Poetry hot off the Paper Monster Press

Paper Monster Press begins their third issue with a quote from the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard: To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself. The 12-page zine is a product of daring by the five-person editorial team behind Paper Monster Press - a quarterly "no-garage" indie literary publishing outfit based in Cavite. They call it their literary Frankenstein. A self-proclaimed struggling group of financially unstable indie zinemakers, they are grateful for any participation in their contribution to saving local indie press culture. "Malalaman mo kung gaano ka talaga ka-jologs dahil may mag-like lang kay Pepemon sa FB o sa Twitter, ay nagtatatalon ka na sa tuwa. OA na kung OA," reads number eight in Paper Monster Press's "25 Truths About the Small Press." At first look, Paper Monster Press appears to be the kind of project a cool teacher might ask students to submit. The low-budget black-and-white photocopied pages stapled inside a glossy cardboard cover with amateur-looking art, printed in color. The improvised flap at the back, where a burned compilation CD is tucked. But the content is far from the usual high school literary folio pieces that will most likely make its authors cringe when they unearth the remnants of their teenage-angst-ridden years. Paper Monster Press accepts theme-based submissions from contributors, but like any publication worth its salt, they have a selection process. Pieces may also be edited.

At first, Paper Monster Press was purely a poetry pamphlet. But after its second issue's surprising success, the zine branched out to include literary essays, critical essays, microfiction, reviews of previous issues, new media art, installation art, abstract expressionism, lowbrow, graffiti, body art, pop art, photography etc. Yes, they mean to say they accept any kind of visual art. This is both heartening and worrisome. As an artist, it might be nice to know the zine is open to any kind of visual art. But the limitations of photocopied material would mean a compromise. On the other hand, the grainy feel of this do-it-yourself publication has its charms. This is a publication free of pesky advertisements, and as an author, you can expect your work to get the space it deserves. The layout can be dizzying at times, but even that is a reminder that this is not something made to look good - beauty in this case is definitely on the inside. In the third S/Trip-Hop-themed issue, Richard Bolisay contemplates Cibo Matto, whose music is like a visual feast, and Michel Gondry, whose films are like delicious music, in a sublime essay on falling madly in love. Darlene Ramos ponders a possible future where evolution is a lie, but the world spins madly on. Elan Sastine devotes lines to the madness of night, Eliyahu Enriquez speaks of crescent wild things. Jay Salvosa's "Black Flowers Blossom" describes the shaking, quaking, quivering vibrations, and the silence that contains sweet serenity. Yusuf Martin writes, he wants to be Charles Bukowski, Allen Ginsberg, Ole Lillelund. Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferllinghetti. From Jeanilyn Kwan, the words don't do the damage/It's the delivery that makes it a sui generis. This is true in Paper Monster Press. The xeroxed poems, sold for a penny, are the sort you read and keep in a box of precious mementos, the stuff you never throw away even when you can't remember why you kept them in the first place. Zines have that kind of sentimental value -- the raw passion that goes into producing them gets passed on to the poorly reproduced copies that call out to the reader, hungry to be held and loved. And for those times when words fail, Paper Monster Press also accepts sound art. For their S/Trip Hop issue, they featured songs like "Venus Flytrap" by Turbogoth, "These Are The Days" by emorej, "Tungkol sa Pag-ibig" by Dayuhan, and "Thoughtcast" by BLU. - YA, GMA News Paper Monster Press says the next issue will feature spacious, ambient, steady, atmospheric and ethereal tracks. The group will release their Dream Pop issue on August 27,2011. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/papermonsterpress