Cover image by Steven B Smith - agentofchaos.com

"In his collection, Body Voices, Kevin Reid dissects the body using a variety of voices to expose and explore how it is at once connected to its own past and to the external world, how each separate voice depicts both functionality and experience. Reid’s poems appear personal yet each body part has its own distinctive story ranging from childhood memories to social commentary, from the organic to the cerebral. They are full of thoughtfulness, presence and wit. They are full of the senses, the transitions our bodies and lives experience, our ever dissolving yet expanding path from birth to death. They are brave and clever and they will prompt you to re-examine your own relationship with your body, your past and your place in the world. This is a living collection of poetry and I recommend you read it."

—Gillian Prew, poet, author of In the Broken Things and The Idea of Wings 

Kevin Reid lives and works as a librarian in Angus, Scotland. He studied English Literature at the University of Dundee. Back in the 90s he spent some time living in a tipi community in the southern Spanish mountains, which led to visionary encounters in peyote ceremonies. After a brief spell of teacher training he chose to study librarianship. He has a key role in organising Scotland’s longest running teenage book award. His poetry has appeared in various publications, such as, Pushing Out the Boat, Scottish Poetry Review, heavy bear, The Recusant, and Counterexample Poetics. Body Voices is his first published chapbook.

Kevin Reid

Mary C. O’Malley has worked as a post graduate degreed social worker and as a writer since 2002.  Her work has been selected for local, state, national, and international readings. Publications that have published Mary’s work include Heartlands, Whiskey Island, Box Car Review, Tripton Poetry Journal, Cleveland in Prose and Poetry, Midwest Poetry Review, Mary, and many other literary zines and anthologies both online and in print. She is the mother of two sets of twins and tries to garden in her spare time. In 2009, Tripton Poetry Journal nominated her for a Pushcart Prize.

Bree is a Cleveland poet best known for her Green Panda Press, which produces art and poetry books for the small press. She is also a songwriter, and performed her poems with the bands Johnnycake and Very Sharp & Midnight from the nineties to the early aughts. While volume 1 of the melody (published by Crisis Chronicles in 2011) was mainly poems which later became songs, the work in volume 2 is mostly songs that also read as poems. Bree is the author of many other chapbooks including Let Cupid Know (Ronin, 2011) and Laying Pans (Ecstatic Peace, 2009), along with memoirs The Rainbow Sweater & My Mother (Green Panda, 2011) and was chicken trax amid sparrows tread (The Temple, 2009).  Her work appears in little presses like The City, ArtCrimes, Big Bridge, Arthur, Bottle of Smoke and many like ‘em. 

Save by buying both volumes of the melody, i swear, its just around that way together for only $11 (postage included).

Heather Ann Schmidt received her MFA from National University and has taught writing for a number of higher learning institutions.  A fine singer and visual artist, she also edits the tinfoildresses poetry journal and is the founding editor of Recycled Karma Press.  Her previous books include Batik (NightBallet Press, 2012), Transient Angels (Crisis Chronicles 2011), On Recalling Life Through the Eye of the Needle (Village Green, 2011), Channeling Isadora Duncan (Gold Wake, 2009) and The Bat's Love Song: American Haiku (Crisis Chronicles, 2009).

Hear ye! See ye! Crisis Chronicles Press releases Jackie Koch's new poetry chapbook in mid-November 2012!  Her Photograph is 24 pages, handbound with care, with a high quality saddle stiched white and mauve cardstock cover.  Contents include "Red Hot July," "Phantasmagoria," "Home Spun," "Dragonfly," "Frostbite Occurs in 15 Minutes or Less" and much, much more. It's now available for $7.50 (includes postage) from Crisis Chronicles Press, 3344 W. 105th Street #4, Cleveland, Ohio 44111.

Jackie Koch grew up in southern Michigan, climbing trees and exploring the outdoors. The family camping trips in her home state, in Canada, and across the United States solidified her love for the Earth, which is reflected in her writing. She has lived in North Carolina and central Ohio, and has come back to Michigan and her roots. A columnist and freelance writer since 1999, she began writing poetry in earnest in the summer of 2010, when she volunteered to help a friend run a slam poetry workshop at an art festival. She now hosts monthly open mic events in her hometown and encourages other poets. Jackie has won awards for her short stories, which have appeared online, and her poem, "Shhhh..." was part of the anthology Vending Machine: Poetry for Change, Volume Two. She lives in Adrian, Michigan, with one of her two sons and both of her two dogs.

To order by snail mail, send $7.50 (includes postage) to Crisis Chronicles Press; c/o John Burroughs, editor; 3344 W. 105th Street #4; Cleveland, Ohio 44111.

About the author:

"When I was in the seventh grade I thought I wanted to do three things when I grew up:  I wanted to be an English teacher, a writer and a mother.   All of that traveling, adventure, and Peace Corps was just research for what was to come.  After more than twenty years of being told I would never be able to have children, I had two beautiful baby girls, a year and a half apart.  I spend many of my daytime hours working in Asia as an ESL lecturer, teacher-trainer, and curriculum creator and editor — and all of the rest of my time  inspiring and being inspired by my two little girls and creating that writing space necessary to evolve my craft."

For more, follow Ryn Cricket's blog at http://katherynpeace.wordpress.com.

cover photo by Steven B. Smith, agentofchaos.com

Joylnne Hudnell — photo by the author

David B. McCoy grew up in the “Cleveland Street Hood” of Elyria, Ohio, and recently retired from 32 years of teaching social studies.  He earned his history teaching degree from Ashland University and his graduate degree from Kent State University.  David’s work at Kent explored the influences of socialization on personality development.

Since 1979, David has run Spare Change Press, which in recent years has focused on publishing poetry chapbooks.  He is the author of six books available from Amazon.com* and barnesandnoble.com:

     The Geometry of Blue (poetry).  Print only.* 
     Voices from Behind the Mask (poetry).  Print only.* 
     The Tao of Libertarianism.  Print and eBook. 
     The Academy, a short book of fiction. EBook only. 
     Minimalist guide to picking high yield dividend stocks. EBook only. 
     A Short History of Hilton Head Island.  Ebook only.

     Upcoming: 

     George Washington (HarperCollins / History In An Hour) 
     Andrew Jackson 
     Gullah Culture: 1670-1950. Ebook only.

David divides his time between living in Ohio and on Hilton Head Island.