FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 15, 2021
UPDATE: Exclusive signed copies of “canvas: poems” are available direct from Viewless Wings.
DUBLIN, CA–City of Dublin Poet Laureate James Morehead’s debut book canvas: poems, featuring original art by Kari Byron (EXPLR Media, MythBusters, Crash Test World) and Alla Tsank, and photographs by the author, went on sale today in hardcover, paperback and eBook formats, through retail booksellers and Ingram Content Group. Morehead documented his experience as a first-time author in a series of articles published on viewlesswingspress.com.
James Morehead on canvas, “I was introduced to writing poetry by a creative writing teacher in high school. I had the typical high school student’s impression of poetry: boring and hard to understand. But that teacher was the spark, and during the section on poetic forms I discovered the extraordinary power of poetry: the ability to capture emotion, sound, movement and deeper meaning in a few carefully crafted words. canvas represents the best of four decades of my work and a sequence of poems inspired by the disruption of the pandemic.”
heart racing from stress dreams:
fleeing or falling or any of the frenetic scenes
that purge my mind of pandemic news
only to be refilled day after day after quarantine day
Excerpt from “by the ocean” by James Morehead
Advance Praise for canvas:
“James Morehead’s canvas opens itself to the poetry of everyday life, where stanzas are etched in sand, and poems end in sunset. Combining micro-narratives of Boston bullies cornering a young boy, with minute descriptions of time in quarantine, it draws us into moving tableaus of tenacious attention to what went down, what might come up, and where we might find ourselves. These are poems to be savored, re-read, kept handy for those times when only poetry will do.” W. J. T. Mitchell, Senior Editor, Critical Inquiry and Gaylord Donnelley Distinguished Service Professor, English and Art History, University of Chicago
“Beauty breathes in these debut poems: from the elegant limano to strong silences. Poet, James
Morehead is a world traveler who treats readers to excursions that harken back to his alluring
title poem, canvas, and other portraits. These memoir poems sing in a universal language.” Regina Harris Baiocchi, Author of Indigo Sound, Urban Haiku, and Blues Haiku
“James creates an enchanting melody of poetic sound for the reader page after page. He notices life’s details with a tender yet precise eye, down to the ‘streets glistening with midnight rain’ and ‘summer bursting outwards / fierce from its slumber.’ Using this keen observation, James breaks past life’s routines to uncover gems of beauty. To read canvas is to be transported to a world infused with meaning and memory.” Morgan Liphart, author of Barefoot and Running
“Evocative, honest, and deeply personal poetry that explores everyday life. James Morehead’s first book canvas perfectly captures life’s joyful, sorrowful, and seemingly insignificant moments. His lockdown poetry beautifully expresses what so many of us have felt over the last year as the world was paused.” Jenny Buccos, Director / Producer and Founder, EXPLR Media
The distinct cover art for “canvas” was created by Kari Byron using a unique black powder technique (video of the cover being created below). To create the black powder effect Byron first paints the design and protects part of the painting with clay, then ignites black powder multiple times over the painting. The resulting detritus is scraped away to reveal the painting. “canvas” was designed by Zoe Norvell.
- canvas is available for purchase through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, independent booksellers (including Books Inc., Towne Center Books, Rakestraw Books and Phoenix Books), and for wholesale via Ingram Content Group
- canvas Sell Sheet
- canvas cover
- James Morehead profile photo
- How The Pandemic Inspired This Dublin Man To Follow His Dreams (Patch.com, May 2021)
- Dublin Author Publishes First Volume of Poetry, Entitled “Canvas” (The Independent, May 2021)
- Self-Publishing and Pursuing Passions With Poet James Morehead (Influenster, June 2021
James Morehead can be contacted for interviews and in-store promotions at dublinpoetlaureate@gmail.com.
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