Exit West

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Lincoln in the Bardo

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Autobiography of Mark Twain: Volume 1, Reader's Edition

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Recent press: Quick Sip Reviews on my poem ‘Instructions for Astronauts’: ‘strange and haunting’

Thank you to Charles Payseur at Quick Sip Reviews for taking the time to read my work and write about it. Very cool! Quick snippet “strange and haunting” and “great”! If you need more, here are some snippets from his review of “Instructions for Astronauts”: This is a rather strange and haunting poem about humanity […]

Fahrenheit 451

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Recent press: Times Union on my Pushcart nomination

If you read my announcement on this blog last week, then you already know this news. But it caught the attention of the good people at the Albany Times Union, including current arts editor Gary Hahn. He worked his magic and one of the newest hires to the TU, Sara Tracey, was kind enough to […]

Watch: My poem ‘Instructions for Astronauts’ now a video

You can also read the poem at Mithila Review.

New Lit on the Block :: Curieux Academic Journal

When he sought to name his newly envisioned academic journal for high school writers, Theodore Bass said the word ‘curious’ embodied what he wanted to do with the publication. In French, the word is ‘curieux,’ which Bass thought had a nicer ring to it. Thus, Curieux Academic Journal was christened.

When he sought to name his newly envisioned academic journal for high school writers, Theodore Bass said the word ‘curious’ embodied what he wanted to do with the publication. In French, the word is ‘curieux,’ which Bass thought had a nicer ring to it. Thus, Curieux Academic Journal was christened.

Just launched on March 20, Bass plans Curieux Academic Journal  to come out online three times a year, with the next schedule date of publication July 20. “My personal motivation,” he explains, “was the fact that there are no places for high school students to publish their academic papers and essays. I decided to fill the void. Hopefully we can grow to become an international network of high school students publishing their wonderful work.”

Currently, all editors and personnel involved with the publication “are motivated, intelligent high school students who do not work for pay,” Bass says. “My thanks goes out to them; they're the ones who make the journal work.”

Writers who submit works can expect to have them read by two editors, with each weighing in on the decision to accept/deny, and both offering feedback for how the submissions could be improved.

Readers of the publication can expect this quality to be upheld as well as variety. “It really is a collage of papers and essays” Bass tells NewPages. “We accept work from essentially every academic field, so when you're reading our journal there is no specific theme you will find except for that of well-thought out research.”

The future of Curieux Academic Journal will depend upon the dedication of its readers and editorial staff. “I'd love to make the transition to print. That's obviously a dream,” Bass says, joining in the dream of many a journal. (And it’s a good dream to have!) “I'd also like to publish more: instead of publishing every four months I'd like to publish every two months.”

To meet that goal, Bass and his fellow editors encourage students to submit works, and for teachers to encourage their students to participate in the process of submitting works for peer review and publication. Submissions must come from high-school (or younger) aged writers, with academic papers and essays on every academic topic considered. Bass adds, “Instead of looking at subject-matter, we look at thoughtfulness.”

Young writers with thoughtful academic writing – this is your call!

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Books :: 2015 SFWP Literary Award Program Winner

The Santa Fe Writers Project hosts their Literary Awards Program each year since 2000. At the beginning of April, they published the 2015 grand prize winner: Magic for Unlucky Girls by A.A. Balaskovits. Selected by Emily St. John Mandel, the winning short story collection retells traditional fairy tales, taking familiar tropes and weaving them into modern stories of horror and hope.

From the publisher’s website:

From carnivorous husbands to a bath of lemons to whirling basements that drive people mad, these stories are about the demons that lurk in the corners and the women who refuse to submit to them, instead fighting back . . .

Find out more about Magic for Unlucky Girls at the SFWP website, where readers can order copies, check out the author’s website, and stop by the Awards Program page, submissions currently open until the tail end of July.

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My poem ‘For Your Own Safety’ Nominated for a Pushcart Prize

So here’s a screenshot of something that I just saw today on the SF Poetry website: Thank you, Star*Line magazine for the recognition! I won’t know until much later this year if my poem gets picked. The poem isn’t available online, but you can buy the edition it is in from http://ift.tt/2ouWn5z. And it was […]

New Lit on the Block :: The Drowning Gull

The Drowning Gull online biannual of art, nonfiction, poetry and fiction hails an eclectic editorial staff: Tiegan Dakin, a poet and artist living in New South Wales, Australia; Rebecca Valley, poet and writer living in Washington state; Shonavee Simpson, Australian freelancer from Newcastle; and Katelyn Dunne, a Chicago native currently living in Kentucky to attend university. “Living in different parts of the world,” says Dakin, “makes communication difficult at times. But we all have a common love of publishing, so we try tirelessly to make it work.”

The Drowning Gull online biannual of art, nonfiction, poetry and fiction hails an eclectic editorial staff: Tiegan Dakin, a poet and artist living in New South Wales, Australia; Rebecca Valley, poet and writer living in Washington state; Shonavee Simpson, Australian freelancer from Newcastle; and Katelyn Dunne, a Chicago native currently living in Kentucky to attend university. “Living in different parts of the world,” says Dakin, “makes communication difficult at times. But we all have a common love of publishing, so we try tirelessly to make it work.”

A published writer herself, Dakin pulled the name The Drowning Gull from one of her own short stories “about three people who were all writing letters to their deceased loved ones as a way of making peace with themselves. One of the main characters wrote to her deceased husband; he worked for a literary magazine called The Drowning Gull. I found it intriguing that the title involved an animal out of their element. A fish out of water, so to speak. When it occurred to me to start my own, it was the first thing that came to my head. I guess I felt kind of out of my element, taking such a big risk by starting a lit mag on my own.”

The risk has been worth it, as The Drowning Gull’s publishing track record shows early promise, in part, due to a scrupulous editorial process. Dakin explains, “I know that people think that fledgling lit mags accept anything that gets them new material to publish, but we're not like that at all. We put a lot of thought into whether we accept or reject a piece; and a few times, we've sent acceptance letters to writers requesting revisions, because we like a concept but think they could improve upon a few things. What's in our inaugural issue, and what will be in future issues, is the real deal.”

Readers of The Drowning Gull can “definitely expect a wide range of voices.” When asked to highlight some recently published writers, Dakin replied, “Answering that question would kind of contradict the point of The Drowning Gull; to discover the undiscovered. Journals would want popular, well-known writers to contribute. BUT. We know how famous people write; they've already been on the journey to fame and reached it. We want to help emerging writers get there (although we couldn't say that if some famous writer submitted something, that we would reject it without a second thought). If it's honest, adventurous and eloquent, chances are we'll take it.”

The Drowning Gull accepts submissions via e-mail and has added a new call for a mini-issue series called Sea Salt. Smaller than the June and December issues, Sea Salt will be themed and more selective, published in March and September. Dakin hopes this quarterly model will keep readers and writers coming to The Drowning Gull while making the submissions and editorial process manageable.

There are all kinds of motivations for people starting literary publications. For Dakin, her desire was driven by her own experiences of submitting works. “I'd been submitting to literary magazines for less than a year, but I found that I loved the chase of getting things published, and I wanted to provide that thrill for other writers and artists. I found that most of my work kept getting turned down. I wondered whether it was because my work was too honest or bold or whether it just sucked, so I wanted to provide people whose work was like the former (honest and adventurous) with a genuine opportunity for publication. The goal was genuine; I didn't want to be that person who dangled a bone in front of a dog, and then snatched it away.”

“I know a lot of literary magazine editors might not say this, but they probably think it; I also had this drive to be successful. I've always been kind of business-minded in that I just really wanted to make something big. Something that everyone would love. Managing The Drowning Gull has been an absolute adventure and simultaneous stress, and that success wasn't on as big a scale as I had expected, but I wouldn't change it at all. I've met some wonderful people like Shona, Rebecca and Katie in the process, so it's been wonderful.”

For more about The Drowning Gull, visit their website here.

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Aquifer :: The Florida Review Online

The Florida Review has launched a new online component Aquifer, with free weekly literary features (poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and graphic narrative), as well as interviews, book reviews, and digital stories. Later this year, Aquifer will open up submissions for this online content. Editors also hope that Aquifer: The Florida Review Online will open up the possibility for even more features, becoming a fully multi-media arts and letter site. We look forward to this great new innovation for TFR!

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Mithila Review - Issue 8

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Birthday awesomeness

When you have friends who bake, this can happen.  Wonderful chocolate cake for me and The Boy, who came home from NYC for a joint birthday celebration.  Thanks, Gina!

Books :: 2016 FIELD Poetry Prize Winner

The winner of the 2016 FIELD Poetry Prize, Chance Divine by Jeffrey Skinner, was published at the end of last month. The editors, David Young and David Walker, selected the collection from a group of submissions they say was one of the strongest in the prize’s 20-year history. However, Chance Divine made an impression, the editors “coming back to it with increasing admiration. It’s a notably ambitious book, unafraid to ask large questions about contemporary physics, poetry, and faith, and the relationships between them—but with a wit and inventiveness that lead to unpredictable, exhilarating results.”

On the Oberlin College Press website, readers can find three excerpted poems, more information about the collection, and a way to order a copy. 

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Books :: 2016 FIELD Poetry Prize Winner

The winner of the 2016 FIELD Poetry Prize, Chance Divine by Jeffrey Skinner, was published at the end of last month. The editors, David Young and David Walker, selected the collection from a group of submissions they say was one of the strongest in the prize’s 20-year history. However, Chance Divine made an impression, the editors “coming back to it with increasing admiration. It’s a notably ambitious book, unafraid to ask large questions about contemporary physics, poetry, and faith, and the relationships between them—but with a wit and inventiveness that lead to unpredictable, exhilarating results.”

On the Oberlin College Press website, readers can find three excerpted poems, more information about the collection, and a way to order a copy. 

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