Editing A Sing Economy, the second Flim Forum Press anthology, was a struggle for me. Matthew Klane and I began making selections when my first daughter was newly born, I was commuting from Hartford to Boston for work and working weird hours, and Matthew and I were at loggerheads over a few of the selections—a problem of my exhaustion and my pride, but also a matter of how seriously we took the project. This book would complete the foundation of the press, begun with our first anthology, Oh One Arrow.
Since Matthew and I managed not to destroy our friendship, I can say without reservation that Sing was worth the struggle.
When I look back at Sing, I’m especially proud of the poets I brought into the book: Stephanie Strickland, Kaethe Schwehn, Laura Sims, a. rawlings, Erin M. Bertram, and—though Matthew introduced me to her work—I’m gonna take credit for pestering Jessica Smith ‘till at last she sent us “Cortland.”
As Arrow led to our third title (Brandon Shimoda’s The Alps), Sing led to our fourth, Jennifer Karmin’s Aaaaaaaaaaalice. Other poets in Sing now have books out that include the selections we published first. Matthew Timmons’ The New Poetics is out from Les Figues, Laura’s “Murder Poems” will be in her next collection from Fence, and Kate Schapira’s How We Saved the City and Debora Poe’s Elements are both out from Stockport Flats.
Sing is available from us for just five bucks—a discount price that’s part of our pre-promotion for our fifth title, a selected poetry of Paul Hannigan.
