"Of all that is written I love only what a person has written with their blood. Write with blood and you will discover that blood is spirit." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Most authors write with wax crayons. A rare few write with blood - attacking the alphabet with such ferocity and bloodlust that that their pens become weapons in their hands - the only wounds are in the shape of poems. Epic Rites Press celebrates these rare workers in blood. 

Epic Rites publications are available through Small Press Distribution, as well as through subscription inside the Epic Rites Bookstore.

The men and women at SPD are working hard to raise independent publications up from the underground so please visit their website and place your order today! These publications represent the best and the brightest of the underground, so buy a book, order one for a friend, stock these publications in your bookstores - above all else, use these books in your classrooms! Show your students that poetry is alive and well! That is exists as a monster with muscle and teeth!

epic rites press publications are edited by David McLean and Wolfgang Carstens; exterior artwork by Pablo Vision; professionally printed and assembled in Canada; distributed by the good folks at Small Press Distribution.

302 pages
$25
Exterior by Pablo Vision

"A BELLYFUL OF ANARCHY could easily be placed next to ZARATHUSTRA or LES FLEURS DU MAL on the discrete reader’s book shelf.   Or, choose two other important books that carry their kind of power.  Whatever, it’s the kind of book that kicks its way through the doors of culture and announces itself as a separate and necessary phenomenon.  And, there is no doubt that this book is a phenomenon." - Todd Moore, author of DEAD RECKONING

90 pages
$15
Exterior by Pablo Vision

THE BROKEN AND THE DAMNED: "Written in an unflinching style that weds the modern idiom to the more reflexive voice of poetry, this book does not avoid the realities of life, but confronts them head-on in a way that does not forget what makes a poem a poem." - David McLean, author of LAUGHING AT FUNERALS

48 pages
$7.50
Exterior by Pablo Vision

FROSTBITTEN: "Mark Walton's poems fizzle with energy and capture the modern gay experience in all its many guises." - Paul Burston, Time Out London

"I found Frostbitten lucid, harrowing and compelling.  It's a cogent and passionate first collection shot through with hard-won self-knowledge." - Paul Magrs, novelist

48 pages
$7.50
Exterior by Pablo Vision

HELLBOUND: "After reading hellbound by David McLean I contemplating kicking my kitten, punching a wall, or doping up to kill the pain.  It's that good...  McLean's poetry comes at you on all levels except subtle.  Powerful, delicate and written in a style all his own; McLean digs deep into the cultural psyche of Pinhead – and along the way, lays ruin to our own sense of being, worth and reality.  McLean's poetry has always kicked your balls until you puked; with this volume, you're choking on blood and praying for replacement." - Jack Henry, author of WITH THE PATIENCE OF MONUMENTS

117 pages
$15.50
Exterior by Pablo Vision

DOING CARTWHEELS ON DOOMSDAY AFTERNOON: "Yamrus is a master of the minimalist poem and the understated wise crack.   His line which is also his sentence is pared to the bone.  And, the timing and the voice are absolutely natural and perfect.  Nobody does it better." - Todd Moore, author of DEAD RECKONING

142 pages
$15.50
Exterior by Pablo Vision

DEAD RECKONING: "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:  whorehouse shoot-outs, doomed gangsters, toxic women who pay more than lip service to those who haunt the killer outskirts of town. His short lines are the palpitations of the street.  Todd is a poet’s poet, raw, highly stylized, richly American, violently lyrical.  He’s a master of the form." – John Macker

98  pages
$15.50
Exterior by Pablo Vision

LAUGHING AT FUNERALS: "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, author of DOING CARTWHEELS ON DOOMSDAY AFTERNOON

98 pages
$15.50
Exterior by Pablo Vision

CRUDELY MISTAKEN FOR LIFE: "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, author, LAUGHING AT FUNERALS

Epic Rites Press is so confident about the quality of our books that we know you’re going to want to own all of them. For this reason we’re making a subscription offer.

The Greedy Bastards Club is the ultimate Epic Rites starter package.  For $75 you get to pick five Epic Rites Press publications of your choice from the following available releases:

• A BELLYFUL OF ANARCHY by Rob Plath
• THE BROKEN AND THE DAMNED by Jason Hardung
• DEAD RECKONING by Todd Moore
• LAUGHING AT FUNERALS by David McLean
• DOING CARTWHEELS ON DOOMSDAY AFTERNOON by John Yamrus
• CRUDELY MISTAKEN FOR LIFE by Wolfgang Carstens

All Greedy Bastards Club orders presently include chapbooks FROSTBITTEN by Mark Walton and HELLBOUND by David McLean.

For $50 USD you will receive three epic rites publications of your choice.

Lucky Bastards Club subscription books may consist of three choices from the following available releases:

• A BELLYFUL OF ANARCHY by Rob Plath
• THE BROKEN AND THE DAMNED by Jason Hardung
• DEAD RECKONING by Todd Moore
• LAUGHING AT FUNERALS by David McLean
• DOING CARTWHEELS ON DOOMSDAY AFTERNOON by John Yamrus
• CRUDELY MISTAKEN FOR LIFE by Wolfgang Carstens

All Lucky Bastards Club subscriptions presently include both chapbooks: FROSTBITTEN by Mark Walton and HELLBOUND by David McLean.

A subscription through Epic Rites is not only the best way to support Epic Rites Press, it's the biggest BANG for your buck available anywhere!  These are hardcore subscription deals that bring new work from the best and the brightest underground authors directly to your front door!  Order one for yourself, then order one for your friend - an Epic Rites subscription makes the perfect gift!

Place your order in the Epic Rites Bookstore. Payment can be made with any major credit card or through PayPal.

Orders outside the US and Canada please add $25 to cover extra shipping costs.

For anyone who prefers to order through snail mail, orders may also be placed by cheque, money order or with carefully concealed cash to:

Epic Rites Press
240 – 222 Baseline Road
Suite #206
Sherwood Park, Alberta
T8H 1S8 

Thank you for supporting Epic Rites Press!

The Epic Rites Journal is published at least once per year. 

Features new work by:

Todd Moore
Rob Plath
Karl Koweski
Pablo Vision
Mark Cobb
John Yamrus
David McLean
John Dorsey
Jason Hardung
Erek Smith
Zach King-Smith
Mike Meraz
Mark Walton
MathiasNelson
Wolfgang Carstens
Dave Rindahl
William Taylor Jr
Jack Henry
Zack Wilson
Brian Fugett
Casey Quinn and
Ben Jon Smith

The Exuberant Ashtray is edited by American poet Rob Plath.  Issue #5, featuring the poetry of John Yamrus, is available for viewing here.

Order John Yamrus' new book DOING CARTWHEELS ON DOOMSDAY AFTERNOON today through the Epic Rites bookstore.

Join host Rob Plath on blogtalkradio.com for guests:

Puma Perl - February 12th, 2010

Todd Moore - February 26th, 2010

A link to archives of all previous episodes is available here.

Issue #7 of Jack Henry's infamous Journal of Heroin Love Songs is available for viewing here.

In Apil 2010 Jack Henry makes his triumphant return to blogtalkradio with The Jack Henry Show. The program will focus on the publishing side of on-line/print micro press journals. 
 
Jack's first guest will be Brian Fugett of Zygote in my Coffee and Tainted Coffee Press.

More details are forthcoming.

The latest entry in Zack Wilson's growing catalogue of blunders is available here.

Epic Rites involves the creative energies of Wolfgang Carstens, Rob Plath, Pablo Vision, David McLean and Jack Henry. Click on the names above to visit their virtual offices.

please show your support for the independent press by visiting SPD today - offering the best selection of independent publications anywhere in the world!