For Mothers Mostly But Not Only

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My poem "Nesting" appears in this year's issue of the Mom Egg Review. This is my first appearance in the journal and I must say that I'm very pleased. The journal has a lovely cover and is nicely done throughout. I haven't yet had a chance to peruse the entire issue, but I've read enough to know that I have a lot of good reading ahead. Kudos for editor Marjorie Tesser!

This year's issue includes more than 100 contributors. Not surprisingly, women poets far outnumber men poets, but men are welcome to submit as long as they stick to the somehow-related-to-mothers focus of the journal. Since every guy at one point or another had a mother, I'm surprised that more men don't appear within these pages. Perhaps they have felt discouraged by the journal's name. So here's a challenge to the guys: Submit this time around.

Be you woman or be you man, the new submission period just opened. Check out the Guidelines.

The 2015 issue will contain a special portfolio of poems that address the theme of compassionate action. This will be curated by poet Jennifer Jean who describes what she's looking for as follows:

We are interested in poems that explore, from different perspectives, the theme of Compassionate Action.

Mothers, and motherly nurturers, don't only feel for others in pain and strife—they take action. This compassionate action, whether large or small, often occurs at home or in small communities. It can also occur on national or global levels. Sometimes it doesn’t occur at all.

Poems might consider:
What compassionate actions have you witnessed? How have you surprised yourself? What must be overcome to find paths of action, and to bypass inertia? How can we encourage people to take compassionate action in their own lives?

Note that you may submit to either the General Poetry section or the Compassionate Action theme section, but not both. Note, too, that the journal also includes some fiction and creative prose. Book Reviews are posted at the journal's blog.

Good News Department

Humpty heard that there's a poem about him in this book.
(Photo by Jama Rattigan)

A lovely review of my book, Temptation by Water, appears in the current Harvard Review. Written by Marjorie Tesser, it has completely delighted me! Here's a small sample:

"Lockward is expert at reflecting complexity of emotion; her wry, battle-scarred humor refuses to be vanquished, and some of the angriest poems in the collection are also the funniest. In 'Leaving in Pieces,' a woman whose husband has disappointed her replaces him with a dog. 'It Runs This Deep' begins by quoting a bumper sticker, 'Jesus loves you. / Everyone else thinks you’re an asshole,' and continues, 'But not your mother,' recounting the love she’s lavished on someone who didn’t deserve it in the eyes of the world. The poem conveys a realistic mix of frustration, fury, sarcasm, and stubborn tenderness." Read the rest of the review HERE.

Harvard Review, a print journal, recently moved all reviews online. This change allows them to now publish more reviews and make them available to a wider readership.

Marjorie Tesser is the author of a brand-new chapbook, The Magic Feather, which happens to be sitting on my kitchen table. She is also the editor of The Mom Egg, a print journal dedicated to poetry about motherhood and related themes.

Something else to check out is Adele Kenny's blog, The Music In It. If you're not regularly visiting this blog, start right now! Especially is you're looking for a site that offers regular prompts and instruction about the craft of writing poetry. A new prompt is posted each Saturday. Adele just posted "When Is a Poem Not a Poem?" Five poets, including yours truly, offer some thoughts. And so does Adele, so that makes six poets. Adele is the poetry editor of Tiferet and an outstanding poet with a new book available for pre-orders at Amazon and just about to step over the threshold and enter the world: What Matters, from Welcome Rain Publishers.