Spit and a Half, the zine/comic mailorder distro run by John Porcellino of King-Cat Comics (also the guy who drew the image above), just uploaded a whole bunch of new stuff, o wow — ogle it all here, buy most of it, then eat ramen and drink cheap beer for the rest of the month. NO REGRETS!

Details are here, on their blog — if you want to participate but haven’t written for any of those particular publications, you can lobby for yourself there, too. Literago.org nominates ACM, the2ndhand, Artifice … [image credit]

O octopus, with your silken look! whose soul is inseparable from mine … (The Songs of Maldoror)

We are through with the rational, reasonable, realistic and scientific solutions of faith-based positivism. Instead, we make the following demands and dedicate them to Judi Bari, an Earth First! liberator and lover of old-growth trees who was car-bombed by the forces of law-’n'-order twenty years ago on May 24th. Long live Judi Bari! Solidarity with Marie Mason, Oso Blanco Chubbock, Mumia Abu Jamal, and the Tarnac 9!

1. CLARIFICATION: It needs to be made clear that this is not an “oil spill.” This is a manmade disaster. Depending on which official version you chose to believe, millions of gallons of oil have been gushing into the ocean every day since April 22, 2010. A “spill” is what happens when a drinking glass of water tips over; this is and always has been an unstoppable, unpluggable, uncleanable, uncontrollable, unleashed man-made geyser of toxic disaster.

2. PEOPLE’S TRIBUNALS FOR ECOTERRORISTS: An injury to one is an injury to all! We charge every BP America executive and governmental overseer of offshore oil drilling with manslaughter and ecocide. The mansions, yachts, and private jets seized from these executives and bureaucrats will be converted into sandboxes, tree forts, rain gardens, greenhouses, and amusement parks. The accused must face a people’s tribunal and stand trial in the Gulf Shore communities that their actions (and inactions) have affected, particularly the families of those eleven workers killed when the BP rig exploded. Bussed in from the cities, the underground, and the countryside, members of Earth Liberation Front and Earth First! should be on hand to witness the proceedings, especially those who are currently serving harsh prison sentences for their work in defense of the natural world. The least that we can hope for as an outcome is that the accused will be tarred with their own petroleum wastes and feathered with the soiled plumage of murdered birds.

3. DISMANTLING OF ALL OIL, COAL, AND NUCLEAR POWER COMPANIES: The obscene perpetuation of environmental devastation and endless wars in the name of energy company profits cannot be tolerated any longer. In the name of brown pelicans, shrimp, frigate birds, marlins, sea bass, laughing gulls, octopi, and piping plovers, we demand an immediate and total cessation of the violent industrialized extraction of oil and coal from the Earth. We also call for the shutting down of all nuclear power facilities whose foul radioactive wastes threaten ecologies everywhere.

4. DISSOLUTION OF ALL MEDIA CORPORATIONS: Our friend in New Orleans, Max Cafard, reports that monstrous tentacles of oil measuring ten miles long and three miles wide continue to grow beneath the waves, yet tellingly the media industry remains focused on the multicolored “sheen” on the sea’s surface. News outlets dutifully parrot the oil company’s party line of official estimates and explanations. When one BP official said that this disaster was a good opportunity to experiment with pollution containment strategies, no news agency explored the implications of an industry that can trigger a catastrophe and then grope around in the dark for a way out of it. In another interview with a BP spokesman, the CNN reporter concluded the report with the sympathetic assurance that “We’re all praying” for the corporation. Clearly, the media serve only the interests of their stockholders and the State in their coverage of this atrocity. Therefore we call for all equipment and broadcast network technology currently used to disseminate these outrageous lies and propaganda (”We’re glad that you’re on the job, Admiral”; “Don’t worry-warm water microbes break down the oil”) to be collectivized and re-distributed on street corners in order to encourage more participation and free expression in the report and analysis of such tragedies.

5. EMERGENCY MASS ACTION: We call upon everyone to defend your homes, your loved ones, and the Earth from destruction. We have seen the graffiti in Mobile, Alabama: “When life gives you oil spills, make Molotovs!”

- THE SURREALIST MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES

In 2010, Switchback has published six books, all sharply designed and covering an impressive range of topics from marriage to illness to animals that change shape and even English as a second language. The books are feminist but not in a narcissistic way, no: in the way that looks at borders and transition and changing beauty. They’re more Judith Butler and Judy Blume, less getting back at your boyfriend, know what we’re saying?

And the deadline for Switchback Books’ annual Gatewood Prize (named for Emma Gatewood, first woman to hike the Appalachian Trail), is coming up soon. The Prize goes to a first or second full-length collection of poems by a woman (Switchback’s definition includes transsexual, transgender, genderqueer, and female-identified individuals) in the English language.

This year’s judge is Cathy Park Hong, and the submission deadline is June 1st: 48-80 pages, $15 entry fee, submission via Manuscript Hub. Full details here, sample poems from previous winners there.

1. Big Questions #14: Title and Deed by Anders Nilsen

2. Butt #28: Fantastic Magazine for Homosexuals 

3. O Fallen Angel by Kate Zambreno

4. Craphound #4 Clowns Devils and Bait 

5. Weathercraft by Jim Woodring (pictured!)

6. You’re a Horrible Person But I Like You: Believer Book of Advice by var.

7. Bad World Small Things by William Cleveland

8. Gaylord Phoenix #2 by Edie Fake

9. Lose #2 by Michael Deforge

10. How To Make Soap Without Burning your Face Off by Raleigh Briggs

On July 10, 2010, from 7-10pm, the Chicago Underground Library will host its second annual Science of Obscurity — a science fair and book launch.

Folks who have just finished writing a book, or reading one, or making something that looks like one – “book” also means zine, magazine, chapbook, textbook, etc. – are invited to read a graf, then launch the text into space. (Last year, there was applause after this happened, and it was really brave and awesome and heartwarming. People were all, “man! I wish I’d sent in a proposal to do that!” 

It’s not too late to do it in 2010! Trebuchet proposals should be sent to info@underground-library.org by June 1st — tell CUL who you are and what you want to throw. Short, sweet, done.) The library is also accepting proposals for  its science fair, happening that same night. Friends! This is your chance to tell the world why your work is special, using a diorama, poster, tri-fold board, or baking soda volcano, all of which trump Facebook fan pages, hands-down.

Ideas include: (1) plotting the effects that prolonged exposure to an audio recording of your poetry has on Orange Line passengers between 8 and 9 am on Mondays, (2) showing how paper airplanes made from your manuscript pages fly more gracefully than ones made from phonebook pages, or (3) designing the ideal cape for your novel’s hero’s archnemesis, whether or not s/h/zhe actually has one. (NB: Tabletop space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis, however there is nearly unlimited room for wall poster displays – out-of-town writers are encouraged to participate!)

The Science of Obscurity will be at the Jupiter Outpost (which sounds like the most awesome carnival ride ever) (1139 W Fulton) and will also feature something called “scientist speed dating.” Food and drink will be available for sale, and you are welcome to BYOB, too. (OMG Chicago is going to be sunny by then, too. We cannot even wait.)

(For more about CUL, visit the FAQ.) (For all this info in a more linear format, visit the Facebook Event Page.)

Click here for details!

And click here if you don’t know what ekphrastic means…