RCR #4 Is Available

Say hello to issue #4!  We have changed things up a bit this round and we are very excited to present you with our first attempt at making books without glue or jigs.  This issue was handmade with a Japanese Stab Binding that we learned at a workshop given by MC Hyland at the Midwest Small Press Festival in June.  We were scrambling to put this guy together at the last second and Kris Ange came through with a remarkable cover design just in time to ensure a July release. 

 RCR won't stop changing.  Progress: it's not just the ironically eponymous theme of the opening piece of issue 4, in which Aaron Anstett imagines a sort of nightmarish community college night class in self-improvement.  While Greg stayed up late learning how to stitch the new binding, Robin accidentally sewed an underlining seam of progress throughout the collection.  But progress comes with the baggage of nostalgia and regret for the past. And always present, the never-ending question "What next?" Dillon J. Welch drops in unexpectedly on the tenants of his old house in "Bienvenue." Emma Ramey realizes "I have always wanted, yet what do I have to dream?" in  "Tenant." Mercedes Lawry wonders what would have happened "if only the out-of-control truck wouldn’t hit the pedestrians" in "Tabloid Fodder or Simply Life." In Billy Howell's "Remains," an obsession with a benign cysts leads to the assumption of a past life as Alexei Romanov.  Richard Boada revives ghosts on the Mississippi.  Sally Molini warns us of "another long spell of Curious Choices" up head.  Progress requires the moments of reflection and observation that occur in many other pieces in the issue.  But it does not necessarily ask "Is it better? Are we right?" 


Issue #4 is a short, but focused issue.  We are lucky to have had the opportunity to publish such a talented group of people.  The list of contributors is as follows:
Aaron Anstett
Richard Boada
Scott Ditzler
Billy Howell
Mercedes Lawry
Sally Molini
Joseph Mulholland
Katie Jean Shinkle
Emma Ramey
Dillon Welch 

Also we would like to say a special thanks to:
MC Hyland
Robert J. Baumann
Jenna J. Rolle
Krista Callahan-Caudill
The Morris Bookshop
The Midwest Small Press Festival
Eric Casero's Table

RCR Makes a Change Thanks to MC Hyland, Rebecca Howell, and Larkspur Press

Back in June, Robin and I went to the Midwest Small Press Festival in Milwaukee.  We set up a table in a bizarre place called the Polish Falcon, and sold a bunch of books.  While we were there, I had an opportunity to sit in on a short workshop by MC Hyland about hand stitching books.  MC taught us a Japanese Stab Stitch (the video is just the first example I found on Google.) and I instantly knew that I wanted to try it for our next issue.  So, after three issues and a handful of chapbooks, Rabbit Catastrophe Press has decided to move temporarily away from perfect binding.  Over the past week or so, we have been experimenting with it, and it hasn't been great.  Then last Saturday, we went to a Reading by Rebecca Gayle Howell at Morris Bookshop, and we bought a copy of her first chapbook The Hatchet Buddha which was published by Larkspur.  This book was also assembled using a Japanese Stitch only, they had set in the title on the spine under the stitch.  I gave that a shot last night, and I think that we have come up with something that looks incredibly professional.  You can see the spine in the picture above, along with a sneak peak of the new gorgeous cover, designed by by the talented Kris Ange.  The issue is coming soon and I can't wait to post pictures of it and share our very talented group of contributors with everyone.  This issue is going to be very different, and we have MC Hyland, Rebecca Howell, and Larkspur Press to thank for it.  All three are big heroes of ours.

Out of Print Titles

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we had a great weekend at the Midwest Small Press Festival and that we are sold out of Issue#2 and Children of Reagan.  I will be posting pictures soon and also links to some of the amazing presses and writers that we met at the Festval.