Clear Cut Press
Encyclopedia
About
Matthew Stadler
Matthew Stadler is a writer and editor who lives in Portland, Oregon. He has written four novels and received several awards and fellowships in recognition of his work. More recently, he has compiled four anthologies about literature, city life and public life...
and Up Records
Up Records
Up Records is a Seattle based independent record label founded in 1994 by Chris Takino and Rich Jensen.Some of the label's best known artists are 764-Hero, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Quasi and Tad.Chris Takino died of leukemia in 2000...
co-founder Rich Jensen in 2002. Jensen began talking to Stadler while taking a poetry class in 1997. Their mutual interest in cultural movements and the role of books lead to a discussion resulting in the press. Stadler realized that he knew about "a dozen writers who weren't reaching the audience the could--or weren't being published at all."McBride, Jason: The Kindest Cut, The Village Voice, 4/20/2005 Stadler noted that, "as a business and artistic venture, Clear Cut is inspired by early 20th century subscription presses, such as Hours Press and Contact Editions, and by the mid-century paperbacks of New Directions and City Lights
City Lights
City Lights is a 1931 American silent film and romantic comedy-drama written by, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. It also has the leads Virginia Cherrill and Harry Myers. Although "talking" pictures were on the rise since 1928, City Lights was immediately popular. Today, it is thought of...
." A series was available by subscription. Individual volumes were distributed to the trade.
As part of what Stadler referred to as the cultivation of "a long-term conversation that makes a community of readers (and therefore a market) that isn't reached through the national book review organs or most bookstores," Clear Cut actively participates in events in bookstores, warehouses, summer festivals, art museums, and non-traditional settings. Events included reading The Horse Hospital , MoMA
Moma
Moma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
PS1, Beyond Baroque, Bumbershoot
Bumbershoot
Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle, Washington. One of North America's largest such festivals, it takes place every Labor Day weekend at the 74-acre Seattle Center, which was built for the 1962 World's Fair. Seattle Center includes indoor theaters,...
, What the Heck Fest
What the Heck Fest
What the Heck Fest is an annual festival in Anacortes, Washington, coinciding with a citywide rummage sale called Shipwreck Day. It began in 2001. The festival takes place at various locations all over town in a week in the middle of July. Performers present music, movies, literature, and art...
, KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
Bar, Space 1026
Space 1026
Space 1026 is a gallery and art collective located on the 2nd & 3rd floor of 1026 Arch Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The space serves as a gallery, venue, printing studio and art space shared by individuals, small businesses and non-profit organizations...
, and Catch that Beat. In 2005, Clear Cut Press along with the Western Front Society
Western Front Society
The Western Front is an artist-run centre located in Vancouver, Canada. It was founded in 1973 by a multidisciplinary group of artists who purchased the former Knights of Pythias lodge hall in which the centre still resides....
sponsored Unassociated Writers Conference and Dance Party in Vancouver, BC, a self-organizing event in response to first Association of Writers & Writing Programs
Association of Writers & Writing Programs
The Association of Writers & Writing Programs is a literary organization whose mission is "to foster literary talent and achievement, to advance the art of writing as essential to a good education, and to serve the makers, teachers, students, and readers of contemporary writing."-Members:AWP...
(AWP) Conference to take place outside of the United States.
First Series
00 The Clear Cut FutureIn 2003, Clear Cut released The Clear Cut Future the first book in the series. The anthology included writing from the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere in what, according to the catalog, made "a map of the territory of interest to Clear Cut Press." Contributions included work by Stacey Levine
Stacey Levine
Stacey Levine is an American novelist, short story author, and journalist. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she attended The University of Missouri's journalism school and the University of Washington...
, Charles D'Ambrosio
Charles D'Ambrosio
-Life:D'Ambrosio grew up in Seattle, Washington, and now lives in Portland, Oregon. He attended Oberlin College and graduated from the Iowa Writers Workshop, where he has been a visiting faculty member...
, Steve Weiner, Robert Gluck
Robert Gluck
Robert Gluck is a pianist and composer whose repertoire spans jazz, live electronic music, and avant-garde concert music. Karl Ackermann , wrote of the latest of Gluck’s five recordings: “As a composer and player, Gluck ranks with the likes of Andrew Hill and Cecil Taylor… Something Quiet is...
, a former Enron
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 staff and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, with...
executive. The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
noted, "Tightly written poems and short stories about existential love and loss mingle freely with essays about corporate sharks, architecture, botanical excursions and artists' memoirs."
One contributor, Patrick Bissell, was a street poet who sold his work on the streets of Seattle. Bissell was the subject of a profile by Jesse Tarbert in The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
published on May 6, 2003. Thirty eight at the time of the profile, Bissell grew up in Kirkland and began selling his poetry on the street in 1993. Of Bissell's work, "Stadler said "The Sweet Gift" contains some of Bissell's best writing. It reminded him of the work of Emmanuel Bove, a French writer of the early 1920s, he said. In both Bove's and Bissell's work, Stadler said, "the pacing and logic are so at ease, so like the drift of life, and yet it's very literary."
Other books in the series included:
- 01 Ode to certain interstates and Other Poems by Howard W. RobertsonHoward W. RobertsonHoward W. Robertson is an American poet.- Life :Robertson was born in Eugene, Oregon. He married Margaret Collins on August 10, 1991, and has two daughters and two sons. He received a B.A. in Russian and an M.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Oregon as well as an M.S.L.S...
- 02 Occasional Work and Seven Walks from the Office for Soft Architecture by Lisa RobertsonLisa RobertsonLisa Robertson is a Canadian poet who is best known for a collection a poem entitled The Weather, which was inspired by the shipping forecasts announced on BBC radio. She currently lives in France.-Life:...
- 03 Denny Smith (stories) by Robert GluckRobert GluckRobert Gluck is a pianist and composer whose repertoire spans jazz, live electronic music, and avant-garde concert music. Karl Ackermann , wrote of the latest of Gluck’s five recordings: “As a composer and player, Gluck ranks with the likes of Andrew Hill and Cecil Taylor… Something Quiet is...
- 04 Core Sample: Portland Art Now
- 05 Orphans (essays) by Charles D'AmbrosioCharles D'Ambrosio-Life:D'Ambrosio grew up in Seattle, Washington, and now lives in Portland, Oregon. He attended Oberlin College and graduated from the Iowa Writers Workshop, where he has been a visiting faculty member...
- 06 Shoot the Buffalo (a novel) by Matt BriggsMatt BriggsMatt Briggs is an American novelist, and short story writer.-Biography:Matt Briggs was born in Seattle, Washington, which he still calls home. He grew up in the Snoqualmie Valley raised by working-class, counter-culture parents who cultivated and sold cannabis . Briggs has written two books set in...
- 07 Frances Johnson (a novel) by Stacey LevineStacey LevineStacey Levine is an American novelist, short story author, and journalist. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she attended The University of Missouri's journalism school and the University of Washington...
In addition, Clear Cut Press published a catalog of Portland painter Michael Brophy's work with an essay by Charles d'Ambrosio.
Interim
The Back Room: An AnthologyIn 2007, Clear Cut released an anthology edited by Matthew Stadler collecting work presented at the Back Room series in Portland, Oregon. The book included work by Mary Gaitskill
Mary Gaitskill
Mary Gaitskill is an American author of essays, short stories and novels. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, Esquire, The Best American Short Stories , and The O. Henry Prize Stories .-Life:Gaitskill was born in Lexington, Kentucky...
, Lisa Robertson
Lisa Robertson
Lisa Robertson is a Canadian poet who is best known for a collection a poem entitled The Weather, which was inspired by the shipping forecasts announced on BBC radio. She currently lives in France.-Life:...
, Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
, Dodie Bellamy
Dodie Bellamy
Dodie Bellamy is an American novelist, nonfiction author, journalist and editor. Her work is frequently associated with that of Dennis Cooper, Kathy Acker, and Eileen Myles...
, Wayne Koestenbaum
Wayne Koestenbaum
Wayne Koestenbaum is an American poet and cultural critic. He received a B.A. from Harvard University, an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University...
, Kevin Killian
Kevin Killian
Kevin Killian is an American poet, author, and playwright of primarily LGBT literature. He is also a highly regarded editor. My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer, which he co-edited with Peter Gizzi, won the American Book Award for poetry in 2009...
, Lawrence Rinder
Lawrence Rinder
Lawrence R. Rinder is the Director of Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive , a position to which he was appointed in 2008.Previously, he was the Dean of the College at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco...
, Michael Hebb, Stephanie Snyder, Moira Roth, John O'Brian
John O'Brian
John O'Brian is a writer, curator, and art historian. He is best known for his books and articles on modern art history and criticism...
, Marc Joseph
Marc Joseph
Marc Ellis Joseph is an English professional footballer who is currently playing for Kendal Town. He is an Antigua and Barbuda international.He attended Linden Primary school, the same school as Emile Heskey....
, Randy Gragg, Barbara Verchot, Anne Focke, and Daniel Duford.
Second Series
The second series of Clear Cut Press was announced on April 13, 2007 by Rich Jensen and Matthew Stadler. The books selected and edited by Matthew Stadler included work by Emily White, Bruce BendersonBruce Benderson
Bruce Benderson is an American author, to Jewish parents of Russian descent, who lives in New York. He attended William Nottingham High School in Syracuse, New York and then Binghamton University...
, Danielle Dutton
Danielle Dutton
Danielle Dutton is an American writer.- Life :Dutton grew up in central California. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a BA in History and then lived for a year in England before moving to Los Angeles where she worked in music management. She later studied writing at...
, Stacy Doris, Matthijs Bouw. At the event, billed as The Clear Cut Press Potlach, Matthew Stadler announced as a result of being awarded a grant from the UA Artist Trust, he was leaving the press and the country in order to go to Mexico and write.
External links
- The Back Room
- Clear Cut Press Official Web site
- A Clear Cut Press at Cascadia Rising
- MoMA P.S.1 Presents the Clear Cut Press: The Hour of Power produced by Jona BechtoltJona BechtoltJona Bechtolt is an electronic musician and multimedia artist based in Portland, Oregon, United States. He is a former member of The Badger King and The Blow, and has released solo records under the name Yacht since 2003...
.