Home Planet News 22

Home Planet News 22 comes bearing a cornucopia of poetry by Paul Edward Costa, David R. DiSarro, Steven Fortune, Ken Gosse, John Grey, Michael Igoe, Christopher Jones, Peter Kaczmarczyk, Aryan Kaganof, Casey Killingsworth, Ma Yongbo, Bruce McRae, Frederick Pollack, Ismael S. Rodriguez, Jr., Heather Sager, Beate Sigriddaughter, Cheryl Snell, Patricia Walsh, Mark Young, & artwork by Donna Vitucci. Many thanks to all!

 As you may know, Home Planet now accepts book length manuscripts for publication via Half Inch Press. What are we looking for? The kinds of work that appear in Home Planet News should serve as a general indication of our tastes. See HPN's guidelines for specific information about submissions.

 

But what you may not know is Half Inch Press has recently released three new books:  John Martino's American Sonnet, Donald Mangum's A History of Western Philosophy in a Nutshell; Plus Commentary, & Andy Roberts's My Favorite Failures.

 

Now the rest of the story:

John Martino's debut book, American Sonnet, is a rapid-fire series of poems that come together to form a verbal collage of pop culture. Drawing upon ads, fads, snatches of songs, flunkies, junkies, neo-punks, & wrong-headed political punditry, Martino slices, splices, & otherwise Americanizes history into one part satire, the other part even more satire. These well-honed poems sing over amplifier distortion & feedback fuzz necessary lyrics, the kind radio can't or won't play. This isn't an Italian or English sonnet; it's the American Sonnet--rude, crude, & very loud.

A History of Western Philosophy in a Nutshell is one of the biggest bang-for-the-buck little books you'll find. In just one hundred pages, Donald Mangum, a retired professor of English & philosophy, guides readers through major concepts in Western thought from Presocratics to Sartre & more. Along the way, Mangum shares experiences, opinions, & thought experiments that help us to better understand not only what philosophy is, but why it's important.

In My Favorite Failures, Andy Roberts writes with an honesty that makes you feel you're listening to someone you know. As each poem in turn unfolds, you might almost believe you're reading a memoir. These terse, gritty poems are experienced, not merely read. Roberts, the author of eight chapbooks, has appeared in hundreds of literary journals and small press publications. This is his first full-length poetry collection.

Please visit the Half Inch bookshop to see all of our releases. There's plenty of free online parking. We're still growing, so please check back with us--we have more releases on the way!

In the next issue, HPN will return with our usual feast of fiction, nonfiction, poems, & who knows what other literary delights, but for now, please enjoy our tantalizingly tasty poetry extravaganza.

Many thanks!

Matt

Home Planet News 22