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American Life in Poetry: Column 419

American Life in Poetry: Column 419
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

It pains an old booklover like me to think of somebody burning a book, but if you’ve gotten one for a quarter and it’s falling apart, well, maybe it’s OK as long as you might be planning to pick up a better copy. Here Ron Koertge, who lives in Pasadena, has some fun with the ashes of love poems.

Burning the Book

The anthology of love poems I bought
for a quarter is brittle, anyway, and comes
apart when I read it.

One at a time, I throw pages on the fire
and watch smoke make its way up
and out.

I’m almost to the index when I hear
a murmuring in the street. My neighbors
are watching it snow.

I put on my blue jacket and join them.
The children stand with their mouths
open.

I can see nouns—longing, rapture, bliss—
land on every tongue, then disappear.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2012 by Ron Koertge, whose most recent book of poems is Fever, Red Hen Press, 2006. Poem reprinted by permission of Ron Koertge. Introduction copyright © 2013 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

Writing Wanted: SWITCHEROO 2013

Writers, it’s time for Broadsided‘s annual Switcheroo, now in its tenth year!

Broadsided has posted two images online. Writers respond to the visual pieces in poetry or prose in a way that creates a relationship between art and literature and that fits with the Broadsided format. There are plenty of past years’ selections to see as well. The editors will read all submissions, and the winning entries (one for each piece of art) will be published on May 1, 2013 as a Broadsided collaboration.

Deadline: April 15, 2013.

Kaleidoscope Goes Digital

In the editor’s note in Kaleidoscope‘s Issue 66, Gail Willmott announces that the magazine has been given two choices: go online only, or cease publication. There has been a whole-hearted decision to make it go digital. “To be honest,” she writes, “I have mixed feelings about this transition. For me part of the joy of completing each issue of the magazine has been holding the tangible, finished product in my hands.” However, we she found out the ultimatum, she chose to continue the magazine. “In truth there will be many positive developments as Kaleidoscope goes online. First, many more people will have access . . . Second, readers will be able to view all of the artwork in color rather than in black and white as is now the case . . . Third, it is my hope that without the cost of printing, there may soon come a time when we will not be strictly limited to 64 pages, which means making more of the excellent work of our contributors available to a much wider audience.” She wishes that readers will continue to read the magazine as it transitions to a digital form.

This current issue, themed “Significant Relationships,” features Janeen McGuire’s “One Blue Eye,” Peter L. Pingerelli’s “Dart Frogs and Love,” Cynthia Lim’s “The Gum-Chewing Notary,” and more.

Consequence Prize in Poetry

Consequence features the winner of their prize for poetry in Volume 5. Selected by the judge Fred Marchant, Michelle Bonczek won for her poem “Aria.” Here is a small section of the poem:

I am reading this to you from a stage,
from a bathtub full of mineral salt, from a canoe

lost in the Pacific like a paperclip
holding a death certificate. I am reading this from a drop

of water, a sand speck sunk
to the bottom, a little island dome.

We are on Jupiter’s smallest moon, in a poppy,
in a bean field. We are sunflowers and a herd of cows.

This is a field of vision. It grew long before me, before
you. Before I walked for the last time

to the rail of my grandfather’s bed, away
for the first time from the rail of my daughter’s crib.

You can view the rest of the poem online here, or in Volume 5. The finalists include Jared Coffin for “Hollandia,” Dawn McGuire for “After Finding a Firefighter’s Ax at the Thrift Store,” Wesley Rothman for “White Flag,” and Danielle Sellars for “Thoughts From an Army Girlfriend.” The rest of the issue includes the work of David Abrams, Andrew Barlow, Stephen Dau, Bruce Felming, Peter Balakian, Martha Collins, Lee Sharkey, Paul Wasserman, and more.

Birmingham Poetry Review’s 25th Birthday

Birmingham Poetry Review celebrates 25 years with its Spring 2013 issue. It is a hefty issue with poets Adcock, Adkison, Ager, Anderson, Asekoff, Balbo, Brachman, Brewer, Collins, Davidson, Dawson, C. Doyle, J. Doyle, Dubrow, Emerson, Fabrizio, Fagan, Foster, Gottlieb-Miller, Hardin, Hartsock, Hirsch, Jenike, Jerrell, Jordan, Kirby, Levitin, Logan, May, McCullough, McLoghlin, McRae, McVicker, Meek, Meitner, Mintz, and many, many more.

The featured poet, Claudia Emerson, shares her poems “Clearcut,” “Lightning,” “Third,” “Common House Sparrows at JFK’s International Terminal,” “Virginia Christian,” and “Apo
logue.” Following her poetry is an interview with Emerson, conducted by Susannah Mintz.

New Lit on the Block :: Zymbol

Zymbol is a new print magazine that publishes twice a year, in March and September, and welcomes all sorts of genres and forms. Editor Anne James says, “We’re happy to consider any genre or medium that the submitter feels belongs to, or shares a connection with, Symbolism or Surrealism. As an editor, I’d rather read three times as many submissions to find that amazing, description-defying piece than to miss out on seeing it because we’ve set our guidelines too strict.” However, because they are a print magazine, James says, “we can’t accommodate submissions of someone’s videotaped fire-eating homage to Salvador Dalí.”

In the issues you can expect to find a variety of writing. “We pride ourselves on the diversity of voices we publish,” says James, “and I don’t just mean in terms of demographics. We have everything from the whimsical to the downright sinister. Any reader who daydreams and questions reality can find a sense of camaraderie in the pages of Zymbol.”

The magazine gets its title from the way symbols are “the key in Symbolist and Surrealist works.” James says, “We wanted our name to pay homage to historical influences, while signaling a drive for the future, hence the ‘Z.’” James worked learning the industry at St. Petersburg Review with Elizabeth Hodges, “an amazing mentor and friend who showed [her] it’s still possible for an independent literary magazine to thrive.” James says that she feels there is a “vacancy in the world of art and literature for a publication that is both surreal and grounded in experience. Too much contemporary literature veers off into absurdity and flights of fancy, but what excites me is the absurd out of the commonplace, the magic and mystery in our minds and our realities.”

Along with James there is a student editor, Adria Holmes of Endicott College, along with Alex O’Fhailghigh, who has been helpful in defining the editorial focus, and Marta Ferrer, who helps with art submissions and helping recruit international contributors.

The first issue features art by Nuncio Casanova, Anastasia Hager, and Mette Norrie; an essay by Marta Ferrer Gómez; poetry by Carol Alexander, Flower Conroy, William Doreski, Lou Gallo, Anastasia Hager, Anne James, Natalie Kinsey, Anthony Madrid, Erin Lyndal Martin, Ben Nardolilli, Kevin O’Sullivan, Mary Ellen Phillips, Matt Schumacher, J.J. Steinfeld, Tim Suermondt, Allison Willard, and Bill Wolak; and fiction by Jennifer Hollie Bowles, Cary Groner, Zachary Kaplan-Moss, Larry Lefkowitz, Ilya Lyashevsky, John McCaffrey, Harry Posner, and Evan Morgan Williams.

While they are only available in print right now, they hope to develop an e-reader version as soon as possible. Along with that goal, they hope to “get bookstores and other venues enthusiastic about doing some wacky readings and performances, because there’s nothing like sharing an experience with a room full of people.”

Right now, they are looking for submissions that will match up with “what is shaping up to be a very dark and stormy Autumn/Winter issue.” James says this will be a nice contrast to the Spring/Summer issue. She advises that although they read year-round, submissions now through May have the best shot at getting into the next issue. They take submissions online through their website. But “if you have something crazy that the submissions manager won’t eat,” you can send it directly to James at [email protected].

NewPages Reviewers

NewPages is still looking to add a couple more reviewers for both book reviews and magazine reviews. If you are interested, please check out this page for more information. Then send a message to Kirsten, kirstenmcilvenna[at]newpageswork[dot]com for magazine reviews or to Holly at hollyzemsta[at]newpageswork[dot]com for book reviews. Please pass along this information to anyone you think may be interested.

Arc Poetry Magazine Staff Changes

The editor’s note in Arc Poetry Magazine announces a few changes in the editorial staff. Prose Editor Chris Jennings steps into his new role: “The title of prose editor may be new, but Arc has always had a ‘prose editor’ function usually handled by the Editor.” Additionally, former Coordinating Editor Katia Grubisic is thanked for her work and given a send-off. Jennings writes, “Those of you who know her know that she is tireless and professional, and we were proud to have her at the helm for the brief time we enjoyed the privilege. As with Anita Lahey and John Barton before her, we will take some solace in knowing that Katia the poet and writer will continue to participate in the Canadian poetry conversation.”

Stepping into her shoes is Robyn Jeffrey. Jennings says that “Robyn brings considerable experience in project coordination and organizational capacity to our operations, and we look forward to having her insight and talents on Arc‘s editorial team.”

Alaska Quarterly Review: Two Novellas

The Spring & Summer 2013 issue of Alaska Quarterly Review features a special section for the place of two novellas. Included in this section are Cary Holladay’s “The Army Disease” and Christie Hodgen’s “Mistakes I Made.”

The issue also includes fiction by Ben Brooks, Matt Carmichael, Patricia Schultheis, Peter Gordon, Ihab Hassan, Catherine Bussinger, Emily Mitchell; nonfiction by Anne Kaier, Edward Hower, Mary Koral, and Leslie Ullman; and poetry by Matthew Westbrook, Joan I. Siegel, Kim Farrar, Carol Edelstein, Deborah Brown, and many more.

Meat for Tea Anniversary

For seven years now, Meat for Tea has been putting forth issues. To celebrate, they have released a special “Lardo” issue, featuring the work of Micahel Alves, Elizabeth Macduffie, D. H. Yondernod, Meg Pokrass, Ben Bellizzi, Robert Joshua Mobley, John Sibley Williams, Gina Williams, Kirby Wright, Clare Haxby, David P. Miller, Loren Kantor, Richard E. Corrigan, John Lurie, Gina Marie Bernard, and many more. They also celebrate with creating a new style for the magazine: “Deciding it was time Meat for Tea grew a back bone, I have turned to a perfect bound format,” writes Meaty Gonzales, Editor-in-Chief.

National Poet Hunt

The most recent issue of The MacGuffin features the winner of the 17th National Poet Hunt: Sharron Singleton for “Like a scrap of Michigan sky.” Judge Dorianne Laux says that she was hooked after the first line, saying “already a place, already an image, a tone.” She says that, “This is a poem to hold in our hands, to sing out loud.”

The honorable mentions go to Sophia Rivkin for “Lido Island” and Kevin Griffin for “Melt,” also featured in this issue alongside Rik Barberi, Carrie Callaghan, Jorge Casuso, Barbara Crooker, Justin Daughtery, Marti Dodge, Taylor Dowd, Kathleen Founds, Deborah Kent, Kent Maynard, Billy Middleton, Rex Richards, and many more.

Happy National Poetry Month 2013!

From the Academy of American Poets:

It’s hard to believe that when the Academy of American Poets launched National Poetry Month in 1996, only a few hundred people participated. Today, it is the largest literary celebration in the world with special events taking place in thousands of schools, libraries, bookstores, and communities nationwide. Here are some ways to participate in National Poetry Month this year:

Sign up for Poem-A-Day, which delivers a new poem to your inbox every morning.

Spread the Word: Download the official 2013 National Poetry Month logo for promoting your poetry events this month. And, promote your events on our national Events Calendar.

Participate in Poem-in-Your-Pocket Day April 18.

Learn about what’s happening with poetry in your state by taking a looking at our poetry maps.

Or, consider one of these 30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month in your community.

NaPoWriMo is Here!

NaPoWriMo, or National Poetry Writing Month, is an annual project in which participating poets attempt to write a poem a day for the month of April.

NaPoWriMo was founded in 2003, when poet Maureen Thorson decided to take up the challenge (modeled after NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month), and challenged other poets to join her. Since then, the number of participants has gotten larger every year, and many writers’ organizations, local, national and even international, organize NaPoWriMo activities.

Anyone can “join”NaPoWriMo by simply writing a poem a day for the month – no need to sign up or agree to anyone other than yourself. Participants with websites are invited to submit their site for listing, and if you want to organize your own NaPoWriMo events in your area, Thorson says: “There is no licensing process or fee for NaPoWriMo. If you want to organize a group to participate, that’s great! If you set up a website for your group, you can submit it to be listed on this site.”

THEMA’s 25th Anniversary

THEMA‘s Spring 2013 issue marks the magazine’s 25th anniversary. To celebrate, the theme is “White Wine Chilling,” and Editor Virginia Howard encourages you to “drink a toast to THEMA Literary Journal!”

What started as a game among friends in 1988 at a Chinese restaurant has now evolved into the popular themed magazine. “We would each write a story based on the fortunes printed in the fortune cookies received that day. We invited other literary friends to join us,” writes Howard. “This mental exercise turned out to be such a pleasure that it fueled our curiousity. How would other authors handle the same theme? And what about other unusual themes? . . . And how would various imaginations react to them? We had to know!”

Featured in this issue are D’Ann Gunn, Norbert Petsch, Dennis Trujillo, Corrine D’Italia, Debbie Okun Hill, Gary R. Hoffman, Lorraine Merrin, Marvin Thrasher, Sandra Storey, Elinor Davis, Susan Shaw Sailer, Norman Weddle, Ronald Edwin Lane, Judy Swann, J. F. Pierce, Stefanie Freele, James B. Nicola, and Suszanne Stuhaug,

Robertson Prize

The Fall 2012 issue of Glass Mountain features the winners of the Robertson Prize:

Poetry Winner
Sam Coronado: “Pete”

Poetry Runner-Up
Sessa Kratz: “Issac and Abraham”

Fiction Winner
Heather Pedoto: “Imogene the Voodoo Queen”

Fiction Runner-Up
Daniel Chang: “The Slip”

American Antiwar Poetry Examined

“Resisting Imperial Jouissance: The Transideological Line in Recent American Antiwar Poetry” by Dean Brink has been published in Volume 43, Number 1 /2013 of Canadian Review of American Studies: “This essay critically examines various strategies taken in the most compelling contemporary American antiwar poetry written against the occupation of Iraq. It finds both limitations, as many poets have succumbed to a postmodern distance from events, and brilliance, in poets who have discerned ways of eliciting hope in the aims of such poetry. Linda Hutcheon’s term transideological irony is used to show how many poets are complicit, in their irony, with rubrics of the dominant discourse such as ‘a nation at war.’ In light of Žižek’s Lacanian-Marxist formulation of jouissance, the imperial jouissance manifest in much poetry presented as thematically ‘antiwar’ is examined in terms of both successes and shortcomings.” The essay is available for purchase online as a PDF download.

The Antigonish Review Contest Winners

The Winter 2013 issue of The Antigonish Review features the winners of the Great Blue Heron Poetry Contest and the Sheldon Currie Fiction Contest.

Great Blue Heron Poetry Contest
First Prize: Charles P. R. Tisdale
Second Prize: Kim Trainor
Third Prize: Laura Legge

Sheldon Currie Fiction Contest
First Prize: Veronica Ross
Second Prize: Fred Annesley
Third Prize: Joan M. Baril

The issue also includes work from Jocko Benoit, Dwayne Brenna, Jan Conn, Mark Corkery, Mike Donaldson, Aloys Fleischmann, Michelle Glennie, Sean Howard & Mark Silverberg, Kevin Irie, Edward Lemond, Lisa McLean, Jean McNeil, Mark Puhlman, and Reynold Stone.

Naugatuck River Review 2013 Contest

Naugatuck River Review‘s Winter 2013 issue features the winners of their fourth annual Narrative Poetry Contest, judged by Pamela Uschuk.

First Prize
Diane Lockward “Original Sin”

Second Prize
Doug Ramspeck “Idle Signs”

Third Prize
Bianca Diaz “The Light in the Dark”

Finalists
Lauren K. Alleyne “Dear Christopher”
John Victor Anderson “El Lagarto”
Lana Hechtman Ayers “In My Dreams I Draw Circles But None Of Their Edges Touch”
Wendy Burbank “Frederick”
Judith Waller Carroll “Pas de Deux”
Beth Copeland “Blue Honey”
Maureen Tollman Flannery “Selling the Ranch”
Veronica Golos “China Town Fish Market, New York, Circa Unknown”
Paul Hostovsky “Del Nelmezzo”
Brenna LeMieux “On Mending”
Mary Leonard “Tel Aviv Sonnet”
Taylor Mali “What the Whispering Means”
Thomas R. Moore “Pinus Strobus”
Roger Pfingston “Divorce”
Gail Thomas “Flame”
Lauren Wolk “Wolf Hollow, Pennsylvania”
Lisa Wujnovich “Cynthia”

To view a complete list of the semi-finalists, please click here.

Poetry Trading Cards @ AWP

In addition to their twice annual, large-format (8.5×11) literary journal, Fact-Simile is now in their fourth year of publishing Poetry Trading Cards. Each card features a full-color front with a photograph of the poet and the poem printed on the back using traditional trading card stock. Each card comes in an archival quality plastic sleeve and can be purchased for 99 cents each or $10 for the year (+s/h). You can still subscribe now and get the “back issues” as well as receive monthly delivery for the remainder of the year.

I was thrilled when I learned that a number of the Trading Card Poets would be signing cards at the Fact-Simile table at AWP Boston. I’ve been a subscriber from the start, so picked out the cards, printed the signing schedule, and for three days, I haunted the Fact-Simile staff regularly throughout each day! I was their most obsessed fan, I’m sure of it, and was tolerated with kindness and humor each time I ran back and forth (several times to catch Hoa Nguyen, who in addition to signing cards was giving tarot readings in the aisle way).

My diligence paid off as I was able to meet and have cards signed by Charles Bernstein, Marcella Durand, K. Silem Mohammad, Hoa Nguyen, Jena Osman, Vanessa Place, Elizabeth Robinson, and Lewis Warsh. Huge thanks to Fact-Simile for creating and keeping this series going. It’s a treat to get one of these in the mail each month. And thanks for the signing, for obsessed fans like me it was a great opportunity!

Georgia Poets

Southern Poetry Review‘s new issue features Georgia Poets. In their original call for submissions, they were clear that they weren’t necessarily looking for work that addressed Georgia or the South, but instead should come from poets that were from Georgia or had a significant connection to it. “We wanted to see who was, so to speak, out there,” writes Co-Editor James Smith. “A few of the poems do, indeed, make passing reference to Georgia, and some of them, to a large extent, are “about” the South, but the reader must decide if the other poems carry any redolence of place. We decided not to arrange the issue, as we usually do, selecting a poem with which to lead off, one with which to end, and intimating connections along the way . . . but in an issue devoted to a particular group of poets, we wanted to be careful not to give the impression of ranking, so we chose the alphabetical approach and found nonetheless many interesting juxtapositions and groupings.”

So, in alphabetically order, the issue includes Rebecca Baggett, Coleman Barks, Beverly Burch, Kathryn Stripling Byer, George David Clark, Alfred Corn, Heather Cousins, Blanche Farley, Rupert Fike, Starkey Flythe Jr., Gregory Fraser, Alice Friman, Roberta George, Sarah Gordon, William Greenway, Linda Lee Harper, Gordon Johnston, Robert S. King, Nick McRae, Judson Mitcham, Eric Nelson, William L. Ramsey, Rosemary Royston, Anya Silver, Nancy Simpson, Charlie Smith, Matthew Buckley Smith, Ron Smith, R. T. Smith, A. E. Stallings, Memye Curtis Tucker, Austin Wilson, Edward Wilson, and William Wright.

Map Literary Print Issue

Map Literary, an online magazine, has just put out their second print issue, an anthology collection from the past year. Although it doesn’t include everything that was published online, it features the best of the best.

It features the work of Keith Newton, Nicholas Brown, Tina Brown Celona, Michelle Valois, Julia Cohen, Sam White, Joshua Ware, Dan Kaplan, Beth Couture, Paige Taggart, Craig Foltz, Patrick Swaney, Jim Daniels, Simon Perchik, Kirk Curnutt, Joe Lennon, and Joanna Clapps Herman.

American Literary Review Last Print Issue

If you love American Literary Review, you best get your hands on their current issue. It will be their last print issue. However, this doesn’t mean they are extinct! Starting with the Fall 2013 issue, the magazine will be featured exclusively online. “The necessity of change has taken us a little by surprise, although publications before us have taken to the ehter, due to economic circumstances and the attendant promise of a wider readership,” writes Editor Ann McCutchan. “And while we mourn the physical journal, we’re excited about the advantages of the new format.”

With the new format, the magazine can be offered for free—and who doesn’t love free—and will be able to fit in even more poems, stories, and essays, with a “substantially beefed-up book review section.”

McCutchan extends her gratitude to her editors and everyone that has worked with the magazine as well as to the readership. “Jim Lee imagined that if he built it, ‘they’ would come. Now after more than two decades, it’s fair to say that you’ve built it, with your writing and readership. Once more, thank you, and we’ll see you online.”

William Van Dyke Short Story Prize

Sponsored by The Van Dyke Family Charitable Foundation and judged by Mark Richard, the William Van Dyke Short Story Prize is featured in the newest issue from Ruminate. “It was a pleasure to read this year’s submissions,” writes Richard. “In one story, grief is made real in images of rain and through music. In another, a woman hopes to find healing from her childhood, trying to accept love from those who often fail her and from a God who never does. A person of faith begins to have doubts during the prolonged death of a loved one, the meaning of the suffering proving elusive. A man struggles to keep the contents of his mind from spilling out at the end of his life. Another person of faith desires to surrender unto death, but the will to survive is stronger.”

First Place
David Brendan Hopes: “Saturdays He Drove the Ford Pickup”

Second Place
Terrence Cheng: “In San Francisco”

Honorable Mention
Megan Malone: “Safekeeping”

Finalists
Daniel Casey: “RE: Sentencing”
Peter Court: “The Simple Art of Flight”
A.R. Gardner: “A Mother’s Legacy”
Lindsey Griffin: “Tenebrae”
Linda McCullough Moore: “What a Lifetime Is”
Alexandre Puttick: “The Fall”

Richards writes, “David Hopes’ ‘Saturdays He Drove the Ford Pickup’ spoke to me as a parable would, and I’m always inclined toward a parable. And on subsequent readings, it seemed a bit more layered than I originally thought. The things I first thought sentimental about the piece actually gave it ultimate poignancy.”

Seattle Poetry Panels

Seattle Poetry Panels invites you to “The State of Seattle Poetry” at 7 p.m. on March 24. “Founded by Greg Bem and Amber Nelson, Seattle Poetry Panels is a naturally occurring online phenomenon. For each panel, a Seattle poet is designated captain, gathers forces, and leads the charge on tough, in-depth investigations on any given subject related to poetry, Seattle, or Seattle poetry. These panels will take place in google hangout so anyone can watch from the comfort of their sofas and snuggies.”

The discussion will also be saved on YouTube to view it in the future. To attend the Google Hangout, please view the Facebook event invitation. Or you can directly email Greg at gregbem[at]gmail[dot]com or Amber at ambydexterous[at]gmail[dot]com.

NYC Literary Festival

For all of you in  NYC in April, there will be a Downtown Literary Festival hosted by McNally Jackson and Housing Works Bookstore Cafe. “The festival will take place at both bookstores simultaneously on Sunday, April 14, 2013, followed by a happy hour mingle at Housing Work Bookstore and an after-party at Pravda, featuring Russian literature–themed cocktails. The goal of DLF is to showcase the literature and writers of New York City. We will aim to reflect the diversity and creativity that characterizes downtown NYC with a day of the non-traditional events for which McNally Jackson and Housing Works Bookstore have become known.”

Kites by Robert Gibb

American Life in Poetry: Column 416
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

This kite-flying poem caught me right up and sent me flying as soon as Robert Gibb described those dimestore kites furled tighter than umbrellas, a perfect image. Gibb lives in Pennsylvania.

Kites

Come March we’d find them
In the five-and-dimes,
Furled tighter than umbrellas
About their slats, the air

In an undertow above us
Like weather on the maps.
We’d play out lines
Of kite string, tugging against

The bucking sideways flights.
Readied for assembly,
I’d arc the tensed keel of balsa
Into place against the crosspiece,

Feeling the paper snap
Taughtly as a sheet, then lift
The almost weightless body
Up to where it hauled me

Trolling into the winds—
Knotted bows like vertebrae
Flashing among fields
Of light. Why ruin it

By recalling the aftermaths?
Kites gone down in tatters,
Kites fraying like flotsam
From the tops of the trees.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2012 by Robert Gibb from his most recent book of poems, Sheet Music, Autumn House Press, 2012. Poem reprinted by permission of Robert Gibb and Autumn House Press. Introduction copyright © 2013 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

Chinese Literature

Two current news pieces on literature in China – present and future:

The World has yet to See the Best of Chinese Literature by Samantha Kuok Leese in The Spectator (UK): “…it’s early days for modern Chinese literature…the issue must be understood in the context of the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution. Mao Zedong’s atrocious campaigns all but shut down education, and left a frightening number of Chinese people illiterate. Writers in China are now suffering the aftereffects…”

The Future of the Novel in China published by the Guardian UK is an edited version of Li Er’s speech at the Edinburgh World Writers’ Conference 2012-2013, Beijing, translated by Alice Xin Liu. “China’s mass media-connected society is more complicated than novelists in the west could ever have imagined, requiring new forms of storytelling to define our subjective experience.” Full versions of this and all the speeches are available on the Edinburgh World Writers’ Conference website.

2012 Fiction Contest :: Passages North

Passages North’s newest issue (which I must say has a great cover) features the winners of their 2012 fiction contests.

Waasmode Fiction Prize, judged by Caitlin Horrocks
Winner
“We Are Here Because of a Horse” by Karin C. Davidson

Just Desserts Short-Short Fiction Prize, judged by Roxane Gay
Winner
“After the Flood the Captain of the Hamadryas Discovers a Madonna” by Traci Brimhall

Honorable Mentions
“Girl” by Nahal Jamir
“Dirty Girl” by Rochelle Hurt

The rest of the issue features features Kristin Abraham, John Azrak, Jenny Boully, Hans Burger, Christine Caulfield, Michelle Dove, Stefani Farris, Michael Filas, Toni Graham, Karen Hays, Rochelle Hurt, Brandon David Jennings, Hiram Larew, Sally Wen Mao, Roy Mash, Brenda Miller, Jill Osier, Elena Passarello, Emma Ramey, Susan Terris, Matthew Vollmer, Allen Woodman, and many more.

World Literature Today Photography Issue

The most recent, special double issue of World Literature Today features some amazing photography. “Why is World Literature Today, a literary magazine, publishing a photography issue?” writes Editor Daniel Simon. “For one thing, 2013 marks the centenary of popular 35mm still photography: the American Tourist Multiple camera was introduced in 1913, and Oskar Barnack began developing the prototype of the ur-Leica that same year. Moreover, 1913 stands out as a watershed modernist moment.” During that same year, Camera Work published a special issue featuring art photography and the movement known as pictorialism. Simon explains, “By juxtaposing photography with other works of modern art and literature, Stieglitz was hoping to promote ‘the camera’s role as the most apt metaphor for the modernist enterprise’ and to defend the use and aims of photography ‘as one of the defining tasks of modernism itself.'”

He goes on to say that “one hundred years later—and in a similar spirit—WLT presents a special double issue devoted to the language of photography and, by extension, literature . . . By the conventional measure, the seventy-plus pictures included in this issue must be worth more than seventy thousand words. And while photographers often prefer to let the images they create stand on their won, without comment, in this instance we’re fortunate to have their words alongside their photos.”

The featured photographers include Yousef Khanfar, David Goldblatt & Nadine Gordimer, Lois Greenfield, Jacko Vassilev, Lisa Kristine, Robert Glenn Ketchum, Lalla A. Essaydi, Kenro Izu, Joyce Tenneson, Misha Gordin, Ken Duncan, Ami Vitale, David Doubilet, Candida Höfer & Umberto Eco, Tim Mantoani, Angela Bacon-Kidwell, Phil Borges, Graciela Iturbide, Jay Dusard, Camille Seaman, and Shahidul Alam.

The issue also contains essays by Kamila Shamsie, Adnan Mahmutović, and Mark Budman, as well as poetry by André Naffis-Sahely.

Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia Needs Contributors, Editors, Volunteers

From Marju Broder:

The Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia is a project with a very far reaching vision which needs energy, resources and time to develop. The key function of CBE is the combination of IT& computers, digitized Buddhist materials and software and providing everyone with access to Internet the opportunity to use those applications and materials. The author and main organizer of Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia is Vello Vaartnou. The CBE project was officially started in December, 2012, when Vaartnou presented the idea of the CBE at the ECAI conference in University of California, Berkeley.

We are looking for volunteer editors for the Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia project. CBE needs a lot of data research and editing. Usually every editor has their own Buddhism related topic(s) (English and Chinese speakers) on which he/she would gather as much material as possible.

We welcome everyone who could contribute their valuable time by editing and adding materials from different sources all over the internet.

There is much work to do so anyone who would like to give their contribution for the Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia project are most WELCOME to do so.

Please visit Chinese Buddhist Encyclopedia for more information.

New Lit on the Block :: Spry Literary Journal

Check out Spry Literary Journal, a brand new online, biannual publication that features creative nonfiction, fiction, flash prose, and poetry that is brief, “works that rely on each word to be agile, lithe, to carry its own weight—to be spry.” Editors Erin A. Corriveau and Linsey Jayne said that inside the issues, readers will find “works that will move them to tears, works that will make them laugh, and works that will challenge them to see the world through new and imaginative lenses. . . . They will find their reflections in magical realism and the art of the real. Readers can expect to find creative nonfiction, poetry and fiction from seasoned authors and first time published writers as well. Their work is risky, vulnerable, historical, and honest.”

Linsey said that as her and Erin came to the end of their MFA program and their work with Mason’s Road journal, they realized that the next step would be to make a literary journal of their own. “During our time in the MFA program, we had each worked on a critical thesis that lent itself to the study and creation of concise literature.”

Eager to branch out, Linsey said that they hope to eventually become a triannual publication, introduce audio/visual elements to the journal, and explore opportunities for other formats beyond the online model. “We are looking forward to planning our first launch party, building up our site, hosting contests, and much, much more,” she said. “We’re more eager than anything, though, to see each new submission that comes through our manager, and to determining which pieces will make future issues come to life.”

Each of Spry’s issues features a five-question interview with an established writer. Linsey is pleased to announce that the first issue features Porochista Khakpour and encourages readers to read the interview and leave comments. “We’re excited for the future,” she said, “we have some exciting interviewees lined up and more great submissions coming through every day.” She expressed that they are always open to new ideas and to contact her at any time.

The first issue also features creative nonfiction by Elizabeth Hilts, Jenni Nance, Alan Shaw, Amy Sibley, and Barbara Wanamaker; fiction by Kate Alexander-Kirk, Jeni McFarland, Wei He, Paul Pekin, and Ben Sneyd; flash by Allie Marini Batts, Lucas Burris, Adrien Creger, Christine Hale, Matt Lucas, Saeide Mirzaei, Bill Riley, Michael Dwayne Smith, Alexandra Todak, and Janna Vought; and poetry by Sheila Black, Conor Bracken, Jeremy Byars, Elizabeth Cooley, B.D. Fischer, Erin Hoover, Leigh Anne Hornfeldt, Paul Hostovsky, Kevin Miller, and Michael Sarnowski.

Submissions of short creative nonfiction, short fiction, flash (in any genre), and poetry are being accepted now through March 31 for the second issue. Linsey notes that for the flash category, they accept “fiction and nonfiction, as well as anything experimental in that genre.” Spry has a blind submission policy and accepts submissions via Submittable. For more submission guidelines, please view their website.

We’re Back!

Some of us from NewPages spent last week at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference in Boston, MA. It was fantastic, and we want to say a huge thanks to everyone who stopped by our bookfair tables to say hello. We spend 99.9% of our work time here at the computer, so being able to meet people face-to-face is a great opportunity for us. We appreciated hearing your comments about the site – what you like and how we can make it better. Ten years ago, when NewPages attended our first AWP, we spent hours walking the bookfair floor, introducing ourselves, explaining our site, our concept, our vision. Now, people recognize our name and shout out: “I love NewPages!” and “You guys do great work!” Thanks to all of you who shouted, stopped, said hello, and chatted it up with us. We do love meeting you and hearing from you. Please excuse our absence from the blog while we caught our breath, but get ready, because we’ve got tons of great stuff to share from AWP and will be spilling that out over the next few weeks.

[That blue book you see on our table is The NewPages Lit Pak for AWP Boston 2013 and is available for free on our site here.]

Snowflakes Fall: Tribute to Sandy Hook

Newbery Medalist Patricia MacLachlan and acclaimed picture book creator Steven Kellogg will collaborate to create the children’s book Snowflakes Fall as a tribute to the community of Sandy Hook, Connecticut. The book is slated for release this November from Random House and can be pre-ordered directly from their website. The publisher notes: “Random House Children’s Books together with Random House, Inc. will make a significant monetary donation to child-focused organizations that will be chosen by the collaborators.”

Matthew Quick Keynote Speech

“When you say you want to write a novel when you’re 17, people think it’s cute,” Mr. Quick said. “When you’re 32 years old and you’re living with your in-laws, especially if you are a man in America and you’re not making any money, people make you feel like you’re committing a crime.” Matthew Quick, author of The Silver Linings Playbook, from his keynote speech at the 23rd Annual Betty Curtis Worcester County Young Writers’ Conference on Saturday at St. John’s High School. Read the rest on Telegram.com.

The Weekly Reader Welcomes New Hosts

Started in 2010, the KMSU Weekly Reader is an author interview radio program currently hosted by newcomers Kyle Jaeger, Alec Cizak, and Beth Mouw. It airs on KMSU 89.7 FM in Mankato Minnesota, and is available as a podcast through iTunes. The Weekly Reader airs in-depth discussions with authors from all around the country. Authors, publishers, and agents are welcome to contact the hosts and send books to the hosts.

A sample of archived archived programs:

Adams, S. J., Sparks
Bugan, Carmen, Burying the Typewriter
Cohen, Joshua, Four New Messages
D’Souza, Tony, Mule
Fell, Adam, I Am Not A Pioneer
Gabbert, Elisa, The French Exit
Hagy, Alyson, Boleto
Karrow, David and Joseph Butts, The Alpha League
LeBoutillier, Nate, Horse Camp
Memmer, Philip, The Storehouses of the Snow
Nau, Dennis, The Year God Forgot Us
Pinda, Jon, Sleep In Me
Ryan, Matt, Read This Or You’re Dead To Me
Sanders, Ted, No Animals We Could Name
Terrill, Richard, Music and poetry, China twenty years later
Vizenor, Gerald, Chair of Tears
Wells, Will, Unsettled Accounts

To Copyright or Not To Copyright

If you’re not already reading Writer Beware! (“the public face of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s Committee on Writing Scams”) on a regular basis, then now the time to start. A recent post by regular blogger and published writer Victoria Strauss examines why and when writers should copyright their work. The post calls out the practice of vanity publishers trolling copyright registration lists for fresh meat new customers.

Poster Your Own Broadsided

Edited by Elizabeth Bradfield, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Sean Hill, Alexandra Teague, and Mark Temelko, Broadsided has been putting literature in the streets since 2005. Each month, a new broadside is posted both on the website and around the nation.

Writing is chosen through submissions sent to Broadsided. Artists allied with Broadsided are emailed the selected writing. They then “dibs” on what resonates for them and respond visually – sometimes more than one artist will respond offering a selection of broadsides.

The resulting letter-sized pdf is designed to be downloaded and printed by anyone with a computer and printer. The goal is to create something both gorgeous and cheap, to put words and art on the streets.

The site contains a gallery of past broadsides, a map of cities/state/countries that have been broadsided (and where you can add yours), and links to other broadside sites.

Staple guns and duct tape to the ready – time to get your city on the map!

[Pictured: Broadsided March 1, 2013: “Landing Under Water I See Roots” Poem by Annie Finch; Art by Jennifer Moses]

Craft Essays: Glimmertrain Bulletin :: March 2013

The March issue of Glimmer Train’s eBulletin features craft essays by writers whose works have recently appeared in Glimmer Train Stories:

In “Literary Fabric,” Vi Khi Nao begins, “Writing should be a cinematic moment. The function of a writer is to convert word in such a fashion that its etymological beauty moves from frame to frame. In this state, anything is possible. Including the possibility of levitating, descending, dancing—a cinematic place filled with balletic gestures of human pain, sorrow, and bliss.”

William Luvaas in “ON REVISION / REVISION” writes: “Revision can be tedious. Can seem like pathological nit-picking. It can feel like we are endlessly redigesting our own words. But, incredibly, rather than making a story seem labored and lifeless—as intuition suggests it would—revision liberates it and makes it appear effortless.”

“Being Open to Opportunities” for Matthew Salesses is two-sided, “Whenever I am asked to do anything, in the literary world, I agree if at all possible. I hate to turn down anyone genuinely interested in me or my work. How rare and amazing that attention is. This kind of philosophy can backfire, of course.”

Joyce Thomson learned, as she expresses in “The Fan Letter”: “I had wanted to be able to make readers laugh, cry, and think. Now I amended my wish list: I want to make people identify beyond the furthest outposts of their prejudices.”

The bulletin is a free, monthly publication.

Court Green Gets Steamy

Court Green, published in association with Columbia College Chicago, publishes a new dossier of poems each year. This year, the theme is sex.

Poems include titles such as “Where the Mood Struck Me” (Jeffery Conway), “Quiet, I come Alive” (Phillip B. Williams), “The Fury of Cocks” (Anne Sexton), “Blowjobs” (Sarah Crossland), “How Did Dinosaurs Have Sex?” (Lois Marie Harrod), “A Psalm Praising the Hair of a Man’s Body” (Denise Levertov), “Fertility” (Christopher Davis), and many more.

Other poets in this issue include Jan Beatty, Anselm Berrigan, Denise Duhamel, Kimiko Hahn, George Kalamaras, Ron Koertge, R. Zamora Linmark, Gillian McCain, Karyna McGlynn, Randall Mann, Gordon Massman, Richard Meier, Harryette Mullen, Kathleen Ossip, Mary Ruefle, Jerome Sala, Jason Schneiderman, Maureen Seaton, Terence Winch, and many more.

Call for Undergrad/Grad Comparative Lit Papers

The Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Georgia is launching a new journal of comparative literature, Xenophile. This journal will feature the works of undergraduate and graduate students from around the world. They are currently seeking submissions for the premiere issue. This is a perfect opportunity for undergraduate students seeking their first (or second, or third) scholarly publication, as well as for graduate students hoping to reach a new audience.

Papers will be evaluated on a rolling basis, but the final deadline is March 15th, 2013. The editors seek literary scholarship with a global scope, keeping in mind the comparative aspect that distinguishes the literary discipline from others. For more information, please refer to the publication website.

Literary Audio for Your Road Trip

Be sure to check out the NewPages Literary Multimedia Guide – podcasts, videos, and audio programs of interest from literary magazines, book publishers, alternative magazines, universities and bloggers. Includes poetry readings, lectures, author interviews, academic forums and news casts. Great for downloading and listening during the upcoming winter months – while traveling, walking, shoveling the sidewalks – you name it. If you have a site you’d like us to consider for listing, send a link with a description and contact information to  denisehill at newpages dot com. Good reading starts here! (And listening, too!)

The McGinnis Ritchie Award

Southwest Review announces the winners of The McGinnis Ritchie Award for 2012. Robert F. Ritchie was a huge supporter of the magazine. After he died in 1997, the magazine was able to give an award each year to the best works of fiction and nonfiction published in that year. Each award is worth $500.

J. F. Glubka
2012 McGinnis-Ritchie Award for Fiction
“Heat Lightning”
(Volume 97, number 4)

Jacob Newberry
2012 McGinnis-Ritchie Award for Fiction
“The Long Bright World”
(Volume 97, number 4)

Gorman Beauchamp
2012 McGinnis-Ritchie Award for Nonfiction, Essay
“‘But Tiepolo is My Painter’: Twain on Art in A Tramp Abroad”
(Volume 97, number 4)

Ann Peters
2012 McGinnis-Ritchie Award for Nonfiction, Essay
“The House on the Ledge”
(Volume 97, number 1)

AWP Tips on Visiting Boston

A friend and colleague who is familiar with the Boston area shared the following with me when I asked her: “What should I do/see while I’m in Boston? If you could tell me one really great/cool/fantastic/don’t-miss-this ‘thing’ about Boston what would it be? And then, add all the runner-ups to that one best thing.” She couldn’t contain herself – obviously, she’s a fan of the area – so here’s what she sent me and agreed to allow me to share. So, thank you Lauren!

Sights/things to do very near the conference

1. The Prudential (the Pru) Building and Top of the Hub: Wonderful view of the city from the top of a landmark building. The food and drinks are way overpriced, but you could splurge on maybe one drink.

2. The Hancock Tower: Another cool building. It’s not as tourist-friendly as the Pru, but people enjoy the view.

3. Trinity Church: Beautiful old church and set for many movies.

4. The Trident Booksellers and Cafe: A MARVELOUS independent bookstore on Newbury Street (one street over from Boylston). A staple of progressivism, too.

5. If the weather is bearable, and you like looking at old architecture, you could spend a few hours walking around the Back Bay neighborhood. Boylston, Newbury, Commonwealth, Marlborough, and Beacon Streets are the major thoroughfares. Boylston is probably the least interesting, but it’s home to lots of lunch and coffee places (mostly chains from what I remember). Newbury Street is for art and fashion – this is where the rich and au courant live. You might find more adventurous lunch places along Newbury. Commonwealth, Marlborough, and Beacon are residential and lined with beautiful brownstones. Commonwealth is a wide street with little spots of green in it.

6. The Public Garden: You get to this historic, European-style garden from the end of Boylston or Newbury Street. Serene and dignified.

7. Across from the Garden is the Boston Common, a larger and less refined park. It is the oldest public park in America, though, and it offers the starting point for the Freedom Trail. If you like colonial history, it’s cool to walk the Freedom Trail. Sometimes, you end up on it accidentally – it’s marked with a big red line. I recommend a stroll through the Common if you want to see normal Bostonians in action.

8. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: A quirky, gorgeous museum with a great restaurant. You can take a cab or the T (Get on at the Pru station and take an E train to the “Museum of Fine Arts” stop).

Food and drink near the conference

1. The Cactus Club: Decent Mexican food and margaritas.

2. Bukowski Tavern: One of my favorite bars of all time!!! Large selection of beers in a cozy environment. I suggest bringing a book, a tablet, your lovely spouse, etc., and settling in for a few hours. It will likely be packed the whole time we’re there – it’s a hipster mecca already, and with this hipster conference in town…still, worth it!

3. Legal Seafoods: A favorite with seafood fans. Very corporate but also very good. Inside the Pru.

Food and drink somewhat near the conference

1. Beer Works: For your microbrew needs! It might be easier to take the T there (Green Line to Kenmore or Yawkey), but it really wouldn’t be that far of a walk. It’s nothing special in terms of food and decor, but the beers are tasty. It’s next to the famous Fenway Park.

2. Addis Red Sea: Amazing Ethiopian food. Likely to be crowded, and worth the small cab fare it will take to get there.

3. The Green Dragon Tavern: Charming, friendly old bar dating back to the Revolutionary War. Take the Green Line to Government Center.

4. The Union Oyster House: I’ve never eaten there, but it’s a Boston institution. For chowder and lobster. Take the Green Line to Government Center.

5. Brown Sugar Café: Excellent Thai food! Somewhat T –accessible, but it’s probably easier to take a cab.

CAMBRIDGE INFO

If you have the time, I definitely suggest a side trip to Cambridge, an intensified, bigger version of Ann Arbor [a Michigander reference]. Harvard Square is easy to get to by T (the Red Line to “Harvard Square”), and it’ll offer you no shortage of cool places to visit.

You can get great, great beer at John Harvard’s. It’s a little stuffy for a brewery, but I like it better than Beer Works. I’m also fond of Shay’s – although their website makes it look more upscale than I remember.

For a more working-class, grubbier part of Cambridge, go to Central Square (Red Line to “Central Square”). You can get a feel for it walking up and down Massachusetts Avenue (the main street in Cambridge). Western Avenue and Prospect Street are also fun to explore. The best Indian and Middle Eastern food and markets are found here.

Go to either location of the 1369 Coffee House if you want to hear people planning the revolution.

My favorite Central Square Irish pubs:
The Field
The People’s Republik

The Cantab Lounge hosts a fantastic poetry slam on Wednesday nights. Lots of slam greats got their start there. And only in Cambridge does a poetry slam occasionally get SOLD OUT.

While I don’t especially love the MIT bar The Miracle of Science, it’s unique and extraordinarily popular.

Ten Little Suffergets

Published c. 1910-1915: “As in Ten Little Indians, the group loses a member in each sequence, here for typical transgressions of little girls: gobbling cakes, crying over a dead doll, kissing a boy, – the usual sins of the contemporary sub-Sweet Sixteen set, suffragettes as self-destructive children…” Read the rest of Stephen J. Gertz’s commentary considering possible authorship of the booklet in the context of opposition to the woman’s vote and see all ten images (plus cover) on Booktryst. The booklet is actually for sale via The Literary Lion.

Get Your Ad Seen

Advertising calls for submissions and writing contests on NewPages.com has proven to be very successful for many magazines and presses:

“. . . the traffic generated to our site due to this ad was tremendous. Both the volume and the quality of work that we received in such a short time was nearly overwhelming. . . . and we still can clearly credit 3/4 of our traffic from NewPages.com. The service that you provide to writers and literary magazines is just wonderful,” says Lisa Andrews from The Apeiron Review, a relatively new literary magazine.

You can learn more about running ads with NewPages here. And if you’re at AWP, feel free to stop by the tables J1 & J2 so we can answer any of your questions!