Black Cat Press
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 produced
high-quality soft-cover editions of haiku, tanka, sijo, and
senryu for the Tanka Society of America; as well as poets
Kirsty Karkow (Maine, USA), Michael McClintock
(California, USA), and Jeanne Emrich (Minnesota, USA).

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.”
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.