The Loulaki Bar

68 pages of poems and water colors from Hydra Island in Greece. With a foreword by Gerald Locklin.

Poems and artwork (C) Henry Denander 2009. All rights reserved. Acknowledgement and thanks to Chiron Review, Nerve Cowboy, Bottle of Smoke Press, Hemispherical Press and ArtBureau.org for having previously printed some of the poetry and art in this book. The Author would like to thank Samuel Charters, Gerald Locklin, Michael Lawrence and Glenn W. Cooper for their inspirational support of my poetry and art.

Henry Denander bows his head to Henry Miller and paraphrases the first line from The Colossus of Maroussi, when he writes his introduction to The Loulaki Bar “We would never have gone to Hydra had it not been for a Greek woman named Christina who worked at the Swedish Embassy in Athens in 1985.” The title poem tells about a brief encounter with Leonard Cohen one night in Hydra 1988. Also Henry tells about life and people on a small Greek island, through the eyes of a sensitive and humorous observer.

Published by Miskwabic Press in Michigan and distributed all over the world by Metropolis Books. Price 12 EURO including postage everywhere. All copies are signed and the first 33 copies will include an original water color by Henry Denander.

12 EURO incl. shipment cost world-wide

In Stockholm books can be bought at Bokmagasinet at Hornsgatan på Södermalm.

Here’s what people say about the author and the book:

your book is wonderful. i almost never pick up a book of poems and read from cover to cover, but yours was a glorious breeze to read line after line. i loved it. it has a narrative flow that seduces me in a very gentle, very comforting, very meaningful way. the book is a treasure. thank you so much, my friend, for the book, for your love of poetry, for your warmth and for the story that is your life. Ronald Baatz

just a quick note to tell you how much we enjoyed and will continue to enjoy ‘The Loulaki Bar’ especially “Repellants”! Just beautiful water colors too. Randy Brecker

Beautifully written, beautifully produced. I love “The Flood” best of all. And your paintings throughout? Magnifico. Ralph Murre

The poems and watercolors, as always, are first class. After I read and re-read the book a few times, I sat back and had the sort of feeling you get, man, I don’t know if I can describe this but I’ll try…a warm pastel glow, the cheerful heft of old-fashioned telephones, the elasticity of raindrops shining on the stenciled windows of bookstores… Thank you very much for your thoughtfulness. A very nice introduction by Gerald Locklin, too. It made my day, Henry. Tom Kryss

ohhhhh and my what a fine collection of creative art works with a nice statement by gerald locklin, plus your statement regarding the finding of Hydra was for me very very interesting, there is a certain degree of similarity between your island escape and Calumet in the Keweenaw peninsula. t.k splake

Henry Denander lives in Stockholm but he is fortunate enough to have a vision that covers the world. I know him from the island of Hydra where he and his family keep a second home. Whether in Sweden or in Greece, his English is impeccable and his poems ring extraordinarily true. Neeli Cherkovski

Poetry as it should be taught in the schools. If educators the world over want to get kids interested in (or at least not hating) poetry, they could do far worse than use Henry Denander’s poems in the classroom. Funny, wise, insightful, always there is something to admire in a poem by Denander. And they’re easy to understand. You don’t have to think about what it means. It’s right in front of you. Poems for the 21st century. Glenn Cooper

Foreword to The Loulaki Bar and other poems

I have watched the development of Henry Denander over the last few years as Poet, Artist/Illustrator, and, recently, Editor/Publisher of Kamini Press, with a gratified astonishment. He must be the world’s fastest learner, even considering how long his innate creative talents had been fermenting in his soul.

I now consider any product of his creativity in any form to qualify as an instant collector’s item. He has, of course, also been in the first rank of jazz aficionados and poetry collectors for the same decades that he has been earning his living in the business end of the entertainment world: it was his great anecdotes from that métier, contained in letters, that impelled me to urge him, a few years back, to write them down in the format of poems. Did I foresee that he would, these few years later, have emerged as a great poet, not to mention a great illustrator of his own work and that of others? No, I can’t claim to possess such prescience, but I have indeed had the privilege of being witness to the phenomenon, and now to bearing witness of it to those of you for whom the great pleasure of discovering his manifest talents may begin with this volume. It is an excellent starting point.

For years Henry has been inviting me to partake of his hospitality in his vacation home on the storied Greek isle of Hydra. Circumstances have obviated my availing myself of his generous invitation, but I have read in his brilliant letters so many accounts of the customs, history, legends, natural beauty, and beautifully individualistic inhabitants that I consider myself an adopted resident-in-absentia. The poems that make up the content of this book will, I trust, make you feel equally at home there. You couldn’t have a more articulate, warm-hearted, knowledgeable, and humane tour guide than Henry. He is simply, as we say, a Prince among Men, and a master of the lyrical, dramatic, and narrative modes. And maybe we will all begin to run into each other on Hydra. Not all at once!!! We don’t want to spoil this magical place!!! But I would love to have the opportunity to introduce you to My Great Friend (whom I have met “only” in words), Henry Denander, as I now turn the page for you to cross the portal of The Loulaki Bar. Gerald Locklin, Long Beach, California.

Also by Henry Denander:

  • I Know What She Will Say – Bottle of Smoke Press, 2003
  • Weeks Like This – Bottle of Smoke Press, 2005
  • Bring Down The Sun ( with Adrian Manning ) – ArtBureau, 2005
  • The Poetry of Mr. Blue – Bottle of Smoke Press, 2007

Much more on Henry Denander can be found on Kamini Press by clicking here…


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