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http://offcourse.org
ISSN 1556-4975
A journal for poetry, criticism, reviews, stories and essays published by
Ricardo and Isabel Nirenberg since 1998.
See our guidelines. Mail queries and contributions to: offcourse@albany.edu
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Issue #74, September 2018
We mourn the death of Harry Staley. Some of his poems appeared in the Spring 2001 issue and his book "All in one Breath: Selected Poems", The Snail's Pace Press, was reviewed by Robert W. Greene in the Spring 2002 issue. Paul Grondahl's tribute to Staley appeared in the Albany Times Union in August 14, 2018.
- "How to Make a Sock Puppet" and other poems by Ruth Bavetta
- "Derailed" and "Many a Good Hanging", two flash pieces by Salvatore Difalco
- Poems by Linda M. Fischer
- KATAKATA! and other poems by Stuart Friebert
- "Signifying Monkey" and more poems by Louis Gallo
- "Alligator Cry" and other poems by John Grey
- "The World Closes" and other poems by Steve Klepetar
- Poems from Twenty States, by Robert Lietz
- "Dar Salaam" and other poems by Charles Rammelkamp
- "I Envy People who Know All the Names" and two other poems by J.R. Solonche
- "Leftists" and two more by Robert Stout
- "The Nobel Prize" and other poems by Tim Suermondt
- "The Tiger," a story by Sarah White
- "The Early Clint Eastwood" and other poems by Mark Young
"The Fall of the House of Nordquist," by Eugene K. Garber, and "Matman and Testudo," by R.L. Swihart, reviewed by Ricardo Nirenberg.
Congratulations to Rachel King on on her new poetry chapbook, published through dancing girl press. The chapbook includes "Returning" and "Near the Solstice," which were first published in Offcourse in December 2016.
Issue #73, June 2018. 20 years!
- "Not Fake Poems" and more by Vincent M. Bell
- "Observations on Prince Rupert's Dogge called Boye (1643)," by Francis Blessington
- "Professional Middle-class Couple 1927" and "Skilled Tradesman and his Wife 1923", poems by Alan Catlin derived from photographs by August Sander
- "After Many Years," a short story by Alzo David-West
- "Carnivores," a short satirical story by Salvatore Difalco
- New Poems by Louis Gallo
- Poems by Robert King
- Two Poems by Steven Klepetar
- "Negative Capability in Glenwood Springs" and two other poems by Miriam Kotzin
- "Robert Hook Keeps a Diary (1672-1683)," poems by Louis Phillips
- "Curse of Late Birth" and more poems by Frederick Pollack
- New Poems by J.R. Solonche
- "Punk Monastery Poems" by Peter Waldor
- "To the Shadow of Aunt Louise", a story by Sarah White
- "The early Clint Eastwood" and two other poems by Mark Young
- Reviews: Poems from Underground, by Francis Blessington, Deerbrook Ed. 2017,
and Life and Opinions of Doctor Bop the Burnt-Out Prof and Other Poems, by E. M. Schorb, Kelsay Books, 2018.
Congratulations to Frederick Pollack on his new book, Landscape with Mutant (Smokestack Books, UK, 2018).
Issue #72, March 2018
- Poems by Patricia Phillips-Batoma
- "Thalweg" and other poems by Stuart Friebert
- Three poems by Louis Gallo
- Three poems by John Grey
- "My Father at the Window," and two other poems by Steven Klepetar
- "Neighbors," a story by Alf Marks
- "My Thirteenth Year", part V of a memoir by Ricardo Nirenberg
- Poems by Simon Perchik
- "The Lever" and other poems by Louis Phillips
- Three Poems by Charles Rammelkamp
- "April," a poem by J.R. Solonche
- "Airheads," a story by Harvey Sutlive
- "Help from the Goddess," and two other poems by Sarah White
- Matthew Phillips, The Island's Only Escape, Pleasure Boat Studio, 2018. Review by Ricardo Nirenberg
- Tim Suermondt, The World Doesn't Know You, Pinyon Publishing 2017, presented by Isabel Nirenberg
Congratulations to:
- Stuart Friebert, on Scant Hours: Selected Poems by Elisabeth Schmeidel, Pinyon Publishing 2018. Some of the poems appeared in Offcourse #68
- J.R. Solonche on I, Emily Dickinson & Other Found Poems, just published by Deerbrook Editions.
Issue #71, December 2017
- A collection of short texts by Kirill Azernyy
- Three Poems by Janet Buck
- "Twin Speak", a short story by Joachim Frank
- Three Poems by George Freek
- Poems by Stuart Friebert
- Two Poems by John P. Kristofco
- "My Thirteenth Year", part IV of a memoir by Ricardo Nirenberg
- Three Poems and a video poem, "Like No Other Lovely Thing", by Louis Phillips
- Poems by J.R. Solonche
- Poems by Robert Stout
- Five Poems by Marina Tsvetaeva, translated by Mary Jane White
- "Pound Cento XII," a poem from a new series by Mark Young
- "Petites Suites" by Robert Wexelblatt, reviewed by R. Nirenberg
Congratulations!
- Darren Demaree, whose collection of political prose poems A Fire Without Light is due to be released this December from Nixes Mate Books
- to Joachim Frank on the publication of his story The Gap in his Heart, published online in WASAFIRI, and on receiving the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
- To Philip Fried: Carol Rumens has chosen as the Guardian Poem of the Week "Yoga for Leaders and Others" from his new book Squaring the Circle (Salmon, 2017). To read the poem and Rumens's commentary, go to
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2017/nov/20/poem-of-the-week-yoga-for-leaders-and-others-by-philip-fried
- To Ed Schorb, on his book Dates and Dreams (Hill House New York 978-0-692-67740-7) which was selected as a Finalist in the Poetry category of the 2017 Best Book Awards and also won the 1st place poetry prize from "Writer's Digest" for a self-published collection, and an honorable mention in poetry at the New York Book Festival.
- To Fred Skolnik, on the publication of Aerial Views, part of his science fiction series written as Fred Russell, appearing as Volume 23 of the Wapshott Press Storylandia series.
Issue #70, September 2017
- "How I've Always Been Close to my Parents" and "Altitude", poems by Gale Acuff
- "Nauseating News" and "Enough" by Janet Buck
- "Words for a Cenotaph for Words" and other poems by Philip Fried
- "The Way it isn't Funny" and two more poems by Ian Ganassi
- Poems from The Tryst of Thetica Zorg, by Daniel Y. Harris
- "From the Greek Anthology" and "La Catrina", poems by Jack D. Harvey
- "Theory of Special Relativity" and two other prose poems by Gerry LaFemina
- Five Poems by Tom Montag
- "My Thirteenth Year",Part III of a memoir by Ricardo Nirenberg
- Poems by Simon Perchik
- "On Reading an Essay Entitled The Poem and Its Meaning in a Famous Poetry Magazine" and other poems by J.R. Solonche
- "Peasant," a story by Michael Tilley
- "Petite Suite des Congés," a story by Robert Wexelblatt
- "Wall Street and the Arts" and other poems by Mark Young
- to one who bends my time, a new book of poems by Sarah White, reviewed by J.R. Solonche
- S. K. Johannesen, Three Tales, The Electric Ferry Press 2017, ISBN 978-0-9881098-3-4, reviewed by R. Nirenberg
- And Then We Laughed: Poems by Louis Phillips. Prologue Press 2017, reviewed by R. Nirenberg
Congratulations to contributors:
- Francis Blessington, on Poems from Underground, Deerbrook Editions 2017, ISBN: 978-0-9975051-9-1
- Nathan Leslie, on a new collection of novellas, Three Men, Texture Press
- Fred Skolnik, on Americans and other Stories, Fomite Press, 2017.
- Robert Wexelblatt, on Petites Suites, BlazeVOX Books.
- Sarah White, on to one who bends my time, Deerbrook Editions, reviewed here by J.R. Solonche