Green Fuse Press

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Welcome to Green Fuse Poetic Arts

Mission Statement:
Green Fuse Poetic Arts Association, a non-profit endeavor, aims to support poetry on a community, or grass roots, level. It wishes to nourish the art of poetry in Colorado by publishing anthologies and chapbooks by regional writers, by hosting free events for emerging poets, established poets, and the community at large, and by offering affordable poetry workshops for all levels of poet. It is not interested in the name, fame, influence, or education of its authors. It is interested in poems that sing, that offer doorways, both in and out. It attempts to provide a stage and a learning environment for poetry in the original sense of the word, �The expression or embodiment of thoughts or feeling, in language and a form adapted to stir the imagination and emotions� (OED).

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What is Green Fuse Poetic Arts Association?

A Brief History

As a teacher of creative writing I could not help but notice the wealth of interesting and unique poetic voices all around me. At the same time I could not help but become aware of the near-vacuum in which many of these voices floated, unconnected to their neighbors in poetry. Some were loosely attached to informal poetry groups and some were members of formal organizations, but the majority were isolated and lonely in their work with the exception of classes like mine where they found brief companionship and opportunities for growth as poets.

Where were the opportunities for sharing? Despite the incredible increase in small presses due to advances in technology, poetry publishers still seemed to publish only two or three styles of poetry, following the lead of the major American poets, just as they had done when there were fewer of them and it was expensive.

In addition, readership of poetry had decreased. I wondered if there was a connection between the narrowness of poetry publishing and the alarming decline in popularity of poetry as an art form. Fewer poetry books are checked out of the Loveland library than any other genre! Had poetry publishers become so limited in their focus that the general public was excluded? As poets, do we fail to reflect life as it is lived by an infinitely varied population of readers? Or do publishers fail to offer poetry in full bloom? I believe that poetry is for everyone, and that poetry for everyone is being written everyday all over the world. The problem, then, is to connect good poetry with a general public that used to love verse, and perhaps will again.

With all that in mind, in 2005, Green Fuse Community Press was founded. Originally we published chapbooks by local poets. Then we began to publish anthologies of local poets. Then we began to offer creative writing classes with a publishing component. Then we began to offer publications with a reading component. Then we began to offer a Green Fuse Summer Poetry Festival, with workshops taught by members and a public reading. Then Green Fuse Community Press became the non-profit association Green Fuse Poetic Arts. Growth is slow but steady, and every day we hope to enrich the one world we share, one poem at a time.

Katherine West 2008