About Crested Myna Press
We are a group of poets who have studied for several years under Patricia Carlin at the New School in New York City and who meet regularly to exchange ideas at a little French café in the Village.
The online journal Crested Myna Press is designed as a showcase for our work and upcoming activities. Although we all share a love of language, our writing styles and tastes are diverse—we write about art, relationships, politics, food, nature, love, sex and death.
Helen Barnard writes in a variety of styles. Currently, she is experimenting with a long line, a flat voice, and a deadpan tone. Terri Brandmueller's poems explore exile, loss and the connection between art and nature. Bergen Hutaff's spare verse takes on the sensory life that comes to us before complete sentences. Carola Walton started out as a strictly lyric poet, but in recent years has
allowed herself the freedom of experimenting with words and forms (as in
"Waiting"). However, the lyric has a way of sneaking in! W. R. Weinstein's approach is eclectic; she experiments with form, sound and language
though never sacrificing emotional content. Her sharp wit and keen powers of observation inform both her playful and more serious work.
You will see links here to some of our favorite journals and we will share recommendations for new books and events in and around the New York City area. We will also be inviting poets we like to submit poems to a regular Guest Poet feature.
Events
Crested Myna Press poets read at the Atlantic Gallery
June 9, 6:30 p.m.
135 W. 29th Street, Suite 601
New York, New York
The Ultimate New York Poetry Calendar
So why are we calling this journal Crested Myna Press? The Crested Myna is a native of southeastern China that was accidently introduced to North America when it migrated to British Columbia on ships carrying indentured workers to Vancouver at the turn of the last century. By the 1950s, flocks reached numbers in the thousands in urban areas and the birds were regarded as pests. Essentially a garden-variety starling tarted up with a short bushy crest, it has now become a rare bird—squeezed out of its habitat by urban encroachment and competition from indigenous species. But where it has managed to survive it is, according to the Field Guide to Birds of North America, "extremely vocal, mimicking other birds and making a tremendous variety of gurgles, whistles, grating and liquid notes." We think the Crested Myna is the perfect mascot for a journal of contemporary poets.
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