STILL FINGERS

2006-12-06T14:18:00.000-08:00

Please visit me at my new website

judegoodwin.com

Cider Press Review : Acceptance

2006-12-06T11:39:00.000-08:00

Jude -

Thank you for submitting your work to Cider Press Review. After careful consideration by both editors, we would like to keep your poem "A Billion Eyes Look Up" for Volume 8 of Cider Press Review.

You will find the text of the poem(s) as we have them on file pasted below this message. If you need to make any changes or corrections, please note them near the edit point and return the text to us via reply.

You will be receiving one contributor’s copy of Cider Press Review shortly after publication in late winter/early spring 2007. Contributors will be able to purchase additional copies at a discounted rate.

Submitted July 31
Accepted Dec 6

Like many small presses, Cider Press Review depends on subscriptions to keep publishing. I encourage you to purchase the latest issue, and to request that libraries at your school and in your community subscribe to the journal.

Order subscriptions, books, or back issues online at ciderpressreview.com .

Thank you for your contribution. We are delighted to have your work in Cider Press Review.

Boxcar Poetry : Acceptance

2006-12-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

Dear Jude,

Thank you very much for sharing your work with us! We're happy to tell you that we'd like to publish "Cow Tipping" (never thought I'd be taking a poem with that title!) in an upcoming issue of Boxcar Poetry Review. Doing so, we pick up First North American Serial Rights (and Internet). However, after publication, all rights revert to you. We do ask that, if reprinted, you make mention of Boxcar Poetry Review.

Sincerely,
Neil Aitken, Editor

Welcome to Boxcar Poetry Review!

PRISM International : Rejection

2006-12-04T16:43:00.000-08:00

Well, one thing about not having this blog anymore - I won't be able to publish all these lovely rejections for everyone to see.

Thanks for sending your work to PRISM internation. We rece;ive many excellent submissions, but due to space constraints, we're unable to publish them all.

While we can't use your work at this time, we'd like to thank you for thinking of us. Please try again in the future.

Good luck with your writing!

Best,
Bren Simmers, Poetry Editor.

Personal note: Liked 'Its Velvet Tongue" best.

Changes

2006-12-03T13:37:00.000-08:00

I'm attempting to consolidate all my websites. Currently I have this blog, a poem a day blog, an 'official' poetry page with bio and samples, and a poetry workshop. Sheesh! Right now, I am working on judegoodwin.com which will combine everything. When it is complete, I'll be cancelling all these other pages. except for the poetry workshop of course which isn't really mine anymore.

Originally I started this blog to help track submissions and to share my experiences as I attempted to become a published poet. A lot has happened since those early, somewhat naive days. Hopefully my rambling blog has been of some help to anyone who happens to read it. I used to use this blog to list interesting links. workshop ideas, etc. Now I put all those in The Waters. In fact, when I close this blog, I'm going to transfer the list of Poetry Workshops at right into The Waters "Dive In! area. And with the advent of Duotrope I no longer need to track my submissions through a blog.

I want to write every day. Sometimes my days are very busy, so I will do my writing at midnight or later! It ends up that I don't really have a lot of time for blogging.

But thank you to all have have dropped by and visited. Please do come by The Waters for a boo, and watch for judegoodwin.com - coming soon.

Cheers
Jude

Disturbing News -

2006-11-27T09:02:00.000-08:00

After investing $40 and hopes and dreams in the Tupelo Press book award, I've read some distressing items on Foetry regarding J. Levine, editor in chief:

"Tupelo Press sounds tempting. After collecting $35 each for 1000 manuscripts during a questionable "open reading," the press has sent some (or maybe all) of the poets a subsequent form letter. Written by editor Jeffrey Levine, the letter is made to seem like it's a special invitation, but the wording is identical to the letters other poets received, with the unique name of each manuscript substituted.

Levine offers a "full manuscript review" for only $295.00, with a note that he normally charges $900! The critique offer preys on hopeful poets on many levels. (And be sure to make your check payable to Levine himself, and not Tupelo Press.) He cleverly says that "It does not represent a prelude to publication by Tupelo Press, though of course . . . do not rule out the possibility in some cases." There will be some poets desperate enough to accept his special offer, but I urge you to avoid this press. Levine had me fooled for awhile, but it seems to me that he is one of the sneakiest of the Foets.

Also troubling to me is this note: re-submit the manuscript to the Dorset Prize, where it will automatically skip over the first round of readings. To me and others who notified Foetry.com, this is a violation of Tupelo's own guidelines. Furthermore, despite the fact that Levine claims manuscripts will be read blind, he is obviously familiar with the names of poets and their work at this point." posted by Alan Cordle

On the Tupelo prize page they state:

" the winner of the Dorset Prize will be selected by a panel consisting of the senior poetry editors of Tupelo Press"

J. Levine is listed as Editor In Chief. Let's hope he's not on this 'panel' as he clearly already knows the names connected with the manuscripts. I have nothing against someone trying to drump up business and can certainly see Mr.Levine sending out letters like this to poets who have submitted books for publication outside of this contest. But this is a contest with a pretty hefty prize - ethically this whole thing stinks.

:(

Tupelo Press

2006-11-25T14:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I sent of a manuscript to Tupelo Press as an entry in their Dorset Prize.

There's a $25 entry fee which is pretty standard for most of these contests, however Tupelo offers $10,000 first prize (yipes) and also promises to publish some of the runners up as well. I also chose Tupelo because they are a sponsor of Poetry Daily and I like to support sponorship of all kinds.

To pay and post from Canada it totalled $40 - this is not a sum to take lightly! I also entered the Cider Press Book Award in September, entries close Nov 30. The two books have a lot of overlap, almost the same manuscript except for about 15 poems. Not sure what the ethics of this are, but the chances of it really mattering are slim! No matter the result, the exercise gets me a finished manuscript.

I keep thinking I'll now put this manuscript to bed and start a new one. It doesn't seem to work like that, though. I seem bent on replacing old poems with new.

I was happy to download Lisa Prince's poetry chapbook Sign Language (and other hand signals) produced by Lily. And on Arlene Ang's blog she notes she will be having a new chapbook published by Rubicon Press - 26 Secret Love Poems sometime in late spring 2007.

Poem K
by Lisa Prince

There are no words in the dictionary.

You line the bottles, one by one. Count them
in Swahili. Every third pill is pink - a message.
Your mother washed clothing with borax
and bluing, staining her fingers until they bled.
Now that you are older you remember
the tiles on the kitchen floor - each a different
flower. Annuals. Perennials. Your sister’s
birthday. The quilt your grandmother sewed
by hand - inch by inch blocked out
and sun-bleached by the shore. An onion
laid out in layers. Eggs broken in haste.

Your tears will always be salty.

Oh The Waters

2006-11-22T22:47:00.000-08:00

The Waters

The newest online poetry workshop with these great features:

• Post as often as you want, even daily!
• Comment 3-5 for each post, let's keep things moving.
• Good poets, good crits
• Indicate 'comments only' or 'crit please'

Here's what people are saying about The Waters

"I like the small feel of it. I also really enjoyed the 7 in 7 since most of the time doing 30 in 30 would be too much for me. But the 7 in 7 pushes me to write more than I usually do." Judy

" This one, The Waters, is a wonderful place to be ... " Cyn

"Just wanted to say thanks for hooking me up with the Waters. I'm learning a lot. I guess I just got lucky landing on your blog sometime last summer." Michael

" Thanks for all that is done here at the Waters. It's a great place to get the help I need. " Ava

2006-11-08T09:02:00.000-08:00

Why did you wait so long ...

... to publish your first book? I wasn't waiting! I just didn't have a publisher! I kept sending out poems, and ... I don't know how to feel when someone talks to me about waiting, because it certainly wasn't any policy on my part. It's just that I had the poems there, and maybe I didn't always send them to the right place; it just didn't happen, that's all. William Stafford in an interview with Cynthia Lofsness, as written in his book Writing the Australian Crawl.

Queens Quarterly : Rejection

I'm sorry, but we have decided against taking any of these poems. However, please feel free to try us again sometime.

Joan Harcourt
Literary Editor
Queen's Quarterly

6 poems, sent July 31.
Rejection 08 Nov 06, Email note.

2006-11-02T23:30:00.000-08:00

Here's another great website resource....
Duotrope's Digest, a database of over 1375 current markets for short fiction and poetry. Found this link on Arlene Ang's blog.

Excellent website discovery ...
NewPages.com : Good Reading Starts Here The site includes a page that lists online literary magazines, and I have had a very enjoyable few hours visiting from A - Z. There is a comprehensive contest listing and lots more - what a find!

Poet Sandi Blakemore-Baig (gigster) has died

2006-10-31T09:08:00.000-08:00

Here is a thread with poems and links

Sandi Blakemore-Baig - RIP, October 29th, 2006

Sandi was an online poet friend. We encouraged each other, met up on various boards. I recently ran into Sandi on Blueline and invited her over to The Waters. She came, started posting and criquing - I am so sad she is gone.

Northern Comfort

She warms milk on the stove,
pours it in her mug,
cherishes soft oatmeal
cookies filled with cream.

In the distance, the clicks
of hockey sticks on ice
create an odd comfort
on a cold snowball night.

by Sandi Blakemore-Baig

The Fiddlehead : Rejection

2006-10-30T20:26:00.000-08:00

Hand-written Note

Dear Jude Goodwin

Thank you for your interest in "The Fiddlehead." We read your submission carefully, but are unable to accept it for publication. The metaphor and image that catches your eye is worthy of note, and I wish you all the best with your poetry!

Signed: couldn't read the name, but not one listed on their masthead.

Fiddlehead / 5 poems
Sent July 27 :: Rejection October 30

2006-10-27T22:07:00.000-07:00

In the post ....

in the Electric Shadows, poetry by JJ Webb, California and signed too. Thank you JJ! Am looking forward to reading.

101 Ways to Make Poems Sell, the Salt Guide to Getting and Staying Published. This book had a light bulb effect. Written by Chris Hamilton-Emery, it's one of those simplistic tomes that is really just there to turn on a switch.

Go Ahead, Laugh. Bridge Humour by Jude Goodwin. Ya, that's me. What's bridge humour? LOL well you might ask! Basically, it's a book of cartoons, with card playing the specifically tournament bridge, as its theme. Speaking of which, if you have any card playing friends or family, I've just today launched my annual Holiday Shopping For Card Players website. Spent a week surfing the web looking for interesting stuff. Take a look if you dare! www.giftsforcardplayers.com

Almost finished my 30-in-30 stint over on Inside the Writers Studio. It is working very well for me this time around. Poem number 26 tonight - I write them after 10 it seems. Have to say I have really enjoyed my time with the poets over there. You want to feel like a poet? Spend a few days on 30-30.

I'm adding to the emoticons library on The Waters. I've seen the darn little things play a huge part in communication on TWS. So I surfed around, and found an excellent resource. It's complicated, adding them to an ezboard, but I did it. More coming too.

2006-10-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

Go Ahead, Laugh ...

One of the things I do when I'm not writing poetry!
Read more here ...

2006-10-23T16:19:00.000-07:00

The Guardian Workshop Shortlist is up ...

and my poem was included! "Amy Newman admires the many and varied responses to her exercise on ekphrasis." Some of you may remember my difficulty with that kind of poetry! Twelve poets are recognized - an excellent demonstration of ekphrasis ...

2006-10-20T21:23:00.000-07:00

The new Pedestal Magazine is up ...

with the poetry section edited by Arlene Ang who had to sift through some 2000 poems to pick 15. Some cool choices, my favourite being After Hopper, by Timothy Green ...

Some slight changes ...

to this page. I have started to add poetry 'news' links to the right column. Many poetry sites list other bloggers so I don't think I need a list like that here. But, poetry news, and further down, poetry workshops, might be of interest to some of you.

2006-10-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

In keeping with the season ...

here's Adonnizio's poem Dead Girls put to film on Phenomenal Parentheses

October IBPC winners ...

October IBPC Selections are posted on the Writers Block. Can't see them on the IBPC site yet. And what a fast turnaround this month! The judge is David Kirby - read him, he's great!

Some beautiful October poems ...

At the Jackdaws Nest - thanks to Frank Wilson for this link.

Half-way ....

On Inside the Writers Studio 30-30 I will post my 15th poem today. Yay. The current group of poets are quite inspiring and include Arlene Ang, John Vick, Michaela Gabriel, Nate McClain and many others. These guys are hard core ... they like to take each other's poems and mix things up, reuse words and lines, or build on themes and generally have lots of fun at each other's expense. Very entertaining and something I look forward to each evening.

Meanwhile, the Waters 7 in 7 forum is active with myself and Cyn posting and Toni Clark promising to show up soon. If you've always wanted to try writing a poem a day, starting with 7-in-7 might be a good idea so come on down! The water's warm ....

2006-10-12T09:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a delicious October poem ...

BATS by Amanda Jennigan .... on Poetry

Another great example of billanthropy * ...

Frank Wilson on Books Inq provides this interesting link. Bill Gates and Microsoft continue their world conquest by creating an inner city highschool that has no books, no pens and paper. Just - guess what - laptops with Microsoft products and linked to Microsoft services.

* Defined as philanthropic pursuits that further a monopolistic agenda

2006-10-08T22:11:00.000-07:00

I've been enjoying my visit over on ITWS in their 30-30 forum. I have just made it through day seven. It is tough, but I'm writing and that's what I'm doing it for. I have 7 new poems although I would really only consider one of them for any further attention. But it's fun and the gang has a great sense of humour! Writers bounce off each other, themes (self-portraits, encyclopedia entries) and even words (bucket, hands). As well, everyone is roaming the net looking for inspiration - there have been at least three poems with the for eclectica.org words used in them for example - part of the fun is discovering this. I'm not inviting you over, though. With 12 poets already in, doing the daily comments is the biggest challenge.

The Guardian Poetry Workshop this month has an Ekphrasis challenge. "Ekphrasis is defined as the technique by which one artist responds to another, specifically as a verbal response to the visual or plastic arts."

This is very difficult for me - I simply do not respond to visual arts in any way that would be of interest in words. I look at a picture and I think green! I love spring! or I think water! how refreshing!. But I don't find a story in a picture - the story belongs to the painter. And how does one choose a painting anyhow? The one suggested in the workshop has a group of people sitting around in the garden. Nicely painted. Very boring picture - like a bad photo. And when I read an ekphrasis poem, I find it particularly strange. Mostly, it describes the painting. Um. I can see the painting. Why is it being described to me? Much better if I don't see the painting but most ekphractic (is that a word?) poems are accompanied by the picture.

Anyhow, I picked a picture of four boats by VVGogh. Flat sea. Four boats waiting on the shore. Curdled cod's breath sky. Some kind of grey wing floating in the water, washing up against the rock. a yellow mast. yellow grass. That's it. Oh. There are other boats on the horizon. Maybe one of them carries Mary, put to sea by the Romans. The crying woman, hands wrapped in rags still smelling of myrrh.

Jude

2006-10-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

What a lovely way ...

to start the day, reading Freada's poem on ITWS 30-30 "Between Me and Recognition of Need". As it is on a forum, you will need a login to enjoy the piece. Linked here with permission.

Getting Published ...

"The authenticity of your feelings, their depth, novelty and sincerity, are not markers for commercial success. Many publishers will recognise the characteristics of such poetry and flinch from the memory of heart-felt writing, from young and old alike, which fails to stimulate the reader beyond calls for sympathy. Alas, sympathy does not sell books, it sells greeting cards."

This interesting article was found on the Salt Publishing website.

Click here for article ::>

© Chris Hamilton-Emery, 2005
101 Ways to Make Poems Sell:
The Salt Guide to Getting and Staying Published

The IBPC September Selections are up

2006-10-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

with many good poems and a special congratulations to first place Laurie Byro and her poem, Silver Apples.

This is the second month in a row for Laurie . Well done girl!

Dark and hallowe'en steep

2006-10-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year. Meat pies and bourbon skies

-----------

I've made it onto Books, Inq - well, sortof. Frank Wilson posted a link ::

The latest issue ...
... of the Crescent Moon Journal is up.

and I'm in this journal so it sorta seems like mention on one of my favourite websites.

---------

I've decided to try a 30-30 over on Inside The Writers Studio. It's a tough one because there are so many participating and the deal is, we must comment on every poem. So I've made a list, and given columns to each day, and I check the poets off as I comment. There are 11 poets at the moment so each day I must write one poem and comment on 11 others. Some good poets right now, I've enjoyed today's serving ...

Aegis by Ian Goodwin

2006-09-29T16:17:00.000-07:00

I open my sunroof on a slant with the
late September grasp on all that was summer
risking rain and the cold that fat, sick women are
breathing at work.

read more here -->

Thursday

2006-09-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

Late summer wraps itself around Thursday like a cat
white paws resting on the pulse at my wrist.

---------

I was happy to rediscover Kim Addonizio's blog. Thought she had given it up! Turns out she's been posting here and there. In a posting dated March 23 she writes:

Rejection letters—Get used to them. “Butch it up, Kim,” said my writer friend Lisa Glatt, once when I was whining to her on the phone. If you don’t want to be rejected, don’t send out.

Better odds of acceptance: work seriously for 7-10 years first before sending.

The logic: just because it’s rejected doesn’t mean it’s bad.
Just because it’s published doesn’t mean it’s any good.

And: The work is more important than the publication, but you may not really understand that until you are published.

Also: it is actually very easy to get published. Somewhere. By someone. Once that happens, it will not be enough. You will want to be published somewhere else, somewhere better. Then you will want books, then awards for the books, then big grants and fellowships and endowed chairs, and then eternal youth. The desire to publish is usually composed of a dash of desire to give one’s gifts, like vermouth in a double martini. The drink itself is ego and insecurity. I call this the Pinocchio Syndrome: Publish me! I’m only a wooden puppet writer! Make me a real writer!

The work is more important.

-------

Those are good words, Kim. Kinda puts it all into perspective. Cause here's the deal - if a poet is spending a lot of time angsting over worthiness, success, and whether or not she is loveable, this is a stall on the 'self-esteem needs' of Maslow's pyramid - that's level 4. I think we need to be up around level 6 to write poetry.

and 7-10 years ... I've got 3-6 years left!

whoosh, I'm hearing the wind past my cheek, I'm climbing the pyramid.

Getting ready to run

2006-09-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

- outside, the sun is brilliant and the doggy shuffs behind his 'go to bed' door. So a quick post here before I'm off.

Wrote a pantoum last night before bed. Another sub for the 'what precedes a poem' query over on Books Inq. Not sure why I was inspired to do this - wierd actually. But I love pantoums always have. Want to write another tonight about a 'body part' for the Wild Poetry challenge.

Congrats to Toni Clark who won the Cliché Reality challenge over on The Waters. We are getting ready to set up a new challenge soon. Toni will be mailed a chapbook 'Pseudophakia' by Julie Carter.

Our Squamish Writers Group meets tonight - I'm looking forward to it!

Last night my daughter and I saw the film The Illustionist. We came away very pleased. Do see it if you can - great story and some awesome architecture and cinematography too.

Time was -

2006-09-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

Time was I would spend a good hour each morning going through my email. Catching up on friends, reading the latest poetry on my e-mail lists, hearing from family, reading jokes, stuff like that. Things are changing though. I checked my email this Sunday morning and there was nothing! Well, nothing if I don't count the 40 spam emails. I have a nice new Junk folder now that I've upgraded my email client and all of the spam zips into it without my having to even look at it. How software can determine what is junk is a mystery but it took a few months of my 'junking' email and telling it that some emails are 'not junk' for the whole thing to start working so well.

Nowadays, I spend that hour in the Land of Blog. Friends blogs, poets' blogs, industry blogs, my daughters blog (catching up on the grandsons' antics), my brother's blog in Bermuda, my own blog -

and look what can be found!

On Arlene Ang's blog I found the Tinman - I've had iTunes set to repeat for days. Christopher Tin has many samples of his great compositions on his website at christophertin.com. The piece on Arlene's blog sounds faintly like two of my favourite musical pieces, the opening to Lion King and the opening to the first season of Battlestar Galactica.

On Frank Wilson's blog, we're asked to contribute to a poetic challenge, What Precedes the Poem - a challenge preceded by Frank's own fruity work. I like this blog (Books Inq) - whenever Wilson finds something of interest on the net, he posts a little snippet - sometimes many posts in one day - and links to the main articles. Following these links has taken me to some pretty interesting places.

At Poetry Thursday, you'll find a weekly challenge (completely and totally optional) and poets post their responses in the comment thread.

Cedar Press Review Book Award

2006-09-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it. I sent off my manuscript to join the contest 'slush pile' at Cedar Press Review. What is it about contests that I find more attractive than the usual slush pile? Well, first there is promise of a cash prize (oh grubby me), there's lots of levels like honorable mention and stuff like that, but mostly - hey, they ASK me to send them a manuscript. So at least I don't have to feel like I'm imposing on anyone, making their days onerous. I'm employing readers! I'm supporting a small press. Oh, there's all sorts of good things -

I had sent a draft of the manuscript to my friend Scott Wiggerman who, by the way, has recently published through his company 'Dos Gatos Press' a pretty cool desk calendar called Texas Poetry Calendar 2007. You can purchase a copy on their website. Anyhow, Scott, bless is heart, returned comments with a list of the poems he liked and some typographic corrections. And his response was encouraging: "All in all, I find that when I read a book of poetry, if I mark a third of the poems with a star (sometimes a double star), that means I think it's a good book." So armed with that I printed the darn thing out (it's been lurking in my iMac for weeks) and mailed it off.

Slush

2006-09-20T16:50:00.000-07:00

I've been interested in the 'slush pile' lately - a term loosely applied to what David Lynn of the Kenyon Review describes as " the unsolicited manuscripts that appear by the tens and dozens and, yes, thousands." And, true to global consciousness theories, there have been a few great articles online these past weeks.

First, an interesting insight from Poetry Midwest Editor Matthew Schmeer titled "Thoughts on Rejecting Poems".

More recently, a thread of articles on the Kenyon Review's excellent new blog. It started with an article in their Newsletter # 3 The Editor's Confessions about the Slush Pile, contributed by David Lynn. (Copied to The Waters). Today on the KR blog we find these two articles: On Electronic Slush by Jessica Freeman-Slade, and Death by Tuba by Sergei Lobanov-Rostovsky.

Enjoy!

Seven again

2006-09-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

I've completed another 7-in-7 on the Waters and am on my way again - a wonderful feeling!

Last week our local writers group met for the first time of this season. Here is a picture of our meeting place - isn't it awesome?

We're pretty excited - have lots of plans for workshops, guest speakers, and things like that.

I'm currently reading William Stafford's Writing the Australian Crawl. I had leant it out for a few months, but have it back now. A very inspirational book for me. Stafford writes about rambling, doodling, letting the words wander and be themselves. I like that.

Kenyon Review Newsletter

2006-09-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

KR ENTERS THE BLOGOSPHERE
(from their email newsletter, #3)

We've plunged deep into cyberspace with a blog <http://www.kenyonreview.org/blog/> of our own. Ably led by lit blogger extraordinaire Ms. Liz Loppato, the KR crew has already logged in plenty of news/views from the literary world.

If you haven't visited yet, check out KR Editor David Lynn's introduction <http://kenyonreview.org/blog/?p=32> and our bloggin' bios <http://kenyonreview.org/blog/?page_id=46> .

To read the entire newsletter, try this link http://www.kenyonreview.org/newsletters/september.html

School Days

2006-09-06T20:45:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Kids are back in school, moms have 6 glorious hours - catch up on work, catch up on writing, catch up on hobbies, catch up on fitness, catch up on walking the damn dog, catch up on washing the windows (mine don't laugh), catch catch catch. Everything sorts itself out and Judy can relax on the couch, velour pillows beneath her head, and Judy can write daily in her brown spiral bound books. But - I'll miss the clean lake waters, the rocks, the sun. My daughter and I rushed into its arms today after school. But the water was chilly! It bit. The nights are colder now even though the days still makes us sweat. And I'll miss the lazy days with my girl, grade six now - my hours with her are numbered I know.

I've decided to purchase a camperized van. Westfalia or Eurovan is what I'm thinking. Make the most of my last few years with Jama - being self-employed, I can't get away for long times, but I think with a camper van, I could steal away more often. She's starting to like her bike more and more also - we can go on camping bike rides!

Right now I'm reading Pete Straub's new book, The Night Room. It's bizarre. But I like it. Less cerebral than his other recent works. Speaking of Straub, he has an eclectic website, lots of fun. Click here to visit

No news for me on the publishing front, or any front for that matter. My muse has flown. Temporarily, I'm sure. I think somewhere in the Land of Encephalon things are working themselves out.

I have place a permanent link to Submissions History on the bar at right, so I can keep track without repasting it all the time. Of course you are welcome to look through the page. It might be of interest to people wondering about submit/response times for various magazines.

I have a completed manuscript. I call it Crang Crang Crang. I have sent it to two friends and am waiting for their response. So far, nothing from them and it's been a few weeks. But, I get the odd manuscript from other poets and must admit it is hard to read a manuscript, especially one from a friend. I am considering entering the manuscript in the Cider Press and Philip Levine contests.

On The Waters for our Cliché Reality Contest, we have decided on a book: pseudophakia by Julie Carter. We will purchase the book when we have a winner (Deadline September 15) and have it mailed directly to the winner's postal address.

Thank you to all who contributed your chapbook links. We are going to continue to offer prizes in this manner so I will definitely keep your replies.

For your enjoyment, then, here is a poem from Julie's book:

Message in a bottle

Ohio folds itself like a green pleat
beneath my stride. The air is webbed with blue
and bluebottles that sail in birring fleets
from feast to atrophying feast. Tattoos
of chlorophyll and dirt disguise my shoes
in glyphs intended for another eye.
Three bobwhites spring out chuckling toward the sky
carrying the message from the mud.
I stop within the cycloning of flies
to see if they will codify in blood.

Do You Have A Chapbook of Poetry for sale?

2006-08-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

We're looking for chapbooks to offer as prizes in monthly challenges on The Waters. If you have one for sale, that can be purchased through PAY PAL, please let us know - drop a comment.

It's a Cliché Reality

2006-08-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

A New Challenge is up on The Waters
It's A Cliché Reality
Hope you all drop by and try it out!

For a prize, I'd like to offer a chapbook of poetry which I will purchse from a poet's website via Pay Pal. So, I'm looking for suggestions. Please drop me a comment if you have one or better yet, leave me information about your own chapbook. Remember, it needs to be available using PayPal.

Thanks!

Three Contests

2006-08-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

What a georgeous day! One of those moaning summer Tuesdays -

Congratulations to Sachi Nag, new editor on the Writers Block. There are some nice comments posted regarding my retirement - I am touched by them.

77 Sunset Beach, the new forum on The Waters, is a place for those wanting to try their hand at writing a poem a day - for one week. Comments only, no critique. The leaves the Poetry forum open for more in-depth critique and comment which seems to be wanted by our poets. Coming soon will be our Fall Challenge, and we are considering starting up a forum for discussion on Theory and Craft. What will we call it? Any thoughts are welcome. Maybe the Shipyard. hmmm.

Contests contests contests. I have put together a manuscript and am considering entering it in the Philip Levine Prize in Poetry Competition, the Cider Press Review Poetry Award and maybe - oh, ok, I'm going to enter once again the CBC Radio Literary awards. They shortlist 35, so that alone could be a bit of spirit leaven. I know I thought I wouldn't bother this year, but it's kind of a tradition for me and helps me get organized each fall. Each of these contests offers a cash prize as well as publication. Each also requires about $25 entry fee, but that's ok by me.

I had a nice email waiting for me last night. A Canadian magazine, 4am, sent me an invitation to submit. Here I am looking for magazines to submit to, and a magazine actually invites me to submit to them. Is this common? It didn't look like a form letter. And, what poems should I send? What if they don't like any of them? That would be a bit uncomfortable wouldn't it? I have poems that are, well, weird. I'd love to see if anyone wants them. They sit in a special place on my little bruised hearth. I wonder if this is the time to give them their chance. Or would that be taking advantage of the kind editor at 4am.

Octopus : Not A Winner

2006-08-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend of Octopus,

Thank you for submitting to Octopus #8. The editorial board and the editors of Octopus read yoru manuscript closely as part of an anonymous process, but decided ultimately it wasn't the right book for us.

We're grateful for all teh submissions and interest we received and with over 300 submissions, we regret having to reject so much poetry that delights and amazes us. We wish you the best of luck placing your manuscript elsewhere.

Sincerely,
Zachary Schomburg & Mathias Svalina, Editors, Octopus Magazine.

Received by email:

Dear Friend of Octopus,

We are excited to announce the contents of our upcoming chapbook issue, Octopus #8. As you
might already know this issue will consist of eight separately printed & bound chapbooks presented as a single issue. We received over three hundred submissions among which were so many exciting manuscripts. After a blind reading process the editorial board and we chose these eight amazing chapbooks:

Julie Doxsee
The Knife-Grasses

Jen Tynes & Erika Howsare
The Ohio System

Sueyeun Juliette Lee
Perfect Villagers

Eugene Ostashevsky
DJ Spinoza‚s Dozen

Joshua Marie Wilkinson
The Book of Truants & Projectorlight

Genya Turovskaya
The Tides

Jonah Winter
The Continuing Misadventures of Andrew, the Headless Talking Bear

Samuel Amadon
Goodnight Lung

Issue #8 will be available for purchase in the fall. You will be able to buy the chapbooks as a full set
or individually.

This is the first venture of Octopus Books. Beginning in 2007, Octopus Books will publish two full-
length books of poems every year through open April readings, in addition to broadsides and
additional chapbooks.

Please check us out at www.octopusbooks.net.

Thanks for your interest in and support of Octopus Magazine and Octopus Books.

Sincerely,

Zachary Schomburg & Mathias Svalina
Editors, Octopus Magazine & Octopus Books

Editorial Board: Brandon Shimoda, Hadara Bar-Nadav, and Christopher DeWeese.
Editorial Assistants: Heather Green, Alisa Heinzman, Tim Marcuson, and Ashley Payne.

Crescent Moon Journal : WInner

2006-08-08T21:29:00.000-07:00

Hi Jude

I am very pleased to tell you that your poem, "With your dry lips," has won first prize in our summer contest. The full results and judge Sachi Nag's comments by clicking here.

As promised, the poem has been sent to Mustansir Dalvi for inclusion in the Summer issue of Crescent Moon Journal.

Congratulations, Jude!

All my best

Chris George

Barrelhouse : Rejection

2006-08-08T18:13:00.000-07:00

Dear Jude --

Thanks for submitting your work to Barrelhouse. Unfortunately, it's not
quite right for us. We wish you success in finding a home for it elsewhere.

All the best,

Sincerely,

Gwydion Suilebhan
Poetry Editor

Submission: July 31 : Email
Response: Aug 8

Magma : Rejection

2006-08-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

Dear Jude

Thanks for sending us some of your work to consider for Magma Poetry 36. We've read it with care and I'm sorry yours didn't make the final selection. We're grateful for all the submissions and interest we receive and with over 2000 poems competing for some 60 places, I do regret having to turn down very many poems I've enjoyed and valued.

Every success with future magazine submissions.
Best wishes

Anne-Marie Fyfe (Guest Editor, Magma 36)

Magma / 5 poems
Sent May 31 :: Rejection August 1

Thoughts : Wow! 2000 for 60 spots. They invite contributions through Email. Is this why they are so inundated? Is submission through email going to be a bigger challenge than submission through the post? Certainly it is easier to submit by email so that could lead to many more submissions.

FYI: Magma is a magazine of poetry and writing about poetry, published three times a year in Spring, Autumn and Winter, in full on paper and in selection on their Web site.

So much fun

2006-07-31T21:59:00.000-07:00

We're having so much fun over on The Waters that I haven't had a lot of time for my blog. I started up a 7-in-7 for the poets there and five of us took up the challenge. A gentler project than 30 - in - 30 but still challenging especially this time of year what with kids out of school, work backed up, and all those lakes out there calling "Jump! Jump in me!" But, as always, writing a poem a day gets the juices going and suddenly I feel compulsive and obsessed again. With what? With words! imagery! metaphor! help ...

Recent submissions

Prism International (UBC, BC) : July 27 : 5 poems

Fiddlehead : July 27 : 5 poems

Queens Quarterly : July 31 : 6 poems : Email

Barrelhouse : July 31 : 3 poems : Email

Cider Press Review : July 31 : 5 poems : Email

I'm attempting to compile a list of print journals that accept email submissions. Not easy to find! But I truly think email submission is the way of the future - less gas (driving to the post office), less paper, and no stamps, IRCs, or SASEs. What could be better? When I get a good list, I'll post it here.

The Writers Block just concluded their first ever poetry contest, and my first experience as a judge and writer of comments. I liked it.

I have now resigned as editor of the Writers Block. I need more time to dedicate to The Waters. As well, I have never felt that I belonged on the Writers Block. I post poems which rarely get comment, and my poetry never gets nominated there for the IBPC. Even if it does, after all these years, only once or twice has one ever been submitted - I think once it was submitted when other nominees were unable to agree. So - it really is a matter of fit. My poetry doesn't fit in on that playground. It fits in elsewhere - and that's the way of most things isn't it? I wish everyone there the best of luck and good fortune and happy muses and all that stuff. Working with Christopher T. George and AnnMarie Eldon was a pleasure.

I was able to meet the deadline for my book of cartoons. The entire manuscript, layout, introduction, forward, bio, full color cover, and reviews package is in the hands of the publisher. Nothing to do now but forgetaboutit.

I am seriously considering a manuscript of poetry this month - either to submit to publishers or to enter into contests. I won't be entering the CBC Literary Awards this year - I have been noting the winners and although the judges change from year to year, it seems that one long poem, or a series of poems in one story or along a single theme, are preferred to a collection of short, unrelated poems. So that leaves me out.

There was a manuscript contest, deadline September 31 I think, that will be judged by Dorianne Laux. Cool. I'm going to find that one, and send my stuff in. Lost the link. Hopefully it isn't buried too deeply.

That's it for now!

I found the link:

CIDER PRESS Review Book Award: $1,000 and publication of full-length poetry collection. Judge: Dorianne Laux. All entrants receive a copy of the winning book. Reading period: September 1–November 30. Reading fee: $25. Send 48–80 page manuscript to: Cider Press Review, 777 Braddock Lane, Halifax, PA 92168. Guidelines: www.ciderpressreview.com.

First cool day -

2006-07-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

- in about forever. Nice to be able to sit at the computer again without all that sweat and languor.

We've got a 7 in 7 thing happening over at The Waters. Write a poem a day for seven days. Yes, just like the House of 30, but only 7 days - 7 quick days - 7 inspired days. Can you do it? Some old friends and some new friends over that way. See you there!

The new poetry workshop challenge is up on The Guardian hosted by Vicki Feaver - write an animal poem, deadline Sunday July 30. Hey, maybe write 7 animal poems, one a day.

I'm busily scanning and fixing up all my cartoons for the book (Go Ahead, Laugh), manuscript due by July 31. It will be published this fall, or at least in time for holiday shopping. Very exciting. I'm also struggling to get the summer issue of Bridge Canada put to bed this week. Trouble is, with all this heat, much of our time is spent lakeside or squirting each other in the neighbourhood gardens.

Winners have been chosen for the Writers Block Summer Poem contest. They will likely be announced on Friday - first place will be published in Web Del Sol.

No word yet from the IBPC.

And while I'm mentioning the IBPC, this month marks the third anniversary of Rus Bowden's Poets & Poetry in Rags - a brilliant newsletter Rus presents to us every second Wednesday. Thank you Rus! for all this hard work. Click here to read more ::>

Thank you all for your kind comments and congratulations on my last post - the Burnside Review acceptance.

Jude

Burnside Review : Acceptance

2006-07-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

Jude-

Thanks for the submission. I am happy to inform you that we'd be both pleased and honored to publish "Sadness" in the upcoming Winter issue, due out late December/early January. All I need from you is a fresh bio for the contributor's notes and a mailing address to send your contributor's copy. Let me know if you have any questions. And thanks again for entrusting your poetry with us.

Sincerely,

Sid Miller
Editor
Burnside Review

Submitted 5 poems
April 15 : Acceptance, July 10

Prairie Fire : Rejection

2006-07-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Jude,

Thank you for allowing Prairie Fire to consider your work. We regret that we are unable to accept it at this time. Although we would like to respond to each submission individually, the number of submissions we regularly receive is such that we are unable to do so. We wish you all the best with your writing.

Yours truly,

Barbara Schott

with Chandra Mayor

Poetry Co-Editors for

Prairie Fire Magazine

------
Prairiefire Press / 4 poems
Sent January 21 :: Rejection, July 10

HISTORIC UPDATE

2006-07-06T16:17:00.000-07:00

I've edited this to be a permanent Update Page.
Last edit November 11.

11th Muse Poetry Contest / 6 poems
Sent 11 Nov 06 / deadline Dec 1

MsLexia / 4 poems
Sent 10 Nov 16 :: No response

Boxcar / 5 weird poems
Sent 7 Nov 06 :: No response

Kenyon Review / 6 poems
Sent 7 Nov 06 :: Online Submission Form :: No Response

Literary Mama / 4 poems
Sent 3 Nov 06 :: Email :: No Response

Absent / 5 poems
Sent 25 Sept 06 :: No Response

4AM / 5 poems by request
Sent 06 September 06 :: No Response

Pedestal Magazine / 6 poems
Sent 30 Aug 06 :: Rejection, September 28. Personal note.

Prism / 5 poems
Sent 27 Jul 06 :: No response

Fiddlehead / 5 poems
Sent 27 Jul 06 :: Rejection October 30, personal note.

Queens Quarterly / 6 poems
Sent 31 Jul 061 : Rejection, email note, 08 Nov 06

Cider Press Review / 5 poems
Sent 31 Jul 06 :: No response

Magma / 5 poems
Sent 31 May 06 :: Rejection, August 1. Form letter.

Writers Digest Contest
Sent 13 May 06 :: Assume Not A Winner

Burnside Review / 5 poems
Sent 15 Apr 06 :: Acdeptance, July 10. Sadness

Octopus / 27 poems
Sent April 13 :: Not a winner, Aug 14

Pedestal / 6 poems
Sent March 30 :: Rejection, form letter

Comstock Review / 5 poems
Sent March 2 :: Rejection with personal note, June 19

PRISM, Vancouver / 5 poems
Sent January 21 :: Rejection with comment from Poetry Editor, May 1

Fiddlehead / 4 poems
Sent January 21 :: rejection with personal note, May 16

New Quarterly / 4 poems
Sent January 21 :: no response :: Consider Rejected

Prairiefire Press / 4 poems
Sent January 21 :: Rejection Form Letter, July 10

Contemporary Verse 2 / 6 Poems for Rising Star Issue
Sent January 27 :: no response :: Consider Rejected

Contemporary Verse 2 / 6 Poems for Memory Issue
Sent October 8 :: no response :: Consider Rejected

Poetry Chicago / 4 Poems
Sent Jan 31 05 :: Rejection Jan 31

Burnside Review / 4 Poems
Sent Sept 3 05 :: Rejected Sept 30

Malahat Review / 7 Poems
Sent Sept 18 05 :: Rejection

Black Warrior / 7 Poems
Sent Aug 5 05 :: Rejected Nov 28

White Pelican Review / 5 Poems
Sent July 5 05 :: Acceptance Aug 16

Burnside Review / 5 Poems
Sent July 5 05 :: Rejection July 31

Sea to Sky Anthology / 5 Poems
Sent July 11 05 :: Acceptance all 5, July 11

Poetry / 4 Poems
Sent June 1 05 :: Rejection June 30

The New Yorker / 6 Poems
Sent June 6 05 :: Rejection

Comstock Review : Rejection

2006-06-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

Dear Poet
We appreciate your sending us your work to read. We regret that we are unable to use it at this time. All poems are read by at least three editors, often more. As you may know, we strive for varied styles and content and we like to include some traditional verse. In order to do this we send back many poems which will be published elsewhere.

The Editorial Board of Directors,
Comstock Writer's Group

Hand-written marginalia:

Some nice work overall - "Cow" and "How he loved me" the editors favorites. That first line in "Loved me" is a grabber! (JB)

John M. Bellinger

Gone for a while - see you in July

2006-06-13T23:40:00.000-07:00

Not This Year

2006-06-09T22:14:00.000-07:00

I've decided I will not race in the big mountain bike race I enter every year (see www.testofmetal.com). I was so stressed about trying to get everything done before my trip to Bermuda that I got sick. I haven't written in forever. I couldn't sleep - I'd wake up in the middle of the night and suffer anxiety attacks. I spent most of my days thinking about my training or on my bike. Too much! That race happens every year. This year, I'm giving it a miss. I haven't been on my bike in four days and it feels decadent! I finished my work, even weeded my garden. Wow.

Now, if only I could write something! Here's what I would do -

• Write a villanelle for the contest on The Waters
• Enter the Guardian workshop challenge - which looks like a three stanza poem with at least 5 senses used. One never knows what the workshop really wants, but I've learned from experience that taking the host poet literally is usually the best.

Oh well, if I can't do that I'm going to put poems together for submission. Can't believe how many are still out there without response - some from last fall! However, I shall persevere.

There's a contest at the Comstrock Review - Muriel Craft Bailey Memorial Award 2006. They have published my work before so maybe it makes sense to enter their contest. First prize is $1000 and it's only $3 per poem. Deadline July 1, 2006.

I fall in love with a new poet every week or so. One of the advantages of being a 'late in life' reader - so many people to discover! This week it's Billy Collins. His poetry speaks for me (and for millions of others I gather). Funny how one can feel intimately about a writer - his words are here, in my home. It's very hard to make them bodyless. I looked around on the web for information about the man, but there's not much. No mention of wife or kids or personal life. Odd actually. I've often noticed that many of the female poets carry this bag of 'personal life' around with them - 'she married poet so and so' or 'she lives with her husband and x kids in ... ' etc. while many of the male poets have bios that simply stop at the end of the credits.

Tomorrow I get my hair cut and attend a wedding. In between I may clean out my garage. Ah the glories of domestic relaxation!

Jude

Villanelle Contest on The Waters

2006-06-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

We're running a villanelle contest on The Waters. Prize is a hand signed copy of a book of poetry by Rhina Espaillat.

The contest is being managed by Toni Clark and she has presented some wonderful examples. Find a couplet in someone else's poem that you like and use those two lines as your repetends. Make it serious or humorous, as you wish. Toni offers samples for you to choose from or find your own.

Contest deadline June 15.

The Waters
http://p086.ezboard.com/bthewaters35527

headache and robbery

2006-05-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

My niece's visit ended sadly with a broken window and a stolen stereo this morning. Someone saw the perp, young and skinny, black hoodie with a white lining - that should be easy to find, on sale right now and a hundred on the rack - 3 am in the morning. I remember that time, it belongs to youth. Padded skate shoes walking through a complex leaving no echo, just a silent lifting - right there, under the pink glow of the street lamp.

I have a brilliant headache. The kind that makes my cheek disappear, the bone, the sinews, the molars, the caverns and tunnels - all that's left is the eyeball, red and pulsing mid-air, it's the pulsing that keeps me from writing -

Personal update

2006-05-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

What's happening? Well, it's spring and as it has been for the last 7 springs, I am training for a bike race. This takes up a lot of my time but also, it makes me sleepy. My usual writing time - 10-midnight - is now spent sleeping. Sigh. It also takes up a lot of 'work' time so I am cramming money-generating stuff into every spare moment. Plus - news - a brother has bought me a plane ticket to Bermuda! where we will join another brother at his new home and lay our bodies on sand for a while, or should I say lie around on the sand awhile (cool, I'm actually starting to understand that word). To accomplish this trip, I'm having to scramble financially - as well as complete two large projects before the 22nd. A fantastic opportunity to see my family in an exotic wonderland, I'm looking forward to it. Who knows, maybe I'll actually write poetry there and it won't have words in it like rain, river, bear, or mountain. And one last thing - a kitten. Wow, who knew how much time and attention something so small and fluffy can require!

Our new poetry workshop, THE WATERS, is doing well. Please drop in and toss a poem or two into the waters. The more the merrier, we're looking for activity. Driftwood, rocks, bullwhip kelp.

Not so wonderful on the publishing front. I have some good friends, however, who insist my poems are publishable so I shall continue. Truth, I've lost the burning need to see them in print. Just writing them, tossing them into the workshops, and then tucking them away seems enough these days. Here's the nut. I've seen what is being published in many current journals and it isn't the kind of stuff I write. My poems are simple. Simple comes and goes. I'm sure the poems will find their way into a book someday. They have a life of their own, you know. It's not up to me once they're done.

I like contests, however. The promise of a prize is too enticing!

And speaking of contests, the IBPC has been revived. Read David Ayers' update here.

Frank Wilson of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote in his Sunday article on Online Poetry: A Thriving Community wrote -

I didn't pay any attention to this until last fall, when I agreed to judge the Interboard Poetry Community's online poetry competition for October. Managing editor Gina Bryson e-mailed me about three dozen poems culled from God-knows-how-many submissions.

Choosing three winners turned out to be harder than I anticipated, because just about all of the poems had obvious merit. This wasn't doggerel, or prose arbitrarily divided into lines. There was real word-music on display, fresh imagery, and genuine sentiment. I ended up reading through the whole batch several times and going with the three that more than any others stuck in my head.

Something else stuck in my head: the notion that poetry online might be worth looking into. In my head is where the notion stayed until last month, when I posted something on my blog (http://booksinq.blogspot.com/) about it and invited interested parties to weigh in.

----

Be sure to stop by Frank's website and leave your comments or click on the article link above and leave comments there.

Poet and friend Arlene Ang has asked to publish one of my Poem A Day pieces in

Poems Niederngasse Marginalia Section , in conjunction with Blueline, present selections from Perfect Day for Poetry, the forum where the challenge to write a poem a day for 30 days (and beyond) is excruciating, but exhilarating.

This will be my fourth poem in that section.

So finally, an update - here are submissions that have receive no response as of today:

Writers Digest Contest : Sent May 13, three poems.
Burnside Review : Sent April 16, 5 poems
Octopus Chapbook Contest : Sent April 13, 27 poems
Comstock Review : Sent Mar 2, 5 poems
New Quarterly : Sent Jan 20, 4 poems
Prairiefire Press : Sent Jan 20, 4 poems

Also, a fellow offered to help with a manuscript, sometime in February, and although I have written back twice, have not heard since. I still have good hopes for this person, however - he's well linked to a local publisher of poetry books.

Oh! Forgot to mention. I signed a contract this week for a book of cartoons, to be published in time for Christmas. Yay

Jude

The Fiddlehead - Rejection

2006-05-16T20:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Jude Goodwin

Thank you for submitting to the Fiddlehead. We regret that we've decided not to publish any of the poems from this submission. "Of Course the Surf is Mad" is really quite good, but at line 14 the line breaks seem to become too restrictive. Perhaps you could consider playing with the breaks a little more to help those lines compliment the music of what comes before.

All the best

James Langer

Pedestal Magazine - Rejection

2006-05-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Jude:

Thank you for submitting your work to The Pedestal Magazine. We enjoyed reading it but regret that we cannot use it at this time.

We wish you the best of luck in placing your work elsewhere and sincerely hope that you will submit other writing to us in the future.

Best,

The Editors

The Pedestal Magazine

Oh The Waters

2006-05-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

Introducing a new poetry workshop ezboard forum

THE WATERS

A place to post poems for comment. Post as often as you want. Comment on at least 5 poems for every poem you post. Comments can be short, just a few lines, or long - s'up to you.

Please read the guidelines, and feel free to introduce yourself in the Starfish Lounge.

Tell your friends. I'm going to need some help getting this one going

Cheers
Jude

PRISM International : Rejection

2006-05-01T14:30:00.002-07:00

Thanks for sending you work to PRISM international. We receive many excellent submissions, but due to space constraints, we're unable to publish them all.

While we can't use your work at this time, we'd like to thank you for thinking of us. Please try us again inthe future.

God luck with your writing!

Best,
Bren Simmers
Poetry Editor

Liked the playful, colloquial voice in these poems. Sorry to disappoint.

I Have an Idea!

2006-04-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

How about a new poetry forum. Ya ya I know, we have so many. But here's one we don't have.

Post poems for comment (not critique)
Post as often as you want.
For each poem posted, comment on a minimum of 7 other poems.

The usual other guidelines apply.

That's it!

A place to showcase, or test, your poems. Somewhere that is active and alive. Similar to the 30-30 forums but without the pressure of posting a poem every day.

For examples of comment, see Blueline House of 30.

Why do we need this? Because outside the 30-30 forums, there is nowhere a poet can post daily. Sometimes, that's what I want to do, and I'm eager to get genuine comment and lots of it.

What do you think?

Poetry and the Internet

2006-04-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

People are blogging this subject all over the place this week.

Silliman writes: Yesterday, I looked at Simmons B. Buntin’s survey of poets conducted thru Terrain.Org. ... Buntin’s agenda, it is clear from his questions, is to find out how the web is changing the reading and publishing habits of active poets. Read Silliman's article on this here

At Books, Inq., Frank Wilson writes : OK, folks ... how about helping me out. I want to write about literature and the Internet. In particular I want to begin with a piece about poetry and the Internet. Feedback, suggestions, whatever - all will be appreciated. I figure if I propose this online, I'll get a better perspective with the help of those online. It's certainly worth a try. Frank posted that request on Sunday afternoon and so far has 25 great comments. Read Wilson's post and comments here.

I might write one myself. What would I say?

I would start with an intro - I am a late blooming poet who started writing poetry at 50. I began with a divorce and an online poetry course. The prof of the course, Scott Wiggerman, was very encouraging so I joined an e-mail poetry workshop and started online workshopping my pieces at The Critical Poet. I submitted a few pieces to online journals and they were published. This was very exciting!

I am now 53. I have had a few poems published in print, a few published online.I have no doubt that without the internet and the online poetry communities, I would not be writing poetry today.

It's a workshop :: I spend a lot of time workshopping my poems online, mostly through The Gazebo, The Writers Block and Blueline 30-30. If I still need help, I go searching - maybe QED or ITWS.I've read poetry from hundreds of different unknown poets. I've learned how to read poetry, how to enjoy it in all its forms and levels. I've learned how to critique.

It's a library :: I spend a lot of time reading online journals, articles on poetics, blogs, newspapers. I spend a lot of time getting to know all the poets I missed getting to know during the first 50 years of my life. I also get leads on poets, find out names, find out books, order books to read, and more and more and more.

It's a resource :: I use an online thesaurus. I use Wikipedia. I use Google. These three tools are essential. Without the internet, how could I write accurately about pool frogs? Or even know they exist - or did, 12 years ago, in the UK? Use the proper words when talking about flowers? Place sea creatures in their rightful waters? Pre-internet I had encyclopedia. I guess I would be reading them every night before bed if there were no internet.

It's a community :: I've made friends. There are places that welcome me. More experienced poets help me with my craft. I help the less experienced.

The consciousness of poetry is growing in leaps and bounds (oops that's cliche but hey, I know that now!) because we are linked, connected, sharing our knowledge, gifts and talents. Innovation is rampant.

I like that!

A few things are still needed:

1) links database for all sites that deal with poetry, keyword searchable.

2) more online poetry reviews. Maybe I'm missing it, but I haven't really found many blogs or online journals that review online poetry. Like, pick a workshop, find one of their favourite poems, and review it. Or review online poetry journals. Even a good comprehensive list would do for me. But I'd like to see them reviewed - why not?

3) A different kind of online journal - and this is something I'm thinking of hosting. It would be a journal of internet poetry but the submission guidelines would be:

We accept only previously published poetry, either in print or online, with a preference for online publication. By previously published we include the IBPC, The Guardian Shortlist, online literary journals and workshop contest winners. We do not consider personal blogs as 'previously published'

We do not accept submissions of unpublished work. However, we will on occasion make requests to poets for a piece found on one of the workshops. This would be an editorial decision. Please do not send unpublished poetry for consideration.

Submit poetry by email, one piece at a time. Please paste the entire poem in the body of the email. Do not submit attachments. These will not be read. Include with your submission a link to the web site (s) that published your poem. Or, if a print publication, the name of the publication, and publication date/issue number.

Please put "Poetry Submission" in the subject line.

Multiple submissions are fine with us.

OK - so we have this journal but we have more! We have a way for the poets to optmize their exposure online, and we have a means of introducing readership to various other online journals, contest and workshops.

Cool Huh?

It will be kind of an Anthology and an Atlas at the same time.

Isn't the internet awesome?

Whoop Whoop Whoop

2006-04-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

I have successfully completed my first APAD - 30 poems in 30 days. And some of them weren't so bad! I'm proud of myself, I've tried this many times but never allowed myself to just write, as Dorianne Laux puts it:

The trick is not to worry too much about it and to always be ready by reading and writing as much as you can, allowing yourself to write bad poems, horrible poems, make big mistakes, and go on. Interview Southern Hum

I'm going to take a break now. Thing is, my style is to write every night for an hour, fill pages in a notebook. Then, when the urge to write a poem takes hold, I have those notebooks as a resource. Writing a poem a day took away from my time with the notebook. Writing a Poem A Day with a workshop requires that the poet also comment on all the other PAD participants. This is hard! I kept a little list and kept track of who I had commented on, and tried to spread it throughout a workday. I kept my comments to 8 or 9, and tried to return comment with people who commented on my poems. Anyhow, it's quite inspiring to receive 11 comments on a poem, all of them good. Because the thing about PAD comments, there is no critique. Even without critique, however, it's easy to see what poems work and what poems fall flat.

All fun, and supportive - if you've never done it before, I highly recommend the effort. The two most active forums I've found are Blueline and Inside the Writers Studio. I suggest you read the works on both and pick the group that matches your approach.

And have fun!

Historic Update

2006-04-15T23:39:00.000-07:00

Brunside Review / 5 poems
Sent April 15

Octopus / 27 poems
Sent April 13

Pedestal / 6 poems
Sent March 30

Comstock Review / 5 poems
Sent March 2

PRISM, Vancouver / 5 poems
Sent January 21

Fiddlehead / 4 poems
Sent January 21

New Quarterly / 4 poems
Sent January 21

Prairiefire Press / 4 poems
Sent January 21

Contemporary Verse 2 / 6 Poems for Rising Star Issue
Sent January 27

Contemporary Verse 2 / 6 Poems for Memory Issue
Sent October 8

Someone wrote somewhere in maybe an interview or maybe their book on poetry craft or maybe on their blog ..... they wrote that a poet must be diligent. The above list represents my diligence (characterized by care and perseverence in carrying out tasks). Each submission is an egg.

It's all about 8

2006-04-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

I've recently discovered Octopus Magazine.
"Oh really," you ask. "How was that?"
I'm glad you asked. There is an excellent article on Publishers Weekly, called Poetry Off The Books, which talks about publishing online, and listed some reputable online journals. I visited them, and found Octopus.

The poetry is interesting, and mixed. Take a look! Plus, it's all about 8. Because of the 8 legs of an Octopus. The submission procedure for their 8th issue is set up as a contest. The 8th issue will be printed and will comprise 8 chap books bundled together. That sounds very cool to me. I love stuff like this- it's so, so .... creative! Yeah, that's it. Here it is in their own words:

Issue #8 of Octopus will be a print issue available in winter of 06-07, but it is not going to be simply another print magazine. It will be a collection of eight separately bound chapbooks presented together. All eight chapbooks will also be available individually. The chapbooks will be the first product of Octopus Books, the new small press created by the editors of Octopus Magazine. Each chapbook will have a print run of 250 copies.

So are ya in? I've already sent my collection off. 16-32 poems (more or less) - alas, I sent 22 which doesn't divide by 8, hope I don't get disqualified! And here's a bonus - you can pay the small reading fee ($8) by paypal! Hooray. I won't have to spend an hour trying to get a money order in US funds.

Poet Blogs and update

2006-04-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

Holy cow! The longest ever list of poet blogs can be found on Whimsey Speaks - I even found my own name there! Poets are listed alphabetically.

Double cow - thanks to Bob's comment, we have found the really longest ever list of poet blogs on Ron Sillimian's blog, also listed alphabetically.

Not much new in the old publication world, but here's an update. Nothing yet from all the submissions in January. More recent submissions include:

Comstock Review, 5 poems, March 2
Pedestal (again), 6 poems, March 30 (won't be read until end of April).

Some successes, however:

I have written a few poems lately that I like.

One of my poems was shortlisted on Jane Duran's workshop on the Guardian.

I am on poem number 20 in the Blueline House of 30. That's the farthest I have ever managed!

Spring has arrived, I'll paste a pic here from a walk on the waterfront and a walk on one of our rivers.

I live in the palm of God.

Happy Poetry Month

2006-04-03T10:51:00.000-07:00

April is National Poetry Month, which might mean just in the USA but hey, I like the idea of a Poetry Month, so let's say we are all one nation and celebrate!

Lot's of offerings across the web. To start, I have subscribed to some email Poem-A-Day lists.

Poems.com - Poetry Daily :: The News feature on Poetry Daily is making this website one of my regular stops. Now visitors are invited to subscribe to "Poets' Picks" a free weekly e-mail newsletter

Poetry.org - Academy of American Poets :: This will be a good hub for goings on in the world of poetry during National Poetry Month, and it's an excellent source of Poet backgrounds and sampling. A good looking site graphically as well. Worth a visit and in honor of Poetry Month they are inviting visitors to Subscribe to daily poems by email

Where do you workshop your poems?

2006-03-31T13:13:00.000-08:00

Or do you?

Jane Kenyon had Donald Hall. Plath had Ted Hughes. Who do you workshop your poems with?

I live in a small town, with few poets and none interested in workshopping. As a single mom it is next to impossible to plan weekends away (at workshops) or classes or courses in the city. I've never been very good at working in a void. I need feedback - constructive, interested, productive feedback. The internet has to provide this - but with so many online workshops to choose from, my head is spinning. I can't find a place where I feel settled and constructive.

Do you get that from an online workshop? If you do, let me know where you go. How many poems do you workshop there per week? What do you like best about the workshop?

The Squamish Writers Group
after numbers dwindled significantly,
the group decided to not workshop, but rather
focus on discussion and get together for readings.

Poetry Board Discussion

2006-03-25T15:40:00.000-08:00

"I'm concerned that a lot of forums, at their worst, resemble not places of work, places where the literary art gets better, but rather these sorts of group therapy sessions where someone writes about a feeling and receives praise for simply having the courage to say it, seemingly regardless of whether he writes well or says something new about the subject. " ... Jono

Jona enters into a discussion on The Writers Block - one that may be of interest to some of you. The link to the thread is here.

----
The Guardian has a new Workshop Challenge up - pretty much open ended as far as subject matter is concerned. I'm learning that these challenges can be tricky. It's not always easy to discern what the Poet host is looking for. This month's workshop is hosted by Jane Duran. If you've never tried one, you might want to give it a go.

----
I've started a Poem A Day segment with Blueline. Today is Day 4 - have no poem yet but as William Stafford writes:

"A writer must write some bad poems in order to approach the good ones - finicky ways will dry up the sources."

I was getting bored of my daily writing practice, so here's to 30 bad poems - or maybe fewer, might be a gem or two in it all. Thing about APAD, there's no time for revision - it forces me to wait a month or two before making any final decisions on a poem.

-----

No notice whatsoever on any of the 'waiting' poems sent out mid-January. Has to be good new on at least one front, a magazine produced just 45 minutes from where I live. I do receive requests to submit to online journals and I know I had decided I would put up some of my poems and support the online journal in 2006 but I'm still looking for that minimum requirement of print publication for a grant I want to apply for this fall.

----

I've thought I'd like to have my own Online Literary Journal. No, ha ha, not for my own poems, but to edit and publish. I've been editor of various non-literary journals for most of my life, I think it would be fun to host and edit an online poetry-only journal.

I'm so swamped right now what with work, writing, training, and my growing daughter though - something to consider for the distant future I think.

-------

Review VS Crit

2006-03-20T14:30:00.000-08:00

I've had a realization recently. For years I've struggled with 'crits' that seem to have little constructive desire, while often tearing the poem or poet to shreds. As editor of the Writers Block I recently found one of these and deleted it instantly. It was so extreme, I didn't even bother to drop a PM to the writer, assuming he was simply spewing and not really involved - with us or his own spew.

However, the poster came back and questioned my action. This has led to some excellent discussion and also, happily, to my realization. His opening line was :

"My scathing review of Nag's dog balls poem has been removed."

And there it is - he was posting a REVIEW. Not a CRIT. This makes a big difference. A Review is about the reviewer, his cleverness, his wit, his ability to write reviews, his audacity, etc etc etc. It is not, directly, about the poem or the poet, does not directly attempt to help the poem, and in many cases is not even relevant to the poem but rather contains remarks that reflect the reviewer's view on current poetry trends in general. That's what this 'review' contained and the poster defends it along similar lines:

" ... fully 90% of everything created on boards is heaving swill. If poets begin with the proper choice of topic, if they act bold, instead of dog-balled ugly, they will at least have a chance to transcend the muck pool."

A reviewer's primary goal is often to gather evidence to support his point of (re)view. The unlucky poems that fit, however roughly, into this framework are hence hoisted and shredded.

Of course, in a workshop, poets are looking for Constructive Crits, something a review rarely offers. In a workshop, the poet needs to know what works, what doesn't, and why. Many want to learn: about grammar, about other poets, about styles and technique. Yes, it is possible to learn these things, and it is possible to learn them in a workshop.

I don't know how many times I've pmed a critter to say "If you don't like it fine, but explain what you don't like about it. If you love it, explain why. Dig in, show the bits that matter to you. "

Reviewer's are exempt from this. Whether they like a poem or not is moot. Their priority is always the review itself.

That little dog

2006-03-18T19:59:00.000-08:00

It's not really barking. It's digging, its mouth is a sharp tin spade and it's jabbing and jabbing into the air, creating little minus pockets where everything is moving outward. Jab jab jab the yapper's face pushes forward into those minus pockets, its little tail lifts her from the ground with each push. It's not bark bark bark, it's scoop scoop scoop. The air is cold wet sand tonight, I shudder even inside my orange sweater even inside my yellow room.

I'm on a roll ...

2006-03-17T14:52:00.000-08:00

I've had another poem accused of - well - being nothing I guess.

"though this poem is constructed so perfectly, it is so white. Bland."

That's two out of three for this month. I've changed the name of my poetry blog to "Poems about nothing" and I'm considering it as the name of my first book of poems.

Change can be sun shaped, pewter

I might be ready to move the old chimes -
a gift from the man I don't know anymore.
It's a big job,
involves spider webs
and a stepladder with my mother's
handwriting on the tray.
Once in their new spot
they'll be exposed to wind,
they'll make noise, restless
like rigging and shackles
high above the marina, glass
milk bottles shivering together
in their morning crates, the buckle
on my father's belt, clapper and glide
nudging from its angry loops,
excited coins in the pockets
of my husband's jeans, their journey
through midnight to the bedroom
floor, bone-shaped
tags on the neck of a dog lapping
from his stainless bowl,
my newly minted house keys
falling and falling at the door.

The edge

2006-03-15T22:56:00.000-08:00

The edge is what makes me a poet. It's always there, I strap myself in when I go to sleep, to be sure I don't roll over, drop shockingly to the distant rocks below. I bite my nails. Check product ingredients. Restrict my alcohol intake choosing very small glassware, or tall narrow flutes. I lie down in good time, tell my self 'ah' and 'this is the life'. I run. So far, poetry has kept me away from the edge more than anything else. I say so far, because everything works for a while. Nothing has lasted.

Today I'm faced with a tough decision. Do I work all day, write poetry at night, or do I train for a mountain bike race during the day and work at night. Does my training and my riding keep me away from the edge like poetry. Can I survive without riding and without competition. Can I survive without poetry. Two days ago I said "Ok, time to get going - 90 days - put a note up on the damn blog, and stop writing." You see, writing craft is posessive. It doesn't want to share. I become totally immersed and everything else wallows. So I give myself specific writing time, and schedule my must-dos around it - training is like that too. They are siblings, rivaling for my attention. It's driving me crazy.

I miss writing already, and it's not even been a week. Biking kept me from the edge for 10 years. The rock, the trail, the steep, the woods, the bear and cougar, my dog his ears floating at either side of his grin, the climb and the pain, the cool water and mud mud mud, my breath - never have I been so acquainted with my breath.

I miss biking terribly.

gak

They fall on their backs

2006-03-09T23:19:00.000-08:00

" ... on a single night in May, as many as 21 million birds cross an imaginary line connecting Toronto and Hamilton."

Countless birds die each year after crashing into brightly lit buildings at night.

940, 000 die annually after colliding with the windows and mirrored walls of Toronto's sleek office towers and apartment buildings.

" They see the buildings as a world they can fly into. In some cases, they're falling on their backs, they're falling into the lunches of people at their picnic tables. "

About Nothing

2006-03-06T13:01:00.000-08:00

I've recently received one of my least favourites crits :

"It sounds like another one of the many poems that take great care in not being about anything."

Not only is this a very discouraging comment, it really doesn't address the poem. What, specifically, is 'nothing'? If I were to write a poem about a chestnut on the path, is that nothing? OK, so what if I used a metphor and made that chestnut into an egg, is the poem now about nothing? Or what if I use the chestnut/egg metaphor and the sandy path and let the whistling wind be the mama calling her baby back to the trees. Is this still about nothing? Yes. It is still about a chestnut.

The critter went on to put forth my next least-favourite comment:

"This sounds like old free-association writing, fourth-person distant note-taking, and as such, never leaves the ground. Journalistic, prosey, ... "

He's right in that I was describing a scene, and I wasn't using first person. In a way, that could seem like reporting. Prosey (again we see that word totally misused) - man, I'm getting that a lot lately! my poems are POEMS not prose. If they were prose, I'd call them prose.

ON RAINY DAYS…”

On rainy days
the early mornings
resemble evenings

and the middle-aged
insect on the ceiling no longer
knows what to do with its life.

A large dark crow stumbles
uncomfortably across the street
like a right shoe on the left foot.

Everything is a little confused except
for the clear-headed raindrops rushing
full speed into this one-and-only world.

Jason Heroux

I read a review of a chapbook by Jason Heroux - Leaving the Road. Heroux was at the top of The Page the other day and his poems have caught my breath. I'm in love (again)! So I googled him and found some stuff. Anyhow, the review rankled me hugely, even though it wasn't negative :

" The fourteen items in this well-produced little booklet are called poems in the acknowledgements, but it is difficult to see them as anything but prose, short short stories, miniature narratives, ... " Andrew Belsey.

Dear Andrew and all others - if the poet calls them poems, they are poems. Certainly Jason's works are incredible poems - brilliant, focused, mindful, unique, creative, full of metaphor and imagery and rhythm. What more do we want?

It's not poetry's responsibility to provide the world with subject matter and it's not the poet's responsibility to determine what the reader wants to read about. Everyone wants to read about something different.

I, for example, don't see the point in poetry about paintings. I know, however, that this is of great interest to many writers and readers - cool.

And the definition of poetry? I like Wikipedia:

Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is traditionally a written art form (although there is also an ancient and modern poetry which relies mainly upon oral or pictorial representations) in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content.

-----

In one of the comments accompanying this post, I was asked to post the poem about nothing so here it is ( This is the original post, I have since revised):

The fire's out

I'll have to get a four hour log
next time, just keep burning the damn things
until something changes
outside, inside, anything
to make me believe there could be life
beyond fleece. The river wind
sweeps our courtyard, sweeps and complains.
"All these rotting leaves. All this mud."
Water chitters across the townhouse siding.
There's a roach rain today
and these walls recoil with it.
These walls, filthy.

It's the soiling of an eventless winter.
Weather is the new defendant,
jury members brush accusation
from their lapels like insects parts
and the new March pleads: Guilty -
of course. "All this evidence."
the court recorder drones.
"All this dirt." The floors, the walls,
the old couch beneath me rustle
and nod in agreement. Outside
the robins hop from foot to foot
on the wet grass, like paparazzi,
cameras tucked beneath
their brown wings.

Historic Update

2006-03-02T17:00:00.000-08:00

Poetry Magazine, Chicago / 4 poems
Sent January 7 :: Rejection January 31
4-8 week response time

Kenyon Review (online) / 6 poems
Sent January 14 :: Rejection February 16
4 week response time

Comstock Review / 5 poems
Sent March 2

PRISM, Vancouver / 5 poems
Sent January 21

Fiddlehead / 4 poems
Sent January 21

New Quarterly / 4 poems
Sent January 21

Prairiefire Press / 4 poems
Sent January 21

Contemporary Verse 2 / 6 Poems for Rising Star Issue
Sent January 27

Kenyon Review : 2nd Rejection

2006-02-16T12:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Jude Goodwin:

Thank you for submitting your poetry. We regret that we are unable to use "Jude Goodwin."

Your work has received careful consideration, which sometimes means a response less prompt than we would wish. Unfortunately, the large number of submissions prevents us from commenting on many worthy manuscripts.

We do appreciate your interest in The Kenyon Review.

The Editors

Poems:
A Billion Eyes
Wrapped in Rabbit
Popcorn Girl
Where I Live
Battabap
Fat

Sea to Sky Anthology : Acceptance

2006-02-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

I have just been informed that the three poems I submitted for an Anthology have been accepted. The poems are Murderers, Listen-, and Hush. This is pretty exciting for me, and brings me one step closer to applying for a grant. It is also a local publication which makes me feel good - although I have submitted many poems to local journals (being BC, Canada) I've not had much luck with acceptances.

No word as yet from the works sent out a few weeks ago which isn't necessarily bad news - many of them will respond by email so they must be considering my stuff. I like to suggest the journals reply by email - it makes so much more sense than paper, envelope and stamp!

I did not hear anything from the CBC Literary Awards so I am considering it a total wash. In 2003 my poems (written in 2002) were shortlisted and I honestly felt my poems from 2005 were much better! Oh well, will try again next year.

Dentist today. Gotta run
J

Leaving out 'the'

2006-02-12T10:09:00.000-08:00

Recently on an internet forum, I suggested a poet replace the articles in her piece - it was a lovely piece and to my mind, the missing articles (mostly 'the') detracted from its grace. I've never understood why poets remove the articles from their works. I was enlightened, however, by a response to my 'crit' from another critter (names aren't important here so I'm leaving them out) :

"I'd use caution in adding all the articles Jude suggests, as I feel the result becomes increasingly prosaic. "

and the poet's rejoinder:

"Jude, thank you for your comments on including more articles such as "the." I tend to use them sparingly because I'm always concerned about making the poem sound too much like prose (as John mentioned)."

I understand, finally, why poets leave out their articles. To make their pieces sound more like poetry. As though poetry sounds like anything specific! And what, really, is the difference between Prose and Poetry? As far as I can tell there is only one difference: line endings. Here's a snippet from The Poetry Home Repair Manual by Ted Kooser:

"Prose poems require the same amount of care that lined verse requires, but the writer of a prose poem forgoes the tool of line endings, and a line ending is a powerful tool. ... Even though the prose poem author puts aside this important tool, he or she gains another tool, which is to take advantage of the ease and confidence with which a reader approaches prose as opposed to poetry. Lots of readers are intimidated by the appearance of poetry, saying to themselves as they come upon a poem as if they were about to step on a snake, "Uh-oh! It's a poem! LOOK OUT!" On the other hand, we are all so accustomed to the appearance of prose that we enter a prose poem without much fear. "

I'd like to take a moment here to define PROSAIC. It actually has nothing to do with prose.

adjective: lacking wit or imagination (also PROSY)
adjective: not fanciful or imaginative. Example: "A prosaic and unimaginative essay"
adjective: not challenging; dull and lacking excitement

How sad that this word is being associated with Prose Poetry! I'm not going to type it out here, but Kooser's book gives some brilliant samples of prose that are anything but prosaic.

Here is an item taken directly from the Gazebo's Poetry Primer under the section of 'General Dos and Don'ts'

Leaving out 'the'

We were tempted to give an example of what we're talking about but decided against it. There's enough examples of this kind of writing on the poetry newsgroups. Someone, somewhere, decided that leaving out the "the" articles in poems somehow made them sound more heartfelt and meaningful. It doesn't. All it does is make every piece written this way sound exactly like every other piece. It isn't clever, it isn't creative. It isn't even original. It's merely another sign of bad poetry.

Jude

What I've learned and from whom

2006-02-04T21:01:00.000-08:00

Dorianne Laux taught me that a poem doesn't have to have stanza breaks if it doesn't want to
Jane Kenyon taught me that even the simplest poem can have great impact
Mary Oliver taught me about birds and about focus
Sylvia Plath taught me about the moon
William Stafford has shown me that a great poem isn't necessarily logical and not every line has to make sense
Kim Addonizio showed me that not only can poetry be fun, but that it is possible to write a good three page poem about a video game
Ted Kooser teaches everyone that poems can be read as well as written
Laux and Addonizio taught me the word 'appositive' which changed my life

I've learned that not all the poems in a single book are great poems, sometimes only one or two. I've learned that we're all made of wood - the kind used for violins or lutes or pianos - and that a great poem can become greater when pressed against out sides.

I've learned that I like the word 'fold' and use it too much. I've learned that sonnets, and their appeal, could prove the reality of parallel dimensions.

I've discovered I love my dog.

Poetry Magazine - Rejection

2006-02-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your manuscript. We have considered it carefully, but regret that we cannot keep the work.

Although we would like to send an individual response to everyone, and particularly to those who request comment, the small size of our staff prevents such correspondence.

Because of the enormous number of manuscripts we receive, we ask that you limit submissions to no more than four poems.

We appreciate your interest in Poetry.

The Editors

Hello Again
Newborn babies ...
Cow Tipping
The Myth of Jazz

Note on Rejection Times:

Pretty fast turn around given the magazine is in Chicago! The most consistently speedy process of all so far.

Sent Jun 1, Rejection received Jun 30
Sent Jan 7, Rejection received Jan 31

hmmm

2006-01-30T12:55:00.000-08:00

I wrote a sonnet and posted it on one of the workshops - and here is the gist of the response - at least the gist as I read:

- This is different from much of your writing I've seen (and that's good), a refreshing change of pace.

- I feel like this is one of the best poems I have read from you. I like it for its endearing and indifferent qualities.

- I just want to say that I, too, like this very much. It's fresh, original, and has substance.

These comments have left me disturbed. What is it? Is it that rhyming poetry, with consistent meter, is so much part of our history that readers just LIKE it more than free verse? Or maybe those who commented were those who like sonnets. It wasn't a large cross-section from that workshop. Maybe the rest didn't comment because they, like me, don't really like sonnets. The poem itself was a play on the word product and made up of a bunch of different synonyms for product.

Or is it that my free verse isn't as interesting as I thought it was. I've always strongly believed my rhyming and metered work is inferior to my free verse, so if my metered work gets such a response, my goodness, what does that say about my free verse? I would never, for example, submit one of my sonnets for publication. Who publishes sonnets anymore? And personally, I've never ever read a sonnet that I enjoyed more than some of the wonderful free verse I've read and reread over the ages.

In fact, I don't really enjoy sonnets at all. They are baubles, toys, playthings for a poet when she has nothing better to write, interesting 'extra work' in response to a challenge or workshop. I read books full of sonnets and don't really like any of them - they just don't resonate for me. Too contrived. Sonnets are 'scales' on a piano. They are 'training rides' when preparing for a big race. They are the vegetable we have to eat before the cake.

In that light, it is sad that my sonnet is liked - by anyone - more than my 'real' poetry.

sheesh
J

Historic Post

2006-01-21T16:56:00.000-08:00

I was reading a 'note to writers' page on a publisher's website and it says publishers like to read a long list of credits before considering the work of an unknown poet. To this end, then, I have sent poems to the following (for history's sake):

Poetry Magazine, Chicago / 4 poems
Sent January 7 :: Rejection January 31
4-8 week response time

Kenyon Review (online) / 6 poems
Sent January 14
Lo-o-o-ng response time

PRISM, Vancouver / 5 poems
Sent January 21

Fiddlehead / 4 poems
Sent January 21

New Quarterly / 4 poems
Sent January 21

Prairiefire Press / 4 poems
Sent January 21

Contemporary Verse 2 / 6 Poems for Rising Star Issue
Sent January 27

I did my best to avoid simultaneous submissions! I still intend to submit some poetry to the Comstock Review, their deadline is March 15. I'm going to wait until March sometime, who knows, I might write my bestever poem between now and then.

In a previous lifetime, I was a cartoonist - or at least, decided I wanted to produce a book of cartoons - which I did. Table Talk, published in 1982 by Devyn Press. The cartoon 'story' follows a young woman's journey into the world of competitive bridge (yes, the card game). Recently I have talked with a publisher who is very interested in reprinting the book. This is kind of exciting - I kept on drawing the cartoons, but in a single cell format, for another few years and this publisher (Masterpoint Press) is willing to publish a 'collected works' - pretty funny huh?

Also in that previous lifetime, I had two other books published. One, Kids Love Cards, also published by Devy Press, was a hand drawn and hand printed book on card games for kids. It was not very successful and died an early death. Another book however, Teach Me To Play, a book for kids on learning bridge, has been a long-running classic and has recently been chosen as the official text book for the ACBL's school programs in 2006. That publisher, Pando Publications, has been after me for years to write Book II. I just haven't ever been able to get around to it.

----
A poem I entered in the Desert Moon Review Winter Poetry Contest has placed 3rd. The poem is 'In Winter - ' - I won't link it here until it is published in DMR. But that's a nice happening isn't it?

---
Inside the Writers Studio has a forum where members are able to upload sound files of their reading. This is cool. I've got one little sound file from a few years back but I'm going to put it there, if I can, and see how it works.

J

Woe to the blogger poet -

2006-01-18T22:30:00.000-08:00

A friend told me the other day that many editors consider a poem published even if it only ever showed up on a personal blog. This is very sad! Personal blogs are an excellent way to work on a poem, get comment from friends, that kind of thing. It should not be considered published. They'll be going after online workshops next and then what will poets living in the middle of nowhere next to rivers, under the shadow of giant slabs of granite, two miles from the spit where windsurfing has become famous, underneath 1,368 bald eagles, do? Online poetry workshops are da bomb. I have three or four where I drop in, chat with friends, enter contests, see what the latest poetry is up to, ya know, that kinda thing. No one here could care less if I write another poem - I stopped sending them round to my friends a year or two ago. The ex put out a restraining order - no more poems within 100 meters. So woe to the blogger poet -

I went into my Poem A Day template and stripped out all Previous Posts and Archives references. Then I changed my formatting to show only one day at a time. This way, my most current poem is up, but nothing from before. Most poems won't be up there longer than a day, so I'm not going consider it published. How many people see it in a day? Well, two that I know of: My brother, who rolled his money into a sock and took his brown belly down to where the drinks wear umbrellas, taking his hat with the explorer's brim and his wide white oyster grin; and Eric Dutton, who is writing a poem a day and posting it to his blog and invited me to set up a chain. I will be a secret poem a day warrior.

Providing, of course, that I actually write a poem a day. I fell of the apad wagon but am trying again.

Did I read somewhere, on some editor's list of NEVER DO for poets to never put together a book of poems with all the poems linking in a way that tells a story . I don't remember why he said that, but I do remember the feeling that it is a popular approach but not so with editors and publishers. Then recently, I read a review of RAPTURE (by Carol Ann Duffy, the winner of the TS Eliot Poetry Prize) which said "Carol Ann Duffy's collection of love poems reads as a single narrative: the poems are linked - hand in hand - from the beginning of an affair to its end." (Kate Kellaway, The Guardian) and "Carol Ann Duffy links love poems into a single, entrancing narrative in Rapture".

This happens to me all the time. The whole political world of poetry is one snarl of conflicting viewpoints.

But I do notice that no matter how a book of poetry is put together, the reviewers review it as though it were a single story - a movie made up of scenes. So I'm led to conclude that, although we are not to deliberately write poems that follow a storyline, no matter what we produce, the reviewers are going to create a storyline to go with it.

It's a framework thing I think.
Well, I'm tired now (just read about 12 reviews on the Guardian)

talk soon!

Congratulations - Honorable Mention

2006-01-12T15:32:00.000-08:00

What a nice surprise to receive a note from the Comstock Review. A chapbook I put together for their contest the Jessie Bryce Niles Chapbook Competition received an Honorable Mention:

Congratulations
in having your chapbook selected for Honorable Mention in the Jesse Bryce Niles Chapbook Competition. It is unfortunate that we can publish only one chapbook per year. Please see the special note from Kathleen Bryce Niles on the announcement sheet. Write us and let us know whne you find a publisher for your fine chapbook.

Note from our judge:

The riches given to us because of our reputation and ongevity were abundant. It is my hope that all of these find publication because each is a jewel to be admired and read over and over. - Kathleen Bryce Niles, December 2005.

Winner: J.F.Connoly, Among the Living
Honorable Mentions : totaling 14
Special Merit: totaling 30

It seems I'm the only Canadian in the top 45. I recognized only one other internet poet in the lists, James Zerndt, who might be Jamie Zerndt, one of the poets that workshops at The Gazebo.

A nice start to the year and encouraging too.

The Challenge is On

2006-01-10T23:49:00.000-08:00

Write a Poem A Day
Send me the link to your blog
There are two of us now, how about you? Maybe start a new blog, just for your PAD. It's easy! We'll inspire each other ....

Poetry Studio - Jude's Poem A Day Blog

Jude

Bears in brumal sleep -

2006-01-05T19:56:00.000-08:00

I've emptied the book basket of all things Christmas and replaced them with puzzle and craft. Things to challenge our minds and spirits, while our bodies wait for mute winter to end.

In that light, then, I shall gather challenges and list them here. For fun

Desert Moon Review Winter Poetry Contest : Deadline Jan 10
www.the-writers-block.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=855
Winners will be published in Crescent Moon Journal,

The Blueline Challenge Forum
blueline.goobertree.com/forum/index.php
Current challenge looks fun - write a poem starting with one of the lines chosen by moderator Alan Itz

Inside The Writers Studio Challenge Forum
rachelmallino.org/InsideTheWriterStudio/index.php
Win a free book ($20 value)

The Guardian Poetry Workshop
books.guardian.co.uk/poetryworkshop/0,15165,1314872,00.html
Monthly Challenges, usually posted the last week of the month. Expert comment for those who make the shortlist.

I have a poem in Poems Niederngasse (Arlene Ang, editor), in the Marginalia section. Poems Niederngasse, in conjunction with Blueline, present selections from Perfect Day for Poetry, the forum where the challenge to write a poem a day for 30 days (and beyond) is excruciating, but exhilarating.

Speaking of Arlene, I received her lovely book The Desecration of Doves, in the mail just before the Christmas break and then before reading more than a poem or two, it disappeared. Sometime around Boxing Day my little girl asked "Oh by the way mom, why did you put a book of poems about doves in my schoolbag - did you want me to read it or something?" So there it sits, in her school desk, and because of the flu she hasn't been back to get it for me yet!

I always enjoy Arlene's Blog - it's personal and those are the kinds of blogs that keep me going as a writer.

This year, I've decided to submit my poems to online journals as well as print publications. One that holds a special place in my heart is ECLECTICA. This magazine was one of the first to accept my work, I'll never forget the thrill. The current issue is full of awesome poems - well worth a read.

Language -

2006-01-04T12:43:00.000-08:00

- poetry.

Excellent link found in Rus Bowden's intro to this week's Poetry & Poets in Rags - to an article by Joan Houlihan called Three Invitations to a Far Reading. It's actually a review of sorts - examining three new books of poetry. I haven't read a lot of Houlihan's work although I know her opinions are 'somewhat' controversial. If you haven't stepped into the discussions on Language Poetry lately, this is a good place to start. Rus Bowden is tracking various blogdebates relating to Houlihan's article, you can find their links through his link at the beginning of this paragraph.

The craft of poetry is difficult, and maybe never fully mastered, never perfected. After three years of work, including courses, lots of reading, critiquing, and of course writing, practicing, and writing, I am just beginning to glimpse a huge and somewhat alarming truth. Everything I write has been written before. If I write 'cloud' I am being cliche and many readers will drop the poem immediately upon reading the word. I do it myself as a reader - if I come across the word 'crystal' I stop reading. Or maybe I'll read a bit more but if the next word is 'tears' or 'lavender' I'm done.

Think of the millions of poets, the thousands of poems we will read. Pretty much every poem I post will garner 'that's cliche' from someone. Or my subject matter will get that. I once read a critic respond to a poem by 'Laurel' - someone whom I admire - with the words 'get over it' - because Laurel was writing poetry about a break-up. Of course, I guess a 'break-up' is cliche. As is 'dying of cancer' and 'spring' and 'graves' and 'ponds'. And there isn't anything we can do about it - it's all been written about so many times, in so many ways, that just using the subject matter is going to be cliche before we even try to put metaphor to it.

As a newbie poet, my first challenge was to stretch and stretch my poetic reach trying to find a simile or metaphor that was unique, undone. For a while, this was amusing. But I've grown tired of the exercise. Is it because I am old? Perhaps. It just seemed silly to reach so far, it seemed artificial, contrived. However, I can see it could be seen as a doorway to something absolutely new.

Enter Far Reading (as described by Houlihan) and Language Poetry. There is one thing about this form of art that cannot be denied - there are no cliches. The subject matter is never cliche because there is no subject matter. The combination of words is not cliche because words are combined in defiance of grammatical law.

The craft is still work, and vice versa, to be done well, I'm sure. The poems Houlihan quotes are unique and full of interesting ephemera. I think the hardest work would be to avoid subject while retaining a line. Any slump into meaning would be immediately seen as maudlin, prosaic, or what's the word I learned today - quotidian, and therefore cliche.

When I lie in bed at night, I honestly cannot think of anything in my experience that is would be unique enough to write about - it all seems like 're'writing - if its about nature I'm rewriting Mary Oliver. If it's about angst, I'm rewriting Plath. If it's about people dying of cancer, I'm rewriting Laux. If it's just about life, hell, I'm rewriting Barbara or Brenda or George or Stephen. The temptation to write poems that are so off the wall that they cannot possibly be likened to anyone is great.

I hate to be stupid or dull but with many of these works, I can't see the poem - much like the Emperor's New Clothes. I can see people admiring them, I see words, line breaks, spaces - I can feel the tongue as it reads, I imagine the poet sniffing as he writes, breaking into a mild persperation, I can see his hand shake with the pen or over the keyboard.

Maybe that's it. Maybe it's all about the poet - not the poem at all.

Happy New Year

2005-12-31T22:44:00.000-08:00

To all of you, a happy new year - have fun cleaning away the old, setting up the new, the resolutions, the agreements - what will they be? Here are some of mine:

I will try to make fewer righteous judgments and practice, instead, genuine tolerance.
I will seek out more writing workshops and poetry courses.
I will remember it's ok to say no and try to make my writing time a priority.
I will be nicer to my poems, stop beating them, maybe get them some flowers now and then.
I will continue to seek publication, but include online journals and as well, send out a book manuscript.
I will write every day.

Yes, that looks good. I will also reconsider this blog. Originally it was to record my journey into the world of print publishing, which it did. Continuing along that path seems tedious and boring. What would a new look be? Gotta think about it.

Cheers to all of you
Jude

All For You

2005-12-24T13:03:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve and the rain
makes all the lights double up.
On the piano our village
is covered in cotton fluff and painted snow
and I wonder - why not sand?
It's all ceramic and glass but,
why not wood? And maybe the lights
could be candle-colored,
yellow and brassy
and gold. How bizarre
to put a tree in our living room.
Why not a stable
or a manger or a
shepherds staff and hay -
lots of hay, strewn about like pine needles.
We can put out oats and sugar
instead of cookies and milk
and in the morning The Baby
will be lying there with
presents stacked around him.
The Kings will bring them
and the Magi and the angel
will wake us up with his Gloria.
Hollywood never invented Santa,
children sit on the knees of Wise Men
in the malls. Maybe one live one,
and a few wooden ones standing
to the side. They tell the Wise Man
how hard they are trying to be good
like The Baby and they are given a stick
of incense candy when they leave
or some honey. We can still shop
at Home Hardware, have to buy
the props from somewhere - manger rugs
that look like desert, biodegradable hay
that won't choke the cat. We'll have
fluffy lambs, stuffed lambs, and wooden
ornament lambs instead of snowmen
because it's true there were no snowmen
in Bethlehem. We can gather around
Joseph for stories, and let Mary
bake the Christmas bread.
And every Christmas morning
for the next thousand years
we'll hold The Baby,
all wrapped and swaddled,
and say 'See. baby. This
is all for you.'

You are glad tidings ...

2005-12-21T23:25:00.000-08:00

The tree,
triangular, awkward,
could be humiliated
covered in gaudy chic and cute dangling
from every tip, but it stands stoic
unreadable, listing slightly
towards the door. The room
has rearranged itself grudgingly
guests will have to squeeze
together pinned by sofa chair and hearth
and photo albums full of
Christmas past and baskets
full of Christmas books. The air
is dense with snow wet dog,
red candle, and the hot paraffin paper
of a three-hour log. Every surface is stacked
piled high covered by some kind of holiday
clutter. The secret is to not lie flat.
Or if you're caught unaware during a fireside nap
or in the middle of a rum 'n' nog, get up.
Give a great shake. You are a bear in the leaves.
You are coloured lights under a poof of snow. You are a child
leaping out from beneath your feathery quilt. You are glad
tidings, rising up from the fields
and over
the land.

December 2004

Malahat Review : Rejection #2

2005-12-08T17:16:00.000-08:00

No salutation

We regret that we have decided not to publish your work. The Malahat Review receives many excellent manuscripts and can only publish a small percentage of them. Thank you for thinking of us. We wish you success in placing your work elsewhere.

No signature

Poems :
The Popcorn Girl
Hey Tree!
Fruit Flies
Where I live
Have Dinner Ready
Nothing to Say
Still Fingers

Another disappointing rejection - this is a magazine printed in my own province of British Columbia. I had hoped to see my work printed somewhere closer to home. The submission date was September 19. Rejection date - none on note - December 7 received in mail.

I started this blog to track my progress into the world of publication. It has been almost a year since my first post. I have no other poems 'out there' at this time, other than my submission to the CBC Literary Awards. From that contest, I hope to be shortlisted. I also have a poem entered into the IBPC (How He Loved the Ugly Woman) courtesy of Blueline.

And that's it for 2005. My feelings overall are ambiguous at the moment.

J

Snow, sun, jagged horizons, that sort of thing

2005-12-07T13:52:00.000-08:00

Hope you're all getting into the holiday spirit. I was looking at a carton of eggnog yesterday - arguing with my daughter about whether we should get the lite version - ok, so here are the facts. The regular eggnog is 264 calories per cup (over 100 more calories than a can of beer!) and the Lite eggnog is ...... 237 calories per cup. There you have it. Choosing one over the other saves you 30 calories or so but costs a whole lot more in satisfaction! My daughter was right. The secret is to not buy the stuff at all, I think. So I didn't!

I've been suffering a lot lately for not finding poem-matter anywhere - as in, who wants to read yet another poem about snow or marital breakups or loneliness of even the dead salmon and the eagle party or cancer or parents dying or snow or the moon in a winter sky or the smell of paraffin or the bermuda brother and his new convertible - it's all so done done done. I had forgotten something important! I had forgotten writing practice -

which doesn't require a poem, just a page of writing. I remember now, when I took up the habit last year, all sorts of poems great out of the scribble. So, I purchased a beautiful writing book cover, stuck in a lined notebook, and now I promise I will fill a page a day. And it doesn't have to be a poem. Ill write in all the places I spend my time waiting for my daughter - the pool, the drama club, the school parking lot - and I will stop feeling sorry for myself. Hooray! But it's not to be a journal, has to be descriptive, imagery-rich, that kind of thing. I'm going to use my senses ...

Join me, won't you?

Jude

Black Warrior : Rejection (I think)

2005-11-28T16:17:00.000-08:00

Received an envelope of returning poems today. Stamped Birmingham AL but no note, not even a post-it. I keep a record of all submissions, and those poems were posted to Black Warrior August 5th.

So only two more 'batches' out there - waiting to hear from Malahat and the CBC Literary Awards. I might also have a poem sent in to the December IBPC.

Missed the deadline for the 'movement' poem in the Guardian challenge. Too bad, but just couldn't find inspiration. Went through all my old stuff too, nothing about movement. Lots of visuals and audio, but no movement.

No movement in the old poetic cavern these days. Hope the rest of you are doing a bit better. As an astrologer, I can quote Mercury retrograde and/or Saturn retrograde in Leo. Mostly what astrology does for me is whisper "this too shall pass". So I'm doing the hands on stuff, christmas gifts, scrapbooking and I'm making money too. It's all good.

Missing my poetic life though! Missing it like someone on a trip, yearning for the homeward journey.

Maslow

2005-11-17T00:06:00.000-08:00

Level One - to have air, food, shelter, sleep, correct body temperature

check

Level Two - to be free from danger, severe mental stress, bodily harm. To have access to health care. To have predictability in daily life.

check (at last)

Level Three - to belong to a family. To have a give-and-take affectionate relationship with people.

hmmm

Level Four - To be recognized as a worthwhile individual.

eeep

Level Five - To be allowed to develop to full potential.

Level Six - To know our world. To know our authentic selves.

------

Helen Keller wrote, in 1940 -

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is not safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.

This is an amazing quotation from a woman blind and deaf. "Avoiding danger is not safer in the long run ...".

------

I know, this is a rather disjointed post. My daughter returned from Hawaii - she did not explode mid-air, land in Vancouver airport a ball of fire, the plane did not nick anything on its way in, sending it spinning off the runway. She did not disappear, she disembarked as planned. No one snatched her from beside the carosel as she waited for her suitcase. She did actually walk through the 'international arrivals' door, I didn't have to find my way down any long hallways to retrieve her. She did seem bigger, I think I was remembering her as very young.

"daughter in Hawaii" was strangely like "please return for a second pap test, results questionable" - both involve a kind of limbo period where one carries on with life, small flowers and river rock become very special, and time behaves like a rubber band. It stretches and stretches and no one wants to let go, even though oh how we want to let go, let it snap whatever it plans to snap at us and get it over with, get on with it.

The poetry sucks,
and sucks at this ridiculous air
corn syrup and egg yolk

I hold my girl and marvel that she has been returned - to these arms! What incredible things have I done in my life that this could have occurred. This is one of those miracles - why do I get miracle?

Honorable Mention, IBPC

2005-11-04T21:33:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite poems - Hey Tree! - received an Honorable Mention in the IBPC. I am pleased with that. It's one of my poems written in a newer 'voice', a voice I think is more me than all the others. It's loud, at any rate - all us Goodwins are loud it would appear. Trouble is, just as I was really starting to swing with it, my editor(s) listed those poems as their least favourite. It's all about 'inner frame of reference' - I have none!

I have only one poetic aspiration. I want to write a pantoum that sounds like water. Or wind. A pantoum that sounds like the gulls lifting from a beach. Or the train, the way it passes and passes. And I don't want it to be clever. I'll write this pantoum using few verses, and when Im done Ill leash the dog and run through the trails and I'll feel the poem in my lungs.

The Glow Stix

2005-11-03T23:15:00.000-08:00

- arrived today. I have no more excuses. A box, travel weary, full of dark, uncracked tubes - showing up late but showing up nonetheless. What am I waiting for? Time to plunk my own carton-butt down, tear away the packing tape, spew a few foam chunks -

I had a shitty day. No, really. The toilet, full, overflowed. Running down to find the plunger, I stumbled through doggie do- my house stunk. Everything was mixed in with leftover hallowe'en - and rain and mud.

I've been overwhelmed. Sometime last month I discovered infinity and my mind snapped. I lifted my head from the pillow one morning and realized I was a grain of sand, a kernel of rice, a single 13-card deal.

The ground doesn't open like a mouth around my feet. It's just cold and muddy. I see it only when rushing in and out of my daughter's school or to and from her swim lessons. I'm a witness to its solidity as I stand with a hose, spraying the dog-do from my verandah steps.

Mercury Retrograde

2005-10-27T23:30:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago I ordered 1000 glow stix from someone on ebay. They were to sell this Hallowe'en Weekend as a fundraiser for my daughter's school. The stix have not arrived.

I haven't written a poem in a week - eep, 11 days!

I've felt despair this week, unable to focus, a feeling that there is something horribly flawed threading through the fabric of our life. I have to be brave to get out of bed.

Contests are late. Submissions/rejections don't arrive. The internet has been down for days in my province. So finally I purchased a dial-up. Turns out, the dial-up was down too.

My daughter puts her homework in her bag and when we arrive home, it is strangely not in her bag anymore but sitting on her desk at school. She cries. I have no idea what to say to her.

Breathing again

2005-10-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

Sounds like the teacher strike is about to end and my daughter will be returning to school on Monday. I have 12 sticky notes on my computer, which means there are 12 clients waiting - but that's ok, there were 16 on it last night.

Jeffery Bahr has an excellent post on his BLOG titled Secrets of the Slush Pile with suggestions to poets regarding submissions.

My own poetic journey into publication slowed and then stopped sometime last week. I haven't looked at my poetry nor written a word of it, buried as I am in sticky notes. Ted Kooser says 'write every day' - they all advise 'write every day' - kinda hard sometimes.

The hamster escaped. To find her, we set little piles of food and a lid of water in every room then close the door and seal the bottom with a towel. Every hour or so we check to see if any of the food is gone. After 24 hours I heard her in the bathroom cabinet. Not in the cupboard but actually behind or under somehow. I had to rip the bottom off - funny thing, she's just a little furry creature like a mouse or rat but she's our little furry creature and I was prepared to sledge hammer the entire bathroom if I had to, to rescue her, which she likely didn't need because she's a hamster and can get in and out of anything.

This week I vow to dig back into my manuscript. As well, the deadline for the CBCLiterary Awards looms - November 1. I can enter online I think.

Congratulations to Inside the Writers Studio for their inclusion in the IBPC

That's all for now
Jude

Happy Fall

2005-10-12T13:41:00.000-07:00

The teachers are on strike right now, so our kids are out of school. Lot's of chaos, parents having to drive around, pick up drop off, share their offices with children. Not much time in there to work much less have quiet writing spaces - the dots are tiny between lots of noisy white space and lots of dashing around.

I'm reading three books right now:

Kim Addonizio's book What is this thing called love. Excellent book, makes me want to stop writing forever. Ha. I've discovered I'm not the only one this happens to upon reading the work of other poets. Also I like this: leading. That's the word for the amount of space between lines. It means I can read the book anywhere, in any light. Kim's poems are very real, consistently transporting. I once read a sci fi story, have no memory of who wrote it sadly, about a sport where a boat would tear down a lake at great speed then put out a hook and grab onto a pole - the result being the boat would be spun violently and the competitor would be launched. Kim's poems remind me of that sport - starting out fast but ending up launched.

Dorianne Laux's book, Smoke. I already know many of these poems, thanks to the internet, but I wanted to have her book on my shelves just because.

Ted Kooser The Poetry Home Repair Manual. I love this guy. OK OK I'll admit it - I'm one of those people who believe in approachable poetry. I struggle to make my own stuff more approachable and less symbolic. Something in me looks at my approachable poems and whispers things like : boringgggg. Remembers crits like this one from the Gazebo:

"It was akin to watching a second rate movie.
I have reached the end, thank goodness! because it was one of those really boring movies where the plot is familiar and the actors inexperienced. Although the ending was so sweet and charming it made me wish that I had of paid attention. I watched it again but unfortunately the same thing happened. The movie itself was still too hard to stay focussed on even knowing how sweet and charming the ending was."

I'm in the middle of working with an editor on my poetry. So many times she has suggested I delete my last two or three lines. OMG, no no one will read the poem twice!

Anyhow, back to Kooser, his book has a lot of good advice and is presented in a very conversational manner. I might as well be sitting with him under the dragon lamp in my living room. My complaint is, you might guess, lack of white space and extremely tiny type. Some people have eyesight issues, some have brain issues (dyslexia, tracking problems etc.) - we need more books with bigger type and more whitespace.

I'm new at this - does a writer really have any control over the publishing output?

Dorianne Laux's book, for example. The titles of each poem are really big and separated from the poem itself by a line. This seems to work ok for her poems, but for many poems, the title needs to be more intimately connected with the poem. My own preference would be for titles in the same size and font as the poem, but bold and maybe with one extra line of white space between them and the poem.

As I mentioned above, I am working on my manuscript now, with the help of Susan. It is very difficult. All the toxins of life have gathered to jeer. This is a familiar trial - happens every time I decide to step away from my place of comfort. So I put my head down, pay no attention, just move forward, move forward. The work itself is pleasurable. A poem, a group of thoughts and suggestions, rework the poem, move on to the next. I started with 50 poems. I can see now 20 or 30 may not survive! Or they may ...

Wishing you all a peaceful week
Jude

Burnside Review: Rejection #2

2005-09-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

Jude-

Thanks for the submission. Unfortunately we're going to have to pass this time around.

Best of luck,

Sid Miller
Editor
Burnside Review

This is my second rejection from Burnside Review - there's no fit. I've decided to try some places twice, with at least a few months in between - before accepting there is no fit. I have tried Pedestal a few times, always rejected. I have just sent out my second group of poems to Malahat Review which is a journal in my own province- I'd like to have something published in my own part of the world. Anyhow, not much out there right now, I'm waiting to hear on a submission to Black Warrior (which I have hope for as one of the editors, Aaron Welborn , seemed to like my work on the IBPC) and a ChapBook Contest (Jessie Bryce Niles: Comstock Review) which I have zero hope for - I had intended to enter the CBC Literary Awards again this year but a labour dispute is preventing the contest from going ahead at this moment.

Man, labour disputes! There is one with the telephone company right now which has been going on forever, the teachers are in the middle of 'job-action' and now I read the hospital workers are about to begin rotating strike action.

Anyhow back to poetry and publication. Originally this blog was to record my progress. So far this year I have had 4 poems accepted for print publication. I have had three placings on the IBPC, which I value highly. The Guardian has shortlisted 4 of my submissions, which I also value. I have specifically not submitted to online journals, but have had 4 poems published in this way by special request of the editors. Put down in this fashion, it doesn't add up to much - but in truth, I am very happy and excited with everything. As well, I attended a writers workshop that was an enormous boost, I am involved in the newly formed Squamish Writers Group and we meet every two weeks to workshop, yak, do challenges, that kind of stuff, and I have compiled my first book manuscript and hired a professional editor, Susan Musgrave. I hope to have it packaged and ready to send out by the end of the year.

All in all, a good start and there is lots left to this year. Lots of cozy writing time, lots of brilliant and stormy seasonal material to work with.

I'm reading an interesting book - Coming Through Slaughter by Michael Ondaatje. He writes the thing like poetry only with no line breaks. Any one of his paragraphs would throw one of our online workshops into a tailspin that would last for days. Inconsistent tense, incomplete sentences and phrases, stuff like that. If a new writer were to produce something like this it would be torn to shreds by the editors I am sure. Thing is, it's beautiful - haunting, lyrical, beautiful. And of course, completely deliberate. This writer is a true professional: "This district, the homes and stores, are a mile or so from the streets made marble by jazz."

He uses techniques I've become familiar with over this past year online - 'list poems' for example - but mostly it seems to me like this: he found a subject (a jazz musician, cornet) and did his research, learned about the times and the life, and wrote a whole bunch of poems. Then when done, he put them all together to form the story. I really like the concept -

BIG step

2005-09-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

I have just today packaged up a complete manuscript of my poems. I am on my way to post them to a professional editor who will go over each one and pass back comments, corrections etc.

The choice to hire an editor wasn't difficult for me. I have the money, well, it's an overdraft, and I have seen this person's work so I know it will be worthwhile. However, it doesn't guarantee publication of course, and am I simply spending money on my personal vanity? That was the difficult question. In the end, I thought, even if it is my personal vanity, what of that? Many would spend that money on a new coat or a new hairdo or even a professional photo session. What is the difference? So what if this book is rejected repeatedly - at least I know it is the best it can be and I can be happy to bundle it up and put it away.

This is releasing. The book has 50 poems. My collection comprises some 200 poems. I now feel free to continue writing and to plan my next book!

One of my favourite sites is the American Life in Poetry by Ted Kooser - Kooser is presenting a series of free columns for newspapers, each with a poem and a write-up. The sole mission of this project is to promote poetry: America Life in Poetry seeks to create a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture. Wonderful presentation, poems and great stuff for everyone.

I've been hanging out on QED and the GAZEBO poetry boards lately - tough crit and tougher critters but I like it. The Gazebo is the more active of the two with lots of crits and poems happening. I work on the computer (web design, desk top publishing), so I visit boards every hour or two just to read, crit and take a break from my work. Because of this, it's nice to find boards that are really active. Maybe I'm like some kind of hyper-poet - ha, well, I don't produce at that rate sadly.

OK, gotta go

Katrina - Our Experience

2005-09-23T21:29:00.000-07:00

I received a horrifying account today by email. Who knows if it is genuine but difficult to imagine anyone writing something like this for 'fun'. Written by paramedics Larry Bradsahw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky who were attending a conference in New Orleans when Katrina hit, it tells quite a different story that what we were told by the media - surprise surprise.

I have put it up on a page on one of my websites, click here ::>

It's true, it's true

2005-09-21T13:41:00.000-07:00

Sarah Crown, of the Guardian and September IBPC Judge wrote when reviewing my poem The Chewer :: "In contrast with the oppressive silence of the first section of the poem, the final declarative lines sing out freely, with great power. The plate and the flies may be silent but, it seems, she’s no longer going to be."

Sarah judged by poem First - quite an honor and it is true (the singing out part). Her full review:

As with all my favourite poems, this says little and speaks volumes. Through the poet’s painfully clear description of a single incident, I was given a picture of a whole relationship, a lesson in the depths of feeling that lie behind silence. The profound impact of the opening statement on the speaker is there in the litany of ugly adjectives with which she describes her – I decided it was ‘her’ – reaction: the apple is “poisonous” (Snow White, anyone?), the piece in her mouth is a “slug”, her shadow perches “gargoyle-like”, unrecognisable even to herself. The lines on her struggle to swallow the apple noiselessly are masterful, full of sticky, clogging half-rhymes –"mush”, “suck”, “push” – and the lack of punctuation makes it impossible for us to tell whether it is her throat that’s “half closed, unwilling”, or she herself. In contrast with the oppressive silence of the first section of the poem, the final declarative lines sing out freely, with great power. The plate and the flies may be silent but, it seems, she’s no longer going to be. Wonderful stuff. –Sarah Crown

Thank you Millard of South Carolina Writers Workshop for submitting my poem.

What am I reading these days?
Goodness, I wrote a whole three paragraphs here and it all disappeared. Sad! Now I'm out of time so it just has to be a list:

The Burnside Review (with excellent interview with Kim Addonizio.) The Review has one of the best journal websites, clean, easy to navigate, lots of good white space, and fonts that are consistent, easy to read and lined up properly. They are calling for submissions right now ...

On another note, Kim's blog notes that she will no longer be maintaining a blog, after 5 years. Sad for me, having just discovered the site!

The Making of a Poem, A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms by Mark Strand and Eavan Boland - beautiful beautiful book - gives new hope for poetry. A gift for me from In The Writers Studio where I won their contest in August. This month's contest is still a go - well worth an entry! See my entry Contests for fun for more information.

Musgrave Landing, Musing on Writing Life by Susan Musgrave. Lots of great little essays on the life of a writer and a poet, many hilarious stories, and a liberal sprinkling of quotations from all sorts of fascinating people. Copyright 1994, this is a classic.

autophobia

2005-09-16T22:04:00.000-07:00

Only while my fingers are in contact with the keys, only before and when the words cause my lips to poot and plip, only then could I say the poems were under control, were something I might pet at the dinner table or wash in the steel basin or even twist and turn before the mirror. Seconds later I don't recognize them, they jeer, jump up and down on the curb, shout things - they're bullies. I immediately begin to write again and again and the poems tear off like toilet paper, they slip flat and fine on the stale thermals of my house sticking to the rhododendrons all around. It's strange to watch them flutter and now and then escape, drift off across the parkway - I have no idea what they are. Even as I sit and type these words I have no idea what I'm doing. It's frightening, really ...

I found a wonderful website just now with poems and the ability to hear the poets, even watch them, recite their work. The Griffin Poetry Prize Page See and Hear Poets

Tilt

2005-09-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Rachel Mallino and Michael Liska III on their first issue of the new online literary zine TILT

The first edition includes one of my poems, Where I Live, as well as works by Arlene Ang, John Vick , Lisa Prince, Jayne Pupek and others.

Tomorrow morning I go one-on-one with Susan Musgrave and my tattered little pile of poetry.

Whistler Writers' Retreat

2005-09-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

I've stepped way out of my box this week - signed up for a writers workshop with Canadian poet Susan Musgrave. I've been placed in a group of 6, and we meet each day for 2.5 hours. We are workshopping each other's material, but also engaging in writing 'exercises' ! The first one (write 6 questions in 6 minutes, interview one of the other participants and write a bio) had me shaking so hard I could barely hold the pen. I had to borrow paper (duh). I had to read it aloud. I was the first ! Today we start by workshopping my own poems. The workshopping part should be ok - but the face to face aspect is always hard for me. Just gotta get out there more.

I have always enjoyed Susan Musgrave's poetry. She is very personable and quite funny - this has been an excellent opportunity for all of us up here in our tiny part of the world. The knowledge and experience and encouragement she passes on are beyond words.