BkMk Press Publishes “Trouble Behind Glass Doors”
Kansas City, Mo. — BkMk Press of the University of Missouri-Kansas City announces the Sept. 15, 2013, publication of “Trouble Behind Glass Doors,” a collection of poetry by Walter Bargen, Missouri’s first poet laureate.
When asked to sum up his newest book, Bargen said, “The title says it all. The ways we fail ourselves, each other, sustaining ourselves on the earth, are there for all of us to see/read, if we will just open our eyes and minds. I hope the panes of these poems are clear enough for all to see through.”
Bargen and his wife, Bobette, live in Ashland, Mo., and his works detail the rewards, challenges, and disappointments of life set against the backdrop of Missouri and the Midwest. Some are meditations on Midwestern nature and geography and on the ironies of the poet’s place in contemporary culture.
“Walter Bargen reminds us,” said David Clewell, onetime Missouri poet laureate, “in language at once plain-spoken and oddly elegant, that we walk through a world fraught with equal measures of danger, wonder and cockeyed joy.”
Bargen’s works have appeared in over 100 magazines, and he has published 16 books of poetry and a chapbook. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship (1991) and the 2005 William Rockhill Nelson Award for Best Poetry Book by a Missouri or Kansas writer.
Media representatives seeking a review copy of “Trouble Behind Glass Doors” are asked to contact Ben Furnish, managing editor of BkMk Press, furnish@umkc.edu or (816) 235-2558. To purchase other BkMk titles, contact Furnish, the Ingram Company, SPD or Baker & Taylor.
About BkMk Press
Founded in 1971, BkMk Press has been a part of UMKC since 1983. BkMk concentrates on publishing collections of poetry, short fiction and creative essays. Publishing roughly six titles a year, BkMk Press has more than 125 titles in print. BkMk Press established the G.S. Sharat Chandra Prize in 2002 to honor the memory of Chandra, a writer and longtime faculty member at UMKC. Financial assistance for BkMk Press is provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, by UMKC, and by private donations.
About UMKC
The University of Missouri-Kansas City, one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 15,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students, and celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2013. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a four-part mission: life and health sciences; visual and performing arts; urban issues and education; and a vibrant learning and campus life experience. For more information about UMKC, visit www.umkc.edu. You can also find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and watch us on YouTube.
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