Astrophil Press

Laird Hunt has emerged as one of the most captivating and unique American writers of his generation. His prose transforms from book to book to serve the purpose of the content but still possesses a Huntian quality that is rich, dialogic, and captivating. Once passed over because of the purported "difficulty" of his style, the world has finally caught up with him. With his fourth novel, Ray of the Star, Hunt is now mentioned in league with some of the greatest authors and with good reason...Laird Hunt's writing is simply that good.

I first met Laird Hunt in the early part of 2000 when I was working on my MFA at the Naropa University, an MFA program that Hunt himself attended. What struck me most about Hunt was his approachability and kindness...
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Hello All. David Gruber has just launched his blog this month. If you're tapped into the blog world, add his page! Below is the interview he did with Gregory Lawless, who has contributed several wonderful interviews to our website. Please enjoy!

Last year the poet Gregory Lawless grilled me ruthlessly about my first book, an experience from which it took me some time to recover.  I recently had a chance to read Gregory's own book, I Thought I Was New Here, published in 2009 by BlazeVOX Books, and thought to return the favor.  However, Gregory lives near Boston, well beyond my reach, so this exchange was conducted over email, and he seems to have handled my interrogation with aplomb.  I doubt he even broke a sweat.

DG: I think that the thing which most struck me about your collection was the way so many of the poems revolve around themes of damage and death – particularly in a poem like “Field Trip To The Museum Featuring Your Death In A Glass Display Case” – where death, decay, injury, heartbreak are offered to the reader as startling, unexpected experiences...
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Hello Everyone!

We've eased into 2010 and despite the mild disappointment that the world still doesn't have hover-cars, we here at Astrophil Press are pretty excited about the new decade. We've just closed our poetry contest and have begun judging. We are excited to read all of these great manuscripts and look forward to announcing the winner in April.

In the next few weeks we will announce forth coming books and post some new interviews with other authors. Over the past few weeks we've been busy with the holidays, but some wonderful things have happened while we were traveling. We sold out of our first pressing of Keith Abbott's book and are awaiting for for another shipment from the printer. If you haven't read Keith's book, you should order it and see what all the fuss is about! It's a great little book.

David Gruber is about to launch his website and we'll post that when he gets it up and running.

Until next time, stay warm and have a great 2010!


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Sandy Florian is a writer who at first may seem as if she is caught between the two worlds of fiction and poetry; however, if one gets to know Florian's work, s/he begins to understand that Florian is constructing a new methodology of writing. Her work is unique in spirit and delivery. At times her philosophies remind me of Bruno Schulz as she wants to create myth and at other times her philosophies remind me of Gertrude Stein as her prose purposefully works against the rules of punctuation to achieve a precise rhythm or meaning. She has two books available on Action Books and one available on Tarpaulin Sky. You can find out more about Sandy and her work if you stop by her blog. I have had the great pleasure of knowing Sandy for four years and it is now my distinct pleasure to introduce her to you...
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Leigh Stein is the author of the chapbooks How to Mend a Broken Heart with Vengeance (Dancing Girl Press) and Least Inhabited Island II (h-ngm-n Combatives). In 2008, she won an Amy Award from Poets & Writers, and was nominated for Best of the Web, Best of the Net, and a Puschart. She lives in Brooklyn, where she teaches drama to public schoolchildren.


GL: One of my favorite Leigh Stein poems is “You’re Mispronouncing My Name Again,” which appears in your chapbook How to Mend a Broken Heart with Vengeance and was originally published here. The speaker begins the poem by recalling how she used to work as an astronaut in a department store window display—nice work if you can get it. She says, “I took that astronaut job so I / could miss you from the cosmos beyond the glass” though she’s ultimately subjected to more than just self-selected romantic torments...
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As autumn sheds its tender leaves, winter lurks just around the corner, which means that the deadline for our poetry book contest is drawing closer! The deadline is January 1st of 2010, so put the finishing touches on your work and enter that book you've been obsessing over for the last few months!

We have some good news from Coldfront. They have posted a very nice review of David Gruber's book. If you work for a literary journal, magazine, or a well established blog, please contact us about reviewing our titles. We are always looking to get our books into the hands of interested readers.

In the next few months we will post some more interviews. We have questions out to several fantastic writers. Please stop by and keep an eye on the site!
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Hello Everyone! Our friends at Big Other are holding a contest! They are giving away great prizes for the lucky person who comes up with their new tag line. Stop by and give it a swing!
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Oddly, it's a chilly day down here in the swamplands, but we're keeping warm with good books!

For those who have waited for Amazon to carry our titles, you may now visit their site and order. They have not posted the photos of our titles yet, but they do have them listed so that you may order them.

Just got the monthly update from Small Press Distribution and it seems that our own Keith Abbott has broken into the top 20 best sellers this month! Great job Keith!

In other news, the computer I use for office work had a bad optical drive so she's spending some much needed time at the Apple Spa, where they will reinstall a new drive. The office just doesn't look the same without her shiny little face.

Just finished Joanna Howard's new book and LOVED it. I'll post a review when things slow down a bit (oh, yeah that never happens).

Enjoy some cider during these autumn days and curl up with a good title from Astrophil Press!

best,
duncan
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