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Chicago Poetry Scene Top 135
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 Topic: Chicago Poetry Letters Section
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Sakura Publishing eXposed: Vanity Publishing Rears Its Ugly Head In Chicago
Posted by : cj on Thursday, May 10, 2012 - 07:23 PM
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5593 Reads
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Dear Chicago Poetry Scene,
Recently, it came to my attention that a new poetry publisher -- Sakura Publishing -- is in town offering contracts to commission books. They seem to have come out of nowhere, and they even had a table at this year's poetry fest, where they passed out bookmarks. I was surprised to learn that they even offered at least one local poet / friend of mine a publishing contract, based solely on the few minutes of poetry she read during the open mic at the fest.
You see, I like to believe I'm up on just about everything Chicago poetry, so I was a little miffed. Why had I not heard of Sakura? After a little snooping, I became even more baffled. Their Facebook page only gives a "Hermitage, PA" post office box as its address. So how did Sakura get a table at the poetry fest, I wondered, knowing how strict the fest is about only showcasing local publishers.
 After stumbling upon their poorly designed official website that has the tone of a glee club and flashes a purple logo of a little girl in a short skirt getting blown around by the wind, I couldn't be more perplexed. Sakura didn't seem to be strictly a poetry publisher at all, but instead a publisher of all genres of writing. Check out this link showcasing one of their authors' dieting book. So, again, what were they doing with one of the rare and coveted tables at the poetry fest?
I browsed their site to learn some more about their authors, one of whom is Almney King, who the site describes as "a high school junior." I found a video of Almney reading poetry at Sakura's YouTube channel (which at the time had 3 subscribers), and in all fairness, she's a pretty good poet. On the other hand, one of their two listed Chicago poets, a man named Dan Picone, is hailed by Sakura as "one of the most prolific poets in America today." Here is a video of Dan reading his poetry. The other Chicago poet published by Sakura is Sharday Cage. Here is a video of Sharday delivering what seems to be a slam-worthy performance. I also watched a video of a man named Derek Vasconi, who calls himself the CEO of Sakura Publishing, giving a lecture at PENN State, and he seemed extremely non-threatening. In fact, all those involved with Sakura seemed to be nice people. That makes me feel sad, since I have to expose Sakura for the dishonest vanity publisher that it is, but nevertheless that's exactly what I intend to do.
Note: Click Here to read the entire eXposé.
NOW WITH A FILTHY MOUTHED RESPONSE FROM DEREK.
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2011 Chicago Literary Hall Of Fame: aka, Dead Poets Society
Posted by : cj on Saturday, July 09, 2011 - 03:16 PM
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1312 Reads
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 Later this year, the self-proclaimed Chicago "Literary Hall of Fame" will for the second time celebrate the work of six dead people during another big, overpriced, megalomaniacal affair in which the Chicago Lit Scene's greatest seeker of financial dues, The Chicago Writers Association, carves in stone for us the names of six writers who we already know are important. I can save you the $45 or whatever outrageous amount of money they plan to solicit from you this year so that you can have the privilege of attending their gluttonous affair. I'll tell you right now who they have chosen as the 2011 "Inductees": Cyrus Colter (died in 2002); Theodore Dreiser (died in 1945); Harriet Monroe (died in 1936); Mike Royko (died in 1997); Carl Sandburg (died in 1967); and Ida B. Wells (died in 1931). These six inductees were chosen from 24 nominees, each and every one of them pushing up daisies. The writers who most recently lived that were nominated were Carolyn Rodgers and Kent Foreman (both of whom passed away in 2010). The committee of nominators who chose the names of the deceased 24 reflect the absurdity of this year's New City Lit 50 List, in that it consists of six white men, two white women and one man of African descent. These nine nominators then passed their 24 spirit names to five admittedly more diverse "Selectors" who then chose which six dead people would be honored this year. Whew! All of that just to tell us Carl Sandburg was a great Chicago writer.
In their mission statement, the great Hall (throw your money at them--they're a nonprofit!)--says "Our annual induction ceremony . . . will be an occasion for Chicago to crown past, present and future literary achievements." But of course, without one single living writer so much as nominated, all that is being honored by this power hungry behemoth are past, past and past literary achievements. Hey, I get what they're doing. It's as smart and as slimy as including the recognizable names of 34 "honorary committee" members on their website. They are concentrating on these dead names for the first few years because they believe that will give their fledgling Hall of Fame more credibility. Some day, when they've included just about every name of every great dead Chicago writer out there, they'll start sneaking in the name of a friend or two. And, oh boy, won't they be in charge then! What power they will have when they get to decide for us which living authors are worthy of praise, but most importantly, which ones are NOT.
My advice is, instead of wasting your money on some uppity organization's supermarket sushi and wine out of the box theatre presentation, spend the same amount of money buying one book written by each of the authors above--then celebrate their lives by actually reading their work.
My name is CJ Laity
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Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Launches ChicagoPublishes
Posted by : cj on Friday, October 29, 2010 - 05:49 PM
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1432 Reads
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 Yes, it’s true. Chicago as a city is home to some of the finest artists in this country. Ah, but the City of Chicago itself--yeegads--it has a horrendous reputation for being anti-art. Many of us who were part of the poetry scene in the early 1990s can still remember when this city tried to shut down the Weeds open mic. because Gregorio Gomez didn’t have a “poetry permit.” In May of 2003, the Hot House (then on Balboa) featured a band that they shipped in from Cuba, and the City of Chicago raided the joint and closed it down, a few minutes before the show was to begin. In July of 2007, the Chicago police swarmed into the Zhou B. Art Center and kicked everyone out of the annual Printers Ball. In May of 2009, the city’s graffiti blasters trespassed on private property and painted over a gigantic piece of mural art that had been commissioned and paid for, because some bigoted Bridgeport alderman didn’t like it. And in December of 2009, a man named Chris Drew was arrested for attempting to sell one dollar pieces of art on State Street, and subsequently he was charged with a felony for audio taping his own arrest; this Chicago artist could spend a decade in prison and that’s how much the city really supports the arts!
Stories like these go on and on with no end in sight. They illustrate this city’s underlying hostility toward the art scene. The art scene scares the shit out of the City of Chicago. It’s not good for tourism. It’s not good for Olympic bids and whatnot. In fact, the city wants to establish something called a “promoter’s license” that would make it illegal for an unlicensed individual to host a literary event if there are more than 50 audience members in attendance. So! When the City of Chicago announces it “will provide Chicago’s thriving publishing industry with a new website” (as if we don’t already have dozens upon dozens of our own websites)--called ChicagoPublishes.com (sort of a city takeover of the already existing PublishChicago.com)--excuse me if I must take the news with a huge block of salt.
 On Tuesday, November 9, 2010, the Chicago Cultural Center will launch its new website, with an event to be held at 4 PM. Of course, most of you will be in work at that time, but it’s the thought that counts, right? The event will feature The Paper Machete, hosted by Jonathan Messinger of TimeOut Chicago. There will be tea. The event will also serve as the launch party for a new section of the already existing city sponsored website ChicagoArtistsResource.org. “CAR-Literary” promises to include job postings, calls for submissions, links to resources, articles, essays and even a forum for “open” dialogue. Wow. This all sounds like your birthday has come early, doesn‘t it. But hold the phone for a minute. Let’s not forget that all of this razzle-dazzle is going to be published and edited by (drum roll please)--the government. In case it matters to you, that's the same government that is trying to throw Chris Drew in prison for attempting to sell a one dollar piece of art on State Street. If anyone is expecting anything more daring than, say, Southwest Airlines’ Spirit Magazine, they are deluding themselves. How long will it take before some independently run zine called Shit Fuck or something posts a call for submissions only to find itself deleted by the City of Chicago from Chicago’s “significant role in the rapidly changing national publishing landscape.” How many of the city’s “links to resources” will lead to anything even remotely associated to anything critical of the City of Chicago? Come on! I’m probably losing my link on that page right now!
Realistically, as city sponsored gentrification continues to cleanse Chicago of diversity and dissent, one has to wonder. Is this huge endeavor being set into motion to actually help Chicago’s literary scene as it already exists or is this an attempt to gain some control over one of the last remaining sub-cultures in Chicago that this city has yet to tame. Honestly. As artists, since when do we allow the government to decide for us who the “industry professionals” are? And should we participate in yet another attempt to establish a redundant yet just a bit safer “literary events calendar”? Here’s a question for the website editors. Does a “help fund Chris Drew's defense” poetry show get listed in your calendar? How about a Naked Biker Poetry Slam?
 If the City of Chicago “enthusiastically supports” Chicago’s “vital publishing and literary community” (as Commissioner Lois Weisberg claims it does), it should prove it. For one thing, it could hold more than four book events a year in the Cultural Center’s Publishers’ Gallery; or instead, perhaps the city could allow taxpayers their own use of that Cultural Center, the building that they themselves fund--without having to pay rent. And garsh darnit, someone has to say it! If the City truly supports the literary scene, why doesn’t it take all that money that it is using in its attempt to control the literary scene with a website, and instead give the money to the actual publishers. I’d come out on a Tuesday at 4 PM for that launch party. Click here for my other editorial.
Silence kills slowly,
CJ Laity
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Poetry Publishing
Chicago Poetry Press publishes the highest quality poetry in beautiful, perfect bound editions. We rely on your continued support to operate, because we are not funded by any corporation, foundation, government agency or university. You can always contact
CJ Laity at Publisher@
ChicagoPoetry.com. |
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