Ringing Video Contest (and Audio now on-line)

my e-chapbook "Ringing" (free on line) now has audio of me reading the poems).... and Kitchen Press is running a video contest....

here are the guidelines:

"Kitchen Press is now accepting submissions of short home-made videos to accompany individual poems from Rauan Klassnik's on-line chapbook "Ringing"

The six winning videos will be posted on the Ringing website and the six winning authors (video makers) will receive their choice of either one Black Ocean book or two Kitchen Press chapbooks (subject to availability) shipped to a U.S. address.

Deadline: June 15, 2009 (winners to be announced and videos posted to website shortly thereafter).

Rules: there are no rules.

Guidelines and Preferences:

1- send all inquiries and submissions to ringingvideo(at)yahoo.com

2- Three or less videos per submission

3- One Video per email. So, if you're submitting 2 videos please send 2 emails.

4- Each Video should correspond to an individual Ringing poem. (There are 19 of them, including cover poem, Death Poems, End-Page poem)

5- Each Video should incorporate, in some form, the words of its corresponding poem

6- If you would like us to send you the mp3 file(s) of Rauan reading one or more of the poems please send an inquiry. You can listen to these on the Ringing website.

7- Since the Ringing poems are short (and the mp3 files of Rauan reading them range from 5-22 seconds only) we'd prefer short videos.

8- All levels of sophistication are welcome"

Hoping to get lots of video submissions so please help spread the word. Tell friends. Post on blog(s), etc.... Thanks

Blake Butler thumbs up "Ringing"

Blake Butler Thumbs up "Ringing" on his blog today


"Can I say I love Rauan Klassnik? He has a new ebook out, RINGING, from Kitchen Press, that does new things for ebooks, both in form and content. (a) the book has its own url rauanklassnikringing.com, which I love, and the book is offered as html text only, a printable version, and in flash with illustrations by Ron. Two innovations for ebooks there that make this project exciting before you even begin to read.

The content as well is classic Klassnik, with brash sex and convulsive imagery. I am going to walk around for the next few weeks repeating the line: "Birds like planets——all ripped up." like Rain Man.

He seems to make these little aggressive forts inside of words, half throw-uppy and often childish, half ornate and/or sublime. The closest artist I can think of to compare to Klassnik is Pasolini, for their carcrash sex powerlight and their clear care among the 'profane'.

Here is a page from the book that exhibits this to me:

Curled up against each other we licked and sucked till we came splashing in each other’s faces. A chimp’s running down through the streets in the rain. Suddenly he pulls into a doorway where a woman’s undressing. We must have looked so cool——arched back, waving. Columned. Spired. Domed.

I like how this works in shifting between high and low, gross and high, etc.

Another wonderful read from someone doing something new"

And this means a lot to me because I really respect Blake's energy, taste, ideas, writing, brain, etc, etc....

My E-Chapbook "Ringing" (from Kitchen Press) is now LIVE!!

I am pleased to announce that my e-chap, "Ringing," is now LIVE

I want to thank Justin at Kitchen Pressfor all his help in getting this together, (revisions, ideas, etc,...)

It was a pleasure working with him.

There's a lot of debate on E-chapbooks. Personally, as you might guess, I think they're good. Or, at least, they can be.

and, I must say, I'm very excited about this release....
very excited !

If interested, please check it out:

Rauan Klassnik----Ringing

Any comments there, or here, are appreciated.
(well most of them, probably, anyways....)