I love what Greil Marcus has to say here about Lana Del Rey's ability to "wait out a song":

AB: Sometimes I feel I don’t quite get what you’re aiming at, but I know it’s something I want to understand better. Help me a little with this about Lana Del Rey’s “Ultraviolence”: “Lana Del Rey knows how to wait out a song, and this album may know how to wait out its time.”

GM: What I meant was this: As she writes and sings, she can wait for a song to reveal itself. That’s what her music sounds like: There’s almost always more there at the end of a song than at the beginning. And that while this music might seem light — all surface, all effects, all marketing, all persona, are certain to evaporate — it might be close to permanent, and make as much sense, communicate as fully, and retain or even deepen its suggestive power, far into the future.

Full interview, here: https://www.truthdig.com/articles/a-conversation-with-greil-marcus/

I bought my first chapbook in 2001 and have never stopped buying them ever since. There's just something alluring about these small, thin volumes with no spine. I have hundreds. Nothing like trawling through a second-hand bookstore and coming across these rare gems. Usually you can pick them up for next to nothing. There are heroes in the seaweed, to quote Leonard Cohen.

There's a nice little article, here, about the importance of the chapbook:

http://www.thethepoetry.com/2016/05/small-is-beautiful-the-importance-of-the-chapbook/

After a long hiatus, in the works from Blind Dog Press:

Michael Estabrook -- Selected Poems (late 2018). I have been a big fan of Estabrook's for many, many years. So proud to collect all his best work in one juicy volume.

Sleeping Together -- Harry Crosby (early 2019). This book has been out of print for 60 years. Not exactly sure of the copyright status, but it's not through lack of trying. One way or the other I will be bringing this superb collection of prose poems back into print. They can sue me for the $2 I have in the bank.

and very soon:

 

 

From the back cover: "Lana Del Rey was recently described by legendary rock critic Greil Marcus as “the most interesting artist working today, with the possible exception of Bob Dylan.” In this varied collection of poems, Cooper explores the many public (and private) personas of Lana Del Rey, as viewed through the unique prism of his own life."

 

I am so proud of this book. The 60 or so poems were written in an eight week frenzy between early May and late June. I believe they represent some of my best work.

 

Sample poem:

 

 

 

 

I will make the book available on here within a few days.