The Green Lantern Press

The Brightest Thing In The World: 3 Essays From The Institute of Failure

admin — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:24:37 +0000

THE BRIGHTEST THING IN THE WORLD: 3 ESSAYS FROM THE INSTITUTE OF FAILURE is a collection of essays that touch on seating strategies, Dick Cheney, cuckoo clocks, the Fibonacci series, butterflies and old friends. These threads weave together like a tapestry and by their accumulated resonance create an impression of loss and longing. As in Sebald’s Rings of Saturn, the reader passes through an associative experience. These are the essays of a poet; like a performance of words, each verb is as active as a muscle. While every sentence tends to its end, the reader resists its inevitable conclusion. This book was published in an edition of 500, with book design and silkscreened covers by Sonnenzimmer. It is available for $20, through our in-house bookstore, The Paper Cave, and (eventually) will be distributed by our friends at SPD. 70 pages, perfect bound, 978-1-4507-4217-7

Praise for The Brightest Thing In The World:

“… A few possible answers gleaned from this book include: how to mourn a blur, analyze “an accident shaped like an umbrella”, or create a lecture that thinks like a poem. This book sets itself up to fail, calling itself ‘The Brightest Thing in the World.’ And then suddenly it is.” Jen Bervin, author of The Desert.
“In these three of Matthew Goulish’s lectures on failure, language, thought, and feeling add up with stunningly multiplicative affect, where scope — conceptual, historical, political, intimate — expands and contracts across discontinuous trajectories of domains and sourc- es. They are lectures resonant without intra-subjective expertise, on failure, of failure, of only the most”active, transparent and absorbing, synapse-firing, generous kinds.” Jesse Seldess, author of Who Opens.
“Goulish has in the most humble of ways shown here how negative capability is no longer only the ability to linger in mystery and doubt, but is the active pursuit after those honest ways in which writing must fail in order to succeed.” Dan Beachy-Quick, author of A Whaler’s Dictionary.

On Marvellous Things Heard

admin — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:52:42 +0000

Derived in form from Aristotle’s “Minor Work” of the same title, this variation of ON MARVELLOUS THINGS HEARD explores a range of literary appropriations of music, in terms of translation and metamorphosis. Part investigation, part inventory, and partinvention (in the musical sense: a composition in simple counterpoint), this poetically-driven essay assays the narrating subject as she assays the subjects of literature, of music, and of silence.

Kordian

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:53:59 +0000

Kordian is a Polish classic written in 1833 by Juliusz Słowacki and features an amalgam of revolutionary spirit, tradition, modernist bravado and suffering–topics navigated by a young Romantic protagonist after whom the play is named. Within the canon of Polish literature Kordian offers pivotal insight into the development of Poland’s Romantic movement (her literary golden age), and Polish literature as a whole. The Green Lantern Press is pleased to publish the play’s first English translation by Gerard T. Kapolka. Illustrations by Lilli Carré and silk screen covers by Aay Preston-Myint. This book was published in an edition of 500.

Writing Art Cinema 1988-2010

admin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 13:02:51 +0000

Stephen Lapthisophon brings his skills as an installation artist to the page with six essays written over the last 20 years. For fans of both continental philosophy and modern poetry and prose, Lapthisophon shows how writing about writing, art, and cinema can dissolve into its subject, becoming all of those things or none of them. With an introduction by Devin King. Printed in an edition of 250 by The Green Lantern Press. 2011

The Mutation of Fortune

admin — Sat, 21 May 2011 14:50:49 +0000

THE MUTATION OF FORTUNE documents the parallel fortunes of one protagonist living multiple lives. As she navigates her Märchen landscape, she goes through varied transformations, becoming at times a wolf, a thief, an amputee, a hunter, a rabbit and a runaway. She sleeps with swans and suffers a sister that bites the back of her knees. The world of this book is unstable, delicious and carries with it an inexplicit sense of danger. Printed in an edition of 500 with silk screen covers by Aay Preston-Myint, this book hosts a series of color plate collages made by the author.

Visions for Chicago

admin — Sat, 21 May 2011 14:39:43 +0000

Visions for Chicago is a politically charged public art project taking place in front yards, empty lots and public spaces throughout Chicago, Illinois during a historic mayoral and city council election season. The question of “What is your vision for Chicago?” is important at this time because the mayor and the city council he controlled for over 20 years are retiring and the political culture of corruption, defeat and disengagement they have encouraged has an opening and opportunity to be changed. But change doesn’t happen in the small and busy window of time afforded by elections, it happens over long periods of time through the implementation of strategic vision by people acting collectively and individual-level internal transformation of how we think, behave and consider ourselves in relationship to other people and our surroundings.

This project has been organized by Daniel Tucker. Featuring photography by Lauren Cumbia and Hillary Strack. With an introduction by Micah Maidenberg and an interview by Abigail Satinsky. Produced with support from Lantern Projects and the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. Published by Green Lantern Press, 2011. Visions for Chicago contributors: Aaron Hughes, Abigail Satinsky, Adam Kader, Alex Han, Alexa Roberts, Alice Kim, Amanda Klonsky, Amy Ellison, Amy Mall, Ana Katsenios, Athena Thasiah, Augie Montes, B. Loewe, Ben Helphand , Bill Ayers, Brad Thomson, Carlos Fernandez, Carolyn Thomas, Carrie Spitler, Charlie Vinz, Chasity White, Courtney Moran, Coya Paz, Dalin and Lightie, Damon Locks, Dana Carter, Dara Epison, Darlene Gramigna, Dave Pabellon, Dave Stovall, Dawn Herrera Helphand, Dayna Kriz, DeBrina Moore, Devin Mcintosh, Eden Thasiah, Elise Zelechowski, Elizabeth Thasiah, Ellen Rothenberg, Elly Fishman, Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa, Eric Rogers, Eva Preus, Fausto Lopez, Fereshteh Toosi, Frank Edwards, Gabby Higgins, Graham Stephenson, Grant Buhr, Harishi Patel, Hazel Bee Womac, Hector Gonzalez, Hillary Strack, Ida Rocket Xoomsai, Jackie Ingram, Jaiya Ovid, Jeanne Walker, Jen Blair, Jerome Grand, John Preus, Kai Preus, Karen Furlong, Kathleen Duffy, Keshawnda Eggleston, Khila Clay, Kristina Pilman, Kyla Lyles, Lauren Cumbia, Lillie Mccartin, Liz Goss, Louisa Womac, Manchershaw Engineer, Marcus Thomas, Mariame Kaba, Mark Shipley, Marquesha Mance, Martin Macias Jr., Marvin Scott, Maximiliano Benitez, Melissa Dean, Micah Maidenberg, Michelle Lugalia Hollon, Miguel Colon, Mike Phillips, Nat Zorach, Neil Brideau, Nicole Mauser, Nina Xoomsai, Peter Zelchenko, Rachel Caidor Rebecca Zorach, Roxy Trudeau, Ryan Lugalia Hollon, Salem Collo-Julin, Samuel Barnett, Sara Brodzinsky, Sarah Jane Rhee Solveig Preus, Talib Becktemba-Goss, Theaster Gates, Tiana Jones, Tyra Williams, Tzitlalli Cienfuegos, Victor Thasiah, and Vinay Ravi.

You can see the entire contents of this book online by going here.

Forgery

admin — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 16:59:59 +0000

forge (v.) To create by hammering. To fake, invent, contrive, devise, excogitate, or formulate. To move ahead steadily. To shape, form, work, mold, or fashion. To make out of components, often in an improvising manner. Collaged from language collected using the obscure keyword “Finkl”—obituaries, case histories, old Chicago legends, gossip columns, political speeches and online posts—Forgery is a lyrical essay on industrial and personal dislocation—a strange choreography of urban conquest and collapse—centered on a 130-year-old Chicago steel forge. Founded in 1879 by German immigrant Anton Finkl, A. Finkl & Sons Co. still operates today on Chicago’s Near North Side. Last vestige of an industrial era, the company produces die forgings noisily and with a good deal of dirty emissions alongside one of the city’s more affluent neighborhoods, where spas and plastic surgeons, shops for handmade cosmetics and luxury chocolates extend off one of the busiest commercial corridors in Chicago. Starting from this intersection of forces, the narrator embarks on a walk to the seven forgotten homes of the forge’s founder, on the way meeting settlers, Indians, Bob Fosse and Richard Daley, gangsters, workers, a K-pop girl group, and a cast of other peculiar characters whose fused stories recount the multifarious history of an evolving city. Whether tied up at gunpoint in the garage of a basketball player or floating at the bottom of Lake Michigan, Forgery revels in disorientation. Printed in an edition of 500 with silk screen covers by Crosshair and an introduction by Stephen Lapthisophon.

The Fiction At Work Biannual Report

admin — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 22:09:16 +0000

It’s a slim volume, this book, with a matte cover you can run your fingers over, pocket-width and actually pocketable, in jeans, khakis, slacks, and trousers, unlike the faux pocket editions, so popular in the 80’s, which fit only into the pockets of enormous carnival pants, and on the matte cover are the names of the 24 writers locked within, their bios swollen with awards and laudations, their births in, and travels to, the countries of the world, their stories, word-counted in but the dozens or hundreds, make mince of the joys and sorrows of our lives. This volume—it is not slim.

Published in an edition of 250 with writing by Bim Angst, Anne Brooke, Devin Bustin, Spencer Dew, E.K. Entrada, Kevin Fink, Jennifer Gravely, Mary Hamilton, Lindsay Hunter, Jac Jemc, Steve McPhereson, Lois McShane, Gary Moshimer, Ira S. Murfin, Jenny Ortiz, Hannis Pannis, Ryan Pendell, Michael Ramsburg, Robert Scotellaro, Tom Sheehan, Lehua Taitano, Janet Thorning, Maureen O’Leary Wanket, and Bill West; this work was edited by Tobias Amadon Bengelsdorf.

The North Georgia Gazette

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:38:25 +0000

Literary Nonfiction. Art. Contributers include William Edward Parry, the Crews of the Helca and Griper, et al. An annotated transcription of the 1821 newspaper, The North Georgia Gazette. The newspaper, written and published aboard an English ship trapped in the Arctic, was an attempt by the captain to lessen the boredom of a long, isolated winter. The result is an incredible existential metaphor, in which a group of people, stranded in the dark, are forced to make their own meaning in order to survive. The Gazette comes at a time of enormous climatic change, and it seeks to point out the importance of the relationships between humans and their surrounding environment. In addition to the entire 1821 newspaper, the book includes excerpts from the Captain’s journal, original annotations by transcriber/poet Lily Robert-Foley, an introduction by St. John’s (MD) Professor Dr. Michael Comenetz, an essay about optimism and humility by contemporary Arctic expeditionist John Huston and contemporary artwork by artists Deb Sokolow, Daniel Anhorn, Jason Dunda, and Nick Butcher. Printed in an edition of 500 with silkscreen covers by Nick Butcher of Sonnenzimmer. 2009

Artists Run Chicago Digest

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:27:33 +0000

The ARC Digest is an archive of the activities of Chicago’s artist-run spaces between 1999-2009. It acts both as a companion to, appraisal of and extension for the Artist Run Chicago exhibition at the Hyde Park Art Center. Included are essays by Lori Waxman, Mary Jane Jacob, The Pond, John Neff/Scott Speh, Abigail Satinsky, Allison Peters Quinn/Britton Bertan, and the editors, Shannon Stratton and Caroline Picard; a series of interviews between Dan Gunn and the over 30 spaces participating in the exhibition; and a CD with two audio interviews by Bad At Sports with artist-run media groups and Temporary Services. Interviews, essays and conversations alongside floor plans, exhibition histories and other visuals present a 10-year time period in Chicago’s artist-run culture while providing history, reflection, critique and dialog about it, its importance, difficulties, sustainability and necessity as well as its specificity to a community and generation. Published in conjunction with threewalls. Printed in an edition of 500. 50 copies feature a limited edition silkscreen cover by No Coast Collective. 2009