Forthcoming from Pebblebrook Press

Pebblebrook Press, an imprint of Stoneboat Literary Journal, is proud to announce the forthcoming release of its fifth poetry collection, Thomas J. Erickson's The Biology of Consciousness. The book is scheduled for release on May 1st, 2016.

Elder talks craft, inspiration of Earth as It Is in Heaven

By Gina Covelli

Photo by Benjamin Wilks

It was like old times, sitting in the yellow vinyl chair across from Karl Elder in his Lakeland College office, which was lit only by the late afternoon sun. The standard can of cola in a faded coozie sat to the right of his computer keyboard, hidden among the stacks of books and papers littering his desk. And like I had done so many times before, when I was Karl’s poetry student, I took a casual glance over my left shoulder to see the beautifully classic and complex poster-sized portrait of Anne Sexton before beginning the conversation.

Marketing Happens

Here at Pebblebrook Press, as is the case at so many small presses, we are grateful for the ingenuity of our authors’ marketing efforts to promote their books. Since our staff is only four people (all of us with day jobs and a literary journal called Stoneboat to produce twice a year), and since the bank account balance for the journal and press combined rarely exceeds triple digits, we simply don't have the time or the resources to extensively market our book titles. We send out review copies, we take books to festivals and other events, and we sing our titles’ praises on social media, but as far as actual "marketing campaigns" go, well, we know we are rather lacking in this department.

Freezin' for a Reason

When was the last time you put on a swim suit and jumped into the icy cold waters of Lake Michigan in the middle of goddamn winter?  For us here in Stoneboatlandia, it has been almost one year to the day. Yes, my friends, it is time once again for our annual Polar Bear Plunge fundraiser. (Donate here.) Let me say right away that I, Poetry and Arts Editor Lisa Vihos, do not go in the water. I leave that to the professionals. I have carried towels, blankets, and hot chocolate. I provide the warming house because I live near the lake. I just don't go in.

Polar Bear Plunge 2016

That's right! We're taking the plunge—again. In 2014 and 2015, our editors-in-chief rang in the New Year with a plunge into the icy waters of Lake Michigan to raise funds that have helped Stoneboat Literary Journal stay up and running and able to continue publishing great fiction, poetry, nonfiction, graphic literature, and artwork.

Lipogram Contest Winner Announced

Our imprint, Pebblebrook Press, recently held a poetry contest to celebrate the release of Mark Zimmermann's collection of lipograms, Impersonations. Entrants were challenged to write a poem using the lipogram constraint, which requires poets to deliberately exclude certain letters from their poems. Zimmermann was the judge; he read the poems blindly and selected Jason Primm's "Stoneboat" as the winner. Primm, whose short story "Light" appeared in Stoneboat 2.1, used only the letters in the poem's title to compose his work, which appears below.

An interview with Mark Zimmermann

We interviewed Mark Zimmermann, author of Pebblebrook Press's forthcoming poetry collection Impersonations, to find out more about his writing process and his experiences with the literary form of the lipogram. Zimmermann is a Wisconsin native currently living in Milwaukee. He was featured in Pebblebrook's first release, the anthology Masquerades and Misdemeanors, and he has spent time teaching humanities and writing courses, both abroad and here in the United States. Impersonations is his first collection.