oh! simple the beginnings,
the apple of amazement,
the core of an idea, and
out slips the memories,
the injustices on which
the child-mind puzzled,
processing in adolescence,
then big girl, grown woman,
chasten the world, plant
the seeds of awakening
courage in slender frame, high
thoughts in rounded forehead,
the long expressive hands,
the sweeping circumstances,
Africa, Arabia, Europe, U.S.,
first the suffering and tears,
then the work, work, work ~ courage in the face of tyranny,
voices of the voiceless: theJustias!
the Prudentias! of our modern day
Way back when, one of my main motivations for ditching my flip phone and getting a smart phone (best thing I ever did) was the camera. As much as anything, I got my iPhone 5c to take, edit and manipulate photos. I wanted to be able to illustrate poems and other works.
I’ve also had some ideas for videos I’d like to make and the video below is my first experiment. I used Animoto, a cloud-based service founded in 2006 according to Wikipedia. Honestly, it was just the first service that came up when I started my search. No analysis went into the selection. I didn’t comparison shop. Since I’ve never done this before, I can’t tell you how easy or not Animoto is to use relative to other tools. The video is not exactly what I envisioned, but the problem is mine, not Animoto. After awhile I just got tired of fussing over which photos, what order and what music.
I found Animoto easy – intuitive, as they say – to use and affordable, though that’s a relative thing. The videos are loaded into a WordPress post the same way you’d load a YouTube video – by using the URL. Easy.
You can log into Animoto and play around without making any committment to buy, so if it’s something you want to try too – GO FOR IT. The site offers direction, information on copyright, a limited selection of music and even stock photographs if you don’t have your own. Not bad. $8 a month if you pay for an entire year. Otherwise it’s $16 a month. That’s just the basic package. There are two other options.
If you are viewing this from email, it’s likely you’ll have to link through to watch the video.
Thank you for sharing your love of words. Comments will appear after moderation.
TWO OF CUPS “is excited to read for its annual chapbook contest between April 15th and June 15th. One winning manuscript will be chosen by 2015 winner, Raegen Pietrucha. Winner will be announced August 1st, the author receiving 25 copies of his/her book. Two finalists (chosen by our editor) will receive 10 copies of his/her book. A list of honorable mentions will receive recognition on our website.” Details HERE
CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS/JOBS
Opportunity Knocks
ESKIMOPIE “is always seeking high quality poems, rants, haikus, lyrics, essays, short fiction, scripts, reviews, links, artwork, photos, collages, jokes, announcements of new pubs and readings, wet dreams and whatever else you can think of. It does not matter if your work has been previously published or if you have read it at open mics a hundred times, chances are that hardly anyone has seen it, so if you send it to Eskimo, more people will see it. It does not matter what you write about, all Eskimo wants to see is good rhythm and diction, music and magic.” The magazine is HERE. The submission guidelines are HERE.
THE EXAMINED LIFE “is a Literary Journal of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine is a new print journal published biannually by the Writing and Humanities Program at the Carver College of Medicine. A forum devoted to literary prose and poetry, the journal intends to deepen and complicate our understanding of healthcare and healing, illness, the human body, and the human condition.” Its editors are currently reading submissions for the next issue. Details HERE
LOCAL GEMS POETRY PRESS is accepting poetry submissions through July 1st for an anthology of poetry by Generation Y (anyone born after 1982). Details HERE.
You might tuck this away to hold in your memory bank for 2017: Local Gems hosts an annual chapbook contest HERE for the 30 poems in the 30 day NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) in April. NaPoWriMo is held in April to coincide with National Poetry Month. Details on NaPoWriMo are HERE.
THE SKINNY POETRY JOURNAL (TSPJ) “is a literary journal that is dedicated to The Skinny poetry form. The point of The Skinny, or Skinnys, is to convey a vivid image with as few words as possible.” Check it out HERE.
BEAKFUL/BEQUÉEposts one work a day. Details HERE … with submission guidelines in the blog roll on your right.
HUFFINGTON POST – at this writing – has positions open for writers and photographers in London and New York. Details HERE. You can pitch your idea for a blog HERE.
SCRIPTEDmatches writers who are able to develop content for blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Videos and so forth with marketing professionals who need content. Details HERE.
CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL welcomes the submission of stories and poems for possible publication in upcoming books.
Best Mom Ever, Deadline Sept. 30, 2016
Blended Family, June 30, 2016
College Student Stories, July 31, 2016
Curvey and Confident, June 30, 2016
Dreams and Synchronicities, August 31, 2016
Parent to Parent, July 31, 2016
Stories About Cats, October 31, 2016
Stories About Dogs, October 31, 2016
Stories About Teaching and Teachers, June 30, 2016
THE BeZINEtheme for June 2016 is “Friendship.” Submit by June 10 to bardogroup.com. Submission guidelines are HERE.
THE NEW YORK TIMES provides direction on how to submit an Op-Ed feature HERE.
KUDOS
erbacceprize 2016 long-list (100) was announced and The BeZineContributing Writer, Liliana Negoi, is on it along with Rueben Woolley who was a feature poet in April for poetry month. View the complete list of poets HERE and see who else you might know. erbacce press is a cooperative publisher. Learn more about it HERE.
EVENTS
THE NEW YORK CITY POETRY FESTIVAL is scheduled for July 30 – 31 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Founded in 2011, this festival is an annual two-day gathering on Governors Island located in New York Harbor. It features poetry readings; a fair of booksellers, artists, and craftmakers; and special events for children. Details HERE
47th INTERNATIONAL POETRY FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS is scheduled for 7-11, June 2016. Details HERE
DR. LOCO’S 75TH BIRTHDAY: TRIBUTE TO JIM PEPPER attention San Francisco Bay Area Jazz fans, Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, 780 Howard Street, San Francisco June 5, 1 PM – 2:30 PM
100,000 POETS FOR CHANGE *Peace, Justice and Sustainability.* Be a mover and a shaker and let the world know that POETRY MATTERS! September 24, 2016. Link HERE for info and to sign up. Or hook-up with Co-founder, Michael Rothenberg, on Facebook HERE.
NORTHWEST FOLK FESTIVAL: Popular storyteller Naomi Baltuck (Writing Between the Lines and The BeZine) and her husband Thom Baltuck are performing this weekend (Memorial Day Weekend, May 27-30) at the Northwest Folk Festival in Seattle. The performance schedule is HERE.
REVIEW
MICHAEL ROTHENBERG’S MURDER (Paper Press Books, 2013) was reviewed by Tim Hibbard in the March 2016 issue of the Journal of Poetic Research. “Through the eyes of a private journal writer, poet Michael Rothenberg reports on the continual worldwide injustices, tragedies and killings we are forever made to bear witness to on the streets and via the media. What can be done? With compassion and humor, Murder begins the investigation.” from the book cover.
This day belongs to panic
Jets & 7,000 reruns of suicide
Anthrax in Florida
India hijack hoax
Russian plane downed
320 million dollars of U.S. aid
goes to the Afghanis
Ten killed in Palestinian-Israel clash
A bus driver’s throat is slashed
Black slippery rot of fallen walnuts
On the step
– Apocalyptic Yearnings, Michael Rothenberg, in Murder
PUBLICATION
“The story of Eve has been, more often than not, interpreted by men. Eve has been presented as impulsive, disobedient and ignorant. But what if Eve were the real hero and mother of us all? Where would we be had she never looked for knowledge, asked the important questions, challenged the powers that be? In this beautiful collection of over 40 New York women poets, the strength, vitality and unique voices of women emerge to answer some of these questions. Energy, savvy, wisdom and power emanate from these poems, both individually and as a collection. The women whose work has been anthologized in this collection are as bold as New York, as brave as Eve. Not content to have their stories told for them, these poets grab the apple with both hands and tell it themselves. Grabbing the Apple is a powerful an amazing resource for any reader or student who wants to explore an in-depth selection of work from some of New York’s finest and strongest women poets.”
Word from Terri Muuss is that this long awaited anthology – Grabbing the Apple(JB Stillwater Publishing Company, 2016) – is out and available through Amazon. Congratulations to Terri and to Editor M.J. Tenerelli and all the contributing poets.
A TIDBIT OF ENCOURAGEMENT
THE POET BY DAY SUNDAY POESY
Submit your event, book launch and other announcements at least fourteen days in advance to thepoetbyday@gmail.com. Publication is subject to editorial discretion.
NORTHWEST FOLK FESTIVAL: Popular storyteller Naomi Baltuck (Writing Between the Lines) and her husband Thom Baltuck are performing this weekend (Memorial Day Weekend, May 27-30) at the Northwest Folk Festival in Seattle. The performance schedule is HERE.
NAOMI BALTUCK (Writing Between the Lines)~ is a Contributing Editor and Resident Storytellerat The BeZine. She is a world-traveler and an award-winning writer, photographer. Her works of fiction and nonfiction are available through Amazon HERE.
Naomi conducts workshops such as Peace Porridge (multicultural stories to promote cooperation, goodwill, and peaceful coexistence), Whispers in the Graveyard (a spellbinding array of haunting and mysterious stories), Tandem Tales, Traveling Light Around the World, and others. For more on her programs visit Naomi Baltuck.com.
Naomi says, “When not actually writing, I am researching the world with my long-suffering husband and our two kids, or outside editing my garden. My novel, The Keeper of the Crystal Spring (Viking Penguin), can be read in English, German, Spanish, and Italian. My storytelling anthology, Apples From Heaven, garnered four national awards, including the Anne Izard Storytellers’ Choice. I am currently working on a contemporary women’s novel.”
**********
erbacceprise 2016: Congratulations to Liliana Negoi and Reuben Woolley for making the long-list of 100 for this prize. They were chosen from among 8,000 entries world wide. According to erbacce press website the finalist are to be featured poets in their quarterly publication, erbacce journal. Read the long list of 100 HERE and watch for further announcements. (The site has great but loud music, so if you are at work when you read this, you’ll want to turn off the sound.)
Liliana Negoi has been on the core team of The BeZine since 2011 (back when it was a collaborative blog, not a zine) andis a contributing writer.
Ruben Woolley was featured for poetry month in the April edition of the zine, introduced to us by Contributing Editor, Michael Dickel. We are proud of both these poets and wish them luck in the next steps.
Liliana is also the author of a novel, Solo-Chess, available for free reading HERE. Many of her creations, both poetry and prose, are published in various literary magazines.
REUBEN WOOLLEY has been published in Tears in the Fence, The Lighthouse Literary Journal, The Interpreter’s House and Ink Sweat and Tears among others. A collection, the king is dead, 2014, Oneiros Books. A chapbook, dying notes, 2015, Erbacce Press. A poetry pamphlet on the refugee crisis, skins, 2016, Hesterglock Press. Runner-up: Overton Poetry Pamphlet competition and the Erbacce Prize, both in 2015. Editor of the online poetry magazines, I am not a silent poet and The Curly Mind. You can read more on Reuben’s Blog.
Thank you for sharing your love of words. Comments will appear after moderation.
oh! simple the beginnings,
Jamie Dedes' THE POET BY DAY Webzine 