O:JA&L’s FIREFIGHT PRESS: Trench Arts & Letters
Broadside Series
Poetry: All forms & styles
Mansa Bey
AUGUST 2003: BAGHDAD IRAQ
Click on the title to explore or download the free PDF broadside.
Copyright © 2026 by FIREFIGHT PRESS Trench Arts & Letters
An imprint of OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters (O:JA&L)
All rights reserved on behalf of OJAL Art Incorporated, O:JA&L, its several authorized imprints
and Mansa Bey.
Publishing since 2017 as OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters (O:JA&L) and its Free Presses imprints,
OAI supports writers and artists worldwide.
Set in Garamond and GARAMOND ALLCAPS and formatted in CreateSpace.
Made available online and/or printed by license in the USA and elsewhere as a novelty and commemorative document celebrating the publication of Mansa Bey‘s PDF broadside.
This project was made possible, in part, through support from Richard Stimac and his new book
available now from Spartan Press.
About the writer:
Mansa Lamont Bey is an American poet and writer from Cleveland, Ohio. His artistic stance centers on the experience and expression of identity and indigeneity. Bey’s passion for the literary and for the performance arts converge in work that is emblematic of the connection between the cosmos and the community. As an Army combat veteran, Bey found his love for poetry as a soldier during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Since returning home, he has honed his craft as a poet and writer and has transformed his therapeutic release and hobby into a profession.
Image: RCP (AI-assisted digital image) by O:JA&L staff creative. 2026. Public domain via Midjourney AI.
OJAL Art Incorporated, publishing since 2017 as OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters (O:JA&L) and its imprints Buttonhook Press, HOT BUTTON PRESS Contemporary Issues, and HIGH BUTTON PRESS Contemporary Art, supports writers and artists worldwide.
The O:JA&L Free Presses Masters Series
The O:JA&L Free Presses Masters Series (from OPEN: Journal of Arts & Letters) gathers acclaimed writers for concise, downloadable chapbooks that pair fresh work with candid reflections on craft. Each installment—often framed by an interview with an associate editor—opens a window onto how masters of poetry, prose poetry, flash fiction, and related hybrid forms build voice, compression, and surprise. Designed as a reader’s invitation and a writer’s toolbox, the series celebrates literary art that moves fast, cuts deep, and lingers long after the last line.
Click on the titles below to explore or download the free PDF chapbooks.
Prose Poetry and Flash Discourse
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Brian Clements on Prose Poetry
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Mark Budman on Flash Discourse
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Ray Gonzalez on Prose Poetry
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Master Series: Michael Martone on Flash Fiction
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Master Series: Roberta Allen on Flash Fiction
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Master Series: Peter Conners on Flash Fiction
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Maxine Chernoff on Prose Poetry
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Pedro Ponce on Flash Fiction
With an Interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Kent Dixon on Flash Fiction & Nonfiction
With an interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
MIixed Forms: Haibun, Haiga, & Tanka Prose
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Roberta Beary on Haibun
With an interview by Associate Editor Pamelyn Casto
Experimental Discourse
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Jim Meirose on Experimental Discourse (XP)
With an interview by Associate Editor Warwick Newnham
Poetry: All forms & styles
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Poetry from Bruce McRae
With an Interview by Associate Editor Jeff Streeby
The Buttonhook Press Masters Series: Poetry from Richard Widerkehr
With an Interview by Associate Editor Jeff Streeby
The Dally Post Press Masters Series: Cowboy Poetry from Rod Miller
With an Interview by Associate Editor Jeff Streeby
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