A Midsummer Night's Press

Number 1 Bestseller!

MILK AND HONEY: A CELEBRATION OF JEWISH LESBIAN POETRY edited by Julie R. Esnzer was #1 on the October 2011 SPD Bestseller List!! Mazel tov to Julie and all the contributors!

http://www.spdbooks.org/pages/bestsellers/poetry/default.aspx

upcoming Milk and Honey events

Monday, October 10th, 7:00 p.m.
Reading at Bluestockings
172 Allen
New York, NY
Featuring Joanna Hoffman, Eleanor Levine, Julie R. Enzser.

Tuesday, October 11th, 6:30 p.m.
Reading at The City College of New York, sponsored by The Simon H. Rifkind Center
Shepard Hall 95, 137th Street & Amsterdam Ave. For more info call (212) 650-6388 or (917) 579-6147. Email: rifkindcenter@aol.com
Featuring Sandra Tarlin, Hilary Lustick, Rose Fox, and Sima Rabinowitz. Host Julie R. Esnzer

Saturday, 12 November 2011 Time TBD
Reading at Charis Books & More in Atlanta, GA
Held in Atlanta during the National Women's Studies Association Conference. Readers include Megan Volpert, Lisa Dordal, Batya Weinbaum, and Julie R. Enszer.

Sunday, 13 November 2011 Time TBD
Reading at Location TBD in Atlanta, GA

Sunday, 18 December 2011
5 p.m.
Sunday Kinds of Love Reading Series
Busboys & Poets
14th & V. Street
Washington, DC
Eryca Kasse and Julie R. Enzser are the featured readers for half the program; Ahron Taub is the other featured reader.

Reading/Celebration of Milk and Honey at Split This Rock! - March 22-25, 2012
Eryca Kasse secured a reading and celebration for Milk and Honey in conjunction with the 2012 Split This Rock conference, March 22-25. We don't have the time and location yet, but when we do, I'll let you know. Meanwhile, feel free to make plans to join us.
More information about Split This Rock here: http://www.splitthisrock.org/festival2012/festival2012.html

Milk and Honey-SPD Bestseller

MILK AND HONEY: A CELEBRATION OF JEWISH LESBIAN POETRY, edited by Julie R. Enszer, was a Bestseller for our distributor, SPD, last month:

http://www.spdbooks.org/pages/bestsellers/poetry/default.aspx

LGBT reading in Washington, DC

A Midsummer Night's Press is proud to be one of the co-sponsors of this great event, coinciding with the Associated Writing Programs conference in Washington, DC next week.

 

Queer Writers to Converge at “3 Dollar Bill” AWP Reading in Washington, DC
Public reading on February 3 will feature 30 LGBT writers of poetry and prose

WASHINGTON, DC— Some of the LGBT community’s most talented and dynamic writers converge in the Nation’s Capitol for a night of rapid-fire readings.  “3 Dollar Bill,” the Queer Reading at the 2011 Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference, gathers nearly thirty LGBT writers of poetry and prose who will each read two minutes of their work. The event will take place Thursday, February 3, from 7:30-10:30 pm at the Human Rights Campaign Equality Forum (1640 Rhode Island Avenue NW, in Washington, DC).

“3 Dollar Bill” is sponsored by Arktoi Books, BLOOM Literary Journal, Human Rights Campaign, Knockout Literary Magazine, The Lambda Literary Foundation, A Midsummer Night’s Press, The Publishing Triangle, Sibling Rivalry Press/Assarcus Journal, Sinister Wisdom Literary Journal, White Crane Institute, and The Writer’s Center.

“The lineup of readers is simply remarkable,” says Tony Valenzuela, Executive Director of Lambda Literary.  “From literary rock stars to the budding genius of our community’s emerging voices, queer night at AWP is going to astonish people.  You better not miss it.”

The full list of readers includes: Francisco Aragón, Ilse Bendorf, Tamiko Beyer, Regie Cabico, Cynn Chadwick, Julie Enszer, Danielle Evennou, Gina Evers, Reginald Harris, Natalie E. Illum, Charles Jensen, Saeed Jones, Eloise Klein Healy, Rickey Laurentiis, Paul Lisicky, Michael Montlack, Eileen Myles, Kristin Naca, Achy Obejas, Christa Orth, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Radclyffe, Douglas Ray, Jason Schneiderman, Joseph Shapiro, Ely Shipley, Justin Torres, Dan Vera, & Valerie Wetlaufer.

Admission to the reading is free and open to the public. Book sales will take place during intermission and after the event. This is an off-site event being held in conjunction with the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference, held annually in a different U.S. city.

Learn about the sponsors, after the jump.

About Arktoi Books:

Arktoi Books, an imprint of Red Hen Press, was established in 2006 by Eloise Klein Healy to publish literary works of high quality by lesbian writers. The mission of Arktoi Books is to give lesbian writers more access to “the conversation” that having a book in print affords.

About BLOOM Literary Journal:

BLOOM was founded to support the work of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered writers and artists and to foster the appreciation of queer literature and creation. 

About Human Rights Campaign:

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

About Knockout Literary Magazine:

Knockout was founded in 2007 by Jeremy Halinen and Brett Ortler. It is a biannual literary magazine that publishes a nearly 50/50 mix of LGBT and straight writers.

About Lambda Literary Foundation:

The Lambda Literary Foundation (LLF) nurtures, celebrates, and preserves LGBT literature through programs that honor excellence, promote visibility and encourage development of emerging writers.  Find LLF at www.lambdaliterary.org.

A Midsummer Night’s Press:

Founded by Lawrence Schimel, the press began publishing books in 1997, with its Body Language imprint devoted to LGBT writers. They have published single-author collections from a diverse mix of queer writers such as Achy Obejas, Raymond Luczak, and Julie R. Enszer, as well as anthologies of queer writing such as the forthcoming Flamboyant: A Celebration of Jewish Gay Poetry and Milk and Honey: A Celebration of Jewish Lesbian Poetry.

About The Publishing Triangle:

The purpose of The Publishing Triangle is to further the publication of books and other materials written by lesbian and gay authors or with lesbian and gay themes. Founded in 1988, The Publishing Triangle works to create support and a sense of community for lesbian and gay people in the publishing industry. We offer forums, as well as networking and social opportunities, for our members. In addition we sponsor programs to increase awareness of and appreciation for lesbian and gay literature.

About Sibling Rivalry Press/Assarcus Journal

The mission of Sibling Rivalry Press is to develop, promote, and market underground artistic talent – those who don’t quite fit into the mainstream. In addition to books and chapbooks, they publish the quarterly magazine Assaracus, which features a substantial collection of work by ten gay poets in each issue. They are hosting an LGBT Poetry Showcase at the Rainbow Book Fair in New York City in March 2011.

About Sinister Wisdom Literary Journal

Sinister Wisdom is a multicultural lesbian literary & art journal by and for lesbians. Founded in 1976, the magazine is the oldest surviving lesbian literary journal, now more than 30 years in print. Sinister Wisdom is published quarterly in Berkeley, California and provides free subscriptions to incarcerated and institutionalized women as well as reduced-price subscriptions for lesbians with limited/fixed incomes.

About White Crane Institute:

White Crane Institute promotes the development of healthy Gay men and healthy Gay community. White Crane Institute’s goal is to foster the gathering and dissemination of information about the critical role sexuality and gender variation has played and continues to play in the development of cultural, spiritual and religious traditions and to provide a nurturing environment for the continuation and expansion of those explorations for the greater good of all society.

About The Writer’s Center

For over 30 years, The Writer’s Center has been a home for writers from all over the Washington metropolitan area.  Our tradition of success is rooted in our vision, values, and mission. The Writer’s Center cultivates the creation, publication, presentation, and dissemination of literary work. We are an independent literary organization with a global reach, rooted in a dynamic community of writers. As one of the premier centers of our kind in the country, we believe the craft of writing is open to people of all backgrounds and ages.  Writing is interdisciplinary and unique among the arts for its ability to touch on all aspects of the human experience.  It enriches our lives and opens doors to knowledge and understanding.

Best American Poetry series blog

Jason Schneiderman gives a lovely shout out to A Midsummer Night's Press on the blog of the Best American Poetry Series, with special attention to HANDMADE LOVE by Julie R. Enszer and THE GOOD-NEIGHBOR POLICY: A DOUBLE-CROSS IN DOUBLE DACTYLS by Charles Ardai:

http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2010/09/i-love-lawrence-schimel-in-praise-of-a-midsummer-nights-pressjason-schneiderman.html

CFS for 2 anthologies of Jewish gay and lesbian poetry

A Midsummer Night's Press
announces a call for submissions
for two anthologies celebrating queer Jewish poetry:

FLAMBOYANT:
A CELEBRATION OF JEWISH GAY POETRY
edited by Lawrence Schimel

and

MILK AND HONEY:
A CELEBRATION OF JEWISH LESBIAN POETRY
edited by Julie R. Enszer

to be published in Spring 2011.

We are looking for poems that celebrate and question, meditate and intimate, argue and reconcile contemporary queer Jewish identity. What is queer Jewish experience in the twenty-first century? What poetry expresses queer Jewishness today?

Whether you write about interfaith queer parenting, cruising in shul, how it feels to sign a ketubah in a country that won't recognize our same-sex marriages, fetishizing a sheggitz or being fetishized, we want to read about it and share it with others who want to read it as well.

What are our sacred texts for today? If they don't yet exist, write them. What are our queer Jewish blessings, curses and prayers.

While there is a rich tradition of queer Jewish writers who have made an indelible mark on our literature over the years, from Gertrude Stein and Adrienne Rich to Allen Ginsburg and Edward Field, we are looking for work that reflects queer Jewish identity in the new (secular) millennium. As such, we are open either to unpublished work, or work that was published since 2000 (this would include work originally published in a magazine or anthology before 2000, which was later collected in a book published after 2000).

We welcome voices from across the spectrum of Jewish identity, from observant to merely cultural, and their intersections with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender identities and experiences.

We are open to all styles of poetry, from formal to free verse.

We welcome queer Jewish voices from outside the US, and are willing to consider translations into English. (It is the translator's responsibility to secure permission to reprint the poem in English.)

Both anthologies are open to previously published work, but it is the poet's responsibility to secure permission to reprint the poem.

We welcome work from Jewish trans poets, so long as the content of the work is relevant to either gay or lesbian experience.

There is no limit to the number of poems which may be submitted, so long as the Jewish and queer content are both relevant.

Submission instructions:

1) Title file with the initials of the anthology and author's last name: F-Surname.doc or MH-Surname.doc
2) Include your name, your mailing address, your email address, and a bio WITHIN the .doc file with your essay, as submissions will be separated from emails to be read.
3) Submit your work by email, as an attachment in .doc or .rtf format, to queerjewishpoetry@gmail.com

Deadline: November 30, 2010.

Payment will be three copies of the anthology per contributor.

About the editors:

Lawrence Schimel is the author or anthologist of over 100 books, including FOUND TRIBE: JEWISH COMING OUT STORIES, KOSHER MEAT, BEST GAY POETRY 2008, FIRST PERSON QUEER, PoMoSEXUALS: CHALLENGING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT GENDER AND SEXUALITY, TWO BOYS IN LOVE, THE FUTURE IS QUEER, etc. He has won the Lambda Literary Award (twice), an Independent Publisher Book Award, the Spectrum Award, and other honors. He writes in both English and Spanish, and his work has been translated into 27 languages.

Julie R. Enszer is the author of the poetry collection HANDMADE LOVE (A Midsummer Night's Press, 2010) and the chapbook SISTERHOOD (Seven Kitchens Press, 2010). Her work has appeared in numerous Jewish, feminist and queer publications, including BRIDGES, JEWISH WOMEN'S LITERARY ANNUAL, SINISTER WISDOM, CALYX, WOMEN'S REVIEW OF BOOKS, FEMINIST STUDIES, WASHINGTON BLADE, LAMBDA BOOK REPORT, etc. She is also the founder of the Lesbian Poetry Archive.

About the publisher:
A Midsummer Night's Press is an independent poetry publisher, publishing primarily in two imprints: 1) Fabula Rasa, dedicated to work inspired by myth and fairy tale, which has published FORTUNE'S LOVER: A BOOK OF TAROT POEMS by Rachel Pollack and FAIRY TALES FOR WRITERS by Lawrence Schimel, and 2) Body Language, devoted to queer poetry, which has published THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED IN OUR OTHER LIFE by Achy Obejas; BANALITIES by Brane Mozetic, translated by Elizabeti Zargi; HANDMADE LOVE by Julie R. Enszer; and MUTE by Raymond Luczak. http://www.amidsummernightspress.com

NBCC Blog

Rigoberto González highlights HANDMADE LOVE by Julie R. Enszer in his Small Press Spotlight column on the National Book Critics Circle blog:

http://bookcritics.org/blog/archive/small_press_spotlight_april_poetry_month_edition/

Obejas top 12 of 2009!

Achy Obejas' This is What Happened in Our Other Life chosen for top 12 books of 2009 by ChicagoPoetry.com !

Hiatus for Best Gay Poetry/Best Lesbian Poetry Series

Due to the ongoing and unresolved issues with Lethe Press regarding the co-publication of BEST GAY POETRY 2008 and BEST LESBIAN POETRY 2008, A Midsummer Night's Press regretfully announces that BEST GAY POETRY 2009 and BEST LESBIAN POETRY 2009 are likewise canceled. We had hoped to resolve the legal and financial issues involved, so as to be able to publish these volumes, but that has not happened.

A Midsummer Night's Press remains strongly committed to the BEST GAY POETRY and BEST LESBIAN POETRY series. However, they are on indefinite hiatus while the legal and financial issues involved are being resolved.

In the meantime, A Midsummer Night's Press will continue to publish single-author collections and other projects.

Bookslut review of BANALITIES

There is a thoughtful review of BANALITIES in Bookslut:
http://www.bookslut.com/poetry/2009_01_014010.php

Which ends:
It is the compilation of phrases and thoughts, sentences and ideals -- shared from beyond the physical confines of body, politics, war, religion, and love -- that makes Brane Mozetič’s Banalities such a worthwhile conversation. For the casual reader or the adept, the blood-stained pages of this collection may initially mask the artistry in the wounds that rest on scar-smoothed skin, yet unmerciful revelation is at hand. The “emptiness of those conversations” that we waste our time attempting to fill with hopefulness and healing, therefore, would be better served willingly succumbing to the pain Mozetič inflicts “at the turn of a page.”