Roadside Press

Roadside Press Roadside Press is dedicated to preserving and celebrating the legacy of the literary underground.

With a diverse catalog spanning poetry, fiction, and non-fiction—Roadside Press is committed to honoring the voices that shape our cultural landscape.

"Kerry Trautman is a force of nature. The poems in this double-album of a volume are parts fearless, insightful, yearnin...
01/10/2026

"Kerry Trautman is a force of nature. The poems in this double-album of a volume are parts fearless, insightful, yearning, and sensitive. The breadth and depth of her work continues to be awe-inspiring. I’d like to give you a rundown of what this book is about, but quite honestly, this book is about everything, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. Despite what the title claims, Kerry has something important to say. Sit down with a drink in hand, and delve into Kerry’s expansive world. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did."—Danny Shot, author of The Jersey Slide, Night Bird Flying and others https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/trautman/GRZ36I6MRG455NBVVJ4WDQFT

Roadside Press publisher Michele McDannold is interviewed in the latest issue of Hobo Camp Review, now live! The 50th Is...
01/10/2026

Roadside Press publisher Michele McDannold is interviewed in the latest issue of Hobo Camp Review, now live! The 50th Issue of Hobo Camp Review is now live, with work from Kerry Jensen Trautman, Andy Fogle, Sheree Shatsky, Joe Cottonwood, Penny Nolte, Nancy Klepsch, Sarah Bartusch, Mary Franklin, Ton-ee Gloeggler, Jason Ryberg, K.A. Laity, Emily Kite, Alan Catlin, Christian Hanz Lozada, Josh Wood, Francine Witte, Sarah Mackey Kirby, Scott Silsbe, Dan Wright, Ronnie Sirmans, Karen J Weyant, and an interview with Michele McDannold. Thank you for reading HCR for sixteen years and fifty issues!!
https://hobocampreview.blogspot.com/

"Misener truly delivers with these bite-sized surrealist trips through his hilariously nightmarish worlds. These stories...
01/07/2026

"Misener truly delivers with these bite-sized surrealist trips through his hilariously nightmarish worlds. These stories are like Play-Doh for my brain. Weird, wild, wonderful stuff."—Danger Slater, author of Impossible James, Starlet and others https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/cerealism/SKNX2TN62VPTVWS5W6RES4TB

Surreal, absurd, and wickedly funny, Shawn Misener’s Cerealism is a collection that bends reality until it breaks, pulling readers into strange and unforgettable worlds. These short works move at high speed—by turns grotesque, hilarious, and unexpectedly tender—reminding us how thin the line can be between nightmare and cartoon, satire and truth.

With this collection, Misener cements his place in the underground lit world, delivering a fearless, genre-defying voice that thrives on invention. Cerealism offers a head-on collision of satire, surrealism, and raw imagination—an exhilarating ride through the uncharted territories of contemporary short fiction.

thinking about one of our early titles, UNKNOWABLE THINGS by Kerry Trautman. Magical Jeep has one copy of this title. Gr...
01/06/2026

thinking about one of our early titles, UNKNOWABLE THINGS by Kerry Trautman. Magical Jeep has one copy of this title. Grab it up while we prepare to release Kerry's new book THINGS TO SAY WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING TO SAY this coming April https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/unknowable/108

Reserve your copy of THE BROKEN BUDDHA by Johnny Cordova! https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/buddha/VA3K3OQYZN5BZTPDSGE...
01/06/2026

Reserve your copy of THE BROKEN BUDDHA by Johnny Cordova! https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/buddha/VA3K3OQYZN5BZTPDSGEWHF6K

In the title poem, the speaker finds a kindred spirit in the marble statue of a Buddha whose head has been glued back in place. “I wander here now ruined through the wreckage of my burning,” the speaker says—setting the stage for his journey through the red light districts of Bangkok and monasteries of Thailand, as he strives to reconcile commitment to a spiritual path with what Zen calls “the red thread of passion between one’s legs.”

Ancient poets Li Po, Ryokan, and Ikkyu each appear in prose poems set against present-day backdrops: a barbershop tucked into a narrow side street in northern Bangkok, an overnight train traveling from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, or a truck stop diner in the American West. The collection turns towards themes of death, loss, and the dharma of impermanence, and finally arrives at a quiet, if incomplete, redemption.

Characterized by a straightforward narrative style with sparing use of metaphor and a keen eye for detail, Johnny Cordova’s debut collection is a spiritual journey in poems that at times are unflinchingly transgressive, but ultimately deeply and authentically human.

Reserve your copy today! Signed copies will be shipping in late January. https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/everywhere/...
01/04/2026

Reserve your copy today! Signed copies will be shipping in late January. https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/everywhere/6FMI226PH57JOE7VRRYVHBT2
From the airports of childhood to the backroads of America and the borderlands of Europe, Nowhere to Go but Everywhere traces a lifetime of movement and meaning. These poems are both map and mirror—charting landscapes of memory and discovery.

Budimir’s verse carries us from Cheyenne to Seoul, Pittsburgh to Budapest, weaving snapshots of ordinary moments into meditations on distance, belonging, and the beauty of the in-between. Rooted in wanderlust and tempered by reflection, this collection reminds us that travel is an act of survival and understanding.

For readers who crave both movement and meaning, Nowhere to Go but Everywhere looks at how travel leaves its fingerprints on who we become.

HNY! Cover Reveal & Pre-order link! https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/trautman/GRZ36I6MRG455NBVVJ4WDQFTThings to Say W...
01/01/2026

HNY! Cover Reveal & Pre-order link! https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/trautman/GRZ36I6MRG455NBVVJ4WDQFT

Things to Say When You Have Nothing to Say is a book of poems about the moments when you don’t quite know what to say, but you feel everything. The poems move through the ordinary—love, parenting, grief—paying close attention to the details of everyday life, finding their weight, and naming the liminal spaces. Kerry Trautman is a skillful, attentive poet with a wry sense of humor. Things to Say When You Have Nothing to Say doesn't rush to tied-up conclusions. It lingers where things are unfinished, tending to what remains.

Kerry Trautman is a lifelong Ohioan whose work has appeared in numerous international anthologies and literary journals. She has served as judge or workshop leader for the Northwest region of Ohio’s “Poetry Out Loud” competition annually since 2016. In 2024, her one-act play “Mass” received a staged reading as a winner of The Toledo Repertoire Theater’s “Toledo Voices” competition. Her books are Things That Come in Boxes (King Craft Press 2012,) To Have Hoped (Finishing Line Press 2015,) Artifacts (NightBallet Press 2017,) To be Nonchalantly Alive (Kelsay Books 2020,) Marilyn: Self-Portrait, Oil on Canvas (Gutter Snob Books 2022,) Unknowable Things (Roadside Press 2022,) and Irregulars (Stanchion Books 2023.)

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