Year of the Prose Poem.

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If you follow my writing and/or this blog, then you probably have noticed that I‘ve been writing a lot of prose poems lately, and those pieces are what I’ve been lucky enough to get accepted at journals. Which kinda makes 2011 the year of the prose poem, for me at least.

My prose poem Memoir will be published in the next edition of Apropos Literary Journal.

Ginger Piglet Press has accepted three of my prose poems for its next issue.

Huge thanks to the editors of these publications. I truly appreciate the love.

I Haven’t Posted in Awhile, But I’m Still Writing.

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And I have proof. My poem Innovations in Violence will be included in the forthcoming Heyday Magazine Vol.1, Issue #2.

I'll have prose poems appearing in the upcoming November print edition of Insolent Aardvark.

Big thanks to the editors of these journals. I’ll post updates when these poems make their magnificent appearances and include more info about these journals.

As far as my manuscript goes…it’s still not accepted, but I’m not giving up. My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Be good.

 

Upcoming.

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My prose poem Accident Prone will be published online in Issue 17 of Switched-on-Gutenberg. This is my second engagement with Switched-on-Gutenberg.

My prose poem Epiphany shall appear in the first issue of burntdistrict, a new journal dedicated to elevating public awareness of contemporary poetry and to the promotion of our writers.

Thank you to the editors of these journals. So much appreciated, as always.

Of course I’ll post updates when these poems make their glorious debuts.

It’s been awhile since I posted, or 5 things that I want you to know

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(1) My poem Excerpts from the Guide to Modern Survival has gathered some praise. It was a runner-up in the 2010 Princemere Poetry Contest, and earned honorable mention in the 9th Annual Saturday Writers One Page Poem Contest. I appreciate the love.

(2) My flash fiction piece Hush and poems Waning and Life is a Series of One-Hit Wonders will appear in Talking Stick 20. The Talking Stickis a Minnesotan collaboration of poetry, creative nonfiction and fiction, and is a publication of the nonprofit organization, The Jackpine Writers' Bloc. You can go to their website to find out more about how the Talking Stick started and what the group does. In addition, Hush received an honorable mention nod amongst the fiction entries this year, and Waning earned first place honors in poetry. I am flattered by all this; big thanks to the judges and editors.

(3) So far my full-length poetry manuscript, The Blues Almanac, has been rejected by no less than twenty publishers. I am hopeful though. This is a good book & I believe in it.

(4) I wrote two prose poems last week, and created some random scribbled thoughts this week. I think my writer’s block might be over. My work rate was almost nil since mid-January, so my creative side was struggling. Glad to be back on the horse.

(5) The weather in Minnesota stinks, except for today, but I am working too hard at the day job to enjoy the rare occurrence of sunshine outside. My inner Florida Evans is screaming, “Damn, damn, damn.”

Forthcoming.

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I’ll have a prose poem published in Clare Literary Magazine, a journal published by the students and faculty of Cardinal Stritch University. The poem is called The Inherent Discontent of Objects, and it is part of my completed manusctipt, The Blues Almanac, which still needs a publisher, by the way (hint hint hint). Huge huge thanks to Abby Gambrel & the staff of Clare for thinking my work good enough.

Poem on Salamander Cove.

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First published in the Foliate Oak Literary Journal, my poem Undone is now up on the poetry blog Salamander Cove.  This is my third appearance on Salamander Cove, and I am so happy to appear on there again. Take a sec and read Undone…along with all the other fine works on the blog – I promise that you can lose a couple hours reading these poems without feeling like you wasted a single minute.



The Prose-Poem Project.

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My prose poem Depression will be published in The Prose-Poem Project, an online and print literary journal devoted entirely to the prose poem. I’m excited about this acceptance. This piece is quite different from most of my work to date, so it’s a great feeling to intentionally step out of my comfort zone and compose something that ‘s been deemed worthy enough to be published.

I’ve been gravitating toward writing prose poems lately. For some reason, I’ve found them less constraining and more forgiving when I attempt new things with my writing. This is a departure from my previous mode of operation: although I've written a handful of prose poems, I usually like the border between fiction and verse to not be blurry. So swan diving into the deep end of the prose poem pool is a big step for me.

I’ve written fifteen or so prose poems in the past two months, and Depression was one of those. I am considering trying to put together a manuscript of prose poems as a long term project. Sort of my own personal "prose-poem project." We’ll see if I can overcome my truncated attention span and make it happen.

Be good.

Update.

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Still on my grind.

My poem Innovations in Violence earned Honorable Mention in the August 2010 Poetry Society of New Hampshire National Contest. Big thanks to Betsy Snider and all involved in this contest.

My poem The Intervention Soliloquy appears in the nineteenth edition of The Talking Stick, a Minnesota based literary journal that has been published yearly since 1995.

Finally, the online .pdf literary journal A Handful of Dust has published my poem Hello, My Name Is in its latest issue. You can check out the issue, which includes work by Louie Crew, Doug Holder, Michael Lee Johnson, and many other talented writers by clicking here.

Redemption.

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My poem Redemption recently won the 2010 Southern Illinois Writers Guild National Contest (Poetry Division)!  Big thanks to Roger Poppen (the Contest Chair) and anyone else involved in with this wonderful contest opportunity. My poem Education also earned a tie for third place.

I am both happy and humbled that my work has been received this positively. Redemption especially was an experiment of sorts for me, a venture into a different style of poetry than I usually write, so I am encouraged by its victory.

To see a complete list of the contest winners, you can click here.

Since Redemption garnered first place, it will be published in an anthology – I’ll pass along those details later.

Blog-a-doon

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It's a blog that occasionally rises out of the silent mist then vanishes into the vapor again. Or maybe it's the blogger himself who's pops up, then disappears for an eternity. Perhaps I am secretly the subject of folklore. Sigh – there really is no really mythical reason to why I’ve been gone. My internet and router were ackinafool for awhile, but that all has been fixed. Therefore I’ll be back posting soon – I have some interesting news and notes, but I want to spread it out instead of committing an info dump. Be good, and I’ll be back soon to blab about my recent poetry contest win and some upcoming publications and other random thoughts.

Two poems in The Tidal Basin Review.

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The Summer 2010 edition of The Tidal Basin Review is out, and it is full of diverse creative voices.

The mission of TBR is "to provide a space for inclusive and interdisciplinary approaches to the creative arts. We expressively and fiscally support artists who represent the rich American landscape by publishing high-quality, well-crafted literature, visual and media art through our annual contest, readings, and print and online journals. Our vision is to amplify the voice of the human experience through art that is intimate, engaging, and audacious. We seek work that propels the present artistic landscape." 

Contributors include: Lisa Alvarado, Lou Amyx, Beebe Barksdale-Bruner, Sarah Browning, Christine Celise, Martha Collins, Jasmon Drain, Jennifer Flescher, Gretchen Fletcher, Reginald Flood, Andy Fogle, Derrick Harriell, Kim Coleman Foote, Brian Gilmore, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Ricardo Guthrie, Carmen Gimenez Smith, Hannah Larrabee, Moira Linehan, Tamara J. Madison, Ernesto Mercer, James O'Brien, Coco Owen, Adrian S. Potter, Joseph Ross, Marian Kaplun Shapiro, Cris Staubach, Keli Stewart, Cinnamon Stuckey, Truth Thomas, Phillip B. Williams.

My poems The Blues Almanac and Education appear in the Summer 2010 edition, which is a wonderful read - and I am not just saying that because my work appears in there.

You can purchase the print edition by clicking here and buying.

You can preview the Summer 2010 edition by clicking here.

Quick Update.

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Can’t knock my hustle.

The Tidal Basin Review will publish my poems The Blues Almanac and Education in an upcoming edition.

My micro-fiction piece Anniversary recently appeared in One Forty Fiction.  Click here to read it, and leave a critique there if you feel compelled to do so.

Finally, the online journal A Handful of Dust will publish my poem Hello, My Name Is sometime in the future.

Things are looking up.



Useful hints for poets entering manuscripts into contests.

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I found this informational post over on the blog of Diane Lockward.  It sounds like she has been on both sides of the poetry contest game - she has entered many and served as a judge for one.  Out of her experience, she shares several useful recommendations for contest entrants.  Click the link below to check out this resource.

http://dianelockward.blogspot.com/2010/07/some-thoughts-about-poetry-book.html

Mythium. (And a little rant about the long road to getting a poem published.)

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My poem Live on the Sunset Strip appears in issue 1.2 of Mythium, the journal for contemporary literature and the diasporic and indigenous cultural voices of writers of color.

Mythium is the brainchild of award-winning author & educator, Crystal E. Wilkinson and visual artist/poet, upfromsumdirt (Ronald Davis). I appreciate the chance to contribute to this issue, which also includes work by skilled wordsmiths such as Nikky Finney, Ruth Ellen Kocher, and countless others. It is a great read, from cover to cover. (If you get a chance, check out the cover of this issue of Mythium by clicking here – hands down the coolest cover concept I’ve seen out of a literary journal in long time.)

On a personal note, seeing this poem published makes me extremely happy. Live on the Sunset Strip is a tribute to the late Richard Pryor – those who are fans of his humor know the title matches the title of one of Pryor’s stand-up concert movies. I wrote the first draft of this poem shortly after his passing in 2005, and that draft was epically horrible – crap formed out of good intention and fandom, but too wordy and clumsy to be a sustainable piece of literature. I’ve tinkered with this poem off and on for years and finally got it to the point that I felt comfortable enough to have other human beings read it. And those people were the staff at Mythium, who thought enough of it to publish this work. I am so happy to have something penned out of pure emotion and admiration come to life on the page.

So fellow writers keep your heads up  – sometimes it takes longer than expected, like five years…or more…but when you get to the destination and arrive at the precipice of your unblemished creative vision , there is no sweeter feeling.

Be good.

The Binnacle.

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I recently received word that my prose poem Incantation will appear in The Binnacle, the literary and arts journal of the University of Maine at Machias. The poem is an Honorable Mention piece in The Binnacle's Seventh Annual International Ultra-Short Competition.  This is the third time I've had the opportunity to contribute to The Binnacle, and I am happy to be on board again. Big thanks to the staff of The Binnacle for not only selection Incantation, but also for providing an annual competition for writers who write micro-fiction and short poems.

The Broken Plate.

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The Broken Plate is a literary magazine produced at Ball State University featuring poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The magazine accepts submissions from writers around the world while continuing to devote pages to the work of Ball State students. The Broken Plate is beginning an exciting new phase in its growth toward a more diverse representation of the creative community.

I'm happy to mention that my poem Instructions appears in the 2010 edition of The Broken Plate.  Acutally, I am truly blessed to be the very first poem appearing in the journal this year.  Not often have I had the chance to be page one in a literary journal.  Thanks to the editorial staff of this impressive journal for the opportunity to contribute.