catiporter @ 4:58 pm
*Proposed cover art: “Self-Portrait as Radiant Host” by Julie Heffernan
small fruit songs
Pudding House Publications, January 2008
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“Like bees extracting pollen, Cati Porter has found the rich
and mysterious nourishment of the things in front of us, the
poetry in plain view. In deceptively simple language, she
startles us into insights. We’re presented with a
delightfullly off-kilter world where a woman weds a tree
while “the wind administers vows,” where another woman,
“large with grief and belly full of bees,” would like to
scream but finds “her mouth has become a honeycomb, her
teeth and tongue coated in golden duress.” Small fruit
songs is nothing short of delicious.”
– Beth Ann Fennelly
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of small fruit songs, Deborah Bogen says:
… your chapbook came and I am enjoying it. I want to congratulate you on being a very strange person – and I mean that seriously and in the best possible way. I think the slanted eye and sensibilities that can write Frugal and False Fruit are compelling and even necessary. I applaud anyone who loves words enough to look them up – and give us etymologies but your Fructify goes beyond that to give us “Her hands make a basket for flowers that grow out of the creases where dirt has collected.” Hurray for you.
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What others have to say about small fruit:
small fruit songs in the Chapbook Spotlight on Diane Lockward’s Blogalicious
Bridget Kelly-Lossada’s Dreams of Trespass
Mary Alexandra Agner’s Pantoums & Persistence
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Fruiteress,
n. A woman who sells fruit.
She holds herself out to him and says he can have her for a price.
She offers him a taste before he buys.
She holds out her hand.
She once was flower on a tree that grew into a bulb that unfolded into a star
when opened with a knife.
She once housed a thousand seeds that spilled liquid ruby light but sold them
to a prince who offered false promises and a red dress that no longer fits.
She hopes he doesn’t mind all she has is flesh.
She tells him if he has nothing else he can have her for himself.
– from small fruit songs , Pudding House Publications, January 2008
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To sample more small fruit:
“Hive” in the insecta-themed issue of qarrtsiluni.
“Civil Fruit“, “Dreaming the Fruited Damson Tree“, “False Fruit“, “Fructify“, and “Fructus Industriales” in the Winter 2008 Umbrella.
“Frugal” and “Frutage” in the January 2008 issue of kaleidowhirl.
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To hear me read poems from small fruit click the links below:
Accessory Fruit * False Fruit * Fructify * Fruiteress * Small Fruit
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To purchase small fruit songs please visit my website.
Or if you are a bookseller contact Pudding House directly for their bulk rates.
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* The cover art has, unfortunately, been changed, but I thank Julie Heffernan for allowing us to try. To view the final cover see the image in the sidebar. I am pleased to say that I will be using another of Heffernan’s painting for the cover art on my next collection, Seven Floors Up, to be released by Mayapple Press in June 2008. See the tab above for more information.
You were right about the b&w cover not translating as well as the color, but I am still in love with the work. And eager to see how my friend in Boston likes her copy.
Forgive me this, but I’ve been tagged in a six-word memoir game; if you’re interested Cati, here’s the link to details:
http://lynndoiron.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/six-word-memoir/
(I have listed you as one of five tagged blogs, but feel free to ignore.)