Fiercer Monsters Now Available on Black Lawrence

Before we begin, I will share some other news with you. I have a book of rich and amazing poems in queue at the publisher. My book of science fiction is circulating with publishers right now. I am also writing a few new books. One is a set of five interlocking tales set in Morocco in the 1930's. The other is a novel about a man who grows a nasty bump on the back of his neck that forces him to become an acclaimed storyteller. They should be ready soon. That amounts to four new books coming. All new tales, all new characters. If you have attended one of my public appearances lately, you've surely heard about them or heard work from them.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

My book of short fiction is now available on Black Lawrence Press. I am very happy and proud that these tales will live on. Let them live in your mind and on your shelf. Each one is very different. People react to them in different ways. They usually stick in a reader's mind for years, like good literature should.

Love. Birth. Death. Problems. Heartbreak. Magical Realism, always. These are the birthright of Latin American as well as North African prose. Let them be your companions. See them as extended allegories. See them as instruction for self-actualization, for revolution, for evolved living. See them as quaint bedtime stories or alarming afternoon reading.


 
 
 

Fiercer Monsters

Publication Date: May 2017

Description

In June of 2023, Black Lawrence Press welcomed numerous existing and forthcoming Nomadic Press titles to our catalogue. Fiercer Monsters was originally published by Nomadic.

Youssef Alaoui’s short-story collection, Fiercer Monsters, is concerned with the symbology of letters and the word as invocation, contrasted with the futility of language. In these stories, Alaoui presents a Neanderthal oracle, a little girl in Venezuela in the 1950s, a 19th-century hallucinating sailor, and a WWI soldier. The voices are sometimes salty, always salient. Each voice ultimately laments the fall of the tower of Babel and the resulting confusion.

Praise

Youssef Alaoui’s investigation sifts through language finding and discarding gods along the way. Not so much a trip down rabbit holes, but rather the invention of mirrors. Storytelling in which you find instruments where time should be. Or the monologue of a man who is shuffling cards near his own crime scene.
Tongo Eisen-Martin, author of someone’s dead already (2015)

When unraveling the layers and folds of a Fabulist, you are never sure whether your experience is new or if you are lost in the embroidery. With Youssef Alaoui you get some kind of delirious weave reminiscent of Donald Barthelme and Arthur Conan Doyle. The ultimate critique is whether you stay engaged or find yourself dumped overboard. That is the game and mystery of Fiercer Monsters. Youssef Alaoui delivers!
Michael Rothenberg, author of Big Bridge Magazine

Fiercer Monsters is a colorful tapestry of stories striking and bleak, elusive and blunt. Alaoui weaves his spicy and tangy world together with gusto. He smudges edible paints on his literary canvas, molds his literary dough without fear, everything goes into his boiling, steaming cauldron and–voila!–he serves you the bright jambalaya of his own folkloric jazz. Dare to meander along his pungent alleys and sunny paths, and connect to your very own Brothers Grimm and the mysterious.
Zarina Zabrisky, author or A Cute Tombstone (2013); We, Monsters (2014)

The fiction of Youssef Alaoui illuminates the labyrinth of mysticism in the body. His book, Fiercer Monsters, navigates unique terrain ranging from the borders of legend to visceral city encounters. Alaoui combines intoxicating visions with an intellectual clarity that challenges the nature of language itself.
John Swain, author or Under the Mountain Born (2015)

Whether he is recasting the Tower of Babel story with forest creatures saved by a shamanic chihuahua, or deciphering Arabish text slang in the mind of a tortured prisoner whose last refuge—that of his imagination—is threatening to implode, Youssef Alaoui is never merely out to entertain, though the richness of his metaphors and the kookiness of his tales do not fail to charm and delight. No, Alaoui is engaged in a fiercer struggle, between cultures intent on destroying each other and themselves, in the cavernous gaps between what can be felt and known and what can be spoken and understood. Vibrantly lonely, steeped in the sad funk of human pathos, the fables and incantations in Fiercer Monsters sing from the belly, from the groin, from the broken bone, and from the whole and sheltering heart.
Sarah Fran Wisby, author of The Heart’s Progress, Plain Wrap Press, 2014




Paper Press Books at Beast Crawl

PAPER PRESS BOOKS
& Associates Publishing Company.

Fine publishing of poetry, prose, and fiction, is committed to quality, creativity, and affordability.
This year at Beast Crawl Literary Festival, we present writers with whom we have worked in the past, whose work we cherish and value, yet have not published.
 
These voices need to be heard. Purchase a Paper Press book today and see why writers and readers enjoy the time and energy we invest in every step of production.
 
Charisel Angelle Parla
Thomas Dunn
Antony Fangary
Colleen Shoshana McKee
Graffiti Bleu



Identity Crisis

 

Identity Crisis: A Paper Collapse

JULY 20, 2023, FIRST EDITION, 1915 BROADWAY, 7:00 PM

Picture
Once again,
we are forced to summon that dreaded
literary experiment from the depths of poetry hell.
It is none other than the
IDENTITY CRISIS!
When
PAPER PRESS BOOKS
teams with
COLLAPSE PRESS
the result is a
PAPER COLLAPSE
WOE TO ALL YE WHO ENTER.
***
BE THERE TO RECEIVE YOUR PUNISHMENT!
Victims are the following:
Paul Corman-Roberts
E. Lynn Alexander
Missy Church
Richard Loranger
Youssef Alaoui
KR Morrison
William Taylor Jr
Joel Landmine
with
Musical interludes by the immensely talented entity known as
TÜZ
 

PictureTűz is Ashley Macachor (vox, rhythm guitar, percussion) and friends.  Based in San Jose, CA.

 

Beast Crawl of Fame All Stars Benefit Fundraiser

The Beast Crawl of Fame All Stars is a benefit fundraiser featuring the very best of the East Bay's literary rock stars and festival legends. The event will be held on Saturday, May 20th at 6:30 PM at 1446 Market St, San Francisco, CA.

The headliners for the event are Oakland Poet Laureate Dr. Ayodele Nzinga and SF Poet Laureate Emeritus Kim Shuck. They will be joined by a star-studded lineup of poets, including MK Chavez, Nazelah Jameson, Natasha Dennerstein, Reggie Edmonds, Kimi Sugioka, and Joel Landmine.

The event will be hosted by Beast Squad leaders Tom Dunn and Katie "Sprinkle" Rodgers.

Tickets for the Beast Crawl of Fame All Stars are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.

The Beast Crawl of Fame All Stars is a must-attend event for anyone who loves poetry. It is a chance to see some of the best poets in the Bay Area perform their work in a supportive and intimate setting.

The event will also be a great opportunity to support the Beast Crawl Literary Festival. The festival is a valuable resource for poets of all ages and backgrounds. It provides a platform for poets to share their work and connect with other poets in the community.

So come out and support the Beast Crawl of Fame All Stars and the Beast Crawl Literary Festival! It will be an evening of great poetry and good company.