“nibble. just. doesn’t. fail.”

click HERE

to read a review of nibble

by one of the smartest people

in the small press.

issue nine and ten are incubating side by side

do you have a poem in either one (or both) of these issues?

no?

have you submitted anything lately?

well, that might help.

oh, and just so you know, our PayPal button still works despite the accounting department’s insistence that there is “definitely something wrong here!”

so, you know, give it a try.  click on the ’subscription’ page.

buy a sample issue.  get a subscription.  give one as a gift.

or

make a massive donation!  seriously.

blank nibble update 07.06.09

PTTP volume 1 is in west haven, ct.

PTTP volume 2 is in east lansing, mi.

both issues are roughly at the halfway point in their trans-world journey.   if this were a race, volume 2 would be slightly ahead. 

since volume 1 has to go to australia and europe before coming back home, we are guessing it won’t be much of a sprint to the finish.

but you never know…

eight questions with eric burke

eric burke is best known to us through his frequent and informational facebook posts.  his poetry appeared in nibble issues three, four, six and (soon) eight.

you can visit eric here.

and now, eight questions with eric burke:

What is your role in the small press?

I write poems and send them out and hope they catch with people who read a lot of poems. I also read a lot and mention things I like on my blog or on Facebook, my fear of which I have recently overcome.

What is one thing people should know about you?

I am 43. Since having become 43 (or thereabouts), this seems to me the most salient fact about myself. Childhood was great. Middle age is even better (so far). I finally feel like my imperfect perception of the world is about as good as everyone else’s. I am very curious whether this feeling will stick or will reverse itself during the next 20 years.

What are you working on right now that has you excited?

I am putting together my first chapbook manuscript. I hope to start submitting it this summer. Also, Jessi Graustein at Folded Word Press has given me the opportunity to write some articles on short form poetry for them. I am excited about working on these. Also, also, I am trying to learn Spanish. One of my friends has recently introduced me to Antonio Machado and other Spanish and Latin American poets. Looking back, I realize how incredibly spotty my education has been and how much really great stuff I have been missing out on.

Name one thing you wish you had.

Since you are not a genie or a demon, I guess this is a safe game to play. I would wish for a modest but guaranteed income (but not at the expense of anything more important — I don’t want any kind of inheritance etc.).

Name one thing you have that you could do without.

Needless anxiety.

Who is your favorite small press poet?

This depends on when you ask me. I go through phases. Right now, it is Doug Draime. There are also, of course, many, many poets who periodically knock my socks off with a poem or two. There are too many to mention, but this is one of the things that makes reading the small press exciting. It’s full of these surprises.

Name one small press poetry mag, other than nibble, that everyone should read?

I will name two, both online: Right Hand Pointing and elimae.

Where do you want to see your own poetry?

The Lilliput Review. I have also tried many times, and failed, to get into The New York Quarterly and DIAGRAM.

here are eric’s poems as they appeared in nibble:

From my Brother’s Diary

Math often took things away from me,
as if my private
fantasies
more properly belonged
to somebody with a better understanding.

he was science

until he discovered
science is not
solitary.

So it is with us:
We who are not kings
need to be

sovereign.

Footnote to a Father

*He built a secret fort in the crown of a great dead tree.
Everyday, he played there, way out of reach.

check back next friday for a new eight and click on our ‘eight’ page to see past interviews!

freakin’ july, man

finally!

oh, don’t forget to check out an all new ‘eight’ on friday!

with eric burke.

taking our 8th bite

today is the official release date of nibble issue number eight.

if your poetry appears in the issue or you have a subscription, your copy is on the way. 

just imagine all those nibbles winging and wheeling their way to far off destinations.  

europe…australia…idaho… 

yep, we are way international.

oh…damn…almost forgot the sales part of this post: 

<ahem> 

if you are not on the list of lucky folks who have a nibble coming their way, it’s not too late.  visit our subscription page to order a sample issue, a specific issue or just dive right into a full subscription.

do it…do it now.

the print shop giveth…

…and the print shop taketh away.

not long ago, our local print shop erred and printed one of our jobs twice by mistake (we’re still sitting on a fair number of extra copies of issue six), but this time things did not go in our favor.

we got the copies of issue eight on friday, started to prep them for mailing on saturday and realized that the pages were not in the correct order.  had to make the long walk to the printer’s shop again this morning to oh-so-politely point out their little boo-boo.

they were kind enough to put a rush on the job and we hope to get the issue out some time this week.

thank you for your patience.

eight questions with hosho mccreesh

hosho mccreesh has been with us since the beginning.  his poetry appeared in issues one, four and seven of nibble.  he also did the amazing cover art for The Bones of Saints Under Glass, for which our editor is eternally grateful.  hosho took the titular poem and absolutely brought it to life.

and now, eight questions with hosho mccreesh:

What is your role in the small press?

I don’t know man–I don’t really think I have a role. I’m just a guy who writes. I buy books that interest me, & I’ll talk up work that I enjoy in the few ether-spots I frequent…but that’s hardly a role. Small press enthusiast, if anything I suppose.

What is one thing people should know about you?

That I recently had a car stolen. So, if they happen to see a 19 year old white Camry with N. Mex plates–shoot me an email, so I can catch the bastards.

What are you working on right now that has you excited?

Well, we’re basically finished putting the finishing touches on Sunlight at Midnight, Darkness at Noon, which was a year & a half of work…so that’s always great to stick the finished product up on the shelf! I have 2 manuscripts at Propaganda Press–& those will probably be the next things down the pipe. I’m tinkering with some longer pieces–but I see, now, how they are years in the making… I’ve got a few paintings I need to do as well–& that’s always exciting.

Name one thing you wish you had.

I wish I was somehow able to see everyone I’d like to see whenever I’d like to see them…a way to just take a weekend & go see family & friends–be it in Denver or Switzerland or Oklahoma or Oregon or Ireland or Tucson or Japan or Virginia…not worry about money or time off from the job…a way to be there almost instantly…that would be terrific.

Name one thing you have that you could do without.

Car thieves.

Who is your favorite small press poet?

You know–for me it’s always who I am reading now. I got hold of a glorious stack of Albert Huffstickler publications…&, man, he’s really something. If I write for another 30 years, I desperately hope my work is as refined & heartfelt as Huff’s. He’s the goods.

Name one small press poetry mag, other than nibble, that everyone should read?

BOTTLE from Bottle of Smoke–it’s a great production top to bottom.

Where do you want to see your own poetry?

I don’t know if it’s good to imagine such things. It seems to be an ‘expectation as planned resentment’ sorta deal. But if I had to pick, I’d say bars. That’d mean you were really reaching folks, I think. Either that or you were somehow selling beer…say maybe writing poems for Guinness or Lagavulin…& taking all my pay in trade!

here are hosho’s poems as they appeared in nibble:

That The Dying Sun Turns The Leaves
A Blazing Yellow, A Furious Red—

That Those Same Dead Leaves Clatter,
Scuttle Across Pavement & Stone—

That We Are, Too Often,
Our Own Worst Enemies—

& That All Our Silly Struggles
Will Amount To Very Little—

all truths,
all sad,

all made for us
to simply
accept.

A Recent Conversation, Before Sleeping,
About the Long & Many Years I Spent
Lonely Yet Uninterested in Sharing
My Life with Anyone…

“You’d have no problem
adjusting to life in prison,” she said,
“All you’d need
is pen & paper.”

& while she meant it
as a compliment, meant that
she sees something
fierce & independent in me,

I hoped, desperately hoped,
that she was wrong;
that there is more
in this hard life
that I need,

as I drifted off to sleep
thinking of all those
wounded & terrible years alone,

& dreaming of
who I might
murder

just in case

Old Cedar Fenceposts,
Jutting Up

Like Gnarled Teeth
Through the
Blank, Desolate Wilds—

no tracks
in the snow.

check back next friday for a new eight and click on our ‘eight’ page to see past interviews!

new eight on friday, june 26th

some dude named “hosho” or something.

should be a good one.

next week?

ok, this is a big-time secret…so don’t tell anybody.

eric burke.  (he’s a tough one to book, but we’re working on it.)

we really have to take a moment to thank REBECCA SCHUMEJDA.  not only for answering our eight silly questions, but also for performing a little cpr on the whole franchise.

thanks a million, becky!

we are so badass…

I am flattered to be accepted (again) to nibble. I really enjoy
the work you do, Jeff. In an incestuous, and dreary industry, nibble
is a welcome stranger on the scene.

Keep up the good work.

Okay,
Father Luke

a welcome stranger!

like clint eastwood in high plains drifter?

sweet.