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"Finding the Edge appeals with a wry, powerful combination of narrative and lyrical poems. The narratives are small novels, chiseled studies of human folly and vulnerability: You won't soon forget the reckless, highway-obsessed Wally or the hapless woman in "Copperhead." In his lyrical mode, Ortolani is beautifully expansive ("In the surrounding air, /the night spreads from my fingertips..."). Cinematic images abound to present a wondrous but never-sentimentalized world of nature. After reading Ortolani, you'll not look at coyotes, back roads, or your lover's face in the old, expected ways again." --Jo McDougall

A book of poems speaking out against sexual assault, written by poets from Kansas, Kansas City, or those who are Kansas-connected. There is a highlight of Kansas Poets Laureate and the current Missouri Poet Laureate from KC.

Author's Note: The idea for writing one poem a day for 100 days emerged slowly. In March, as we sheltered in place, I discovered that putting poems on Facebook allowed me to communicate with an immediacy that I usually only enjoyed at public readings. It tasted like bacon, like strong coffee. Naively, I thought 30 days would cover the worst of the pandemic. As I considered shutting down my daily posts, returning to sending poems out to small presses, I experienced a sense of loss, of isolation, that troubled me. I kept writing and posting, finding that I needed the electronic human contact more than a vetted publication with little feedback. Consequently, these poems have been self-published only on my Facebook platform, and on occasion, on the Kansas City Writer's Place website. In Swimming Shelter the poems are arranged chronologically as they appeared. Little has been done to revise, except for an occasional word choice selection or punctuation edit. I wrote each morning. Usually, stopping only when the poem was finished. A few appeared with an immediacy that surprised me. Other times, I worked off and on throughout the day, giving them up to the internet late at night, but seldom before I was satisfied. This went against the grain of my personal writing process, as I prefer to edit only after days or weeks have passed, letting the poems cool for the critical cold eye. Self-publication scared me, sort of like the time in junior high school, when I accidentally kicked off my penny loafer into the middle of the basketball court during a game. Ninth graders dribbled around my sad shoe like they might a mouse from the biology lab. The true embarrassment was that I'd forgotten to change my socks after gym class, and so there I was, swinging my dumb foot from the balcony in a sweat-stained sock. Essentially, my social life was ruined, and I became a poet. I'd like to thank Facebook readers who followed my posts, especially those who commented on what they read. Their words and emojis, likes and loves, let me feel like a village poet, sitting around a smoky fire, probably Irish, weaving words, inventing stories. I kept the organic character of original diction in place. The use of quarantine instead of stay-at-home or sheltering-in- place is an example of learning terminology, new words for a new time. The inaccuracies are honest. These poems are not all about Covid-19, per se, but all of them, for better or worse, were discovered while swimming in shelter, crawling for calm water.

"the Chamber" is a 2016 poetry and prose collection book anthology from Scars Publications (http://scars.tv) of select materials accepted for 2015 issues through cc&d magazine (http://scars.tv/ccd) Down in the Dirt magazine (http://scars.tv/dirt).Writers and artists included in this book are A.J. Huffman, A.S. Coomer, Aaron Wilder, Abdulrahman "Manny" Sembawah, Abigail Smith, Al Ortolani, Alex Kingsley, Allan Onik, Allison Whittenberg, Andrew Estep, Angelica Carter, Antonio Ingram, Ariel Nichols, B. Mason, Beaumont Sebos, Ben Macnair, Bernard Otto, Betty J. Sayles, Bill Wolak, Blake Corrao, Bob Strother, Brian Looney, Brittany Kearney, C. D. Bonner, Carol Murphy, Carrie Ives, Casey Powers, CEE, Charles Hayes, Chris Butler, Corey Cook, D. D. Renforth, Daniel Mark, Dave Nelson, David A. Forrester, David J. Thompson, David Michael Jackson, David Nelson Hilliard, David Russell, DC Diamondopolous, Debasis Mukhopadhyay, Dene Williams, Denny E. Marshall, Don Maurer, Doug Draime, Doug Hawley, Dr. (Ms.) Michael S. Whitt, Drew Marshall, Edward Michael O'Durr Supranowicz, Eleanor Leonne Bennett, Eliah Medina, Eric Burbridge, Fabrice Poussin, George Gott, Gregg Dotoli, I.B. Rad, Indunil Madhusankha, Jamanda Parker, Janet Kuypers, Jaron Panikkar, Jazmine Dorsey, Jeff Nazzaro, Jo Thomoson, Joann Spencer, Joe Randazzo, John Grey, Jon Wesick, Joshua Sinclair, JoyAnne O'Donnell, Katherine McCormick, Kathryn Trattner, Katie Moore, Kayla Katsuda, Ken Allan Dronsfield, Kendra Burns, Kenneth DiMaggio, Kevin James, Kimba Rose Williams, King Wiz, Kristen Welker, Kyle Hemmings, Liam C. Calhoun, Liam Spencer, Linda Golden, Liz Yohemoore, Luis Herrera, Marc Carver, Maria-Jose Villamar, Mario "Maxx" Hassell, Marlon Jackson, Melanie Greenwood, Michael Ceraolo, Michael Lee Johnson, Mike Brennan, Nathaniel Sverlow, Nick Gregorio, Nora McDonald, Patrick Fealey, Paul Bellerive, Peter Halliday, Phil Temples, Poetic, Priscilla Pilar Estrada, Richard Schnap, Robert Laughlin, Rod Dixon, Roger G. Singer, Rose E. Grier, Rose Saundersl, Russ Bickerstaff, Ryan V. Stewart, Sarah Parfait, Sej Harman, Simon Easton, Simon Perchik, Stefan Benz, Stephan Deemer, Stephanie Conley, Stephen Toft, Sterling Jacobs, Steve Sibra, Steven K. Smith, Suzanne Pearman, Talon Lawrence, Terry C. Ley, Tiffeni Crawford, Tim T.K., Uzeyir Lokman Cayci, Victor Pearn, Wes Heine, Wes Smith, Wesley Furukido, William R. Soldan, Xanadu, and Zane Schneider.