Allen Ashley will be reading from his book Once and Future Cities on Saturday the 5th December at Salisbury House, Edmonton, London as part of their Poetry Evening 2009. Everyone very welcome to attend of course! Click here to download the full info on the event: Salisbury House Poetry Evening 2009

Several new reviews have come in recently that have portrayed Ebonvale Press books in a very good light indeed - and i cant resist sharing some of them with you here.   

Firstly is a new one of Experiments at 3 Billion A.M. on Horror Fiction Review by Nick Cato:

EXPERIMENTS AT 3 BILLION A.M. surprised me from beginning to end. While it took me a while to get through its massive length (and the few head-scratchers), the majority of this fine collection is quite impressive, especially coming from an author I knew nothing about. Recommended.

Nick Cato - The Horror Fiction Review


Next came a spectacular review of Ultrameta, which even went so far as to compare it with Pynchon and Beckett:

On the most surface level you can see a story of a man living many lives, but like Thomas Pynchon, James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, what you see on the surface is but a reflection of the immensity which is hidden beneath. Really, I don’t throw those names around lightly; I really was that impressed with the novel, this represents a new form of literature for a new century.

If the review appears short then maybe a new form of criticism needs to be employed, for my part I was just blown away. There are few book which clash imagery and ideas in such a perfect union as Ultrameta. If this isn’t a modern classic, then there is little justice in the world, which would be an irony considering the content of the book.

Charles Packer - Sci-Fi Online


Then the oldest book of all, What the Giants were Saying, was singled out for a third amazing review:

What the Giants Are Saying is an unnerving, edgy work. It asks the inevitable question, what is art? And then explores the issue in a supremely visceral and unflinching manner. Yes, it has become acceptable (though controversial still) to manipulate inanimate tissue, such as Damian Hurst’s sharks and sheep, or Dr. Gunther von Hagens’ corpse sculptures, but to carve and stitch your art onto living flesh, to mutilate the breathing, that is another matter, or is it? After all, who owns our flesh? We accept the tattoo, the piercing, gender change (whether medically necessary or simply a need), even genital mutilation—weren’t the Castratos of a bygone age mutilated in the name of musical art—so who is to say where it ends, what is acceptable and what is extreme, if not even criminal?

What the Giants Are Saying is a bold work, it eschews story-telling conventions, it is readable, but difficult. It gives no easy answers or comfortable conclusions. It asks mote questions than it answers. It is horror, and then it isn’t, not in the conventional sense anyway, it is that rare and wonderful thing, an unclassifiable work. Even the beautiful, striking and disturbing cover is ostensibly horror, but then, on closer examination probably not.

Terry Grimwood - The Future Fire


Grimwood ended his review with some remarks about Eibonvale Press in general:

David Rix is, as I understand it, the man behind the remarkable and adventurous Eibonvale Press, publishers of the off-beat and different. With his own book he has certainly flown the Eibonvale flag and all power to him for stepping off the main road into wilder, more difficult country.

Thanks to everyone concerned for those new reviews!  All three of you made me very happy!

Just to let the world in general know that, following the highly successful recent launch event for Cities and Ultrameta - and thanks to the cluster of writers hounding me after that event about their books - Eibonvale Press will be Opening for submissions for a short time as of now!  This will last until i have cleared away the current backlog of eager people and hopefully found a few new titles! 

So go ahead - check out the guidelines below and send me a sample/synopsis! 

Eibonvale Press Writers Info Page

Hosted By:
Eibonvale Press

When:
01 October 2009

Where:
Waterstones
153-157 Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow
G2 3EW

Description:
Waterstones in Glasgow is hosting Eibonvale Press's first launch event in the UK for our two latest books - Ultrameta by Douglas Thompson and Once and Future Cities by Allen Ashley. So come along for wine, readings and signings, meet the authors and generally have a blast of Independent surreal and slipstream writing.

Click Here To View Event

Alexander Zelenyj's massive first collection seems to be sparking quite a response with three very positive reviews online already. 

The Future Fire has published an absolute beauty, obviously sharing my own huge admiration for this writing:

I have just had a profound moment . . .

It is a shame that this yahoo answers question is resolved so i cant express my support there. 

Is it OK to run an illegal library from my locker at school?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AoCt3NHGwM8BxD2H1669H3_ty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20090305151758AA7dWwd

As with all stupidities like that referred to here - the best way to fight them is to just ignore them and get on with things because, if everyone did that, they would collapse like a cloud castle.  Bloody brillient! 

http://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk/infoforwriters.htm
 

As some of you many have noticed, a new version of the Eibonvale Press website is now online.  Hopefully this will provide improved usability and there are several new features to take advantage of.  

You can now reserve forthcoming books for free using an online form.  You make a reservation and we will bill you via paypal when the book becomes available.  You can cancel a reservation at any time if you need to of course.

http://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk/forthcoming.html

Eibonvale Press has launched a printed catalogue – a full-colour booklet containing information on all our titles.  You can request a catalogue through the website.  
http://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk/catalogue.htm

Most importantly, I am welcoming two new people to the Eibonvale press team.  Douglas Thompson and Rachel Block have joined me to help with the marketing and promotion side of things here – as well as the very important task of simply multiplying the brain capacity.  This is very exciting and a big step forward for the press.  With those two to keep me in line, there are significant and exciting changes taking place.  

http://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk/people.html

Finally, look out for several exciting new titles in the next few (or several) months.  Experiments at 3 Billion A.M. by Alexander Zelenyj is literally on the launch pad now - good to go any moment.  Then Allan Ashley’s vividly surreal and satirical collection Once and Future Cities and Douglas Thompson’s haunting novel/collection Ultrameta are the next on the work bench.  There is also the possibility of doing a collection of the extremely rare, visionary and totally and wonderfully maverick comics of Ed Pinsent, which would be both a radical departure for the press and also a continuation of my exploration of interesting and unusual creativity in all genres and styles.  Watch this space for news on that one.