Featured SwEP Author: Zachary Kluckman

On April 30, 2018April 20, 2018 By awhitetrashpoetIn Authors, Featured Writers, News

Swimming with Elephants Publications, LLC would like to reintroduce to you to Zachary Kluckman.

Zachary Kluckman’s, Some of It is Muscle, was published by Swimming with Elephants Publications in December 2013, making it the second collection released from SwEP

Pick up Zachary Kluckman’s, Some of It is Muscle, from Bookworks ABQ during the month of April or order from Amazon or Barnes and Noble today!

Already own a copy? Please write a review on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Goodreads, or submit a review to swimwithelephants@gmail.com for publications on this site.

Zachary Kluckman

A performance poet since 2006, Zachary Kluckman has been writing poetry for 25 years. He is a member of two consecutive Albuquerque National Poetry Slam Teams and has represented the city at the Individual World Poetry Slam.

A Pushcart Prize nominee, and recipient of the Red Mountain Press Poetry Prize, his work appears in print globally in such publications as the New York Quarterly and Cutthroat, as well as numerous anthologies. Featured on over 500 radio stations, with appearances on many of the nation’s most notorious stages, he is an accomplished spoken word artist. He serves as the Spoken Word Editor of the Pedestal. Twice recognized for making world history, he is the creator of the Slam Poet Laureate Program and an organizer for the 100 Thousand Poets for Change program, the largest poetry reading in history.

His first collection of poems, Animals In Our Flesh, was published in 2012 by Red Mountain Press. He has a collection titled, The Curious Circus, from Uncola Press. An activist and youth advocate, he lives in New Mexico with his four children.

Greetings and Salutations!

On March 6, 2014March 6, 2014 By Nika AnnIn News

Swimming with Elephants Publications is an independent, not for profit, publishing agent focusing on supporting the working poet and local non-profit organizations, especially those which encourage the youth. We represent a variety of poetry and anthologies.

Although not currently open to unsolicited manuscripts, we are seeking submissions for two progressing anthologies (see Call for Submissions) and are always open to queries.

We also sponsor a quarterly anthology which benifits the RIo Rancho Youth Poetry Community. This not for profit publication is open to submissions year around and is publishd in Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. All proceeds from the publications will benifit the Rio Rancho Youth Poetry Community and be used as on ongoing fundraiser for group activities, further publications, and other adventures.

Please explore the website, order a few of our publications, and contact us at swimwithelephants(at)gmail(dot)com for more information about the fledgling agency.

Some of it is Muscle: a review by Mark Fischer

On February 25, 2014February 25, 2014 By awhitetrashpoetIn News, Reviews

Some of it is Muscle
Zachary Kluckman

Reviewed by Mark Fischer

Some of it is Muscle is an exercise in strength and perseverance in the poet’s life. Kluckman carefully excises the tough parts, puts them on display in ways that, sometimes, make you confused by how beautiful the scary bits are, and, in doing so, closes old wounds with the love of family and community. The images in this collection will surprise, challenge, and titillate both brain and heart. It is apparent that the poems in this collection were chosen and placed with precision. The poet takes you on a journey from heartache to heart-heal.

I found myself re-reading certain stanzas like puzzles and being rewarded with magical webs of metaphor like tendon and sinew that capture and coalesce into images that are unique to the mind, heart and voice of Mr. Kluckman. For example in the poem The Lions of Dusk he writes “the slow blue impalas swim like neon tetras through the heat haze, windows full of fever” effectively transforming the sinister into survival.

Kluckman plays well with many traditional forms in this collection too, reminding us he is a puzzle man himself. Kluckman is well known for his devotion to the poetry community. He is an organizer of the 100 Thousand Poets for Change program, the creator of the world’s first Slam Poet Laureate program, and editor of Pedestal. He is also a two-time member of the Albuquerque National Poetry Slam Team and a recipient of the Red Mountain Press National Poetry Prize. This second book of poems by southwest poet Zackary Kluckman is worth picking up. It is a book of challenges met, made beautiful, and mended. Some of it is muscle but the whole of it is love.

On the Surgeon’s Table: A Review of Some of it is Muscle

On February 7, 2014 By awhitetrashpoetIn Reviews

On the Surgeon’s Table

A review by Sarah Smithson

Title of Book: Some of it is Muscle

Author: Zachary Kluckman

Kluckman portrays his life experiences with a ringing theme of home, family, loss, and endurance presented in each diverse and carefully constructed poem. He offers love and survival as the antidote for all obstacles, evoking emotion and tenderly stitching wounds up with the delicacy of a one performing open heart surgery.

The imagery chosen for each poem is open, dry, and honest, reflecting the desert setting presented in a majority of the poems. Although a second or third read may be necessary to grasp the deeper nuances of each piece, it is hardly a burden since a cover-to-cover read is enjoyable and enlightening.

Kluckman’s poems are sun-ripened peaches; flavorful, rich, and filling. Once you’ve been spoiled on them, poetry will never read the same way again. Kluckman, like many performance poets, uses the combination of experience and emotion to craft powerful pieces; a method successfully employed throughout the book.

The poem entitled, “Training Day,” recognizes these themes, stating, “This is how we acknowledge the heart.” As strength. As work. As Muscle. The only blemish in this masterful collection is the use of some rather abstract metaphors, which may require deep thinking and multiple readings to reveal. These poems were intended to offer hope to the quiet, downtrodden, and lost, and they do this well. This would a recommended read for anyone who craves beauty, hope, or guidance.

Zachary Kluckman is a performance poet, a two-time member of the Albuquerque National Slam Team, and an accomplished spoken word artist. He is featured in numerous publications, as well as radio broadcasts and organizes many events in the local Albuquerque area. His recent publication, Some of it is Muscle, is now available from Swimming with Elephants publications. Find your copy on Amazon, Createspace, or a Local Book Seller in the Albuquerque area.

Hurry to Your Local Book Store

On January 18, 2014January 18, 2014 By awhitetrashpoetIn Local Events, News

For all of you ABQ locals, Swimming with Elephants Publications first two book: Some of it is Muscle by Zachary Kluckman and Cunt.Bomb. by Jessica Helen Lopez are now available at Bookworks Albuquerque.

Swing down there to support local business and your local authors. Thank you Amanda Sutton for making the venture from trunk to shelf so accessible. Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

Now Available: Some of it is Muscle by Zachary Kluckman

On December 31, 2013January 2, 2014 By awhitetrashpoetIn News, Publications

Swimming with Elephants Publications is proud to announce its newest publication: Some of it is Muscle by Zachary Kluckman. Currently the book is available through Createspace and Amazon.com.

To order from Amazon.com please visit the link: Some of it is Muscle

To order from Createspace Direct: Some of it is Muscle

A little about the book: The poems in this collection are meant to be read from beginning to end. These are poems of endurance, written with the conviction that “we survive” is the thread that connects the body to the spirit, and from that recognition comes an appreciation of the beauty that exists in the simple acts of living. These are poems that celebrate the anvil and the hammer, those things that shape and reshape us.