DOUBLE BOOK LAUNCH! Frank Lehner & Jim Daniels

We are grateful to host Frank Lehner and Jim Daniels in-store to celebrate their respective new publications! Frank Lehner's debut full-length collection of poems, Mrs. Nussbaum's Monkey, is a Pittsburgh pastoral with "poems that resonate with the pulsing rhythms of Pittsburgh" and "find the sacred in all small living things—insects, birds, flowers, animals," and Jim Daniel's debut collection of nonfiction, "An Ignorance of Trees," is an insightful memoir in essays that enriches the terrain of the MIdwest with heart.

Mrs. Nussbaum’s Monkey by Frank Lehner

"Frank Lehner’s new book, Mrs. Nussbaum’s Monkey, is a Pittsburgh pastoral. It is a love poem and a field guide to the unknown landscape that exists beneath and beyond the truisms about blue collar, industrial cities in America. Here, Lehner is the Whitman of his city. “I dress in the sacred garment of streets,” he writes. And he drenches those streets in tenderness, generosity, and a welter of unexpected detail. Mrs. Nussbaum’s Monkey is a tribute to the unknownness of place, of the many surprising places this industrial city represents. This book is an eloquent revision. A revelation." —Lynn Emanuel, author of Transcript of the Disappearance, Exact and Diminishing: Poems.

"In his first full-length collection, Frank Lehner delivers a lifetime of earned wisdom, humility, and grace, taking us on pilgrimages to holy sites where we meet his beautiful, flawed saints. The poems resonate with the pulsing rhythms of Pittsburgh, the city he unabashedly loves. He finds the sacred in all small living things—insects, birds, flowers, animals. There’s a stillness here in which transformations take place, a kindness which allows our shared humanity to be recognized and celebrated. Through litany and urban legend, through incantations and prayer, Lehner lifts us into a spiritual world where the potential for totems is everywhere. Every penny found is a jewel with its own story to tell. Lehner doesn’t imbue these totems with magic—he recognizes and pays tribute to the magic they already have: “The bumble bee on my forearm offers a powdery gold tattoo of her journey.” —Jim Daniels, author of Gun/Shy, Blessing the House, and Rowing Inland.

“I had death in my heart. I was set to clobber and smash.” This is an ancient lament familiar to the war rior. He protects his ghosts and labors for his living neighbors, redolent with story and song. He readies his table for “the sauce and stir and the dish to come.” In this way, Lehner creates grace and welcomes the stranger. I recognize the richness of dialect and formality in these poems and find my joy in knowing both reali ties, blending and reverberating. — Judith Vollmer, author of seven books of poetry including The Pavese Stone, forthcoming from Alice James Books.

FRANK LEHNER is a poet, book designer, folk arist, and playwright from Pittsburgh, PA, where he lives with his wife, the writer and educator, Nancy Koerbel. He is one of the founding members of the literary magazine 5 AM. His poetry has appeared in many periodicals and his plays have been staged in Pittsburgh and New York City.

An Ignorance of Trees by Jim Daniels

“To an essential catalogue of poems, Jim Daniels adds these essays on life’s riddles and mysteries. A more than worthy work in words” —THOMAS LYNCH, National Book Award Finalist

"In his debut collection of non ction, Jim Daniels writes about trees, backyard swing sets, above-ground swim doubling as a rich and textured biography of place, An Ignorance of Trees enriches the terrain of the Midwest with heart, as bruised and beautiful as ever. ming pools, pets, and hoarding, carrying his beloved Detroit with him wherever he goes. A memoir in essays “A compelling combination of swagger and vulnerability. . . . alternately hard edged and lyric. Daniels is probably the most introspective and sensitive tough guy writing today.” —SUE WILLIAM SILVERMAN, author of How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences

“Plain spoken and honest, grounded and vulnerable.” —GARY FINCKE, author of The Darkness Call

“Daniels weaves a tapestry of worlds with beautiful insight, honesty, and grace.” —LORI JAKIELA, author of All Skate: True Stories from Middle Life

JIM DANIELS is the award-winning writer of over twenty books, including Gun/Shy (2021) and The Luck of the Fall (2023). He is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and his books have won four Michigan Notable Book Awards. A native of Detroit, he lives in Pittsburgh.

Sign up for the livestream here!