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Let's take things too far. Can you explain?
published by @elisabethnicula
poetry editor @not_actually_misha_official

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Poet and Writer Sebastian Castillo shares a poem with Poets House, and discusses his creative influences and interests.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, and raised in the New York City area, Mr. Castillo currently resides in Philadelphia. He is the author of SALMON (Shabby Doll, 2023), Not I (Word West, 2020), and 49 Venezuelan Novels (Bottlecap Press). His forthcoming novel, Fresh, Green Life (Soft Skull, 2025), is highly anticipated.

His writing and teaching is concerned with genre hybridity, experimental models of prose, and Latin American literature in translation.

We invite you to engage with his compelling voice and evolving body of work. by @smoothfriends

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a year ago

Smooth Friend is honored to release the third entry in our book series, The Zoo of Thinking by Sebastian Castillo (@bartlebytaco). These strange, forthright short stories seem to expand inward, kaleidescopic, raising the possibility that we are all always slightly out of sync. Nothing is terribly wrong though nothing is exactly right either—but as the protagonist in one story says, let's not feel suspicious toward the things which give us pleasure. There will be just one printing of The Zoo of Thinking, in an edition of one hundred.

𝑷𝒓𝒆-𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒊𝒐. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒊𝒏 𝑫𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓.

Praise for The Zoo of Thinking

Sebastian Castillo is a writer of wry, playful erudition and The Zoo of Thinking is an eccentric collection of spirited, absurdist dream-stories. —Kathryn Scanlan

Sebastian Castillo’s heartaching and drastically precise prose miniatures sum up our unwearying melancholia with a nervy verve. You will need this book. —Garielle Lutz by @smoothfriends

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2 years ago

Smooth Friend is thrilled to announce our next book: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘡𝘰𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 by Sebastian Castillo (@bartlebytaco), coming in fall 2024.

👶 by @smoothfriends

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3 years ago

Thanks to everyone for a great night celebrating Carrie Hunter's new book 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘭 <3 Cat poems! Banana poems! Barista poems! I still don't know what a chapbook is! If you couldn't make it last night you can still find a copy or two at @etalbooks, or you can order online. by @smoothfriends

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3 years ago

See you Friday at @etalbooks for Carrie Hunter's
𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘭 book release party! With special guest readers Laura Woltag and Jacob Kahn <3

Friday, March 15, 6:00 p.m.
Et al. Gallery, 2831 Mission Street
Masks welcome and extras on hand
@carriehunter38 @j.a.c.o.b.kahn @neutral_neon_ by @smoothfriends

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3 years ago

Save the date for Carrie Hunter's ~All Gabled Roofs Will Fail~ book release party. We can't wait to see you!

Friday, March 15, 6:00 p.m.
Et al., 2831 Mission Street
With readings by Carrie (@carriehunter38), Laura Woltag (@neutral_neon_), and Jacob Kahn (@j.a.c.o.b.kahn) <3

Preorders are mailing soon. If you would like to receive Carrie's book via USPS, follow the link in our bio :) taken in Et Al by @smoothfriends

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3 years ago

Big news! The preorder opens today for Carrie Hunter’s 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘭, our second printed publication. Link is in bio :)

𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘭 brings the language of John Ashbery and Marthe Reed into collision in order to produce a space where language itself fails and fascinates. Hunter leads us through this maze in a state of anxiety, wonder, and amusement. She shows us how play can reveal politics and how high the stakes are when we open our mouths to speak.

Praise for 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘭
From a longer work engaging Ashbery’s 𝘍𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘵 and Marthe Reed’s poetry, Hunter’s project holds a spinning planet replete with extinction, coffee shop porn, the inability of language, and “a list of singularities you don’t believe in”—all reaching to make a shelter for “destiny.” H. D. wrote “the walls do not fall,” but in Hunter’s world, 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘴 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘭. Where “all lives have battle sections,” and “your misery is my breath, my misery your breath,” Carrie Hunter’s poetry will scorch your heart.
—Dana Teen Lomax, author of 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦

@carriehunter38 by @smoothfriends

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3 years ago

Call the Smooth Friend Hotline at (415) 549-1211 ☎️ for a new reading by Sebastian Castillo (@bartlebytaco) about preferences :) by @smoothfriends

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3 years ago

Smooth Friend joins the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), the academic and cultural aspect of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS). We will not participate in the ideological and institutional scaffolding of Israel’s regime of occupation, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and genocide against the Palestinian people. We look forward to the day when Palestinians are free.

To read about this boycott, visit bdsmovement.net/pacbi/cultural-boycott-guidelines by @smoothfriends

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3 years ago

We have some beautiful new things on the website today: three poems by Parker Menzimer (@peter_luger) and “About 1,000 Words on Preferences” by Sebastian Castillo (@bartlebytaco). Links in bio, please enjoy! by @smoothfriends

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3 years ago

Smooth Friend joins in the worldwide demands for a free Palestine. by @smoothfriends

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3 years ago

Call the Smooth Friend Hotline today for a beautiful new reading by Terrence Arjoon (@terrencearjoon) and Thea Walsh (@theadora.tm) :) ☎️ (415) 549-1211 ☎️ by @smoothfriends

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3 years ago