Elizabeth Arnold, 1958–2024

[photo by Mark Shafer]

The poet Elizabeth Arnold passed away this morning, 24 February 2024, after long illness. She was a dear person—a restless traveler as well as an intrepid thinker, devoted to her dogs, friends, and students—and a remarkable poet. She published six books of poetry, which to a rare degree, constitute a coherent body of work: Wave House (2023), Skeleton Coast (2017), Life (2014), Effacement (2010), Civilization (2006), and The Reef (1999). Arnold earned her PhD in English at the University of Chicago, where she worked for Chicago Review. Researching the poet Mina Loy for her dissertation, she discovered the poet’s lost novel, Insel, which she edited for Black Sparrow Press in 1991. Arnold taught in the MFA program at the University of Maryland before retiring and moving to Frostburg, Maryland, where she found a community of friends.

We at Flood Editions were honored to work with her for nearly twenty years. She will be greatly missed.

Days by Brian Calvin

ISBN 979-8-9857874-4-3 $32.95 

Now available from Flood Editions and SPD/Small Press Distribution 

Days presents the pencil drawings of Brian Calvin, selected from sketchbooks in which he made one a day over the course of a year. Presented chronologically, they include glimpses of family life, cubist portraits, drafts for sculptures, abstract compositions, and comic cartoons, with human figures reduced to their most expressive elements. These images give us an intimate sense of the thought and process of an artist who has been described as “quietly disconcerting and mischievously witty” (Artforum). Calvin’s work has been widely shown, nationally and internationally; it is included in the permanent collections of the Orange County Museum of Art, Portland Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, among others.

Flood Events in New York

In February, watch for two events related to Flood Editions in the New York area!

Thursday, February 22 at 5 PM: A book launch for Brian Calvin’s Days (drawings) at Anton Kern Gallery, 16 East 55th Street, in conjunction with an exhibit of the artist’s new work. The book presents the pencil drawings of Brian Calvin, selected from sketchbooks in which he made one a day over the course of a year. Presented chronologically, they include glimpses of family life, cubist portraits, drafts for sculptures, abstract compositions, and comic cartoons, with human figures reduced to their most expressive elements. These images give us an intimate sense of the thought and process of an artist who has been described as “quietly disconcerting and mischievously witty” (Artforum). Calvin’s work has been widely shown, nationally and internationally; it is included in the permanent collections of the Orange County Museum of Art, Portland Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, among others.

Friday, February 23 at 7:30 PM: A Flood reading at Taylor and Company Books, 1021 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn, NY 11218. This event will feature Daisy Fried reading from The Year the City Emptied, Andrew Colarusso reading from Hívado, the editors of Flood Editions, and more.

Please join us for these events!