Alan Squire Publishing

A Small Press With Big Ideas

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...]

First Indian Poet to Record Poems for The Library of Congress to be interviewed by Grace Cavalieri for "The Poet and the Poem" Abhay K. is set to be the first Indian National to record poems for the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The SAARC award winner is known as the premier literary flag-bearer of contemporary Indian poetry. He has published several collections including the acclaimed work The Seduction of Delhi. We are excited to announce that, during his visit, Abhay K. will be interviewed by Grace Cavalieri for her radio show "The Poet and The Poem." Mr. K. will join the ranks … [Read more...]

  Elizabeth Hazen sits down with Elizabeth Spires to discuss her new Poetry Collection, "A Memory of the Future" Two well-educated poets, clear admirers of one another's work, and denizens of Baltimore sit for what must have been a rigorous yet pacific cup of tea. Hazen, author of Chaos Theories, gives a short review of Elizabeth Spires' new collection and an overview of her career which, among trenchant analyses, glimmers with admiration. Then follows a short Q&A where Spires muses on her home city, politics at play, and the influence of zen in her life and her poetry. Read the … [Read more...]

An Interview with Grace Cavalieri Senior Editor of December Literary Magazine, Ron A. Austin, sat down with Grace Cavalieri for an exciting and rapid fire (if, sadly, slim) look at the author behind Other Voices, Other Lives, the second installment in ASP's Legacy Series. Read the whole interview here An Excerpt: DECEMBER How do your personal experiences manifest in your work? When, if ever, do you feel the need to adjust things in your work (settings, characters, etc.) to protect people in your life? CAVALIERI Great question as it hinges on the moral life of the writer. I … [Read more...]

A Featured Solari Poem on Poets and Artists Rose Solari's poem "Portrait of a Girl Gulf-Side" is featured on Poets and Artists with a small introduction by Grace Cavalieri. Read the full poem and introduction here An Excerpt: PORTRAIT OF A GIRL, GULF-SIDE                    Naples, Florida At first, I thought it was happiness that made her rock her head from left to right, again, again — that girl, maybe twelve, in her pink   skirted two-piece, her dark hair swimming, gorgeous, down her back. She clutched an Ipad in a thick pink rubber case.   Rose Solari is the … [Read more...]

Lessons From a Turtle by Elizabeth Hazen Once at the National Zoo, I watched a pair of giant tortoises copulating, the sound that emanated from their habitat like a sleeper’s distress in the midst of a confusing dream. My son wondered what the matter was. All of the children wondered, the older ones with a slight blush of awareness. The adults chuckled nervously, parents scooting their children along to the next exhibit. Meanwhile I stared with the fascination of a scientist, the brazenness of a paparazzo. How those enormous, armored bodies could fit together—how even turtles could evince … [Read more...]

Henry Miller and NEXUS, the American Author Reconsidered By James J. Patterson Henry Miller is the missing link to a holistic understanding of the American literary tradition, argues Dr. James M. Decker, author of Henry Miller: New Perspectives and mastermind behind Nexus: The International Henry Miller Journal.  “Once you have given up the ghost, everything falls into place with dead certainty, even in the midst of chaos,” opens Henry Miller’s third book, The Tropic of Capricorn (1939). Anyone who has ever really hit bottom, and survived, knows the truth and wisdom packed … [Read more...]

Rose Solari is judging this year's Charlene Kushner Wicked Woman Poetry Prize Brickhouse Books has announced the Charlene Kushner Wicked Woman Poetry Prize. The winning manuscript will be published by Brickhouse books and the author receive $250. The Manuscript must be about a woman (or women) who challenged expectations or broke the mold. Our very Own Rose Solari, author of A Secret Woman and The Last Girl, will be judging the competition. Entries are accepted Sept. 1, 2018, to January 4, 2019, via Submittable. Accommodations available for members of the disability community. … [Read more...]