Teppichfresser Press

Burdock's 9th In G Major

2011-06-21T11:59:00.000-07:00

Drew Blanchard was gracious enough to host the release for Burdock 9 at his home. His dogs really wanted to eat the prosciutto and braunschweiger but in the end were very well behaved. He plans to climb to the top of an unspecified cellular tower, more on this as it develops.

Jim Chapson's poems have appearred in Burdock 1,2,3,5 and now 9. His second book Scholia came out earlier this year via Arlen House.

Tyler Farrell lives in Madison but works in Milwaukee. That would be a whole lot easier for him if there was a train linking the two cities!

Noah Eli Gordon founded lettermachine.
Then found his way to Colorado. Then found himself married to Sommer Browning. So where does he stand on found poetry?

Artist Cynthia Gray
collaborated with Chuck Stebelton on five pieces of writing. Two of these poems are featured in issue #9 of Burdock. She lives in Brooklyn.

Daniel Khalatchi assuming that you've clicked on his name and read his biography you may also be interested to know that he's a nice guy too. What you should do is click here and buy his book. He's working on a new one right now and one of the poems for the new book is featured in Burdock right smack dab in the middle of the issue!

Timothy Kloss is an artist, poet and host of Poets' Monday at Linneman's Riverwest Inn, a weekly open mic in Milwaukee with featured readers from around the world. He paints a portrait for every feature and keeps things from devolving into utter silliness most of the time.

Jennifer Kraft recently picked up the banjo. She has work in Burdock 5 and 6. In 2011 she was a top fundraiser for the Woodland Pattern Poetry Marathon. She lives in Milwaukee just for the sheer joy of it.

Alice Ladrick is currently attending Miami University in sunny Ohio. She has work in Oxford Magazine. She writes notes to herself we all want to read.

Dolly Lemke insists her first major publication was in Burdock issues 4,5,6. Only later was she published in Columbia Poetry Review after they had taken thousands of dollars and years from her life! (Actually she really liked it there.) Active in the Chicago scene she's an Assistant Editor with Switchback Books a Reader for Arsenic Lobster and hosts a reading series at her place called Dollhouse.

Ed Makowski has published books as Eddie Kilowatt. Manifest Destiny and Carrying a Knife to a Gunfight were both published on Full Contact. You may see him in Milwaukee at the local tiki bar riding a motorcycle while backpacking in fitness gear....all at once.

Caryl Pagel is the editress-in-chief and designer at Rescue Press. She studied at UW Madsion, School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Iowa Writer's Workshop. That's a lot of Mid-western credibility right there folks!

Chuck Stebelton is the Literary Program Director at the world famous Woodland Pattern Book Center. His award winning book Circulation Flowers is out on Tougher Diguises but his chapbook Precious is out of print. Here is the other poem with Cynthia Gray.

Gary Sullivan is a cartoonist and poet living in New York. If you want to know more you'll need to look Elsewhere.

Matt Trease also goes by Matthew but that seemed too formal for paper publishing, especially when there's twitter! Matt teaches classes in Literature and serves as the Project Assistant for the Digital Arts & Culture certificate program at UWM in Milwaukee. He lives in Wicker Park.
Did you just click on that? Sorry I ruined the movie but I saved you two hours of your life.

Contributor Bios for Burdock 8

2011-03-24T15:00:00.000-07:00

Jeannette Klemola
Lives in Texas where she writes and draws illustrations for chapbooks. Occasionally she visits Milwaukee and performs some of her work, usually around Mother's Day.

Edwin R. Perry
Runs Plumberries Press which publishes Drupe Fruits and Humble Humdrum Cotton Frock. These days he calls Michigan his home but you may see him at poetry readings around the Midwest.

Jessica Lakritz
Is currently located in Argentina and has an MFA from Eastern Washington. She's shopping her manuscript around for the perfect publisher.

The Skrauss
Is a church mouse that's grown too big for his britches. When he's not writing manifestos he's adding depth to the alternate universe known as Milwaukee II

Joshua Plath
Was born in Hong Kong and is horrified by American culture. Despite that he still manages to call Milwaukee his home where he cooks using many different types of grains.

Rocco Eroamos
Lives in Brownsville Texas but as a young man he's lived at one time or another all over the Lone Star State. If you don't count Myspace then this is his first published poem.

Erich Ebert
Speaks good German and has translated the work of German-American poet Kurt Baum and has written several of his own chapbooks including Why we blow ourselves up: Poems on Something, Poems on Nothing.

Jonathan Lohr
Is wrapping up his time at Miami University but still finds the time to write poetry about a mistake made in a baseball game from a hundred years ago....let it go!

David Stone
His latest chapbook The Bloodhound Works is out on Propaganda Press. He’s a Chicago native who resides in Baltimore where he edits the Blackbird Anthology.

Paul Vogel
has a chapbook out on Teppichfresser Press called The Empty Quarter, nobody has ever heard of him, the press or the chapbook. He is currently teaching English to Chinese Drummers.

Joshua D Lickteig
will try to subliminally warp your mind if you crash on his couch by playing mathematicians and/or philosophers at low volume while you toss and turn. Tell him to stop all that noise and go to bed or you'll kick his ass.

Matt Trease
sent his submission via text. idk Lols! OMG

Eric Disambwa
Originally from Arkansas he currently resides in the Harambee neighborhood in Milwaukee. Find his name and click on it in the Letters To The City box.

James Gapinski
Writes poetry, travel articles, and songs. He also freaks out the full body screeners at airports but leave that to you imagination.

Tyler Farrell
Has a book out called "Tethered to the Earth" He is reported to be a good singer. He teaches at Marquette very near the Joan of Arc chapel.

Nick Demske
Has been everywhere reading from his book titled "Nick Demske". He's working on a second book titled "Keith Gaustad" if he knows what good for him.

David Baptiste Chirot
was kind enough to allow me to pick not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 different covers for this issue. Collect them all!

The "Salacious" Burdock 7

2010-06-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

MIKE HAUSER
Is the co-curator of Salacious Banter and the guest editor of Burdock 7. He has a number of chapbooks out including Psychic Headset (Mitzvah Chaps), crets crets crets (Rustbuckle), and Dirty Movies Late At Night (Rustbuckle), and AND he appeared in the first issue of Burdock back in 2006. He likes pizza and is sometimes nervous.

KARL SAFFRAN
Assesses your character based on the books you purchase at Woodland Pattern but never tells anyone else about it. He also co-curates the Salacious Banter Reading Series which is often held at his giant loft in Walker’s Point. He has a chapbook out on Teppichfresser Press it’s called The Dead Wrestler Sonnets. It is his hope that no one judges him based on that fact.

CAConrad
Likes Elvis and paints his fingernails. You should read his blog or click on his name!

CATHERINE WAGNER
Her books include Miss America, Macular Hole and My New Job all on Fence Books. She works as an Assistant Professor at Miami University in Ohio.

DANA WARD
Is the editor of Cy Press, & he lives in Cincinnati, OH. His latest book, Typing Wild Speech, is highly recommended.

ANNE BOYER
Lives in Kansas. Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming at TYPO, The Denver Quarterly, Exquisite Corpse, Diagram, and other journals.

EMILY HALL
AKA The Moonflower of Milwaukee has performed poetry and music around the city of Milwaukee.

BRANDON BROWN
wrote Camels! in 2008 and TAXT press published it. In 2010, he self published three chapbooks: Tooth Fairy, The Orgy, and Your Mom's A Falconress and Other Poems. He co-curated the Performance Writing series at New Langton Arts, The (New) Reading Series at 21 Grand gallery, and publishes small press books under the imprint OMG!

JULIE STRAND
Is headed for the mountains of Idaho this year but was formerly the Education Coordinator at Woodland Pattern. Her most recent chapbook The Mae West Defense came out via Dancing Girl Press in 2009. She also has work in Burdock 6.

KIKI ANDERSON
translates from French to English for publishing houses and is currently working on a book about self-healing. Her poetry has appeared in a few small journals and her non-fiction writing has appeared in a couple of magazines. She is also a language teacher and is working at a monastery this summer.

ZACK PIEPER
Is a repeat offender as far as Burdock is concerned having appeared in issues 1,3, and 4. He wrote 8 Poems and a Prayer (Rustbuckle) and he co-authored Non-Apocryphal w/James Liddy. He’s the front man for two Milwaukee bands: The Trusty Knife and Farms In Trouble both on Activities Records.

ALLI WARREN
Recent work by Alli Warren can be found in Abraham Lincoln, LUNGFULL!, pax americana, and With + Stand. Her most recent chapbook is Well-Meaning White Girl (Mitzvah Chaps). Alli co-curates The (New) Reading Series at 21 Grand and lives and works in the Bay Area.

ROBERT THOMAS
Is Mike Hauser’s drinking buddy. He lives, writes poetry, and watches movies with Mike in Milwaukee.

JESS MYNES
Operates Fewer and Further Press fewfur.blogspot.com and has a book out called Sky Brightly Picked from Skysill Press. He lives in Massachusetts.

JOHN COLETTI
Has his first book out on Rustbuckle Press and its called Mum Halo. He lives on Richard Branson’s island and is available to rent for 20,000 dollars only after you spend $300,000 on a vacation to said island. What’s that? Oh my bad that’s the Necker Nymph I’m thinking of, not John Coletti. He actually lives in Brooklyn.

MELISSA CZARNIK
Her initials are M.C. which is convenient since she is a rapper and has an album out called Strawberry Cadillac. She also works at Woodland Pattern. Check out her website and maybe plan on seeing her perform at Belgium but if you can’t make it she has plenty of local dates.

KEITH GAUSTAD
Edits and publishes Burdock Magazine and occasionally rewards himself by including his own poems. He won the 2010 award for Most Delectable at the Woodland Pattern Edible Book Fair. His name appeared recently in the Poetry Project newsletter as part of Mike Hauser’s bio blurb.

In progess despite delays

2010-02-03T13:46:00.001-08:00

The long awaited Salacious Banter issue of Burdock is being put together and will hopefully be out in March. The norm in the past has been two issues a year and hopefully once this one is done another burdock will be out in the summer. Money is always an issue of course.

Also....
Burdock had a booth at the 2009 Zinefest held in Milwaukee at the Polish Falcon. It was interesting to see what the definition of zine is to most folks. If anything it only served to reaffirm Burdock's status as a "Humble Magazine" rather than a "Zine" since there are many contributors of a original content in each issue. A confusing point to myself was that all of the other poets there had no idea what a "chapbook" was. So now if anyone else out there is an authority on the subject please leave a comment defining it for me.
If you publish a small collection of your own poems is it still a chapbook or is it a zine?
Is it a zine if there are no words at all? Is it a zine simply because it is cheaply made?
And therefore is Burdock a zine since I often print it on a shoestring budget?
Are the chapbooks teppichfresser press publishes considered zines?
Why can't people say complete words and feel the need to shorten them up?
Does "maga-" take up too much time?
Or is "Zine" just that much cooler?
Your thoughts please....

Salacious Burdock?

2009-10-20T02:46:00.000-07:00

After a nice clean summer break Burdock 7 is in the works. The plan is to have a Salacious Banter theme with Mike Hauser twist. Mike will be lending a hand with the solicitation/editorial direction(ing) for the next issue and I (keith) will just be piecing it together and making it look like the other issues (ya know, the sticker thing).

Salacious Banter is a reading series run by Mike Hauser and Karl Saffran. Past readers include Lewis Warsh, CA Conrad, John Coletti, Kevin Thurston, Ara Shirinyan, Gina Meyers, and John Koethe among others. In fact you should probably just go to the link to get a complete list of past readers.

Mark Your Calander

2009-07-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

July 27 is the day of Jon Lohr's going away party. The young lad who has for the better part of the past two years assisted in every teppichfresser publication starting with Burdock IV all the way to the upcoming re-print of Chris Gaton's 1984 chapbook "Of Grenada"
To celebrate we are planning on combining the two events at what was once the site of one of Gaton's favorite Riverwest Bars: "Suds".
Though Suds no longer exists the beer garden still does and happens to have good shade and seating for a small audience (which is what Gaton expects at an event with his name on it!)

2979 N. Bremen

July 27
7pm (ish)

Burdock 6 info

2009-05-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

Here's a list of contributors for issue 6:

SUSAN FIRER, the current Poet Laureate of Milwaukee, teaches poetry at UWM She also has a number of books out the most recent of which is titled "Milwaukee Does Strange Things to People". "The Lives of Saints and Everything" won Cleveland State Poetry Prize and the Posner Award. Her collection "The Laugh We Make When We Fall" won the Backwaters prize. She has poems in Burdock The Two and Burdock Hazard (3).

IZZY ONEIRIC has lived and traveled all over the country. She holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her areas of academic interest include Media Literacy, Beat and Modernist Poetry, Queer History, Body Modification, and Performance Studies. In her copious free time she enjoys pinball, scouring yard sales and thrift stores, and geeking out over obscure movies and bands.

PEGGY MUNSON lives in Northampton, MA is originally from Normal, IL and graduated from Oberlin College in 1991. Her novel "Origami Striptease" won the Queerlit Prize and was a finalist for the Lambda. Her collection of poems "Pathogenesis" was a semi-finalist for the University of Wisconsin Pollack Prize.

CATHERINE AVERILL has recently graduated from University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and been accepted into the graduate program at the University of Miami in Ohio.

JOANN CHANG has lived in Milwaukee for several years but is originally from Texas. A local poetry advocate, she is consistently a top fundraiser for Woodland Pattern's Poetry Marathon. She also cooks dinner for starving poets every Monday prior to Poet's Monday at Linnemann's.

JULIE STRAND is the education coordinator at Woodland Pattern. In 2009 she will be attending a summer session at Naropa. On June 19th she'll be holding a release reading of her own at Woodland Pattern for her chapbook "The Mae West Defense" published via Dancing Girl Press.

STEVIE CURL hails from a fair land just north of Pittsburgh called Zelienople: known by few; loved by all; rarely pronounced correctly. Her poetry is of the yinzer persuasion. She will be reading at the Printer’s Row Lit Festival and has work published in Columbia Poetry Review and Calliope.

EMILY RUTTER recently received her MA in English from North Carolina State University, and her thesis examined contemporary blues poetry. She will begin her doctoral work in English at Duquesne University in August 2009. Her work has been published in The Final Draft and The Fifteen Project.

JESSI HARRISON's poems have previously appeared in B-Squad. She is currently wrapping up her bachelor's degree at UWM.

BECCA KLAVER was born and raised in Milwaukee, attended the University of Southern California (BA) and Columbia College Chicago (MFA), and currently lives in Chicago, where she works and teaches at Columbia. With Brandi Homan and Hanna Andrews, she co-edits the feminist poetry press Switchback Books. Recent work can be found online in No Tell Motel, H_NGM_N, and Coconut. Her chapbook, Inside a Red Corvette: A 90s Mix Tape, is available from the greying ghost press.

JENNIFER KRAFT Often known as Vanilla Bear in her social circle, Jen Kraft is a senior creative writing student at UWM. She writes poems and appreciates others reading them. Favorite mode of transportation: feet. Then carousels.

MEGHAN M. LEE Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, Meghan recently received her MFA in Poetry at Columbia College and was a co-editor of Columbia Poetry Review. She will be moving to New York this summer to pursue poetry and other things far beyond.

Y MADRONE hails from Olympia, WA via Detroit via Ahzerbaijain. She received a liberal arts B.A. from Evergreen State College where she focused on poetics and letterpress printing. Her interests include poetry that blows your head off, typesetting, book arts, dancing, rabble rousing with her two kiddos, biking, living without causing harm, local economies and alter-egos.

MEG REILLY is a recent graduate of the MFA Poetry program at Columbia College Chicago. She is happy to be in Chicago where she writes, teaches yoga and English. She was also recently certified as a doula and will soon experience her first birth.

ABIGAIL STOKES is a junior in Columbia's Poetry program. She grew up in a forest near Portland, Oregon, and she now lives on the outskirts of Chicago with her husband and her cat. Some of her work has been published in Columbia Poetry Review, and is forthcoming in {1111}. Sometimes she blogs about comix, and she can make 40 perfect loaves of bread from scratch, but she can't make just 1.

DOLLY LEMKE was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI where she received her BA in English with a concentration in Poetry. Thanks in part to her efforts this issue now rivals the Columbia Poetry Review for publishing the poems from Columbia's Graduate department. She is currently attending an unknown school somewhere in Chicago. She is also the Publicity Coordinator of Switchback Books, a small feminist press, located in Chicago and works on the editorial staff of Columbia Poetry Review. She has also been in Burdock IV and Burdock 5.

ZENOBIA FROST is from Australia and is embarking on a 2009 summer tour of the Midwestern US. You can find her poetry and prose in print in Small Packages, SpeedPoets zine, The Definite Article, Voiceworks and LOTL magazine, and on CD in Going Down Swinging.

JANELLE CRAWFORD is an illustrator from Kansas. She graduated from Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design this year. She enjoys drawing, reading, and working with kids and animals. She secretly still wants to be a veterinarian...or a horse trainer.

MARY DeMARS (1958-1978) lived her whole life in Slinger, WI and drove a Firebird. Her main hobby was photography, the two photos included in this issue were probably taken in 1975 with a Pentax camera that she bought. The unknown girl in the last photo was probably a classmate or friend.

Editor in Chef, no Cheif?, editor in Chief: Keith Gaustad
Assistant Editor: Jon Lohr
Dolly Lemke: Dolly Lemke

Ladies night specials:
2 for 1 / 8 to 12

Can you tell which of these bios was copied and pasted directly from the Woodland Pattern website? Be the first to guess correctly and receive a free copy of Burdock 6! No, wait, that's too easy!
Can you guess which grad school Dolly currently attends? Be the first to guess get a free copy of Burdock 6! Post your answer in the comments box.

Let's pretend this is wikipedia: feel free to expand upon any of these bios in the comments or help find the spelling and factual errors which I am seemingly destined to commit!

The Next Big Thing

2009-04-15T23:26:00.000-07:00

Don't ask why but despite having regular internet access now I haven't posted on the blog here since February.
Well, maybe I haven't hand anything interesting to talk about for a month and a half!

Thursday May 21, The Feast of the Accension will be vegitarian. Because Issue 6 of Burdock will have its release reading that day at Karl Saffran's place!

The issue is coming along and the reading list is expanding. In addition to that I've asked Dolly Lemke to help with selections and solicitations for the issue.

More information will be along as it occurs to me to provide it.
soooo
Until next time, you are encouraged to listen to Grand Funk Railroad.

Upcoming stuff and youtube stuff

2009-02-26T14:24:00.000-08:00

Next week Monday at Linneman's Keith Gaustad and Tha Fundamentals will take the stage in one of those mixes of poetry and music that people seem to criticize harshly. We will do our best not be harsh on the ears. We'll follow the open mic on Poet's Monday, the cost at the door is 3 bucks.

Also remember to check out the videos from last July that Gabe Spangler has edited together for youtube. There are five total now including the Dead Wrestler Sonnets by Karl Saffran (who is getting more heat than any of the wrestlers over at the local messageboard!) and songs by Ifihadahifi, Leopold and Loeb, and Put Her in the Trunk.
Gabe also made an excellent music video for Farms In Trouble using an HD camera so if you search it out try to see it in HD.

Submissions are still being taken for the Spring Burdock the women's issue.

Outside it is raining on the snow.
I've had my coffee
staining my teeth again.

Keith

Burdock 6 submissions

2009-02-19T12:43:00.000-08:00

In the interest of formality this is a call for submissions to Burdock 6.
I'm trying to aim for an all women issue (not womyn, not that there's anything wrong with that).
Guidelines for submissions are as follows:

Poetry: send 5 poems via email at burdockmagazine@gmail.com or burdockmagazine@yahoo.com
Sticker size poems must be ten lines or under (this includes spaces between lines). Longer poems are welcome and encouraged as well.

Prose: send up to two pages of prose (essay, fiction, or mock interview) use a 8 and a half by 5 and half inch page with half inch margins for measurement.

Art and photography: all work must be in Jpeg and and in black and white.

Spelling errors and poor puncuation will be added at the editor's discretion.

Return of the Dead Wrestlers

2009-01-28T16:37:00.000-08:00

Karl Saffran's Dead Wrestler Sonnets were mentioned in the Chapbook Corner Round Up 2008 on the Rain Taxi website.

"Teppichfresser Press brought out Karl Saffran’s hilarious though elegiac Dead Wrestler Sonnets." http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2008winter/chapbookcorner.shtml

I believe this constitutes a review. I could be wrong. In any event if ever the DVD of the show is made available the phrase "hilarious though elegiac" Will be on the back cover, or maybe the front. I will even put the hyphen Noah Eli Gordon, Rain Taxi.

Or maybe Karl can use this phrase in the author's note for his first volume of Selected Poems, provided of course he isn't responsible for the selecting process. He is concerned about his legacy.

The part of the performance can be viewed by following this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPrA7W7f2o8&feature=channel_page

For what it's worth I still think the best commentary on Karl's poetry came via the MilwaukeeWrestling. com message board. Keep in mind that up to that point this thread was started to help promote the show (lotta good that did!) but after the show it got a bunch of posts and was the longest on the message board for a month or two and the longest one up to that time, of course I did my part to keep the fire going but it all started with a post courtesy of Silas Young, a local wrestler who was not on the card that night.

SO I saw the book of poems for dead wrestlers and how disrespectfull. I just wish I was there so I could spit in the face of the douche who wrote them. Thats whats wrong with this business you got goofs who dont know teh first thing bout wrestling running shows women hanging out telling everyone there sisters with Sheri Martel and that there a womens champp that wrestles once a year which i doubt that. Or the guy who comes to BCW and tells people he has a thousand finishers. Quit being IDiots and get trained pay ur dues and then keep your mouth shut.

Thankfully, Karl has little to fear from Silas http://www.myspace.com/silasyoung123, he won't fight anyone for unless the pay is good.

If P then Q

2009-01-23T18:40:00.000-08:00

Go to this link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/GabeSpangler

If you think these clips from my show look great (as edited by Gabe Spangler) then you should 1) ask how you can buy a copy of the DVD 2)offer to sponsor Keith for the Woodland Pattern Marathon 3) date Keith* 4) hire Gabe to edit your wedding/bahmitzfah/high school reunion/swingers convention footage into a DVD 5) watch them over and over again!!!!

You get the idea.

*suggestion to date Keith valid in WI,ME, and select Canadian provinces. Suggestion subject to change. Chicks only. Suggestion not redeemable for cash or tobacco products. Watch videos for further suggestion.

Woodland Pattern Marathon

2009-01-20T16:23:00.000-08:00

I've signed up for the 2009 Woodland Pattern Marathon. This is my first time participating in the marathon so I don't want to look too bad when I hand in my sponsorships list. What I'm saying is this: Sponsor me!
You can give any amount but 35 dollars gets you an all day pass to the event.
I'm in the late shift posse. I'm reading at 11pm but there are several people to see during the day. Just click on the title of the post to check it out.
-Keith

How far does a burdock travel?

2009-01-08T16:04:00.000-08:00

So everyone knows you can take some of the poems out and put them in odd or cool places. Well to make that idea more interesting I'm asking anyone who has a copy of any past Burdocks to send me a picture of the poem in action and I'll post it on the blog.
Post a poem somewhere take a photo send it to burdockmagazine@gmail.com and I'll feature it on the blog here.
Past ideas have been bathroom stalls, in the pages of an anthology (to cover up lesser poems), and the bumper of the poetry bus. But NOBODY, myself included has done any of these, the bus was gone when I got back. If you're in the NY area I suggest also sticking Mike Begnal's poem on something Mets related, the picture would be worth it.
Thanks to Aisha and Charlie for the advice. I hope to see something interesting.

Illustrations by Jeremy Mericle

2008-12-26T12:16:00.001-08:00

When I asked him to draw the cover for issue one all I told him was I needed something that would take up the whole cover and not leave too much white space. Not that I dislike voids but I just felt like having something big with a logo feel to it. Jeremy is a versatile illustrator. A graduate of MIAD (Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design) he came to the conclusion that most of the modern art coming from academic institutions relies less on anything put on canvass and more on what the artist puts on paper in mission statements. Illustrators have the luxury of allowing stories to dictate goals. As an illustrator his preference for narrative allows him to work with short fiction but his knack for picking out interesting images enables him to work with poetry as well, in fact, his thesis was drawing illustration for the poetry of Omar Khayyám. Another example of this is his work for Jonathan Lohr’s first chapbook Watertown’s Plank Road. The images Mericle chose from the short manuscript demonstrated his skill as an illustrator as well as the understanding and insight that is required to work with poetry in order to enunciate, but not overshadow, the written word. In addition to these contributions he also drew an excellent illustration for the story "Flying Saucer Nights" by Jim Hazard in Burdock the Two. He is currently at work on his own children's book.

Burdock 5 gets some press!

2008-12-09T17:35:00.001-08:00

I'm so lazy with updates but luckily the Shepherd Express is on the ball. Click the blog title for the article. It's a nice write up. Thanks to Aisha for taking the time to do something I should have done! With any luck in a few days I should have some contributor info up.

Contributor information for Burdock 5

2008-11-25T15:18:00.000-08:00

Here is the promised contributor info. Some of it is very brief but I had to make do with what was given to me.

Michael S. Begnal Lives in Raleigh N.C. where he is mastering a southern accent. He has written two collections of poetry Lakes of Coma (Six Gallery Press) and Ancestor Worship (Salmon) and a long poem Mercury the Dime (Six Gallery Press)

James Blessington Was a runner up for the Wisconsin Arts Board grant in 2006. He writes novels and short prose (when goaded) He is currently putting the finishing touches on a novel about Joe Delany.

Jim Chapson Lives in Milwaukee and works at UWM. He has a book coming out on Arlen House Press called Daphnis and Ratboy. He is also the author of several chapbooks such as The American Coot, Sentimental Journeys, and is a regular contributor to Burdock.

Tyler Farrell's first book Tethered to the Earth is available on Salmon press. He has poems in issues 3-5 of Burdock. In 2008 he was the featured poet at Milwaukee's Irish Fest which is the largest Irish festival not held in Ireland.

Jennifer Kraft, aside from Burdock 5, has been published in the Portland Review. She lives in Milwaukee and attends UWM.

Thomas Kovacich Lives in Milwaukee and is a member of Gallery 218. His primary mediums are painting and sculpture. His artwork appears inside the pages of Burdock 5.

Dolly Lemke is currently attending Grad school at Columbia in Chicago. She has work in Burdock 4 as well. She rides the train back to Milwaukee though whenever something interesting is happening up here.

Jonathan Lohr's First chapbook, Watertown's Plank Road, came out earlier this year on Teppichfresser Press. He is the editor of B-Squad and fan of Brewer's baseball. He also appears in Burdock 4.

James Liddy (1934-2008) James inspired many people to write their own poetry and to read the work of others with more passion and care. He wrote many books in life and two more are set to be released by Arlen House shortly. He was a regular contributor to Burdock and a great friend.

Kristin Ravel is going for a Master of Fine Arts degree at Columbia Chicago.

Joe Reipenhoff is from Milwaukee and is currently the editor of GreenGallery Press. He works in the legal field but has practiced as a photographer, film and videographer, music composer and producer, and most recently as a writer.

Andrew Terhune is originally from Memphis, Tennessee. He is currently in Chicago seeking his MFA at Columbia College and has previously been published in Columbia Poetry Review, Glass, Reconfigurations, and O Sweet Flowery Roses.

Nathan Theis is a film student at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Paul Vogel Published two collaborative books of poetry with James Liddy centered on Osip Mandlestam - Sophias and Death Row. He is currently a grad student at UWM.

Shannon Ward is an instructor of creative writing at North Carolina State University, and from 2005-2007, was assistant editor at Longleaf Press. She has work in The Fifteen Project and the forthcoming Spring 2009 issue of Tar River Poetry.

PS: If I got something wrong or you'd really like to know more about one of the contributors (i.e. address, favorite color, dress size, credit card info) let me know burdockmagazine@gmail.com .

2008-10-29T14:08:00.000-07:00

Gabe Spangler, who has poetry in issues 1 and 4 of Burdock, filmed and directed this video for Ifihadahifi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU5qx7VvbU4

Happy Halloween!

5 and 15

2008-10-03T13:42:00.001-07:00

There are now enough submissions to fill Burdock 5 so the window is closed.
More info on the release reading will be forthcoming but thanks to all those who submitted.

In addition to this piece of news I have poems up on the 15 Project. Cast your eyes on yonder links section.

Taking Submissions

2008-08-21T13:35:00.001-07:00

The next issue of Burdock is going to be done this fall. In order to avoid the pitfalls of self publishing people are encouraged to submit short fiction (very short, like, half a page to 2 pages short) or short poems (also very short - under 10 lines).

If you have any accompanying illustrations keep in mind that it will be printed in black and white and will most likely appear very small.

I'll stop taking submissions when I'm all done filling pages.

Send what you have via email at burdockmagazine@gmail.com or you can do it the old fasioned way and mail it to 2979 N. Bremen apt. B Milwaukee, WI 53212.

No freaks.

The Lit World

2008-08-11T14:38:00.000-07:00

I’ve never personally met Tim Miller so I can’t make any wise cracks about his personal habits all I can do is review this very excellent book The Lit World. The book is subtitled “Poems from History” to give you some idea of the contents. I’m actually a harsh judge of contemporary poets writing historical poems probably because of my attempt at a History major. And though you can fall out of love with a program you can’t fall out of love with a subject. Here’s a story. In High School anytime we got an exchange student from Europe the first thing he or she’d do is critique the student body for its lack of general historical knowledge until they met the handful of history buffs every high school has. I’d say the fact that anyone with the ability to recall historical data earns the label of “history buff” does a better job illustrating my point. We tend to operate as if we are somehow separate from all that’s happened prior to our existence. (Okay that was more of a blathering but,)Miller is doing something different. The chronological arrangement of the poems coupled with the range of topics, from Creation to WWII, threaded together with scenes of violence and death, demonstrate an attention to craft as well as human nature. Some personal favorites in the book are “Hart Crane”, “The Death of Marcus Licinius Crassus” and “Tecumseh”. The first deals, not with the death of poor Hart, but with one of his last real nights alive banging a drum on the roof of a Cathedral. The second reveals just how superficially humans can live and die and how it is really nothing new at all. The last reports a vow of righteous hatred and intended conflict. Each poem amounts to more than a profile and the add up in the telling directing the reader all the way to the climax in Hitler’s Bunker which is examined in five separate parts.
The language is engaging and the prose style pays off. Were these pieces presented differently they would probably not be as good and the reader would get stuck on the intended delivery of a particular syllable and miss out on the content. It's interesting to think how the author might intend to read these pieces aloud but then the voices here is going over long dead, even ancient subject matter.
How do I describe this book? Try Cormac McCarthy in a time machine writing in the style of Max Jacob for a series of associated press articles. Maybe that’s close…probably not. I’ll stick to the traditional review. Check out Mike Begnal's blog over in yonder links section he has a much better review of this book.
Tim Miller has appeared in Burdock 2 and 4. He lives in Brooklyn New York. He’s got a website too.

The SHOW OF SHOWS: Uncharted Territory

2008-07-21T11:09:00.000-07:00

Friday July 25th at the Miramar (located on Milwaukee's fashionable East Side).
This is the first show of its kind. There have been plenty of Wrestling show that feature bands playing music. There have been shows featuring bands and poetry before as well. Even wrestling and poetry are no strangers to each other, who could forget The Genius or the linguistic magnificence of Slick?
My comment on all that: Phooey. This show will be the real thing. Real and genuinely unique to Milwaukee.
Included in the ticket price are free chapbooks of Karl Saffran's Dead Wrestler Poems. Karl wrote a complete cycle of sonnets a few years back in response to learning of just how many childhood icons had passed away since he last paid any mind to the sport of professional wrestling.
Competing in matches are Jason Dukes and Bobby Valentino, The McCoys and The Urban Horsemen, & J.P. and El Vato.
Playing live at the show are Ifihadahifi and Put Her In the Trunk.
Lakefront beer will be available to those with legal ID and good times are there for all no matter the age!
Tickets are just 12 bucks - a steal when you consider what's all included.

A road well traveled but not yet written about

2008-06-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

The first Chapbook release by Teppichfresser Press is Jon Lohr's Watertown's Plank Road.

Jon has had poems in Burdock #4 and in the Blue Canary.

Jon also edits B-Squad and is an avid Brewers fan. Never hesitating to drink warm High-life or eat meat that has fallen on the ground. That may sound gross and weird but what may sound grosser and weirder is that I think that these traits somehow apply to his poems. They include the rough stuff without forgetting the movements that happen around that very roughness.

Best example is in the poem Dance The Seven Veils:

Salome danced around and around
her veil held steadily between her eyes

Leading to the conclusion -

The eyes of the head
remained open as she danced

And in the poem See My Blue Collared Hands there is a reflection on the transitions of life that sometimes reflect more than the transitions of the individual with the lines

Sirens cry through the night,
startling dreams of abandoned farms we left behind.

And a comment on the celebration of either self-mutilation or temporary pain (I don't know which) in the The Hunger Artist Retires.

You, biographer, find me at my picnic to write my story

There are some very fine illustrations by Jeremy Mericle and there's even a gesture to Araki Yassusada in the About the Author section that some bookstore employees have deemed controversial. I would have the reader be the judge.

There are about 100 copies printed if you'd like one contact burdockmagazine@gmail.com.

Burdock Profiles: Zack Pieper

2008-06-12T14:42:00.000-07:00

The more I think about it doing contributor bios might be a little forced and strange so maybe I’ll just ramble about the person or something that that person has published.
I thought I’d begin with Zack Pieper since he will be reading in the Red-letter series at Woodland Pattern. Before I ever met Zack he was described to me as a “very good poet” and, occasionally, when that description is tossed around the word “young” is added as if to imply that he’s unknown and/or hasn’t done anything in terms of publishing and exploring his style. But, he is good. All the little publications I have bearing his name fall into the one of the oldest and rarest genres of poetry: re-readable.

Once, a few years ago, I called him for some reason I can’t recall and he was in the middle of writing something involving names from the Passion and Crucifixion of Jesus. He read a few of them over the phone and since it had nothing to do with why I called him I couldn’t offer much insight other than to say I thought they were funny. Not long after I received from either Zack or James Liddy a half-folded booklet with two staples saddling to make the spine. Called simply “Non-Apocryphal” it’s a collection of lines regarding people and ideas from Catholic history and scripture penned by Zack Pieper and James Liddy. It was marked inside as “A Procession (by 2 altar boys)”.

I’m not a fan of collaborative poetry in general mostly because it’s usually done for the sake of one poem and then it’s done online or in a classroom. But rather than attempt to speak to the collective consciousness, this little pamphlet of slogans, statements, and sneers collaborates to affect conversation. But here I am having typed more words than were in the thing to begin with.

My favorite by Liddy is Barabbas “He won the election.”

and my favorite from Zack is Luthur

“Private sin when applicable, public virtue when salable, and possibly a set of modest drive-thru windows for convenience. (if stain glass looks too pricey)”.

Zack Pieper has two poems in Burdock issue one, three in Burdock IV and contributed the special Hazard tribute issue an great piece called “Jim”.
For more info check out the little ditty about him that woodland pattern has up.

http://www.woodlandpattern.org/poems/zack_pieper01.shtml

What's up and what's next

2008-06-09T15:50:00.000-07:00

The Spackle reading was a resounding success. In terms of getting people to show up with little notice and in terms of oatmeal cookies. Jon Lohr's book is out and will shortly be available in local bookstores if you'd like a copy just ask and ye shall receive. There will be a better feature as soon as the cover gets scanned but in the meantime I'm beginning to do make up work for old issues of Burdock in the form of contributor's bios. Not necessarily deep ones with all the accomplishments they've managed to rack up in terms of awards and where they've published, unless that's all I know about them that is. Not gossipy either but just little paragraphs on why I picked them or their poetry. Maybe what they've got coming up on the horizon as far as readings or books coming out or even just the next place they will appear. Granted some folks that contributed have their own blogs for that but the majority of them do not and damn it all this thing needs to start getting hits!

Upcoming Event

2008-05-12T14:40:00.000-07:00

On June 6th the Spackle Gallery will be hosting a reading featuring Jim Chapson, John Vanderhoef, Kristin Markowski, and Jon Lohr.

It will also be the official release of Jon Lohr's chapbook Watertown's Plank Road and a few broadsides.
If you live in Milwaukee this is right off the 15 bus line.

Spackle is located at

2674 S. Kinnickinnic Avenue

Milwaukee WI 53207

or check out

www.spacklegallery.com

info@spacklegallery.com

Greetings

2008-05-08T15:41:00.000-07:00

This is the inaugural blog (inblogural) for Teppichfresser Press.

Some background information:
Teppichfresser gets its name from the poem of the same name published in a chapbook by James Liddy and Keith Gaustad in 2004. The title of the chapbook is “Songs on the Plane Carrying Hess From Germany” which is also the title of the long poem by James Liddy. The section by Keith Gaustad (me) was called Teppichfresser and the press was jokingly given the same name.
Then in 2006 I started up a magazine called Burdock. Rather than name the press Burdock Press I thought to keep the name Teppichfresser.
There are as of today 4 issues of Burdock out in the wide world.

This Blog will hopefully serve as a way of getting the word out on things related to the magazine and to other chapbooks in the works.
Until next time, keep chewing things over.