PUBLICATIONS
GHOST TOWN POETRY: Poems from Cover to Cover Books 2004-2010 (2011) Edited by Christopher Luna and Toni Partington
A collection of poets from the popular second Thursday open mic at Cover to Cover Books in Vancouver, WA co-hosted by Christopher Luna and Toni Partington. This anthology collects a mere sampling of the hundreds of unpublished and renowned poets who have read at the popular poetry series that spoken word legend Jack McCarthy proclaimed “the best open mike between Tacoma and Berkeley.” Founded by Christopher Luna at Ice Cream Renaissance in 2004, in 2007 Ghost Town Poetry relocated to Cover to Cover Books, where it became a crucial component of Vancouver’s growing literary community.
Edited by Printed Matter Vancouver co-founders and current series co-hosts Christopher Luna and Toni Partington, Ghost Town Poetry contains poems that were read at the open mic as well as new work. It also features cover art and a history of the series by Christopher Luna as well as a chronology of the featured readers who have traveled from around the country and the Northwest to share their work.
Ghost Town Poetry features poems by the following writers: Judith Arcana, Bernadette Barrio, Kristin Berger, Alex Birkett, Diane Cammer, Sheryl Clough, Sage Cohen, Kyle David Congdon, Carter Crockett, Eileen Davis Elliott, Naomi Fast, Olivia Gonzalez, Rob Gourley, Sam Green, Lorraine Healy, David Hill, Taylor Johnston, Maggie Kelly, Rainy Knight, Christi Krug, Barbara LaMorticella, Colleen Lindsay, Jake Loranger, Lori Loranger, Zoe Loranger, Jack Lorts, Angelo Luna, Christopher Luna, M, David Madgalene, Carolyn Martin, Jim Martin, David Meltzer, Norma Mizer, Mokii, Judith Montgomery, G.L. Morrison, Dan Nelson, Toni Partington, Jenney Pauer, Charles Potts, Michael Rothenberg, Kori Sayer-LeMieux, Herb Stokes, Margareta Waterman, Steve Williams, Laura Winter, and Sharon Wood Wortman.
The book is available for $10 through Cover to Cover Books (mail@covertocoverbooks.net) and Powell’s Books, and Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Town-Poetry-2004-2010-Anthology/dp/1461075114/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1340722293&sr=8-5&keywords=Ghost+Town+Poetry.
Read San Francisco writer Kevin Killian’s five-star review of the book on Amazon.com: http://printedmattervancouver.com/2012/09/23/kevin-killians-five-star-review-of-ghost-town-poetry/
SERENITY IN THE BRUTAL GARDEN By Jenney Pauer
This stunning debut by Vancouver poet Jenney Pauer is a moving collection of poems about sorrow, joy, and family. According to Northwest spoken word legend Jack McCarthy, “If George Eliot were alive today and writing poetry, she would sound a lot like Jenney Pauer. There is an unforced elegance in virtually every line she writes. My immediate response is to stand back and salute.”
Jenney Pauer is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, where she studied theater and English literature. After serving four years in the United States Army as a Korean linguist, she obtained a Secondary English Education degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before moving to the Pacific Northwest with her dog and cat in 2008, she taught high school English along the border of Arizona and Mexico. Recently, Jenney co-wrote a short film, Nico’s Sampaguita, accepted into the 27th Annual Asian Pacific Film Festival in Los Angeles, and soon to be released by Sacred Fire Films in San Francisco, California.
Serenity in the Brutal Garden ($10) is available through Printed Matter Vancouver, Cover to Cover Books (mail@covertocoverbooks.net), or Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Serenity-Brutal-Garden-Poetry-Jenney/dp/1470132591/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340722645&sr=1-1&keywords=Serenity+in+the+Brutal+Garden
WIND WING By Toni Partington
WIND WING is a collection of poetry inspired by the lives of women. The poems provide a glimpse into life on the edge of mental illness, transition and discovery. In three chapters, the poems expose the life of an only child with a mentally ill mother, the transitions of life, love and loss, and the societal and personal observations that lead to self discovery. Partington wrote the book over the past ten years as a way to reveal the stigma associated with mental illness and its impact on families.
The book is available for purchase for $10 at Cover To Cover Books, 1817 Main St., Vancouver, WA, 360-514-0358. It is also available as an eBook: http://printedmattervancouver.com/2012/07/08/toni-partingtons-wind-wing-is-now-available-as-an-ebook/
GHOST TOWN, USA By Christopher Luna
In 2003, New Yorker Christopher found himself in Vancouver, WA, wondering how he got there and missing home. He began collecting his observations of his new home in a notebook that became Ghost Town, USA, a diaristic investigative poem about the city often written in real time while walking around town or taking public transportation. This 72-page chapbook represents the first seven years of Luna’s adventures in Vancouver, the place he nicknamed Ghost Town because one can often walk through town in the middle of the day and not see a single person on the street. Luna incorporates humor, social commentary, and overheard conversation into his attempt to capture snapshots of day-to-day life in this suburb just across the bridge from Portland, OR.
Bootstrap Press founder Derek Fenner comments that “Ghost Town, USA moves with a true agitation of the mind.” According to David Meltzer, the book “recalls Williams in his need to transcribe speech.” Eileen Elliott, author of The Prodigal Cowgirl notes: “Chris Luna makes brave darting forays between at least two worlds: the found poetry of city buses and overheard madness posing as stand-in-line conversations, and ekphrastic poetry celebrating works of art such as tattoos, navel piercings, and the way the wind blows the hot dog man’s napkins in the breeze. He comments on living, breathing acts of beauty, leaving them with their dignity and me with deeper understanding. He communicates, straight and pure, like an arrow to my heart, shaving off its toughness and leaving me vulnerable and new.”
Ghost Town, USA ($6) is available at Cover to Cover Books, Angst Gallery (1015 Main Street, Vancouver, WA) , or through the author.
