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SUNDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS: Calls for Submissions, Contests, Events and other News and Information

CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Opportunity Knocks

THE BeZINE, Be inspired … Be creative … Be peace … Be Michael Dickel and I are reviewing submissions for the April’s special poetry edition. Traditionally at the Zine we celebrate April as interNational Poetry Month. Deadline is April 10 and pub date is April 15, so you still have time to submit poetry on any subject and in any form. International submissions are encouraged but poems must be in English. You may also include your poem in your first or other language to go with the English translation. Also of interest: features on poets and poetry, the art and craft of poetry, why and how poetry matters, history and development and so forth. Welcome also are reviews of books and collections as well as literary criticism. Submissions to bardogroup@gmail.com.  Please check out the Zine first so that you understand our mission. Intro and Mission Statement HERE.  Submission guidelines are HERE. Thank you!  

STORM CELLER QUARTERLY a literary journal seeks images and nonfiction or fiction up to 5000 words, flashes up to 4000 words total, poems up to 400 lines, images, graphics and hybrid works. Details HERE.

RHUBARB is an independent, secular and published three-times a year accepts submissions of unpublished poetry, fiction, nonfiction and black-and-white photographs. Features also include humor, book reviews, commentary, issues and articles related to theme.  Closed now for the June issue but watch the site for the next call.  Details HERE. This is a paying market.

SUBPRIMAL POETRY ART founded in 2013 and offering “quality thought proving poetry and other art.”  Also invited are submissions of essays on the creative process. This is a paying market.  In some circumstances previously published work is considered.  Details HERE.

UNDERSTORY MAGAZINE, Vital Writing and Visual Art by Women in Canada, seeks to feature underrepresented voices with stories told through essays, fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry and visual arts. Also features guest bloggers. Offers a modest honorarium.  Details HERE.

POETRY FILM LIVE seeks to showcase the best and most inspiring film and video poetry from the UK and around the world, featuring both emerging and established poets and poetry filmmakers. It is a collaboration with The Interpreter’s House Poetry Journal. Submissions are currently open through 30th June 2017. Details HERE.

CONTESTS

Opportunity Knocks

PLOUGHSHARES at Emerson College, Emerging Writer’s Contest is open through noon on May 15th. This contest is open to fiction, nonfiction and poetry from writer’s who haven’t as yet a published or self-published book.  $24 entry fee. $2,000 prize. Details HERE.

STORM CELLER QUARTERLY Force Mjeure Flash Contest seeking “the best small things, any form, any content, any fine and wonderful creation.” Entry fee. Cash prizes. Submissions by underrepresented are encouraged: women, people of color, indigenous, disabled, Lgbtq plus, poor and others. If you cannot pay the entry fee, email the editors.  Fiction and nonfiction. Deadline June 30, 2017. Details HERE.

THE INTERPRETER’S HOUSE accepts submissions of poetry in June for the autumn issue and in October for the spring issue. Details HERE.

EVENTS

  • Austin Writers Roulette is an uncensored, theme-inspired spoken word and storytelling event. It features a different monthly theme and line up of artists who perform their original written works such as poetry, essays, spoken word, singer-songwriting, or excerpts from novels for 5-8 minutes (1200 words or fewer). Interested artists who would like to perform for an upcoming event can email their submission to mathdreads@yahoo.com. Or you can show up during the day of the event and sign up for the open mic after all the featured artists perform. And of course, performance art lovers are always welcome! This month’s theme is “Pretense Is Underrated.” Visit the Austin Writers Roulette website for more information: http://austinwritersroulette.com/ * If parking is unavailable in the bookstore parking lot, please use residential streets for parking or you may park at Cabo Bob’s when they are closed.
  • TONIGHT ON FACEBOOK LIVE a poetry special for teachers: Laura Shovan announced that “April is National Poetry Month. I often hear from educators that they had poetry scared out of them in high school and they’re nervous about teaching it in their own classrooms.”That’s why I’m scheduling a NPM Facebook Live post for teachers, librarians, parents, and homeschoolers. I’ll walk you through a poetry lesson that’s fun, but also builds line reading skills. Yes — I said “fun” and “line reading” in the same sentence. I promise you will be able to replicate this lesson.”We’ll be using the poem “Weather” by Eve Merriam. Please have a copy on hand or have this website pulled up for our walk-through: https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/weather We’re moving this event to Nerdy Book Club! See you over there on April 2 from 9pm – 10pm.
  • Michael Rothenberg announced his Spring Reading Tour! Here is the schedule. If you would like to meet the esteemed founder of 100,000 Poets for Change, this might be your opportunity.
    CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA
    Sunday, April 9th
    Michael Rothenberg and Jacki Shelton Green
    2:00 pm, FlyLeaf Books in Chapel Hill
    752 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Chapel Hill, NC 27514

    PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
    Tuesday, April 11
    Michael Rothenberg and Ron Silliman
    Penn Book Center, 6:30pm
    Philadelphia, Pa. 19104

    NEW YORK (2 events)
    Saturday, April 15
    Michael Rothenberg, Ron Kolm, Bonnie Finberg and Steve Dalachinsky
    Unnameable Books, 7pm
    600 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11238

    Sunday, April 16th, 3pm
    Michael Rothenberg and Nicole- Peyrafitte
    Swift Hibernian Lounge
    Between Lafayette and Bowery on 4th,
    Manhattan, New York

    BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
    Tuesday, April 18
    Michael Rothenberg and Ron Kipling Williams
    Wilde Reading Series, 7pm-9pm
    Columbia Art Center
    Columbia, Maryland

    WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA
    Saturday, April 22
    Michael Rothenberg
    Reading and workshop
    Guest Poet Michael Rothenberg
    will join us for Couplet, our annual poetry
    festival this year.� At 2 PM Rothenberg
    will give a workshop and at 4 PM
    he will give a reading from his work.
    Old Books on Front Street
    Wimington, North Carolina

NEWS & OTHER INFORMATION

The recommended read for this week: On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder. Left, right or center – American or not – it’s a must read.

THE WORDPLAY SHOP: books, tools and supplies for poets, writers and readers

ABOUT THE POET BY DAY

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Poets and Poetry in the Shadowland of Technology and Social Networking

bright flower at nightI believe in the power of poetry; and I believe we can extend that power when we make strategic use of it in that very mixed blessing, the shadow land of technology and social networking.  That is why I spend much of my valued time in these arenas and much effort supporting other writers and activists who are doing profoundly important work. I’m no longer able to storm the gates, but I can still pound the heck out of a keyboard.

After eight years, however, I find I’m losing my tolerance for those who use poetry and social networking – ostensibly to raise the community consciousness with regard to want and inequity – only to proceed to thoughtlessly undermine the care, hard work and long hours invested by others who actually do put the “active” in activism.

It is also one thing to use the tools of social networking to connect with family and friends, to form friendships based on affinity, and to earn our bread or to support those causes in which we believe. It’s quite another thing to do it as a narcissistic indulgence, especially when that indulgence is at the expense of people who need us to be – not self-concerned and histrionic – but measured voices that walk our talk in the daily play of living, working, spending, teaching (in the greater sense all good poets are teachers) and – yes! – social networking.

Poetry can be assertive and should be. If justice poetry, however, isn’t balanced and well-considered, if it isn’t complemented with right action and right living, it is the work of a poet who enjoys the sound of his or her own voice. It is in danger of devolving into an exercise of smug in the service of ego and sanctimony in the service of voyeurism.

If our compassion is all talk and no legs, it isn’t compassion at all. In the same vein, justice poetry needs teeth and its teeth come from actions consistent with values expressed. English poet and scientist, Jemma Borg, writes this in The Poet and the Planet, a feature article in the November 2015 issue of ARTEMISpoetry:

” . . . ‘art prepares us for thought’ and ‘thought prepares us for action’ (as the political activist and poet, Rukeyser wrote). There must be poetry, there must be activism; it is a continuum. So, poets can give society a guilty conscience, they can be legislators. But we also need people camped outside Shell to protest against drilling in the Arctic …”

© 2017, words and photograph, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved

The recommended read for this week for children, Pizza, Pigs and Poetry: How to Write a Poem by  Jack Prelutsky,  named the nation’s first Children’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation.

Pizza, Pigs and Poetry, How to Write a Poem is ideal for children grades 3-6.  He engages by sharing funny stories, light poems and creative technique, not forms. This seems entirely perfect for encouraging – not discouraging – this age group. Fun and funny Pizza, Pigs and Poetry would make great summer reading – and writing – and is perfect for a birthday gift or a gift for some other occasion.

By shopping at Amazon through The Word Play Shop and using the book links embedded in posts, you help to support the maintenance of this site. Thank you! (Some book links will just lead to info about the book or poet/author and not to Amazon.)

The WordPlay Shop offers books and other tools especially selected for poets and writers.

THE WORDPLAY SHOP: books, tools and supplies for poets, writers and readers

LITERATURE AND FICTION oo Editor’s Picks oo Award Winners oo NY Times Best Sellers

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Liberty Circus … A Rogue Band of Outlaw Songwriters and Poets

The Liberty Circus are Malcolm Holcombe, Al Maginnes, RB Morris and Alan Kaufman: a rogue band of outlaw songwriters and poets who have thrown in to criss-cross the land in a performing celebration of good old democratic open-heartedness. They say that “A lion’s share from the proceeds of our shows will directly benefit organizations working with immigrants and refugees. Along the way we’ll invite local performers to our stages and grow our Liberty Circus into a big national family of love and support for Lady Liberty’s tired, poor masses yearning to breathe free.” Follow them on Facebook HERE.  A worthy project that promises to be fun.

Thanks to Alan for the heads-up on this. Alan Kaufman – “citizen poet” with five published volumes including The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry has been featured here before and was also featured in The BeZine.

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SUNDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS: Calls for Submissions, Contests, Events and Other Information and News

img_3688 CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Opportunity Knocks

AMETHYST ARSENIC is open submissions of poetry. Payment: $10. Featured poet receives $50. Deadline: March 31, 2017. Details HERE.

COLD CREEK REVIEW, a literary journal is a fledgling quarterly that accepts poetry, fiction, nonfiction and art.  “… we are partial to submissions that demonstrate examples of troubled emotions…We want your submission to leave us paralyzed and distressed. We challenge you to alarm us.”  This publication also plans to produce a special biannual – The Shallows – which does not share the same theme as the review. For details on both publications. link HERE.

ODYSSA MAGAZINE “accepts submissions for every monthly issue in the section “Story,” “Go,” “Family,” and “Think.” …. The look for fiction up to 700-1,000 words and buy first electronic and online rights exclusive for three months.  Each issue has a theme.  More detail HERE.

MUNSTER LITERATURE CENTRE publishes a biannual journal, Southword, which features poetry, fiction and reviews. Details HERE.

THE JOURNAL OF COMPRESSED LITERARY ARTS  seeks “compressed creative arts” including fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, mixed media and visual arts that are “compressed in some way. ” Publications are weekly. Details HERE.

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL seeks submissions of poetry and story for numberous publications.  Christmas and Holiday Collection – 2018, deadline October 31, 2017. Miracles and More , deadline August 31, 2017.  My Crazy Family! – June 30, 2017. My Kind (of) America – March 31, 2017. Positively Happy! – May 31, 2017.  Stories of Redemption – August 31, 2017. Details HERE.

PURITAN MAGAZINE seeks submissions of fiction, poetry, essays, interviews and reviews all year round and from anywhere in the world. Details HERE.

MUGWUMP, a literary revolution – Arocentric Anthology: Afrofuturism – publishes fiction stories in diverse settings, featuring diverse people. Payment: 1 cent/word. Deadline: March 31, 2017. Details HERE.

THE BeZINE, a publication of The Bardo Group Beguines, a virtual arts collective, is a digital publication that is published on the fifteenth of each month. The deadline is always  on the tenth. Submit via email to bardogroup@gmail.com.  Each issue is themed and the themes for each month are included in Submission Guidelines.  Please read the guidelines, one or two issues AND the Mission Statement before submitting. Special issues are April for interNational Poetry Month and September when we host a virtual 100,000 Poets for Change (100TPC) event for reader participation. This year 100TPC will be on September 30 and the September issue will post on the fifteenth as usual. The site was established in 2011 and the Zine is in publication now for three years. The theme for March 2017 is Science in Culture, Politics and Religion with a deadline upcoming on March 10. Submissions of poetry, essay, fiction and creative nonfiction, music videos, photography and art are welcome.

COMPETITIONS

Opportunity Knocks

THE POETRY SOCIETY (UK) “awards £16,000 in prizes each year. Poets at all stages of their careers are celebrated, and prizes also include ways to support writers’ development: courses, books, membership and publication. The competitions and prizes are a central part of The Poetry Society’s work.” Details HERE.

Award Winning British Poet, Myra Schneider (b. 1936), Writer, Writing Coach, Consultant to Second Light Nework of Women Poets
Award Winning British Poet, Myra Schneider (b. 1936), Writer, Writing Coach, Consultant to Second Light Network of Women Poets

SECOND LIGHT POETRY COMPETITION FOR LONG AND SHORT POEMS BY WOMEN 2017 – Deadline Tues, 15 August.
JUDGE MYRA SCHNEIDER will read all entries. Myra Schneider’s latest and recent books are Persephone in Finsbury Park (SLP), The Door to Colour (Enitharmon); What Women Want (SLP); and the writing resource, Writing Your Self (with John Killick). Myra is a Poetry School and Second Light regular tutor. More at Myra Schneider website. £300 First Prize for each of Long (no upper limit) and Short (max 50 lines) poems. £150 Second Prize (1 poem from either category). £75 Third Prize (1 poem from either category) Winning & Commended Poets published (in full or extract) in ARTEMISpoetry. Winners offered a London reading.
Entry: £6 each per long poem. Short poems: £4 each or £9 for 3, £14 for 8. Enter by post (2 copies) or online.
**Members are entitled to one free entry into the competition. Join now to be eligible.** (See About Second Light/Joining. Recommended ladies. I’m a member.) more: Rules & Entry direct link to payment at [Anne Stewart’s] poetry p f online shop, The results of the competitions will be posted on the website by 30th September. Once winning poems (or extracts) are published in ARTEMISpoetry. Second Light Network was founded and is managed by Dilys Wood.

EVENTS

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THE THIRD DUBLIN WRITERS CONFERENCE sponsored by The Society of Authors is scheduled to be held at The Gresham Hotel, O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 from the 23rd-25th of June 2017. Seventeen speakers are scheduled.  Details on conference, programme and to purchase tickets are HERE.  The Society is offering a lower early-bird registration rate.

HALI POETRY WORKSHOP WITH RUSS GREEN hosted by Long Island Poetry on March 8, 150 Brightside Aven, Central Islp, New York 11722. Russ Green is a guest poet with The BeZine.

SECOND SATURDAYS AT CYRUS with Terri Muuss and Patricia Spears Jones, hosted by the featured poets and Matt Pasca.March 11, Cyrus: Chai & Coffee Company, 1 Railroad Plz., Bay Shore, New York 11706.

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH is celebrated on April in the United States. Look for announcements of events and celebrations on this site throughout the rest of this month.

interNATIONAL POETRY MONTH at The BeZine is April. We will feature a special issue and submissions are encouraged. Deadline is April 10.

NEWS

ABOUT THE POET BY DAY

51kdxwtdml-_sx331_bo1204203200_The recommended read for this week is Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast by Pulitzer Prize winning Megan Marshall who studied with Bishop at Harvard. This biography is richly spun,  energetic, engaging and even inspirational despite the breathtaking depth of Bishop’s losses, her sense of marginalization and her head-long push into alcoholism. Indeed, some of the inspiration comes because with all her loses, Bishop managed to hold poetry tight. Her poems were for her a charm “against the loneliness they often expressed.” The book covers Bishop’s relationships with other poets and her romantic interests, the last was for me the singular wearisome downside, much overrided though by the book’s pleasures and values. It is laced with Marshall’s own stories and together the lives of these two bare witness to the power of words to give shape, sense and meaning to life. We come away with a strong sense of Elizabeth Bishop, one of America’s most extraordinary poets. A page-turner. A must read or everyone who loves and writes poetry.

By shopping at Amazon through The Word Play Shop and using the book links embedded in posts, you help to support the maintenance of this site. Thank you! (Some book links will just lead to info about the book or poet/author and not to Amazon.)

The WordPlay Shop offers books and other tools especially selected for poets and writers.

THE WORDPLAY SHOP: books, tools and supplies for poets, writers and readers

LITERATURE AND FICTION oo Editor’s Picks oo Award Winners oo NY Times Best Sellers