Monday, December 17, 2012

Eating Poetry

I love literary food blogs. So I am very pleased that food blogger and writer Nicole Gulotta recently featured my poem, Blueberry, at her site, Eat This Poem. The site is fairly new but already includes an impressive list of poets, such as Jane Hirshfield, Li-Young Lee, Louise Gluck, and Jane Kenyon. You will find a delicious variety of poets and poems at the site.

But wait! There's more. Nicole includes a thoughtful discussion of each featured poem, stunning photos, and an appropriate recipe with a mouth-watering photo of the prepared dish. My poem is accompanied by a recipe for Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes, a recipe inspired by Nicole's memory of her grandmother.

Please pay a visit to the feature. Then also, if you're on Facebook (and who isn't?), go there and Like the Eat This Poem page. You can also subscribe to Nicole's email newsletter at the website.


Here are a few other literary food blogs to check out:

Jama Rattigan's Alphabet Soup.

Jonelle Galloway's The Rambling Epicure.
While at The Rambling Epicure, be sure to check out the ongoing feature, Food Poetry.

Not a blog but the online journal, Alimentum, is another good place to visit. Considers previously unpublished food poetry.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Perfect Gift and Just in Time

Shafiq Naz has again published the Alhambra Poetry Desk Calendar. I can't think of a more perfect holiday gift, for poets and non-poets alike.

The calendar includes a poem for each day of the year. You will find more than 300 poets, classic and contemporary. Many poems are accompanied by commentary from their poets. This is a great combination desk calendar and anthology.

The price is $29.95

The best place to purchase the Alhambra Poetry Calendar 2013 is at the Academy of American Poets online store.

My poem, "Linguini," is nestled among poems by the following poets:

DICK ALLEN * MONIZA ALVI * NIN ANDREWS * ANONYMOUS * TALVIKKI ANSEL * RAE ARMANTROUT * MATTHEW ARNOLD * ROBERT BAGG * DAVID BAKER * CHRISTIANNE BALK * MARY JO BANG * JANE BARKER * WILLIAM BARNES * ELLEN BASS * DAN BEACHY-QUICK * THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES * JACK B. BEDELL *AMY BEEDER * APHRA BEHN * CHARLES BERNSTEIN * AMBROSE BIERCE * LINDA BIERDS * DAVID BIESPIEL * SOPHIE CABOT BLACK * WILLIAM BLAKE * ADRIAN BLEVINS * ROBERT BLY * STEPHANIE BOLSTER * BRUCE BOND * TODD BOSS * WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES * ROBERT BRIDGES * GEOFFREY BROCK * CHARLOTTE BRONTË * EMILY BRONTË * RUPERT BROOKE * JOEL BROUWER * WILLIAM BROWNE * ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING * ROBERT BROWNING * WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT * COLETTE BRYCE * JOHN BUNYAN * ROBERT BURNS * KATHRYN STRIPLING BYER * THOMAS CAMPION * VAHNI CAPILDEO * CAROLINE CARVER * CHRISTINE CASSON * ANN CEFOLA * GEORGE CHAPMAN * THOMAS CHATTERTON * GEOFFREY CHAUCER * G. K. CHESTERTON * JOHN CLARE * ANDREA COHEN * SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE * MORTIMER COLLINS * CALLY CONAN-DAVIES * DAVID CONSTANTINE * WILLIAM JOHNSON CORY * ABRAHAM COWLEY * WILLIAM COWPER * GEORGE CRABBE * HART CRANE * STEPHEN CRANE * RICHARD CRASHAW * SAMUEL DANIEL * JOHN DAVIDSON * SIR JOHN DAVIES * JOHN DAVIES OF HEREFORD * W. H. DAVIES * JON DAVIS * DANIEL DEFOE * GREG DELANTY * SIR JOHN DENHAM * CARL DENNIS * TOI DERRICOTTE * EMILY DICKINSON * FRED DINGS * GREGORY DJANIKIAN * JOHN DONNE * ERNEST DOWSON * MICHAEL DRAYTON * JOHN DRYDEN * SASHA DUGDALE * DENISE DUHAMEL * IAN DUHIG * STEPHEN DUNN * STUART DYBEK * SIR EDWARD DYER * GEORGE ELIOT * ALISTAIR ELLIOT * RALPH WALDO EMERSON * EDWARD FIELD * ANNE FINCH, COUNTESS OF WINCHILSEA * ANNIE FINCH * JOHN FLETCHER * WILLIAM FOWLER * CAROL FROST * ROBERT FROST * JOHN FULLER * ALICE FULTON * JOHN GAY * DOREEN GILDROY * MARIA MAZZIOTTI GILLAN * DANA GIOIA * BARNABE GOOGE * GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON * THOMAS GRAY * JESSICA GREENBAUM * LINDA GREGERSON * EAMON GRENNAN * KELLE GROOM * IVOR GURNEY * MARILYN HACKER * RACHEL HADAS * KIMIKO HAHN * SASKIA HAMILTON * SOPHIE HANNAH * THOMAS HARDY * JOY HARJO * JAMES HARMS * DAVID HARSENT * DOLORES HAYDEN * WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY * JOHN HENNESSY * HENRY VIII, KING OF ENGLAND * GEORGE HERBERT* MARY SIDNEY HERBERT * DAVID HERNANDEZ * ROBERT HERRICK * BOB HICOK * BRENDA HILLMAN *  EDWARD HIRSCH * JANE HIRSHFIELD * H. L. HIX * TONY HOAGLAND * RICHARD HOFFMANN * THOMAS HOOD * PAUL HOOVER * GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS * JOHN HOPPENTHALER * A. E. HOUSMAN * HENRY HOWARD, EARL OF SURREY * ANDREW HUDGINS * GLYN HUGHES * T. E. HULME * MARIA HUMMEL LEIGH HUNT * MARK IRWIN * HELEN IVORY * AMANDA JERNIGAN * JAMES WELDON JOHNSON * LIONEL JOHNSON * SAMUEL JOHNSON * DEVIN JOHNSTON * LIBBY FALK JONES * BEN JONSON * JAMES JOYCE * MARILYN KALLET * LAURA KASISCHKE * JOHN KEATS * X. J. KENNEDY * WAQAS KHWAJA JOHN KINSELLA * SUSAN KINSOLVING * RUDYARD KIPLING * DEBORAH LANDAU * WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR * D. H. LAWRENCE * SYDNEY LEA * EDWARD LEAR * ELEANOR LERMAN * PHILLIS LEVIN * TIM LIARDET * SARAH LINDSAY * DIANE LOCKWARD * WILLIAM LOGAN * HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW * RICHARD LOVELACE * AMY LOWELL * JOHN LYLY * AMIT MAJMUDAR * RANDALL MANN * CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE  * ANDREW MARVELL * JOHN MASEFIELD * DAVID MASON * EDGAR LEE MASTERS * CLEOPATRA MATHIS * JOHN MATTHIAS * GARDNER MCFALL * JOSHUA MEHIGAN * HERMAN MELVILLE * GEORGE MEREDITH * RICHARD MICHELSON * JOHN MILTON * ROBERT MINHINNICK * CAROL MOLDAW * LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU * ELIZABETH MOODY * THOMAS MOORE * WILLIAM MORRIS * PAUL MULDOON * THOMAS NASHE * WILLIAM NEW * RICHARD NEWMAN * AIMEE NEZHUKUMATATHIL * BARBARA NICKEL * EDWARD NOBLES * MARY NOONAN * CHRISTOPHER NORTH * KATHERINE NORTHROP * D. NURKSE * NAOMI SHIHAB NYE * JOHN BOYLE O’REILLY * WILFRED OWEN * ERIC PANKEY * JAY PARINI * ELISE PARTRIDGE * LINDA PASTAN * COVENTRY PATMORE * MOLLY PEACOCK * WALTER PATER * GEORGE PEELE * PASCALE PETIT * ROBERT PINSKY * DONALD O. PLATT * EDGAR ALLAN POE * ALEXANDER POPE * D. A. POWELL * MATTHEW PRIOR * ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER * SIMON RAE * SIR WALTER RALEIGH * JAMES RICHARDSON * ATSURO RILEY * ROBIN ROBERTSON * EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON * PETER ROBINSON * PADRAIG ROONEY * ISAAC ROSENBERG * J. ALLYN ROSSER * CHRISTINA ROSSETTI * DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI * MICHAEL RYAN * LAWRENCE SAIL * FIONA SAMPSON * CARL SANDBERG * REG SANER * GEORGE SANTAYANA * ROBERT SAXTON * GRACE SCHULMAN * SIR WALTER SCOTT * SIR CHARLES SEDLEY * WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE * RAVI SHANKAR * DON SHARE * PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY * ANDREW SHIELDS * VIVIAN SHIPLEY * ROBERT SOUTHEY * PENELOPE SHUTTLE * SIR PHILIP SIDNEY * JOHN SKELTON * ED SKOOG * TOM SLEIGH BRUCE SMITH * CHARLOTTE SMITH * LISA RUSS SPAAR * EDMUND SPENSER * ELIZABETH SPIRES * A. E. STALLINGS * ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON * DABNEY STUART * MATTHEW SWEENEY * JONATHAN SWIFT * ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE * J. M. SYNGE * ARTHUR SZE * GEORGE SZIRTES * MARILYN L. TAYLOR * SARA TEASDALE * ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON * WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY * EDWARD THOMAS * JAMES THOMSON * ADAM THORPE * RICHARD TILLINGHAST * DANIEL TOBIN * BRIAN TURNER * MARK TWAIN * WENDY VIDELOCK * KEITH WALDORP * SUE WALKER * EDMUND WALLER * ROSANNA WARREN * MICHAEL WATERS * WALT WHITMAN * OSCAR WILDE * JOHN WILMOT, EARL OF ROCHESTER * ELEANOR WILNER * TERRI WITEK * CECILIA WOLOCH * WILLIAM WORDSWORTH * BARON WORMSER * ROBERT WRIGLEY * MARY WROTH * SIR THOMAS WYATT * ELINOR WYLIE * WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS * STEPHEN YENSER * GARY YOUNG * MATTHEW ZAPRUDER *

New this year is a calendar for young readers. Here, too, there's a poem for every day of the year. Poems are by more than 200 poets. What a wonderful way to instill a love of poetry in young readers! At year's end, the calendar can be saved as an anthology.

The price is $22.95.

The Poetry Calendar for Young Readers 2013 is also available at the Academy of American Poets online store.

These are serious poems, ones written for adult readers but holding appeal for young readers.

My poem, "Blueberry," finds itself hanging out with poems by the following poets:

THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH * DICK ALLEN * WILLIAM ALLINGHAM * WALTER ANCARROW * NIN ANDREWS * ANONYMOUS * MATTHEW ARNOLD * DAVID BAKER * CHRISTIANNE BALK * MARY JO BANG * THOMAS BASTARD * DAN BEACHY-QUICK * JACK B. BEDELL * THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES * HENRY CHARLES BEECHING * HILAIRE BELLOC * MARGARET BETHAM-EDWARDS * WILLIAM BLAKE * STEPHANIE BOLSTER * ANNE BRADSTREET * GEOFFREY BROCK * EMILY BRONTË *RUPERT BROOKE * TOM BROWN * ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING * ROBERT BROWNING * JOHN BUNYAN * ROBERT BURNS * KATHRYN STRIPLING BYER * BLISS CARMAN * LEWIS CARROLL * CAROLINE CARVER * ANN CEFOLA * G. K. CHESTERTON * COLLEY CIBBER * JOHN CLARE * SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE * SARA COLERIDGE * CALLY CONAN-DAVIES * HELEN GRAY CONE * GEORGE COOPER * RICHARD CORBET * WILLIAM COWPER * STEPHEN CRANE * W. H. DAVIES * CHARLES DICKENS * EMILY DICKINSON * GREGORY DJANIKIAN * JOHN DONNE * LORD ALFRED DOUGLAS * ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE * SASHA DUGDALE * PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR * GEORGE ELIOT * RALPH WALDO EMERSON * EDWARD FIELD * JAMES THOMAS FIELDS * ANNIE FINCH * JAMES ELROY FLECKER * ROBERT FROST * JOHN FULLER * ALICE FULTON OLIVER GOLDSMITH * GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON * KENNETH GRAHAME * KIMIKO HAHN * THOMAS HARDY * JAMES HARMS * DAVID HARSENT * FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS * JOHN HENNESSY * GEORGE HERBERT * DAVID HERNANDEZ * ROBERT HERRICK * WILLIAM HICKSON * EDWARD HIRSCH * HEINRICH HOFFMANN * THOMAS HOOD * PAUL HOOVER * GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS * JOHN HOPPENTHALER * A. E. HOUSMAN * RICHARD HOVEY * HENRY HOWARD, EARL OF SURREY * ANDREW HUDGINS * T. E. HULME * LEIGH HUNT * HELEN IVORY * HELEN HUNT JACKSON * AMANDA JERNIGAN * LIBBY FALK JONES * BEN JONSON * JAMES JOYCE * JOHN KEATS * X. J. KENNEDY * JOYCE KILMER * CHARLES KINGSLEY * SUSAN KINSOLVING * RUDYARD KIPLING * CHARLES LAMB * MARY LAMB * WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR * D. H. LAWRENCE * EMMA LAZARUS * EDWARD LEAR * ELEANOR LERMAN * PHILLIS LEVIN * VACHEL LINDSAY * DIANE LOCKWARD * HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW * JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL * JOHN LYLY * AMIT MAJMUDAR * KATHERINE MANSFIELD * WALTER DE LA MARE * CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE * JOHN MASEFIELD * DAVID MASON * JOEL MCCREA * GARDNER MCFALL * JOSHUA MEHIGAN * HERMAN MELVILLE * RICHARD MICHELSON * EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY * JOHN MILTON * CAROL MOLDAW * EDITH NESBIT * WILLIAM NEW * SIR HENRY NEWBOLT * RICHARD NEWMAN * AIMEE NEZHUKUMATATHIL * BARBARA NICKEL * EDWARD NOBLES * CHRISTOPHER NORTH * ALFRED NOYES * NAOMI SHIHAB NYE * JOHN O’KEEFE * OTTÓ ORBÁN * ELISE PARTRIDGE * LINDA PASTAN * COVENTRY PATMORE * MOLLY PEACOCK * JOSEPHINE PRESTON PEABODY * HUGH PETERS * MARJORIE PICKTHALL * DONALD O. PLATT * EDGAR ALLAN POE * ALEXANDER POPE * SIMON RAE * SIR WALTER RALEIGH * SIR WALTER A. RALEIGH * WILLIAM BRIGHTY RANDS * JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY * PADRAIG ROONEY * CHRISTINA ROSSETTI * DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI * MICHAEL RYAN * LAWRENCE SAIL * CARL SANDBERG * JOHN GODFREY SAXE * SIR WALTER SCOTT * SIR CHARLES SEDLEY * ALAN SEEGER * WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE * PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY * ANDREW SHIELDS * SIR PHILIP SIDNEY * EDWARD ROLAND SILL * ROBERT SOUTHEY * EDMUND SPENSER * ELIZABETH SPIRES * A. E. STALLINGS * ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON * DABNEY STUART * MATTHEW SWEENEY * ARTHUR SZE * ERNÖ SZÉP * GEORGE SZIRTES * JANE TAYLOR * MARILYN L. TAYLOR * SARA TEASDALE * ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON * WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY * EDWARD THOMAS * ADAM THORPE * DANIEL TOBIN * MICHAEL WATERS * ISAAC WATTS * SÁNDOR WEÖRES * WALT WHITMAN * JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER *ELLA WHEELER WILCOX * JOHN WILMOT, EARL OF ROCHESTER * ELEANOR WILNER * TERRI WITEK * WILLIAM WORDSWORTH * SIR THOMAS WYATT * ELINOR WYLIE * WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS * GARY YOUNG * MATTHEW ZAPRUDER * ZOLTÁN ZELK

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

True Crimes and Misdemeanors

Click Cover for Amazon
I'm a big fan of true crime books. Not mystery books. I want the real thing. I'm sure most people would find this predilection out of character and I admit I've wondered about it myself. Is there something wrong with me, something ghoulish? I've even written a poem about it, Why I Read True Crime Books, a sestina, of all things, a form that I wrestled with for months. 

So when I heard that Joe McGinniss had a new book in progress, my ears perked up. This new work is of double interest to me because it's being released in serial form. McGinniss says the old way of publishing books is on its way out. Of course, publication by serialization isn't new; it's an old method resurrected. Charles Dickens, for one, published his novels chapter by chapter in magazines and newspapers. This "new" way seems ideal for people who love their Kindles. And while some of us might feel frustrated and impatient waiting for the next installment, don't we already do that for TV series?

The series title is 15 Gothic Street which is the address of a courthouse in Boston. That's the setting where each episode, a criminal trial, takes place. My impression, then, is that each episode will be self-contained. Each episode gets its own title. The first is "Primitive," which sells for $.99. The second episode is "The Human Circus," which is now available and sells for $2.99. It looks like subsequent episodes will be released at 2-3 month intervals. At the completion of the series, McGinniss plans to release the entire book in traditional book form. I wonder if this will boost sales?

The work is published by Byliner Serials. The press offers this description of their work: "Byliner commissions, collects, and curates quick-read stories from the world's best writers." Visit the website for a list of the authors on board. Apparently, getting on board is by invitation only. I wonder if this will start a hot trend?

I also wonder if this could translate to poetry. How would you price a single poem? Just think, as I often do, if a poetry book contains 40 poems and sells for $15, the poems are going for less than $.40 a piece. And yet how many people shell out money for novels but won't do the same for poetry books? Surely, a poetry book is one of the best bargains around, especially considering that the poems so often bear repeated readings.

So let me end with a reminder that the perfect holiday gift is a poetry book. Let's all buy at least one poetry book for someone we care about. It would be a crime not to.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Sorry, I Don't Remember

Some years ago I heard a well-known poet say that if you hadn't memorized your poems, you weren't a real poet. I cringed, first of all, because I hate generalized rules like that, and then because I dislike the arrogance such a statement implies. But mostly I cringed because I had not memorized my poems.

Last week I watched a video, The Florida Book Awards 2010 Award Winner Interview with Lola Haskins, in which Haskins is interviewed about her poetry book, Still, the Mountain (Paper Kite Press, 2010). In talking about the organization of the book, Haskins mentions that the poems were written over a span of quite a few years. But when putting them together in a book, she wanted a deliberate organizational plan. Explaining how she came up with her plan, she says, "I know all my poems by heart," so she simply laid out just the titles, not the poems. She didn't need the poems because she had them all memorized. She what?

That amazed me. A more common experience for me is to be looking over my poems and finding one that startles me because I barely remember having written it. When I'm in the midst of making submissions, I review my list of titles and sometimes have to open a poem to remind myself what it's about. When organizing a book, I need titles AND poems.

Knowing that other poets can remember all their poems or even large numbers of them makes me feel somewhat inadequate. Is this a brain deficiency, a gift that others have that wasn't bestowed on me? And those poets at readings who carry no books or papers to the microphone but recite from memory—how do they do it? I rehearse my poems before a reading, so I have some lines memorized which enables me to make eye contact, but I do not have whole poems committed to memory.

Performance poets, especially, seem to have this talent. Taylor Mali and Patricia Smith come to mind. But I'm always a little worried for them. I recall a reading I attended several years ago at which a performance poet got started with his reading, poems safely memorized, then halfway through he just forgot and could not get back on track. It was painful to watch that.

When I have a poem in progress, I usually have it memorized, or close to it, and I love that because it enables me to carry the poem around in my head and work on it when I'm supposed to be doing something else. But once the poem is fully committed to paper, revised and revised, and deemed done, I'm onto the next poem and the previous one falls out of my memory.

I also envy and admire those poets who have memorized large chunks of poems by other poets. Maybe I can get a line or two, but not whole poems. I can put the poem in my memory, but I can't make it stay there forever the way other people can. I love the expression "to know by heart" with its implication of feeling the poem, and I do feel the poem, my own and ones by other poets, but eventually, poof. Gone.

Please tell me that I'm not the only poet who lacks this talent of memorizing poems.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

New Issue of VPR


The Fall/Winter issue of Valparaiso Poetry Review was recently posted. VPR was one of the early online literary journals and showed that an online journal could publish strong work and make a real contribution to poetry. Editor Ed Byrne has done much to make VPR a highly respected online journal and one that has served as a model for others that have followed.

This issue contains poems by 35 poets:

Claire Bateman, Shari Wagner, Michael Dobberstein, Elise Hempel, 
Philip Dacey, Susan Cohen, George David Clark, Kim Bridgford, 
Greg McBride, Gary Fincke, Judy Kronenfeld, Joanne Lowery, 
John A. Nieves, Mercedes Lawry, Laura Davies Foley, Scott Brennan, 
John Ronan, Joannie Stangeland, Darlene Pagan, Mark Thalman, 
Marilyn McCabe, Kate Fox, Doug Ramspeck, Amy Eisner, 
Patricia Caspers, Rose Postma, Athena Kildegaard, Thomas Alan Holmes, 
Elizabeth Harlan-Ferlo, Austin MacRae, Judith Harris, 
                                                           Angela Alaimo O'Donnell, John McDermott

The featured poet in this issue is Thomas Reiter. Although I've never met him, he's a fellow New Jersey poet.

This issue also includes five book reviews.

And my poem, "How Heavy the Snow." It's in good company.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Good News Department

I have won a contest! My poem "Original Sin" has received First Place in Naugatuck River Review's annual contest for 2012. I rarely enter contests these days, but obviously I'm glad I entered this one. Although this poem, when I wrote it, made my whole body happy in that way the keepers do, I was still delightfully surprised when I received an email a few weeks ago informing me that the poem was a finalist and on its way to the final judge, Pam Uschuk, and would at the very least be offered publication.

Then this past Sunday I was reading when the phone rang and I wondered grumpily, Oh, who the heck is that and it better not be a robot. It wasn't. It was editor Lori Desrosiers. So I thought maybe second or third, but she clearly said First Place! I was quite literally speechless and kind of choked up.

The prize is a joy-inducing check for $1000 and publication in the 2013 winter/spring issue.

Naugatuck River Review is a journal for narrative poetry, but the sub-title of the journal is Narrative Poetry That Sings. I knew that my poem had a story to tell and I worked hard to make it sing.

Once again my involvement with someone else's work stimulated my own. Several months ago Vermont Poet Laureate Sydney Lea contributed a wonderful Craft Tip to my monthly Poetry Newsletter. I bought his most recent collection, Year of the Young (Four Way Books, 2011). The gorgeous rabbit on the cover reminded me of one of my childhood pets, an unfortunate rabbit named Snowball, a pet who'd left me a legacy of guilt. I worked out that guilt in the poem. And surprised myself in doing so, so I was gratified that the judge mentioned the element of surprise as something she admired in the poem. I think Frost had it right: No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.

The finalists and semi-finalists are listed at the journal's website.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

New Book in Progress

I have great news—a new book coming forth! Not a collection of my poems but a craft book for practicing poets. The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop was recently accepted by Wind Publications and is tentatively scheduled for release summer 2013.

Putting together the manuscript was this past summer's project. The book includes the craft tips from my Poetry Newsletter—all of them written by accomplished poets. It also includes the model poems and prompts based on those poems. Again, the poems are all by accomplished poets. The prompts, written by me, call attention to the various elements of craft in the poems and ask readers to practice those elements in a new poem of their own. I've also included the Poet on the Poem features that I have posted on my blog over the past two years. Each poem is followed by a 5-question Q&A between me and the poet. The questions are primarily focused on elements of craft in the poem. Finally, there are Bonus Prompts.

The principal challenge of writing this book was organizational. How to get all that material into some sensible kind of structure? I hemmed and hawed for days and days. I tried one plan and then another. At last I landed on the one that made sense. So it's now organized into 10 sections. Each section includes several Craft Tip pieces, each relevant to the section's concept. Each craft tip is followed by a model poem and a prompt. Each section concludes with a Poet on the Poem piece and a Bonus Prompt.

The subtitle, "A Portable Workshop," indicates the various ways in which this book might be used. Many of us can only work from home. We might not have been able to go for an MFA. Or we have done so and now want to continue our education independently. This book gives readers what they need to work on their own. It assumes that the reader already has an understanding of the basics of poetic craft and it builds on that knowledge. But the book can also be used in a group workshop or as a text in a classroom. It's portable and will go where you go.

This has been a new kind of venture for me, and I'll confess to being pretty excited about it. I'm especially happy about the number of astonishing poets who are part of this book. Now I'm refining the bios, obtaining permissions and writing the credits, and compiling a list of recommended books. There are a few more pieces to plug in, but I'm confident that I'll meet my deadline.

I'll keep you posted.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Storm Damage

I seem to have disappeared from the Blogosphere, but I'm still here. First, as you must know, those of us in New Jersey got slammed with Hurricane Sandy. I'm very lucky in that my house sustained no damage. But take a look at this house just a few blocks away.


If you look to the left of the garage, you'll see where the tree trunk just snapped. But because the tree was so close to the house, the roof appears to have sustained minimal damage.

We lost lots and lots of branches that snapped off and fell, but fortunately we had recently removed two large dead trees and trimmed other living trees, so no trees crashed. As with last year's storm, leaves were still on trees, making them more subject to toppling.

The hurricane rolled in on Monday. At 7:15 that night the power went out. My husband had cleverly contrived to be in Florida—same stunt he pulled during last year's horrible October storm—so I was in the dark and on my own. At least it wasn't initially as cold as last year. Another lucky break was that we did not get the 12 inches of rain we were supposed to have received.

The next day I went to my daughter's house as she had not lost power. While there I could get on the internet and hear the sound of other humans and enjoy the light. But I didn't want to sleep there. What kept me sane at home was the Kindle Fire onto which I'd wisely downloaded a book. Since the Kindle is backlit, it was great for reading in the dark. Then I could get emails on my cell phone, but I don't have a smart phone so it was hard to send notes. Not a big deal.

Husband arrived home on Wednesday after a two-day delay. On Thursday at noon all things FIOS disappeared. No phone, no tv, no internet. I kept telling myself to be grateful that I still had heat and light while others had lost everything—and I was grateful. Still, it was frustrating to have had those things and then lost them again. All of that was restored late Monday afternoon.

Then yesterday we had the Nor'easter, Athena. Again, no damage here, but I really feel for the people who've already lost their homes and for those still without power. Also, some people in this area who'd had power restored lost it again. A big problem around here is getting gas. We're on an odd-even day plan which has helped a bit, but the lines are still very long as some gas stations have still not had their power restored and gas deliveries seem a bit spotty. Another smart move I made in anticipation of the hurricane was filling up, so I should be good for another week or so if I continue to hoard what I have in the tank.

Here's a picture of today's snow. Pretty, yes? But I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks a second storm was a bit too cruel.
At least I've had a good start on cleaning out my bookshelves.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Print Journals That Accept Online Submissions



Time to once again update the list of print journals that accept online submissions. The list has grown by two dozen journals. I anticipate a day when all submissions will be made online. I remain happy to save paper, envelopes, and stamps—and even happier about conserving gas. Thank you, Journals!

Journals new to the list (not necessarily new journals) are indicated with a double asterisk.

The number of issues per year appears after the journal's name.

The reading period for each journal appears at the end of each entry.

Unless noted otherwise, the journal accepts simultaneous submissions.

As always, please let me know if you find any errors here. And good luck.


Jan 31 - April 30

Agni—2x
Sept 1 - May 31

February 1 - May 31

all year

 $3 fee
check website to see if open for submissions

June 1 - November 1

**Barrelhouse—2x
check website to see if open for submissions

June 1 - November 15

Bateau—2x
all year

all year

Sept 15-Dec 15

all year
no sim

all year

Sept 15 - May 15

Boulevard—3x
November 1-April 30 

Breakwater Review—2x
November 15 for the January issue;
April 15 for the June issue

Caesura—2x
August 5 - Oct. 5

Caketrain—1x
all year

Carbon Copy Magazine—2x
May 1st through September 1st, November 1st through March

**The CarolinaQuarterly—3x       
 all year

The Cincinnati Review—2x
Sept 1 - May 31

Columbia—2x
September 1 - May 1

Sept. 1-Dec.1 (all year for subscribers)
$1.50 fee

August 15-October 15 
January 31-March 31

Crab Creek Review—2x
Sept 15 - March 31

all year
$2 fee

August 1 to November 1
December 1 to April 1

CutBank—1-2x
October 1 thru February 15

**Ecotone—2x
August 15–April 15 
$3 fee

all year

submit@explosion-proof.net 
all year

**Fence—2x
 check website to see if open for submissions 

FIELD—2x
all year
no sim

no Jan, Feb, June, or July

August thru May 
$3 fee

Fourteen Hills—2x
September 1 to January 1
March 1 to July 1

Gargoyle—1x
most recent reading period was June 1, 2011-August 1, 2011
September 15 deadline for the Spring issue
February 15 deadline for the Fall issue

Grist—1x
August 15 - April 15

All year

deadlines: Winter issue: November 15
Summer issue: April 15

Sept 1 - May 31

Aug 1 - Oct 1

All year
pays

Sept 1 - Dec. 15

all year

The Idaho Review—1x
Sept. 1 to April 15

rolling for 3-4 weeks at a time
check website for dates

Jubilat—2x
September 1 - May 1

September 15 - January 15
no sim
check website for submission dates


Little Patuxent Review—2x
check website for submission periods

Submit to Poetry Editor: lareview.poetry@gmail.com
Sept 1 - Dec 1

all year

Lumina—1x
August 1 - Nov 15

all year

October 1 - April 30

Measure—2x
no sim
all year

July 15 - Sept. 30

Meridian—2x ($2 fee)
all year

all year

August 1–November 1 
January 1–April 1

all year

December, January, and February only or all year if a subscriber
August 1-May1
$3 fee

for the Summer issue January 1 through March 1
for the Winter issue July 1 through September 1 (contest only)

no sim
Sept 1-May 31

August 15 - November 1

Sept-May (summer okay for subscribers)

Aug 15 - May 1

New South—2x
all year

weekly magazine
all year

September 1 - April 30

September 1-December 1 
January 15-April 15
$3 fee

Jan 1- May 1 (but on hiatus for 2012)

**Pleiades—2x
August 15-May 15

June 1 - Jan. 15

Poetry—11x
year round
no sim

September 15 - April 15

check website for submission dates

Sept 1-May 1

Prairie Schooner—4x
Sept 1 - May 1
no sim

September 15 - March 31

all year
considers previously published

All year

Rattle—2x
year round

year round

Redivider—2x
all year

No June, July, August, or December
no sim

Rhino—1x
April 1 - Oct 1

Sept. 15 through Jan. 15

Rosebud—3x
All year

year round

Salt Hill—2x
August 1 - April 1

Jan 1 - Feb 1 / July 1-Aug 1

**Saw Palm
—1x
July 1- October 1
       
Feb. 1 - April 1

All year

All year

**So to Speak—2x
feminist
August 15-October 15 for the Spring issue
January 1-March 15 for the Fall issue

All year

All year
  
All year

No June, July, August
$2 fee

August 15 - May 15

Sept 15 - May 15
No Sim

The Stillwater Review—1x
deadline Nov. 15
poetrycenter@sussex.edu 

**Subtropics—3x
September 1 - April 15
No Sim       

All year

Sept 1 - Dec. 31
no sim

via email
Sept 15 - Nov. 1
no sim

Sept 15 - April 30

**32 poems—2x
via email
all year

**The ThreepennyReview—4x
      
 Jan 1 - June 30

Tiferet—1x
Sept  - December

September 1 - May 31

**Tuesday: An Art Project—2x       
Check website to see if they are taking submissions

Upstreet—1x
Sept 1 - March 1

Versal—1x
Sept 15 - Jan 15

All year

August 1 - Oct 15
Dec 15 – Feb 1

April 15 - July 31

Aug 15 - April 15

all year

all year  

Yalobusha Review—1x   
check website for submission dates   

**Yemassee—2x        
All year

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

The Dodge Poetry Festival 2012

The 2012 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival was held this past weekend, October 11-14, in Newark, NJ. This was the second time that Newark hosted the event. For many years the biannual event had been held at Waterloo Village in Stanhope, NJ. Two very different settings—one urban, the other country. This year's festival in Newark was bigger than the one in 2010 and offered a larger number of poets and one additional day.

As I did last time, I worked as part of the Dodge staff. However, this year the assignments changed, largely because Dodge was sponsoring the book tent on its own since Borders has gone out of business. So I had one 3-hour book tent assignment. Not my favorite, and between that and a 2-hour assignment on Sunday at the Information table, I got to hear less poetry than in the past. Still, I had a good time and enjoyed running into lots of friends I hadn't seen in a long time.

My favorite assignment of the weekend was hosting the Adrienne Rich tribute reading on Saturday. This was held in Aljira, a really cool art gallery. About 50 people turned up and many of them were very willing to come up onto the stage and read a favorite poem.

On Sunday one of my assignments was Storytelling with Queen Nur and Dwight James backing her up with music. Now, to be honest, I would never ever have chosen to attend that event. After all, I was there for poetry. However, it turned out to be really quite wonderful. Queen Nur sings, tells stories, talks, and adds just a bit of dancing. Dwight plays a wide variety of African instruments, mostly drums. His music is unobtrusive, always enhancing, never overwhelming the stories.

My camera work was not at its best and halfway through Saturday my battery went dead. But I managed to get a handful. I hope they give you a sense of the festival.

 Friday was Students Day—tons of students. They swarmed the book tent and bought lots of books. That was truly a beautiful thing to see. Praise to all the teachers who brought their students to the Festival! For many students this was an experience they will always remember. You, Teachers, gave it to them.
 Students browsing the books. This picture was taken during a performance segment so really does not give a good idea of how many kids were there.
 Oh! Look at this. Whose books could these be? Hm.
 This is the Main Stage in the Performing Arts Center. On Friday this was filled to capacity. The balconies were overflowing. I had to go up three floors to find a seat.
 Kahlil Murrill introducing Joseph Millar
John Murillo in a reading with Rachel McKibbens and Joseph Millar
 Queen Nur doing her thing
 Dwight James with his instruments
Queen Nur feeling the story

Saturday, October 6, 2012

The Poet on the Poem: Matthew Thorburn


Matthew Thorburn is the author of two books of poems, Every Possible Blue (CW Books, 2012) and Subject to Change (New Issues, 2004). A third collection, This Time Tomorrow, is scheduled for release from Waywiser Press in 2013. He is the recipient of a Witter Bynner Fellowship from the Library of Congress, the Mississippi Review Prize, and two Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prizes. His poems have appeared in literary journals such as The Paris Review, American Poetry Review, Poetry, and Prairie Schooner. A native of Michigan, Matt has lived in New York City for more than a decade. Today's poem comes from Every Possible Blue.
Click Cover for Amazon
Still Life                                         

     —Pierre Bonnard

That he would go back
after hours to retouch
the ones hanging in the gallery—
he must have had an in
with the guards—to get it righter 
if never right, you've heard
before. How he'd revisit
the light—bring it up
or turn it down—just as I have
returned to this morning
all afternoon. They make me
hungry, these two pears
he must have hurried to paint
so she could eat. A few green ideas
about grapes. The apple
shows off its high bald head.
To be fascinated by fruit.
Not fruit, but light. Imperfect mirrors,
imitation mirrors. His broken
pinks and reds, green and
yellow mottle, this dash of white—
no, light—no, canvas
showing through. I almost catch
my face there, looking back.
I know this fruit. I've eaten it
all my life, though this basket's
new to me—a few brown twists
of vine, uncertain transport
but I'm moved. I'll say that.
Made to speak. Such
tenderness, his abiding
affection for anything touched
by light. And he needed
so little. A few pieces of fruit.
A window. The sky
trying on every possible blue.  


DL:  Tell us something about the impetus behind this ekphrastic poem. What compelled you to attempt to enter the painting, to repaint it with words?    

MT:  A few years ago, I took part in a weekend poetry workshop in Manhattan where we were given an assignment to complete during our lunch break: go find a place to eat and write, then come back with a new poem to share with the group. Faced with this deadline, I ducked into a nearby Chinese restaurant and turned—in a panic—to my go-to poetry prompt: write about art.

I like poems that emphasize visual details and enable you to really see things—colors, shapes, light and shadow—so writing about paintings comes naturally to me. Sitting in that restaurant and staring at my blank page, I thought of Pierre Bonnard, one of my old favorites, and his light-filled interior scenes. I remembered, too, this sort of famous story about him: he had a habit of going back to his paintings to add a little more color, make something lighter or darker, or change some detail he wasn’t happy with—even after they were hanging in galleries or shows. I remembered Jane Hirshfield has a poem that describes this painterly form of revising as “Bonnarding.” Since I was working from memory, my poem doesn’t match up exactly with a specific painting of Bonnard’s, but I tried to convey the feel of his work and some of my feelings about it. As I say in the poem, after looking at and thinking about his paintings, I was “made to speak.”   

DL:  I'm intrigued by the introduction of "she" in line 14. Why did you hold her back and then give her no further mention in the poem?  

MT:  There’s that place where all the wonderful ambitions of trying to express yourself creatively run up against the practical business of everyday life, and that’s a place that always interests me. Whatever musical phrase or clever line break I’m just about to get right as I revise a poem, dinner still needs to be cooked, the dishwasher emptied. I still have to go to work every day. Being aware of this friction is partly a way of staying grounded, and it makes the act of writing a poem that much more meaningful. (Tess Gallagher’s wonderful poem “I Stop Writing the Poem” is about this, and about much more than this.) I guess I was imagining the same was true for Bonnard too: as a painter he may have seen these pieces of fruit as colors and shapes to be explored in paint, but to Marthe, his wife—she’s the “she” I had in mind—they were apples and pears, there to be eaten. I hope a little note of thoughtful tenderness comes through, too, in the way he hurries his work along so she can have her lunch. 

That’s all a very roundabout way of answering your question. Marthe appears in many of Bonnard’s paintings. These paintings aren’t portraits exactly, but they wouldn’t be the same without her. I suppose I thought she could nonchalantly appear in my poem too, fleetingly but in a way that felt important to me for the ballast it provides. Otherwise for me the poem is mostly concerned with what a strange thing it is to be so focused on one activity—in this case painting, being fascinated by light—and to feel that obsessive urge to get it right on the canvas.

DL:  While you make only one brief reference to the "she," you make ample use of repetition. Light and fruit both appear four times. Then you repeat sounds as in the rhyme of right, white, and light. The same sound is echoed in the assonance of I, ideas, high, life, vine, abiding, sky, trying. Tell us how you crafted these musical effects.    

MT:  I appreciate you noticing the music of the poem, because that’s something I strive for as a writer and admire as a reader. I love rhymes and off-rhymes that fall within lines, as well as assonance, repetitions and echoes, and all the rhythmic effects you can produce with patterns of long and short lines, or by using phrases and fragments of sentences. I usually write and revise out loud when I’m working at home, so I can hear how lines sound. Of course I couldn’t do that in the restaurant, but surely did later on when typing up the poem and revising it. 

DL:  As I read this poem, I feel as if I'm witnessing a mind at work, reaching and stretching for what it wants to say. I think your use of syntax is responsible for this effect. There's the reversed order in the first sentence which covers seven lines, several fragments, several sentences broken by the use of dashes, and a few declarative statements followed by their negation, e.g., "To be fascinated by fruit. / Not fruit, but light." Was all of this intuitive or crafted?  

MT:  I love the way certain poems convey the sense of a mind at work, the poet working out her or his thoughts—saying something, hesitating, backtracking and correcting—as the poem moves forward word by word. That’s something I admire in my friend Stuart Greenhouse’s poems, for instance “Poppy-red.” And it’s something Elizabeth Bishop probably invented in her “Poem,” when she interrupts her own methodical, detail-by-detail description of a faraway landscape—it’s a poem about a painting—to exclaim, “Heavens, I recognize the place, I know it!” So I was definitely conscious of striving for a similar effect in different ways throughout the poem.

But there’s also the fact that I was on the spot there, with a short window in which to get my poem down on paper, so what shows through in the poem is also my effort to get to the heart of the thing.  

DL:  What made you choose the single stanza form?

MT:  I wrote the first draft of this poem quickly—for me, anyway—and so it felt like one long thought or breath. As I work on a poem I usually try different line breaks or stanza breaks until I find the form that feels right for that particular poem. Certain poems need some air and light to shine in between stanzas, to give the reader those pauses for breath or that little extra emphasis of a stanza break, as opposed to a line break. But here I wanted to hold the focus in this lingering moment, so it’s one long breath and then it’s done. Readers, please enjoy this recording of Matt reading "Still Life," along with some of Bonnard's paintings.
 

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