Black Cat Press




Black Cat Press (BCP) was founded, in 2004, by Doug Walker and Cathy
Drinkwater Better (Walker). BCP is a small-press publisher and producer of limited-
edition volumes of poetry; Better acts as editor/publisher, co-designer, and project
manager. To date BCP has published and/or produced high-quality soft-cover editions
of haiku, tanka, sijo, and senryu for both the Tanka Society of America and the Haiku
Poets of Central Maryland; as well as individual poets including Kirsty Karkow,
Michael McClintock, Jeanne Emrich, Edith Bartholomeusz, Carol Purington, andCarole
MacRury.

BCP’s first project, in 2004, was a chapbook set, cat and human, written by Cathy
Drinkwater Better and feline poet Raven Spirit Walker.

Wrote the reviewer in Modern Haiku (USA):

“A matched set of mini-chapbooks, the first by well-known haiku poet Cathy
Drinkwater Better and the second by her less-well-known but deserving cat, translated
by Better from the felinese. Six poems in each mini. One by each poet:

mew
mmmmm—mmmm!—
purrrrrrrr

the fire
this soft afghan and then—ah!—
scratched beneath the chin
Raven Spirit Walker

lighting the fire
that spot of warmth
where the cat just was
Cathy Drinkwater Better


Wrote Hermitage (Romania) reviewer on to find the moon, the TSA 2004 Members’
Anthology:

“…The range of approaches structured around this common theme gives the
collection the feeling of a cohesive book, and that accomplishment must be credited to
the editor, Cathy Drinkwater Better, for selecting the poems. As she states in the
Introduction, ‘Tanka can be a micro-autobiography, giving the reader a momentary
glimpse into the poet’s soul. It is like a pebble thrown into a still lake: an instant of
impact, followed by ever-widening ripples of understanding and human connection.’
These poems definitely make ripples and they offer multiple opportunities for a greater
understanding of our human condition.”

Since then, BCP publications have garnered accolades from reviewers in a number of
poetry journals, both in print and online. For more information on BCP publications,
including their most recent book projects, click on "Press Releases," above. A list of
BCP publications to date (4/2010) appears at right.
BLACK CAT PRESS Publications

to find the moon: The Tanka Society of America 2004 Members’ Anthology. Edited by Cathy Drinkwater Better. Black
Cat Press, Eldersburg, MD. November, 2004.

something like a sigh: The Tanka Society of America 2005 Members’ Anthology. Guest Editor, Jeanne Emrich. Editor
in Chief, Cathy Drinkwater Better. Black Cat Press, Eldersburg, MD. ISBN 0-9766407-1-6. November 2005.

water poems: haiku, tanka, and sijo, by Kirsty Karkow (Waldoboro, ME). Edited by Cathy Drinkwater Better. Black Cat
Press, Eldersburg, MD. ISBN 0-9766407-0-8. April, 2005.

Letters in Time: Sixty Short Poems, by Michael McClintock; published by Hermitage West, South Pasadena, CA.
Produced by Black Cat Press, Eldersburg, MD. July 2005.

a far town view: Haiku Poets of Central Maryland: Members’ Compilation No. 1. Edited by Elizabeth Fanto and Cathy
Drinkwater Better. Produced by Black Cat Press, Eldersburg, MD. ISBN 0-9766407-3-2. October 2006.

The Pleiades at Dawn: A Tanka Collection, by Jeanne Emrich. Published by Lone Egret Press, Edina, MN. Produced by
Black Cat Press, Eldersburg, MD. ISBN 0-9766407-2-4. January 2007.

Gathering Peace, by Carol Purington. Published by Winfred Press, Colrain, MA. Produced by Black Cat Press,
Eldersburg, MD. ISBN 0-9766407-4-0. May 2007.

shorelines: haiku, haibun, and tanka, by Kirsty Karkow. Edited by Cathy Drinkwater Better. Black Cat Press,
Eldersburg, MD. ISBN 0-9766407-5-9. June 2007.

luminous whiskers: Haiku Poets of Central Maryland, Members’ Compilation No. 2. Edited by Tim Singleton and Julia
Singleton. Produced by Black Cat Press, Eldersburg, MD. ISBN 0-9766407-6-7. November 2007.

In the Company of Crows: HAIKU and TANKA Between the Tides; by Carole MacRury; illustrated by Ion Codrescu;
edited by Cathy Drinkwater Better. Black Cat Press, Eldersburg, MD. ISBN 0-9766407-7-5. November, 2008

Lunch Break: Haiku Poets of Central Maryland Members’ Collection No. 3; Black Cat Press, Eldersburg. MD. ISBN 0-
9766407-8-3.  November 2008

Into the Sun: Selected Haiku and Tanka; by Edith Bartholomeusz; illustrated by Cathy Drinkwater Better; edited by
Cathy Drinkwater Better; Black Cat Press, Eldersburg, MD. ISBN 0-9766407-9-1. November 2009

Autumn Harvest: Haiku Poets of Central Maryland Members’ Collection 2009; Black Cat Press, Eldersburg, MD.
November 2009

moonbathing: a journal of women’s tanka; Pamela A. Babusci, Cathy Drinkwater Better, Editors, Co-founders;
produced by Black Cat Press, Eldersburg, MD; distributed from Rochester, NY. December

the shortest day: Haiku Poets of Central Maryland, Selected Poems 2010; Black Cat Press; December 2010.

Sting and Tell: Thirty-one Tanka; by Lisa Alexander Baron; Black Cat Press; March 2011.
Black Cat Press
613 Okemo Drive
Eldersburg, Maryland 21784 USA
blackcat_press@yahoo.com
Who Is BLACK CAT PRESS
and How Did They Begin?