste, and smell, "On Pleasures Oral" is a veritable feast of vivid, sensual description. The subtleties exist here in … [Read more...]

Linda Watanabe McFerrin reads "Speaking in Tongues" "Linda Watanabe McFerrin’s poetry rises from the true encounter between language and vision, between wonder and exploration fused with the poet’s need to uncover the mysteries of the earth." Ray Gonzalez Linda Watanabe McFerrin's first featured audio as an ASP author is an intriguing poem which showcases her kaleidoscopic usage of sound. "When there are no words, just sounds that move me." This line prefaces "Speaking Tongues" perhaps to tell the reader not to expect their colors to come easily from rich imagery or description, but from the … [Read more...]

ASP Presents The Newest Edition to the Legacy Series PRE-ORDER HERE Autumn 2019 LINDA WATANABE MCFERRIN ON THE ASP PODCAST … [Read more...]

  Grace Cavalieri Reads "Identification" "The poet Grace Cavalieri is a…truly generous friend of poetry and poets. In her writing and all she does her large-minded generosity shines." Robert Pinsky Last week we featured Grace Cavalieri's brilliant poem "Safety," about her late husband Kenneth Flynn. "Identification," is, in many ways, the upshot of "Safety's" diminutive ending. In "Safety" we find the poet facing life again as though she were twelve years old, just before she had met her lifelong partner. Because of his loss, she has regressed into a child. But, in "Identification," … [Read more...]

  Richard Peabody reads "The Other Man is Always French" Few write with as much brilliance and variety as Richard Peabody. Spanning nearly forty years, The Richard Peabody Reader offers us a buffet of Peabody’s poetry and prose from 1976 to the present that includes nostalgia, tragedy, despair, wit, surrealism, sex, and even science-fiction. This is an immensely entertaining collection of decades of work by a writer whose powers never lag and whose creativity seems to know no limits. —Mary Mackey Mustn't we all agree that Richard Peabody can seem awfully French? Not to say he writes … [Read more...]

  Rose Solari reads "Benedict" from her Debut Novel A Secret Woman is not only a pleasure to read, it is sneaky serious in a way I particularly like. Rose Solari explores the eternal literary theme of self — who we are, who are the ones we love, and how we invent and reinvent these people, trying always to paint ourselves into the vast canvas of life and history. Robert Olen Butler Many schools of poetry stress economy. The Shakespearean sonnet is limited to twelve lines, ten syllables each; the sestina uses requisite repetition to enforce its themes; imagism is a principle of … [Read more...]

James J. Patterson reads "Jesse's Wife" Roughnecks maps a rugged geography of the human condition, as seen through the eyes of the hard-bitten Zachary Harper. With both wit and style, Patterson paints an unforgettable picture of characters wrestling with their own gruff but complicated souls. James Mathews Of course James J. Patterson would be the first ASP author to require a content warning beside their featured audio. We thought for a long while about whether or not this scene would be appropriate to publish to the site; Roughnecks, after all, is a massive book of incredible scope--there … [Read more...]