http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/10/zoo-press-a-post-mortem/ Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:40:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/10/zoo-press-a-post-mortem/#comment-1219 Val Nelson Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:06:37 +0000 http://pf/harriet/?p=439#comment-1219 I like your language used in describing poetry-related business, "po-biz." I think it's a delightful term and I'm glad I deviated from my current occupation of hip hop journalism to visit other poetry places. Lo and behold, I venture forth and stumble upon a hip hop-sounding term, "po-biz." I smiled at the encounter. When the time comes, I will swing open my cyberntic doors to welcome any and all poets and writers to post their work on my blog for others to gather and read for their enjoyment. I do love a good commune. I like your language used in describing poetry-related business, “po-biz.” I think it’s a delightful term and I’m glad I deviated from my current occupation of hip hop journalism to visit other poetry places. Lo and behold, I venture forth and stumble upon a hip hop-sounding term, “po-biz.” I smiled at the encounter.
When the time comes, I will swing open my cyberntic doors to welcome any and all poets and writers to post their work on my blog for others to gather and read for their enjoyment. I do love a good commune.
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]]> http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/10/zoo-press-a-post-mortem/#comment-1218 Jeffrey Levine Mon, 10 Dec 2007 00:25:06 +0000 http://pf/harriet/?p=439#comment-1218 Thank you, Rigoberto, for this thoughtful and gracious discussion of poets and poetry in the aftermath of Zoo Press. Whatever else one may say about the demise of Neil Azevedo's publishing house, there's this: we (Tupelo Press) are grateful for the opportunity to publish lavishly talented writers like you and Priscilla Sneff. To complete the record, we are also pleased to have eased two other terrific poets out of limbo: Elena Karina Byrne, whose first book, "The Flammable Bird," we now distribute under a new ISBN, and we're about to release (Jan, 08) her second remarkable book, "Masque," which had been in the queue at Zoo Press. In addition, we're hoping soon to take into our family Kathy Fagan, yet another poet orphaned by Zoo. All this said, Zoo Press -- for a time -- provided a good home for many terrific poets and established an enviable list of poetry books. Whatever the reasons for Azevedo's disappearance, there is this legacy, and that is no small thing. Like any field in or outside of the arts, the parallel universes of writing and publishing spin off, it seems, more than their fair share of alpha privatives, like so many unconsoled planets. Well, why not, I guess. Poetry trades daily in reversal and loss. But there's also some joy in the world. Also grace. It's hard, hard work, on both sides of the desk, is all I'm saying. We writers are a resourceful people. It's not a bad thing, now and then, to put that credo to the test. Jeffrey Levine Tupelo Press Thank you, Rigoberto, for this thoughtful and gracious discussion of poets and poetry in the aftermath of Zoo Press. Whatever else one may say about the demise of Neil Azevedo’s publishing house, there’s this: we (Tupelo Press) are grateful for the opportunity to publish lavishly talented writers like you and Priscilla Sneff. To complete the record, we are also pleased to have eased two other terrific poets out of limbo: Elena Karina Byrne, whose first book, “The Flammable Bird,” we now distribute under a new ISBN, and we’re about to release (Jan, 08) her second remarkable book, “Masque,” which had been in the queue at Zoo Press. In addition, we’re hoping soon to take into our family Kathy Fagan, yet another poet orphaned by Zoo.
All this said, Zoo Press — for a time — provided a good home for many terrific poets and established an enviable list of poetry books. Whatever the reasons for Azevedo’s disappearance, there is this legacy, and that is no small thing. Like any field in or outside of the arts, the parallel universes of writing and publishing spin off, it seems, more than their fair share of alpha privatives, like so many unconsoled planets. Well, why not, I guess. Poetry trades daily in reversal and loss. But there’s also some joy in the world. Also grace. It’s hard, hard work, on both sides of the desk, is all I’m saying. We writers are a resourceful people. It’s not a bad thing, now and then, to put that credo to the test.
Jeffrey Levine
Tupelo Press
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