Hey all, just wanted to let you know that my verse collection, THE CRIMSON TOME, is now available for preorder from Hippocampus Press. It is a collection of formal verse heavily rooted in the Weird tradition of Clark Ashton Smith and H. P. Lovecraft. Preface by Dr. W. C. Farmer (R.I.P.), Intro by Donald Sidney-Fryer, cover and interior illustrations by Steve Lines.

[www.hippocampuspress.com]

I can't wait to hold it in my hands.

If anyone here is on Facebook, please check out the new page for my debut Weird verse collection, The Crimson Tome!

[www.facebook.com]

Formal poetry of fantasy and horror, strongly inspired by CAS, Lovecraft, Poe, and with hints of Swinburne and David Park-Barnitz.

A Review of KA Opperman's CRIMSOME TOME

When I created the INTERNATIONAL CLARK ASHTON SMITH POETRY AWARD, there was literally nothing out there which recognized the literary merits of poetry in fields commonly referred to as SF/Fantasy/Horror-Macabre. The ICASPA's two main purposes were to 1)acknowledge the abilities of the greats in those fields while they were still alive (Joseph Payne Brennan was the first to receive the "Life Achievement" category of the award) and 2) seek out and recognize/encourage the "newer" talents within the field(s). There was a special worthwhile feeling I always got during the period I chaired the nomination & selection committees for it.

I am an old man now and have seen the rise & fall of many a supposed newly proclaimed gifted ones. I still today agree with what Clark Ashton Smith once wrote, "...it seems obvious that poets, like other artists, have the right of experimentation: time will separate the grain from the chaff." This year I had the honor and pleasure to read the poetry manuscript entitled THE CRIMSON TOME by KA Opperman whose material structurally is steeped in the mortuary shadows of the ever over-worked narrowly focused on forms limited to Western Euro-centric supposed traditional styles. There is no doubt in this area, at his physically young age, Opperman is a master (as H.P. Lovecraft, who KA admires, put it) "metrical mechanic."

However, what is more important, is to ask the question: Does Opperman's poetry, after being stripped bare of his book's fine packaging (Hippocampus Press has again produced another of its well, artistically constructed, fantastic publications with The Crimson Tome), its recondite extensive list of endorsements, its very impressive Preface & Introduction (the latter done by one of the truly wondrous Bards of our time Donald Sydney-Fryer, also a ICASPA winner) and its exquisite cover/interior illustrations executed by the truly multi-talented Artist Steve Lines, stand up to the searing light produced by quality content?

The answer is a resounding Yes! After several readings (and the depth of Opperman's poems is such that it takes numerous scrupulous readings to even get a bit of the various facets of the mélange of fantasies found within them), I find KA Opperman to be, among other things, an intellectual sybarite whose influences of the past seem to be sources of poetic fruition in The Crimson Tome. KA provides a refinement, an epicurean satisfaction in words that is wrought with decadence, delicate outré touches of the concepts of Love. I can easily visualize KA being a great composer of Fescennina carmina pieces.

I honestly believe that if the International Clark Ashton Smith Poetry Award still existed, KA Opperman/The Crimson Tome would have been nominated for, if not actually winning, it! Will Opperman's work be the substance of grain as opposed to chaff? Only Time will tell, but if I were a betting man, I put my money on it being of the former...in the meantime, I highly recommend us all using some of our hard earned cash in the here & now and buy this volume :)

-Frederick J. Mayer
SFPA founding member &
3 time Balrog winner for "Best Poet"

Sample poems from THE CRIMSON TOME, and a complete ToC, now up at the site. The book goes to the printer any day now, and can already be preordered. It is set to debut at NecronomiCon.

[www.hippocampuspress.com]

“The poetry of K. A. Opperman is a wonder and a revelation. His verse spans the full spectrum of the weird, from fantasy and the supernatural to brooding pessimism and melancholy. The Crimson Tome is his first book, but all lovers of true poetry will fervently hope it will not be his last.”
—S. T. Joshi



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 29 Jul 15 | 01:48PM by K.A. Opperman.

Sorry about the typo on my review title, should read THE CRIMSON TOME :)

I have a limited supply of signed copies of THE CRIMSON TOME. If anyone would like to purchase one, please contact me via email, or if you're on Facebook, you can message me. $15 + 3 shipping.

You can read blurbs and samples from this heavily Smith and Lovecraft influenced Weird verse collection here:

[www.hippocampuspress.com]

A short video previewing several of the poems and artworks in this new Weird poetry collection from Hippocampus.

[m.youtube.com]

Hi all, just wanted to let you know that my CAS and HPL inspired verse collection is on sale for a limited time over at Hippocampus Press, in anticipation of my appearance at the HPLFF San Pedro April 29th-May 1st. If you like Smith and/or Lovecraft's poetry, or Weird verse in general, please do check it out! :)

[www.hippocampuspress.com]

I finished it yesterday -- a truly excellent book!

The Crimson Tome is now available on Kindle. The Preface by the late Dr. W. C. Farmer (whose presence here I'm sure is sorely missed) and the Introduction by Donald Sidney-Fryer can be viewed in the preview.

[www.amazon.com]