Cypher in the Snow were a brilliantly strange all dyke punk band from the Bay Area in the '90s. They released several 7"s (Badass and Free, a Free to Fight split with Sleater Kinney, and So I Heard You Have an STD...) plus the full length album Blow Away the Glitter Diamonds Stolen From the Crown. The band, which had a few different line ups, featured Anna Joy Springer (Blatz, The Gr'ups, and author of The Birdwisher), Daniela Sea (later on The L Word), Ulla Imd, Chloe Sherman, Margaret Hitchcock, Shari (of Harum Scarum), and Elitrea Frye, amongst others. They also made one of the goriest (& yes, badass) 7" covers I've ever seen:
Cypher in the Snow are truly indescribable- they need to be heard. While definitely a punk band, they featured banjo, trumpet, and accordion as well, conjuring a sound unlike any heard before or since. Take a listen to this song from their So You Have an STD... 7", and then go find yrself a copy of Blow Away the Glitter Diamonds asap!
Cypher in the Snow- Regression
Edit:
Here is a link to download Blow Away the Glitter Diamonds..
& here is one of my most favorite Cypher songs, "Blame the Victim," from their split 7" w/Sleater Kinney.
enjoy! xo
Cypher in the Snow
The Birdwisher
If you listen to Blatz, Cypher in the Snow or The Gr'ups then you know that fierce femme Anna Joy Springer is an incredible vocalist & lyricist. What you may not know is that she now teaches writing at UCSD and writes fabulous, grotesque and beautiful books, and one of those books is out now from Birds of Lace!
The Birdwisher is a novella about a girl, a pigeon-detective and a murderous mystery. Written after Dashiell Hammet's "Dead Yellow Woman," The Birdwisher is beautifully illustrated throughout by Sam McWilliams. Noir in style and rendered in gorgeous inventive prose, The Birdwisher is the first book from Birds of Lace and Anna Joy's debut novella.
You can read the prologue from the book & order it here (highly recommended). In the meantime, check out this video from The Gr'ups, "Lil Lost":
or watch this video of Anna Joy reading her entry from Encyclopedia: A-E
You can also check out more of Anna Joy's work here and here. Happy reading!
The Birdwisher
If you listen to Blatz, Cypher in the Snow or The Gr'ups then you know that fierce femme Anna Joy Springer is an incredible vocalist & lyricist. What you may not know is that she now teaches writing at UCSD and writes fabulous, grotesque and beautiful books, and one of those books is out now from Birds of Lace!
The Birdwisher is a novella about a girl, a pigeon-detective and a murderous mystery. Written after Dashiell Hammet's "Dead Yellow Woman," The Birdwisher is beautifully illustrated throughout by Sam McWilliams. Noir in style and rendered in gorgeous inventive prose, The Birdwisher is the first book from Birds of Lace and Anna Joy's debut novella.
You can read the prologue from the book & order it here (highly recommended). In the meantime, check out this video from The Gr'ups, "Lil Lost":
or watch this video of Anna Joy reading her entry from Encyclopedia: A-E
You can also check out more of Anna Joy's work here and here. Happy reading!
The Birdwisher
If you listen to Blatz, Cypher in the Snow or The Gr'ups then you know that fierce femme Anna Joy Springer is an incredible vocalist & lyricist. What you may not know is that she now teaches writing at UCSD and writes fabulous, grotesque and beautiful books, and one of those books is out now from Birds of Lace!
The Birdwisher is a novella about a girl, a pigeon-detective and a murderous mystery. Written after Dashiell Hammet's "Dead Yellow Woman," The Birdwisher is beautifully illustrated throughout by Sam McWilliams. Noir in style and rendered in gorgeous inventive prose, The Birdwisher is the first book from Birds of Lace and Anna Joy's debut novella.
You can read the prologue from the book & order it here (highly recommended). In the meantime, check out this video from The Gr'ups, "Lil Lost":
or watch this video of Anna Joy reading her entry from Encyclopedia: A-E
You can also check out more of Anna Joy's work here and here. Happy reading!
Birds of Lace
Drawing by Sy Wagon
Hey Friends!
We just got this call for submissions from our friend Gina at Birds of Lace!
Birds of Lace is a small feminist press that publishes Finery, an ongoing journal of feminist/queer writing and art, as well as brilliant work from Anna Joy Springer, among others.
The last issue of Finery featured work by Erica Adams, Meliza Banales, Heather Bowlan, Juliet Cook, Brooklyn Copeland, Nicole Elizabeth, Janiva Ellis, Katherine Fallon, Liz Freeman, Kate Goldsworthy, Nicole Haroutunian, Sy Wagon, Ashley Lunsford, Christina Vivan Nguyen, Niina Pollari, Nancy Reddy, Michelle Rodriguez, Megan Roth, Lindsey Ryan, Adina Schoem, and Jennifer Waller and came with a DVD of "Baby Xalm Down Bye" by Lovewarz (Siobhan Aluvalot & Zara thustra), and music videos made for Modern Lovers (Brontez from Gravy Train!!!!'s solo music), the Manhaterrr film and the making of Stop Men, a public art installation.
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Birds of Lace First Annual Chapbook Contest
Birds of Lace is pleased to announce our first annual chapbook contest. Winner will have their chapbook published by Birds of Lace and receive ten copies of said chapbook, as well as having the option to purchase additional copies at 50% of the regular price. As of now we do not have cash money to offer our winner. (I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the world of small press feminist publishing is not super profitable.)
The judge for the 2009 inaugural contest is Daphne Gottlieb:
San Francisco-based Performance Poet Daphne Gottlieb stitches together the ivory tower and the gutter just using her tongue. She is the editor of Fucking Daphne: Mostly True Stories and Fictions and Homewrecker: An Adultery Reader, as well as the author of the poetry books Kissing Dead Girls, Final Girl, Why Things Burn and Pelt, as well as the graphic novel Jokes and the Unconscious with artist Diane DiMassa. www.daphnegottlieb.com
Here are the guidelines:
- your manuscript of fiction, poetry, play or hybrid-genre text-based work may be 20-40 pages. Please include a cover sheet with your name, email and address as well as the title of the collection. Do not put your name anywhere on the actual manuscript, as they will be read anonymously. Email your work as an .rtf attachment to birdsoflace@gmail.com with the subject line reading CHAPBOOK PRIZE SUBMISSION. Submission deadline is June 15th, 2009.
- select works from your manuscript may have been published elsewhere but the collection as a whole must be previously unpublished. Please include acknowledgements of previously published pieces with your manuscript.
- the contest is open to women (defined here to include anyone who identifies as such) and queer people of all genders.
- the contest is an attempt to publish work of brilliant writers we’ve yet to meet: friends of the press and judge, you are kindly asked not to submit to this particular call.
- the manuscripts will be read anonymously first by a panel of readers, who will whittle the group down to 5, and then passed on (still anonymously) to the final judge, Daphne Gottlieb.
We look forward to your submissions! If you’d like to acquaint yourself with the type of work that Birds of Lace publishes, please see the excerpts from the fifth issue of our literary and arts journal Finery, found at birdsoflace.com, or order a copy (recommended: it’s truly awesome.) That said, we tend to have an eye towards the innovative, grotesque, challenging, strange, heart-rending, depraved and beautiful; if you don’t see anything like your work reflected in our current line-up, do not be discouraged: we have wide-ranging tastes and are always looking to add new styles and voices to our burgeoning universe .
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Finery Issue 6 now accepting submissions
Issue six (six!) of Finery, a literary and arts journal, is looming in the near distance & needs your words. The theme of the issue is “Portraits” (interpret it as you will, we like a nice surprise). We are also accepting general submissions but would be most excited to receive ones pertaining to the theme in some way or another.
We look forward to your submissions! If you’d like to acquaint yourself with the type of work that Birds of Lace publishes, please see the few excerpts from the last issue of Finery, found at birdsoflace.com, or order a copy (recommended: it’s truly awesome.) That said, we tend to have an eye towards the innovative, grotesque, challenging, uncanny, queer, heart-rending, depraved and beautiful; if you don’t see anything like your work reflected in our current line-up, do not be discouraged: we have wide-ranging tastes and are always looking to add new styles and voices to Finery.
Send 2-6 poems or up to five pages (email us with a query if you have a longer piece, we’re open to suggestion), of fiction, theater, essay, memoir or any other hybrid-genre magic you have hiding up your sleeve (& which remains unpublished) to birdsoflace@gmail.com, with “finery 6 submission” as the subject line, by June 1, 2009. Please include a short bio. Those published will receive a copy of the issue. Past contributors are kindly asked not to submit again until a year has passed since your previous work appeared.
Birds of Lace is a feminist press. Finery accepts submissions from anyone who identifies as female as well as genderqueer people.
Please: tell your friends, re-post this submission call wherever you see fit, pass it on!
Be sure to check out all the stuff from Birds of Lace...and submit your own work to be a part of these amazing projects!