We can only write what we know, whether that comes from communicating in broken French and broken English with a Parisian nurse, or staring in horror at the human effects of a geological calamity. Here are twenty years worth of dark poetry, representing a dark world, the very one we live in. These poems were written at home, at work, in the air, shipboard in the middle of the Indian Ocean, confined to a hospital bed in a foreign land, in other words, all the usual places. Influenced by Lovecraft, Zelazny, and Algernon Blackwood, among others, Kopaska-Merkel enlists his imagination and scientific background in service to poetic expressions of the wonder, horror, and magic that permeate our world. Advance praise for Luminous Worlds "Linked by themes of cosmic isolation, ruin, dead cities, and mysterious women, these poems proceed by their own sure dream logic. Kopaska-Merkel's deep understanding of science blends strangely but effectively with the surreal to create convincing narratives of impossible experience." - Ann K. Schwader, Rhysling Award winner, author of Twisted in Dream and Wild Hunt of the Stars "Over the last 25 years, David C. Kopaska-Merkel's Dreams and Nightmares has been at the heart of speculative poetry movement, publishing some of the very best speculative poetry anywhere - in these pages, you'll see that he's written some of it, as well. David has been a flame at the heart of a movement; herein, find the artistic core of things, and the vision behind a now-venerable publication. Damn, but the man can write!" - W. Gregory Stewart, Nebula Nominee and multiple Rhysling Award winner "The stark wind of a cautionary tale dips through the ruined cities and skewed alien love songs of Luminous Worlds. These are cohesive literate subtle explorations loaded with kinetics. 'Ghost Lakes' haunts with geologic power. An entire Japanese horror movie is encapsulated in 'Tsunami Child.' Kopaska-Merkel's formidable voice becomes a force to be reckoned with." - Robert Frazier, SFPA Grandmaster Poet, author of Phantom Navigation
Devotion invests power in the object adored. Of course, so does fear. A childhood doll, an adolescent crush, or the stranger downstairs-any of these might become imbued with godlike significance, or with monstrous power. In this quirky collection of short tales, David C. Kopaska-Merkel (former Star*Line editor; current Dreams & Nightmares publisher) presents an assemblage of supernaturally endowed subjects that by turns amuse or amaze-and somehow always perturb.
SpeakEasy Press announces a new collection of poems, The Egg Show, by author David C. Kopaska-Merkel. This selection of seven poems, six originally unpublished, is letterpress printed on handmade cotton rag and retted flax paper with 10 point Dante type. Its bound in a simple soft wrapper of translucent abaca. The work includes one original illustration by Frank Brannon.Davids genre poetry magazine, Dreams and Nightmares, made the preliminary ballot in 2004 for the Stoker Award of the Horror Writers Association. His work is annually recognized in the Rhysling competition for best science fiction, fantasy or horror poetry, and he is a previous editor of star*line, the Journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Dreams and Nightmares, published since 1986 and one of the oldest genre poetry magazines in existence, may be purchased through projectpulp.com and shocklines.com. The Egg Show may be purchased for $40 by emailing the publisher at: frank@speakeasypress.com
David C. Kopaska-Merkel is either a genius of the highest caliber in a literary sense or completely stark raving mad." - author Eric S. Brown The Simian Transcript is a collection of flash fiction pieces written by David C. Kopaska-Merkel. The stories collected in this tome are intense, often dark, and always adventurous. With titles like Night of the Wereduck, Captain Marshmallow, and Take them Bowling, you know straight off this collection isn't going to be a normal genre read.
Footprints in Stone is the definitive guide to the Steven C. Minkin (Union Chapel) Paleozoic Footprint Site in northwest Alabama, the discovery of whose vast quantity of 310-million-year-old fossil tetrapod footprints and other traces is one of the most significant developments in modern paleontology.
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