Böcker av Dianne Borsenik

"In poet Dianne Borsenik's new book Flight of Honey, the sounds of music, homages to visual art, maps of family geography, interactions with nature, and married life and related concerns, combine in a poetry collection that is as satisfying, fluid, and sticky as the titular sweetener. If ever a writer deserved to be Poet Laureate of Ohio, it would be Dianne Borsenik."-Gregg Shapiro, author of Refrain in Light (Souvenir Spoon Press, 2023)"Borsenik's new collection of poems is a lyrical journey through a year of experiences that mirror the changing seasons. In free verse poems, haiku, and haibun, Borsenik explores the tensions of life's highs and lows. One moment we can relish a "golden weekend" with days like honey, "richly aureate," and the next, we hunker down, struggle amid the booms and busts of history. Through it all, there is plenty of music, a soundtrack in language and in images-from a grandfather strumming a dulcimer somewhere in a West Virginia hollow to Aretha Franklin belting out her classic "Respect," to the music of the universe, "one giant composition plucked out / on a cosmic guitar."-Chuck Salmons, author of Patch Job (Night Ballet Press, 2017) and Stargazer Suite (11thour Press, 2016)"In this sweet collection, spiked with the poet's desire to live longer than her mother did ("genetic advantage/is not in my charts,") we have zany moments where Jesus roams the Wal-mart parking lot, sixties lyrics zing, and birds and feral catsscreech in Midwest intersections. But the poems revel also in serious seasons of honey tasting, including the latter days,"the best of all," as Borsenik fills her hive with finely realized echo puns, ekphrasis, haiku, haibun, and many free-verseform explorations. We usually say this about fiction, but I have to say about this book of poems: I couldn't put it down." -Diane Kendig, author of Woman With a Fan: On Maria Blanchard (Shanti Arts, 2021)"For something so sweet, honey has a surprising depth of flavor, secret floral notes buried under waves of fructose and glucose. Similarly, the poetry of Dianne Borsenik will surprise you if you let it. There is joy and tranquility here that sometimes bubbles with mad effervescence, but also darker currents as she explores rustbelt landscapes, the Appalachian diaspora, the daughter-of-a-daughter-inlaw's blues, and her own mortality. Like the "flight of honey" in her title poem, she follows the seasons, tasting deep and mixing poetic forms to find her buried treasures. You will find haibun, ekphrastic poems, words on the wings of an uknown bird, and Jesus traipsing into Walmart. Much to loveand wonder over!" -R. C. Wilson, editor/publisher of Last Exit Press, curator of Last Exit Open Poetry Readings in Kent, OH"What life-affirming music is to be found in these meditations that travel from "a glass of ice cubes" all the way to "the solar lux." The Flight of Honey is graced by jays and bees, by the sweet honey of breath, "look at how the bodies touch" this book asks and hands us the spirit that rises on wings with each blessed passing day." -Sean Thomas Dougherty, Death Prefers the Minor Keys (BOA Editions, 2023)

Four femme poets are featured in the first Stubborn Mule Press anthology: Dianne Borsenik, Juliet Cook, Puma Perl, and Jeanette Powers. Dianne Borsenik is active in the northern Ohio poetry scene and regional reading circuit; she recently featured in "We're No Angels" (Speak of the Devil, Lorain, Ohio) and "2 Chefs & a Beat: Poetic Justice Edition" (Porco Lounge and Tiki Room, Cleveland, Ohio). Her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Chiron Review, Main Street Rag, Resurrection River Poems (Wick Poetry Center, 2019) and A Rustling and Waking Within (Ohio Poetry Association, 2017); recent books include Raga for What Comes Next (Stubborn Mule Press, 2019), and Age of Aquarius (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2017). Actor Jonathan Frid used three of her poems in his live show Genesis of Evil, and Lit Youngstown printed her poem "Disco" on their tee shirts, which makes her feel like a rock star. Borsenik is editor/publisher at NightBallet Press, and lives in Elyria, Ohio. Find her on Facebook and at www.dianneborsenik.com. Juliet Cook's poetry has appeared in a small multitude of magazines. She is the author of numerous poetry chapbooks, recently including From One Ruined Human to Another (Cringe-Worthy Poets Collective, 2018), DARK PURPLE INTERSECTIONS (inside my Black Doll Head Irises) (Blood Pudding Press for Dusie Kollektiv 9, 2019), and Another Set of Ripped-Out Bloody Pigtails (The Poet's Haven, 2019). She also another chapbook forthcoming, the rabbits with red eyes (forthcoming from ethel). Cook's first full-length individual poetry book, Horrific Confection was published by BlazeVOX. Her more recent full-length poetry book, A Red Witch, Every Which Way, was a collaboration with j/j hastain published by Hysterical Books in 2016. Her most recent full-length individual poetry book, Malformed Confetti was published by Crisis Chronicles Press in 2018. Cook also sometimes creates abstract painting collage art hybrid creatures. Find out more at julietcook.weebly.com Puma Perl is a widely published poet and writer, as well as a performer and producer. She is the author of two chapbooks, Ruby True and Belinda and Her Friends, and two full-length poetry collections, knuckle tattoos, and Retrograde, (great weather for MEDIA.) A fifth, Birthdays Before and After (Beyond Baroque) is due for release in 2019. She is the creator, curator, and producer of Puma Perl's Pandemonium, which launched at the Bowery Electric in 2012 and brings spoken word together with rock and roll. As Puma Perl and Friends, she performs regularly with a group of excellent musicians. She's received two honorable mentions and one first place award from the New York Press Association in recognition of her journalism and was the recipient of the 2016 Acker Award in the category of writing; she lives and works on the Lower East.A comprehensive list of video links and updates on events can be found on her blog: pumaperl.blogspot.com Jeanette Powers is a writer-artist, working-class anarchist and listener of rivers and bats. They mess around, mostly, and have a hard time doing anything that doesn't bring joy. Powers is a founding editor of Stubborn Mule Press and an organizer for FountainVerse: KC Small Press Poetry Fest. They are also an art barista for Fictional Cafe and the singular subversive voice of Spartan Press' developmental editing. JP and JR make most of their decisions tits deep in the Gasconade River. What else? Their gender identity is currently holy person and their dog died this year which still hurts brutally. This book is for Ollymas. @dada_ahha and jeanettepowers.com