Octopus Books is a small press in Denver,CO since 2006. Octopus Books publishes two books of poetry a year. They accept unsolicited submissions! But...the deadline is tomorrow (April 30, 2010). You can subscribe to receive the biannual OctopusBook online. They also publish books from various poets that you can buy on their website: www.octopusbooks.net
I was surprised to find that the most recent book published by Octopus was written by none other than Matvei Yankelevich who is the editor and founder of Ugly Duckling Press. I like the interconnectedness of these small presses. The book by Yankelevich is called Boris by the Sea and it is truly a masterpiece. There are YouTubes of him reading parts of it- check it out here: http://www.spdbooks.org/Producte/9780980193824/boris-by-the-sea.aspx
Octopus Magazine is an online poetry magazine that was started in 2003. One of the only pieces of information offered on their website, besides the poetry itself, is:
"It is named after a sea creature that is intelligent, lives in dens, and uses ink as a defense mechanism. Every issue features a combination of 8."
The current issue is #13 http://www.octopusmagazine.com/issue13/html/main.html" and it consists of poems, reviews, and recovery projects. As you can see on the website, there are 3 columns of 8 poets. The 8th poet in each column has been translated. Our good friend and idol, Bhanu Kapil, is featured in this issue: http://www.octopusmagazine.com/issue13/Kapil.htm"
The review section of the magazine has, obviously, reviews of recently published books of poetry. There is a review in this issue of a SONG by Bhanu Kapil (if you just can't get enough of her... http://www.octopusmagazine.com/issue13/Reinkordt.htm)
The recovery projects section is very cool- here is the explanation from the website:
In addition to poetry we always welcome submissions of Book Reviews & Recovery Projects. Recovery projects are brief essays celebrating a single book that you feel people should be reading but are not reading. The recovery should be about 1000 words, about a book that is at least 20 years old & out of print, but all those are flexible. The only real requirement is that the recovery inspires a reader to want to track down that book and read it as soon as possible. Please write us to pitch a Recovery Project.
I found an interview with one of the editors, Zachary Schomburg. He is both an editor and a poet himself. I think what he says is a nice blending of a poetics statement and the philosophy of his small press:
Q: How does your role as an editor influence your writing?
A: As an editor of a journal that gets a bulk of its unsolicited submissions from hip young poets in master of fine arts programs, I feel like I am at an advantage as a writer. I get to cheat and look at everyone else's tests. Mostly, I've been able to shape exactly what it is I don't want poems to do.
Mathias and I have a similar taste in poetry (though we debate quite a bit as well), so each issue of Octopus is like a snapshot of the kind of poetry I've been into since 2003. It is fair to say that reading for the magazine and writing are inextricably linked.
The poems I write are the poems I most want to read. Ultimately, I'm a slow and inspired and confused reader while I write. It's the best kind of reading I think, writing is.
I've emailed the press in hopes to find out more information. The website is rather limited.
ps sorry, but i couldn't figure out how to make the links clickable.
