Santa Barbara has a new literary publisher, Gunpowder Press, named for its home city’s namesake, Barbara of Nicomedia, the patron saint of gunpowder. Editor and Publisher David Starkey (former Santa Barbara Poet Laureate and current Santa Barbara SEASONS contributing editor, poetry) says, “Our books, like gunpowder, need just a spark to explode: they are ready to go off at any moment.”
The imprint will launch its first two books of poetry: Mouth & Fruit by Santa Barbara Poet Laureate Chryss Yost, and The Tarnation of Faust, by the late David Case on Friday, April 4, at 7 p.m. at Santa Barbara City College’s Fé Bland Auditorium (West Campus of Santa Barbara City College, 800 block of Cliff Dr.). The event will feature a reading by Yost, with Starkey reading from Case’s work.
Starkey explains that the press began with the express goal of publishing “these two superb poets. Chryss has been writing for decades, and her collection showcases the best of that finely crafted, wide-ranging work. David Case, who died unexpectedly in 2011 at the age of 49, was an equally gifted poet. Wry, erudite, haunted, he produced a body of work that deserves the broadest possible readership.”
“As we launch Mouth & Fruit and The Tarnation of Faust, we look forward to future ventures, intent on remaining small but vibrant, fully committed to each book we publish,” says Starkey.
For more information, visit gunpowderpress.com.
—Leslie Dinaberg
Originally published in Santa Barbara SEASONS on April 1, 2014.