i am the secretary

Quiiiiiirk

2007-05-24T20:52:00.000-05:00

The Quirk is printed and most have been mailed. Here's what people've been saying...

“You’ve sort of jumped to the head of the class. I expected the poetry to be first-rate with the cast of writers you put together, but the presentation is awesome. Beautiful, really. The interview with Winans was also really well done. Seriously, I loved it. Thank you for all your great work and I am so pleased to be included (and to be included in Quirk II). I am looking forward to getting my extra copies and sending them to friends around the country.”
– David J. Thompson, Poet, Winner of the 2006 and 2007 Nerve Cowboy Chapbook Contests

“Well done… great poetry...killer photography...slick production....nice job....proud as FUCK to be in it.”
- justin.barrett, Poet/Publisher Extraordinaire

“The Quirk landed in my mailbox, also. The production is top shelf. Fuck, it's a g.d. WOODSTOCK of poetry. Hats off to you.”
- Don Winter, Poet/Co-Editor of Fight These Bastards

In non-Quirk news, my first review for Scene Point Blank is posted here. They picked my glowingly positive one instead of one of my funny scathing ones.

Thanks for listening.

Good Day

2007-04-25T21:04:00.000-05:00

The New York Quarterly took a poem of mine, 'I Would've Made Nostradamus Look Like A Chump'.

Scene Point Blank also hired me as a reviewer, or, as I prefer to call it, a freelance music journalist, haw.

Rough night though.

Still, sweet.

2007-04-21T09:22:00.000-05:00

Hey hey friends, a few bits'f news.

First of all, I got back from the Coca-Cola thing in Georgia, which was incredible. One of the most enjoyable experiences of my life.

Back here in Indiana, have been sick for a week but think I'm finally getting over it. Set a FIRM deadline for when The Quirk would be done, May 1st, which gives us a month to print/mail them. Expect it in your mailbox mid-June. Order whatever you want now, so we know how many to print.

I just got a letter yesterday from Christopher Robin over at Zen Baby saying he'd like to use three of my poems, "The Joke's On Him", "Answering Machine, or, The Delicate Art of Winning Back An Ex-Girlfriend Over the Phone When She Refuses to Pick Up", and "Like A Trip To The Dentist", in the next three issues of Zen Baby. Sweet. I love the layout of that zine, total sensory overload... it's definitely his own.

Heard back from Kat at remark., she's taking three poems as well, 'Mistake', 'Heredity', and 'When I First Heard That She'd Hidden Away In A Bathroom And Tried To Kill Herself' for the next issue of remark. Wahoo!

Also just got my contributor's copy of Poesy, which features my poem 'Graffiti'. Also has a hilarious interview with G. Tod Slone, where he proves, yet again, to be the biggest douche in the small press.

Right on soldiers. Take't easy!

2007-03-31T01:07:00.001-05:00

Tell me this isn't the coolest fucking ad you've ever seen for a zine.

The Quirk, The Quirk, Flux Capacitor, The Quirk...

2007-03-28T15:21:00.000-05:00

CLICK IT TO SEE IT RIGHT
Background photo by some creepy guy from Utah

Ah, the blog. Finally found five minutes to throw something up here.

The Quirk is coming along beautifully. Many of the people who read this blog have sent kind words our way, and I just wanted to say thank you for all of them. Many are featured in the 'Comments' section of the site! Anyway, the poems are selected, officially closed today when we accepted a David J. Thompson (one of my faves) poem. I promise you all, come release, this issue is going to kick every kind of ass imaginable. If not, your money back, guaranteed... though I'm pretty sure just about everyone reading this will be receiving a free copy anyway, haha. I'd offer you your time back, but I can't get this damn flux capacitor to work...

In Kaveh news, I just got an acceptance today from Brian Morriesy (who incidentally has a poem in The Quirk... ;) ) over at Poesy. My poem "Graffiti" will be appearing in Poesy... at some point. His is a really great mag, I've gotten my hands on four or five issues, and in terms of layout, nobody does it better (that I've seen). The content is pretty ace too! The guy definitely knows what he's doing.

Also, three of my poems made it into the West Memphis 3 Benefit Anthology, a zine supporting a great cause put together by Misti Rainwater-Lites... other poets in the issue include Pat King, J.D. Nelson, Paul Tristram, Doug Draime, Katharine Polenberg and Leopold McGinnis. Y'all should check it out, they're still taking subs, and it's for a damn fine cause.

Thanks much for reading, I'll try to update a bit more often from now on...

Back!

2007-03-11T00:42:00.000-05:00

Well fellas, I'm finally updating...

Been busy as all hell with The Quirk, finally laid down the green to own TheQuirk.org and make the zine all legitimate and respectable... haw. Got a killer lineup of poets and artists that's guaranteed to blow you away or your money back. Working on making it as gorgeous as the words it features.

On a Kaveh-The-Poet note, I haven't been writing nearly as much as I ought to be lately... since I last posted, I've placed a poem ("I Was An Ugly Ten-Year-Old") in Amanda Oaks' WORDs DANCE, which is a beautiful zine done by a great lady. Also placed 3/3 poems in the West Memphis 3 Benefit Anthology ("Writer's Block", "She Told Me I Was A Fast Learner", and "Ambidexterity"), and another in Poems-For-All ("at the zoo"). Have submitted poems to Nerve Cowboy, Fight These Bastards, and Poesy... keep yer fingers crossed fer me....

Alright, still have miles to go before I sleep. Take care everybody!

-kav

Literary Quirkitude

2007-02-23T16:02:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody, The Quirk is now taking poetry, short/flash fiction, and creative non-fiction submissions for it's inaugural literary edition. All the money it raises is going to a yet-to-be-determined charitable cause, so submit submit submit. Check out the link below to go to the website and read the guidelines, but really, it's nothing you haven't read before.

I'M A LINK, CLICK ME

A list of contributors as of 4:05 PM (ET), 2/23/2007: S.A. Griffin, justin.barrett, Dan Kopcow, David Blaine, JD Nelson, Michael Lee Johnson, Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal, Oren Wagner, Glenn W. Cooper, Robert Plath, Steve Henn, YOU?

2007-01-30T19:58:00.000-05:00

Been a while since I last posted, a small bit of news to report.

Resurrected The Quirk, started working on Vol. 2 Issue 3 today. It'll feature an interview with C. Allen Rearick and an interview with The Locust's Justin Pearson, as well as the typical laughtastic viscera.

Also, my poetic dry spell ended today, I wrote a new poem called "MISTAKE", it's not the best thing I've ever written or anything, but it felt DAMN good to write something again. Jesus. Let's hope it stays with me.

Placed a couple more poems in "remark." since I last posted, that's always a good thing. Working on an interview with the wise and venerable AD Winans for said zine.

Hope all is well with everybody, all is well here.

-kaveh

SUPERBOWL

2007-01-21T22:33:00.000-05:00

It's an all midwest Superbowl, and I have no idea who I'm going for.

2007-01-17T21:20:00.000-05:00

If you don't want to watch the whole thing, at least watch from 3:15 to 3:30...

2007-01-13T11:43:00.000-05:00

Since my last post, gotten poems placed in Zygote In My Coffee and Word Riot, which is pretty sweet. Haven't been writing nearly as much as I should be, but I've been reading a lot. Maybe that's just as important.

Also, I've started recording music again. That has been fun, I've really missed it.

Short one, miles to go.

-kaveh

poetic extremists...

2007-01-09T18:54:00.001-05:00

I guess I need to tone it down a bit. Been sort of a militant poetic lately, I hear. Gonna work on being less evangelical. Ho-hum. Only written one in the past twenty-four hours…

-kaveh

2007-01-07T13:38:00.000-05:00

I've been writing like crazy lately, 11 keepers in the past three days and twice that beside. Everything is a poem to me, not just because of the beauty in the mundane, but for the oppurutnities to form connections in the mundane, the hilarity and tragedy in everything, every object and conversation and interaction. Everything has a story, that's the beauty of a poet, they can tell those stories.

In less rambling news, Poems-For-All took one of my poems, "dinner and a movie", which made me extremely happy. They're a great little organization trying to get the poetry in the hands of the masses just like GPP, and they make gorgeous little books. I can't wait to see mine, he always does a great job with cover design. Other than that, not much to report. Stay stong!

-kaveh

reflection on a stubbed toe

2007-01-04T21:26:00.001-05:00

mentally, i am starting to identify myself as a poet. following most every interaction that takes place these days, every stimulus, every contact, every conversation I have, i find myself asking how to translate that poetically, whether it would make a good poem, what I can extrapolate from the interaction that might make a good poem. i stubbed my toe on my doorway today, and my initial reaction wasn’t a ‘FUCK!’ or any other sort of expletive – it was a ‘can I make this into a good poem?’ i shit you not, that’s what went through my head. imagine that, poetry replacing hurt, doing literally what it’s done literarily for years. something else, eh?

also, dems took control of the house today, and nancy’s first action was to call the prez and let him know they were up and running, a thinly veiled middle-finger stuck straight up his righteous ass. let’s hope this marks the start of a much-needed return for rationality. and apparently, this nation could use a hearty dose of rationality:

"wait, were we even in the vietnam war?"

and check out the end, when people supported a war on a country that didn't even exist, because bush supported it.

great morning!

2007-01-02T12:52:00.000-05:00

Well, I started submitting for the first time in my life today. I sent some poems to remark., and within an hour, I got an email of acceptance! My first poems in print ever, “dinner for one” and a reworked version of an old poem, "hallelujah" will be in the March issue. I’m feeling really great about this, I feel like it’s the beginning of something that will continue for the next 50+ years of my life. What a great start to the new year! You couldn’t take my smile off with a crowbar.

on joining the world of the bloggers, the philosophers, the bored

2006-12-31T13:11:00.000-05:00

So, the one with boobs works for this church mailing letters for a pretty good salary. Recently, the minister/pastor/whatever of the church, (Wesley Smith, send him your thoughts here) has been mailing out these letters calling for the removal of all Arabs from the USA, since they are “simply put, not a safe breed”. The one with boobs managed to get me a copy to peruse I’ve started writing a response to it, but here’s a brief excerpt. Here’s quote from his ten-page Mein Kampf. Please note the scholarly use of statistics and quotations.

“Probably ten to fifteen percent of Muslims are terrorists. That translates into more than the population of the United States of America – 300 million! These figures are terrifying! Absolutely terrifying! Someone has said, ‘Remaining silent means that you agree with what is being done.’ In the last few years more than 7,000 bomb attacks have ripped apart human bodies and buildings. “Islamic extremists” have perpetuated all of these horrendous acts. They are intent on sending their message of terror deep into the hearts of everyone. Have you ever wondered why the “peaceful Muslims: do not speak out about this? Consider: What if Jewish extremists had blown up tens of thousands of innocent people? Or what if Christian extremists had done the same thing? Wouldn’t there be an angry outcry from the Jews and Christians against these madmen? Wouldn’t rabbis and pastors be on national television denouncing the terrorists? Wouldn’t the pastors and rabbis be explaining to everyone that this behavior is not representative of Judaism and Christianity? Absolutely!”

Kav’s Response: You ask what would happen if Christian extremists had done the same thing. Consider, if you will, our nation’s leader, who believes in his own divine appointment. Said leader has directly caused the death of 100,000 to 150,000 innocent Iraqi civilians (according to the United Nations) over the course of our current war. Said leader has also imposed stringent sanctions, which, since the start of the war, have caused a conservatively estimated 2,000 civilian deaths a quarter (according to Amnesty International, Unicef, and UN reports). Doing the math, this number becomes a conservative 150,000 to 200,000 innocent civilian deaths directly caused by our elected Christian on-a-mission-from-God demagogue. Yet, I haven’t heard any Christians on the television publicly denouncing these actions, nor have I heard any explaining that his actions are not representative of his faith. (Note: Did you notice how much more effective the use of statistics was here, when I actually cite sources? Your method of random quantification of your beliefs with numbers - numbers you presumably made up - would earn you a solid F in any seventh grade English class.)

In other news, I just read Mark Wisniewski’s new chap, “One of Us One Night”, it was absolutely brilliant. I encourage anyone and everyone to pick it up. Merry New Year’s everybody!

-kaveh