News From Pecan Grove Press Authors

This page will be updated frequently as various Pecan Grove Press poets publish new books, win awards, or have new books published either with PGP or with other presses.  It will also inclde news of PGP poets reading in the San Antonio area.

Tim Myers, author of That Mass at Which the Tongue Is Celebrant (PGP 2007), has a children's book,"Basho and the River Stones," that is currently one of three nominated for a California Young Reader Medal (Picture Books for Older Readers category), and his "Looking for Luna" will be out from Marshall Cavendish in 2009. He's also recently placed four chapters from his as-yet-unpublished adult book "Man's Guide to Being Dad"--these pieces are with Fatherville.com, TheFatherLife.com, and dcmetrodads.com.

Angela Consolo Mankiewicz, author of An Eye (PGP, 2006), has recently had a new chapbook published, AS IF, #55 in the "Little Red Book" series from Lummox Press. She also won the Grand Prize from Trellis Magazine for one of her sestinas in the Winter 2007/2008 issue. For more information on Angela Consolo Mankiewicz, please visit her web page at www.POETACMank.blogspot.com. Congratulations, Angela!

Pecan Grove Press congratulates Suzanne Roberts for winning the Travcoa and National Geographic Traveler “Next Great Travel Writer” contest.  Roberts, a doctoral student in the in literature and the environment at the University of Nevada, Reno, won a trip to Mongolia and the Gobi Desert with National Geographic Traveler magazine Editor in Chief Keith Bellows and will write about her experience for the magazine’s web site.  Roberts’ poetry collection, Nothing to You, will be released by Pecan Grove Press in March.

Gwyn McVay's new book from Pecan Grove Press is Ordinary Beans (PGP, 2007).  Her first PGP book was This Natural History ( PGP, 1997).  She is also the author of Brother Ikon (Inkstone Press, 1995). The Pecan Grove Press has nominated Ordinary Beans for the 11th annual Levis Reading Prize awarded by the VCU Department of English. The prize, awarded in memory of VCU English Dept. faculty members for second books is designed to encourage poets early in their careers. Congratulations, Gwyn! Her web site is at http://patriot.net/~gmcvay/index2.html.

Ampersand Poetry journal has just republished four of Pecan Grove Press editor H. Palmer Hall's poems.  Located at http://ampersand-poetry.org/ the on-line poetry journal specializes in reprinting a selection of already published poems by contemporary poets.  It does give credit to the original publisher and includes author bios.  Their guidelines are posted at the URL of the home page listed above.  We thought some of you might be interested in sending poems to the editors.

Jenny Browne, author of Glass (PGP, 2000), has had her second book, At Once, published by the University of Tampa Press, and her third book, The Second Reason, has just been released as well. Her web site is at http://www.on-sight.com/jenny/

Cynthia Harper, author of Snow in South Texas (PGP, 2000), has packed up and moved to rural Georgia to realize a life long dream. She has two acres with five 50-year old pecan trees and a real chicken coop. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her at harpodos@atc.cc

Wendy Barker's Between Frames (PGP, 2006) —a small book of inter-related poems published by Pecan Grove Press earlier this year—has won the Texas Writer's League's 2007 Violet Crown award for poetry.  Barbara Ras said of Between Frames that Barker's poems “pulse with the life that's at the heart of trees, on the wings of birds, and inside movies and marriages.  What a thrill to be in the presence of the abundant mystery and beauty in this wise and tender work.”  The Texas Writer's League, by awarding its Violet Crown Award to Between Frames has recognized what many others have not:  that the chapbook form can be the perfect form for a poet's work , that a small book is like a one-person art exhibit in which each poem informs and elaborates on the poems around it.  Pecan Grove Press is pleased to celebrate Wendy Barker's much deserved Violet Crown award for Between Frames! Join local writers Wendy Barker and Steven G. Kellman and discover the art of ekphrasis through lively discussions of poetry and painting. This program is produced in conjunction with the exhibition More than Words: Illustrated Letters from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art. The event is set to take place on Nov. 17 at 2pm at the San Antonio Museum of Art

Our new up and coming author, Rachel Jennings, will be reading her poetry at the 2008 Appalachian Studies Conference, "The Road Ahead: The Next Thirty Years of Appalachian Studies," in Huntington, West Virginia, March 28-March 30, 2008. She will be reading with other poets on a panel entitled, "Verse and Validation for Appalachian Studies: Critical Poems and Songs." Look for her new book, Elijah's Farm, out in early 2008.

Laura Van Prooyen will be reading from her book, Inkblot and Altar (PGP, 2006), on Saturday, November 10 from 5-7 p.m. at the Salt Creek Wine bar located at 8900 Fairview Ave. in Brookfield. Free snacks, cash bar. Please see her website http://www.lauravanprooyen.com for more details. She recently received a great review that you can see here http://www.blackbird.vcu.edu/v6n2/nonfiction/seay_a/review_of_inkblot.htm

Jeff Knorr, author of Standing Up to the Day (PGP, 1999), has a new book of poems out with Cherry Grove Collections titled, The Third Body . It can be found at http://www.cherry-grove.com/knorr.html

Larry D. Thomas' (The Woodlanders, PGP, 2002) fifth collection of poetry , Stark Beauty  (Timberline Press, 2005), was nominated for the 2007 Poet's Prize ( Nicholas Roerich Museum ).  The collection was also first runner-up for the 2006 Western Heritage Wrangler Award ( Western Heritage Museum , Oklahoma ), and was a 2006 Spur Award Finalist (Western Writers of America).  Larry  Thomas was designated 2008 Texas Poet Laureate in April 2007 by the Texas Commission on the Arts. You can visit Larry's web site at http://www.larrydthomas.com

Last year, Patricia Fargnoli (Small Songs of Pain, PGP, 2004) was named Poet Laureate of New Hampshire.  Her previous book, Necessary Light (Utah State Press, 1999) was the winner of the May Swenson Poetry Prize.  Her latest book, Duties of the Spirit, was published by Tupelo Press in 2005 and has won the 2005 Jane Kenyon Literary Award for Outstanding Poetry by a New Hampshire Writer. Her web site is at http://www.particiafargnoli.com.

H. Palmer Hall (PGP editor) has new books coming out from Plain View Press (Coming to Terms, PGP, 2008--just released!) and from Turning Point Press (Foreign and Domestic, 2009).  His most recent chapbooks are To Wake Again (Pudding House Publications, 2005) and Reflections from Pete's Pond (PGP, 2007). His personal web site is at http://library.stmarytx.edu/palmer

Edward Byrne, author of East of Omaha (PGP, 1998) and Tidal Air (PGP, 2002) is also the editor of Valparaiso Poetry Review.  His newest book will be coming out from Turning Point Press in 2009. His web site is at faculty.valpo.edu/e byrne /homepage/

James Cervantes, author of Live Music (PGP, 2001)has a new book out, Temporary Meaning, published by Hamilton Stone Editions in 2006. You can find it at: http://www.hamiltonstone.org/catalog.html#temporarymeaning. The book was nominated for a Los Angeles Times book award in poetry. Cervantes is the editor of The Salt River Review which just entered its tenth year of publication. His home page is at http://www.poetserv.org/jvc/home/index.html

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