CONTACT PUBLISHER DUSTIN PICKERING: 

Editor(at)transcendentzeropress.org

NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON:

THE MUCH ANTICIPATED WITHIN FLESH

Author Bios

Born in Southern California, Al Salehi is a multilingual American poet and
entrepreneur of Persian descent who lives in Orange County with a
background in technology. Al graduated from UCLA and went on to study
at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Al is a graduate from
Dartmouth College’s Guarini Graduate School where he studied Creative
Writing, and currently serves on the Alumni Council. He also completed a
creative writing program at the University of Oxford, Exeter College. Al’s
short film “Love, Basketball” won second place in the My Hero
International Film Festival, 2021, under the “Poetry” category. He has
published and/or presented poetry in the Society of Classical Poets, The
Dartmouth Writers Society, The United Nations Association, Southwest
Airlines, O.C. Registrar, Dartmouth Leslie Center Lifeline’s Poetry Share,
Houston Library Poetry Share, Clamantis Journal, and the Dartmouth
Medical School Lifeline’s Journal. Al’s collection, “Enter Atlas,” was a
Semi-Finalist for the University of Wisconsin’s Brittingham & Felix Pollak
Prizes in Poetry, judged by Natasha Trethewey. Al also plays the electric
violin and enjoys making people laugh.
Al’s poetry page can be viewed at PoetryByAlan.com
Twitter and Instagram: PoetryByAlan
Contact email: AASalehi@ucla.edu

Born in Brooklyn, NY, and raised in a Jewish-American family, Ivy
Schweitzer has lived in Vermont for many years and taught courses in
American Literature and Women and Gender Studies at Dartmouth
College. She has recently published poetry in Bloodroot Literary Magazine,
Antiphon volume 19, Clear Poetry, Passager, Ritualwell, Tikkun, New
Croton Review, Mississippi Review, and Spoon River Poetry Review. In 2018,
she felt called by Emily Dickinson to spend a year immersed in that poet’s
most creative period in which she wrote almost a poem a day; the result is a
year-long weekly blog called White Heat: Emily Dickinson in 1862.
https://journeys.dartmouth.edu/whiteheat
Please visit her author page: https://sites.dartmouth.edu/ivyschweitzer
Contact email: Ivy.Schweitzer@dartmouth.edu

From the Publisher’s Letter by Dustin Pickering:

“Emily Dickinson creates the foundation, buttressed with wisdom from
Saadi Shirazi, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Osip Mandelstam, Martin
Luther King, and Vievee Francis, with visions that are as urgent as they are
promising… No bigot is spared the anvil and hammer of poetic vision in Within
Flesh. The reader will surely find themselves remade through these haunting
words. Written by two extraordinarily talented poets, this is the most
well-crafted book that we have published to date.”

Advance Praise for Within Flesh
What makes this book particularly intriguing is the dual experience that it
offers its readers. It allows us to delve into the minds of the poets themselves,
exploring how Emily Dickinson served as a catalyst for their expressions of
remembrance, anger, sorrow, despair, and determination. These poems also
afford us a historical perspective. As we contemplate Al and Ivy’s activism
through their powerful words, we are prompted to consider the differences,
similarities, and changes in politics, racial tensions, and artistic expression
over time. Their poetry is powerful and thought-provoking, particularly
those that express indignation and anger while also touching on universal
themes of morality, pain, and hope. There is certainly no holding back here!
This collection is as bold and fresh as it is gorgeous and contemplative.
Ultimately, Within Flesh is an achievement that will leave its readers
captivated. —Simona Moroni; author of Hollywood Daze, and Nymph, and
Medusa Blues.

Three different writing styles, cultures, and generations—this book will
certainly have something for everyone. Within Flesh is a work of art,
brilliantly designed, from cover to cover. The interwoven fabric of poems by
Al and Ivy is seamless and truly masterful! —Xena Aziminia; Professor of
Design and Illustration, Otis College of Art and Design.

Compelled by the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter
movement, and using poems of Emily Dickinson as a “prism” to “unpack …
and un-filter” our “steeled imperatives” of racism and inequality, Al and Ivy
draw on their ancestral cultural and religious traditions to create a
conversation in poetry that crafts a path to “repairing the broken world.” In
spare, inventive lines, the authors interact with Dickinson’s themes of
captivity and freedom, extending the blaze of her poetic lamp to our present
day. A keen and generous passion fuels this undertaking, as the poets tell and
tell again the “long tale,” such as Breonna Taylor’s, “that we must keep on
telling.” Within Flesh is stunning and I’m confident that it will serve as an
enduring source of inspiration for years to come. Its grateful readers will
discover themselves as fellow passengers, “not passersby,” on a journey that
potentially unites and expunges injustice for us all. —Dr. Terry B.
Blackhawk; author of One Less River and Maumee, Maumee.

Emily Dickinson was always in dialogue. She asked a question, the Universe
answered. They talked a bit. She wrote it down. Lives were changed. Al
Salehi and Ivy Schweitzer are in dialogue with themselves, with Emily
Dickinson, and the Universe. They wrote it down. Lives will change. For the
better. Within Flesh will make you think, feel, and be alive. What more
could you ask? —Peter M. Webster; Poet & Director of Dartmouth
College’s Vocal Performance Lab.

Within Flesh does an extraordinary job of inviting readers into a dynamic
conversation between contemporary poetic voices and Emily Dickinson.
These poems are some of the most thoughtful reflections on racial justice I
have read, delivering crucial and timely viewpoints. The poets show courage
in calling out racism at a time of great division. They are on the right side of
history and their heartfelt words will echo throughout time. I believe
Dickinson would enjoy this collection and would be proud to have conversed
with these poets in imagining a better future.
—Odile Dewar, Poet and Professor of French, Irvine Valley College
(ret).

The authors establish a profound connection between Dickinson’s poems
and contemporary American issues. Exploring themes of race, identity, and
justice, they used passages from Dickinson’s work as entry points for their
own poetry, building bridges between eras. Their creative thoughts and
conversations truly opened my eyes. While Dickinson may not have explicitly
addressed racism and oppression, her exploration of universal themes could
still resonate with the fight for a more just and accepting world.
—Faleeha Hassan; “The Maya Angelou of Iraq,” according to
Oprah.com, a poet, playwright, writer, teacher, and editor in Arabic and
English.

FOUNDER AND EDITOR DUSTIN PICKERING. Please view before submitting.

What Transcendent Zero Press offers: . Our goal is to maintain publishing diversity, not so much “identity politics” diversity as differing ways of viewing the world and it expressing it poetically.

As a press, we seek the same diverse approach in our authors as we do for the journal. Our mission is to promote the “underdogs of ideas”- that is, we look within the lesser appreciated spectrum of thought and expression. There are too many cliches riddling the world of art today and we want something outside of that. We like poetry that advocates for the mentally ill and helps others understand the plight of the disabled; however, we also appreciate literature with strong philosophical content and empathy for the despondent, the imprisoned, the fallen, the failures, the ones we forget. We appreciate outsider art, surrealism, language and image play, dreamscapes, and radically new literary conversations. We prefer something with a universal message. We do not eschew identity politics but this does not mean we will not consider you based on your identity as gay, transgender, belonging to a minority community, class status, rural or urban dwelling, life philosophy including choice of faith, or any other factor related to you as a person. We oppose morality clauses because what you do or who you are outside of your publishing contract with us is not our concern. Art should be controversial and we want to encourage that.

As publisher, we strongly believe freedom of expression is a sacred right and it is our duty to protect it regardless. It is the bedrock of democracy.

We are unapologetic about our stance to fight the strain of community censorship currently in fashion.

We strive toward transparency, honesty, and simplicity in our relationships with authors. We believe literature is an expression of strength and empathy. We want to hear the narratives unheard– smash the cliched patterns of guilty literary indulgences. Tell us who you actually are. Let your being sing, unrestrained by expectations and fear. Be a faulty, corrupt individual and show us your inner struggles, your battles with the world, your heart and fears encompassed within your dreams. We are not afraid of humanity.

This Green Life is a tour de force from Lyn Coffin’s previous collections. This stunning collection also includes new work never before published. This volume includes poetry from Human Trappings, The Poetry of Wickedness, Crystals of the Unforeseen, East and West, Joseph Brodsky Was Joseph Brodsky, A Marriage Without Consummation, and new poetry. It also includes the never before published “Rodin’s Girl Friend.”

“In this new genre of ‘Flash Wisdom’ this book takes us gently and boldly into everyday life to scrutinize the beliefs we work out of, often with a touch of ironic humor that leads us to laugh at our foibles and brings us into a deeper understanding of what salvation might mean today.” — Dr. Mary Madec [Ireland]

Our long awaited Love anthology, Epiphanies and Late Realizations of Love, is finally available! Click the image to purchase from Amazon.

All humans seek love. It is the basis of our existence, the song that makes life warm and meaningful. In spite of the daily anger and meanness with which we are encountered in today’s heated political climate, an anthology that speaks of love is a strong protest and refusal to give in to the forces of division. We requested poems about love itself– poems that reflect love’s nature and it’s differing forms. In this compilation of beautiful verses, we wish to portray hope and the common things we take for granted. Everyone needs love. We at Transcendent Zero Press hope these verses warm your heart and remind you why life is a passionate and beautiful thing. Edited by Claudine Nash with art from Marcel Herms, Red Focks and Ammi Romero, Kat Copeland. Stunning cover art by Vera Ikon.

We accept ten or fewer manuscripts for publication a year. Harbinger Asylum is a quarterly journal with a strong faith in community kinship, and we might have one of the highest rates of acceptance in the literary community. I would say, roughly 60 percent of submissions.

PUBLISHER OF HARBINGER ASYLUM

For inquiries address Dustin Pickering: Editor@transcendentzeropress.org

Z. M. Wise, Assistant Editor: zmwise@transcendentzeropress.org

EIC Dustin Pickering is hosting a blog called thedailypoetsite where interviews, essays, book reviews, and insightful commentary will be featured. If you are interested in providing material for this blog or being interviewed, please email me at desireofdogs@gmail.com with your request and the angle you wish to portray in your segment. The goal of thedailypoetsite is to capture a variety of aspects to writing, including inspiration, controversy, education, publishing, arranging a book, writing itself, and other art related topics. Let me know what you have planned. The site is www.thedailypoetsite.wordpress.com.  We can keep your segment anonymous if you wish. We want to cover everything about the creative process, that mysterious force within us. How to market your book, the importance of building a group of loyal readers, what makes art happen, and the feeling gained from artistic creation. We hope this blog will serve as a journal for creativity and place of inspiration for others.

For the visual experience, interviews with our crew and exciting outtakes, see Z.M. Wise’s youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/ZMthePoet

You can also watch events and performances at Dustin Pickering’s youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/redandgreenoverarms

“Literature is a branch of art that uses writing– based on particulars– to grasp meaningful general subject matter. It reaches a broad scope of topics and styles, and seeks to encompass universal themes. It uses direct means to enrapture the imagination and sometimes to moralize about life and human behavior. Literature engages the reader with a unique perspective and often attempts to make the reader pause and reflect.”

–Dustin D. Pickering, founder

Transcendent Zero Press began in a small apartment in Houston, Texas. Its first steps were taken as a poetry and arts magazine called Harbinger Asylum in the month of September 2010. This has long been a dream of founder Dustin Pickering. When Pickering met Z. M. Wise, an aspiring poet, at Barnes and Noble he shared the most recent issue of Harbinger Asylum with him. Nothing was expected of the exchange. When a local poet could not make a featured reading at Coffee Oasis (later to become Soho, and even later to shut down completely), Pickering invited Wise to substitute. Dustin has always believed in the underdog who wants to put his foot in the door, but is either too intimidated or shy. The relationship between Wise and Pickering has developed into one of professional mutual advantage, one of Wise becoming partners in the business.

Podcast with Scott Thomas Outlar: Songs of Selah

Z. M. Wise has emerged as a talented young voice in the Houston arts community, a respected partner in business and adventurer for the magazine, and a good confidante for important decisions. Transcendent Zero Press is seeking artists for publication, wordsmiths and also painters and artists of images. We have ideas for our community of poets. We wish to bless them with honorable, rich words from international as well as local writers. We are seeking to increase exposure to the Houston arts scene, and keep it fresh. If you would like to be considered for our publication or for manuscript review, you will find our contact emails above.  Please see our archives for samples of writing published in Harbinger Asylum.

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It is a rare occasion in the publishing industry to see a book that reflects two minds writing on separate planes about the same topics. Imitations of Love Poems is the heart and mind bared on the topics of love, religion, conscience, youth, life, and film. The poetry of Dory Williams opens the collection with a childlike vision of the world. God is seen as the perfect form of Love. Williams’ use of language, irony, and common sense proverb leads the angels of our understanding into a world that is beautiful and tricky, but also wonderful and kind. She writes, “The rights of children are our rights.” The seemingly buoyant style Williams introduces is the product of a cheerful mind often fraught with sadness and the love of man and God. Her worldview, expressed ironically with wit, is that romantic love is the highest state of love given by God. Dustin Pickering takes an alternate approach to the same questions. His tribute poems are dark and sophisticated, thick with allegory and grief. His poetic stance is one of darkness, of facing love in the winter. His approach to God is far less conventional; it is even mystical. He conveys a direct sense of whom or what God is while defining human nature in terms of its relation to truth. Truth becomes an icky concept with lines like: “Yet vain hopes are all I have held. / Her breasts so lush were vanity revealed.” Pickering, in defining human nature, wants freedom from it. He hopes to be genuine and perfectly altruistic but the darker strain in human nature is impossible to overcome. This collection of verse by two disabled poets promises its reader an awakening in how disabled people survive in loneliness, difficulty, and dependence. As America takes interest in the plight of the disadvantaged, Imitations of Love Poems is an important collection to peruse with pleasure and sympathy. Love, in its universality, is also stunningly individual in its expression.