A US poet, artist and home carer has penned the fourth book in a new worldwide series of affordable cutting-edge poetry books.
Spanish born Jairo Dealba (30) who lives in Utah, said he was delighted that his book Sonnets was chosen to help kick start the international series.
“It’s the thrill and an honour to have my own book of sonnets published alongside so many highly regarded international poets,” he added.
UK based publisher Nic Outterside’s Cast Iron Poetry series aims to recreate the world-famous City Lights publications of the 1950s and 60s; in an effort to make printed poetry affordable for everyone.
The new series of books, which retail at just £3.50 each (US$4.88), include the work of contributors from places as diverse as New York, Kolkata, Oklahoma, Austria, Paris, Miami, Chennai, Delhi, London, Merseyside and California.
The books will be published world-wide at regular five-week intervals throughout the year, in a not-for-profit venture.
More than 60 years ago, set against a post-war US government, the City Lights Pocket Poets books shared the counter-culture thoughts of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and others to millions of people who believed their own voices were unheard.
Apart from Ginsberg’s seven collections, many of the early Pocket Poets volumes have attained the status of classics. These include: True Minds by Marie Ponsot (1957), Golden Sardine by Bob Kaufman (1969) and Revolutionary Letters by Diane di Prima (1971).
Now Cast Iron Poetry hopes to do the same for writers in this third decade of the 21st century.
Even the simple monochrome design of the book jackets mirror the early City Lights publications.
The first book in the series – published in November 2020 – was penned by Nic himself and titled Reality Cornflakes in a deliberate homage to Ginsberg’s 1963 pocketbook Reality Sandwiches.
The second book A Moon Magnetized This Screeching Bird by revered New York poet A.i. Firefly ensured that the Cast Iron Poetry series had an early global feel and the third book The Arbitrary Fractals of and Oracle by Merseyside poet Cassie Fielding added a surreal aspect to the series.
After 28 years in UK newspaper and magazine journalism award winning editor Nic took early retirement in 2013.
In 2015, he set up his own publishing house – Time is an Ocean – and Sonnets is his 19th published book. The book includes a short eulogy Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the founder of City Lights, who sadly died as Sonnets was going to press.
Nic said: “The idea for these books came after random discussions with other writers and editors, and suddenly we had a global team of like-minded creative artists.
“None of us will make any money from this venture. The £3.50 UK price point just about covers printing and publishing costs. Cast Iron Poetry is a true labour of love to make modern printed poetry affordable to all.”
Sonnets and other books in the Cast Iron Poetry series are all available as (5”x8”) pocket paperbacks.
Priced at £3.50 (US$4.88) (CDN$6.21) (e4.05) from most Amazon global portals:
No Time to Think 