Finally, after nearly three years, the pandemic seemed to be over-ish in 2023 and Three Rooms Press took full advantage of the new normal to physically get out into the world of booklovers to celebrate new releases, make new connections, and enjoy the new normal where COVID is not the number one thing on everyone’s mind. The energy was high all year in both virtual and in-person events. Here’s a look back at some of the highlights of 2023.

January 2023

January 13: 3RP marketing associate Arden Gray interviews author Jillian Marshall on IG Live.

January 19: 3RP editor-in-chief Ashlyn Petro interviews author Alvin Orloff (Disasterama, Vulgarian Rhapsody) on IG Live.

January 19: NO STOPPING US NOW selected as an honoree of RISE: A Feminist Book Project (American Library Association)

February 2023

February 2: 3RP co-director Peter Carlaftes interviews author/editor Gary Philips (The Obama Inheritance, The Unvarnished Gary Phillips) in a salute to Black History Month. Check it out here.

February 9: Poet Robert Gibbons (Close to the Tree) named an awardee of a 2023 Su-Casa Creative Aging award by Brooklyn Arts Council.

February 9: 3RP co-director Peter Carlaftes interviews Gea Carr, daughter of James Carr (Bad: The Autobiography of James Carr) on IG Live in a salute to Black History Month.

February 16: 3RP co-director Peter Carlaftes interviews author Ebele Chizea (Aquarian Dawn) as our salute to Black History Month continues on IG Live.

February 18: 3RP co-director Kat Georges reads a preview of work from her forthcoming book Awe and Other Words Like Wow at Spotty Dog Books & Ale with fellow poets Bibbe Hansen and Puma Perl.

February 23: We wrapped up our salute to Black History Month with 3RP Co-director Peter Carlaftes interviewing author Christopher Chambers (Stanalone, Scavenger) on IG Live.

March 2023

March 7: In honor of Women’s History Month, 3RP Co-director Peter Carlfates interviews author Nicca Ray (Ray by Ray: A Daughter’s Take on the Legend of Nicholas Ray) on IG Live.

March 8: Author Judy Gumbo (Yippie Girl) is a featured speaker for the Women’s Foundation of Oregon “Out Loud with Laughter” Conference in Portland, OR.

March 9: Judy Gumbo (Yippie Girl) speaks to Portland Veterans for Peace at Portland State University.

March 15: Fifty years after her struggle to establish a girls basketball team at her high school, in accordance with Title IX, No Stopping Us Now author Lucy Jane Bledsoe returns to her alma mater to be recognized for her remarkable achievement, netting coverage on KGW-TV and an in-depth profile in The Oregonian.

March 16: Continuing our Women’s History Month celebration, 3RP Marketing Associate Emily Smith interviews author Erin Wildermuth (Womentality) on Facebook Live.

March 20: Also for Women’s History Month, 3RP Co-director Kat Georges interviews author Lucy Jane Bledsoe (No Stopping Us Now) on IG Live.

March 30: Wrapping up Women’s History Month, 3RP Editor-in-Chief Ashlyn Petro interviews author/actor/screenwriter Vanessa Baden Kelly on IG Live.

April 2023

April 6: For National Poetry Month, 3RP co-director Peter Carlaftes interviews poet/author/activist Hala Alyan (Atrium) on IG Live.

April 13: 3RP co-director Kat Georges interviews poet Jane LeCroy (Signature Play) for National Poetry Month on IG Live.

April 18: Official release date for Secret Rules to Being a Rock Star by Jessamyn Violet.

April 18:  Author Jessamyn Violet (Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar) kicks off an extensive West coast tour with a reading at West Hollywood’s Book Soup, follow by a live performance by her band, Movie Club, featuring JV on drums, at LA’s renowned The Viper Room. The tour includes stops in San Francisco, Eugene, Portland, Seattle, Bend, Sacramento, and Culver City.

April 20: Also for National Poetry Month, 3RP co-director Peter Carlaftes interviews poet Robert Gibbons (Close to the Tree) on Facebook Live.

April 22: For the first time in three years, the NYC Rainbow Book Fair was back and the 3RP team was in full force with new LGBTQ+ Spring titles Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar by Jessamyn Violet and Robin and Her Misfits by Kelly Ann Jacobson, along with our extensive backlist of titles for the queer community.

April 25: Official release date for Robin and Her Misfits by Kelly Ann Jacobson.

April 26: No Stopping Us Now author Lucy Jane Bledsoe honored by having her book selected as the 2023 Readmont book for Piedmont (CA) High School. 

April 29: 3RP co-directors Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges light up the screen at the Women’s National Book Association annual Pitch-O-Rama, leading to a contract with author Christina Vo (My Vietnam, Your Vietnam).

May 2023

May 6: As part of her East coast book launch tour, Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar author Jessamyn Violet made the first of two NYC appearances at the legendary Bitter End nightclub with an audience participatory reading followed by a great set by her band Movie Club and book signing. Other stops on this leg of the tour included New Orleans, Brooklyn, and Boston. 

May 11: Author Kelly Ann Jacobson launches her new book, Robin and Her Misfits at Washington DC indie bookstore Little District.

May 11: As the first of two Mother’s Day nods, 3RP co-director Peter Carlaftes interviews Nicole A. Gordon, daughter of Beate Sirota Gordon, the subject of the 3RP biography Last Boat to Yokohama.

May 13: 3RP features their growing body of work at the NYC Indie Lit Book Fair, sponsored by Community of Literary Magazines and Presses. 

May 15: In honor of Mothers Day, 3RP co-director Peter Carlaftes interviews author Nicca Ray (Ray by Ray) on IG Live.

May 25: Saluting Asian American Pacific Islander Month, 3RP co-director Kat Georges interviews Maintenant contributor and poet Maw Shein Win on IG Live.

June 2023

June 1-14: Maine Authors’ Retreat. Our annual retreat brought guest visits from poet Lisa Panepinto (On This Borrowed Bike), author Michael T. Fournier (Swing State), author Kate Flora (The Obama Inheritance contributor), and poet Gary Lawless (Maintenant contributor). We were also honored to have an insider’s guide to the exquisite Mina Loy retrospective at Bowdoin College, courtesy of Mina Loy collector and 3RP dada consultant Roger Conover.

June 8: Pride Month 2023 was  the focus of our June IG Live events. 3RP Marketing Associate Arden Gray interviewed Vulgarian Rhapsody author Alvin Orloff to kick things off on IG Live.

June 8: 3RP was thrilled to learn that Nirvana Is Here author Aaron Hamburger won Lambda Literary’s 2023 Jim Duggins, PhD Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize.

June 15: A nod to Father’s Day (and belatedly Mother’s Day) with an interview by 3RP co-director Peter Carlaftes and Garrick Beck, son of Judith Malina (Full Moon Stages) and Julian Beck on Facebook Live.

June 15: Aquarian Dawn by Ebele Chizea wins the Gold Medal award for best Young Adult Fiction in the 2022 Foreword Indies.

June 15: Yippie Girl by Judy Gumbo wins Honorable Mention for Autobiography & Memoir in the 2022 Foreword Indies.

June 20: Continuing our Father’s Day celebration,  3RP co-director Peter Carlaftes interviews Nicholas Ray’s daughter Nicca Ray (Ray by Ray) on IG Live.

June 26-30: ALA Annual Meeting in Chicago was a packed event in the Windy City’s convention center, with thousands of librarians from across the country showing up in full force, and full commitment to fight ongoing book bans. 3RP co-directors Kat Georges and Peter Carlaftes tried to talk to every single attendee(!) sharing advance copies of our fall books as well as our recent releases.

June 29: Wrapping up our Father’s Day celebration, 3RP co-director Peter Carlaftes talks to Narcissus Nobody author Gina Yates, daughter of acclaimed author Richard Yates (Revolutionary Road) on Facebook Live.

June 30: Another installment in our Pride Month interviews series as editor-in-chief Ashlyn Petro interviews Everything Grows author Aimee Herman on Facebook Live.

July 2023

July 13: We celebrate independent publishers like us as 3RP co-director Peter Carlaftes interviews Great Weather for Media publisher Jane Ormerod on IG Live. 

July 18: Official release date for MAINTENANT 17: The Peacefire Issue.

July 27: Celebrating independent publishers we feature an interview of Punk Hostage Press publisher Iris Berry by 3RP co-director Kat Georges on Facebook Live.

August 2023

August 4th: This month we featured interviews with the people who make 3RP fly, starting with Kat Georges and Peter Carlaftes talking to Marketing Associate Arden Gray on IG Live.

August 10: Our look behind the scenes continues with an interview with editorial assistant Grace Cazzaniga on IG Live.

August 16: 3RP continues tradition with the 16th Annual Charles Bukowski Memorial Reading, celebrating the Buk’s 103rd birthday at NYC’s The Bitter End. Hosted by 3RP co-directors Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges, guest performers included Jennifer Blowdryer, Puma Perl, Michael Puzzo, Danny Shot, Richard Vetere, and George Wallace.

August 17: Editor-in-Chief Ashlyn Petro was in conversation with Kat and Peter for our final interview of August on IG Live.

August 25: We joined in the celebration of a new book by poet George Wallace (Poppin’ Johnny, EOS: Abductor of Man), with guest readings by Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges, among many others, at Otto’s Shrunken Head, NYC.

August 26–September 4: Bouchercon 2023 at San Diego Marriott Marina. The premiere mystery writers convention was fired up this year in packed events with 3RP authors Gary Phillips, Jim Fusilli, Greg Herren, Christopher Chambers and more leading panels on detective fiction, Southern California as a great setting for mysteries, and the use of humor as well as dark moments in mystery writing. 

September 2023

September 7: LA DI DADA at Beyond Baroque, Los Angeles. The first launch of Maintenant 17 Dada Journal roared into in-person existence as Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges hosted performance by Mahnaz Badihian, Mona Jean Cedar & Jeff Boynton (Circuitry & Poetry), Allison Davis, Rich Ferguson, Christian Georgescu, S.A. Griffin, Mark Hoefer, Bibiana Padilla Maltos, Bronwyn Mauldin, Richard Modiano, Mike M. Mollett, Harry E. Northup, Travis Richardson, Neal Skooter Taylor, Silvia Wagensberg, and Daniel Yaryan. See photos here. 

September 10: 2023 Dada London at Candid Arts Centre. Maintenant 17 was featured in London at the first stop of a European Dada tour. Kat Georges and Peter Carlaftes hosted performances by Derek Adams, Rachel Dixon,  Massimo Fantuzzi, John Goodby, Yvonne Litschel, D. M. Rice, and Andriana Minou with her band Cooccolili. Photo gallery here. 

September 13: 2023 Dada Paris at La Cave Café. The European tour of Maintenant 17 Dada Journal continued with a dramatic evening in Montmartre. Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges hosted performers David Barnes (London/Paris), Fork Burke (Zürich/New York), Malik Crumpler (Paris/New York), Lisa Marie Järlborn (Paris), Boni Joi (Zürich/New York), Antonia Alexandra Klimenko (Paris), Béné Kusendila (Brussels), Sophie Malleret (Paris/New York), Marc Olmsted (Portland, OR), Nina Zivancevic (Paris), and Henrik Aeshna.

September 17: Poetry Launch, at A Villa di Retali, Corsica. 3RP co-directors Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges launched their new poetry collections Life in the Past Lane and Awe and Other Words Like Wow in Corsica. Their work was translated into French for the packed audience, in an event which also featured Patrizia Gattaceca (Isula d’Anima/Soul Island) and Stefan Cesari, and served as a tribute to longtime 3RP friend and contributor Catherine Sorba.

September 21: 2023 Dada Rome at Cabaret Voltaire Roma. Dada came to Rome in an exciting evening of performance with hosts Kat Georges and Peter Carlaftes introducing performances by Dario Roberto Dioli, Giovanni Fontana, and Maura Zerella. See photo gallery here.

September 24: Book Launch at Atomic Cafe, Biel, Switzerland. 3RP introduced new poetry collections by Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges to the Swiss poetry community in a lively book launch that also featured readings by Swiss-based poets Fork Burke and Boni Joi.

September 26: Official release date for Awe and Other Words Life Wow by Kat Georges and Life In the Past Lane by Peter Carlaftes.

September 26: 2023 Dada Zurich at La Chateau Hornegg au Lac. The final stop of our 2023 European Dada tour was a provocative series of performance hosted by Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges and featuring stunning work by Fork Burke, Dario Roberto Dioli, Egon Günther, Boni Joi, Béné Kusendila, and Jaan Malin. Photo gallery here.

October 2023

October 1: Brooklyn Book Festival. This annual event was in full-swing this year after a long hiatus due to the pandemic and horrendous weather. 3RP’s booth was busy all day as we featured new titles, book signings by Kat Georges and Peter Carlaftes, and an extensive collection of our nearly 120 titles. 

October 10: Official release date for The Unvarnished Gary Phillips: A Mondo Pulp Collection by Gary Phillips.

October 12: Author Gary Phillips launch his new 3RP release, The Unvarnished Gary Phillips: A Mondo Pulp Collection with an in-person event and San Diego’s notable Mysterious Galaxy Bookshop, in conversation with author Matt Coyle.

October 17: Official release date for Vulgarian Rhapsody: A Novel by Alvin Orloff.

October 19: Author Alvin Orloff introduced his latest 3RP release, Vulgarian Rhapsody, at a raucous launch at his own Fabulosa Books in the Castro district of San Francisco. Special guests included Jennifer Blowdryer, Birdie Bob Watt, and Brontez Purnell (100 Boyfriends).

October 19: 2023 Dada NYC: Part I, Jefferson Market Library. The first of several NYPL-related dada events in support of Maintenant 17 featured hosts Peter Calaftes and Kat Georges, with performances by Austin Alexis, Amy Barone, Mark Blickley, Kellie Scott Reed, Natalie DiFusco, Jeff Farr, Cheryl J. Fish, Thomas Fucaloro, Dorothy Friedman, Ed Go, Robert Hieger, Karen Hildebrand, Ron Kolm, Patricia Leonard, Linda Lerner, Richard Loranger, Lois Kagan Mingus, James B. Nicola, John Paul, Leslie Prosterman, Wes Rickert, Angela Sloan, Phil Demise Smith, Zev Torres, John J. Trause, and Joanie HF Zosike.

October 21: Julia Watts was featured at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville on a panel on Historical Fiction, with fellow authors Tan Twan Eng and Jamila Minnicks.

October 22: 3RP presented a dual book launch with Peter Carlaftes (Life in the Past Lane) and Kat Georges (Awe and Other Words Like Wow) at Spoonbill Books in Brooklyn

October 23: Official release date for Lovesick Blossoms: A Novel by Julia Watts.

October 24: 3RP co-directors Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges were featured panelist for Springsteen as History, a webinar sponsored by Sapienza Università Roma, The New School NYC, and Bruce Springsteen Archives. They discussed Springsteen early shows and introduced their Mother Goose Springsteen project. Fellow panelists included Bob Santelli and Eileen Chapman directors of the Springsteen Archives, Marilisa Merolla, founding director of the Springsteen as History Project, Keller Coker, dean of The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, The New School, and others.

October 24: A launch event for The Unvarnished Gary Phillips featured Gary Phillips in conversation with Naomi Hirahara at Vroman’s Bookstore, Pasadena, CA.

November 2023

November 2: 2023 Dada NYC: Part II, Jefferson Market Library. The second NYC dada event in support of Maintenant 17, hosted by Kat Georges and Peter Carlaftes, featured performances by Joel Allegretti, Billy Cancel, Andrei Codrescu, Robert C. Ford, Robert Gibbons, Gordon Gilbert, Mark Glista, Meghan Gruposso, Heide Hatry, Karen Hildebrand, Matthew Hupert, Debra Jenks, Jerry Johnson, Adeena Karasick, David Lawton, Jane LeCroy, Martin H. Levinson, Karen Neuberg, Ruth Oisteanu, Valery Oisteanu, Jane Ormerod, Giorgia Pavlidou, Puma Perl, Bruce Robinson, Martina Salisbury, Lynnea Villanova, George Wallace, and Francine Witte. 

November 7: 2023 Virtual Dada Salon: International. This virtual event, co-sponsored by New York Public Library, featured hosts Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges with  renowned contempoarary DADA artists Volodymyr Bilyk (Ukraine), Michael Georg Bregel (Germany), Imanol Buisan (Spain), Massimo Fantuzzi (UK), Sandra Gea (Spain), Fausto Grossi (Spain), Genco Gülan (Turkey), Boni Joi (Switzerland), Inna Krasnoper (Germany), Béné Kusendila (Belgium), Wang Lan (Germany), D.M. Rice (UK), Eva Helene Stern*** (Austria), and Poul Weile (Germany). 

November 7: 2023 Virtual Dada Salon: The Americas. In this virtual event, hosted by Kat Georges and Peter Carlaftes, performers from 11 US states, Canada, Mexico and Brazil were featured, including Liz Axelrod (Albuquerque, NM), C. Mehrl Bennett (Columbus, OH), Sarah M. Chen (Los Angeles, CA), Kathleen Florence (Almonte, Canada), Annaliese Jakimides (Bangor, ME), Gary Lawless (Nobleboro, ME), Mercedes Lawry (Seattle, WA), Marc Olmsted (Portland, OR), Suzi Kaplan Olmsted (Portland, OR), John Olson (Seattle, WA), Mado Reznik (Mexico City, Mexico), Travis Richardson (Culver City, CA), Beatriz Seelaender (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Sheree Shatsky (Melbourne, FL), W.K. Stratton (Round Rock, TX), Daina Surrealism (Chicago, IL), Ingrid Wendt (Eugene, OR), Gerald Yelle (Amherst, MA), and Maggs Vibo (Ewa Beach, HI). 

November 8: Literary Death Match West Hollywood featured Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar author Jessamyn Violet along with fellow authors R.K. Russell, Melissa Chadburn, Kyle Siebel, and Jen Cheng. 

November 8: New York Public Libary’s Jefferson Market Branch was the place to be for a dual book launch featuring Life in the Past Lane by Peter Carlaftes and Awe and Other Words Like Wow by Kat Georges. In addition to readings by the authors, the event featured readings of the author’s poems by special guests Andrei Codrescu, Uche Nduka, Puma Perl, Karen Hildebrand, Jane LeCroy, and Sophie Malleret. 

November 9: An online book launch for The Unvarnished Gary Phillips featured author Gary Phillips in conversation with author Christopher Chambers (Standalone, Scavenger). See it on YouTube.

November 11: 3RP co-directors Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges introduced their new books to Hudson, NY in a reading at Union Street Brewing Company, with fellow poets Billy Cancel, Bibbe Hansen, David Lawton, Maratina Salisbury, and Jane Ormerod.

November 22: Kat Georges and Peter Carlaftes were featured on the Poet’s Cafe show on KPFK Radio 90.7 Los Angeles, hosted by Richard Modiano. The reading will soon be available at https://soundcloud.com/poetscafe.

November 30: A very special rockin’ memorial tribute to Punk Avenue author and long-time NYC punk icon Phil Marcade at Bowery Electric featuring the Downtown Pidgeons, Daddy Long Legs, Lucky 7 NYC (Barry Ryan, Kenny Margolis, Boris Kimberg, Dave Donen, Kevin Shaw), The Rousers, Lynne Von, Richard Bacchus, Jahn Xavier, Steve Shevlin, Don Castagno, Danny Ray and more.

December 2023

December 2: 2023 Dada San Francisco at Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum Cafe. Hosted by Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges, this event features dada poetry and performance by Youssef Alaoui, Mahnaz Badihian, Allison Davis, Carol Dorf, Robert Duncan, James Gleeson, Dale Jensen, Richard Loranger, Anna O’Meara, Eva Maria Stern, Tom Stolmar, Maw Shein Win, Alex Starr, Rich Stone, and Lorene Zarou-Zouzounis.

December 11: Prose! Poetry! Party! 11! In this virtual event, hosts Peter Carlaftes and Kat Georges feature readings of prose and poetry from current and forthcoming 3RP authors including Christopher Chambers, Ebele Chizea, Kate Gale, Bibbe Hansen, Karen Hildebrand, Matthew Hupert, Kelly Ann Jacobson, Micki Janae, David Lawton, Jane LeCroy, Alvin Orloff, Jane Ormerod, Gary Phillips, Christina Vo, and Julia Watts.

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