FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Clinton Street Press Announces the Publication of Moving the Piano by Leslie Nicole Thomas
Huntsville, AL April 9, 2017
On Sunday, April 23, 2017, Clinton Street Press launches its maiden voyage into fine small press publishing with the debut of Leslie Nicole Thomas' first book of poetry--Moving the Piano.
"After a little more than four years of coaxing this book to the surface, I'm thrilled not only to see this project come to fruition, but also to have it represent Clinton Street Press in its foray into the publishing world," said Thomas. "The penultimate steps of this publishing process have been a dizzying whirlwind of excitement, editing, and a lot of hard work and generosity of time and resources from so many. I cannot think of a more appropriate delivery than to have Moving the Piano make its first appearance alongside Clinton Street Press' first appearance to the community. There's so much to come from this small press, and it's an honor to represent them from the very outset of their existence."
Thomas, a native of Huntsville, Alabama, has taught creative writing and English literature in New York City, San Francisco, and Huntsville. She has been actively involved in her community as a Court Appointed Juvenile Advocate, program coordinator for The Schools Foundation’s Speak Up community engagement initiative, and as a member of the Education Impact Team for the local chapter of United Way. She lectures in poetry and literature for the LearningQUEST continuing education program of the Huntsville/Madison County Public Library, has written for the Garden Thymes newsletter of the Master Gardeners of North Alabama, serves on the Executive Board of the Huntsville Literary Association, has served as a judge for the Poetry Out Loud regional competition the last four years, and is a contributor to the WLRH Sundial Writer’s Corner program.
Thomas has a degree in English literature from Vassar College and studied in the M.F.A. poetry program of Sarah Lawrence College and as a contributing participant in poetry in the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. In addition to this collection, she has written a cultural and pictorial history of her hometown—Legendary Locals of Huntsville. This is her first book of poetry.
Moving the Piano features poems across four stages, and four pianos, of Thomas' life. From her first piano, bought by her mother in Alabama when Thomas was a baby, to a piano she is gifted and that she watches be pushed up a flight of rickety steps in an apartment building in Brooklyn...from that piano, which gets carried across the country to San Francisco and back, and on to a piano she buys on faith upon her return to Alabama, Moving the Piano catalogs defining moments of a life. From adolescence to college, from life in the City to a return home, Thomas' poems follow her journey of first love, first heartbreak, first adventure into life on her own--each moment bookended and overseen by a piano with which she cannot bear to part, a soundtrack of her life played on strings sometimes out of tune, soundboards possibly in disrepair, but the instrument itself never worse for the wear in spite of its own travels.
"Leslie Nicole Thomas’ verse lifts up both hope and doubt," says Susan Guthrie, poet, teaching artist, and artistic director of Twelfth Night Theatre Company. "I found companionship and legend in this poetry—I can live there."
Moving the Piano makes its debut at a book launch party in downtown Huntsville on Sunday, April 23rd. The event is by invitation only and RSVP is required; for more information on the event, or to order books or review copies, contact Clinton Street Press at clintonstreetpress@gmail.com. Information can also be found on the Clinton Street Press website, clintonstreetpress.com, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Movingthepiano/.
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