“Epic Rites Press is a revolutionary gamble. These are the days when everyone hides under the nearest rock and gets out of the way of the line of fire. Epic Rites Press is right in the middle of the line of fire and I love that!”—Todd Moore
“If this book is any indication of what Epic Rites Press can do, I say, look out world! The small press may never be the same.”—RD Armstrong
“Epic Rites isn’t a publisher, it’s a war machine bent on destroying the small press status quo. If you’re at all interested in diverse and vital writing, you need to dig through the ERP catalog. You’ve got your pick of poetry, story collections, novels, plays...and with each new release, the work gets bolder, the production value goes up, and the fire these books light under your ass gets just a little hotter. You and your bookshelves may never be the same again.”—Matt Galletta
“Epic Rites Press publications are characteristically raw and often deeply flawed and personally confronting. Imagine, if you will, a twisted but cathartic broken bottle, heaving and slashing and spilling out from its bloodied core the excesses and frailties of human sewerage onto the page.”—George Anderson
“Epic Rites Press always manages to capture the blood and guts. There are a lot of underground places that try to push that envelope, but it’s a hard thing to do right. Epic Rites Press does it.”—RL Raymond
Forthcoming from Epic Rites Press
|
Bullshit Rodeo
Novel by Misti Rainwater-Lites 280 pages $16.95 plus shipping ISBN 978-1-926860-23-7 Forthcoming, 2013 Pre-order
|
Exterior by Julie Michelle Sparenberg
|
“Bullshit Rodeo was raw and thrilling in the best way. A real excellent book. Lots of magic here. Lots of darkness and nostalgia and blinding light shining unexpectedly. I don't think I've ever read a book that encapsulates 'longing' in such a potent form.”—Bud Smith
“Bullshit Rodeo is about as fierce and courageous as it can get. Why stop at mere bleeding all over the page when you can tug at pure bone, pull out some veins, a little sinew, hunks of meat and odd-colored gristle? Misti makes you want to try and put it back together, but you just can't stop staring at all the colors.”—RW Spryszak
Art by Henry Denander
|
The Abyss Gazes Also
Poetry by Wolfgang Carstens 50 pages $10 plus shipping ISBN: 978-1-926860-26-8 Epic Rites Press, Forthcoming 2013 Pre-order your copy
|
“Wolf Carstens’ new book is brutal—full of brutal honesty, beautiful brutality, and even brutally sentimental. No holds barred poetry about cancer, relationships, the masks we wear, and the children we raise. Wolf does not shy away from the truth, no matter how ugly, no matter how brutal.”—Mark Givens
~
“In his latest book of poetry The Abyss Gazes Also, Wolfgang Carstens counterbalances intense meditations on death with poignant moments of personal and familial transformation which illuminate Carstens’ underlying message: we don’t have much time--live to the point of tears.”—George Anderson
~
“In his new poetry book The Abyss Gazes Also, Wolfgang Carstens takes off on foot, through the dark forest leading to death’s doorstep, armed to the teeth with vengeance and a typewriter. Throughout the collection, Carstens spits in the face of darkness
with his good-natured family and hometown friends by his side, ready to throw
down at the turn of a page. The Abyss Gazes Also is a testament of one man’s adventure through his heart and skull, transforming printed words into blood and bone.”—Lawrence Gladeview
with his good-natured family and hometown friends by his side, ready to throw
down at the turn of a page. The Abyss Gazes Also is a testament of one man’s adventure through his heart and skull, transforming printed words into blood and bone.”—Lawrence Gladeview
~
“The Abyss Gazes Also is a series of Zen parables, but not traditional Zen, this is
Nietzschean Zen, Western Zen, existential Zen, Zen noir. These parables are
Trickster Coyote howling from the dark side of the moon. These parables combine
myth with everyday life. Nietzschean Zen is about the myth found in everyday
life, and Carstens is a brilliant poet, master storyteller, and superb creator
of myths.”—Tony Moffeit
Nietzschean Zen, Western Zen, existential Zen, Zen noir. These parables are
Trickster Coyote howling from the dark side of the moon. These parables combine
myth with everyday life. Nietzschean Zen is about the myth found in everyday
life, and Carstens is a brilliant poet, master storyteller, and superb creator
of myths.”—Tony Moffeit
~
“What gets me the most out of this collection are Wolfgang’s cautionary tale poems. His seize-the-day-or-else poems. Brilliant verbal alarms to shake us sleepyheads awake.”—Rob Plath
~
“Carstens doesn’t pull his punches. Each poem is a shot in the gut, every single time.”—John Yamrus
Available now from Epic Rites Press
Exterior art by Henry Denander
|
Tombstone Factory
Poetry by John Dorsey 85 pages $13.50 plus shipping ISBN 978-1-926860-05-3 Epic Rites Press, March 2013 
|
“John Dorsey is a marvelous storyteller, he has a keen eye for detail, and his poems
are full of a rare irony and humor. I love the way his poems twist and turn and come full circle.”—Tony Moffeit
are full of a rare irony and humor. I love the way his poems twist and turn and come full circle.”—Tony Moffeit
~
“John Dorsey is a literary alchemist. Dorsey’s poetry is genuine, unique,
accessible, and it always manages to transcend the act of putting words on the
page and work its way into your bloodstream. There is poetry and there are
poets—and then there’s the great alchemy of John Dorsey.”—Wolfgang Carstens
accessible, and it always manages to transcend the act of putting words on the
page and work its way into your bloodstream. There is poetry and there are
poets—and then there’s the great alchemy of John Dorsey.”—Wolfgang Carstens
~
“I always know when I am reading a John Dorsey poem. His style is uniquely his—playful, dark, bardic and authentically American.”—Todd Moore
~
“Possessing the dexterity of a master juggler with as many arms as Kali, John Dorsey dazzles and breaks our hearts as he balances both searing, highly personal narratives and brilliant pop culture collages that loop and dance through the night in our fractured America.”—Rob Plath
~
“John Dorsey is carrying the torch, lighting the landscape, singing alone in the wasteland. There is nobody that touches him. Nobody comes close. True genius. Every poem is a complete reward for the moments spent reading it.”—David Barker
~
“Few poets take reality and force it to the metal of the meat like John Dorsey does. His poems are wars of attrition for the reader...taking us on a journey that leaves you scarred in a beautiful way. Observe, witness, and live; that is a John Dorsey poem.”—Dan Provost
Listen to John Dorsey read from Tombstone Factory on The Joe Milford Poetry Show:
Listen to internet radio with Joseph Milford on Blog Talk Radio
Available now from Epic Rites Press
|
The Buddha Doesn’t Live Here
Poetry by James Darman 50 pages $10 plus shipping ISBN 978-1-926860-10-7 Epic Rites Press, February 2013 
|
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
“Darman’s poetry is a welcome blast of originality. These lines will startle you, challenge you, bury you, stick with you long after the book has been put down. They will erode the foundation upon which your most cherished beliefs are built—leaving you
reaching for a bottle of wine, if only to reconcile yourself with the futilityof your own existence.”—Wolfgang Carstens
reaching for a bottle of wine, if only to reconcile yourself with the futilityof your own existence.”—Wolfgang Carstens
Available now from Epic Rites Press
Exterior art by Henry Denander
|
BARK
Poetry by John Yamrus Exterior art by Henry Denander 53 pages $10 plus shipping ISBN 978-1-926860-04-6 Epic Rites Press, January 2013 
|
“John Yamrus doesn't have to jump over fences with fancy language to grab your attention. In easy, honest words, his dog poems in BARK take you for a walk through love and loyalty, the joy of true companionship and the sorrow of loss. They give more than they take, much like man's best friend. And they have plenty of bite.”—John Burroughs
~
“John Yamrus, as a poet, is like an expert skeet shooter that hits the clay
pigeon no matter what the speed, angle or trajectory; in poem after poem, his
sharp mind nails its target every time.”—Rob Plath
pigeon no matter what the speed, angle or trajectory; in poem after poem, his
sharp mind nails its target every time.”—Rob Plath
~
“The poems fall down the page with grace and read with deceptive ease, painted
in plain language with strong brush strokes. John Yamrus makes it look
easy.”—Milner Place
in plain language with strong brush strokes. John Yamrus makes it look
easy.”—Milner Place
~
“I’ve come to respect John’s mastery of conversational mechanics and no doubt
believe he is one of only a few that have successfully laid a cornerstone for
the conversation poem.”—Bernard Alain
believe he is one of only a few that have successfully laid a cornerstone for
the conversation poem.”—Bernard Alain
~
“John Yamrus seamlessly surfs the boundary between humour and despair.”—George
Anderson
Anderson
Available now from Epic Rites Press
|
Broken When We Got Here
Poetry by William Taylor Jr. 50 pages $10 plus shipping ISBN 978-1-926860-15-2 Epic Rites Press, January 2013 
|
Exterior by Julie Sparenberg
|
“William Taylor Jr. conveys longing as well as any poet writing today. His words weep in the midst of poetic transcendence as he examines the common miracles that live within and near each of us.”—Charles P. Ries
~
“William Taylor Jr. has moved beyond the tedium and banality of writers obsessed with image and the idea of cool, and has chosen instead to focus on the much harder task of digging for truths. His voice, I think, is one by which all others will need to be measured.”—John Sweet
~
“William Taylor Jr.’s quest to grasp a sense of understanding within a chaotic world illustrates how essential poetry is today”—Brian Morrisey
~
“William Taylor Jr.’s poems speak to you, not at you, with grace and a deceptive gentle simplicity that will knock you on your ass.”—Misti Rainwater-Lites
~
“William Taylor Jr. is the real deal, a guy who writes the sad songs trapped in the hearts of us all.”—John Dorsey
Available now from Epic Rites Press
|
Half Myths & Quarter Legends
Poetry by R L Raymond 74 pages $13.50 plus shipping ISBN 978-1-926860-14-5 Epic Rites Press, October 2012 
|
Exterior by R L Raymond
|
“In Half Myths & Quarter Legends, R L Raymond draws upon all five senses to explore unsettling situations, real and imagined, to create an atmosphere of horror—where the threat of being ripped asunder by sharp teeth becomes as terrifying as the act itself...”—Wolfgang Carstens
~
“RL Raymond’s Half Myths & Quarter Legends is a collection of poems that will destroy your preconceptions of how stories are told and redefine what visceral literature is. Raymond wields words like brass knuckles and comes out swinging; aiming to drop jaws, steal heartbeats, and leave you gasping for more.”—Lawrence Gladeview
~
“Raymond rattles his lines off in short staccato bursts, like someone walking into a bar and emptying a clip from a Thompson gun into the décor—and a few chumps.”—Chris Yurkoski
Available now from Epic Rites Press
Exterior by SAMMY!
|
IRON
Stories by Zarina Zabrisky Photographs by Julie Sparenberg Exterior by SAMMY! 84 pages $13.50 plus shipping ISBN 978-1-926860-13-8 Epic Rites Press, October 2012 
|
“Zabrisky’s stories are like tracer bullets: this here is dark, dangerous, and delicious fiction, folks. One can only ask: where’s she been all this time? Where could all this fire and light have been hiding?”—Tamim Ansary
~
“Zabrisky writes in such a manner as to, at once sparsely and then richly, seduce the reader, seemingly effortlessly, then strikes and one is left in the grip of her kaleidoscopic calamities: drug abuse/ hallucinogenic collapse/ desperation/ death/ danger/ yet still there is hope.”—Michael Mc Aloran
~
“Reading Zabrisky’s stories is like being held in the arms of a mother grizzly. One moment they are coddling you in their furry bear arms, the next they are mauling you with a literary ferocity unmatched.”—Donald Budge
~
“Zabrisky’s stories tend to be strange and terrifying, hilarious and sad, very often all at once. Above all else, they always feel true. She translates life into literature in a unique and unforgettable fashion, and her work is filled with a fierce energy and a twisted imagination that is to be jointly enjoyed and envied.”—William Taylor Jr.
~
“Zabrisky’s rapturous prose delivers four piercing tales of the lovely and lost. IRON is a mesmerizing, vicious dream—the kind you never forget.”—Melissa Febos
~
“There’s a unique cocktail to Zabrisky’s prose, an elusive combination of elegance and ferocity. All these stories have a staccato rhythm that seduces the reader into flipping pages long into the night.”—Joshua Mohr
~
“These are stories about REAL people, REAL women that one can instantaneously identify with...and, they'll get right up into your cerebellum and STAY THERE! This is what makes IRON such a stellar book! Buy a copy of IRON, read it, think about it, and read it again.”—Marie Lecrivain
Available now from Epic Rites Press
|
Death Is Dead
Poems by Rob Plath 50 pages $10 plus shipping ISBN 978-1-926860-11-4 Epic Rites Press, July 2012 
|
Exterior art by Yvette Sohl; Exterior by R L Raymond
|
“Rob Plath’s new book places him firmly at the top of the game and gives a new message of meaning. This is positive Zen nihilism that says ‘fuck you’ with Eastern politeness. Get this book now.”—David McLean
~
“The Devil invited Plath to dinner. The beer was warm, the steak poisoned. But Plath wasn’t having any of it. He brought flowers, and milk for the cat. Furious, the Devil spat fire, slashed with his claws. Plath just smiled, stroked the purring cat, wondering how truly beautiful that ancient, fateful fall must have been.”—R L Raymond
“Rob Plath is simply a damn fine poet. A very very good collection.”—Dan Fante
~
“Plath writes like he’s got something to get off his chest. His poems are strong, urgent and compellingly real.”—John Yamrus
~
“In Death Is Dead, Rob Plath exhumes the flesh-n-bones of mortality, splattering the pages with ghoulish contention & ethereal self-reckoning. Seducing his audience down dark hallways with white knuckles, Plath eloquently & bluntly delivers confessions that are nail-bitingly visceral. Death is Dead is not a collection of poetry, but rather an unassuming Brooklyn apartment with Plath on the couch drinking black tea & loading the revolver for roulette, all the while daring his audience to blink.”—Lawrence Gladeview
~
“In his third full-length collection of poetry Death is Dead, Rob Plath reveals his attempts to quell the raging demons within him through solitude, sobriety and deep personal reflection. This is a new Plath shredding his ego, trying to rise above the crumbling skeletons of his past, and crawling along the slim ledge past Bastard Death and Brother Nothingness, towards a hushed, but savage peace.”—George Anderson
Available now from Epic Rites Press
Exterior by R L Raymond
|
They Never Told Me This Would Happen
Poems by John Yamrus 50 pages $10 plus shipping ISBN 978-1-926860-12-1 Epic Rites Press, June 2012 
|
“Thank you, Mr. John Yamrus, for writing They Never Told Me This Would Happen. It’s not often, but when I open a book and forget where I am until the last page, well, I don’t forget it.”—Carmen Adamucci
~
“John Yamrus’ poems are stunningly deceptive. Frank O’Hara meets William Carlos
Williams musing on what seems the ordinary and suddenly you arrive at the vale
of soul-making moment. The poems demand the reader re-think the world. These
poems, which appear, with their short lines and conversational quickness, to be
somewhat breezy, in fact demand the reader plunge into their complexity. Fine
stuff here.”—Mark Statman
Williams musing on what seems the ordinary and suddenly you arrive at the vale
of soul-making moment. The poems demand the reader re-think the world. These
poems, which appear, with their short lines and conversational quickness, to be
somewhat breezy, in fact demand the reader plunge into their complexity. Fine
stuff here.”—Mark Statman
~
“In this latest collection, John Yamrus continues his mastery of the short poem: always pithy and sometimes pissed–off; lazer-sharp and pinpoint accurate; word-thrifty; rhythmically balanced; and constantly accruing the wisdom of the years.”—Gerald Locklin
~
“John Yamrus doesn’t waste a single word. His poems are finely honed shards carved from the essential stuff of life. His words are sharp and full of wit, and if you’re not careful, they’ll cut you.”—William Taylor Jr.
~
“John Yamrus, to me, is the Jim Henson of poetry. Combining a wry sense of humor, acuity of vision, and directness of language, his most recent collection of short poems, They Never Told Me This Would Happen, is a reader’s delight. Yamrus pulls the strings, inhabits the body, projects the voice of his own combination of Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird: playful, gripy, and slyly optimistic. From the nontraditional love song “she” to the playful tease of “Q” to the life lesson of “the,” Yamrus’ voice leads us through conventionally un-poetic terrain. They Never Told Me This Would Happen should be a primary text for every writer who thinks they know poetry.”—Annmarie Lockhart
~
“In his new book, They Never Told Me This Would Happen, John Yamrus, like Bukowski and Moore and so many others before him, continues to work the mother lode of inspiration; namely his family, his observations of those around him and, most importantly, his imagination. Yamrus doesn’t go where no man has gone before, but rather, goes where we all have gone, discovering nuances that have gone unnoticed. More sleuth than adventurer, Yamrus susses out the truth.”—RD Armstrong
~
“John Yamrus builds a poem the way a kitchen table or sacred armchair tells a story; punchy, sentimental, and ruthlessly honest. They Never Told Me This Would Happen is a collection of unabashed truths, practical realizations, and writing that never backs down. Yamrus’ stripped-down composition is something to be admired and appreciated, pulling back the fluff and packing a punch right into the reader’s gut that transcends the tales on the page to effectively involve his audience.”—Lawrence Gladeview
~
“Reading John Yamrus is like a quick bike ride through the trails. You have fun. You work out. You meet people, maybe nod ‘hey’ or comment on their dogs, and move along. If you slow down too long, your sunglasses fog up and the bugs start to bite. So you ride home at a good clip, wondering what those folks are really like, all while hoping you don’t hit a stump and break your face.”—R L Raymond
Available now from Epic Rites Press
|
Stumbles and Half Slips
Novel by Zack Wilson 184 pages $16.95 plus shipping ISBN 978-1-926860-09-1 Epic Rites Press, May 2012 
|
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
“Stumbles And Half Slips could be described by many flattering adjectives, however the writing in these twenty-four short pieces is exemplary in its negatives; its very lack of pretense, lack of mimicry. Words come alive, seemingly bypassing the thought process as if poured straight from life itself, expressed in un-sanitized language of common streets.”—Nadine Sellers
~
“Stumbles And Half Slips is a superb insight into the life of a man dwelling in a world occupied by fools. This book implausibly inhabits the grey area between social realism and downright awkwardness; as Ray Doyle, delivery driver, stands as the lone voice of sanity in a quaint English town, struggling to comprehend the maudlin muddle that consumes his mind the morning after a night spent slouched by the bar. Zack Wilson has written a brutally honest account about what it is like to be stuck in the doldrums.”—Richard Wink
~
“Zack Wilson is one of that most important, yet often most overlooked, breed of writers: a chronicler of the extraordinary hearts that beat out ordinary lives.”—Matthew David Scott
~
“Zack works with both a large hammer and a high definition video camera. While there is delicacy in the beautiful finely tuned details, there are barrages of hammer blows to the reader’s skull in terms of subject matter. Nothing but raw lives and beautifully minute particulars.”—Rob Plath
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
Frostbitten
Poetry by Mark Walton Illustrations by Elizabeth A. Soroka 103 pages $13.50 plus shipping ISBN 978-1-926860-00-8 Epic Rites Press, November 2011 
|
“I found Frostbitten lucid, harrowing and compelling. It’s a cogent and passionate first collection shot through with hard-won self-knowledge.”—Paul Magrs
~
“These words pulse. The poems in Frostbitten radiate with an urgency that forces the reader’s eye into devouring page after page, skipping from the flushes of love through to heartache and fear.”—Andrew Taylor
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
|
An Age of Monsters
Stories by William Taylor Jr. Photography by Julie Michelle 182 pages $16.95 plus shipping ISBN: 978-1-926860-08-4 Epic Rites Press, November 2011 
|
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
“What would you do if you were trapped in a cage? Hiss at the monsters outside, stained in your own piss and stink? And what would you dream about, should you get out? Maybe plot revenge on a lover. Maybe kill a man over $400 and a stupid insult. And what about all those other people on the outside: drunken clowns and murderous four year olds; wannabe artists and crazies in trains? Maybe, just maybe, when someone finally did open that door to let you out, you would just sniff the air, shake, then cower back into the farthest corner of your cell, listening to all the other prisoners, wailing and crying in theirs.”—R L Raymond
~
“In his short story collection An Age of Monsters, William Taylor Jr. writes about life on the fringe in San Francisco with extraordinary clarity and with great humour and humanity. He is a clever, natural born story teller who loves to describe people and relationships, especially when things fuck up.”—George Anderson
~
“William Taylor Jr. writes with guts and honesty, taking us into the minds of characters that are scary and oddly lovable at the same time. Taylor shows a side of San Francisco from a unique local perspective. An Age of Monsters is an armchair travel guide to the feel of the people and communities where even some San Franciscans dare not venture.”—Tony DuShane
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
Exterior art by Elizabeth A. Soroka;
Exterior by Wolfgang Carstens
|
We're No Butchers
A play by Rob Plath 40 pages $10 + shipping ISBN: 978-1-926860-07-7 Epic Rites Press, August 2011 
|
“Rob Plath exudes divine madness. He is Quasimodo and the Phantom of the Opera slamming the same keyboard.”—Dan Fante
~
“Plath’s play leaves the gate at warp speed and never once looks back. This look at the seamy underside of life is a revelation.”—John Yamrus
~
“Bumps, drunks, egoists, racists, creationists, darwinists – they all live under one roof...and they’re loud.
Don’t talk politics with your crazy family.
Don’t push people’s buttons.
Don’t fall asleep with a smoke in yer drunk yap.
Oh, and don’t misread a book.
‘Cuz if you do, you’ll have a gang of one-dimensional freaks screaming at you—a gang at home with Beckett, Tarantino and the boys from A Clockwork Orange. And they’ll let you know, in no uncertain terms, amid a flurry of shattered ashtrays, broken angels and mind-numbing f-bombs, that they’re no butchers. And in the end, you’ll find out who’s entitled to what, be it religion or meatballs...or maybe a little cheese on the pasta.”—R L Raymond
Don’t talk politics with your crazy family.
Don’t push people’s buttons.
Don’t fall asleep with a smoke in yer drunk yap.
Oh, and don’t misread a book.
‘Cuz if you do, you’ll have a gang of one-dimensional freaks screaming at you—a gang at home with Beckett, Tarantino and the boys from A Clockwork Orange. And they’ll let you know, in no uncertain terms, amid a flurry of shattered ashtrays, broken angels and mind-numbing f-bombs, that they’re no butchers. And in the end, you’ll find out who’s entitled to what, be it religion or meatballs...or maybe a little cheese on the pasta.”—R L Raymond
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
|
Crunked
Poetry by Jack Henry 113 pages $13.50 plus shipping ISBN: 978-1-926860-01-5 Epic Rites Press, June 2011 
|
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
“I’ve been reading through Crunked, and I’m really, really impressed. You know, I think that you may be the poet laureate of meth culture. I’m not being funny – I think you really captured the surreal and extreme nature of the way of the speed freak, and that the poems veer between being heartbreakingly sad and really, blackly funny. It’s really good stuff, very powerful.”—Tony O’Neill
~
“Jack manages to totally avoid the drug fancier’s dreadful tendency to whine like a bitch about drugs, to blame them for a personal weakness, to develop self-righteousness and self-pity to an unbearable extent. He is innocent of this, and the strength of the poetry is that there is very little attribution of blame. This is just the way things are.”—David McLean
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
Can’t Stop Now!
Poetry by John Yamrus 136 pages $13.50 + shipping ISBN: 978-1-926860-06-0 Epic Rites Press, March 2011 
|
“Terse profundity would be the phrase I would use were someone to pin me down and force me to describe this work by John Yamrus...This is poetry of short lines and simple wisdom, there is a touch of the Far East about the structure and minimalist philosophy that underpins them; there is no surreal baroque parade of language, these are sticks arranged subtly against a white wall.”—Zack Wilson
~
“I read John’s newest book to the end in one sitting, then began re-reading. His words get in your head...you can’t stop with one poem, that simply won't do. It’s like a bag of your favorite flavor of potato chips or that first beer on Friday night after a damn hard week. You sink in to this book and devour it, you savor it. You sit back and wonder...why haven’t I written that before?”—Diana Rose
~
“Two major qualities prevail in Yamrus' recent work: economy and punch. No word is unnecessary or out of place; the timing is impeccable; and, most difficult of all, the endings hit just the right balance of summation, revelation, and surprise.”—Gerald Locklin
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
|
Blood and Greasepaint
Stories by Karl Koweski 202 pages $17.50 + shipping ISBN: 978-1-926860-03-9 Epic Rites Press, January 2011 
|
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
“Koweski once again shows his breadth as a writer in this witty and engaging collection.”—Rebecca Schumejda
~
“Karl Koweski has written a gritty collection of stories rooted in the long tradition of American realism with just enough weirdness and humor to keep readers unbalanced.”—Nate Graziano
~
“Karl Koweski’s writing makes me laugh out loud and cringe at the same time. It takes talent and endurance to pull that off and Koweski is a master at both.”—Tony DuShane
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
There's A Fist Dunked In Blood Beating In My Chest
Poetry by Rob Plath 179 pages $13.50 +shipping ISBN: 978-1-926860-02-2 Epic Rites Press, October 2010 
|
“Read Rob Plath at your own risk. His words will stick behind your eyes. His heart may even expose a shadow you’ve kept hidden from yourself.”—Dan Fante
~
“In the war over the heart and soul of modern poetry, Rob Plath will be the last man standing.”—John Yamrus
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
Exterior by Pablo Vision
Poetry, prose and art by various contributors
Interview with Todd Moore
Edited by Wolfgang Carstens
146 pages
$15.50 + shipping
ISBN: 978-0-981184-49-4
Epic Rites Press, April 2010
Interview with Todd Moore
Edited by Wolfgang Carstens
146 pages
$15.50 + shipping
ISBN: 978-0-981184-49-4
Epic Rites Press, April 2010
“This new journal from Epic Rites Press is an ax whacking away at the hollow, slanted trees in the wilderness of impotent literature, which includes both small and large presses that exist today. Working as a literary team, each writer’s words help hack a path through the tiresome, under-stimulating dead woods, leaving it for kindling while the ax in a clearing of its own making leans gleaming with its head planted firmly in the earth, ready to keep forging ahead. This is a not just a journal, this is a weapon against miles and miles of rotting woods of so-called modern writing.”—Rob Plath
~
“Are your veins screaming for a dose of unsurpassed poetry and prose so hard-boiled it’ll take your teeth out? Feel the need to read rants where the frequency is unscrambled and the furrows are always lonely? Are your fingers frozen into gestures of deference, do you dare submit to the man who owns the satellites? You need a cure. Find it here. Epic Rites Print Journal, Issue One. Get it now.”—Zack Wilson
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
|
Laughing At Funerals
Poetry by David McLean 98 pages $15.50 + shipping ISBN: 978-0-981184-45-6 Epic Rites Press, March 2010 
|
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
||
“Like the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos, David McLean cajoles and celebrates death realizing that the two are happily married. He is one of the most consistently brilliant poets I have ever had the pleasure to read. His poems are sap and bullshit free. They should be carved on tombstones.”—Misti Rainwater-Lites
~
“If Laughing At Funerals does nothing else it provides us all with a text to read on the eve of the apocalypse. It is a series of frenzies meant to be performed against the frenzy. A rage before the serenity of nothing.”—Todd Moore
~
“The thing that really strikes me about these mostly very short poems is the economy of language McLean employs. He gets it. He understands it. He knows that it doesn’t take a very long knife to kill...just a sharp one.”—John Yamrus
~
“McLean’s work is short, sharp and addictive; his language not only slices through our lazy prejudices, but amputates them clean off.”—Gillian Prew
~
“It is the assurance, humor, and commitment to contradictory elements which
makes Laughing at Funerals my favorite McLean book to date.”—Puma Perl
makes Laughing at Funerals my favorite McLean book to date.”—Puma Perl
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
Dead Reckoning
Poetry by Todd Moore 146 pages $15.50 + shipping ISBN: 978-0-981184-47-0 Epic Rites Press, March 2010 |
“Todd Moore was many things to many people...a fighter, a friend, a family man, a myth made from flesh and bones and bullets and heart. He was a poet at the peak of his creative power and Dead Reckoning was his top 40 love song for the ghosts that danced in his dreams. If you listen to his words, you can hear them dancing still. They will miss him forever—we all will.”—John Dorsey
~
“The words in the poems in Dead Reckoning by Todd Moore are not just written words, they are also like primal relics unearthed from an archaeological dig. Every word, every line, every poem is stitched together perfectly, seamlessly with not a single thread out of place. These poems go much deeper than bone, they speak to the blood in us.”—Wolfgang Carstens
~
“Todd Moore’s writing works at the nerve endings like a beast not yet named. Dead Reckoning exposes a corrupt and fetishistic America that habitually reinvents its own endgame. Each poem is a scattergun butt to the head; a perfectly worded organism that pulsates with the rhythms of life but also reveals the darkened mayhem of the soul.”—John Macker
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
|
Crudely Mistaken For Life
Poetry by Wolfgang Carstens 98 pages $13.50 + shipping ISBN: 978-0-981184-46-3 Epic Rites Press, March 2010 |
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
“Wolfgang Carstens debuts here with a rock-solid collection of poems where you can sense the presence of the viscera under the blood-coated muscle that is the text. And yet the poems are surprisingly gentle and nostalgic sometimes, sometimes angry, sometimes philosophical, sometimes funny. Not so much a traditional anthology of poems as a manifesto and statement of intent combined with a dissertation on life and the sort of things that are deserving in it, love, loyalty, and the forgotten child inside. Poems to read in all seasons, but especially when winter storms howl outside”—David McLean.
~
“Crudely Mistaken For Life is stunningly evocative. Be careful when you pick up this book, you might not be able to put it down.”—Tony Moffeit
~
“This book grows on you. Enters your blood. This is compassionate, carefully crafted poetry fascinating to read and worthy of detailed study.”—George Anderson
~
“Straight talk, boiled down from experience, with the fat of fancy skimmed off the top. That’s what we’ve got here. Carstens gets it—he doesn’t waste time with the flowers; he digs in the dirt, about six feet down, to the root of it all.”—R L Raymond
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
Doing Cartwheels On Doomsday Afternoon
Poetry by John Yamrus 124 pages $15.50 + shipping ISBN: 978-0-981184-48-7 Epic Rites Press, March 2010 |
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
|
The Broken and The Damned
Poetry by Jason Hardung 90 pages $15 + shipping ISBN: 978-0-981184-44-9 Epic Rites Press, November 2009 |
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
“The Broken and the Damned by Jason Hardung is very powerful. Vivid imagery combined with abundant candor make this collection sing. Travels on the vulnerable landscape of the psyche, memorable, beautiful, painful, human.”—Ellyn Maybe
~
“Jason Hardung's heart is the room in which you come to after being among the dead, dying, missing in action for too long. It’s the water your soul needs to keep dancing. Jason Hardung is a song. Play this album of words and feel your world learn rhythm.”—Scott Wannberg
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
A Bellyful of Anarchy
Poetry by Rob Plath 302 pages $25 + shipping ISBN: 978-0-981184-41-8 Epic Rites Press, July 2009 |
“Plath is a merciless poet. He is not afraid of drawing blood, even his own. He will blow psychic holes in your being. He will leave you wounded.”—Todd Moore
~
“With a body bag full of bloody memories, broken dreams and tormented visions of the future, Rob Plath trudges through the darkened alleyways of your moral high-ground. His A Bellyful of Anarchy is a tour de force dissection of a world gone rotten.”—RD Armstrong
~
“Plath has taken skin from man...given it back to God...and made cosmic provolone of us all...one stinking pink wheel of cheese.”—Frankie Metro
Available now from Epic Rites Press
|
Hellbound
Poetry by David McLean 48 pages $10 (includes shipping) ISBN: 978-0-981184-42-5 Epic Rites Press, 2009 |
|
“Forget cheesy horror film remakes. If you want to get scared, really scared, wrap your trembling fingers around Hellbound and let David McLean lead you deep into the labyrinth of the human psyche and leave you for dead.”—Wolfgang Carstens
Available Now from Epic Rites Press
Exterior by Pablo Vision
|
The original Frostbitten chapbook by Mark Walton is out of print. If you are lucky enough to own one, it’s a collector’s item. For everyone else, please order the full-length Frostbitten, which, in addition to the original twenty-three poems from the chapbook, features eighteen new poems by Walton, illustrations by Elizabeth A. Soroka, and a dynamite new exterior by Pablo Vision.
|
Limited Edition Broadsides from Epic Rites Press
Limited edition broadsides are printed on parchtone paper and numbered and signed by the author. These broadsides are printed and distributed exclusively by Epic Rites Press as gifts to our readers. Click on thumbnails for a larger view.
Epic Rites Press has been launching grenades into the abyss since 2008.
For more information please email Wolfgang Carstens at epicritespress@gmail.com or address:
Tree Killer Ink / Epic Rites Press
33 Sioux Road
PO Box 80002 Woodbridge
Sherwood Park, Alberta
T8H 5T4
Tree Killer Ink / Epic Rites Press
33 Sioux Road
PO Box 80002 Woodbridge
Sherwood Park, Alberta
T8H 5T4
