The primary and driving force behind the Ice Cube Press and the Tall Corn Books imprint is Steve Semken. Steve has been inspired to work with words, to write, and to promote and learn about the world in which we live in for nearly twenty years now. The inspiration began walking and living along the Kaw River in North Lawrence, Kansas. Since 1990 Steve has authored five books, edited three others, been included in four anthologies, and was picked as the the Writer in Residence at the Island Institute in Sitka, Alaska. He has served on the faculty at the Midwest Writing Center’s David Collins Writing Conference in the Quad Cities. For over ten years he sponsored and organized the annual Harvest Lecture/Voices From The Prairie at first with Lutheran Campus Ministry, the Standing By Words Center, and finally with Humanities Iowa. His debut novel Pick Up Stick City : Restoration Fiction was published by Rivers Bend Press in Minnesota and reviewed by Publishers Weekly. A second book, The Great Blues, is a creative nonfiction piece on Great Blue Herons in Kansas. This book was published by the Woodley Press, Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas, and was picked a Notable Book of Kansas. A revised, and retitled, fine art edition of The Great Blues is coming out in 2012/13. Currently Steve is working on a collection of short stories on mushrooms, the supernatural in local places (The Wild Testament), and a modern day bestiary. Ice Cube Press is spotlighted in Poets and Writers magazine’s Small Press Points
As author, salesman, publisher, and motivated entrepreneur Steve Semken is a publisher that authors and bookstores trust. He can speak on all aspects regarding writing (clubs, writing workshops, publishing) and books. If you would like to improve the writing in your company (are your company newsletters and brochures losing their zap?) or need advice on getting your journal started he is able to come and speak. To have Steve speak to your writers group, book club, or business email: steve at icecubepress dot com with your request. Rates are negotiable.
steve@icecubepress.com