June 1st, 2010

Lummox Press

was created in 1994 by RD Armstrong. It began as a self-publishing/DIY imprint for poetry by RD. Several chapbooks were published and in late 1995 it began publishing the Lummox Journal, a monthly small/underground press lit-arts zine. Available primarily by subscription, the LJ continued it’s exploration of the “creative process” until its demise as a print mag in 2006. During its eleven year existence, this tiny mag with the big name, interviewed poets, musicians and artists (over 100 in all) about how they do what they do. Hundreds of poems were also published in its pages. Poets like Todd Moore, Lyn Lifshin, Gerald Locklin, Holly Prado, L.A. Bogen, Linda Lerner, Scott Wannberg, Philomene Long, John Thomas and RD Armstrong, to name a few, appeared regularly within its pages. It was hailed as one of the best monthly’s in the small press. In 1998, Lummox began publishing the Little Red Book series, and continues to do so today. To date there are some 63 titles in the series (as of 2009) and this year a collection of poems from the first decade of the series has been published under the title, The Long Way Home (2009).

Lummox also publishes limited edition books such as The Wren Notebook by Rick Smith (2000) and Last Call: The Legacy of Charles Bukowski (2004). More recently, Lummox published a set of four titles from its founder, RD Armstrong: On/Off the Beaten Path (a trio of long poems about road trips taken in 1999, 2000 and 2001 including the epic poem RoadKill – which John Berbrich said was “the best post 9-11 writing I’ve seen”), Fire and Rain – Selected Poems 1993-2007 Volumes 1 & 2 and El Pagano and Other Twisted Tales (a collection of short stories and flash fiction). All were published in 2008. In late 2008 Lummox began publishing the RESPECT series starting with John Yamrus’ New and Selected Poems. This was followed by Todd Moore’s The Riddle of the Wooden Gun (2009); Sea Trails by Pris Campbell (2009) and Down This Crooked Road – Modern Poetry from the Road Less Traveled edited by RD Armstrong and William Taylor, Jr. (2009).

These books are available also from the Lummox Press via the website: www.lummoxpress.com or at Lummox c/o PO Box 5301 San Pedro, CA 90733. There are also E-Book versions of most titles available. The RESPECT series, as well as, RD’s four titles are also available at Amazon.com. Together with Chris Yeseta (Layout and Art Direction since 1997), RD continues to publish books that are both striking in their looks as well as their content…you’d think he was aping Black Sparrow, but he is merely trying to produce the best books he can for his clients, the poets, and their customers, you, the readers.