WHO ARE THE
"NEW NEO-REALISTS"

--- AND WHY SHOULD WE CARE?
Outspoken New Poetry Movement
Unveiled for the First Time!

    Gosh, who'd have thought I'd be a New Neo-Realist?
    It's hard to figure out what unites all the contributors,
    except that every poem grabbed me right away and
    wouldn't let go till I'd read it through.
                                     With high regards,
                                          Joe (X. J.) Kennedy.


In a volume released in the Fall of 2015, the new Neo-Realists are finally united with the traditional poets who inspired their works --- writers like D. H. Lawrence, E. E. Cummings, Howard Nemerov, Zbigniew Herbert, Norman MacCaig, Joseph Brodsky, Ezra Pound, et al.

In this oversized anthology --- The Vivisection Mambo --- readers are offered a bouquet of 125 poems that have defined and shaped this new cohort.

Original verse includes Philip Larkin's "Money," Langston Hughes' "Daybreak in Alabama," García Lorca's "Green Green I Want You Green," Paul Celan's "Death Fugue," William Carlos Williams' "Portrait of a Lady," and X. J. Kennedy's "First Confession."

These appear alongside Timothy J. Clark's "Manet & Monet & Marx & Freud," Norman Dubie's "Lamentation," Joseph Millar's "Midlife," Quan Berry's "Tradition," Frederick Seidel's "East Hampton Airport," Aquiles Nazoa's "Ballad of Hans and Jenny" (especially translated for this edition), and a winsome excerpt from Amos Oz's The Same Sea.

A recent featured review at Kirkus said, "Unlike the strings of cryptic non sequiturs in much Master of Fine Arts-bred poetry, these poems are decidedly reader-friendly without compromising their literary artistry."

"Along with their inventive language and dazzling metaphor," the reviewer concluded, "their accessibility and immediacy pack a wallop . . . A fine anthology of some of the best contemporary poetry around."

§   §   §

Who are the members of this new school and why should we care? Editor Lark writes,

"Some of the most vital of these poets are still unknown, unloved, and unrecognized. Who among American poetasters recognizes --- much less studies --- the greats like Manuel del Cabral, T. F. Bierly, Aquiles Nazoa, Reneé Gisell, Charlie Swann, Pete Winslow?

"It is time for them to be heard . . . voices so long neglected by the indifferent, slighted by the ignorant, spurned by the benighted."

The editor points out that to create this anthology, she sorted through the hundreds of poems published in The Review of Arts, Literature, Philosophy, and the Humanities (www.ralphmag.org) --- as well as those appearing in RALPH's predecessor magazine, the Fessenden Review (b. 1985 - d. 1989).

In addition, she and her associate editors sought out poems published in the small literary magazines from America, Canada, England, Australia, and Central and South America.

Ms. Lark has been Executive Editor of RALPH since 2000. Her previous anthology, "The Noisiest Book Review in the Known World" was cited by Kirkus as "One of the Best Books of 2014" (Starred Review) and described as "A thoroughly addictive collection."

Christopher Connor at "Zyzzyva" wrote "The joy of The Noisiest Book Review in the Known World ... is that beyond being a collection of thoughtful and humorous writings, it serves as a road map to anyone willing to open themselves up to new types of books."

Of Ms. Lark's previous poetry anthology, poet Bob Hass wrote, "Sorry, I don't do blurbs though I love the book."

§   §   §

  • Title: The Vivisection Mambo
    125 Poems of the New Neo-Realist School
  • Editor: Lolita Lark
  • Price: $19.95
  • Publisher and imprint: Mho & Mho Works
  • Format: Quality letterpress
    9.75" tall, 6.5" wide, 1" thick
  • Number of pages in the finished book: 202
  • Includes index
  • 13-digit ISBN: 9780917320583
  • Month and day of publication: 1 October 2015
  • Distribution arrangements: Ingram, Amazon, Baker & Taylor
  • Includes forty engravings of "Fantastic and Mythological Creatures."
Orders should be sent to
Mho & Mho Works
Box 16719
San Diego CA 92176
$100 (Limited Deluxe Edition, signed by the editor)
$19.95 (Bourgeois Edition)

We can do checks or mail orders but
are still puzzling out PayPal.
All orders should include an additional
$5.00 for U. S. postage
$10.00 for Canada,
Mexico, Central America,
South America, Antarctica and overseas.


Further questions about
contributors to the
Vivisection Mambo
should be sent to
lolitalark@yahoo.com