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I love it when a plan comes together!

By tom on April 26, 2013 | Add a Comment

Sometimes I wonder just how many projects we can juggle at once, but when things turn out great, it's a wonderful feeling.  Our events programming is as vibrant as ever.  Sometimes it is disappointing when you go through the work of booking so many events and then people don't show up.  That's just the way it goes.  This spring, however, we've had a string of successes that have us thrilled.  In the past few weeks we've had full houses for events with national celebrities like Gloria Steinem and Augusten Burroughs, and local celebrities like Tony Irons and Kimberly Green.

Coming up we have the release of our Poetry Anthology, Piscataqua Poems, and also the release party for Kiarna Boyd's Blessed and Cursed Alike. On the national front we have a sold out show with Terry Tempest Williams and have just announced an event with Charles Simic.

Gender Equality

By tom on March 27, 2013 | Add a Comment

We are so excited to bring Gloria Steinem to town to speak on April 19th!  Unfortunately, the event is sold out, but there are still a lot of ways to get involved.

The topic of Gender Equality could not be more timely.  It seems crazy to me that we are still struggling with these issues.  Worse, it seems like progress is a series of loops and switchbacks instead of a steady march forward.

We've created a webpage called www.steinemspeaks.com, and added a forum where you can chime in on these issues.  I hope to hear from you as we attept to cultivate this dialogue on the Seacoast in a meaningful way that will continue long after Ms. Steinem's visit is over.

Thanks,

Tom 

Working on our poetry book!

By tom on January 05, 2013 | Add a Comment

We're starting work in earnest this week on our poetry anthology.  It is tentatively called Piscataqua Poems: A Seacoast Anthology and will feature 75-100 poems written about the area we live in.

We collected these poems by holding a general call and contest, and have received over 150 submissions.  We will be publishing the anthology in time for National Poetry Month, which is April, and will be awarding prizes to our five favorite poems.  Everyone who entered will receive a copy of the finished book.

If you've written a book of poetry, and have been considering self-publishing, we urge you to talk to us about The Piscataqua Press, our publishing venture.  Every week we see authors who have paid a faceless web-based company to publish their book.  We can make you a fantastic looking book, and you can talk to us face to face.

Finally discovering Robert Parker

By tom on December 23, 2012 | Add a Comment

So we take in a lot of used books.  I mean, a lot.  Many of them spend a purgatorial stretch in my basement storage area before they get their chance to shine in the $2 bins at the store.

The other day I was rummaging around in some boxes and came across several mass market Spenser novels by Robert Parker, including his first book The Godwulf Manuscript.  For some reason (Blame Robert Urich!!) I'd always discounted Parker as a bit cheesy.  

But Boy, Howdy this is great noir.  Reading about Parker now I can see that he's considered the driving force in a revival of Hammett and Chandler style detective fiction and these early novels show why.  Spenser is a good guy, who wants to do the right thing, be he also gets in fights, sleeps around (at least until he meets Susan), and the endings to his novels aren't always as tidy as you'd expect. 

Book Recommendations for the Holidays!

By tom on December 10, 2012 | Add a Comment

We love to recommend books (and reading books and selling books and eating books...) Here are a few of the titles we loved recommending this year!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

My Ideal Bookshelf by Jane Mount and Thessaly La Force 

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck 

Life Among Giants by Bill Roorbach