7/18 Virtual Reading: Nikki Allen, Jason Baldinger, Victor Clevenger, John Dorsey, & Karen Lillis

7 PM TONIGHT, White Whale Bookstore says,

Join us for a reading featuring Nikki Allen, Jason Baldinger, Victor Clevenger, John Dorsey, and Karen Lillis!

Check out our curated lists and picks on our main Bookshop affiliate page or use the search bar in the upper center-right to look for any book. (Using the book’s ISBN usually works best.) We also have a number of books available ready-to-ship from our store in Pittsburgh.

Please register for this event by snagging a ticket on Eventbrite! There are both free tickets and pay-what-you-can tickets available. Registration will end at 6:30pm EDT on 7/18.

This event will be hosted on Zoom. You’ll receive the link to the Zoom meeting the day of the event via email. Free registration/ticket sales will end at 6:30pm EDT on 7/18. Please email events@whitewhalebookstore.com if you miss this cut-off and need a ticket. For questions, check out our FAQ for events here.

About the authors:

Nikki Allen is a lover and a writer. She believes in strong coffee, revolution, the hard knocks and the sweetness. Find more of her writing at honeydunce.com.

Jason Baldinger is a poet from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvaninia. A former Writer in Residence at Osage Arts Community, he is co-founder of The Bridge Series. He has multiple books available including and Everyone’s Alone Tonight with James Benger (Kung Fu Treachery Press) the chapbook Blind Into Leaving (Analog Submission Press) as well as the forthcoming Afterlife is a Hangover (Stubborn Mule Press). His work has been published widely in print journals and online. You can listen to him read his work on Bandcamp and on lps by the bands Theremonster and The Gotobeds.

Victor Clevenger spends his days in a Madhouse and his nights writing poetry in a small town northeast of Kansas City, MO. Selected pieces of his work have appeared in print magazines and journals around the world and have been nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology and the Pushcart Prize. He is the author of several collections of poetry including Sandpaper Lovin’ (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2017), A Finger in the Hornets’ Nest (Red Flag Poetry, 2018), and Corned Beef Hash By Candlelight (Luchador Press, 2019). Together with American poet John Dorsey, they run River Dog.

John Dorsey grew up in Greensburg, Pennsylvania and lived for several years in Toledo, Ohio. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Teaching the Dead to Sing: The Outlaw’s Prayer (Rose of Sharon Press, 2006), Sodomy is a City in New Jersey (American Mettle Books, 2010), Tombstone Factory, (Epic Rites Press, 2013), Appalachian Frankenstein (GTK Press, 2015) Being the Fire (Tangerine Press, 2016) and Shoot the Messenger (Red Flag Press, 2017) and Your Daughter’s Country (Blue Horse Press, 2019). His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and the Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Prize.He was the winner of the 2019 Terri Award given out at the Poetry Rendezvous. He may be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com.

Karen Lillis is a bookseller and a writer of fiction, memoir, and poetry. She is the author of four novellas, including Watch the Doors As They Close (Spuyten Duyvil). Her writing has appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, Evergreen Review, Gasconade Review, LA Cultural Weekly, Lit Hub, Local Knowledge, Occupy Wall Street Poetry Anthology, and Volume 1 Brooklyn, among others. She has been a writer in residence at Shakespeare and Company in Paris, an art reviewer at The Austin Chronicle, a regular contributor to the anti-war/poetry newspaper New York Nights after 2001, and once wrote a short story on the side of a freight train. Her books earned her a 2014 Acker Award for Avant Garde Excellence in Fiction.

3/3 Karen’s Book Row @ Spirit; Allen, Clevenger, Dorsey, Jakiela, & Powers @ White Whale

Busy day! Karen Lillis sez

Karen’s Book Row will be at the Pittsburgh Flea this Sunday, March 3!
11am to 4pm
SPIRIT LOUNGE
Lawrenceville
242 51st Street off Butler St
FREE admission
Downstairs: Buffet brunch & bar
Upstairs: Flea market including records, vintage clothes, and local handmade items (jewelry, art, specialty foods)
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/769539150086973/

Stop by for your snowstorm reads, collectibles, and literary must-haves!

Re: this 4PM White Whale reading Jason Baldinger, who will host it, sez

John Dorsey and Nikki Allen are back in town and Missouri poets Jeanette Powers and Victor Clevenger will be joining them and that seemed like a good enough reason have a reading! Rounding out the bill will be Lori Jakiela. This is an early show and we will be passing the hat for gas money for out of towners.

Nikki Allen is a lover & a writer—with hair an animal & heart clumsy tiger. Scribbling because she must with nearly 20 years of stages in her gut. She has read in cities across the US at music festivals, war protests, backyards and art openings. Her work has appeared in Nailed, Crash, The New Yinzer, out of nothing, Profane Journal(Pushcart Prize nominee ‘14/’15) and Encyclopedia Destructica among others. Allen has also contributed vocals to tracks by recording artists Poogie Bell (Question Song) and Jack Wilson (NYC). She believes in revolution, strong coffee, the hard knocks & the sweetness.

When not traveling the highways across America, Victor Clevenger spends his days in a Madhouse and his nights writing poetry. He lives with his second ex-wife, and together they raise six children in a small town northeast of Kansas City, MO. Selected pieces of his work have appeared in print magazines and journals around the world, as well as at a variety of places online. His work has been nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology, as well as the Pushcart Prize. Victor’s most recent published collections of poetry include a split book with Tom Farris titled Ginger Roots Are Best Taken Orally (EMP, 2018), A Finger in the Hornets’ Nest (Red Flag Poetry, 2018), and On The Tip Of Our Tongues (Analog Submission Press, 2018). He can be reached at: facebook.com/thepoetvictorclevenger

John Dorsey has been writing poetry since the late 1980’s and has been involved in the publishing community for more than two decades. He is the author of around 50 books and chapbooks, a few of the most recent being Being the Fire (Tangerine Press, 2016) and Shoot the Messenger (Red Flag Press, 2017), the latter was funded by Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s English Department. An 11-time Pushcart Prize nominee, his work has appeared more than 2,000 magazines and anthologies from around the world. He has read or spoken at colleges and universities such as the University of Toledo, Assumption College, Cleveland State University, Seton Hill University, University of the Arts, Erie Community College, Southeast Missouri State University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the University of Missouri-St. Louis, as well as other assorted venues covering 49 states. For several years Dorsey served as a judge for the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo’s Art in Tarta Project, which chose poems to be presented on city transit buses. In 2006, he won the Toledo City Paper’s annual poetry and fiction competition, and would go on to serve as a judge the following year, before being named the city’s Best Literary Artist in their 2014 reader poll. In 2010, he also served as a judge for Grievous Jones Press’ Grievous Prize issued in Cardiff, Wales, and in 2013 for the Standing Rock Cultural Arts Open Chapbook Competition in Kent, Ohio. From 2003-2012, he served as an Artist-in-Residence at the Collingwood Arts Center in Toledo, Ohio and In 2015, Dorsey was awarded a Visiting Artist Residency by the Osage Arts Community in Belle, MO, where he currently resides. In 2017 he received a two appointment to serve as Belle’s first city Poet Laureate from Mayor Steve Vogt and has gone on to found the city’s first literary publication the Gasconade Review, which he edits with Jason Ryberg. He is a graduate of the University of Arts’ Writing for Film and Television program, completing his education there in 2002, and 2017 he served as the subject for a poetry documentary by NYC filmmaker Carson Parish. He may be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com

Jeanette Powers is a poet-artist working on the banks of the Gasconade River in the Northern Ozarks. They are a founding member of FountainVerse: KC small press poetry fest and Stubborn Mule Press, as well as having seven full-length books of poetry and some chapbooks too released over the last decade. Follow them at jeanettepowers.com or @novel_cliche

Lori Jakiela is the author of the memoir Belief Is Its Own Kind of Truth, Maybe (Atticus Books), which received the 2016 Saroyan Prize for International Literature from Stanford University, was a finalist for the Council of Literary Magazine and Small Presses Firecracker Award and the Housatonic Literary Award, and named one of 20 Not-to-Miss Books of Nonfiction of 2015 by The Huffington Post. Jakiela is the author of an essay collection, Portrait of the Artist as a Bingo Worker (Bottom Dog Press), as well as two other memoirs — Miss New York Has Everything (Hatchette) and The Bridge to Take When Things Get Serious (C&R Press). She is also the author of the poetry collection Spot the Terrorist (Turning Point) and several limited-edition poetry chapbooks. Her latest poetry chapbook, Big Fish, was published by Stranded Oak Press in 2016. Her work has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Rumpus, Brevity and more. Her essays have been nominated for The Pushcart Prize many times, and she received the 2015 City of Asylum Pittsburgh Prize, which sent her to Brussels, Belgium on a month-long writing residency. She has also received a Golden Quill Award from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania, was a working-scholar at The Bread Loaf Writers Conference, and was the winner of the first-ever Pittsburgh Literary Death Match. She lives in Pittsburgh with her husband, the writer Dave Newman, and their children. A former flight attendant and journalist, she now directs the undergraduate writing program at The University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, where she is Professor of English and Creative/Professional Writing. She is a co-director of Chautauqua Institution’s Summer Writers Festival, teaches community writing workshops at a yoga studio in her hometown of Trafford, Pa., and curates the Saturday Poem feature at The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She is at work on her first novel.

8/10 Baldinger/Dorsey/Clevenger @ Visible Voice Books

TONIGHT, in Cleveland…

During this month’s Walkabout Tremont, Visible Voice Books has the pleasure of having three touring poets visit the store. Hot on the heels of their new NightBallet Press Split Release “The Ugly Side of the Lake” come John Dorsey (Belle, Missouri) and Jason Baldinger (Pittsburgh, PA), plus Victor Clevenger (Kansas City, MO) celebrating his recent Red Flag Release “A Finger in the Hornet’s Nest.” Come on and hang out Friday the 10th. Show starts at 7:30.

Here’s bios for people who read those sorts of things:

Jason Baldinger is a poet hailing from Pittsburgh and recently finished a stint as writer in residence at the Osage Arts Community. He’s the author of several books, the most recent are This Useless Beauty (Alien Buddha Press), The Ugly Side of the Lake (Night Ballet Press) written with John Dorsey and the chaplet Fumbles Revelations (Grackle and Crow) which are available now. The collection Fragments of a Rainy Season (Six Gallery Press) and the split book with James Benger Little Fires Hiding (Spartan Press) are forthcoming. Recent publications include the Low Ghost Anthology Unconditional Surrender, The Dope Fiend Daily, Outlaw Poetry, Uppagus, Lilliput Review, Rusty Truck, Dirtbag Review, In Between Hangovers, Your One Phone Call, Winedrunk Sidewalk, Anti-Heroin Chic, Nerve Cowboy Concrete Meat Press, Zombie Logic Press, Ramingo’s Porch, Rye Whiskey Review, Red Fez, Blue Hour Review and Heartland! Poetry of Love, Solidarity and Resistance. You can hear Jason read poems on recent and forthcoming releases by Theremonster and Sub Pop Recording artist The Gotobeds as well as at jasonbaldinger.bandcamp.com

When not traveling highways across America, Victor Clevenger spends his days in a Madhouse and his nights writing poetry. Selected pieces of his work have appeared in print magazines and journals around the world, as well as at a variety of places online. In 2017, Victor was nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology, as well as a Pushcart Prize. His most recent published collections of poetry include a split book with Tom Farris titled Ginger Roots Are Best Taken Orally (EMP, 2018) and A Finger in the Hornets’ Nest (Red Flag Press, 2018).

John Dorsey has been writing poetry since the late 1980’s and has been involved in the publishing community for more than two decades. He is the author of around 50 books and chapbooks, a few of the most recent being Being the Fire (Tangerine Press, 2016) and Shoot the Messenger (Red Flag Press, 2017), the latter was funded by Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s English Department. An 11-time Pushcart Prize nominee, his work has appeared more than 2,000 magazines and anthologies from around the world. He has read or spoken at colleges and universities such as the University of Toledo, Assumption College, Cleveland State University, Seton Hill University, University of the Arts, Erie Community College, Southeast Missouri State University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the University of Missouri-St. Louis, as well as other assorted venues covering 49 states. For several years Dorsey served as a judge for the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo’s Art in Tarta Project, which chose poems to be presented on city transit buses. In 2006, he won the Toledo City Paper’s annual poetry and fiction competition, and would go on to serve as a judge the following year, before being named the city’s Best Literary Artist in their 2014 reader poll. In 2010, he also served as a judge for Grievous Jones Press’ Grievous Prize issued in Cardiff, Wales, and in 2013 for the Standing Rock Cultural Arts Open Chapbook Competition in Kent, Ohio. From 2003-2012, he served as an Artist-in-Residence at the Collingwood Arts Center in Toledo, Ohio and In 2015, Dorsey was awarded a Visiting Artist Residency by the Osage Arts Community in Belle, MO, where he currently resides. In 2017 he received a two appointment to serve as Belle’s first city Poet Laureate from Mayor Steve Vogt and has gone on to found the city’s first literary publication the Gasconade Review, which he edits with Jason Ryberg. He is a graduate of the University of Arts’ Writing for Film and Television program, completing his education there in 2002, and 2017 he served as the subject for a poetry documentary by NYC filmmaker Carson Parish. He may be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com

8/9 This Useless Beauty/The Ugly Side of the Lake Dual Launch Party @ Brillobox

8PM THURSDAY, AUGUST 9…

Join Jason Baldinger and John Dorsey for the release of two recent books (Baldinger’s “This Useless Beauty” and Baldinger/John Dorsey’s “Ugly Side of the Lake”). Readers include Baldinger, Dorsey, Nikki Allen, Victor Clevenger and Vanessa Vesch. The illustrious Stephanie Brea will be our host. $5 gets you in, show starts at 8pm. After the reading there will be music from locals Pond Hockey and the Dumplings.

Here are bios for the folks that read them:

Nikki Allen is a lover & a writer—with hair an animal & heart clumsy tiger. Scribbling because she must with nearly 20 years of stages in her gut. She has read in cities across the US at music festivals, war protests, backyards and art openings. She is the author of numerous books, including Gutter of Eden, Quite Like Yes, and Ligaments of Light/Tigering the Shoulders(Night Ballet Press). Her work has appeared in Nailed, Crash, The New Yinzer, out of nothing, Profane Journal(Pushcart Prize nominee ‘14/’15) and Encyclopedia Destructica among others. Allen has also contributed vocals to tracks by recording artists Poogie Bell (Question Song) and Jack Wilson (NYC). She believes in revolution, strong coffee, the hard knocks & the sweetness.

Jason Baldinger is a poet hailing from Pittsburgh and recently finished a stint as writer in residence at the Osage Arts Community. He’s the author of several books, the most recent are This Useless Beauty (Alien Buddha Press), The Ugly Side of the Lake (Night Ballet Press) written with John Dorsey and the chaplet Fumbles Revelations (Grackle and Crow) which are available now. The collection Fragments of a Rainy Season (Six Gallery Press) and the split book with James Benger Little Fires Hiding (Spartan Press) are forthcoming. Recent publications include the Low Ghost Anthology Unconditional Surrender, The Dope Fiend Daily, Outlaw Poetry, Uppagus, Lilliput Review, Rusty Truck, Dirtbag Review, In Between Hangovers, Your One Phone Call, Winedrunk Sidewalk, Anti-Heroin Chic, Nerve Cowboy Concrete Meat Press, Zombie Logic Press, Ramingo’s Porch, Rye Whiskey Review, Red Fez, Blue Hour Review and Heartland! Poetry of Love, Solidarity and Resistance. You can hear Jason read poems on recent and forthcoming releases by Theremonster and Sub Pop Recording artist The Gotobeds as well as at jasonbaldinger.bandcamp.com

When not traveling highways across America, Victor Clevenger spends his days in a Madhouse and his nights writing poetry. Selected pieces of his work have appeared in print magazines and journals around the world, as well as at a variety of places online. In 2017, Victor was nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology, as well as a Pushcart Prize. His most recent published collections of poetry include a split book with Tom Farris titled Ginger Roots Are Best Taken Orally (EMP, 2018) and A Finger in the Hornets’ Nest (Red Flag Press, 2018).

John Dorsey has been writing poetry since the late 1980’s and has been involved in the publishing community for more than two decades. He is the author of around 50 books and chapbooks, a few of the most recent being Being the Fire (Tangerine Press, 2016) and Shoot the Messenger (Red Flag Press, 2017), the latter was funded by Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s English Department. An 11-time Pushcart Prize nominee, his work has appeared more than 2,000 magazines and anthologies from around the world. He has read or spoken at colleges and universities such as the University of Toledo, Assumption College, Cleveland State University, Seton Hill University, University of the Arts, Erie Community College, Southeast Missouri State University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the University of Missouri-St. Louis, as well as other assorted venues covering 49 states. For several years Dorsey served as a judge for the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo’s Art in Tarta Project, which chose poems to be presented on city transit buses. In 2006, he won the Toledo City Paper’s annual poetry and fiction competition, and would go on to serve as a judge the following year, before being named the city’s Best Literary Artist in their 2014 reader poll. In 2010, he also served as a judge for Grievous Jones Press’ Grievous Prize issued in Cardiff, Wales, and in 2013 for the Standing Rock Cultural Arts Open Chapbook Competition in Kent, Ohio. From 2003-2012, he served as an Artist-in-Residence at the Collingwood Arts Center in Toledo, Ohio and In 2015, Dorsey was awarded a Visiting Artist Residency by the Osage Arts Community in Belle, MO, where he currently resides. In 2017 he received a two appointment to serve as Belle’s first city Poet Laureate from Mayor Steve Vogt and has gone on to found the city’s first literary publication the Gasconade Review, which he edits with Jason Ryberg. He is a graduate of the University of Arts’ Writing for Film and Television program, completing his education there in 2002, and 2017 he served as the subject for a poetry documentary by NYC filmmaker Carson Parish. He may be reached at archerevans@yahoo.com

Vanessa Vesch is a writer and musician whose poetic work explores anarchist and feminist resistance, language, sound, and bereavement among other themes. To date, she has authored 17 micro-chapbooks, and her poetry and creative nonfiction have appeared in The Gourd, B.E. Quarterly, Steel City Revolt, Shades of Gray, and on the now-sadly-departed radio show, Prosody. Through her band, Sweetheart of the Barricades, Vesch (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, lyrics and song writing) presents a scorching blues, “yinsurgent-country,” and rock project in celebration of Pittsburgh’s rich labor history, working-class culture, and outlaw folklore. The quartet, comprised of Vesch with Brian Sproul (lead guitar), Hernan Brizuela (vocal harmonies, harmonicas, saxophone), and Jeremy Papay (drums), recently featured on the Saturday Light Brigade, and their debut EP, recorded at MixHaas Studio (produced by Chris “Lurch” Rudyk) will release in the fall of 2018. More love, rage, and ranch at www.sweetheartofthebarricades.com

4/29 Baldinger, Clevenger, Dorsey, & Matthews @ Dunaway Books

7PM SUNDAY…

A free poetry reading and book signing by four published poets and great friends in celebration of Pittsburgh poet Jason Baldinger’s visit to Missouri.

Baldinger has confirmed that the other readers are Victor Clevenger, John Dorsey, & Chigger Matthews.

5/6 The Kansas City Pittsburgh Connection @ White Whale Books

SATURDAY…

Saturday May 6th at White Whale, three awesome Kansas City writers are blowing into town with the Midwest wind. Join Victor Clevenger, Jason Preu, and Pittsburgh expat Nikki Allen, along with locals Karla Lamb and Becky Corrigan for an almost Midwestern rumble. Jason Baldinger will be hosting, not that that really matters, and we’ll be passing the hat to send our out-of-towners away with a little pay ($5 suggested donation, in other words). Hope to see yinz there.

Bios:

Nikki Allen is a lover & a writer, getting on stages for 15+ years in various places that include Minneapolis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Seattle, war protests, music festivals, charity events, backyards and art openings. She is the author of numerous books, including “Gutter of Eden, “Quite Like Yes,” and Ligaments of Light Tigering the Shoulders(Night Ballet Press). Her work has appeared in Nailed, Crash, Open Thread Regional Review Vol. 2, out of nothing, Profane Journal(Pushcart Prize nominee ’14/’15), and Encyclopedia Destructica among others. Allen has also contributed vocal tracks to recording artists Poogie Bell (“Question Song”) and Jack Wilson (“NYC”). More of her writing can be found at honeydunce.com.

Victor Clevenger hopes for the more exciting side of death, as he spends his days in a Madhouse and his nights writing poetry. He sleeps with his second ex-wife and raises his six children in a small town northeast of Kansas City, MO. Selected pieces of his work have appeared at, Poems-For-All, Chiron Review, GTK Journal, Yellow Chair Review, Rat’s Ass Review, Blink Ink, Thirteen Myna Birds, the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology (Crisis Chronicles Press), Delirious: A Poetic Celebration of Prince (NightBallet Press, 2016), Prompts! (39 West Press, 2016). Victor’s poetry collections include Come Here (Least Bittern Books, 2016), The More Exciting Side Of Death (Epic Rites Press/Tree Killer Ink, 2016), and Soulwhore (Svensk Apache, 2017)

Becky Corrigan has spent most of her adult life working menial jobs, playing in bands and not writing enough. Her body of work includes some ratty folders of poetry from the 90’s, several pieces of short fiction, and many years’ worth of journals. Mainly a prose writer, her work is usually autobiographical and focuses on mental health, love and poverty. She is currently writing a book of short essays about her life.

Karla Lamb’s work has appeared in Word Riot, Brooklyn-based A Women’s Thing Magazine, Pittsburgh Poetry Review, Pittsburgh City Paper, Runaway Hotel, and Voices from the Attic Vol. XIX. Lamb is a current MFA candidate in Carlow University’s Creative Writing program, and is currently working on her full length manuscript. She edits for After Happy Hour Review, and curates DOUBLE MIRЯOR EXHIBIT in Pittsburgh, PA.

Jason Preu writes while not living in Brooklyn. He is the author of a number of sonnets about your mom. His last book of poems was about fruit and God. It is titled The Avocado Among Other Fruits (Spartan Press, 2016). His next book of poems is about more than fruit and God. It is about wizards…and being awesome…and sadness. That book is titled More Poems About Purple Wizards and Our Neon Bright Exceptionalism (39 West Press, 2017). You may stalk Jason online at jasonpreu.com.

 

Baldinger & Silsbe 10/12 @ The Book Cellar, 10/13 @ Raven Book Store, & 10/14 @ Inklings’ Books & Coffee Shoppe

WEDNESDAY, 7PM at The Book Cellar in Chicago…

Come check out the Pittsburgh Poets Jason Baldinger (author of The Lower 48) and Scott Silsbe (author of Unattended Fire) with special guests Parneshia Jones, Jacob S. Knabb, and Daniela Olszewska.

http://www.bookcellarinc.com/event/poetry-night-pittsburg-poets-scott-silsbe-and-jason-baldinger

THURSDAY, 7PM at Raven Book Store in Lawrence…

FRIDAY, 6PM at Inklings’ Books & Coffee Shoppe in Blue Springs…