Promises, Promises

or, some notes regarding Trout Creek Press and the Dog River Review.

Every year around this time I promise to organize the chaos in my studio, a workspace that unfortunately has come to resemble an abandoned storage unit. Each year the clutter multiplies and further restricts movement; there is little room to work, even in miniature. But, this year things will be different, I promise.

Much of the tidy mess is comprised of boxes of the Dog River Review (1982–1995), and copies of the thirty-one plus chapbooks I published between 1984 and 1996 under the Trout Creek Press imprint. But every time I think I have at last reached the point where I can take a pragmatic approach to dealing with this accumulation, I turn away. How can I simply dump them in the recycling bin? I can’t, and so for years I’ve been shuffling them from one shelf to another, lifting the cartons into the rafters, or stacking them one on top of the other until they threaten to crush themselves into oblivion, but not this Spring, I promise.

So, a list of what’s available seems like a logical beginning, if only to know what I might be throwing away. I know copies of the Dog River Review are out there, all except number one. And I know other early issues are in limited supply. Of the chapbooks, who knows? Of some there are an embarrassing number, others only a handful, and a few most likely unavailable. Here’s the list:

Dog River Review, # 2 (1982) thru #28 (1995)

1984
The Peter Poems and Other Disgraces – Joseph Semenovich
1985
Twenty-one Waking Dreams – Roger Weaver
1986
10/170 – Connie Fox
1987
What Are You Doing - Robert D. Hoeft
In The Compass of Unrest – Sheila Nickerson
No Difference – Fritz Hamilton
Against All Wounds – Judson Crews
Red Hair and the Jesuit – Lyn Lifshin
1988
Wanted! – Arthur Winfield Knight
On the Rack – Gerald Locklin
1989
Secret Affinities – Terence Hoagwood
1990
Measuring Time – David Chorlton
1992
Tales and Declarations – Bruce Holland Rogers
Entre Nous – Connie Fox
De La Palabra – Sam Silva
Body Bags – Nathaniel Tarn
Sweet Harvest On – Sam Silva
Glass Wall – Phoebe Grigg
1993
Vito & Zona – Wilma Elizabeth McDaniels
Love Against the Grey Winter Mean – Sam Silva
The Human Flower – David Chorlton
1994
Traveler’s Advisory – Steven Sher
The F. S. Whinkla Interview
Coffeebreak Poems – Steven Hartman
The Water Under Fish – Leslie Leyland Fields
1995
Reality Sandwiches – R. M. Host
Art As Anyone’s Salvation – Sam Silva
Making A Sacrifice Like Art – Sam Silva
Orbits – Brett Hursey
1996
Lex*i*con – Robert Rucker
Life flight – Robert Rucker

1989
Lands of Frost and Stars (cassette tape) – David Chorlton

If anyone is interested in purchasing any of the above, or desires more information, they can email me at: lhawkins@hrecn.net. I do realize that eventually they will have to be worse than remaindered, but for a few more months I will continue to move the cartons around like a game of musical chairs. Someday the music will abruptly stop.

Perhaps I can persuade Whinkla to help.