Reviews for Silver Birch Press NOIR Erasure Poetry Anthology

The Silver Birch Press NOIR Erasure Poetry Anthology (December 2013) — a collection of erasure poems based on the writings of a range of noir authors, including James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Patricia Highsmith, Walter Mosley, Robert B. Parker, and Cornell Woolrich — has earned some outstanding reviews at Amazon.com.

Here are some excerpts:

…a wonderful concept.”

…an interesting mix that pays homage to both the works of the noir genre and the poetic form…”

…one of the most fun and just amazing books of erasure poetry that I have ever read.”

… I am intrigued by the many different ways in which these poems were shaped from the original texts of noir writers’ novels. These marked-out passages combined with Budziak’s shadowy woodcut cover art throws the reader into the low-key and mysterious setting of the noir.”

The 122-page anthology features the work of 46 writers from around the world:  Jeffrey C. Alfier / Beth Ayer / Jenni B. Baker / David Barker / Kathy Burkett / Candace Butler / Freda Butler / Kim Cooper / Subhankar Das / Andrea Dickens / Barbara Eknoian / Chris Forhan / Laura Hartenberger / Paul Hawkins / Deborah Herman / Sandra Herman / Mathias Jansson / Jax NTP / Rosemarie Keenan / Wm. Todd King/ Joseph Lisowski / Renee Mallett / Adrian Manning/ Karen Margolis / Catfish McDaris / Marcia Meara / james w. moore / Sarah Nichols / Winston Plowes / David S. Pointer / D.A. Pratt / David Rachels / Jonne Rhodes / Van Roberts / Daniel Romo / Tere Sievers / Gerald So / Sherry Steiner / Caitlin Stern / Scott Stoller / Thomas R. Thomas / Mary Umans / Melanie Villines / Mercedes Webb-Pullman / Richard Wink / Joanie Hieger Fritz Zosike

A special note of appreciation to you the anthology’s contributing editors: Jenni B. Baker, Catfish McDaris, james w. moore, and Gerald So. Major thanks, too, to Guy Budziak for allowing Silver Birch Press to feature his woodcut of William Conrad — as seen in the 1946 film The Killers — on the cover of the collection. For more of Guy Budziak‘s work, please visit filmnoirwoodcuts.com.

For fans of mystery, crime, and hardboiled fiction, as well as film noir, the Silver Birch Press NOIR Erasure Poetry Anthology is an interesting, unique, and inexpensive holiday gift. The book is currently available for $10.58 from Amazon.com.

The Night Before Christmas by Raymond Chandler as told to CJ Ciaramella

The Night Before Christmas

by Raymond Chandler as told to CJ Ciaramella

It was the night before Christmas, when I first saw the red man. I was settled in my chair in the midst of a long bourbon nap, hand still clutching a highball glass of the stuff, when I heard a clatter, like a body tumbling down a flight of stairs.

I sat up in the chair to see what was the matter. The room was dark, save for the glow of Christmas lights on the tiny tree by the window. At first I thought it was nothing but a dream, when what to my wondering eyes should appear but the outline of a heavyset man creeping slowly out of the fireplace and into the room.

Then I thought about my gat, but it was in my suit coat, which was hanging by the doorway with care.

I sized him up as he moved closer. He was about six-foot-even, dressed from head to toe in a heavy red suit, like some two-bit hustler. His face was hidden under a thick, white beard. Under the suit I could see he was a big man. His belly jiggled like a bowl of jelly as he crept through the apartment. He moved quiet for his size and age. He had a big bag slung over his shoulder. I pegged him for a professional cat burglar or something.

He was halfway to the Christmas tree by the window when he spied me sitting in the chair. We had a nice, quiet moment where we considered each other’s presence.

“Expected me to be in the bedroom, I’m guessing,” I said. “What’s in the bag, Mac?”

He turned his head and laid his finger aside his nose with an impish grin. I stood up slowly from the chair and put the glass on the table.

“Okay, funny guy,” I said. “Okay.”

I went for the coat. He was on me as quick as a flash, awful fast for a big man. The bag clocked me in the back of the head as I reached the coat. Lights popped behind my eyes, and stars and sugar-plums and other silly things danced in front of them.

When I could see straight again, the red man was hoisting me to my feet. He spoke not a word, but went straight to work, planting one of his big, gloved mitts in my stomach, which doubled me over, and another on my chin to straighten me out. Then he tossed me, casually as he probably tossed that bag around, across the room.

“Merry Christmas, shamus,” the red man said real jolly like, throwing me a wrapped package from his bag as I sprawled on the floor. “Have a swell night.”

“How about next time just mail a card,” I said, rubbing my jaw.

He ignored that, walked over to the table, drank my bourbon, and walked out my door, leaving it swinging open.

The package was addressed to me from “St. Nick.” The name meant nothing to me. Inside was a new hat and an emptiness that only gift boxes on dark, solitary nights possess.

I put the tag in my pocket, the hat on a hook, closed the door, and poured another couple fingers of bourbon into the glass. Sat in the chair and waited for dawn or sleep, whichever found me first.

###

CJ Ciaramella has written for the Washington Free Beacon, The Awl, The Daily Caller, the San Diego Union-Tribune, The Weekly Standard, the Oregon Daily Emerald, the Oregon Quarterly and the Oregon Commentator, among others.

Illustration: Sodahead

New Release: Silver Birch Press NOIR Erasure Poetry Anthology

Silver Birch Press is excited to announce the December 2013 release of the NOIR Erasure Poetry Anthology — a collection of erasure poems based on the writings of a range of noir authors, including James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Patricia Highsmith, Walter Mosley, Robert B. Parker, and Cornell Woolrich.

The 122-page anthology features the work of 46 writers from around the world:  Jeffrey C. Alfier / Beth Ayer / Jenni B. Baker / David Barker / Kathy Burkett / Candace Butler / Freda Butler / Kim Cooper / Subhankar Das / Andrea Dickens / Barbara Eknoian / Chris Forhan / Laura Hartenberger / Paul Hawkins / Deborah Herman / Sandra Herman / Mathias Jansson / Jax NTP / Rosemarie Keenan / Wm. Todd King/ Joseph Lisowski / Renee Mallett / Adrian Manning/ Karen Margolis / Catfish McDaris / Marcia Meara / james w. moore / Sarah Nichols / Winston Plowes / David S. Pointer / D.A. Pratt / David Rachels / Jonne Rhodes / Van Roberts / Daniel Romo / Tere Sievers / Gerald So / Sherry Steiner / Caitlin Stern / Scott Stoller / Thomas R. Thomas / Mary Umans / Melanie Villines / Mercedes Webb-Pullman / Richard Wink / Joanie Hieger Fritz Zosike

For fans of mystery, crime, and hardboiled fiction, as well as film noir, the Silver Birch Press NOIR Erasure Poetry Anthology is an interesting, unique, and inexpensive holiday gift. The book is currently available for $11.40 from Amazon.com.

A special note of appreciation to you the anthology’s contributing editors: Jenni B. Baker, Catfish McDaris, james w. moore, and Gerald So. Thanks to you, a wide range of established authors contributed their work to the collection. Fedoras off to you!

Major thanks, too, to Guy Budziak for allowing Silver Birch Press to feature his woodcut of William Conrad — as seen in the 1946 film The Killers — on the cover of the collection. For more of Guy Budziak‘s work, please visit filmnoirwoodcuts.com.

Silver Birch Press NOIR Erasure Poetry Anthology: Deadline 9/15/13

There are still a few more days until the Sept. 15, 2013 deadline for the Silver Birch Press NOIR Erasure Poetry Anthology, a collection of passages from hardboiled detective novels — by Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ross MacDonald, and others — with sections marked out to create poems. If you’re unfamiliar with erasure poetry, check out our posts that feature erasure poems by james moore and  Cathy Dee. For more about hardboiled fiction, visit Wikipedia.

TO SUBMIT: Photocopy a page from a noir/hardboiled novel, mark out passages with magic marker or whiteout (or another form of your choosing) to create a noir poem. On a separate sheet, list your name, address, phone, and email, along with the title of the novel, author, edition, publisher, page number, and any other identifying information. Include your one-paragraph bio along with a typed version of the poem(s).

SEND TO: Silver Birch Press, P.O. Box 29458, Los Angeles, CA 90029 (DO NOT FOLD, AS WE WILL FEATURE THE ORIGINAL SUBMISSIONS IN THE BOOK) or email as an attachment to silver@silverbirchpress.com.

DEADLINE: September 15, 2013

PAYMENT: All contributors featured in the book will receive a paperback copy of the Silver Birch Press NOIR Erasure Poetry Anthology

We look forward to reading your inspired NOIR erasure poems! 

And thank you to everyone who has already submitted. We plan to review all submissions by the end of September and release the book in late fall.

Cover art: Guy Budziak, filmnoirwoodcuts.com.

Silver Birch Press NOIR Erasure Poetry Anthology: Deadline extended to 9/15/13

We are extending the deadline to Sept. 15, 2013  for the Silver Birch Press NOIR Erasure Poetry Anthology, a collection of passages from hardboiled detective novels — by Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ross MacDonald, and others — with sections marked out to create poems. If you’re unfamiliar with erasure poetry, check out our posts that feature The Great Gatsby erasure poems by james moore and  Cathy Dee.

TO SUBMIT: Photocopy a page from a noir/hardboiled novel, mark out passages with magic marker or whiteout (or another form of your choosing) to create a noir poem. On a separate sheet, list your name, address, phone, and email, along with the title of the novel, author, edition, publisher, page number, and any other identifying information.

SEND TO: Silver Birch Press, P.O. Box 29458, Los Angeles, CA 90029 (DO NOT FOLD, AS WE WILL FEATURE THE ORIGINAL SUBMISSIONS IN THE BOOK) or email as an attachment to silver@silverbirchpress.com.

DEADLINE: September 15, 2013

PAYMENT: All contributors featured in the book will receive a paperback copy of the Silver Birch Press NOIR Erasure Poetry Anthology

We look forward to reading your inspired NOIR erasure poems! 

Cover art: Guy Budziak, filmnoirwoodcuts.com.

Farewell My Lovely by Raymond Chandler, Read by Michael Caine

“The coffee shop smell was strong enough to build a garage on.”

RAYMOND CHANDLER, Farewell My Lovely

May is “Get Caught Reading” month, and during the past few weeks we’ve posted a range of familiar faces reading a variety of books. In the photo above, Michael Caine — in the role of Jack Carter in the 1971 movie Get Carter — reads Raymond Chandler‘s 1940 novel Farewell My Lovely. And, as the excerpt at the top of his post proves, Chandler was a master of the original metaphor.