Tag Archives: Pat Nolan

Limited Edition: Lyre Liar

May 3, 2014Limited Editions, Modern Poetry, PoetryBamboo Leaf Studio, fan fold, independent publishers, indie publishers, Liar, limited editions, Lyre, Pat Nolan, Poem, rare editions, washiNuallain House, Publishers

Lyre Liar, a poem by Pat Nolan, was published by Bamboo Leaf Studio in 2012 in a limited numbered edition of 12 signed by the author with his seal. The cover is printed on a heavy weight Reeves print paper and folded as a clamshell as the platform for the fanfold poem. A band of washi with the author’s seal secures the clamshell closed. The endpapers are Japanese silkscreened patterns imported from Kyoto. Lyre Liar measures 9×7.75 inches (22.7×19.6 cm) open and 9×3 7/8 inches (22.7×9.8cm) closed. The fanfold poem is printed on an unbleached washi and measures 9×20.5 inches (22.7×52 cm) fully extended. Lyre Liar is out of print in this edition.

Click LYRE LIAR 2012 to view a pdf facsimile.

Limited Edition: Exile In Paradise

April 3, 2014Limited Editions, Non-fiction, PoetryBamboo Leaf Studio, Chinese painters, Chinese poetry, Chinese poets, Chinese prosody, Exile In Paradise, independent publishers, indie publishers, Japanese silk-screened paper, Japanese style binding, Nualláin House, Pat Nolan, rare editionsNuallain House, Publishers

Exile In Paradise

by Pat Nolan

The selection of poems in Exile In Paradise are derived from a lifelong appreciation of Chinese poetry. Each of the poems finds its origin in a line from an ancient Chinese poet. The body of the poem consists of an improvisation from that line with the aim of using elements of Chinese prosody such as parataxis and parallelism while being cognizant that Chinese nouns have no number, verbs have no tense, few if any conjunctions or prepositional indicators, and that each line contains its own integrity, apart from any overarching discursive intent. Chinese poetry is image rich and largely dependent for its overall effect on the juxtaposition of these images in a discontinuous thread that is not unlike the successive frames of film. The poems in Exile In Paradise makes use of this ancient prosody to achieve a synthesis between an historically distant culture and the contemporaneous radically different literature of today.

Exile In Paradise was published by Bamboo Leaf Studio in 2009 in a limited edition signed by the author with his seal. Most of the covers are made from repurposed ‘stick & strings’ wallpaper samples and vary with each copy. A few of the covers were printed on a distressed heavy weight print paper using a stencil design. The endpapers are Japanese silkscreened patterns imported from Kyoto, as are the binding strips. The illustrations accompanying the poems are reproductions from a nineteenth century block printed Japanese compendium of seals and calligraphic signatures of ancient Chinese painters in the possession of the author. Exile In Paradise measures 5.5×8.5 inches (14×21.5 cm) and is bound with a traditional four hole Japanese style binding. The poems were printed on a limited supply of discontinued Gainsboro text stock. Exile in Paradise is out of print in this edition.

To view a pdf facsimile click on Exile In Paradise 2009

Limited Edition: Carved In Stone

March 3, 2014Limited Editions, PoetryCarved In Stone, Empty Head Press., haikai no renga, haiku, independent publishers, indie publishers, Japanese Poetry, Japanese style binding, limited editions, literature, Nualláin House, Pat Nolan, rare editions, tankaNuallain House, Publishers

Carved In Stone, a tanka sequence by Pat Nolan, was published by Empty Head Press in the Summer of 2013 in a limited numbered edition signed by the author with his seal. The covers are printed on heavy weight dragon cloud washi featuring reproductions of one of four Japanese prints from the series Imayo sugata (Stylish Appearances) as are the bamboo leaf endpapers. Carved In Stone measures 4.25×3 inches (10.7×7.8 cm) and is bound in the Yamato style binding. The 26 text pages (including 5 illustration) are printed on recycled paper.

Tanka ,meaning ‘short song,’ is an unrhymed poem with a fixed thirty-one syllable pattern of 5-7-5-7-7. In Westernized stanza form, it is a five line poem. Tanka, one of the oldest of Japanese verse forms, dates back to before the 11^th Century. Tanka gained renewed popularity in the late 19^th Century among radically modern young poets who brought its diction and subject matter up to date. Historically, tanka is a precursor to renga, haikai, and haiku.

The poems in Carved In Stone do not follow precisely the fixed syllabic count nor do they conform to many of the accepted tanka conventions but seek a synthesis and accommodation brought about by translation into a radically different language and culture.

A few copies of Carved In Stone are still available from the publisher for $20 each plus shipping. See How To Order for more information.

Limited Edition: All Ears

February 4, 2014Limited Editions, PoetryAll Ears, Earl Miner, haikai no renga, Haruo Shirane, Hiroaki Sato, independent publishers, indie publishers, Japanese Poetry, Japanese style binding, Keith Abbott, limited editions, literature, Maureen Owen, Michael Sowl, Nualláin House, Pat Nolan, poetry for sale, Random Rocks, rare editions, renga, Saints of Hysteria, soft skull pressNuallain House, Publishers

All Ears

haikai no renga by Keith Kumasen Abbott, Pat Nolan, Maureen Owen & Michael Sowl

All Ears, a haikai no renga or linked verse, was the first of the collaborations between Maureen Owen, Keith Kumasen Abbott, Michael Sowl, and Pat Nolan to be made into a limited edition handmade book and was published by Empty Head Press in 2004. Subsequently, Random Rocks and Poetry For Sale, both haikai no renga, were issued as limited edition handmade books(see Nualláin House archives for July 2013 and October 2012). All Ears was also included in the anthology Saints of Hysteria, A Half Century of Collaborative American Poetry (Soft Skull Press, 2007).

All Ears was composed through the mail over a period of a year and a half beginning in early 1992. Once the 36 stanzas (kasen) of the haikai-no-renga were completed, each poet was asked to comment on the process in general, and on their own stanzas and those of their collaborators. The arrangement of stanza follows the standard haikai form of 8 stanzas on the first sheet and 8 stanzas on the back sheet with the remaining 20 stanzas taking up the central text. Following the haikai no renga and the commentary by the poets is the sequence showing the stanza assignment as well as which poets had the moon and flower stanzas.

All Ears was bound using repurposed “sticks & strings” wallpaper sheets from a wallpaper sample book as cover stock and backed with Japanese silkscreen endpapers. Each cover was unique in itself. The pages were folded vertically with a folded leading edge as is common in Japanese books. Each book was hand sewn using a Japanese side stitch style known “tortoiseshell.” The dimensions are 4.25×10 inches (10.5×16.5 cm). Only a limited number of All Ears were produced and it is out of print.

For more on the intriguing subject of Japanese Linked Verse, see Earl Miner’s Japanese Linked Poetry (Princeton, 1979), Hiroaki Sato’s One Hundred Frogs (Weatherhill, 1983), and Haruo Shirane’s Traces Of Dreams (Stanford, 1998).

To view a PDF facsimile of All Ears, click on ALL EARS 2004

Nualláin House So Far

January 17, 2014Crime Fiction, Fiction, Modern Poetry, Non-fiction, Poetry, WesternA Lee Malone Adventure, Andrei Codrescu, Barry Gifford, crime fiction, detective, Gail King, Gail King Poetry, hard-boiled, Hello Life, Historical Fiction, independent publishers, indie publishers, Las Cruces, Lee Malone, Lincoln County, literature, Maureen Owen, neo-pulp fiction, New Mexico, North Bay Bohemian, Nualláin House, Outlaws, Pat Garrett, Pat Nolan, Pat Nolan Historical Fiction, Southwest History, the last resort, westernsNuallain House, Publishers

Hello Life by Gail King
Poetry; The poems of Hello Life achieve their freshness in the particularity of experience. The poet surrenders herself to the moment and tenders that subtle cognition as a delighted welcome to life. The ease of her expression in dealing with the everyday communicates an uncommon wisdom. The poems present, through playful understatement and sly humor, the immediacy of spontaneous impressions. Maureen Owen, former artistic director for The Poetry Project in NYC and author of Edges of Water and Erosion’s Pull, says “In Gail King’s poems the events of the day become transformative, the images of the temporary become immediate, and the mystery of being alive in the Now unfolds. “…time like a lake breeze” says the poet, and the wind rises.” Gail King’s poems have also won the praise of Andrei Codrescu, poet, novelist, essayist and NPR commentator, author of So Recent Rent A World, who said “Reading Gail King has always been one of my great poetry pleasures. Her inimitable voice narrates the world with humor and tenderness, a world of beauty and occasional sorrow. Her work has healing effects.”
December 2013 ~ $16.00 ~ 64 pages ~ Paper ~ ISBN 978-0-9840310-3-0

The Last Resort, A Lee Malone Adventure by Pat Nolan
Meta Pulp– Pat Nolan has written a fast paced, tongue-in-cheek, pun filled comedy of errors, misunderstandings, and faux intuition in the mode of a 1930’s pulp thriller to talk about the pulp fiction of that era. In doing so, The Last Resort presents an unlikely set of circumstances in which a worldly-wise female reporter must untangle herself from her past in order to deal with the puzzling events of her present. Rather than the typical splinter-jawed, broken nosed, tobacco breathed tough guy hero, Nolan upends the stereotype by introducing a gorgeous internationally famous former fashion model whose super power is her beauty. THE LAST RESORT, A Lee Malone Adventure, is a quirky, entertaining recreation of the lurid screed that once peopled pulp pages on newsstands everywhere.
August 2012 ~ $19.99 ~ 212 pages ~ Paper~ ISBN 978-0-9840310-2-3

“Has-been supermodel Lee Malone retains her drop-dead gorgeous looks—and haute couture wardrobe—and uses them every chance she gets to solve a murder mystery and live to write about it in The Last Resort: A Lee Malone Adventure. Author Pat Nolan sets this labyrinthine adventure in his home turf along the Russian River communities, renamed the Corkscrew River in the book. Having survived a botched kidnap attempt and a rescue by a secret female militia, Malone seeks the “quiet life” among the redwoods. She writes puff pieces for the Corkscrew County Grapevine, but stumbles into a deeper, more sinister story. Nolan weaves his heroine’s backstory throughout, touching on issues of homelessness, sex slavery, pornography and ever-changing relationships in river communities, while retaining a sense of humor and comic relief.”
— North Bay Bohemian, Fall Literary Issue, 2012

On The Road To Las Cruces, Being A Novel Account of The Last Day In The Life of A Legendary Western Lawman by Pat Nolan
Historical Fiction; On The Road To Las Cruces, a work of fiction tethered loosely to historical fact, is the story of the relationship between two men, one garrulous, the other taciturn, the Mutt and Jeff of the old Southwest. What is related on the road to Las Cruces is as much a retelling of some history as it is how such a retelling might come about, and is represented in the manner of a tall tale, the deadpan details of a crime story, melodrama, and a conspiracy to murder. The road to Las Cruces is full of twists and turns. The sound of a door slamming like a gunshot brings us into the world of the old Southwest and the gun violence of that historical era. More than just the tale of a legendary lawman who remains nameless to the end, it is a lesson in storytelling and an allegory for how lives were lived and how death was dealt. As much a dusty tale of buffalo hunts and shoot-outs as a politically driven “whodunit,” On The Road To Las Cruces is the story of youthful bravado and an old man’s regret.
November, 2011 ~ $16.99 ~ 154 pages ~ paper ~ ISBN 978-0-9840310-1-6

“. . . a real old-fashioned Western. Page-turner. There are all sorts of funny sly mixes in the story, good Nolan humor, great repartee. . . .” – Andrei Codrescu, NPR commentator and author of Whatever Gets You Through The Night.

“Pat Nolan is not only one of our finest living poets. . . but now surprises with a prose paean to the West. Whatever Pat writes deserves to be read and remembered.” – Barry Gifford, author of Wild At Heart and Sailor And Lula

The Nolan Anthology of Poetry, Volume II: The Modern Era

November 3, 2013Modern Poetry, Non-fiction, PoetryAlice Notley, Andrei Codrescu, Aram Sayroyan, Bamboo Leaf Studio, Bernadette Meyer, Blue Suede Shoes, C, Camille Martin, Carved In Stone, chap book, Clark Coolidge, edition de jacob, Empty Head Press., Exile In Paradise, Fell Swoop, Fell Swoop #64, Fuck You, Gallimard, independent publishers, indie publishers, Intellectual Pretensions, Keith Abbott, Keith Kumasen Abbott, Life Of Crime, literature, New Orleans, Nolan Anthology, Nolan Anthology of Poetry, Nouvelle Revue Française, NRF, Pat Nolan, rare editions, Richard Martin, tanka, Ted Berrigan, The End, The Modern Era, The Nolan Anthology of Poetry, The World, Thomas Weigel, Volume IINuallain House, Publishers

The Nolan Anthology of Poetry, Volume II was published by Fell Swoop in 2003. The first Nolan Anthology of Poetry was published in 1993 by the same New Orleans publisher. Volume II (Fell Swoop #64) The Modern Era was printed in an unspecified print run using basically the same 8.5×11 stapled binding format as the first volume though designating them as “volumes” may be a bit of overstatement as each is only twenty pages in length printed on a single side of the page. The cover design by the author was meant to replicate the pocket poetry books of the French publisher, Gallimard under the NRF (Nouvelle Revue Française) imprint. Volume II, as did Volume I, represents a sampling from a variety of the author’s poetry manuscript unpublished at the time. Since then the poems in the tanka sequence Light Years have been included in a handmade limited edition chap book entitled Carved In Stone (Empty Head Press, 2013). The Chinese style poems were published as a selection entitled Exile In Paradise (Bamboo Leaf Studio, 2009), also as a handmade limited edition. The prose poems were included in a handmade chap book entitled Intellectual Pretensions (edition de Jacob, 2009).

Click here for The Nolan Anthology of Poetry, Volume II: The Modern Era 2003

A word about Fell Swoop magazine whose stated mission, as per Editor Reverend XJ Dailey, is to destroy contemporary American poetry: this year marks the 30^th Anniversary of their fitful yet courageously tenacious low tech existence. They (3^rd person plural used advisedly) will publish their 130^th issue this November. Past featured authors and contributors to Fell Swoop magazine include Andrei Codrescu, Aram Sayroyan, Bernadette Meyer, The Clark Coolidge, Sir Thomas Weigel, Richard Martin, Camille Martin, Lady Alice Notley, and Keith Kumasen Abbott to name just a few. As an unpretentious and somewhat anachronistic photo copy (xerographic) publication, Fell Swoop harkens back to the more innocent days of the mimeograph revolution when such prehistoric publications as Fuck You, C, Blue Suede Shoes, The End, Life of Crime, and The World roamed the humid fecund swamps of Am Po’s armpit. Though based in New Orleans, they represent one of the last unapologetic bastions of the New York School of Poets scattered to the four (or five) corners of the poetry universe after the passing of the Grand Himself, Ted Berrigan. Fell Swoop keeps the flame alive to light another Chesterfield. Their post-Katrina address is Po Box 740158 New Orleans, LA 70174. Send them a bunch of cash, in one fell swoop.

Limited Edition: Jacks Or Better

October 3, 2013Limited Editions, Modern Poetry, Non-fiction, PoetryAmtrak, Andrei Codrescu, Basho, Baton Rouge, Egret Moon Press, Florida, haiku, independent publishers, indie publishers, Japanese Poetry, Japanese style binding, LSU, New Orleans, Pat Nolan, travel journal, Video PokerNuallain House, Publishers

Jacks Or Better

by Pat Nolan

Jacks Or Better is a travel journal (kikobun) in the tradition of Basho’s Narrow Roads To Far Off Places. The narrow road followed in this journal is the iron road, from San Francisco to rural Florida with stops in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. It is a poet’s journey expressed as haibun in which descriptive or expressionistic prose is capped by a haiku-like poem that continues the thread, elucidates it, or offers a disparate juxtaposition. Published by Egret Moon Press in 2011 in a limited edition of 36 copies. 38 pages hand-bound with Japanese stitching between grey repurposed paper covers, 7×7.25 inches (18x19cm).

from Jacks Or Better

Although this is my first trip to New Orleans, I’ve taken trains across country before and have always found that if you’re on a schedule they are the last place to be. But if you’re not in a hurry, they enforce a leisurely pace that is fast becoming antique. My final destination is Florida where I will visit with my parents. The first leg will take most of three days. This trip is ostensibly about the anatomy of a friendship and the relationship between generations. I will visit with Andrei Codrescu in New Orleans and lecture to his MA classes at Louisiana State University.

Baton Rouge
“only place in America named
after a dog’s dick”

To view a pdf facsimile click JACKS OR BETTER 2011

Special Offer: Cloud Traffic

September 3, 2013Non-fiction, PoetryIdeal Cafe Editions, Iota Press, limited edition broadside. letterpress printing, limited editions, Luci Edwards, Pat NolanNuallain House, Publishers

Special Offer

Limited Edition Broadside

Cloud Traffic

A poem and linoleum cut by Pat Nolan in a signed and numbered edition of fifty, printed in Bembo by Luci Edwards on Arches Text (6 5/8 x 8 3/4 in.; 16.9 x 22.3 cm) from Ideal Café Editions at Iota Press Sebastopol, CA available now for $10 each, postage included, for a limited time only through Nualláin House, Publishers. See How To Order for more information.

Limited Edition: Carbon Data

August 3, 2013Limited Editions, Modern Poetry, Non-fiction, PoetryBig Bridge, books, Carbon Data, Court Green, Exquisite Corpse, Fell Swoop, independent publishers, indie publishers, Japanese style binding, limited editions, literature, Nualláin House, Otolith, Pat Nolan, Poetry Flash, Rolling Stone, The Last Cookie Press, The Paris Review, The WorldNuallain House, Publishers

Carbon Data

By Pat Nolan

Carbon Data is a limited edition poetry selection published by Last Cookie Press in 2008, bound with 60# granite grey cover stock in the Japanese four-hole style. 35 pages, 8.5×5.5

The poems in Carbon Data first appeared in Fell Swoop, Tight, Exquisite Corpse, Smelt Money, Kickass Review, Watching The Wheels: A Blackbird, Court Green, and Otolith as well as in volumes of selected poetry including Fly By Night (1992), The Nolan Anthology Of Poetry, Vol. II (2003), and Later (2007).

Pat Nolan’s poetry and prose have been published in numerous magazines including Rolling Stone, The Paris Review, The World, Big Bridge, Poetry Flash, and Exquisite Corpse as well as literary magazines in Europe and Asia. He is the author of fifteen books of poetry, including LATER from On The Fly Press (2007).

This limited edition is still available for $10 plus shipping. Get free shipping when you purchase a copy of either On The Road to Las Cruces or The Last Resort along with Carbon Data. Click here to preview a pdf facsimile of CARBON DATA 2008

Limited Edition: Random Rocks

July 3, 2013Limited Editions, Non-fiction, Poetry, UncategorizedBamboo Leaf Studio, Basho, Earl Miner, Exquisite Corpse, haikai no renga, haiku, Haruo Shirane, Hiroaki Sato, hokku, independent publishers, indie publishers, Japanese Poetry, Japanese style binding, kasen, Keith Abbott, limited editions, Maureen Owen, Michael Sowl, Nualláin House, Pat Nolan, rare editions, renga, soft skull press, tanka, The Miner School of Haikai PoetsNuallain House, Publishers

Random Rocks

Haikai No Renga

By The Miner School of Haikai Poets

Random Rocks is a limited edition haikai no renga (linked verse) published by Bamboo Leaf Studio in 2007. The size of the edition was linked to the number of stanzas in a kasen, a standard renga length employed by Basho and his disciples, and in the memorializing of the 36 immortal poets of Japanese literature. Random Rocks measures 5.5x 7 (14x17cm), is hand sewn in the Japanese side stitch style, bound in heavy green chiri paper, momogami binding strips and features Japanese silk screen end papers. The edition was divided evenly among the four haikai poets to distribute as they saw fit.

The Miner School of Haikai Poets have engaged in the practice of haikai no renga over a period of thirty years, written primarily through the mail and more recently, email. They are Pat Nolan, Keith Kumasen Abbott, Michael Sowl and Maureen Owen. The Miner School’s haikai have been published in numerous magazine including Hanging Loose, Exquisite Corpse, Jack’s Magazine, Big Bridge, and Simply Haiku as well as in limited edition chapbooks and broadsides from Empty Head Press, Bamboo Leaf Studio, and Tangram Press. Their kasen, All Ears, was included in Saints Of Hysteria, an anthology celebrating collaboration, from Soft Skull Press (2007).

One of the unique features of Miner School haikai is that it includes a running commentary by the authors on each of their own stanzas as well as a stab at their collaborators’ links. It functions in a way similar to commentary provided as a special features audio track on a DVD. The introductory essay to another kasen, Bamboo Greeting, published in Simply Haiku (2008), further details some of the unconventional methods practiced by The Miner School of Haikai Poets.

Haikai no renga is a form of renga (Japanese linked verse) practiced by Basho (1644-1694) and his disciples. It consists of a 17 syllable verse and a 14 syllable verse provided in turn by the poets engaged in the collaboration. In linking verses, a 31 syllable poem is produced, the latter verse of which (the 17 or the 14 syllable) will go on to join the next in the sequence to form its own unique poem, and so on until the requisite number of stanzas has been achieved. Renga sequences can number into the hundreds. Basho favored the economy of 36 stanzas. Renku is diminutive for haikai no renga also known as haikai. The more renowned Japanese verse form, haiku, is derived from the practice of amassing numerous hokku to vie for the privilege of opening a moon-viewing-sake-sipping evening of friendly literary collaborations. Renga itself is derived from the courtly form of poetry exchanged by the aristocracy as exemplified in Lady Murasaki’s 11^th Century The Tale Of Genji. The rules of the composition for renga and haikai no renga are complicated and arcane, but like those of chess or go can be captivating and stimulating.

A pdf facsimile of RandomRocks 2007can be found here.

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Exile In Paradise

by Pat Nolan

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All Ears

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Jacks Or Better

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Special Offer

Limited Edition Broadside

Cloud Traffic

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Carbon Data

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Random Rocks

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