Tag: Janet Holmes Uchendu

INDIE PUBLISHER DEVIL PARTY PRESS LAUNCHES NEW IMPRINT

Published on by Nadja Maril4 Comments

IN THE NEWS

Old Scratch Press will feature original chapbooks and short-form prose

For Immediate Release

June 15, 2023 – Los Angeles: Devil’s Party Press of Los Angeles announced the launch of a new publishing imprint, Old Scratch Press. This new imprint, based in southern Delaware, will produce quality chapbooks that feature poetry and short-form prose by leading authors.

Supporting this endeavor will be ten contributing editors, members of the Old Scratch Press Short-Form Prose and Poetry Collective: poets and writers Alan Bern, Anthony Doyle, Ellis Elliott, Robert Fleming. R. David Fulcher, Gabby Gilliam, Morgan Golladay, Nadja Maril, Dianne Pearce, Janet Holmes Uchendu, and Virginia Watts who will work together to help promote the love of poems and short form prose.

Old Scratch Press’ inaugural publication is Break in the Field, a collection of verse by award-winning poet, Ellis Elliott. Ms. Elliott is a contributing writer for the Southern Review of Books, an editor/workshop teacher for The Dewdrop, and facilitator of the Bewilderness Writing Workshops. Her publishing credits include Signal Mountain Review, Ignation Literary Magazine, and Literary Mama.

Break in the Field addresses how human perception can change, depending on the vantage point. “I am a perennial student of nature, inner realms, and the wisdom of the body,” says Elliott, “and I write to bear witness and disentangle the world as I perceive it.” Break in the Field will be available in mid-July 2023.

November 2023 will see the publication of White Noir, a chapbook by Robert Fleming. White Noir is a black and white visual poetry exploration of human birth to death and beyond on Earth. A prize-winning poet who explores masculinity, sexual orientation, sin and virtue, and dystopia in words and graphics, Fleming is a self-described word-artist whose work has been published internationally in more than 95 print and online publications, and has appeared in art galleries and in online mic features. “The vibe is dark, Goethe, and dystopian, but I lighten it up by including humor, and it offers a hopeful ending,” notes Fleming of his upcoming collection.

Beginning in 2024, Old Scratch Press will produce three or more original titles per year, available in both print and Ebook formats. For more information visit oldscratchpress.com and devilspartypress.com.

About Devil’s Party Press
Devil’s Party Press, LLC, an independent publishing house located in Los Angeles, was founded in 2017 by Dianne Pearce, an award-winning author, editor, and publisher. The mission of Devil’s Party is to help showcase the work of unsung authors over 40 years of age. Devil’s Party publishes literary fiction while its four imprints are genre specific: Gravelight Press (horror), Hawkshaw Press (crime/cozy), Out-of-This-World Press (sci-fi), and Old Scratch Press (poetry). To date, Devil’s Party and its imprints have published over 200 authors internationally. In addition to print publications, Devil’s Party produces the award-winning online literary magazine, Instant Noodles

Introducing Collective Member Janet Holmes Uchendu

Published on by Nadja Maril3 Comments

Ten dedicated writer poets comprise the Old Scratch Short Form Collective,
with the goal of working with the Devil’sParty Press, a small independent publisher, to bring to fruition the
concept of publishing chapbooks of poetry and short form prose under the
imprint Old Scratch Press.

This week we are introducing founding member Janet Holmes Uchendu.

Janet Holmes Uchendu grew up in Eudora, AR, with a love of reading, writing, abstract drawing, and music. She wrote many poems and stories, created loads of colorful abstract drawings, and sang in her church and school choirs.

When she graduated from high school in 1973 she left behind her love of drawing and writing, and focused on music. She attended the University of Arkansas at Monticello with the aid of a vocal scholarship majoring in vocal performance. In 1978 she attended Henderson State University, and finally earned her BA in Music Education from Philander Smith College in 1985.

Life has taken many twists and turns, but Janet never lost her love of reading and writing. She will tell you that the dream of being a writer never died. It was simply a dream deferred. In April 2018, thirty-three years after earning her BA, she enrolled in an Introduction to Creative Writing class at the University of Central Arkansas. It took another two and a half years before she decided to apply to graduate school.

“It was always my intention to go to grad school after I retired from the workforce,” says Janet. “When Covid-19 moved my retirement date up to about two years earlier than I had planned, my deferred dream of being a writer woke up, spoke up, and said the time is now.”

She is currently studying for her master’s in creative writing through the Arkansas Writer’s MFA Workshop at UCA.

Janet is working on a poetry collection, and a memoir. She is a longtime member of a poetry writing group titled, Pens on Fire, that meets weekly via Zoom. She has been a guest contributor in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, her story, “The Color Red,” was posted on the Arkansas Heritage blog in August 2021 and you can read it here.  She has also been published in Writing Our Lives, A Southern Storytellers Anthology, Volume IV, and Volume V.

Don’t forget to visit our Old Scratch Press Facebook Page and follow us on Twitter to find out what our contributors are up to and the latest poetry news. Thank You as always for your support.

INTRODUCING COLLECTIVE MEMBER ROBERT FLEMING

Published on by Nadja Maril1 Comment

Ten dedicated writer poets comprise the Old Scratch Short Form Collective, with the goal of working with the Devil’s Party Press, a small independent publisher, to bring to fruition the concept of publishing chapbooks of poetry and short form prose under the imprint Old Scratch Press.

This week we are introducing Robert Fleming. His chapbook White Noir will be published in the fall of 2023.  Don’t forget to subscribe to our blog, as we’ll be introducing the contributing editors, member of the collective, one by one each week. You’ll also learn about poetry events, publishing opportunities, and new ways of approaching the genre of short form.

MEET ROBERT FLEMING

Robert Fleming is a word-artist born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada who emigrated to Lewes, Delaware, United States. Robert follows his mother as a visual artist and his grandfather as a poet. In his work, Fleming explores masculinity, sexual orientation, sin and virtue, and dystopia in words and graphics on earth and beyond.

Since 2017, more than 400 of his works were published internationally in more than 95 print and online publications, art galleries and online mic features. His style is influenced by the writers Robert Frost, Dr. Seuss, and the Beats and his graphics by surrealistic artists like Salvador Dali.  A Member of the Rehoboth Beach and Horror Writers Association, nominated twice for the Pushcart Award and twice for Best of the Net,  Robert Fleming’s is the winner of the  2022 San Gabriel Valley California Poetry Broadside Award and is in the 2021 Best of Mad Swirl.

Robert’s chapbook, White Noir, a Black and white visual poetry exploration of human birth to death and beyond on earth, is scheduled for publication in the November of 2023. He says about the book, the vibe is dark, goethe, and dystopian, but I lighten it up by including humor. And,” he adds, “ it offers a hopeful ending.”

Follow Robert on  https://www.facebook.com/robert.fleming.5030 .

Learn about the other writer/poets in our collective in the upcoming weeks, or click on their links here:

Alan Bern
Anthony Doyle

Ellis Elliot
Gabby Gilliam
Janet Holmes Uchendu
Morgan Golladay
Nadja Maril
R. David Fulcher
Robert Fleming
Virginia Watts

In just four more days April will be here, and you know what that means?… National Poetry Month!  If you have a favorite poem, we’d love to hear about it and possibly post it ( if it is in the public domain). Please use the comment space to get in touch, We’ll be sharing favorite poems and pieces we admire along with writing prompts, thoughts and musing about poetry, short form prose and other hybrid forms.

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