{"title":"The Song Cave","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781734035148","title":"The Sphinx and the Milky Way: Selections from the Journals of Charles Burchfield","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMystical and everyday reveries from the visionary American modernist \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the early years of the 20th century, Charles Burchfield painted mystic and visionary landscapes, and with some of his contemporaries, including Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe and Grant Wood, can be seen to have built the foundations of a particularly North American sensibility that critic Dave Hickey said \"continues to evoke an unrepentant, gnostic vision of this vast, rolling, abandoned continent—America without Europe—America without Americans—a massive, alluring kingdom.\"\u003cbr\u003eFor nearly his entire life, Burchfield also kept a journal. Over 54 years, he filled nearly 10,000 pages. To call this journal epic would be an understatement. A masterpiece whose bulk has remained unread, it is a handwritten tome that combines elements of the American nature journal with a dash of 19th-century spiritual autobiography. It is a record of a man who spent much of his life looking at and considering the sky.\u003cbr\u003eIn this comparatively small selection pulled from the original 62 volumes, we find Burchfield writing about sitting in the grass with his wife to nap and watch the sunset. He writes about the elation he feels at seeing the first flowers in the spring. He writes about the rain, wind and sun. There’s the resentment of having a job; the depression that sneaks in as he gets older; sometimes, too, he writes about the state of human progress; and occasionally, thoughts about God. It is the tender record of a life devoted to the essences of earthly beauty.\u003cbr\u003eBest known for his romantic, often fantastic depictions of nature, watercolorist \u003cb\u003eCharles Burchfield\u003c\/b\u003e (1893–1967) developed a unique style of watercolor painting that reflected distinctly American subjects and his profound respect for nature.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303659942261,"sku":"9781734035148","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781734035148_1de0edec-22b3-4e87-b036-d41bdaf0421e.jpg?v=1786024549"},{"product_id":"9798991298803","title":"Tantrums in Air","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"These poems are stitched with lush, unforeseen textures and unexhausted time. …They make the ghost of John Keats smile in ecstasy. Raymond Roussel would have kept this collection under his pillow.\" —Lucy Ives\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEmily Skillings’ highly anticipated second collection of poems, \u003ci\u003eTantrums in Air\u003c\/i\u003e, is a wild romp through verbal reality, marking her as one of contemporary poetry's shining stars of humor, insight and edge. It follows her first collection, \u003ci\u003eFort Not\u003c\/i\u003e, published by the Song Cave in 2017, which \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e called a \"fabulously eccentric, hypnotic and hypervigilant debut.\" Skillings writes through various poetic forms. Featuring a ballet in four acts—\"part ghost, part sponge \/ a lump of pure refusal\"—addresses to past loves—\"I circle the circle \/ Of a compact mirror, open\"—and an unconventional treatise on education, \u003ci\u003eTantrums in Air\u003c\/i\u003e is smart and honest, reinventing both what’s possible and what we should expect from poetry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEmily Skillings\u003c\/b\u003e received her MFA from Columbia University School of the Arts. Her recent work has been featured in \u003ci\u003eHarper’s\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePoetry\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGranta\u003c\/i\u003e and the \u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56311509221749,"sku":"9798991298803","price":16.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9798991298803_e8c17943-592f-4807-944c-0829884cc938.jpg?v=1786033457"},{"product_id":"9798991298889","title":"Nebraska","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhitmore's semi-autobiographical novel about a young boy and his uncle is a provocative yet essential narrative of queer repression in postwar America\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 1987 by Grove Press and long out of print, \u003ci\u003eNebraska\u003c\/i\u003e is a classic underground novel by the gay writer and activist George Whitmore. Craig Mullen, a young boy in Nebraska, gets hit by a car on the way to buy groceries. After having his leg amputated, he is bedridden, lonely, bored and addicted to painkillers. His rare interactions with kids his own age, specifically with a neighbor boy who often spends the night, awaken his feelings to further explore. When Craig's uncle moves into the family home, a world of hope, pain, mystery and despair descends upon the Mullen family, giving the reader glimpses into how gay lives were secretly lived and horrifically extinguished in 1950s rural America. With an unforeseen ending that can only be described with the delicately complicated touch of Whitmore's enigmatic prose, \u003ci\u003eNebraska\u003c\/i\u003e will stay in your mind long after finishing it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGeorge Whitmore\u003c\/b\u003e (1945–89) was an American playwright, novelist and poet. He was a member of a literary group known as the Violet Quill, whose seven authors are regarded as the strongest voices of the gay male experience in the post-Stonewall era.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56368356950389,"sku":"9798991298889","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9798991298889_ee439946-8dbc-46dd-82e3-03307f232671.jpg?v=1786035273"},{"product_id":"9798991298872","title":"Behind the State Capitol: Or Cincinnati Pike","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWith the original remaining copies destroyed in a 1982 arson fire at the Fag Rag\/Good Gay Poets offices, a beloved cult classic returns to print for the first time in five decades\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlready known as a \"poet's poet,\" \u003cb\u003eJohn Wieners\u003c\/b\u003e (1934–2002) moved to Boston's Beacon Hill in 1972, where he was involved with anti-war and gay liberation movements and organizations devoted to the rights of people with mental health conditions. Out of this milieu emerged \u003ci\u003eBehind the State Capitol\u003c\/i\u003e, described by its author as \"Cinema decoupages; verses, abbreviated prose insights.\" It is the record of a poet whose life has been shattered by poverty, drug addiction and mental illness. Wieners creates a complex schizo-analysis of language, capitalism, incarceration and state power, while reflecting on unpopular themes of aging and loneliness in the gay world.\u003cbr\u003eConsidered by many to be his poetical masterpiece, the book was met variously with indifference and outrage when it was published in 1975. In 1982, most remaining copies of the book were destroyed in the Fag Rag\/Good Gay Poets arson. Available in print for the first time in 50 years, this revitalized edition contains new afterwords by Wieners' friend James Dunn and the poet's biographer Robert Dewhurst.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56369659642229,"sku":"9798991298872","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9798991298872_6effebf5-26d2-4b61-9715-d993f16efa47.jpg?v=1786033458"},{"product_id":"9798991298810","title":"Silkworm's Pansori","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInspired by the traditional Korean \u003ci\u003esijo\u003c\/i\u003e, David Seung’s first poetry collection reflects on the country’s struggle for independence and his own family’s sacrifices in achieving it\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe debut book of poems by David Seung, \u003ci\u003eSilkworm's Pansori\u003c\/i\u003e is a collection of English-language \u003ci\u003esijo\u003c\/i\u003e poems: a traditional Korean poetic form that is straightforward in its syntax but emotionally nuanced. Following this historical form closely, these are poems of elegance and subtlety, like painted still lifes imbued with heartbreaking subtlety and metaphor. Yet the poet can only get so far with this exercise before his own personal Korean history, a family legacy of war and torture, starts creeping in to shatter the otherwise poetic calm. Inserted toward the end of the book is the Korean Declaration of Independence; among the signers is the poet's great-great-grandfather. Asking the reader to contextualize this document with the history of \u003ci\u003esijo\u003c\/i\u003e and his own family saga, Seung gracefully addresses generations of anger and pain, and reflects on the intricacies of human existence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Seung\u003c\/b\u003e is a Korean American stand-up comedian and writer. He holds an MFA in creative writing from Portland State University, where he now teaches.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56420351869301,"sku":"9798991298810","price":16.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9798991298810_216d7b6b-017f-4a8d-a477-61b8022504e1.jpg?v=1786033457"},{"product_id":"shake-until-cloudy","title":"Shake Until Cloudy","description":null,"brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57495272456565,"sku":"9798993181103","price":15.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9798993181103.jpg?v=1786617961"},{"product_id":"telling-the-truth-as-it-comes-up","title":"Telling the Truth As It Comes Up","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“Once again, we encounter Notley as one the great interlocutors of the world, a dedicated advocate for what is between and beyond definition.” —Tess Michaelson, \u003ci\u003eFull Stop\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlice Notley, the author of more than 40 books of poetry, has delivered an expert array of discussions over the last three decades. \u003ci\u003eTelling the Truth as It Comes Up: Selected Talks \u0026amp; Essays 1991-2018\u003c\/i\u003e offers a significant contribution to literature, reimagining the possibilities of writing in our time and the complicated business of how and why writers devote their lives to their craft. Whether she is writing about other poets—Ed Dorn, Allen Ginsberg, Homer, bpNichol, Douglas Oliver or William Carlos Williams—noir fiction, the First Gulf War, dreams or giving us insight into her own work, Notley's observations are original, sobering and always memorable. This collection often eschews the typical style of essay or lecture, resisting any categorization, and is consciously disobedient to academic structures in form. The results are thrilling new modes of thinking that may change the ways we read and write.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlice Notley\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Bisbee, Arizona, in 1945, and grew up in Needles, California. During the late ‘60s and early ‘70s she lived a traveling poet’s life before settling on New York’s Lower East Side. For 16 years there, she was an important force in the eclectic second generation of the so-called New York School. Notley is the author of more than 40 books of poetry, including \u003ci\u003eAt Night the States\u003c\/i\u003e, the double volume \u003ci\u003eClose to Me and Closer . . . (The Language of Heaven)\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eDésamère\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHow Spring Comes\u003c\/i\u003e, which was a co-winner of the San Francisco Poetry Award. In 1998, Penguin published \u003ci\u003eMysteries of Small Houses\u003c\/i\u003e, which was one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize and the winner of the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book Prize for Poetry. In 2015 she was awarded the Ruth Lilly Prize for lifetime achievement in poetry.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57495514087797,"sku":"9798987828816","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9798987828816.jpg?v=1786618179"},{"product_id":"shit-hike","title":"Shit Hike","description":null,"brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57513568928117,"sku":"9798993181110","price":15.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9798993181110.jpg?v=1787220340"},{"product_id":"after-everything-selected-poems","title":"After Everything: Selected Poems","description":null,"brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57536536248693,"sku":"9798991298896","price":14.95,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9798991298896.jpg?v=1788186546"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/publisher-the-song-cave.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}