A Weekend Workshop in Delaware and a Book Contest Reading

Several months ago I was invited to be one of three final judges for the 2014 annual Dogfish Head Poetry Prize, a full-length book contest open to poets living in the Mid-Atlantic states. The other two judges were Gerry LaFemina of Maryland and Larry Woiwode, Poet Laureate of North Dakota. The contest was overseen by poet Linda Blaskey of Delaware. Linda and her team of readers culled the entries down to six manuscripts, then sent those to each of the judges who made the final selection.

Linda also invited me to spend a weekend in Delaware, the weekend of December 13-14, leading a group of poets in a workshop. I happily agreed. I drove to Delaware on Friday, was kindly put up in a hotel by the group of poets, and then spent three hours each on Saturday and Sunday with the best group of poets I’ve ever worked with, sixteen of them. We met in a spacious room in one of the Rehoboth Art League buildings.

Building where we met for our workshops

Linda told me ahead of time that the group wanted some craft talk and prompts that focused on craft. So that’s what I went armed with. I did not use any material from The Crafty Poet as I’d been given to understand that most of the group already had the book. In fact, three of the poets are in the book! Many of the group members also knew me as they are subscribers to my Poetry Newsletter. We spent our time together reading some sample poems I’d brought and discussing the craft in them and then writing to prompts that zeroed in on a particular element of craft. We did some reading of the drafts with minimal critique, mostly appreciative noises.

I alternated the craft prompts with ones that work well on those days when you have nothing to write about—and who doesn’t have some of those? The writing was wonderful and the group was incredibly supportive of each other’s work. I gathered that they have been working together and cheering each other on for years.

Saturday night was the announcement of the contest winner and presentation of his book. This event was held at the Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware. It’s a real brewery, with all kinds of craft beers, a bar, tours, and a food truck. Since it’s located about 30 minutes away, one of the group members picked me up and another one drove me back to my hotel. Apparently, the owners are big poetry fans and have supported this contest for years. They gave a nice bag of goodies to me and to Gerry who also attended. We both joined the winner in a reading. Gerry read first and then me. Then Linda announced the winner: Lucian Mattison of Norfolk, Virginia. The evening ended with a reading by Lucian, the presentation of his prize which included a check and two cases of beer, and a signing of Lucian’s book, Peregrine Nation, published by Broadkill River Press.

Part of the audience. That's the DE Poet Laureate JoAnn Balingit, with the scarf

Gerry LaFemina

Linda Blaskey introduces the winner, Lucian Mattison

Winner Lucian Mattison reads from Peregrine Nation and pauses for a sip of beer

Presentation of the Award

I returned home after our Sunday session, feeling invigorated by the weekend. It was a true pleasure and privilege to have worked with such a terrific group. I am very grateful to them for having invited me. I felt honored by the invitation. I salute this group for the support they give each other and for giving themselves the gift of a weekend of total immersion in poetry. I’m looking forward to seeing the poems that eventually emerge from the weekend. I'm sure that many of them will land in some very fine journals.

Yes, Virginia

Each Christmas I like to revisit the following essay from the The Sun. My grandmother read it to me many years ago. I've always remembered it. If you don't already know this piece, I hope you'll enjoy it. I also hope you'll have a Merry Christmas if that's what you're celebrating. And I hope you'll have a wonderful New Year. Thank you for being a Blogalicious reader.

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's The Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial on September 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

Here's Virginia's letter:

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

"VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
"115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."

Here's the reply:

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Some Thoughts on Using Poetry Prompts

I was recently delighted to come across Amorak Huey’s article, “Writing Poems from Prompts,” in the 2015 Poet’s Market. The article made me happy because I’m a poet who enjoys the challenge of prompts. I know that not all poets do and some even dismiss them and say that “real poets” don’t use prompts. I know lots of real poets who do indeed use them, and I count myself among them. I find, as does Huey, that a prompt will push me in a direction I might not otherwise have traveled. I enter new territory, sometimes strange and surprising. I’m given ideas on days when I just don’t have any. Who among doesn’t have some of those days? I also like prompts because they often compel me to focus on some aspect of craft; thus, I grow as a poet. Huey quotes professor W. Todd Kaneko who says, “. . . I think writing prompts are most useful when they are based around an element of craft.” Me too. If you subscribe to my Poetry Newsletter, you already know that I agree with this. If you have my book, The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop, you know I agree that prompts are cool.

Huey’s article includes a list of five tips for using prompts effectively. My favorite tip is #3: “If one prompt is falling flat, combine it with another. The creative process benefits immensely from the friction of two disparate forces.” Read the entire article to get the other four tips.

The article ends with a “List of Six Stellar Sources of Poetry Prompts.” I was tickled silly to find The Crafty Poet included! Here’s the entire list, one blog plus five books. You might also consider this a list of suggestions for holiday gifts for your students, your pals, and yourself.

How Much Are You Willing to Pay?

As you know, many print journals now use online submission managers such as Submittable for submissions. Many of these journals are no longer willing to accept snail mail submissions. That’s fine with me. Makes my life easier. In the past few years, several of these journals have begun to charge a submission fee, usually $2 or $3. Although some poets I know are very annoyed about this and some of them refuse to submit to any journal that charges a submission fee, I’m not particularly bothered by it. Seems like a fair trade-off to me. I don’t have to use up my paper supply, two envelopes, postage for the sending and the SASE, or gas going to the post office. At their end, the journals get a little compensation for printing out submissions or reading on screen.

However, the other day I saw the name of a print journal that was new to me, so I checked it out. I’m not going to name it but will say that this journal publishes work by women only. The journal pays $50 for fiction and non-fiction and $35 for poetry. Great. I wouldn’t mind paying a small submission fee to a journal that compensates its authors. So everything looked cool until I got to the submission part. That’s where I saw the $15 reading fee! (Yes, I put an exclamation point there to register the jolt I got at such a fee.) And that’s for just three poems. Now keep in mind that there’s a difference between a submission fee and a reading fee. I’ll pay the former but not the latter, especially when the amount is so absurdly high. It’s tantamount to paying to be published. Another irritant: they read anonymously so all identifying information must be deleted. I know that some people like that. I find it annoying as it causes me the unnecessary step of deleting the information. I think editors ought to be able to be objective with or without names.

So I’ll keep my money and they can keep theirs.

Speaking of money—Many of you, I’m sure, are familiar with Erika Dreifus and her wonderful blog, Practicing Writing, which is always loaded with useful information for writers. It’s primarily geared towards prose writers, but poets will also find it useful. Every Monday, for example, Erika makes her readers aware of no-fee, paying markets. She also sends out a monthly e-newsletter, The Practicing Writer, which is similarly filled with wonderful, up-to-date information. In the current December issue, Erika includes a list of books suggested by authors who previously played some role in her newsletter. As one of those lucky authors, I recommended Still Writing: The Pleasures and Perils of a Creative Life by Dani Shaprio (Grove Press). Both the blog and the newsletter are terrific resources for writers. You can subscribe to Erika’s newsletter at either of the preceding two links. Just scroll down in the right sidebar.

Speaking of blogs—I have previously recommended Adele Kenny’s The Music in It, and I now reiterate that recommendation. Each Saturday Adele posts a poetry prompt. Each of her prompts contains some instruction and several model poems or links to them. Readers are invited to post their drafts in the Comments section where Adele generously comments on them. Recently Adele began occasionally inviting other poets to contribute a prompt. I’m happy to have been invited twice to do that. My second guest post, The Loveliness of Words, is currently posted at the blog. It’s excerpted from my book, The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop, and includes a wonderful model poem by Rod Jellema and a prompt based on the poem. Check it out and try the prompt.

Speaking of books—It’s time to order your holiday gift books. I hope you’ll consider The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop for the poets in your life.

Print Journals That Accept Online Submissions 11/14

It's been more than a year since I last updated the list of print journals that accept online submissions. This list includes 14 additions. You'll notice that a number of the journals charge a fee for the online submission. Many submitters feel that a small fee is worth it as it saves paper, stamps, and a trip to the post office.

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.


Adanna: a journal about women, for women—1x

Jan 31 - April 30

Agni—2x

Sept 1 - May 31

The American Poetry Journal—1x

February 1 - May 31

American Poetry Review—6x

all year

Another Chicago Magazine—2x

$3 fee

**Apogee—2x
two submission periods—check website

Barn Owl Review—1x

June 1 - November 1

Barrelhouse—2x

check website to see if open for poetry submissions

Bat City Review—1x

June 1 - November 15

Bateau—2x

all year

**Bayou—2x
Sept 1-June 1

Bellevue Literary Review—2x

all year

Bellingham Review—1x

Sept 15-Dec 15

Beloit Poetry Journal—4x

all year

no sim

Black Warrior Review—2x

all year

Boston Review—6x

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

Burnside Review—every 9 months
$3 fee / pays contributors

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

Cimarron Review—4x
all year

The Cincinnati Review—2x
Sept 1 - May 31

Columbia—2x

September 1 - May 1

**The Conium Review—2x
Jan 1-April 1

Copper Nickel—2x

August 15-October 15 

January 31-March 31

The Cossack Review—3x
All year

Crab Creek Review—2x
Sept 15 - March 31

Crazyhorse—2x

all year
$2 fee

Cream City Review—2x

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

Edison Literary Review—1x 

all year

Fence—2x

check website to see if open for submissions
(must submit poems one by one)

FIELD—2x

all year

no sim

Fifth Wednesday—2x

no Jan, Feb, June, or July

The Florida Review—2x

August thru May 

$3 fee

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

**The Fourth River—1x
July 1-Sept 1

**The Frank Martin Review—1x
all year

Gargoyle—1x

reads month of June

The Greensboro Review—2x   

September 15 deadline for the Spring issue

February 15 deadline for the Fall issue

Grist—1x

August 15 - April 15

Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review—1x 

All year

Harpur Palate—2x

deadlines: Winter issue: November 15

Summer issue: April 15

**Hartskill Review—3x
all year

Harvard Review—2x

Sept 1 - May 31

Hawk and Handsaw—2x

Aug 1 - Oct 1

Hayden's Ferry—2x

All year

pays

The Hollins Critic—5x

Sept 1 - Dec. 15

Hunger Mountain—1x

all year

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

Iron Horse Literary Review—6x

rolling for 3-4 weeks at a time

check website for dates

Jubilat—2x

September 1 - May 1

Kenyon Review—4x

September 15 - January 15

no sim

Knockout Literary Magazine—1x

check website for submission dates

The Laurel Review—1x
$2 fee
Sept 1-May 1

**The Lindenwood Review—1x
Jul 15-Dec 15

The Literary Review—4x
Sept 30-May 31

Little Patuxent Review—2x
submission period varies—check website

The Los Angeles Review—1x

Submit to Poetry Editor: lareview.poetry@gmail.com

Sept 1 - Dec 1

The Louisville Review—2x

all year

Lumina—1x

August 1 - Nov 15

The MacGuffin—3x

all year

**Mantis—1x
currently open for submissions
Send all poems to: mantispoetry@gmail.com

The Massachusetts Review—4x

October 1 - April 30

Measure—2x

no sim

all year

The Mom Egg—1x

July 15 - Sept. 30

Meridian—2x ($2 fee)

all year

Mid-American Review—2x

all year

The Minnesota Review—2x

August 1–November 1 

January 1–April 1

The Missouri Review–4x

all year

The Mom Egg—1x
June 1- Sept. 1

National Poetry Review—1x  

December, January, and February only or all year if a subscriber

Natural Bridge—2x

August 1-May 1

$3 fee

Naugatuck River Review—2x

for the Summer issue January 1 through March 1

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

New England Review—4x

no sim

Sept 1-May 31

New Madrid—2x

August 15 - November 1

New Ohio Review—2x

Sept-May (summer okay for subscribers)

New Orleans Review—2x

Aug 15 - May 1

New South—2x

all year

The New Yorker

weekly magazine

all year

Ninth Letter—2x

September 1 - April 30

The Normal School—2x

September 1-December 1 

January 15-April 15

$3 fee

**Parcel—2x
all year

Parthenon West Review—1x

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

**Phoebe—1 print issue, i online
March 9 - Oct 31

Pleiades—2x

August 15-May 15

Ploughshares—3x

June 1 - Jan. 15

**PMS—1x
Jan 1 thru March 31
(women only)

Poetry—11x

year round

no sim

Poetry Northwest—2x

September 15 - April 15

Post Road Magazine—2x

February 1 to April 1 for the winter issue
June 1 to August 1 for the spring issue

Potomac Review—2x

Sept 1-May 1

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

Puerto del Sol—2x

September 15 - March 31

**Quiddity—2x
all year

The Raintown Review—2x

all year

considers previously published

The Raleigh Review—1x

All year

Rattle—2x

year round

Redactions—1x

year round

Redivider—2x

all year

Red Rock Review—2x

No June, July, August, or December

no sim

Rhino—1x

April 1 - Oct 1

Rockhurst Review—1x

Sept. 15 through Jan. 15

Rosebud—3x

All year

Sakura Review—2x

year round

Salmagundi—4x
February 1—April 15

Salt Hill—2x

August 1 - April 1

San Pedro River Review—2x

Jan 1 - Feb 1 / July 1-Aug 1

Saw Palm—1x

July 1- October 1

       

Slice Magazine—2x

Feb. 1 - April 1
January 1 - March 1

Smartish Pace—2x

All year

Sonora Review—2x

All year

So to Speak—2x

August 15-October 15 for the Spring issue

January 1-March 15 for the Fall issue

South Dakota Review—4x

All year

The Southeast Review—2x

All year

**The Southampton Review—2x
September 1 to December 1 and from March 1 to June 1

Southern Humanities Review—4x

All year

**Southern Indiana Review—2x
Sept 1-April 30

Southwest Review—4x

No June, July, August

$2 fee

Sou’wester—2x

August 15 - May 15

Spinning Jenny—1x

Sept 15 - May 15

No Sim

Spoon River Poetry Review—2x
September 15 to February 15

The Stillwater Review—1x

Sept 1-Dec 15

Subtropics—3x

September 1 - April 15
No Sim       

Sugar House Review—2x

All year

Tampa Review—2x

Sept 1 - Dec. 31

no sim

Tar River Poetry—2x

via email

Sept 15 - Nov. 1

no sim

Third Coast Review—2x

Sept 15 - April 30

32 poems—2x

via email

all year

The Threepenny Review—4x       

Jan 1 - June 30

Tiferet—1x

Sept  - December

Tinhouse Magazine—2x

September 1 - May 31

Upstreet—1x

Sept 1 - March 1

Versal—1x

Sept 15 - Jan 15

Verse Wisconsin—4x

All year

Washington Square Review—2x

August 1 - Oct 15

Dec 15 – Feb 1

Weave Magazine—2x

April 15 - July 31

West Branch—2x

Aug 15 - April 15

Willow Springs—2x

all year

Women Arts Quarterly Journal—4x

all year  

Yemassee—2x        

All year

My Poetic Sweet Tooth

I recently learned that on October 9, John Hewitt, at The Writer’s Resource Center, made me Today’s Recommended Poet: "Diane Lockward is a poet, teacher and an active blogger. Her poetry is feminine and feminist. She is smart and funny. Her poetry probes the politics of family, motherhood, and food with affection and a bit of exasperation."

Temptation by Water 2010

What Feeds Us 2006

Eve’s Red Dress 2003

"You might want to read her blog entries about voice vs. tone here and here. She also has a poetry tutorial: The Crafty Poet: A Portable Workshop"

Thanks, John, for that sweet recommendation!


Then on October 25, I had two poems, "Service for the Murdered Boy" and "A Murmuration of Starlings," featured in the Saturday Poetry Series at As It Ought to Be. These two poems are anything but sweet—they are quite grim, but relevant to current events. Thanks to editor Sivan Butler-Rotholz for choosing my poems.


Several years ago I began to submit poems to online journals as I came to believe that all poets should have at least some online presence. I began to understand the several advantages of an online publication, e.g., the possibility of a wider audience than a print journal has, the possibility of the work reaching readers in other countries, the long-term presence of the work in the online journal's archives.

As social media became more and more in use among authors, it became apparent that it could be used to multiply the online journal's reach as readers hit the Like button and the Share button for Facebook and/or added a link to Twitter. Still, many of us held onto our affection for the printed word, the pleasure of getting into a comfortable chair and spending a few hours reading poetry on the page.

Now we can have our cake and eat it too! A number of online journals have gathered the work first published online and put it into a print edition. Some of these print anthologies gather all of the work of several years; others do a best-of anthology.

The most recent of these anthologies arrived in my mailbox this week. Katherine Riegel, editor of Sweet: A Literary Confection, has just edited the journal's first anthology: All of Us: Sweet: The First Five Years.

Click for Amazon

Here's the back cover's list of contributors.

Some other online journals have also published print anthologies:

Pirene's Fountain—First Water: Best of Pirene's Fountain The best of the first five years, edited by Ami Kaye.

Valparaiso Poetry Review—Poetry from Paradise Valley. Selected work from the first ten years, edited by Edward Byrne. (currently unavailable)

Thrush Poetry Journal—Thrush Poetry Journal: An Anthology of the First Two Years. Includes all the work, edited by Helen Vittoria.


The Barefoot Muse—The Best of The Barefoot Muse. The journal has ceased publication but the best work of its five years of publication is preserved in this print anthology, edited by Anna M. Evans.


I like this trend and hope it continues.

Billy Collins on Craft

Last weekend I attended the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival. I not only attended, I also worked there. One of my assignments was to introduce Billy Collins at his craft talk on Saturday morning. This was held in the gymnasium of the North Star Academy, one of several charter schools in Newark. The room was packed.

Collins began his talk with some thoughts about what poetry is. He offered the following:
    “musical thought”—Thomas Carlisle
    “emotion set to rhythm”—Thomas hardy
    “meaning that moves”—Muriel Rukeyser

He then added that poetry is “all about the love of strangers.” And he asked, "How do you get strangers interested in your internal life”? He offered two ways:
    1. Lies
    2. Application of form—give formal pleasure to the reader

Collins added that the reader is not interested in your life; he’s interested in his own life.

To the earlier definitions, he added, “Poetry is a mixture of the clear and the mysterious.” It is a “home for ambiguity.” I love that last part.

When Collins began to talk about deal breakers, i.e., what makes him stop reading a poem, the talk had the ring of familiarity. I recalled that some of his thoughts had been included in an essay entitled “My Grandfather’s Tackle Box: The Limits of Memory-Driven Poetry,” published in Poetry, August 2001. Then I googled a bit and was reminded that he’d also discussed his deal breakers in his Introduction to the Best American Poetry 2006, an issue for which he’d served as Guest Editor. Excerpts from that essay, “75 Needles in the Haystack of Poetry,” appear here.

I’ll include one excerpt here:
“The word ‘cicada,’ for example, stops me in my tracks. Sorry, I simply cannot continue. Poems consisting largely of memories tend to leave me unfurled, particularly memories of family members—parents, grandparents, especially ones referred to as ‘Dad,’ ‘Mom,’ ‘Grandpa,’ and ‘Grannie.’ The same goes for poems that seem obsessed with some object associated with a dead person: Grandpa’s tool box, Mom’s ironing board, Dad’s fishing rod, and the like.  . . . Too many poems seemed content to convey an experience followed by a reaction to it without factoring in the reader’s presumed indifference to the inner lives of strangers.”

(This entire essay also appeared in AWP’s The Writer’s Chronicle, September 2006.)

The talk was followed by a Q&A. Someone asked about prose poetry. Collins described it as “an opportunity to write poetry and prose badly at the same time.” Funny, yes, but I’m sure that raised a few hackles in the room. It’s one thing to say you don’t care for it or you don’t choose to write it, but to dismiss it altogether struck me as too firmly opinionated. Collins elaborated by saying that he values the line, that each one adds something to the poem, “And once you give up the line, you can’t use the word poetry.”

Someone else asked about performance poetry and it quickly became clear that that’s not Billy’s cup of tea either. He feels that the delivery is too emotional and that the performer does what the poem should be doing.

Now I need to get out my current manuscript. I think I have a poem in it that mentions a cicada.