Somers Rocks Press will announce new titles within two months. See below for current list.

From 2000, two fine titles from Somers Rocks Press: Gerald Sullivan's Chilling Out, and Lisa Barnett's The Peacock Room. Both are $6.

Also, a few copies remain of a limited edition chapbook on fine paper by Kelly Cherry, with artwork by Liz Holly. It contains a single work, An Other Woman, and two unusually fine drawings by Ms. Holly. Price is $14 + $1.50 S&H. Each of the numbered, 100 copies will be signed. Order per instructions below.

Much of SRP's list is in meter and form; much, and more in the future, is narrative. We are not, as noted, currently taking submissions, but some good poets will hear from us as we hunt for good work. Our titles include authors Gerald Sullivan, Wade Newman, Andrejika Hough, Sybil Kollar, Alfred Dorn, Len Krisak, Robert Darling, Norman Kraeft, Alan Sullivan, William Carlson, Joseph Salemi, Carolyn Raphael, and Arthur Mortensen.   a title by Claudia Gary Annis is out of stock, but may be obtained from the authors. Newman, Hough, Kollar, Dorn, Salemi, Raphael and Mortensen  are also available on tape from Somers Rocks Press Audio.

Special announcement: A rare tape of poet Roger Hecht, interviewed by Wade Newman, now his literary executor, is available for $10 plus S&H of $1.50. It's about 70 minutes of conversation and reading of poetry by a splendid and exemplary narrative poet; if interested send e-mail to Arthur505@earthlink.net, the publisher of Somers Rocks Press for urgent orders:

Our chapbooks and small books are elegantly produced and modestly priced. Our objective is to put the best poetry of new authors we like into a format that is accessible, enjoyable to look at, and modestly priced. We produce not only chapbooks but are occasionally moved to produce handmade books such as the publisher's own selected poems, only 100 of which will be made, and are available for $25 plus $3 shipping and handling. There have been many who've respected the work enough to comment:

On The Peacock Room

"Lisa Barnett moves deftly between demanding forms and free verse, just as she ranges from the present to the realsm of myth and 19th century painting. Ariadne and Scheherazde, Whistler and Cassatt join the point in a celebration of art's triumph over the empty room of doubt." -- R.S. Gwynn

"These are deft, intelligent poems not afraid to take risks. Congratulations to Lisa Barnett on a fresh and thoroughly engaging first book." -- Rhina Espaillat

While Lisa Barnett's collection takes its title from the opulent Peacock Room created by James McNeil Whistler, her own art is one of classical clarity and balance." -- Suzanne Noguere

On Chilling Out

"In Chilling Out Gerald Sullivan stakes out a unique territory..." -- Richard Wilbur

"The scenes in these focused and unblinking poems make you think of a painter like Edward Hopper." -- David Ferry

"He is a unique analyst of our times, searching and serious, a poet of a very high order." -- X.J. Kennedy

On Midland

"A smooth-flowing sequence informed with wry humor, unforgettable detail, shrewd character judgments, and some deep compassion. I was regaled." -- X.J. Kennedy

"These sometimes tender, sometimes scathing character studies are wonderfully readable." -- Richard Moore

"The writing, crisp, complex and precise, engages the reader's intellect in every line..." -- Rhina P. Espaillat

"In these poems Andrejika Hough steeps us in the harsh beauty of immigrant and city life. She has a gift for lyricism and narrative." -- Mark Jarman

"William Carlson has a sharp eye, a fine ear and a deep sensitivity for subjects often ignored by contemporary poets, including the veteran." G.K. Harnett

"This first chapbook of Alan Sullivan's has an excellent diversity..." -- Richard Wilbur

On In Rooms We Come and Go:

"Like the planet, we need sources of renewable energy. Sybil Kollar's are one of mine" -- Suzanne Noguere

"Sybil Kollar writes bravely about family, children, friends, modern life and Jewish awakening..also displays great clarity and tenderness toward her subjects...." -- Hugh Seidman

On The Song of Abel:

"Composed in highly rhythmic verse, DeMartini's book interprets the story of Cain from a new and imaginative perspective...in deeping with the visionary character of the narrative, the book also contains nightmarish, surrealist illustrations by James Gerard DeMartini, the poet's father...." -- Alfred Dorn

On Cells from Mindspace and Voices from Rooms:

"Alfred Dorn's strong book is full of good things. I am impressed by its scope." -- Richard Wilbur

"The poems of Alfred Dorn seem to me vigorous, imaginative and original." -- Anthony Hecht

On Boundaries:

"You will find more genuine poetry in this slim collection than in most books five times in size." -- X.J. Kennedy

"There is marvelous wit here as well as deep compassion for the human condition." -- Paul Petrie

On Diagrams of Bittersweet:

"In this aptly titled book, Carolyn B. Raphael shows that she is a competent prosodist with a surprising range of subject matter and a gift for pithy observation." -- Annie Finch

"Raphael's poems are skillfully rhymed and musically metered. May they be, as she writes in a lovely poem about her wedding gown 'well-used' and 'well-cherished.'" -- Thomas Carper

On Formal Complaints:

"Joseph S. Salemi's is an astonishing first book. Powerfully charged and impeccably crafted, his poetry makes me think of lava poured into a vessel of unbreakable crystal." -- Alfred Dorn

"Salemi is a civilized poet, a splendid verbal musician, a biting satirist, a master of both lyric and narrative." -- X.J. Kennedy

On Testaments:

"Testaments is a carefully crafted and provocative series of meditations on ten Old and New Testament figures and events. Collectively, these poems recast some of the great Biblical stories in a context that is humanistic...but also capable of flaring into radiance....Newman moves seamlessly from the majestic to the comic." --Ronald A. Sharp, former editor of the Kenyon Review

Tapes available are $10 apiece. Arrangements will be made for different rates on bulk (3 or more copies) shipping.

                Arthur Mortensen, publisher
                Somers Rocks Press
                505 Court Street, #4N
                Brooklyn, NY 11231

Don't wait; inquire about ordering by by e-mail now! Please put in your city and state when inquiring (to determine whether or not there will be tax collected).

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