7/31 Hemingway’s Summer Poetry Series Grand Finale w/ Gainey, Gegick, Grochalski, Jakiela, Malinenko & Silsbe

8PM TUESDAY…

Hemingway’s Cafe, 3911 Forbes Avenue, Oakland

Co-hosted and curated by Jimmy Cvetic and Joan E. Bauer  

Open mic following featured readings!

www.hemingwayspoetryseries.blogspot.com  Listen in!

Grand Finale w/ guest-host Scott Silsbe. Featuring Celeste Gainey, Rich Gegick, John Grochalski, Lori Jakiela, Ally Malinenko & Scott Silsbe.

Celeste Gainey is the author of the full-length poetry collection, the GAFFER (Arktoi Books/Red Hen Press, 2015), and the chapbook In the land of speculation & seismography (Seven Kitchens Press, 2011), runner-up for the 2010 Robin Becker Prize. The first woman to be admitted to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) as a gaffer, she has spent many years working with light in film and architecture. www.celestegainey.com

Richard Gegick is from Trafford, PA. He lives in Pittsburgh where he writes and waits tables for a living.

John Grochalski is the author of The Noose Doesn’t Get Any Looser After You Punch Out (Six Gallery Press 2008), Glass City (Low Ghost Press, 2010), In The Year of Everything Dying (Camel Saloon, 2012), Starting with the Last Name Grochalski (Coleridge Street Books, 2014), The Philosopher’s Ship (Alien Buddha Pres, 2018) and the novels, The Librarian (Six Gallery Press 2013), and Wine Clerk (Six Gallery Press 2016).  Grochalski currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, where the garbage can smell like roses if you wish on it hard enough.

Lori Jakiela is the author of four memoirs, including BELIEF IS ITS OWN KIND OF TRUTH, MAYBE, which received the William Saroyan Prize for International Writing from Stanford University and was named one of 20 Nonfiction Books Not to Miss in 2015 by The Huffington Post. Her most recent book is PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A BINGO WORKER, a collection of essays about work and the writing life, published in August by Bottom Dog Press. In 2016, she received the City of Asylum Pittsburgh Prize, which sent her on a month-long residency to Brussels, Belgium. She is also the author of the poetry collection SPOT THE TERRORIST! and several limited-edition poetry chapbooks. A native of Trafford, PA, Jakiela now runs community writing workshops in her hometown and lives with her husband, the author Dave Newman, and their two children.

Ally Malinenko is the author of the poetry collections The Wanting Bone, How to Be An American (Six Gallery Press), Better Luck Next Year (Low Ghost) and Fitting the Ocean in Your Mouth (Blue Hour) as well as the novel This Is Sarah (Bookfish Books). She lives in Brooklyn and tweets at @allymalinenko mostly about David Bowie and Doctor Who.

Scott Silsbe was born in Detroit and now lives in Pittsburgh. His poems and prose have appeared in a number of fine periodicals including Kitchen Sink, Third Coast, The Chariton Review, Nerve Cowboy, Words Dance, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Six Gallery Press published his first full-length collection of poems Unattended Fire in 2012 and Low Ghost Press published The River Underneath the City in 2013.   His third collection, Muskrat Family Dinner, was published by White Gorilla Press in 2017.

12/16 Holiday Book Sale Redux @ Irma Freeman Center for Imagination

12-5PM SATURDAY…

Join us for a SECOND CHANCE to browse great books from Pittsburgh authors, publishers, and booksellers.

SATURDAY, December 16th
12-5pm
Irma Freeman Center for the Imagination
5006 Penn Avenue
Penn Avenue Arts District
Free admission
Street parking

Confirmed vendors so far:

Air & Nothingness Press
Hyacinth Girl Press
Lilliput Review
Karen’s Book Row–with many books from Pittsburgh publishers!
Six Gallery Press
Very Important Books–fiction & zines
Authors signing books!

I’ll be sharing a table w/ Don Wentworth at this, so visit us for all your Six Gallery Press & Lilliput Review needs. Pictured are Manual for Wayward Angels by Jessica Fenlon, the Low Ghost love poem anthology Unconditional Surrender, & Muskrat Friday Dinner by Scott Silsbe, three great books from 2017 (I’ve at least skimmed the other ones & strongly suspect they’re also pretty good). The latest Six Gallery titles Viva Arletty! by Mark Spitzer & Arkansas Ghoulash by Scotty Lewis, Manchild by Alan Olifson, & Under the Kaufmann’s Clock by Angele Ellis w/ photos by Rebecca Clever, will be available too, along w/ selections from the back catalog by Ally Malinenko, Chuck Kinder, Elwin Cotman, Jason Baldinger, John Grochalski, Victor Navarro, book sale organizer Karen Lillis, & more.

6/3 BK Voices feat. Ally Malinenko & John Grochalski @ Hell Phone

SATURDAY…

InspiredWordNYC (http://inspiredwordnyc.com) presents BK Voices: A Poetry, Prose, Spoken Word Experience @ Hell Phone (http://www.hellphonebrooklyn.com/) in Bushwick – an amazing and amazingly diverse quarterly event celebrating Brooklyn based literary artists at a French restaurant that harkens back to the days of the secret backroom speakeasy.

This is something pretty special.

*****

Featured Poets, Writers, Spoken Word Artists for Saturday, June 3:

Kurt Nelson Peloquin

Erica Buddington

Dean Andrews

Safi Brown

Diana Arnold

Molly McNeely

John Grochalski

Ally Malinenko

Jade Benoit

*****

Hosted by Scott Raven

*****

When: Ongoing quarterly event

Where: Hell Phone (in the back of the Ange Noir Cafe),, 247 Varet Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn

Why: Because culture, the arts, great literary events are vital to Brooklyn and NYC

*****

Doors open at 7pm, event starts at 7:30pm

Cover: $10 at the door. Group options available.

***2 ITEM (food or drink) MINIMUM INSIDE VENUE PER PERSON*** Menu can be found @ http://www.hellphonebrooklyn.com/#!menu/cr2d.

Donations are welcome and appreciated. Use the donation option on the event page. 100% of the money collected goes to the featured writers.

*****

Make sure to bring a printed out version of your ticket/tickets or be prepared to show your ticket/tickets (with confirmation number) on your phone.

Please Note: No TRANSFERS or REFUNDS will be granted, though you are welcome to find REPLACEMENTS for your tickets.

*****

Produced by the long-running Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word, which has featured Grammy, Golden Globe, Tony, Obie, and Pulitzer Prize winners, as well as Emmy nominatees, American Idol finalists, America’s Got Talent finalists, and HBO Def Poetry stars.

Directions

Take the L train to Morgan Avenue (a couple of blocks away)

10/7 PinkSpeak: Breast Cancer Journeys in Poetry, Music & Prose – NYC Fundraiser feat. Ally Malinenko & John Grochalski @ Parkside Lounge

THIS FRIDAY…

Ally says,

Join me and a host of talented writers, musicians, and comedians for PinkSpeak – breast cancer fundraiser sponsored by Mike Geffner & Inspired Word!

I’ll be reading from Better Luck Next Year – my newest poetry collection chronicling my breast cancer diagnosis and treatment at the age of 37.

********************************************************
Featured Artists:
Storyteller/Poet Phillip Giambri aka The Ancient Mariner
Singer/Songwriter Samantha Leon
Poet Keisha-Gaye Anderson
Singer/Songwriter Natatia Allison
Singer/Songwriter Taylor Tucker
Poet Wynne Henry
Spoken Word Artist/Poet Scott Raven
Poet Dara Kalima
Singer/Songwriter Matthew Wiffen & His Band
Poet Ally Malinenko
Poet John Grochalski

The Inspired Word Presents its 5th Annual PinkSpeak: Breast Cancer Journeys in Poetry, Music & Prose – a breast cancer fundraiser in Manhattan, New York City.

Get your tickets and make your donations @ http://pinkspeakbreastcancerfundraiser.eventbrite.com/

Dedicated to the memory of poet/author Pamilla DeLeon-Lewis, a beautiful, inspiring lady who performed at our first PinkSpeak and passed away on January 6, 2012, and Dorothy Geffner, mother of Inspired Word founder/producer Mike Geffner.

The event will donate 100% of the proceeds to The Pink Daisy Project (http://pinkdaisyproject.com/).

Even if you cannot attend, you can STILL support by buying advance tickets online or donating directly to The Pink Daisy Project.

For a $50+ donation, you can also be one of our sponsors.

Hosted by Jenny Saldaña.

HOST BIO:

Jenny Saldaña is an actor, writer, comedian, and most importantly an almost 9 year breast cancer survivor. She has dedicated her life to helping women and families dealing with breast cancer especially those like her who were diagnosed under the age of 40. She starred with Sacha Baron Cohen in The Dictator and can now be seen all over the city doing stand-up comedy based on her cancer experiences. For more information please check out:http://jennysaldana.com/.

****
When: Friday, Oct. 7, 2016

Where: The Parkside Lounge317 East Houston StreetManhattan, New York(212) 510-8610

Strict 21+ age limit. Please make sure to bring ID.

Suggested Donation: $10

2nd/3rd Row Reserved (for 2 people) – $30

Front Row Reserved:(for 2 people) $50

Back Booth Reserved:(for 5 people) $125

These are merely suggested donations. You’re certainly welcome to give as much as you’d like.

*One Drink Minimum Per Person (non alcoholic options available for $2)*
*****
Produced by Mike Geffner Presents The Inspired Word
http://inspiredwordnyc.com/

 

7/23 Triple Book Launch: Ally Malinenko, Jason Irwin, & John Grochalski @ EEBX

7PM THIS SATURDAY…

Low Ghost Press & Six Gallery Press are hosting a sizzling summer book party! Join us for a triple launch for Ally Malinenko’s ‘Better Luck Next Year’ (Low Ghost Press), Jason Irwin’s ‘A Blister of Stars’ (Low Ghost Press), and John Grochalski’s ‘Wine Clerk’ (Six Gallery Press).

East End Book Exchange
Saturday, July 23
7pm
BYOB
A brief q&a will follow the reading

Yes, THREE books will be released on this historic day! If you don’t know Low Ghost, learn all about it from the man himself, Kris Collins, recently interviewed by the indispensable Littsburgh. Thanks to them for getting the word out about this, & to Joan Bauer, who boosted it on her mailing list too.

Ally’s book you can read about on her blog. It’s great.

Jason’s book you can read about on his blog. It’s also great.

Which brings us to John Grochalski & his new novel Wine Clerk, which is also great as well.

Check out these blurbs, particularly the last sentence of Dave Newman’s.

Rand Wyndham knows it’s all a sham. He knows the game is rigged. Like all of us, Grochalski’s character is stealing crumbs in the spiritual and cultural void of modern America. Read this book and admit your dreams are a painful lie we’re better off without. —Jason Baldinger, author of The Lady Pittsburgh

Rand Wyndham returns in Wine Clerk, John Grochalski’s follow-up to his 2013 novel The Librarian. This time, Wyndam is working in a wine emporium, slugging it out with a motley crew familiar to anyone who’s worked on the lower rungs of the service industry. Grochalski serves up his peculiar vision of the American nightmare with a heady mix of wit and pathos, delivering a bitter dose of the everyday in all its quotidian absurdity. It’s engaging. It’s frightening. It’s funny. It’s the pitch-perfect reflection of the current inebriated state of the American monster. —Larry Duncan, author of Drunk on Ophelia

My best advice to the reading public is to buy or steal John Grochalski’s bottle of a book Wine Clerk, pop its cork, savor its fast food bouquet, hold it up in the light of a Labatt Blue sign to appreciate its bile-brown color, then guzzle the shit down like vintage Thunderbird and prepare to croak as you puke to death from disgust or wild laughter, or your brain rots and runs out your ears like zombie snot. Gentle readers, if you drink this bottle of a book you will not get into heaven. Quite simply, if you read this book and die from disgust or laughter, you are fucked. —Chuck Kinder, author of The Silver Ghost

John Grochalski’s is a line that extends back to Steinbeck and Sinclair and up through Fante and Bukowski. Wine Clerk is another brilliant evocation of how miserable the world can be and how surviving with a drink in a dive bar is our only shot at victory. Drop all the boxes in the warehouse. Run from the temp agency. If you want to understand what it means to be working poor in the richest country in the world, read Grochalski’s excellent new novel. Read everything he’s written and everything he’s going to write. —Dave Newman, author of Raymond Carver Will Not Raise Our Children

Check out Grochalski’s poem “The Wine Clerk” on his blog. Check out his Twitter, where he’s been posting lil bits of the novel. & most definitely check out East End Book Exchange next Saturday to hear John, Ally, & Jason read from their newborn works.

3/30-4/2 2016 AWP Conference & Book Fair @ Los Angeles Convention Center & JW Marriott Los Angeles

Provided we make it there intact, Six Gallery Press will be representing at #AWP16 this weekend. Sharing scenic table 558 will be 6GP scribblers Daniel McCloskey (A Film About Billy), Elwin Cotman (The Jack Daniels Sessions EP, Hard Times Blues), & Robert Isenberg (Wander), plus Jess Simms of nascent literary institution The Haven.

In addition to books by this sick crew, we’ll have recent selections from Ally Malinenko, Che Elias, Joseph Musso Jr., Chuck Kinder, Don Wentworth, & Jason Baldinger, plus a selection of hits from the back catalog.

We’ll also have books by a duo of fellow Pittsburgh small presses, Low Ghost & Coleridge Street, featuring the poetic stylings of Adam Matcho, Scott Silsbe, Bob Pajich, & John Grochalski, PLUS the Good Noise! anthology by Thrasher Press, featuring even more Pittsburgh poets writing on musical themes.

Feel free to visit us & buy all the books so we don’t have to lug them all home on the Greyhound!

11/7 How to Be an American & Love Songs from Flood City launch party @ ModernFormations

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7TH, 8PM…

Here are some nice things people said about How to Be an American:

The poems in How to Be an American strike the chords of conversations we should be having, should have already had and resolved, or conversations that should be irrelevant. In this generation’s remake of democracy, Malinenko’s book is an incendiary device.
—Jason Baldinger, author of The Lower Forty-Eight

Ally Malinenko is the embodiment of what E.L. Doctorow meant when he said we need writers because we need witnesses to this terrifying century. In How to Be an American, she dissects the American dream and breaks it down to its petri-dish truths. Malinenko’s America is a country that exports ignorance and consumerism, where the greatest embarrassment is to be poor, vulnerable, and in need. In a voice as direct and unstoppable as an ambulance, Malinenko paints a raw, visceral, and essential portrait of a country without pity, without compassion, and makes the need for change feel like the emergency it is.
—Lori Jakiela, author of Belief Is Its Own Kind of Truth, Maybe

Ally Malinenko has an exceptional ability to observe life and write honestly. She is an absolute treasure.
—Moriah LaChapell, editor of The Blue Hour

This is a devastating book that reads as the polar opposite of Walt Whitman—here, the speaker does not see herself of them, these demented Americans. Here, the speaker rises up and says to the Bible and all its believers, to the box stores and all their consumers, to the patriots and all their patriotism, “Absolutely not.” The country inside these pages is lit up like a Walmart commercial and packed with the same ugliness that makes minimum wage unlivable and bargain shoppers unbearable. The loudest voices are all dressed up in stars-and-stripes bikinis, shouting about how great it is to be red-white-and-blue, while the rest of us rape and kill and need a drink to stand the sights. Here are poems that say, “Enough,” that say, “Quit insulting the world.” Watch out, America. Ally Malinenko’s poems are dodgeballs and she’s throwing them at your head.
—Dave Newman, author of The Poem Factory

How to Be an American is a how-to guide without instructions. This book is brave, bold, and honest—a fucking atom bomb to the political and personal poetry scenes.
—Ben John Smith, editor of Horror Sleaze and Trash

It ain’t pretty and it ain’t poesy, at least the way most Americans think of poesy, thank you, Jesus. And it ain’t political, except in the larger sense of human-ness, of flaming outrage, and of deeply longed for compassion. Simply put, this is Ally Malinenko’s incisive deconstruction of many a fetid cranny and nook of the collective American psyche. Pilgrim, save yourself: read it now.
—Don Wentworth, editor of Lilliput Review

Matcho’s Love Songs from Flood City (Low Ghost) is pretty good too, BTW.

Eat, drink, listen to poems, yak w/ the authors, buy the books—one of the last chances you’ll have to do any of this at ModernFormations!

 

Odds & Ends, Winter 2015

So far, 2015 has brought some very nice articles about/by Six Gallery scribblers:

A Film About Billy reviewed & Dan McCloskey interviewed by Rachel Mennies for PANK Magazine.

Jonathan Moody interviewed by Melody Nixon for The Common.

Elwin Cotman writes about (sometimes inadvertently) writing about Pittsburgh for Grist.

Ally Malinenko has been doing a lot of excellent blogging lately; this post also links to three recently-published poems.

These folks are all working on fantastic-sounding new projects, by the way. If you’re not familiar with them, check out their previous work!

Poet Hound reviews Ally Malinenko’s The Wanting Bone

Poet Hound dug The Wanting Bone! Check out the review & three of Ally’s poems here.

2/8 A Confluence of Poets @ Modern Formations

This is happening in ONE WEEK:

UPDATE 2/6

From City Paper‘s Short List:

Tonight, Pittsburgh’s singular Lilliput Review puts poetry on the map — or maybe makes a map out of poetry — with A Confluence of Poets. The reading at ModernFormations Gallery spotlights poets from six cities, with a Rust Belt focus. Readers include: Sara Ries, of Buffalo; Chuck Joy (Erie); Diane Borsenik and John Burroughs (Cleveland); Ally Malinenko and John Grochalski (New York City); Maggie Glover (San Francisco); and Heather McNaugher, Kristofer Collins and Lilliput’s own Don Wentworth (Pittsburgh). BO 8 p.m. 4919 Penn Ave., Garfield. $5 or covered dish.

Ally Malinenko brings the love

& a video from the new Bowie album. Check it. Also check this new, space-themed anthology from Kind of a Hurricane Press she has a poem in.

Thanks, Ally. You’ve really made the grayeyade.