66. Sing, } economy.

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.

61. Kate makes } city.

When our paths last crossed, Kate Shapira gave me a “Tell me about a change in your city or town” postcard, a pre-stamped, screen-printed, 5 x 7 card. So far, 10 of the 50 cards were returned to Kate. I kept my answer simple. Tho I’m not sure what Kate intends to do with these texts (beyond posting them on her blog), my assumption is that it’s the beginning of a community-based poetry project. Do our texts become found text for Kate to reshape? If so I approve.

Flim Forum published a selection from How We Saved the City, Kate’s latest book (from Stockport Flats’ Meander Scar series), in A Sing Economy. A subject of those poems is the impact of city on human beings—a further expression of her interest in community. Her own, but—and the postcard series points to this—other communities as well.

The postcard asked me to do what she does, that is, to think about where I live. To engage. That’s activism, right?

If you buy any of her books, she’ll send you a copy of her newest chapbook Ground (while she has ‘em).

55. Flim Forum Press presents } All Steel & a can of Pringles.

A kind of balance was achieved as Lori Anderson Moseman, author of All Steel, ate the Pringles chips Matthew Klane bought (at my behest) to catch the eye of prospective The Death of Pringle (THE DEATH OF PRINGLE!) readers / buyers. Her gusto, her robust appetite for junk food, sold many books at the AWP conference in Chicago, where Matthew and I released the latest from Flim Forum.

Justin Katko's The Death of Pringle is junk food of the gods, an ALL CAPS punk show flier libretto so ridiculous I can't in good conscience describe it here, where I am only ever serious. Suffice it to say The Death of Pringle ought to be read with green and pink Hi-Lite pens and a fizzing glass of cherry Coke.

An alternative / compliment, Lori Anderson Moseman's All Steel conducts the Flim Forum aesthetic.

For more useful information, chase this link, friend. Thank you.

44. Aaaaaaaaaaaalice } read.

Aaaaaaaaaaalice, the second single-author collection published by Flim Forum Press, my and Matthew Klane’s poetry press, was favorably reviewed by poet Erika Jo Brown for the Iowa Review.

Jennifer Karmin’s book-length poem was emphatically a yes for Flim. When we first saw cantos from the poem, a submission to Flim’s A Sing Economy, there was no discussion; we took ‘em. That’s not customary. Matthew and I still bear scars from our debates over a good number of the poems that did and didn’t make the Sing cut. Karmin’s cantos were salve. We were similarly of one mind when the full Aaaaaaaaaaalice ms. was sent us.

Brown's review begins by describing the book’s overall aesthetic, and while I can take some credit for the look of our titles, the lion’s share must go to Matthew, who labors over every page in his little basement office. Back then, he was still constructing mock-ups with print-outs and a paper cutter. He not only made mock-ups of the book, but also constructed paper bookshops and paper readers. This of course made for a very strange scene, a bit like a Robert Wilson installation. Matthew’s wife still refuses to go to the basement at night.

Brown also described an Aaaaaaaaaaalice reading:

Karmin distributed slips of printed paper—later revealed to be ribbons from her book—to a crowd of about a hundred people. She invited the group to interject with their given words at any volume, at any interval. Then, she began to recite evenly and energetically. Thoroughly unruffled, her voice seemed to absorb the intrusions that eventually evolved into enrichments.

This is only one form Aaaaaaaaaaalice readings take, but they are always collaborations with the audience. Never, I hasten to add, free-for-alls. Karmin conducts, so even accidents fit. If the opportunity arises, hear her read.