Poems by Allen Itz
&
Art by Vincent Martinez

Allen's new book, "seven beats a second" is 160 pages of poetry and full color art prepared in collaboration with artist Vincent Martinez.

As originator of the "seven beats a second" project, I take for myself the pleasure of thanking people who have made the project possible. First is the artist half of "seven beats a second", Vincent Martinez. Vince and I joined talents after I ask my son to see if any of his artist friends might want to work with me in creating a book. The result is here for all to see. Vince is an outstanding young artist with a great future and a vibrant and exciting sense of form and color. I also offer special thanks to Jim Feuerstein. The whole process of putting this book together was new to me, a continuing frustration of trial and error and, often, error again. Jim was my turn-to guy on those days when confusion reigned, my guru-in-charge, providing frequent counseling over coffee at Borders, pulling me out of the ditch many times.

Allen Itz is a native South Texas, moving slowly over the years from a small town just a few miles from the Rio Grande to San Antonio and the hill country. He began as a writer in the late 1960's, published a few poems, than quit writing for nearly 30 years. He began to write again several years ago after he retired from a career in state government and has since published more than 200 poems in various on-line and print journals. This is his first book, a collection of both previously published and unpublished work.

Vincent Martinez was born in San Antonio in 1982 and later moved to Victoria, Texas, where he graduated from high school in 2000. He is presently a senior at Texas State University in San Marcos where he studies painting. He has successfully shown his work in galleries in San Marcos, Austin and San Antonio. In addition to his own work, he also works collaboratively with other artists at Red 10 Studios. Several of those collaborative works are included in "seven beats a second."