Stirrup Pants, where you can buy chapbooks

There's a new store in town, with two highly improbable characteristics -- its name is Stirrup Pants, and its sole reason for being is to display and sell poetry chapbooks. (Thanks to local poet Jennifer Tappenden for seeing this notice in a neighborhood newspaper!)

On opening day, I visited to take a look. The store is located in the St. Louis Cherokee Street arts / shopping area, in a quiet unassuming building that's easy to overlook. A tiny sign hangs on the door, and a blue and white tennis shoe hangs over the address numbers. (A bird nest in there? I wondered.) Inside, Maggie, the proprietor, was delightful, and explained she is mostly in theater but loves poetry, thinks the chapbook market is seriously underserved, and so she wanted to use this storefront to correct the situation.

Chapbooks were on display in small quantities but huge variety - Tinfish, Ugly Duckling Presse, Sarabande, Invisible Ear, Glitter Pony, and others. I bought five and felt rich and well fed. I left copies of the Cherry Pie chaps with Maggie for perusal and review.

Stirrup Pants is located at 2122 Cherokee Street, and is open Saturdays only, from 10 am - 3 pm. You can also reach Stirrup Pants at stirruppantschapbooks at gmail dot com.

Cranky Yellow hosts a poetry party

Cranky Yellow, a new arts-music-literature hub in the Cherokee Street district of St. Louis, is hosting a poetry and pleasure party with burlesque ladies! The ladies include the ever-surprising and wonderful Colleen McKee, author of My Hot Little Tomato from Cherry Pie Press.

When? Sunday, July 19th
6-8pm: Erotic poetry by Colleen McKee and others, and various additional sinful attractions
8-whenever: Turn the Other Cheek Burlesque

Where? Cranky Yellow, 2847 Cherokee, 63118

How much? Poetry is free; $5 for burlesque. Of course, there are many attractive goodies for sale at Cranky Yellow. Cash only!

For more info? 314.773.4499 or info@crankyyellow.com

Review: Fear, by Pamela Garvey

A review I wrote of Pamela Garvey's chapbook Fear, out from Finishing Line Press, is posted at RATTLE. Read the review here.
Fear was a finalist for the New Women's Voices Competition, and is available at Left Bank Books in St. Louis, and also at Amazon. Garvey lives in St. Louis, where she has long been appreciated for co-founding Words on Purpose, a group of socially concerned writers who organize benefit readings.

St. Louis photos - would this work for poetry?

Here is an interesting photo project that I think would work equally well for poetry -- anyone want to try it?

A hundred local photographers threw darts at a St. Louis city map. Each person had to follow his or her dart (to whatever city block it had landed on) within the next month and come back with photographs. This web site shows the amazing results.
http://www.dartstlouis.com/