What's new at 8th House...
Don't Expect the Sun to Shine - Videos Part II, III & IV are now out!
Videos I through IV are now available. Burn your popcorn as you watch:
Don't Expect the Sun to Shine - Part I: Canadiana
Don't Expect the Sun to Shine - Part II: Creativity vs. Alignment
Don't Expect the Sun to Shine - Part III: Stalin & Angels
Don't Expect the Sun to Shine - Part IV: Creativity (Continued...)
Don't Expect the Sun to Shine - Part V: Poets & Wars (Coming Soon)
Check out the video series here. One video to be released each week until the April launch... Pre-Order the book today!
"Don't Expect the Sun to Shine" is a record of the wake of the American-Canadian poet Robin Blaser, who taught a generation of Canadian poets American techniques derived from the WWI experience, techniques of blowing apart meaning, deriving meaning from the arrangement of text on the page, and using pages as cloud chamber bowls. Anything on them derived meaning only from their relationship in space to the other objects in that space.
These were called poems, but they were really scripts to tease the cognitive patterns of biological readers. Unlike book-based poetry, they did not interact with the technological constraints of books but with the neurological constraints of humans. Their purpose was to turn space into time. Their purpose was to stop death. Every poem was a wake.
In Don’t Expect the Sun to Shine, Rathwell and Rhenisch turn time back into space.
We want readers to wander around wherever they like. We don’t control their hike. Their biological history does that. We are just hosting a party, so they can meet. — Harold Rhenisch
Don’t Expect the Sun to Shine responds to three ongoing trends in the development of written language in the age of images: the treatment of words as images in art writing, the evolution of criticism as a form of creativity that fails its potential because it remains enslaved to the academy, and the contemporary world of narrative fiction, which sees fictional worlds as the greatest truths, enjoys being dominated by normative narratives, and treats characters as clothing taken on for public display.
Novels have become self-help, identity racks in a mall that you page through to find the one that fits. Then you wear it. — Harold Rhenisch
An Anthology of East African Literature is now available!
8th House Publishing is proud to announce the release of "An Anthology of East African Literature" edited by Beatrice Lamwaka & Josh Mali.
Containing over 300 pages, more than 50 contributors from more than 10 contributing nations, this is the volume everyone has been waiting for.
An Anthology of East African Literature
Edited by Beatrice Lamwaka & Josh Mali
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
An Anthology of East African Literature: A Collection of Masterfully Crafted Pieces from 50+ Contributors across 10+ Countries
Montreal, CANADA - The literary world is about to receive a gift in the form of An Anthology of East African Literature. This new book, featuring the works of more than 50 contributors from over 10 countries, promises to be a granary of artistic abundance. With over 300 pages of literary art, this anthology is a rich tapestry of poems and short stories that draw from the African oral storytelling tradition.
The poetry section of the anthology is rich and sundry, reflecting the diverse spectrum of literary expression to be found across the East African region. From playful use of verb repetition to create a sense of frequency and emphasis, to the conversational form of Ngonjera, readers will find a wide range of styles and themes.
The short stories section is equally diverse, covering a range of societal and personal issues. From terrorism to romantic cravings, political disenchantment to justice and gender equality issues, the writings in this section showcase some of the finest writing in terms of both form and meaning.
“We are excited to present An Anthology of East African Literature to the world,” says Josh Mali, one of the editors. “This book is a fitting gift to the lovers of literary art in this first quarter of the 21st century, and we hope readers will enjoy the rich variety of masterfully crafted pieces that it contains.”
Featuring the works of renowned writers such as Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva, Lydia Kasese, and Billy Kahora, this anthology promises to be a must-read for anyone with a love for literary art. The book is set to be released soon, and readers can pre-order it now to ensure they get their copy as soon as it’s available.
For more information about An Anthology of East African Literature please visit the publisher’s website. The editors are available for interview.
Don't Expect the Sun to Shine - Video Part I: Canadiana
Check out the first video in the series here. One video to be released each week until the April launch... Pre-Order the book today!
"Don't Expect the Sun to Shine" is a record of the wake of the American-Canadian poet Robin Blaser, who taught a generation of Canadian poets American techniques derived from the WWI experience, techniques of blowing apart meaning, deriving meaning from the arrangement of text on the page, and using pages as cloud chamber bowls. Anything on them derived meaning only from their relationship in space to the other objects in that space.
These were called poems, but they were really scripts to tease the cognitive patterns of biological readers. Unlike book-based poetry, they did not interact with the technological constraints of books but with the neurological constraints of humans. Their purpose was to turn space into time. Their purpose was to stop death. Every poem was a wake.
In Don’t Expect the Sun to Shine, Rathwell and Rhenisch turn time back into space.
We want readers to wander around wherever they like. We don’t control their hike. Their biological history does that. We are just hosting a party, so they can meet. — Harold Rhenisch
Don’t Expect the Sun to Shine responds to three ongoing trends in the development of written language in the age of images: the treatment of words as images in art writing, the evolution of criticism as a form of creativity that fails its potential because it remains enslaved to the academy, and the contemporary world of narrative fiction, which sees fictional worlds as the greatest truths, enjoys being dominated by normative narratives, and treats characters as clothing taken on for public display.
Novels have become self-help, identity racks in a mall that you page through to find the one that fits. Then you wear it. — Harold Rhenisch
Reading and Discussion with Darren C. Demaree
Join Darren C. Demaree in-store for a reading and discussion on February 13th at 6pm for the release of "the luxury" at the Prologue Bookshop in Columbus, Ohio.
Date and time
Location
Prologue Bookshop 841 North High Street Columbus, OH 43215 United States
Coming March 2023 - "An Anthology of East African Literature"
A video on the upcoming book:
300+ pages, 50+ contributors, 10+ countries
This is not just a collection of poems and short stories; it is a granary of artistic abundance! For here, will you find a rich variety of masterfully crafted pieces in a range of style, including those that draw from the African oral storytelling tradition. It is a montage of pieces of literary art, curated in a manner that allows for the ‘strict grammarian’ forms of expression to coalesce with those given to poetic licentiousness.
The anthology’s poetry is rich and sundry, mirroring the diverse spectrum of literary expression to be found across the East African region. Verb repetition – a familiar linguistic form often used to create a sense of frequency or emphasis in many Bantu languages – is at play as the persona in Aquagasm playfully draws us into her romantic entrancement with nature.
She dip dips in the Ocean with her toes,
Smack smacks the waves with her breasts
Lick licks the sand with her fingers
Point points at the sky with her nose
Ngonjera, a Swahili word for a conversational poem with more than one persona’s voice, comes to the fore in Who Will Marry Her? This conversational form, a characteristic of many an African poetry recital rooted in the oral poetic tradition, is more overtly recognizable in the opening line of Poetic Justice:
First wait I tell you!
The anthology’s short stories section features some of the finest writing yet, both in terms of form and meaning. Thematically, the writings cover a range of issues, from the societal to the personal. This way, you have terrorism juxtaposed with romantic cravings; political disenchantment residing side by side with justice and gender equality issues; sexual exploitation and human/family relations finding acres of space in both the prose and the poetry, and an unmissable glimpse into racial and ethnic issues. In some cases, the themes have a bearing on the style employed.
Whichever your favourite genre is, this anthology of East African literature has delivered something that has not been served to readers in many years. It is a fitting gift to the lovers of literary art in this first quarter of the 21st century.
- Josh Mali