National Poetry Writing Month has begun!

Orion Magazine, a twenty-eight-year-old bimonthly concerned with nature, culture, and everything in between, seeks a managing editor to join our creative, hard-working, and somewhat irreverent team in producing six print issues a year as well as a variety of digital and multimedia content. Chief among the expectations of the managing editor are the ability to acquire and edit top-notch features and to actively participate in a visionary and wide-ranging editorial conversation. The managing editor is also responsible for editing print and online departments; orchestrating the meeting and line-up process; overseeing contracts and permissions, interns and freelancers; and ensuring clear and constant communication between editorial, marketing, development, and digital media.

The person we are looking to hire is organized yet flexible, earnest, outgoing, and fun-loving, a deep thinker capable of making significant contributions to a creative conversation, with the right measure of conscience and assertiveness to keep the magazine on track. A belief in the power of writing and an understanding of environmental thinking and writing are essential, as are enthusiasm for the marriage of print and digital products and the ability to independently take projects from start to finish. The successful candidate will have at least five years’ experience as a managing or senior-level editor for a reputable general-interest or literary magazine alongside a proven track record with acquisitions.

To apply, send a résumé, cover letter, three professional references, two magazine-length editing clips (both original and final, published text), and one unedited writing sample (not to exceed 2,000 words) to:

H. Emerson Blake
Orion
187 Main Street
Great Barrington, MA 01230

Applications will be reviewed until the position is filled. No phone calls or e-mails, please. Submitted materials will not be returned without a SASE.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2010 grant cycle for the WIF Foundation Film Finishing Fund. The application period is March 23 – April 30, 2010, with winners notified August 15, 2010. The Women In Film Foundation’s Film Finishing Fund (WIFF FFF) supports films by, for or about women by providing cash grants of up to $15,000 and in-kind services.

PoetrySpeaks Reel Love Poetry Film Contest: “Submit a poetry film based on what you consider to be the greatest poem about love. Share your artistic vision and love of poetry with us and our community! Whether you are in love with love, or screaming ‘to hell with love,’ we want you to express your vision in the Reel Love Poetry Film Contest.”

Contest Judges:
PoetrySpeaks Advisory Board
Robert Pinsky, former U.S. Poet Laureate
Anne Halsey, media director of Poetry Foundation
Jim Schley, managing editor of Tupelo Press
Bruce George, poet and co-founder of Def Poetry Jam (HBO)
Emily Warn, former editor-in-chief of the Poetry Foundation

Edited by Francis RavinThe Short Movie Review (TSMR) online publishes reviews of movies that are available for free on the internet and that are 40 min or less in length. Now accepting submissions of reviews.

Poets Weave is five minute weekly poetry program (podcast and stream), broadcast on the NPR station WFIU, Bloomington, Indiana, featuring guest poets reading their own poems as well as poetry read by the host, Christopher Citro. Online audio archives contain 100s of shows, dating back to 2006. Recent shows include live readings by poets such as Ross Gay, Debra Kang Dean, and Alyce Miller.

If you are interested in more audio, podcasts and video, visit NewPages Guide to Multimedia.

The 10 Most Important Gay Moments in Comic Book History By Eric Diaz

Try this on for size. Take these six words – Anteros, crippled, spindles, stairwell, threshold, and whirligig – and incorporate them into a poem for possible inclusion in an exciting and daring anthology.

There are no minimum or maximum length requirements for individual poems. We, however, have a three-poem limit for submissions. The only requirement is that you incorporate all six words into one poem. We are most interested in fresh and surprising poems that seamlessly integrate the list words.

Submissions will only be accepted via e-mail. Please e-mail submissions to:

thelistanthology-at-gmail-dot-com

by May 15, 2010.

Please visit www.kennesaw.edu/thelistanthology for more information.

Newly added to NewPages Guide to Multimedia: Podcasts, Audio, Video: “Author Carole Giangrande hosts Words to Go, a showcase for up-and-coming writers, great reads and the spoken word…Carole would like to read your published stories, novel excerpts, or memoirs to her listeners. All forms of storytelling are welcome.” Giandrande also includes commentary on issues of interest to readers and writers, such as a recent post that “blasts away at literary shoplifters, memoir fakes and artsy excuses for stealing work” – the “Bernie Madoffs of the writing world” as she calls them.

In response to a call for reviewers, I heard from two university professors who offered to have their students write literary magazine reviews for NewPages. The first group of reviews came from Kathlene Postma at Pacific University in Oregon, and the second, posted in March and forthcoming in April, are from Professor Jennifer Sinor at Utah State University. Sinor provided the following statement on her students:

“The journal reviewers from Utah State University are all graduate students, many of whom also teach introductory level writing courses to first and second year students. Several have interned with Isotope: A Literary Journal of Nature and Science Writing and with Western American Literature. As part of their creative nonfiction workshop, students had the opportunity to read some of the best writing being published by small and literary presses. They were impressed by the quality and diversity found in the journals, as well as by the exciting use of image. The Utah State University reviewers can be reached by contacting their instructor, Jennifer Sinor: jennifer.sinor-at-usu-dot-edu”

The student reviews are noted by the addition of “Utah State Univeristy” or “Pacific State University” after the reviewer’s name. Check out what these avid readers, current editors, and up-and-coming writers have to say about the publications.

Ralph Lazar & Lisa Swerling are the creators of Smories, a free website for kids to watch little films of new stories being read by other kids. Inspired by their daughter, Smories “is a place for unpublished children’s story writers worldwide to get their work published free online, whilst retaining all rights. The stories will be text only (not illustrated), which will remove a common obstacle to publication for many aspiring writers.” The FAQs on the site provide complete information about rights, content, and submissions.

In order to attract great stories, Lazar and Swerling have created a US$1,500 (

A Poet Who Doesn’t Do Lofty

Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning stories for their January Very Short Fiction competition.  This competition is held twice a year and is open to all writers for stories with a word count not exceeding 3000.  No theme restrictions.  The next Very Short Fiction competition will take place in July.  Glimmer Train’s monthly submission calendar may be viewed here.

First place:  Mike Schiavone, of Gloucester, MA, wins $1200 for “Wackers.”  His story will be published in the Summer 2011 issue of Glimmer Train Stories.  [Photo attached.  Photo credit:  Sarah Tew Photography.

Second place:  Jake Wrenn, of Downers Grove, IL, wins $500 for “The Accidental Marathon.”

Third place:  David Abady, of Brooklyn, NY, wins $300 for “Big Girl.”

A PDF of the Top 25 winners can be found here.

Deadline soon approaching!

March Fiction Open: March 31

This competition is held quarterly and is open to all writers.  Word count range:  2000-20,000.  No theme restrictions.  Click here for complete guidelines.

From War, Literature & the Arts Journal Fiction Editor Jesse Goolsby:

“The 2010 War, Literature & the Arts Conference (Sept 16-18, Colorado Springs, CO) seeks authors and poets to read their work (fiction, non-fiction, poetry) at this distinguished, international conference. The theme of the conference is the “Representation and Reporting of America’s Wars: 1990-Present”. Mark Boal, screenwriter and producer of The Hurt Locker, heads our keynote speakers.” Deadline May 1, 2010.

The conference is also open for submissions for conference sessions until May 1, 2010.

Delta College, Michigan – Vice President of Instruction and Learning Services. Open until filled, but was posted today (March 22).

Copy Editor for Coastal Living Magazine, Birmingham, Alabama.

Distinguished Visiting Writer at Bowling Green State University for 2011. Begin review June 14.

BECA: Bridge for Emerging Contemporary Art is seeking a Development Director.

A note from Yelizaveta P. Renfro: “Thank you for your recent post on ‘Bruce Guernsey and Multiple Submissions.’ I am wondering, however, about the term ‘multiple submissions.’ In my understanding, the term ‘simultaneous submission’ means that a piece has been submitted to more than one magazine or journal at the same time — which is what is being described in the post. The term ‘multiple submission,’ I believe, means submitting more than one work to the same magazine or journal at the same time, though it seems to me that this term is often misused. There are a number of markets that do make a distinction between the two, including Third Coast and Rattle. Other journals, however, seem to confuse the terms or use them interchangeably.”

Thanks for your question/comment Yelizaveta. I’ll open this one up for comments/conversation.

AlphaAlpha, an animated netbook of letters: “The concept of this netbook is the proper “history of writing, which is, in a way, the history of the human race, since in it are bound up, severally and together, the development of thought, of expression, of art, of intercommunication, and of mechanical invention.”

AlphaAlpha is composed of 365 instances of the letter “A” plus one more for the leap year. The letters are collected in groups of about ten. “AlphaAlpha” is a collaborative work and includes participants artists & poets from several places around the world. AlphaAlpha is a good example of the possibilities of net art.

It is better visualized with Firefox and 1200 X 800 screen resolution.

[via Regina Pinto]

From the Morning Sentinel: Book clubs for health professionals and humanities requirements in med school as a way to help those in the medical profession “connect” with the whole human: “If you want to understand what someone who is dying is going through, the highs and lows, the emotions, read Tolstoy’s `The Death of Ivan Ilych,'” said Dr. Robin Blake. “One hundred years before Kubler-Ross identified the stages of dying, Tolstoy had it.”

“Despite the beauty of the five naked women, the titillation part of the evening ended fairly quickly. There was no dancing, twirling, or bending over backward; legs remained primly crossed or tucked together. Unless you’re a 13-year-old boy (with remarkable facial hair and a really good fake ID), you’re not going to be aroused by the mere proximity of naked women sitting in front of a coffee table covered with Star Wars paraphernalia. Which means that the reading itself has to be good, or else you’re going to get pretty fucking bored pretty fucking quickly. Luckily, the reading was very good.” Read more on Fleshing Out the Narrative by Paul Constant for The Stranger.

The newest issues of Limestone, from the Department of English at the University of Kentucky features fiction by Jason Grant, winner of the Dantzler Award for Fiction, and Bianca Bargo, winner of the Farquhar Award for Poetry.

Poetry Noir, sponsored by the Montgomery County Poet Laureate Program, invites you to view a black and white film available on their site and “use the feelings, memories, reflections, landscapes, characters or behaviors of the film imagery and sounds (selected by PoetryNoir) as a source of inspiration for poetry writing.” Currently on tap: Buster Keaton’s 1928 film The Cameraman.

The Spoon River Poetry Review Editor Bruce Guernsey adds his two cents in the Summer/Fall 2009 issue on the misuse of multiple submissions. Though he completely understands their use given the “exasperating expectation of waiting,” only to receive a rejection letter, he recounts his having read several cover letters for contest poems also submitted to other contests, with checks written out to those other contests – and others not signed or bounced – and of going through the time-consuming process on his end, only to have the poems rescinded because they were accepted elsewhere. It’s also general submissions as well that he is more often receiving at SRPR, but with another publication’s name on the letter.

Guernsey recalls Donald Hall’s labeling of this multiple submissions batching as “McPoem” and the movement of “poe-biz.” Guernsey writes: “In addition, the letters themselves have taken on a generic sameness: an opening paragraph asking that the poems be considered…then an indented section in bold face listing the poems, and last by a longer paragraph listing the poet’s publications and mandatory M.F.A. I have also heard (with horror) that there are actual services out there that will handle all of one’s submissions and rejections, getting poems constantly in the mail and frantically keeping them there.

“‘Multiple submissions’ is conducive to mass production, and acquiring a long list of publishing credits has become, for some, their goal. But poetry is not some kind of commodity like pork bellies. We should care where our poems go and who reads them. Anne Bradstreet even thought of her poems as her children – a sentimental notions perhaps, but one that kept her from sending them carelessly into the street.”

NewPages Literary Magazine Reviews

The Antigonish Review
The Barcelona Review
Black Warrior Review
Cadences
Carpe Articulum
The Gettysburg Review
Iron Horse Literary Review
The Kenyon Review
The Laurel Review
The Literary Review
The Massachusetts Review
New Letters
Ninth Letter
North Dakota Quarterly
Poetry
Southern Humanities Review
THEMA
The Threepenny Review
West Branch
World Literature Today