what to us (press)

Getting closer....

2012-01-15T22:05:00.001-08:00

Still truckin'

2011-10-23T20:22:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right. It's been a long hiatus. I know. A lot has happened. I'm living in Nashville now. I'm in school full time. I'm trying to relearn this old town the rest of the time. Still, I'm about to lose it if I can't get that old paper cutter out soon and put out the next book in the DIMES series. So that's right, I'm motivated, coming sooner rather than later....Jennie Stockdale's NOW PUPPY TEETH.

ARE YOU READY?

NOW AVAILABLE!

2011-03-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

I'm so pleased to announce that Lisa Hollenbach's one-of-a-kind new chapbook Speculum is now available for purchase from What To Us. Speculum joins Amy Berkowitz'z Lonely Toast as the second book in the series THE DIMES. The poems in this hand-bound chapbook are like nothing you've ever read before, and trust me, you'll want to read it over and over, over and over. Get your copy today for just $4 plus shipping.

Ahh ahh ahh...waitin' on some toner....ahh ahh ahh....

2011-03-03T04:43:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long wait for Speculum! Many copies are done, involving some tedious sewing and some work with an ancient typewriter. However, I am waiting on some toner (as stated above) to finish the rest of the copies. They should be available to the world real soon, so just hold tight now, ya hear?

Lisa Hollenbach

2011-01-31T11:56:00.000-08:00

...like a zombie version of the global village...

2011-01-21T11:55:00.000-08:00

Questions for Lisa Hollenbach, the author of the upcoming What To Us chapbook, Speculum....

Some of the poems in Speculum seem to play with the notion of lexical entry. There is a lot of syllabic breaking down, and also suggestions to the potential of some words to reform, including others, for example, "sur - vi ^v_ral." In your writing process, are you closer to the words as meaningful units, or to their sonic components?

I like that phrase: "lexical entry." I suppose the meaningful units are always changing for me, though in this series I really wanted to focus on multiplicity and on hearing and seeing multiple words in one and at once. In the past I've been more respectful of the word-entity, but from the beginning I thought of this poem as a little communication machine and I wanted to take apart its circuits and transistors.

This makes me think of the massive, dysfunctional, constantly repaired machine in the movie Brazil. Do you imagine that this text plays with the notion of dystopia?

I haven't seen that movie (though now I will!) but I do think that the poems engage with dystopia. When I started Speculum I was also thinking about utopianism/idealism in avant-garde writing, and about the utopian and dystopian discourse that surrounded the Internet boom and digitizing craze of the late 90s/early 00s. In contrast to the minimalist Microsoft aesthetic that dominates our experience with technology, I'm kind of obsessed with thinking about leaky, decomposing machines and bodies and online space as a kind of urbanized graveyard (like a zombie version of the global village).

For me, Speculum is a text that grows in presence each time I read it. It also seems dead set on reinventing itself, in a way. Do you feel that reinvention plays a role in your writing?

I guess I never really thought much of reinvention as a strategy, but I kind of like it; the idea of inventing again, of repeating an invention, seems like a contradiction. Which seems about right.

Yes, I see hints of this contradiction through out the work. Mostly, in the constant mention of the viral—the viral spread of flash images, ie the eye in front of the eye, the image of falling, the city-screen---lights, flashing and violent, and the body—both sick and fallen, and indestructible and suspended—these images haunt and reappear. You sure do know how to communicate fear in a poem, on a very subliminal level.

Do you have any silly or serious "mindfuck" viral fears that reinvent themselves in your life?

How about words or phrases that go viral?

I don't know if this answers your question, but I am kind of sickly fascinated with what happens to the dead online. There have been a few articles recently about new businesses that are cropping up to take care of your online presence when you die by deleting or preserving blogs, pictures, profiles, etc. It's so weird to me that when new technologies appear no one ever seems to think about waste until all of a sudden it becomes a major problem (what will we do with all those ipods?). On the Internet this now seems to include a kind of human and archival detritus that threatens to one day overtake "living" online matter. I think I have a kind of minimal online presence relatively speaking because of my vague fear of the ghosts in the machine.

In terms of language, I love the spread of neologisms and buzz phrases and the way little communities crop up around insider uses of language. I actually just finished Ishmael Reed's classic novel Mumbo Jumbo so currently I have the viral spread of "Jes Grew" on my mind.

As a PhD student of literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, how do you balance the critical demands of your academic life, with the life of a poet? Does your poetry have its own space or time within your academic rubric?

There is no balance. I am a very slow writer in all kinds of genres and I find it difficult to work on multiple projects at once, so academic work tends to dominate out of necessity. Not to mention that sometimes I want to just watch Thursday night television and drink a beer. But I hope that poetry still has a space-time, even if it's on the move. Also, luckily, I find academic work to be generative of and connected to poetic thinking, so there is no feeling of competition.

Ah, yes, academic work and beer can both be generative to poetic thinking, right? There are so many good beers to relax with in Madison, and so many good places. Any favorites? What’s your ideal way to unwind?

Madison is a great place for micro-breweries and happy hours, as you know, and my New Year's resolution is to be less of a homebody and get out to more of them. I love Mickey's for its outside patio and living room interiors. My ideal way to unwind, though, is have a really long multi-hour dinner and good conversation with friends and/or my partner Lewis.

I think of you as detailed reader, who gets very close to her subjects when engaging with them. Speculum is a text that shows me that it is also possible for a writer to exhibit this same level of closeness to an unknown reader. Is there any poet whose work you are particularly engaged with at the moment?

I sure do like Lisa Robertson and Leslie Scalapino these days. Also I keep reading and listening to Alice Notley, David Antin, Myung Mi Kim, Joan Retallack, and Jackson Mac Low.

Any chance you’ll come to the East coast and read some poems for us?

I'd love to.

Lisa, thanks for delving with me to these extremes.
In my online heaven this conversation goes on forever.

Up Next!

2010-11-17T10:05:00.000-08:00

Up next from THE DIMES is Lisa Hollenbach's SPECULUM.

The poems in SPECULUM are persistent-- they demand a participation in the unravelling of images, and allow an entry to the broad landscape between words. This book will be available in December.

Also, there are only a few remaining copies of Amy Berkowitz's LONELY TOAST! To get a copy of these hilarious and astute poems, email Amy at mondoberko@gmail.com.

LONELY TOAST IS HERE!

2010-09-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

It's official, 50 copies of AMY BERKOWITZ's newest chapbook LONELY TOAST are now ready for the world to see.

LONELY TOAST

They will set you back $4.00. As THE DIMES is a poet-centered series, 25 of these books will be available from the author herself and the other 25 from WHAT TO US.

This is your opportunity to get to know Amy Berkowitz. If you live in the San Francisco area, you can email her at.....

mondoberko

gmail

DOT

com.

If you are joining us on the web, get your copy via pay pal or send cash or check of $5 ($4+$1 for shipping) to Hailey Higdon @ 2205 E Boston Street, Philadelphia, PA 19125. Or, if you know me, tap me on the shoulder, and I'll hand deliver it...

10 questions for AMY BERKOWITZ

2010-08-21T16:22:00.000-07:00

making granola

1. What is your favorite weather?

Hot weather! Shorts weather. Everyone looks great in shorts.

2. What is the best book you've read this year?

Amy Hempel’s collected stories. I used to read a lot of fiction (Lorrie Moore was a favorite) and then I didn’t read fiction for a long time, and then when I had to teach a combined poetry and fiction section of creative writing last year, I came back to fiction. And there was Amy Hempel, and her stories were so different than the other short stories I was reading. I actually haven’t finished the book yet because it was my friend Miriam’s copy and I had to give it back to her. It’s nice to know I have more of it left to read.

3. What writer's work do you constantly return to?

Richard Brautigan. My dad gave me all his old Richard Brautigan books when I was a teenager, these old pocket paperbacks from the 70s with candy-colored covers and those mysterious sexy women posed in front of civic architecture, and I fucking loved them. I’ve read them to death. All their spines are cracked and the pages are crumbling but I keep reading them over and over. I realize I should be trying to explain WHY I like Brautigan so much and not just telling you how nice the old books are, but I don’t know where to begin! His poems and novels are both good. Revenge of the Lawn is maybe the best place to start; it’s short stories, but the stories feel a lot like prose poems. My dad marked his favorite stories in the table of contents. “I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone” is one of his favorites, and one of my favorites, too.

4. What non-literary interests do you keep?

Baking and cooking. Listening to music. Bike riding. Road tripping. I just got my driver’s license! I am so excited about it. Every time I take out my wallet I look at my license. (I am 26).

5. what is your favorite object?

I guess it’s my teapot. I never had a teapot until this year. I got it at a flea market in Ann Arbor and it has yellow and red chickens painted on it. I have a Beehouse coffee drip thing, and it’s such an elegant way to make coffee, compared to a coffeemaker.

6. What places/ locations have you called home?

New York City, Somerville Massachusetts, Brooklyn (East Williamsburg, then Prospect Heights, then a nicer area of Prospect Heights, then Bushwick), Ann Arbor, Oakland.

7. If you could be an artist of another form (besides poetry), what would it be? / If you are an artist of another form, what is it?

I’ve been in a twee pop band in my imagination for 6 or 7 years now.

8. Do you have a favorite color?

Purple.

9. Where is your favorite place to write a poem?

In bed or in a coffee shop. That’s a pretty boring answer.

10. What surprising subjects have you delved into? (academically, socially, emotionally, physically, or any-which-way you please)

Physically: in Ann Arbor, I went to a Cardio Karate class at the Y, which was consistently the highlight of my week. Punching and kicking, and some funny dance moves that wouldn’t really help you in a fight at all. And a soundtrack that included “Better Off Alone” and “I Gotta Feeling” and “Shimmy Shake.” I moved to California a few days ago and I miss it already.

FIRST UP

2010-07-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

In the next few weeks, THE DIMES at WHAT TO US will be publishing...

LONELY TOAST

by Amy Berkowitz

Don't know Amy Berkowitz yet?

Check back soon for a road map through 10 pitstops in her brain.

THE DIMES

2010-07-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

WHAT TO US (press) is currently working on a new series of small chapbooks by female writers. Presently, plans are occurring. They are. Among them are plans for small books by the following women:

Amy Berkowitz
Lisa Hollenbach
Jennifer Stockdale &
Marion Bell

Check back soon for more details about this series, THE DIMES.

Mutualism

2010-04-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

WHAT TO US is looking for a new species relationship, ie MUTUALISM.

Like a cow and celluose-digesting microbes. (Just like that, actually.)

MEANING: WHAT TO US is seeking a new book to make.

In this instance, here are the pieces that would make it a whole:

WHAT TO US is looking for work...

by a WOMAN;
by a writer without a significant number of chapbook publications or without a larger book publication;
and looking for a smaller work, 10 pages or less.

The work can be POETRY, FICTION, or any happy IN BETWEEN you think is worth me working hours to make into a tiny book.

Work can be sent in hard copy to Hailey Higdon @ 2205 E Boston Street, Philadelphia, PA 19125. Also, I like little cards. Can you send me a little card telling me something about you? It can be anything you want really, just something.

Deadline for submissions is June 1, 2010. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell the celluose-digesting microbes that the cow is eating grass now!

Amsel, Sheri. “Farm Animals.” Cow. Exploring Nature Educational Resource. © 2005 - 2010. April 22, 2010.

Email me if you want onnneathhheese

2009-10-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

We're Robots

2009-10-03T10:59:00.000-07:00

I've put together a very small book, consisting of six poems, three by ryan eckes and three of my own. It's called We're Robots. So far we've made about 10 copies, but it will mostly likely be a run of 30. If you'd like one, give a shout via email: haileyhaileyhailey@gmail.com

they will set you back $4.

pictures to come.

hailey

2009-04-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

This is a close up of the cover of The Third Word. If you look closely, you can see Lewis' face floating in the center. Thank you Andrew Hladky for making the bearded Lewis, the Lewis of this book.

It is time.

2009-02-28T12:13:00.001-08:00

yes, it is here. a number of copies have been bound and are ready, so if you want it, ask.

The Third Word is a small book written by lewis and made by me. We think you should buy it for $6. If you want me to mail it to you, it you should buy it for $7 so I can pay the post-master-general. If you live in Philadelphia and want a copy, email me, and I will interdepartmentally deliver it with my feet.

love.

just so you know

2009-02-05T12:25:00.000-08:00

grace, the snow is here, and this book will be out very very soon. and it is beautiful.

2008-08-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a poem from the manuscript of The Third Word...

they stole
                      stops

and pauses
                                    add till the house

                                                       hold

                                              is air hole

                       updance

cause

                       is crooks as a matter of

                                                          business

old sit

by the banks

                       you can say it anyhow

                       more anyway

by the banks

of the letter
                       in spirit if flood

Coming Soon!

2008-06-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

The Third Word

by lewis freedman
cover art by andrew hladky

This book will be offered in an edition of 50 copies with the cover painting, God Used Me As A Hammer, Boys in all its colorful glory.