Clear Cut Press - First Series

First Series

00 The Clear Cut Future

In 2003, Clear Cut released The Clear Cut Future the first book in the series. The anthology included writing from the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere in what, according to the catalog, made "a map of the territory of interest to Clear Cut Press." Contributions included work by Stacey Levine, Charles D'Ambrosio, Steve Weiner, Robert Gluck, a former Enron executive. The Seattle Times noted, "Tightly written poems and short stories about existential love and loss mingle freely with essays about corporate sharks, architecture, botanical excursions and artists' memoirs."

One contributor, Patrick Bissell, was a street poet who sold his work on the streets of Seattle. Bissell was the subject of a profile by Jesse Tarbert in The Seattle Times published on May 6, 2003. Thirty eight at the time of the profile, Bissell grew up in Kirkland and began selling his poetry on the street in 1993. Of Bissell's work, "Stadler said "The Sweet Gift" contains some of Bissell's best writing. It reminded him of the work of Emmanuel Bove, a French writer of the early 1920s, he said. In both Bove's and Bissell's work, Stadler said, "the pacing and logic are so at ease, so like the drift of life, and yet it's very literary."

Other books in the series included:

• 01 Ode to certain interstates and Other Poems by Howard W. Robertson
• 02 Occasional Work and Seven Walks from the Office for Soft Architecture by Lisa Robertson
• 03 Denny Smith (stories) by Robert Gluck
• 04 Core Sample: Portland Art Now
• 05 Orphans (essays) by Charles D'Ambrosio
• 06 Shoot the Buffalo (a novel) by Matt Briggs
• 07 Frances Johnson (a novel) by Stacey Levine

In addition, Clear Cut Press published a catalog of Portland painter Michael Brophy's work with an essay by Charles d'Ambrosio.