title
The Winter King
by Michael Aaron Casares
cover art and design by Steve Viner
The Winter King delineates all the stark grandeur of Norse sagas, with its visually stunning landscapes and images of high fantasy. The underlying themes, layers upon layers, reminiscent of Shelley or Byron, are carried along in this fluid tale peopled with surreal characters, rich with high symbolism. Readers are swept up as tears turn into beads, leading us alongside our hero. Casares reaches far and wide in this circle of references and symbols creating a beautiful yet frightening mosaic of ice and mirrors.
Michael Aaron Casares, author i(Austin, Texas) is the author of three collections: Ghost Roads, The Terrorist, and Green Tea America. His work has appeared in several online and print anthologies including: Eviscerator Heaven, The Dreamcatcher Anthology, Unquiet Desperation, 10k Poets, The San Antonio Express-News, The Hobo Camp Review, The Artemisian Review, Opium Poetry, Heavy Bear & The Plebian Rag. Michael also runs an independent press called Virgogray that produces chapbook editions of poetry, and works with an art group called The Black Light Contingent who put on art shows and exhibits featuring ultraviolet and fluorescent artwork.
http://virgograypress.wordpress.com/
http://profile.myspace.com/macasares
Steve Viner, cover artist (Dorset, UK) Steve lives with his wife, Donna, and daughter, Athene. He is predominately a digital artist, using various found and made objects to create dark gothic images. His cover art was featured on the first issue of Deep Tissue Magazine, and on the covers of chapbooks, Tinted Steam, Holy Hermaphrodite. He and Petra Whitely collaborated on an art/poetry chap, The Moulding of Seers and a novel, Shaman Circus. His art has been published in Fissure #5, Osprey, The Glasgow Review, and Unlikely 2.0. He is currently working on illustrating a children's book with Petra Whiteley. He has had a successful exhibition, which surprisingly due to the artistic content, went well with a broad cross-section of attendees.
http://www.myspace.com/visionpig
e-mail: visualpig@yahoo.co.uk
Signed, numbered, limited edition. 44 pages.
$6.95 US and Canadian shipping
$9.95 International shipping
“Epic poems are a rarity today, but Michael Aaron Casares' The Winter King is wild and full of darkness and light even in its frozen landscape. It's an ambitious step forward for this new poet.”
– Collin Kelley, author of Conquering Venus and After the Poison
“This is a jewel of a chapbook. The metaphors dazzle and the poetry is elevated to a level worthy of an exquisite mythical tale. This is writing of pure enchantment and for lovers of poetry who revere their inner child, a rare, rare find.”
– Constance Stadler, PhD, author of Tinted Steam, Paper Cuts and Sublunary Curse; review editor for Calliope Nerve
“Winter King is Casares’ best work to date - his images reaching for Williams and Shelley in ambitious language mix.”
–Marc Olmsted, author of What Use am I a Hungry Ghost and Fresh Lotus Rehab
