What is Poet’s Espresso?

Poet’s Espresso was, for a few years, a San Joaquin Delta College Writers’ Guild produced newsletter or zine of poetry, but has now returned to its roots in self-publishing zinedom to let the Artifact and poetsespresso newsletter use separate funding sources, and to not burden the Guild. Poet’s Espresso was founded in June 2005 by Donald R. Anderson, shortly after joined by Nikki Quismondo as co-editor and co-publishers equal. She took on most of the eye for aesthetics and he took on most of the computer use to get it the way she described. The newsletter initially served the local writers and artists in the Stockton, California area. Local area poets wanted to share their creative works with the public. Poet’s Espresso gave them that opportunity and began formulating a zine of 4 to 8 doublesided sheets (currently 7) folded in half and stapled, with local creative artists work in it. The newsletter comes out ever two months and was circulated to Stockton’s local venues (coffee shops, colleges, restaurants, book stores...) including Lodi CA., Modesto CA., San Francisco CA., and Emeryville, CA. and Sacramento CA, but is now merely subscription-based with the possible exception of occasional sponsored issues.

See past issues archived here: Past Poetsespressos.

How much does it cost?

It was free at local distribution points, if it continues to be affordably printed it will do so again. And for those who would like to subscribe, the only charge is for postage which is currently only $12.00 a year for 6 issues or $2 per issue (in spite of postage increases)!

What is a zine?

To quote The Factsheet 5 Reader: The Best Writing from the Underground World of Zines, by R. Seth Friedman:

“...I've become even more fascinated by the strange world of zines and zine makers. It's a world inhabited by the wildest assortment of unusual characters and unique stories.

“Zines (short for fanzines) contain writing that's unlike anything else in the mainstream: more opinionated than newspaper editorials, more personal than magazine articles, more topical than books. ...

“Although zines can be anything from darkly photocopied, handwritten poetry to slickly printed, full-color music magazines, what unites all zine publishers is their passion for communication. Zine makers are driven to publish their ideas purely for the sake of communicating, generally with complete disregard for money, let alone profit.”

-R. Seth Friedman

What is self-publishing?

There might be generalized that in theory there are big publishers, independent publishers, and self-publishers. Since Donald (I) do not own a business but simply print my materials as they are available to be printed by copy, print shop, printers, and publication centers, that would make me a self-publisher. Zines are typically considered artistic, individualistic, independent, or fandom-based publications of small quantity and for the purpose of the art rather than for profit, and as such even under the wing of the Writer’s Guild poetsespresso was, and still is, a zine.

What do reviewers think of Poet’s Espresso?

Poet's Espresso (Sept.2008): This poetry zine also reads like a newsletter for poets in San Joaquin Delta College, which is what the editor acknowledges in his letter to readers. The poetry varies widely in subject but is consistently good, and my favorite was "Should Be Doing" by Allen Field Wietzel. The zine also includes recipes, art, and local poetry-related announcements. Donald R. Anderson, 1426 Telegraph Ave. #4, Stockton, CA 95204, poetsespresso@gmail.com, www.poetsespresso.com [$1.50 US, trade elsewhere, $7 for 6 issues 28S:15] -katie, review as listed in Zine World #27.

Poet's Espresso June/July 2007 Issue / Free

“I typically don't like poetry zines. The poetry in a lot of them seems too forced, like the writers themselves are trying to immediately equal a Tennyson or Williams. However, Poet's Espresso is a poetry magazine that I can actually appreciate. This is due to the fact that none of the poets seem to be putting on airs with their poems here. Also, unlike many poetry magazines, there are pieces that do not immediately link themselves to poetry, as well as pictures in this issue. The pictures, all taken from the public domain unless cited in a caption, were taken from the public domain and provide reader's eyes with a break. Of particular note during this issue has to be Taylor Graham's “The Poem is Called Before the Gate Committee”, bringing legal imagery into description of the poem as art form, and James Lee Jobe's “105 Degrees Today”, which shows the goodness of humanity in providing for lesser members of the animal kingdom. There are different types of spacing and line breaks throughout this issue of poetry, which further breaks up any tedium that the issue may be accumulating. Perhaps the best non-poetry pieces have to be the Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips recipe as well as the listing of events taking place after the months covered by this issue. Even if individuals do not typically like poetry magazines, there is enough in the way of material here that individuals can sink their teeth into. I sincerely hope this project continues and is able to increase its' size through the next few years.”

Rating: 7.0/10
-James McQuiston
Editor, NeuFutur (print magazine)
Editor, http://www.neufutur.com (e-magazine)

Why Read Poet’s Espresso?

Poet’s Espresso is a great read! The pages are filled with poetry, art, and photography work. So if you love the arts, read Poet’s Espresso. Poet’s Espresso is also entertaining, with some fun fabulous facts, inspirational quotes, recipes and comic strips. Look at the bio pages! See the poets, get to know them, read their biographies and contact them if you would like to know more about their work. Not knowing what to do in California? Poet’s Espresso also offers a Calendar of Events section many from the list online at www.rainflowers.org, just in case you would like to know where to go for Open Poetry Mic readings, Book signing events, musicals, art galleries, theatrical plays, and more!

What You can Submit...

By all means, send us an email, call us, send it through post mail. We need recipes, comic strips, poetry 50 lines per page or less including stanza breaks, prose, and photography and artwork, email us them in .jpg, .gif, .png, .tif, or bitmap forms only (or by exception an occasional .pdf or .eps) at , or mail a copy to Donald R. Anderson, with a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope if you wish your hard copies returned, same methods for photography work which we also encourage... there are many great landscapes and creative innovations in California. Most importantly we will need your Contact Information! Include with your submissions your name, number, address, a 2 to 4 line bio of yourself written in third person (from he/she point of view). A photograph of yourself is optional for the bio section. Once we recieve your work, we will send it under review to see if it is appropriate for the theme. If your work is chosen, we will send out an email, call you or send you a letter in the mail. Let us know which is preferred. See the online version in color in one of the forum threads at www.poetsespresso.com!

Who Submits To Poet’s Espresso?

Here’s a list of the contributors of poetry and their work titles up to present.

P.S.: You can add Poet’s Espresso to your myspace!
http://www.myspace.com/poetsespresso

Poetsespresso Newsletter Back Issues in [.pdf]

Coming Soon!

See the sunshadowmountain.ning.com poetsespresso community at this link (will be discontinued in the beginning of June).

poetesepsresso newsletter
26 pages, 8.5x5.5 inch format
Circulation: Subscription-only
Frequency of Publishing: Every two months.
Cost: $12 a year to have delivered.


Needed: poetry, other creative writing, artwork, photography, quotes, truisms, recipes, reviews (of books, movies, dining places, etc.), public events, and basically anything that might interest people who are interested in the arts or live in our area.

Email: Editor, Donald R. Anderson, at for more information. Also see Resume and more about Donald see Index, and see What is poetsespresso newsletter? on Projects page, and see poetsespresso online community with color printable pdfs.