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THE SUNDAY POESY: Opportunities, Events and Other Information and News

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CONTEST

Opportunity Knocks

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/BEQUÉE posts 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.

SCRIPTED matches 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 Spirit of Canada, August 31, 2016

Details on each HERE.  Submission guidelines HERE.

THE BeZINE theme 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 BeZine Contributing 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

31ErDqI4OJL._SX310_BO1,204,203,200_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

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 “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.

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LATE BREAKING NEWS: Naomi Baltuck at Northwest Folk Festival; poets Liliana Negoi and Reuben Woolley honored by erbecce press

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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 Storyteller at 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 presents her wonderful photo-stories – always interesting and rich with meaning and humor – at Writing Between the Lines, Life from the Writer’s POV (her personal blog) as well as on The BeZine.

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.”

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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) and is 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 NEGOI  (Endless Journey and in Romanian curcubee în alb şi negru)  is the author of three published volumes of poetry in English, which is not her mother tongue but one that she came to love especially because of writing: Sands and Shadows, Footsteps on the San – tanka collection and The Hidden Well.  The last one can also be heard in audio version, read by the Liliana herself on her SoundCloud site HERE.

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.

HERE is an indepth interview with Liliana.

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.

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CELEBRATING AMERICAN SHE-POETS (16): Victoria C. Slotto, Jacaranda Rain …

Victoria C. Slotto, the poet as captured in (c) photo by David Slotto

Plain as a needle a poem may be, or opulent as the shell of the channeled whelk, or the ace of the lily, it matters not; it is a ceremony of words, a story, a prayer, an invitation, a flow o words that reaches out and, hopefully, without being real in the way that the least incident is real, is able to stir in the reader a real response.” San Dabs, Seven from Winter Hours by Mary Oliver

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Thus begins Victoria C. Slotto’s 2012 poetry collection, Jacaranda Rain, which she dedicated to Oliver “my mentor unaware.”  Like Mary Oliver, nature is frequent inspiration for Victoria. The collection includes some fifty-five poems on nature, spirituality, death and dying, which are arranged rather charmingly in alpha order.

What haunts me,” said the dead man
to his wife whose ashes mingled with
his own, “are books I’ve never read –”
from About the Dead Man and Books

“What haunts me more,” the dead man said
for no one else to hear, “are books I never
wrote — ideas fanned to life by life …”
from More About the Dead Man and Books

Victoria certainly will have no such regrets. Since 2009 she’s been publishing her poetry on her blog  (Victoria C. Slotto, Author; Fiction, Poetry, Essays). Her original intention in starting the blog was to promote her first novel, Winter Is Past, which was ultimately published by Lucky Bat Books in 2011.

Victoria is however a lover of poetry and was drawn to write and published more and more poetry – Lovely! – becoming involved in poetry groups. (We met via Jingle’s poetry group for those of you who have been around as long as we have and remember that dear lady.)

Victoria eventually became involved with dVerse ~ Poets Pub, “a place for poets and writers to gather to celebrate poetry. We are many voices, but one song. Our goal is to celebrate; poets, verse & the difference it can make in the world. To discover poetry’s many facets and revel in its beauty, even when ugly at times.”  dVerse is a collaborative effort offering inspiration, encouragement and education. I highly recommend it, especially if you are just getting started online and want to make connections. Jacaranda Rain includes several poems that were part of an anthology published by dVerse (also recommended). Victoria was for a time a core-team member of The BeZine where she offered monthly prompts for poets and writers.

Victoria’s collection includes explanatory notes for some of the poems and these are engaging and not intrusive.

I dreamt
I flew among the stars
skirted between planets,
cracked open doors
to distant worlds
from Quantum Leaps in Jacaranda Rain

In all since 2009, Victoria has maintained a blog, been an inspiration to poets and a friend to many, written two novels (the second is The Sin of His Father) and a nonfiction book, Beating the Odds: Support for Persons with Early Stage Dementia. Victoria is a former registered nurse who worked primarily with the elderly. She writes from that experience and the more intimate experience of caring for her own mother. As her mother faced early stages of dementia, they worked together to devise practical steps to help her mom remain independent for as long as possible. Victoria offers memory prompts, health care considerations, ideas to help one find meaning in life, suggestions for preparing for the future and more in this very worthy book.

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Though I must leave you
I’ll come to you again
a shower of purple petals
on dew covered sod –
from the poem Jacaranda Rain in the collection

Victoria now has a second blog, Be Still and Know That I Am God.

© poem excerpts, book covers/art, and portrait, Victoria C. Slotto

 

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And now, A Word from Advertising Wizard, David Ogilvy, Art from Banksy . . . and a writing prompt for you

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As a private person, I have a passion for landscape, and I have never seen one improved by a billboard. Where every prospect pleases, man is at his vilest when he erects a billboard. When I retire from Madison Avenue, I am going to start a secret society of masked vigilantes who will travel around the world on silent motor bicycles, chopping down posters at the dark of the moon. How many juries will convict us when we are caught in these acts of beneficent citizenship?” David Ogilvy (1911-1999), founder of Ogilvy & Mather, which is part of the biggest marketing and communications companies in the world.

All things considered, Ogilvy’s perspective on billboards is interesting  … But I share Banksy’s (see below) relief when spared yet another sales pitch.  Does that stir your imagination?

Writing Prompt: Write a poem, essay or short story on what today’s world might be like without advertising.

Illustration: banksy.co.uk – Banksy celebrating a blank billboard; Banksy is an England-based graffiti artist, political activist and film director of unverified identity. His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine dark humor with graffiti executed using a distinctive stenciling technique. His works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world.