Dustin Pickering's "The 'Ophelia' Prophecies"
ISBN #9781734946970
Dustin Pickering is the founder of Transcendent Zero Press and founding editor of Harbinger Asylum.
He is the author of several poetry collections, a novella, a fairy tale, many short stories, essays, critical reviews, and articles.
He was placed as a finalist in Adelaide Literary Journal’s short story contest in 2017 and honored by The Friends of Guido Gozzano in 2020. He is a former contributor to Huffington Post and is the Anchor at Literary Corner at New York Parrot.
And Venetian Spider Press is pleased to release this astounding collection of poetry to the public.
Cat Russell returns with "Kaleidoscope"
ISBN #9781734946987
"Cat Russell does it again! Her latest poetry collection, Kaleidoscope, swirls and sways through a landscape of fact and fiction, experience and fantasy, while also providing a keen lens into life and living. It whirls the reader into wonder while remaining grounded, insightful and inquisitive. Peer into this volume’s eyepiece and let it take you for a spin."
- John Burroughs, U. S. Beat Poet Laureate and author of Rattle and Numb
…Today I discovered/what a group of butterflies is called./ Their name is Kaleidoscope,/
begins the final nine-line stanza of Cat Russell’s “Kaleidoscope,” a poem sharing her book’s title. Its final three lines read, “…the everchanging pattern/ a perfect fusion of shifting compliments:/ the envy of artists, flowers, and clear-blue skies./” Russell’s delightfully accessible homage to butterflies is an ideal invitation into her poignant collection of 86 poems. They entice readers to savor every sip of them in a single sitting.
There is something for every palate: from the humor in “Cheapskate Mid Life Crisis” and “F Bombs,” to the understated predatory horror in “Servings,” to the anticipatory excitement of a thunderstorm in “Foretaste.”
Kaleidoscope showcases a writer whose talent is boundless! Cat Russell’s poetry is both beguiling and intellectually intoxicating. You’ll undoubtedly mark her collection a favorite.
- Sandra Feen, State of Ohio Beat Poet Laureate (2022-2024)
"Cat Russell has written a beautiful pastiche of life expressed in her unique sense of rhythmic verse, creating a feeling of awe and wonder at her penetrating observation of its infinite variation. The real and the surreal, humanity and nature are all inked into one wondrous kaleidoscope of poetry. "
- Doc Janning, Poet Laureate of South Euclid, Ohio
"liaison": William F. DeVault's fiery sonnets
ISBN #9781734946949
two hundred and twenty-five sonnets.
no, not just that. two hundred and twenty five sonnets, organized, conceived and created as 15 Heroic Crowns of Sonnets, all written within a single month in 2021 to celebrate the pain and passion of romance.
romantic, yes. honest and unflinching, yes. and in several cases intimate and erotic such that Venetian Spider Press added a Parental Advisory Sticker to the back cover.
If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the bedroom.
Mark A. Murphy's "Tin Cat Alley...and other poems"
ISBN #9781734946956
This volume was republished from an earlier release by another publisher, who passed. Rather than let Mark's excellent words lapse, Venetian Spider Press produced this volume.
From the foreword:
Back in 1996 when Tin Cat Alley was first published by Spout (a small, independent English publisher) one reviewer wrote that ‘it would be a shame if Murphy was overlooked by the big publishers.’ Quarter of a century later, he is still looking to branch out and find a wider audience for his work.
Nonetheless, the themes, preoccupations, and questions proffered in Tin Cat Alley are still relevant to today’s readers. By releasing Murphy’s first chapbook along with Other Poems: Not to be Reproduced, we hope we can reignite the early confidence in this poet’s work, and broaden his appeal to new generations of poetry lovers.
In addition to the original thirty-seven poems, this new collection offers another sixty-nine previously uncollected pieces.
Mark A. Murphy
US Beat Poet Laureate Emeritus William F. DeVault's TACHYON
ISBN #9781734946925
From the foreword:
While I was assembling this volume my brother, Robert, passed. It was quick and on his own terms. But, as always, we mourned not his passing but our loss. So I wrote the poem that starts this collection, bound to speak the arrogant truth that we don’t know everything in this life and that platitudes and attitudes that bring us comfort are not always anything more than schoolyard fables.
I write this in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic, fortunate not to have succumbed, but eventually mortality will work its way with this waystation, this pupa to the nature of the human soul. It gives me comfort against the terror of the oblivion that is an easy illusion for the end of life. I may outlive another generation or pass midsentence as I write this.
In any case, read on and live. Feel. Dream. Believe. And for some of you, when you look inside you will find not only me, but you yourself looking back at you, faster than light and faster than life.
Believe.
William F. DeVault
December 2020
R. Nikolas Macioci's "Why Dance?" from Venetian Spider Press
ISBN # 9781734946918
R. Nikolas Macioci earned a PhD from The Ohio State University, and for thirty years taught for the Columbus City Schools. In addition to English, he taught Drama and developed a Writers Seminar for select students. OCTELA, the Ohio Council of Teachers of English, named Nik Macioci the best secondary English teacher in the state of Ohio.
Nik is the author of two chapbooks:
• Cafes of Childhood
• Greatest Hits
as well as eight other books:
• Why Dance
• Necessary Windows
• Cafes of Childhood (original with additional poems)
• Mother Goosed
• Occasional Heaven
• A Human Saloon
• Rustle Rustle Thump Thump
• Rough.
Critics and judges called Cafes of Childhood a “beautifully harrowing account of child abuse,” but not “sentimental” or “self-pitying,” an “amazing book,” and “a single unified whole.” Cafes of Childhood was submitted for the Pulitzer Prize in 1992. In addition, more than two hundred of his poems have been published here and abroad in magazines and journals, including The Society of Classical Poets Journal, Chiron, Concho River Review, The Bombay Review, and Blue Unicorn.
He won First Place in the 1987 National Writers’ Union Poetry Competition, judged by Denise Levertov, First Place in The Baudelaire Award Competition, sponsored by The World Order of Narrative and Formalist Poets (1989), Second Place in Zone 3's first annual Rainmaker Awards, judged by Howard Nemerov (1989), and Second Place in the Writer's Digest annual competition, judged by Diane Wakoski (1991).
"Quintessence", 4 in five in one, from William F. DeVault
ISBN #9781732679481
If you happen to own one or more of the constituent volumes merged herein, don’t feel bad.
They
- Grace
- Cleave
- Mythos
- Bragi
stand alone on their own, certainly.
But…when merged with the other three sisters of this set, they create a more intense and vivid landscape and portrait of my works during the four-year period in which they were published. Inspired by specific moment and muses, they are a collection of verbal photographs and I would not change a thing about them. I wrestled with having this volume in some order other than by original volume and poem order but decided this would tamper with the flow and content of the original. These were issued approximately 12 months apart over a period in my life where I surrendered to the flow of emotions and passions, while funneling, channeling, the intensity to the page.
To you unfamiliar with my works and particularly with the totem-muses that have driven them, relax and enjoy. You will find, no matter what you are comfortable with or seek for, poems within this collection that will satisfy you and your needs.
The decision to bring all four of these books, including two of my best-selling collections, into a single volume was a logical extension of my desire to make books that are durable. The market is aflood with the new generation chapbooks, a sometimes unfortunate by-product of the digital renaissance, but I have always liked the feel of a solid, substantial volume in my hands. The fact that we are co-issuing this in hardback, softcover, and eBook formats is a nod to the reality of the marketplace and the diversity of the readers, wanting to satisfy all interested in diving in.
Enjoy, and don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or comments. I don’t hide.
William F. DeVault
November 2019
About Us
What do we do?
How do I get involved?
What do we do?
We publish books, mostly hardcover, of authors we consider on the rise and of quality and commercial potential. We ARE NOT a vanity press or chapbook house. Those have their places, but we do not accept everything that is sent us, charge the author or require they buy or pre-order books. We distribute through bookstores, on and off line, around the world.
Who are we?
How do I get involved?
What do we do?
CEO:
William F. DeVault, US National Beat Poet Emeritus, author of 30+ books.
Art Coordinator:
Mariya Andriichuk, award-winning photographer
Editorial Executive (these guys read and evaluate manuscripts):
Perelandra DeVault
Elric DeVault
The Rolling Stock Company: Anyone published with us gets automatically invited to join this freewheeling group of poets and writers who tour and make noise and are consulted on new publishing projects.
How do I get involved?
How do I get involved?
How do I get involved?
#1: Buy the books! Go to Amazon or wherever and vote with your wallet!
#2: We are always on the lookout for new manuscripts! If you have a project you think we may want to see, shoot us a note at
Queries preferred over unsolicited manuscripts, Usual response time is 30 days. (and yes, we do pay royalties)
Mad, bad, and dangerous to know...
Carlo Parcelli:
Monologist, poet, modern vaudevillian, Maryland State Beat Poet Laureate
Isaac Newton's Scalder, Isaac, Prophesies the End of the World
A blistering wordsmithing of history, philosophy, political rave, and poetry.
"Mad genius Carlo Parcelli's work is pure fire, where intellect, mythology, bright irreverence and cold hard reality converge and boil over in an electric chemical reaction that will leave you contemplating where you've been, why it felt so good, and eager to return for a second sizzling." - John Burroughs, poet, spoken word artist, and founding editor of Crisis Chronicles Press
"For five decades Carlo Parcelli has been extending and reinventing the Modern Epic, which Ezra Pound famously defined as 'a poem with history.' But to history Parcelli has also added epistemology and, like Sir Isaac Newton, religion and science. Only, unlike the dour Newton, Parcelli is ferociously funny and hilariously perverse!" - Jack Foley, novelist, playwright, and editor of FlashPoint Magazine
"Carlo Parcelli is a gentle man yet a strong presence, sometimes transforming himself like Moses, ready to part the seas. Once taking the stage, he takes command of the audience. His poetry is highly assertive and their stories take your mind to another time, with his East End Cockney accent and Shakespearean rhetoric. His words are as true today as they would have been in days they are set in. Carlo weaves words together like a master craftsman. It's a true pleasure to read, listen to and be in the presence of this multi talented man. " - Debbie Tosun Kilday, Co-Owner & Founder of National Beat Poetry Foundation, Inc.
ISBN#: 978-1732679429 From Venetian Spider Press, 2018
The US National Beat Poet Laureate in Paperback
The softcover edition of hardcore poetry
Released and unleashed, "Selected Poems and Passions: 1972-2011" is a manifesto of poetry from the sublime to the knife-twisting tour de force. Now available in a softcover edition at an MSRP of $19.95 from online and brick and mortar book dealers around the world.
ISBN #9781732679436 $19.95. From Venetian Spider Press, 2019.
who or what is Venetian Spider Press?
A new publishing house
New and established authors
Offering an array of books
Built from the experience and a knowledge of the industry, but fully anchored in creative, quality, entertaining books. From children's books to solid adult prose and poetry.
Offering an array of books
New and established authors
Offering an array of books
We're not going to stick with a niche and get mired in the genres. We want to experiment, to grow, to find what readers want.
New and established authors
New and established authors
New and established authors
Award winners, proven word artists, and fresh talent not buried or hidden under the established and establishment business models.