FOR RELEASE: FOR JANUARY 15, 2012
New poetry book destined to “…fascinate historians a thousand
years from now” -- FootHills Publishing Releases First International
Occupy Movement Anthology
Liberty’s Vigil, The Occupy Anthology:
99 Poets among the 99%
WHEELER HILL, N.Y. – Ninety-nine poets from 22 states and 6
countries speak out on behalf of the 99%, encouraging their fellow
citizens to join in the effort to end corporate excess and income
inequality, and win back the middle-class from corporate titans and
their political puppets.
Co-editors Karla Linn Merrifield and Dwain Wilder have assembled the
first anthology of its type in the world to inspire readers to take
action on behalf of the 99%.
"Poets here have left their quiet corners and hit the streets to
encourage their neighbors to address the needs of the homeless…to
fight side by side with besieged homeowners who are facing
foreclosure...to eliminate corporate “personhood” and inordinate
corporate influence on Capital Hill. We want readers to learn; we want
them to act,” said Merrifield, author of six books of poetry.
In a similar vein, co-editor Dwain Wilder remarked, "I have very much
enjoyed having a part to play in this collection's coming together. It
is to be hoped that this will not be just a poetic artifact of
historic interest (which I certainly hope it will!), but that it will
also be the start of yet another breath taken by Americans on their
long, vigilant road toward fully realizing our national dream of
freedom, liberty and justice for all."
An historic bookContributing poet Chris Crittenden of Lubec, ME, remarked on the
historical nature of the anthology, saying: “The Wall Street debacle
of 2008 is the blow that broke the weakened backbone of American
supremacy. Ninety-nine voices within these hand-sewn pages capture the
outrage, shame and anguish of a vast potential squandered. They embody
the wounded consciousness of a fractured and dismayed citizenry, and
their howls, laments, and torn dithyrambs shall fascinate historians a
thousand years from now as much as they stab us today.”
Diverse Voices, Diverse Styles
“Poetry wields a special force in the Occupy movement. It is a
medium that comes from the deep roots of our subconscious, in a myriad
of styles, to focus attention on social injustice and political
tyranny. Occupy poetry gives voice to the voiceless and unites the
movement with a river of words and a fire of images. That is, ‘a
posse ad esse’…from possibility to actuality,” says contributing
poet Devreaux Baker. And myriad is a key word.
Humor and rage, compassion and irony and so much more! Liberty’s
Vigil, The Occupy Anthology may have a single unifying theme, but its
poets represent a wide range of viewpoints and styles. You’ll find
in the book’s pages distinguished poetic masters such as William
Heyen and Francisco X. Alarcón as well as poets just launching their
careers. And, the 99 poets’ styles range from free verse to tanka to
villanelle to sestina to…. Here’s Elizabeth Bodien‘s
contribution:
Tanka: as winter bites
as winter bites
the fraying jacket rips
how to mend?
a few own all the needles, thread
the rest only their voices
And here’s an excerpt from Bill Dorris’s “The EU Commissions a
Group Portrait by Van Gogh:”
We want something that captures the essential humanity
of a high-yield market,
that shows the lives we have previously revoked
are merely subject to default....
A complete list of contributors follows along with the co-editors
bios.
Follow Liberty’s Vigil OnlineIt’s easy to keep up with Liberty’s Vigil and its activist poets.
News of readings held by contributors will be posted on the FootHills
Publishing web site (www.foothillspublishing.com.) as well as on
Liberty’s Vigil group wall page on Facebook.
Sales to Support Income Equality
FootHills is contributing 20 percent of proceeds from sales of
Liberty’s Vigil to the Occupy Movement. For details, please contact
the publisher.
Available Now
Liberty’s Vigil, The Occupy Anthology: 99 Poets among the 99% (128
pages) is available for $20.00 at selected bookstores nationwide –
ISBN 978-0-931053-81-8 -- and from FootHills Publishing at
www.foothillspublishing.com. FootHills Publishing, celebrating its
26th anniversary this year, is headquartered in Wheeler Hill, N.Y.
Michael Czarnecki, publisher, is available at (607) 566-3881.
###
List of ContributorsJennifer Ailles
Francisco X. Alarcón
C. Albert
Anita J. Augesen
Devreaux Baker
Ron Bailey
David Baratier
Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt
Mark Block
Elizabeth Bodien
Debbi Brody
Michael R. Burch
Alex Cigale
Billy Clem
Steve Coffman
Karen Connelly
Kay Cosgrove
Chris Crittenden
Kathleen M. Curry
Beau Cutts
Craig Czury
Vivian Demuth
Charlotte Jane Dickens
William Doreski
Bill Dorris
Edward A. Dougherty
Kathy Engel
Charles Entrekin
Eric Evans
Ariel Fintushel
Chris Flynn
Dennis Fritzinger
Laura Glenn
vincent f. a. golphin
Howie Good
Dane R. Gordon
Corinne Heschke
William Heyen
Ed Higgins
Scott Hightower
Debbie Hinman
Alicia Hoffman
Paul Hostovsky
Jane Hoogestraat
Rose Hunter
M.J. Iuppa
Mary Strong Jackson
Tom Jones
Kitty Jospé
Frank Judge
Laura Klinkon
Maude Larke
Janet Levin
Stephen Lewandowski
Eric Lochridge
Iven Lourie
Margot Malone
Catherine McGuire
Karla Linn Merrifield
Corey Mesler
Ellen Birkett Morris
Kate Murr
Will Nixon
Jules Nyquist
Beatrice O'Brien
Greg Opstad
Mónica Teresa Ortiz
Ted Peck
Natalie Peeterse
James Penha
elijah b pringle
Erik Richardson
Susan Edwards Richmond
John Roche
Debby Rosenfeld
Michael Rothenberg
Mary Rudge
Deborah Dashow Ruth
Nancy Scott
William Seaton
Nina Serrano
Scot Siegel
Josie Sigler
John Richard Smith
Michael G. Smith
Richard Smyth
Jack Bradigan Spula
Eamonn Stewart
Susan Supley
Heather Thomas
Paul Watsky
Alice Weiss
Lenore Weiss
David White
Anne Whitehouse
Dwain Wilder
Martin Willitts, Jr.
Paul Winkel
Leah Zazulyer
About the EditorsA long-time environmental activist and a National Park
Artist-in-Residence, Karla Linn Merrifield has seen hundreds of her
poems appear in dozens of publications as well as in many anthologies.
She has six books to her credit, including Godwit: Poems of Canada
(FootHills Publishing), which received the 2009 Andrew Eiseman Writers
Award for Poetry, and her new chapbook, The Urn, from Finishing Line
Press. Forthcoming from Salmon Press is her full-length collection
Athabaskan Fractal and Other Poems of the Far North, and The Ice
Decides: Poems of Antarctica from FLP. She and her husband Roger M.
Weir co-edited THE DIRE ELEGIES: 59 Poets on Endangered Species of
North America, also from FootHills. Currently in the works is a book
of technologically themed poems, The Gizmo Girl’s Diary, a
collection of poems reflecting on the Age of Technology, and Virus in
the Song, poems in memoriam to her brother. She was founding poetry
editor of Sea Stories, and is now book reviewer and assistant editor
for The Centrifugal Eye (www.centrifugaleye.com). A graduate of The
College at Brockport (SUNY), where she earned an MA in Creative
Writing-Poetry, she teaches at Writers & Books, Rochester, NY. You can
read more about her and sample her poems and photographs at
http://karlalinn.blogspot.com. She resides in Kent, NY, and winters in
North Fort Myers, FL.
Dwain Wilder, a native of a small town outside Dallas, moved to
Rochester, NY, in 1970 to study Zen Buddhism. He has had a varied
career as Navy flight crew member, research technician, software
engineer, and luthier (builder of stringed musical instruments). Dwain
had leadership roles in the Civil Rights and Anti-Vietnam War
Movements, as a staff member of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference’s Project Dialogue, and coordinator of the Southern
Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam. In this latter
capacity, he worked closely with students, Quakers, pacifists and
civil rights field workers across the South to organize the only
South-wide Anti-War March, on Lincoln’s Birthday, Feb 12, 1967. He
was also security marshal for the 1967 Fifth Avenue Parade against the
War, worked with Staughton Lynd as a community organizer in New Haven,
and as an organizer for the 1967 People’s Congress, an attempt to
nonviolently occupy the House of Representatives in Washington.
Dwain graduated with honors from Yale with a degree in American
Studies (History of Technology and Literature). He is a poet and
essayist whose work has been published in various small poetry
periodicals and collections. His poetry collection, Under the Only
Moon, was published by FootHills Publishing in August 2011.
Dwain lives with his wife and their dog and parrot in a quaint
farmhouse near a large park. He currently makes his livelihood in
lutherie, and his Appalachian dulcimers are held in high regard, both
in the U.S. and abroad.
About the PublisherPublishing America's poets for 26 years, FootHills Publishing is a
family-owned-and- operated concern based in Wheeler, NY. Each copy of
its hundreds of titles is lovingly hand-sewn, making for a more
beautiful reading experience. Visit FootHills at
www.foothillspublishing.com.
