Ken Waldman has toured throughout North America as Alaska's Fiddling Poet since 1995. He is the author of six poetry collections and has released seven CDs. This, his first book of prose, is part memoir, part travel notes, and part artist how-to. A Blue Highways for 2009. "Ken's story is all our stories, collected and distilled by a roving poet/musician possessed of a clear eye and a big heart. Waldman is clearly in the tradition of Walt Whitman, Woody Guthrie, John Steinbeck, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Ken Kesey." --Jim Clark, author of Handiwork, Dancing on Canaan's Ruins, and Notions: A Jim Clark Miscellany and Jordan Professor of Southern Literature and Writer in Residence, Barton College, Wilson NC. "A great read. For those who've wondered what it's like to live a life on the road in pursuit of one's passion, here's your book. Those who already know what it's like can point and say, 'It's like this.' From the harrowing plane crash in Alaska all the way to the appearance at Kennedy Center stage, we feel like we're there." --Jeff Talmadge, CoraZong Records recording artist, internationally touring singer/songwriter.

Are You Famous? Touring America with Alaska's Fiddling Poet

Biographies & Memoirs

Waldman, Ken

Arts & Literature

Catalyst Book Press

Monica Murphy LeMoine is used to writing postcards from strange, faraway places. After years of traveling around the world with her Peace Corps sweetheart-turned-husband, she finds herself on a blissfully ignorant journey toward new parenthood. But when the pregnancy ends before it's supposed to, Monica is abruptly launched into a different kind of world that nothing in life has prepared her for. It is up to Monica to navigate this strange land of almost-parenthood, make sense of her own confusing grief for real and imagined lives lost, and-ultimately-learn to move forward without someone she loves. A memoir told in postcards, Knocked up, Knocked Down is about finding solace in the most surprising places when life knocks you to the ground. And if you have ever lost a loved one, this uplifting story will help you move upward, too. "Monica Murphy LeMoine worked all over the world with the Peace Corps and grew up in a family that never had time to 'sit around and wallow.' She never comes close to that in this deeply and darkly funny, anti-trauma memoir. Refusing to accept the grief package defined by well-meaning counselors who said she'd never recover, this book calmly and firmly replies, 'bull#@%&amp;!" -Christina Gombar, prize-winning author, Literary Editor for Exhale, and reviewer for Bookslut and London Review of Books.

Knocked Up, Knocked Down: Postcards of Miscarriage and Other Misadventures from the Brink of Parenthood

Lemoine, Monica Murphy

Returning home from a stint serving in the Peace Corps in Central Africa, Patrice Melnick learns she is HIV-positive. She decides to live her life to the fullest, appreciating music, food, and literature--and finding love.

Po-Boy Contraband: From Diagnosis Back to Life

Melnick, Patrice

Parenting & Relationships

Corbin Lewars' memoir, Creating a Life, shares the bumpy road that led Corbin to motherhood and her career as a writer. Deformed sperm, a miscarriage, and quitting her job to become an editor only to have that publication become bankrupt were a few hurdles that she crossed along the way. But Corbin not only survives, she thrives, and is able to share her story in a heartfelt and humorous way. "By bravely--and humorously--sharing her deepest secrets and confronting her biggest fears, Corbin Lewars makes one of the strongest arguments out there that pregnancy and childbirth aren't simply about biology doing its thing. Becoming a parent is also about figuring out where you've been and where you want to be." Marisa Cohen, senior editor at Glamour and author of Deliver This! "An empowering and true story. If you've created life, if you dream of creating life, if you love someone who is creating life-this is the book for you." -Ariel Gore, author of Bluebird: Women and the New Psychology of Happiness "Lewars writes about disappointment and trauma without a trace of self-pity; her story is honest and raw, her outlook hopeful heartwarming." -Midge Raymond, author of Forgetting English.

Creating a Life: The Memoir of a Writer and Mom in the Making

Lewars, Corbin

Community & Culture

Birth mothers are often the forgotten or ignored part of the adoption triad. This collection of literary essays seeks to correct the imbalance by publishing personal stories by birth mothers, adoptive mothers, and adoptees. The stories cover a range of topics about adoption, open adoption, birth parent connections, and unification with children after closed adoption, focusing on the relationship with birth mothers. An anthology of essays by, for, and about birth parents.

Silent Embrace: Perspectives on Birth and Adoption

Adoption