The Poet’s Press Featured Authors

 

Literary Publications

"About Emilie Glen," essay in The Writings of Emilie Glen 1: Poems from Chapbooks, The Poet's Press, 2009.

"Afterword" and annotations. In John Burnett Payne, Emily and Walt, Walt and Emily, The Poet's Press, 2006.

Anniversarium. The Autumn Poems. The Poet's Press, 1984. Expanded and reprinted 1986.

Anniversarium: The Autumn Poems . The Poet's Press, 1996. Third edition, revised and expanded. Fourth edition posted on Internet as an e-book in 2002.

"Anniversarium I." Poem. Stone Soup Poetry , Boston.

"Anniversarium II." Poem. Stone Soup Poetry Boston 16.

"Anniversarium XV." Poem. Crypt of Cthulhu , Halloween 1988.

“Anniversarium XVI.” Poem. Crypt of Cthulhu #45.

“Anniversarium XX.” Poem. Moorish Science Monitor .

"Annunciation." Poem. Sensations 40. 2006.

"As Idols Fall in the Afghan Hills." Poem. Sensations 40. 2006.

“ Ashes in Equinox, Mars in Conjunction.” Poem. In memoriam for Barbara A. Holland. Home Planet News No. 29, 1990.

“At Lovecraft's Grave.” Poem. Lovecraft Studies, Autumn 1987.

At Lovecraft's Grave. Poems. The Poet's Press, 1987. The title poem has been reprinted in Lovecraft Studies and in the Lovecraft Centennial book.

"At the Verge of Spring." Poem. Sensations 40. 2006.

"Autumn on Mars." Poem. Sensations 40. 2006.

“Autumn Song 2.” Poem. Stone Soup Poetry Boston.

"Blumenstucke", Buried Alive: An Anthology of Underground Writing, 2004.

“Books over birds.” [Letter defending the Providence Athenaeum] East Side Monthly, Providence, RI. November 2003.

Brett Rutherford's Poetry Blog, since November 2009.

“Border guard.” Poem. Liberty Magazine , 1989.

Buried Alive: An Anthology of Underground Writing . Invisible Books, 2005. Jacob Rabinowitz, ed. Features 30 pages of Rutherford poems.

“Can any film Dracula be true to Stoker's masterpiece? Coppola's failed vampire.” Film review. Printed first in Haunts magazine (Issue 25), then reprinted in Cthulhu Prayer Society Newsletter , April 22, 2001.

Carlota, Empress of Mexico. Drama, in The Rhode Island Writers Circle Anthology 2008.

“Chain smoker.” Poem. Breathe! anthology, Warthog Press, 1980.

Chiggers: A Portfolio of Works-in-Progress. The Poet's Press, 2007. Chapbook.

City Limits . Poems. Ascendant Scorpion, New York, 1970. Limited edition chapbook.

"The Collectors.” Poem. Stone Soup Poetry (Boston) , Issue 28, 1976.

“Come that downward plummet of the world.” Poem. Stone Soup Poetry Boston 16.

“Creation revisited.” Poem. Haunts , Spring 1987.

“Day of the Gorgon: In search of the snake-haired sisters of death.” Cthulhu Prayer Society Newsletter, July 14, 2002. 3 pp.

“Dead poets.” Poem. The Newport Review, 1994.

The Death of Jocasta. Drama. Performed in a staged reading by The Writers Circle at Brown University, April 2004.

Doctor Jones and Other Terrors, Grim Reaper Books, 2008.

“Eclipse.” Chrysalis, Rhode Island, Jan 1988.

“Ed Wood.” Film review. Haunts 29 . 3 pp.

“Edgar and Helen.” Poem. Crypt of Cthulhu #48.

"Edinboro in the Sixties: A Microcosm of Change." Alumni News, Edinboro State University, Winter 1991.

"First Snow." Poem. Sensations 40. 2006

"Frank and Lyda," Buried Alive: An Anthology of Underground Writing, 2004.

“Ganymede.” Poem. Ganymede [England], Vol 1 No 4, 1986.

“Ganymede.” Poem, Brown [University] Classical Journal , 1986.

The Gods As They Are, On Their Planets. Poetry. The Poet's Press, 2005. 208 pages.

“Great horror stories that should be movies.” Film commentary. Haunts 32, Winter 96/Spring 1997.

“Horror's new home: writer Brett Rutherford, a creative descendant of Poe and Lovecraft, returns to Rhode Island.” Interview of BR by Justin Wolff. Providence Phoenix , Dec. 3, 1999, 2 pp.

“I see dead people -- who's who in Mt. Auburn.” A brief guide to the literary dead in Cambridge's cemetery. Cthulhu Prayer Society Newsletter , June 9, 2002. 2 pp.

In Chill November. Poems. The Poet's Press, 1990.

“In Prague, a tree of many colors.” The Rift, 1998.

“Incubus/succubus.” Poem. Boston Sidewalk Stethoscope .

“Ivan Grozni.” Poem. Liberty Magazine. 1990

“Ivan Grozni.” Poem. Der Golem 2, Autumn 1988 .

“Julius Caesar.” Drama review. Haight-Ashbury Free Press , 1967.

“Jurassic Park and Dead Alive .” Film review. Haunts 26 . 2 pp.

Knecht Ruprecht, or The Bad Boy's Christmas. The Poet's Press, 1992.

Last Flowers: The Romance Poems of Edgar Allan Poe and Sarah Helen Whitman. The Poet's Press, 1987. An extensive essay on Poe and Mrs. Whitman as well as a selection of their poetry. The first edition of SHW's poems since 1916. Second, expanded edition, hardcover, in 2003.

“Lovecraft's secret park: we search for horror haunts in Lincoln Woods.” Cthulhu Prayer Society Newsletter , October 13, 2002. 4 pp. Also published on Internet.

The Lost Children . Novel. 431 pp. Zebra Books, NY, 1988.

“Low tide.” Poem. Crypt of Cthulhu #46.

“Luna.” Poem. The Rift , 1997.

“The man who tasted gray.” Haight-Ashbury Free Press , 1967.

May Eve: A Festival of Supernatural Poetry. Grim Reaper Books, 1975. (BR is editor and one of four poets represented).

"Midnight on Benefit Street, 1935." Poem. East Side Monthly, March 2005.

"Monday Miss Schreckengost Reads Us Little Black Sambo." Poem. Rhode Island Writers' Circle Anthology 2010. RI Writers Circle.

Night Gaunts: An Entertainment Based on the Life and Writings of H.P. Lovecraft. Play. Produced in staged readings at The Providence Athenaeum, Providence RI. March 13, 1988 and again in 1991. Published as a book in 1993. Revised in 2002, new edition published Jan 2005.

"Niobe's Tears and Naval Gentlemen: The Classical Poetry of Phillis Wheatley." Conference presentation. "Identities, " URI Graduate Student Conference, March 31, 2007. Published in Sensations Magazine, 2009.

“No mausoleum, please.” Molasses in January [Edinboro State University], Spring 1991.

"Not years enough," Buried Alive: An Anthology of Underground Writing, 2004.

“October is coming.” Poem. Newport Review , 1988.

"October Thoughts in War-Time." Poem. Sensations 40. 2006.

"Ode 22: A Haunting." Buried Alive: An Anthology of Underground Writing, 2004.

“The Outsider.” Poem. Der Golem , 1988. Also published in Sensations Magazine, Fall/Winter 2007.

"Pepper and Salt." Poem. Rhode Island Writers' Circle Anthology 2010.

Piper. A novel, co-authored with John R. Robertson. 463 pp. Zebra Books, NY, 1985.

“Pluto Demoted.” Poem, and a brief memorial essay on Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of the planet Pluto. Cthulhu Prayer Society Newsletter , March 18, 2001. 3 pp.

“Poe and Mrs. Whitman: Doomed romance, great poetry.” Cthulhu Prayer Society Newsletter , May 20, 2001. 3 pp.

Poems from Providence. Poems . The Poet's Press, 1991. More than 200 pages of poetry written in Providence from 1985 to 1988.

“Poesy interviews poet and publisher Brett Rutherford.” Interview of BR by Brian Morrisey. Poesy 3, 1991.

“Poetry motels.” Poem. Just Add Water , May 1996. New York (1990s).

Poets Fortnighly. A newsletter for poets, published in New York City 1971-73. Edited by Barbara A. Holland and BR. This was New York City's first “poetry calendar,” with book reviews and commentary.

Prometheus on Fifth Avenue. Poems. The Poet's Press, 1987.

“Providence's North Burial Ground: 300 years old and looking its age.” Cthulhu Prayer Society Newsletter , June 10, 2001. 2 pp.

The Pumpkined Heart. Poems. The Poet's Press, 1973.

“Remembering Medea.” Poem. Haunts , Fall 1987.

“Reunion: poem found on the neck of a deer, killed in the Black Forest, Germany, 1975.” Poem. The Rift , April 1998.

"Roadside Views," Buried Alive: An Anthology of Underground Writing, 2004.

“Salem.” Poem. Weird Tales, 1988. Also pubished in Sensations Magazine, Fall/Winter 2008.

“Scenes from a Mexican vampire movie.” Poem. Haunts , Spring 1987.

“Scenes from a Mexican vampire movie.” Poem. The Rift , 1998. Also published in Buried Alive: An Anthology of Underground Writing, 2004.

“Scenes from a Mexican Vampire Movie.” Poem, adapted into a comic in the magazine Midnight Graffiti, June 1988.

“Son of Dracula.” Poem. Crypt of Cthulhu #45, Candlemas 1987.

Songs of the I and Thou . Ascendant Scorpion Books, PA. 1968. The poet's first limited edition chapbook, hand-bound, printed on hand-marbled paper.

“The Spiders.” Poem. Haunts magazine.

“The stuff that dreams are made of.” Poem. Haight-Ashbury Free Press, San Francisco 1967. Centerfold spread poem with psychedelic illustrations.

Things Seen in Graveyards: A Poem Cycle. Grim Reaper Books, 2007.

Things Seen in Graveyards: Images. Grim Reaper Books, 2007. Photography and digital art.

Thunderpuss: In Memoriam . Poem. Limited edition chapbook, 1987. The Poet's Press. This is the dead cat book, and only 50 copies were circulated. Also published in Buried Alive: An Anthology of Underground Writing, 2004.

“Tillie.” Poem. Oxalis , 1988.

“Transcending Mediocrity: The Poetry of Barbara Holland.” Contact II, Spring 1979.

“The Tree at Lovecraft's Grave.” Poem for HPL's birthday, August 20, 2000. Cthulhu Prayer Society Newsletter , March 18, 2001. Also in The East Side Monthly, (Providence), November 2006.

"The Twentieth Century." Poem. Sensations 40. 2006.

Twilight of the Dictators . (Poems, with Pieter Vanderbeck). The Poet's Press, 1992. Poems written about Russia and Eastern Europe by the two poets between 1968 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. New, expanded edition forthcoming in 2009.

“Valkyries on Route 128.” Poem. Beyond: Science Fiction and Fantasy, Issue 10, July 1988.

"Viking." Poem. Future Life magazine. Also reprinted in On the Wing, an anthology on space flight from University of Iowa Press, Spring 2005. This poem selected for use in a statewide reading exam in North Carolina for three years 2007-2009.

Whippoorwill Road: The Supernatural Poems. Poems . The Poet's Press, 1985. Second, expanded edition, 1998. A mammoth compendium of more than 200 pages of dark and strange poems. Third edition, January 2005.

"Wolf and The Crow ." Film review. Haunts . 3 pp.

Musical collaborations: Pennsylvania composer William Alexander of Edinboro State University has composed a set of choral pieces, a song cycle, and several symphonic pieces using text from or inspired by BR's poems. "Visions for Orchestra," based on three Rutherford poems, had its world premiere in Erie and Edinboro on April 7, 2005. Another Alexander-Rutherford collaboration was performed by this orchestra in April 2007. An Alexander composition, Suite from Whippoorwill Road, for flute and piano, was premiered in October 2009.

The New York Writers Café. A literary web site featuring four New York-area small presses. Disbanded and replaced by www.poetspress.org

The Poet's Press on the Internet. A web site containing hundreds of pages of poetry by BR and his choice of the best poets he has published over the years.

Cthulhu Prayer Society Newsletter (2000 to 2003). An occasional print and e-newsletter covering topics strange and wonderful, as well as promoting local Lovecraft-related events. Sixteen issues published since 2000.

Dramatic Works

Night Gaunts: An Entertainment Based on the Life and Works of H.P. Lovecraft. Play. Performed at The Providence Athenaeum, Providence, RI.

Nachtmahre. Play. German translation of Night Gaunts by Arne Zastrow. Performed by Expressis Verbis, Heidelberg. Germany, January 2006.

The Death of Queen Jocasta. Dramatic scene in blank verse to be added to Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. Performed at Brown University, Alumni Hall, April 2004 by The Writers' Circle. A workshop staged reading.

Knecht Ruprecht, or The Bad Boy's Christmas. Monologue. Performed at The Pulse Theater, West 42nd Street, New York, NY. Staged reading.

Carlota, Empress of Mexico. Play in verse. Performed by The Writer's Circle, Providence, RI. June 8, 9 & 10, 2007. Workshop production, staged reading. Performed November 2007 for Brown Learning in Retirement drama workshop.

Who Is Athena? A pageant in verse for the installation of a bust of Athena at The Providence Athenauem, July 7, 2008. Adapted from Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Callimachus, and Solon the Wise.

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Three Books

First up is the huge 208-page new collection of Brett Rutherford's The Gods As They Are, On Their Planets. This is available as a free PDF on this site, or can be ordered from Our ON-LINE BOOKSTORE. The Providence-based poet has included in this book all the poems he has written and revised since his last big collection, Poems from Providence. CLICK HERE TO READ THE PDF MORE THAN 10,000 READERS HAVE DOWNLOADED THIS BOOK!

The second new book is the expanded third edition of Brett Rutherford's landmark poetry collection, Whippoorwill Road: The Supernatural Poetry. This extraordinary 272-page paperback contains all the poet's supernatural poems, including more than 70 pages of new poems since 1998. Praised by Robert Bloch and Ray Bradbury, these poems may be the best supernatural poems of the 20th century. Now you can read the entire PDF free on this site, or order the print edition from our ON-LINE BOOKSTORE. To READ THE PDF, CLICK HERE.

The third new book is the expanded second edition of Brett Rutherford's biographical play, Night Gaunts: An Entertainment Based on the Life and Writings of H.P. Lovecraft. The book also includes a number of "ceremonial" poems written to be read at H.P. Lovecraft's grave in Swan Point Cemetery, Providence. The play has been performed twice at The Providence Athenaeum, and was recently adapted as a radio play by New England Institute of Art in Brookline, Mass. You can order the print edition from our ON-LINE BOOKSTORE. To read the PDF, CLICK HERE

The Death of Jocasta The Writer's Circle of Providence selected Brett Rutherford's dramatic scene, "The Death of Jocasta," for a staged reading in April 2004. This reading was at Alumni Hall at Brown University, with a cast of professional actresses and students. The scene, in blank verse in ancient Greek style, is written to be inserted in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex. In the Sophocles original, Queen Jocasta does the "proper" thing by committing suicide offstage when she learns that she has been married to her own son for twenty years. Rutherford's drama is a feminist exploration of Queen Jocasta's dilemma. In this version, she does not commit suicide: she is put on trial and condemned by the women of Thebes, and offers up a spirited self-defense. This small play had a tremendous impact on its audience, many of whom mistook it for a translation.	Printing History & Literature Lecturer Brett Rutherford has written articles and book reviews on printing history and is a book collector. He has given lectures for the John Russell Bartlett Society at The Providence Athenaeum, Brown University, and The Providence Public Library on "Elbert Hubbard and the Roycrofters," "Poe and Mrs. Whitman," and "Illustrated Editions of Edgar Allan Poe." At the Athenaeum, he has lectured on Edgar Allan Poe and Sarah Helen Whitman, and has read his supernatural poems there in a series of annual Halloween readings. Rutherford has also been a guest lecturer at New England Institute of Art (AI) in Brookline, Mass, where he has presented on H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe. He is now an adjunct instructor in the Women's Studies Dept. at University of Rhode Island, and has designed and taught courses on The Diva, Radical American Women, and Women in Science Fiction.
Classical Music Connections An avid collector of classical music and an occasional composer of keyboard music, Brett Rutherford has helped The Providence Athenaeum establish Rhode Island's best and most accessible circulating library of classical CDs. He has donated his entire collection of 5,000 CDs, ranging from Chinese opera to 20th century music, to be the foundation of the new circulating collection. This collection also has a strong emphasis on American music. Brett Rutherford also writes program notes for the invitational chamber music concerts given by pianist Varda Lev, and for the concert series of The Rhode Island Chamber Music Society.	The H.P. Lovecraft Friends Group To foster local and international interest in H.P. Lovecraft and his Providence connections, Brett Rutherford established an informal H.P. Lovecraft Friends Group. This group meets sporadically for luncheons and field trips to graveyards, Lovecraft haunts, and other locales of spectral or literary interest. Rutherford usually runs these meetings and includes informal lectures on such topics as the origin of Gorgons, sea monsters, classic horror films of the 1930s and 1940s, Goethe's Faust, Lizzie Borden, and Poe- and Lovecraft-related topics. Sixteen issues of a tabloid-sized newsletter, titled The Cthulhu Prayer Society Newsletter, have been produced in print and on-line. Some people take delight in these things, although one librarian looked at the newsletter and snapped, "You people are nuts!"
Night Gaunts Brett Rutherford's play, Night Gaunts, was written to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the death of America's greatest horror writer, who spent almost his entire life in Providence. Two staged readings in 1987 and 1990 featured actor Carl Johnson as H.P. Lovecraft and played to sold-out houses. The script was published by The Poet's Press in 1988, and in a new, revised edition in 2005. The play includes two vivid female characters — Lovecraft's mother, who gets a great mad scene, and Lovecraft's New York wife, Sonia Greene, who enacts a kind of "Horror Honeymooners" with the romantically inept author. This play was adapted by Hal Hamilton into a radio drama, broadcast in Boston in October 2004 and soon to be issued as a CD. Night Gaunts was performed in a German translation by Arne Zastrow in Heidelberg, Germany in January 2006 by the theater ensemble,  Expressis Verbis.	Never Far From A Library Libraries are central to Brett Rutherford's existence. He grew up in places where they were minimal if not nonexistent. In recent years, he has donated almost all of his personal collections to libraries where they will be preserved and made accessible to the public. He gave more than 350 specimens of printing by the Roycrofters to The Providence Athenaeum, as well as his collection of 4,000 classical CDs. He has donated a collection of wood engravings by artist John DePol to the Providence Public Library's Daniel Berkeley Updike Collection, along with a number of books on printing history. Complete sets of the editions published by The Poet's Press have been donated to the Harris Collection at the John Hay Library at Brown University, and to Poets House in New York City. A partial set has also been donated to the Special Collections department at University of Rhode Island. Rutherford serves on the Philbrick Poetry Prize Committee for the Providence Athenaeum. In February 2005, he was elected to the board of directors the The Providence Athenaeum, and started his second term in 2008.