The Empty Bowl Gratitude Edition
December 1, 2023
We want to begin by thanking all who’ve supported Empty Bowl this past year, our first full year at the helm. We’re grateful to our authors for their fine words, our book designers Lauren Grosskopf and Caroline Servid for designing beautiful books, and you, our readers, especially those who helped get the word out by ordering copies for friends or from your local indie bookstores. It’s been a challenging but satisfying first year, and we’re proud of the titles we’ve brought into the world. But before we put a wrap on it, we’re eager to share two titles released since we last wrote:
A Watershed Runs Through You by Freeman House, author of Totem Salmon: Life Lessons from Another Species, was released in October. A posthumous collection, it was edited by Jerry Martien and includes a foreword by bioregionalist visionary Stephanie Mills. We traveled to Northern California to launch the book in Freeman’s community of Petrolia, with another reading at Northtown Books in Arcata. Both readings were packed houses. (See photos here.)
The Rain Sweeps Through is a collection of haiku by Santa Fe-based poet, artist, and translator John Brandi. It was launched in early November at the Historic Santa Fe Foundation’s El Zaguan with a reading and an exhibition of John’s paintings. (See photos here.) We’re thrilled to announce that John is joining us next week for two readings with Bill Porter (Red Pine):
Tuesday, December 5: 7 – 9 pm
Oberto Commons at Seattle University
901 12th Avenue
Seattle
Friday, December 8: 4:30 – 6 pm
Port Townsend Friends Meetinghouse
1841 Sheridan Street
Port Townsend
See Empty Bowl website for more details
Coeditors Michael Daley and Georgia Johnson have wrapped up The Empty Bowl Cookbook, the latest in The Madrona Project series. As the editors write, “A banquet of writers and artists address the ways our species sustains itself with ancestral foods and recipes, adheres to earth’s cycles, and protects the habitat of our food sources. Poems, prose, and art exemplify human successes and failures and offer up some darn good recipes.”
The book is at the printer and will be available soon! It’ll make a great holiday gift—we’ll keep you posted on the website and the Empty Bowl Facebook page.
In other news
I Sing the Salmon Home was the top seller on Small Press Distribution’s (SPD) Top Ten list for the months of July and September! Thanks goes to editor Rena Priest. Thanks also to contributors Georgia Johnson, for organizing a reading in Anacortes at Pelican Bay Books, and Ann Hursey, for organizing a reading in Shelton, which included the opportunity to view salmon returning to local streams in a downpour! (See photos here.)
What Water Holds holds steady in SPD’s Top Ten the last several months as Tele Aadsen markets her book along with delicious Nerka salmon this fall. If you’re looking for a gift for kids, you might consider Tele’s collaboration with Tom Crestodina—The Working Boats Coloring Book—published by Little Bigfoot (Sasquatch Press).
Shin Yu Pai, author of No Neutral, also released another book in November: Less Desolate: Haiku Comics, a collaboration with artist Justin Rueff published by Blue Cactus Press.
Speaking of gifts, Empty Bowl author Tim McNulty published a beautiful collection through Mountaineers Braided River imprint: Salmon Cedar Rock Rain. And several Empty Bowl authors’ work is included in two Cascadia-based collections that came out earlier this year: Cascadia Field Guide and Cascadian Zen.
As for us, it’s our open submission period, and we’re enjoying reading the manuscripts we’ve received. We’re putting together our list for 2024, planning ahead to 2025, and look forward to sharing our upcoming titles in the new year.
Just a reminder that you can keep up with us on the Empty Bowl Facebook page, where we post info on upcoming readings, photos, and other announcements related to our authors. One of the best ways to support Empty Bowl authors is to post a few sentences on Amazon or Good Reads if you enjoyed a book. Or easier yet, gift a copy to a friend!
Wishing you peaceful holidays and time for reading by the fire in the months ahead.
Holly & John