02/07: NAKED BURROUGHS: 100 Year Tribute to William S. Burroughs feat. PENNY ARCADE

Three Rooms Press presents NAKED BURROUGHS: a 100 Year celebration of Beat icon and postmoderns trailblazer William S. Burroughs on Friday, February 7, at Cornelia Street Cafe. The event will be highlighted by tribute readings and discussions by performance artist and Burroughs associate Penny Arcade, poet Steve Dalachinsky and spoken word artist Kat Georges. Also on tap will be an audience group reading of an excerpt from Burroughs’ iconic masterpiece NAKED LUNCH. Three Rooms Press co-director Peter Carlaftes hosts.

Doors open at 5:45. Admission is $8 which includes a free drink! Cornelia Street Cafe is at 29 Cornelia Street, in the West Village, between W. 4th Street at Bleecker (http://corneliastreecafe.com/).

Info and reservations: info@threeroomspress.com. For additional press details, including photos, interviews and press passes, please call Peter Carlaftes at 212-731-0574.

Information on key performers:

Penny Arcade is a performance artist, actress and playwright, best known for her show Bitch!Dyke!Faghag!Whore!  She has worked with numerous underground film and theater artists including John Vaccaro’s Playhouse of the Ridiculous, Jack Smith, Charles Ludlam, Quentin Crisp and Andy Warhol. She is a co-founder of the Lower East Side Biography Project, an oral history of New York’s Bohemian culture from the 50s to the present.

Steve Dalachinsky is a New York downtown poet and author of the PEN Award-winning book The Final Nite & Other Poems (2006). Dalachinsky's main influences are the Beats, Blake, The Odyssey, obsession, socio-political angst, human disappointment, music (especially Jazz), and visual art with leanings toward abstraction. His work, for the most part is spontaneous and leans towards transforming the image rather than merely describing it, in what he now refers to as transformative description/descriptive transformation.

Kat Georges is a New York spoken word artist, designer and co-director of Three Rooms Press. Her books include the poetry collection Our Lady of the Hunger and Punk Rock Journal. She will read an excerpt from Burroughs’ classic novella Junky.

About the Monthly:

THE MONTHLY at Cornelia Street Cafe, hosted by Three Rooms Press, brings together writers, artists, philosophers and scientists to discuss a monthly theme. Past themes have included women in love, conspiracy theories (on the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination), and illegal Leaves of Grass, an exploration of grass-related ideas from Walt Whitman to the War on Drugs.

About Three Rooms Press: 

Three Rooms Press is a New York-based publisher and performing arts producer, founded in 1993. Since its inception, it has served as a leading independent publisher of creative content, including poetry translations, drama and art sourced from the burgeoning international spoken word, music and underground art scenes. In 2011, it expanded its publishing line to include cutting edge work in fiction, creative historical nonfiction, memoir, photography and art. Books include Janet Hamill’s TALES FROM THE ETERNAL CAFE (with an introduction by Patti Smith); MIKE WATT: ON AND OFF BASS, a photo memoir by the great punk rock bass player; and the forthcoming novels THE WRITERS AFTERLIFE by Richard Vetere and LIGHT OF THE DIDDICOY by Eamon Loingsigh.

High Praise for Thomas Fucaloro's It Starts from the Belly and Blooms in Luna Luna Mag Review

Luna Luna Mag was full of high praise for the poetry of Thomas Fucaloro in its recent lengthy review of Thomas Fucaloro's It Starts from the Belly and Blooms (Three Rooms Press, ISBN: 978-09895125-4-1, Feb 2014). 

The reviewer notes: "The book immediately cuts into me like a hot knife, birthing me into the speaker’s world–the first poem is appropriately titled 'Waking up in a bathtub full of ice cubes.' Throughout the collection, bodies, and body parts, are everywhere. Instead of the reader merely observing the speaker, the reader literally is electrified to life by the words." 

Citing the many New York references in Fucaloro's poems, the reviewer raves, "The loneliness, and desire for real human interaction, is so potent, it reminded me of the utter bleakness of Eraserhead." 

Read the complete review here. The book is available for pre-order on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and from your favorite independent publisher, Three Rooms Press.

And speaking of Thomas Fucaloro, his poem "Mistakes" was recently published on the Best American Poetry website. A sign of things to come? Better order your copy of IT STARTS FROM THE BELLY AND BLOOMS before the first edition sells out!

Vetere's The Writers Afterlife earns high praise from Publishers Weekly

The Writers Afterlife, a masterful and moving novel by Richard Vetere, is the second forthcoming Three Rooms Press book to garner rave reviews in the month of January from pre-publication industry bible Publishers Weekly:

"In this utterly unique story, novelist Vetere unfolds a caper of inter-dimensional scope. The scenes taking place in afterlife are written with classic magic-realist gusto; those taking place on earth will have readers rooting for Chillo's success."

Read the complete review here. And be sure to preorder the book on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. For industry folks, all Three Rooms Press books are now distributed by Publishers Group West. 

 If you're in NYC and want to discover more about this extraordinary novel, make plans to attend NOVEL IDEAS: Sneak Peeks @ New Books at Barrow Street Theatre Thursday, January 16, 7 pm.  

1/16/14: Director/Playwright Israel Horovitz and Irish Author/Actor Malachy McCourt offer Sneak Peek at TRP Books by Vetere and Loingsigh

 
 Join Three Rooms Press as we present an exclusive sneak peek of forthcoming novels LIGHT OF THE DIDDICOY and THE WRITERS AFTERLIFE with very special guest readers Malachy McCourt and Israel Horovitz as well as authors Eamon Loingsigh and Richard Vetere. NOVEL IDEAS: A sneak peak @ new books will take place Thursday, January 16, 7 pm, at Barrow Street Theatre, 27 Barrow St. (at 7th Ave. South). Tickets $10 cash at the door; bar opens 6:30 pm. For additional information and reservations, please contact Three Rooms Press at info@threeroomspress.com.

About THE WRITERS AFTERLIFE

THE WRITERS AFTERLIFE is a truly original, hilarious and triumphant tale of a writer given one last chance to realize his lifelong dream - after he dies. Tom Chillo, a 44-year-old writer with two novels under his belt, plus countless hack survival jobs, dies suddenly and is faced with one chance to return to earth for one week and set the wheels in motion to achieve eternal fame for his true life's work. Failure is not an option. 

Pre-publication raves have been universal. Adriana Trigiani, author of The Shoemakers’s Wife, notes, “THE WRITERS AFTERLIFE is an original, hilarious and poignant tale of second chances, the role of fate plays in our lives, and the triumph of the creative spirit.” And Anthony Tamburri, dean of the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, enthuses, “THE WRITERS AFTERLIFE is a literary tale in every sense of word, a wonderful story of perseverance and taking control of one’s own fate.” And Israel Horovitz noted in Newsday, “Richard Vetere is a man with a writer’s soul!” 

Author Richard Vetere is has written more than 30 plays which have been performed worldwide. His 1997 novel, The Third Miracle, was made into the namesake 2000 film produced by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Ed Harris and Anne Heche. 

Writer Israel Horovitz has written more than 70 plays, several of which have been translated into 30 languages and performed worldwide. His Obie award-winning play, The Indian Wants the Bronx, had its world premiere in 1968 with a cast that featured Al Pacino and John Cazale. Horovitz is currently in post-production as writer and director on the film based on his stage-play, My Old Lady, which stars Kevin Kline, Maggie Smith and Kristin Scott Thomas.

THE WRITERS AFTERLIFE, a novel by Richard Vetere, ISBN 978-0-9884008-8-7, Original Trade Paperback, 218 pages, Three Rooms Press, March 2014

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About LIGHT OF THE DIDDICOY

LIGHT OF THE DIDDICOY is the brutal saga of Irish-American gangs on the Brooklyn waterfront in the early part of the twentieth century, told through the eyes of Irish immigrant Liam Garrity. Forced at age 14 to travel alone to America on the eve of the 1916 Easter Rising, Garrity stumbles directly into the hard-knock streets of the Brooklyn pier neighborhoods run by Bridge District gang The White Hand. In the industrialized enclaves where Famine Irish settled a generation earlier, Garrity has no choice but to use any means necessary to survive within the clan-like loyalties of the gang. 

The book has received widespread pre-publication praise from early readers, including McCourt, who raves, “LIGHT OF THE DIDDICOY is an amazing series of literary leaps from terra firma into the stratosphere above. The writing embraces you, and his description of the savagery visited on poor people is offset by the humor and love of the traditional Irish community. Don't leave the store without this book.” 

T.J. English, author of Paddy Whacked and The Westies, enthusiastically applauds the book, saying “LIGHT OF THE DIDDICOY is written with tremendous flavor and panache. Historical fiction at its best.” 

And Alphie McCourt, author of Heartscald, notes, “Eamon Loinsigh is a poet with a pickaxe and a scalpel attached to the working end. Mr. Loingsigh, the meticulous historian, paints a rich picture. Mr. Loingsigh, the novelist, tells it like it was. LIGHT OF THE DIDDICOY is a great read.” 

Author Eamon Loingsigh is a journalist with a long-held fascination for the Irish-American New York City experience. His family emigrated from Ireland in the late nineteenth century and his grandfather and great-grandfather ran a longshoreman’s saloon on Hudson Street in Manhattan for much of the twentieth century. LIGHT OF THE DIDDICOY is his first full-length novel. 

Award-winning Irish-American writer, actor, radio host and memoirist Malachy McCourt is the author of the New York Times bestseller memoir, A Monk Swimming, 2006 Green Party candidate for New York State governor, and younger brother of Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes).  A longtime NYC resident, he is a frequent contributor to Newsday, National Geographic, Conscience Magazine and the New York Times. 

LIGHT OF THE DIDDICOY, a novel by Eamon Loingsigh, ISBN 978-0-9884008-9-4, Original Trade Paperback, 230 pages, Three Rooms Press, March 2014 

About THREE ROOMS PRESS 

Three Rooms Press is a New York-based publisher and performing arts producer, founded in 1993. Since its inception, it has served as a leading independent publisher of creative content, including poetry translations, drama and art sourced from the burgeoning international spoken word, music and underground art scenes. In 2011, it expanded its publishing line to include cutting edge work in fiction, creative historical nonfiction, memoir, photography and art and all books are now available via the world’s largest distributor, PGW/Perseus. In addition, Three Rooms Press produces and promotes a variety of literary and cultural events in New York, Paris, Berlin, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and more, including readings, plays, workshops and concerts. More info: http://threeroomspress.com  

Publishers Weekly grants starred review for Janet Hamill's Tales from the Eternal Café

Janet Hamill's forthcoming short story collection Tales from the Eternal Café was given a starred review by Publisher's Weekly which raved: 

 "Acclaimed poet Hamill (Body of Water) uses the location of a cafe, a destination long associated with thinkers, dreamers, and conversationalists who dwell there, as the springboard for many of the stories in this rich and diverse debut story collection. Each of the 17 entries dazzles with virtuosity and uniqueness . . . Hamill's dialogue tactfully embraces each setting and her keen eye for the detail is enthralling. Readers will be thoroughly drawn into scenes of love, redemption, belief and delusion as well as alienation and fear in this terrific collection." 

Check out the complete review here. Hamill's book, which includes an introduction by musician/poet/author Patti Smith, is set for a February 11 release date. 

Preorder now on Amazon or bn.com or preorder directly from your favorite publisher, Three Rooms Press! For industry folks, all Three Rooms Press books are now distributed by Publishers Group West.