APSU PUBLISHING
AN IMPRINT OF THE MINNESOTA MEN’S CONFERENCE
In the Bear’s Cabin
In this engaging book, poetic descendants of Robert Bly, Thomas R. Smith, Dougie Padilla, and Timothy Young honor their forty plus years in Robert’s orbit. Written by men who were actively involved with Bly from the beginnings of the Minnesota mythopoetic men’s conferences, this book arrives just in time to honor the centenary of Robert Bly’s birth.
Sample poems from In the Bear’s Cabin:
Ghazal Ballad of Robert Bly, by Thomas R. Smith
For large orders (over 50 copies), or for book orders outside of the United States, United Kingdom, or Australia, please send an email with your order information to: Contact@minnesotamensconference.com
Praise for In the Bear’s Cabin:
Thanks for the gift of your new book In The Bear’s Cabin! I love how the selections of poems by you, Thomas, and Dougie, along with each of your personal, rooted introductions, art and back cover photo make a timely tribute to how Robert Bly’s life and poetry, and his enduring work in the men’s conferences shaped your own evolution as poets. Dougie’s mysterious image, “sometimes that bear skin deepens / under me, / sleeps holding me in its arms, / its immense paws . . .” speaks to me like an ancient truth. This wonderful book keeps Robert’s poetry and spirit alive, keeps us in touch with our honest grief and joy, still inspiring our bodies and souls to dance and sing. The last words of your opening poem says it powerfully, “MEN WILL DANCE IN AMERICA.” The spiritual currents in this book run deep. As you suggest, each of your voices, in their own way, embody Robert’s vision of “the outer world turned inward.” And I find myself returning to these lines by Thomas thinking about the friendship between James Wright and Robert Bly, reminding himself and us: “Find that other, silent legacy, / all the things they have not said. It waits / for us . . .” And now it finds us, here, in this welcoming bear’s den of your poems gathered together. Thanks, again, Tim, for this important book. It’s a gift to us all.
Michael Moos
Apsu Publishing strives to tap the deep reservoir of ancestral wisdom and to water new shoots of life in a culture that has become sere and barren, and to be an Ark that carries mature human thought and discourse through a deluge of distractions.
Apsu Publishing will publish works that focus on mythopoetic, soul-making work, men’s work, and the ideas that undergird that work.
The name, “Apsu” comes from the Sumerian name for the mythic freshwater sea under the earth. It is the source of our word “abyss.” This dark water is the realm of the God Ea (Babylonian Enki), who is the God of deep wisdom. Ea is also the trickster God and the God who saves humankind from the deluge by instructing a man (through a dream) to build an Ark.
APSU PUBLISING RELEASES
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