Palm Latitudes, novel by Kate Braverman

“My life was an arc between darkness and irradiated clarity, an unpredictable and brutal journey. I felt as if I were a stranger to this earth. No, not merely this collection of angles, streets and alleys named Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles. I was estranged not from a particular season or region, a climate or a barrio, but from the planet itself. I stood motionless on my front lawn, humbled by sun, wind or fog, a passing sparrow. I heard the sighs of trees in their inviolate dominion where the sky is pearl, glazed, a mesa of puffy clouds tracked by wild gulls that could if they chose, shriek your name and the hour and latitude of your birth. I thought all women lived like this, in a torment of concurrencies.”

KATE BRAVERMAN, Palm Latitudes

Painting: ”En Vakker Dag” (“A Beautiful Day”) by Isblahblah, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Silver Birch Press Bukowski Anthology Launch Party 9/22/13 at Skylight Books, L.A.

Silver Birch Press is pleased to announce that Skylight Books, Los Angeles, will host a launch party for the Silver Birch Press BUKOWSKI ANTHOLOGY. We are honored to report that the event will feature readings from the collection by S.A. Griffin, Joan Jobe Smith, and Fred Voss.  For mini bios of our esteemed performers, visit Skylight Books.

WHAT: Silver Birch Press BUKOWSKI ANTHOLOGY launch party and readings from the collection

WHO: S.A. Griffin, Joan Jobe Smith, and Fred Voss

WHERE: Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90027, 323-660-1175

WHEN: Sunday, September 22, 2013, 5 p.m.

If you live in the area, we hope to see you there!

Cover art by Mark Erickson and Katy Zartl

Chapter 2: The Case of Raymond Chandler’s Silver Cigarette Case

THE LADY IN THE LAKE 
(Chapter 18, Opening Paragraph)
by Raymond Chandler

The Athletic Club was on a corner across the street and half a block down from the Treloar Building. I crossed and walked north to the entrance. They had finished laying rose-colored concrete where the rubber sidewalk had been. It was fenced around, leaving a narrow gangway in and out of the building. The space was clotted with office help going in from lunch.

***

At Raymond Chandler’s 125th birthday celebration in downtown Los Angeles on July 23, 2013, the revelers visited the Oviatt Building at 617 S. Olive — the inspiration for the Treloar Building in Chandler’s 1943 novel The Lady in the Lake. Outside the building, Marc Chevalier offered stories from his upcoming book about the location, including how owner James Oviatt put the edifice in his nephew’s name for tax purposes and the overworked, put-upon underling made his slave-driving uncle buy back the building.

The festivities outside the Oviatt Building also included David Kipen — former literature director of the National Endowment for the Arts — reading the opening page from The Lady in the Lake. (Kipen currently heads Libros Schmibros, a lending library and used bookstore in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles.)

The main floor of the Oviatt Building is now home to the Cicada Club —  — and the owner allowed the Chandler birthday party to move inside and tour the club in all its Art Deco splendor.

After walking around the mezzanine — a balcony that frames the space — we congregated in the bar (closed during our visit), where host Richard Schave and Oviatt historian Marc Chevalier shared wild tales about James Oviatt — the teenager from humble beginnings in Utah who became a linchpin and millionaire in Los Angeles. Oviatt also served as inspiration for Derace Kingsley,  the heavy in The Lady of the Lake.

While touring the club, I chatted with Sybil Davis, daughter of Raymond Chandler’s last secretary, who earlier in the evening had given a talk and held up one of her prized possessions — Chandler’s monogrammed silver cigarette case. Realizing it was a lot to ask, I couldn’t let the opportunity pass without trying — so in a barely audible voice I asked if I could hold the cigarette case, if only for a few seconds.

Looking around, so as not to cause a stampede of people who wished to follow my example, Sybil slipped the cigarette case (wrapped in a white gauze bag with a satin tie) from her purse. She removed the case from its covering and placed it on my outstretched hand. I enclosed the case between my palms and felt a profound sense of gratitude — to Sybil and to Chandler for his masterful, iconic, poetic works of art.

This was the Noir Holy Grail — Raymond Chandler’s silver cigarette case — and, as a devotee of both Chandler and noir, I found myself speechless and humbled by this unexpected blessing.

Thanks to the organizers and participants for a wonderful celebration of Raymond Chandler‘s birth! And a special thank you to the gifted husband and wife team of Kim Cooper — who read from her amazing, beautifully written, Chandler-inspired novel during the evening — and Richard Schave, the heart and soul of the Los Angeles Visionaries Association, for hosting this inspired event.

Tonight: Donna Hilbert reads from her new collection at Gatsby Books

Tonight, at Gatsby Books in Long Beach, California, Donna Hilbert will read from her new poetry collection, The Congress of Luminous Bodies (Aortic Press). So-Cal residents, this is the best way you could possibly spend a Thursday night (and most other nights!).

WHAT: Donna Hilbert reading from The Congress of Luminous Bodies

WHERE: Gatsby Books, 5523 E. Spring St., Long Beach, CA, 90808, gatsbybooks.com

WHEN: 7 p.m. start

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Donna Hilbert’s latest poetry collection, The Congress of Luminous Bodies, was recently released by Aortic Books. Other publications include The Green Season, World Parade Books, a collection of poems, stories, and essays, now available in an expanded second edition. Donna appears in and her poetry is the text of the documentary Grief Becomes Me: A Love Story, a Christine Fugate film. Earlier books include Mansions and Deep Red from Event Horizon, Transforming Matter and Traveler in Paradise from Pearl Editions, and the short story collection Women Who Make Money and the Men Who Love Them from Staple First Editions (published in England). Poems in Italian can be found in Bloc notes 59 and in French in La page blanche, in both cases translated by Mariacristina Natalia Bertoli. New work is in recent or forthcoming issues of 5AM, Nerve Cowboy, Pearl, and Poets & Artists. Learn more at www.donnahilbert.com.

Thank you, Skylight Books!

Silver Birch Press extends a big thank you to the fabulous Skylight Books in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles for hosting a June 30th launch event for Philippa Mayall and her memoir PHOENIX (Silver Birch Press, June 2013).

During well-attended gathering, Philippa read the first chapter of her book — a harrowing account of her rescue from a tragic house fire — answered questions about the memoir and her writing process, and signed books for the enthusiastic and supportive attendees.

We appreciate the opportunity to showcase our latest release at the prestigious Skylight Books. Please support Skylight Books by purchasing books — either in person or on line — from this outstanding independent bookstore. Skylight offers an awesome (and reasonable) membership package that provides impressive discounts and free shipping. So, no matter where you live, please patronize the stellar Skylight Books. To learn more about memberships, please visit skylightbooks.com.

Skylight books is located at 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027, 323-660-1175.

June 30, 2013: Silver Birch Press Author Philippa Mayall at Skylight Books, L.A.

Silver Birch Press is honored to celebrate the release of PHOENIX, a memoir by Phillipa Mayall, with a reading and book signing by the author at Los Angeles’s acclaimed Skylight Books on June 30, 2013. We invite our Southern California readers (and authors!) to join Silver Birch Press and Philippa Mayall for this event. 

WHERE: Skylight Books

LOCATION: 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, California, 90027

WEBSITE: skylightbooks.com

PHONE: 323-660-1175

EVENT INFORMATION: Philippa Mayall Reading

WHEN: Sunday, June 30, 2013

TIME: 5 p.m.

 

The Night Goes On All Night: Noir Inspired Poetry, edited by Rick Lupert

At the Silver Birch Press blog, one of our favorite topics is noir — novels (anything by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, or Ross MacDonald) and films (especially Double Indemnity, directed by Billy Wilder, with a script by Chandler and Wilder). That’s why we were intrigued when we learned about THE NIGHT GOES ON ALL NIGHT: Noir Inspired Poems, edited by Rick Lupert (Ain’t Got No Press, November 2011) published in conjunction with the Los Angeles Poetry Festival’s “Night and the City” Noir Festival.

The collection features work from 24 poets who, according to the book description, explore “their own noir-de-vivre with humor, grit, nostalgia, and the requisite fedora.” The book includes an introductory note about noir from Los Angeles Poetry Festival director Suzanne Lummis.

CONTRIBUTORS INCLUDE: E. Amato, Michael C. Ford, Michael Cluff, Brendan Constantine, Mike Daily, Gloria Derge, Peggy Dobreer, Jerry Garcia, Joelle Hannah, Kris Huelgas, Elizabeth Iannaci, Jack Bowman, Ruth Nolan, Marc Olmsted, Kevin Patrick Sullivan, Angela Penaredondo, Douglas Richardson, Anthony Seidman, Eric Steineger, Eric Tuazon, Mehnaz Turner, Wyatt Underwood, Wanda VanHoy Smith and Florence Weinberger.

Here is a sampling from the collection…

PANORAMA CITY (Excerpt)
by Brendan Constantine

We started wearing
dark glasses between the house & the garage.
Panorama City had no view; from any window
we saw another window.

ABOUT THE EDITOR: Rick Lupert has been involved in the Los Angeles poetry community since 1990. He served for two years as a co-director of the Valley Contemporary Poets, a non-profit organization that produces readings and publications out of the San Fernando Valley. His poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and literary journals, including The Los Angeles Times and Chiron Review. He edited A Poet’s Haggadah: Passover through the Eyes of Poets anthology and is the author of thirteen books. Since 1994, he has hosted the long-running Cobalt Cafe reading series in Canoga Park and is regularly featured at venues throughout Southern California. Rick created and maintains the Poetry Super Highway, a major internet resource for poets. (PoetrySuperHighway.com) Currently Rick works as a music teacher and web designer and can be reached by email at Rick@PoetrySuperHighway.com.

Find the 56-page THE NIGHT GOES ON ALL NIGHT: Noir Inspired Poetry at Amazon.com.

Bukowski and Cupcakes

From Chapter 17 of Charles Bukowski’s Scarlet by PAMELA “CUPCAKES” WOOD

“…With Bukowski, I could do what I wanted, when I wanted, and how I wanted. He tolerated just about anything and everything — loud music, outside noise, distractions, boozing, pill popping, singing, or dancing on the tables. There were no rules and no limits — and I liked it that way…I felt as if I were in a safe harbor, where no one would judge me…Most of the time, life was fun with Bukowski — a crazy, relaxed, free-for-all.”

Find the book at Amazon.com here.

Photo courtesy of Pamela “Cupcakes” Wood

John Fante & the Palm Tree

“The lean days of determination. That was the word for it, determination: Arturo Bandini in front of his typewriter two full days in succession, determined to succeed; but it didn’t work, the longest siege of hard and fast determination in his life, and not one line done, only two words written over and over across the page, up and down, the same words: palm tree, palm tree, a battle to the death between the palm tree and me, and the palm tree won: see it out there swaying in the blue air, creaking sweetly in the blue air. The palm tree won after two fighting days, and I crawled out of the window and sat at the foot of the tree. Time passed, a moment or two, and I slept, little brown ants carousing in the hair on my legs.”

From Chapter 1 of Ask the Dust by JOHN FANTE

Palm Latitudes by Kate Braverman

It is late afternoon. Soon the city will wear its night face, erased of myth and purpose. Night will strip it as if by scalpel. The central city will stand without pretense, deserted as if by a collective perception of contagion. Citadels will be revealed as they truly are, brick, dirt and mud dug from the earth and returned to rot under stars and banks of gray tin-scented clouds. In the cold dusk, the air will rattle with wind in branches and fronds, a form of music, subtle, vaguely metallic, like the sound of syncopated amulets. Dog will run in packs again. And night will fall with the weight and power to dull a world.

From Palm Latitudes by KATE BRAVERMAN