Subscriber News: December 2015
Recent Honors
Congratulations to Akua Lezli Hope. Her poetry collection Them Gone won the 2015 Editor's Prize from Red Paint Hill Publishing and will be published in fall 2016. The manuscript was also a finalist for the 2015 Word Works Washington Prize. These poems pay tribute to the struggle and creativity of her parents and grandparents, who emigrated to Harlem from Jamaica, the Caribbean, and Montserrat.
Congratulations to James K. Zimmerman. His poetry collection Little Miracles was recently published by Passager Books, a small press specializing in writers over 60. He kindly shares a sample poem here.
Congratulations to Maureen Sherbondy. Her new poetry collection, The Art of Departure, was recently published by Aldrich Press, an imprint of Kelsay Books. She kindly shares a sample poem here. Poet and critic Jessie Carty says of this collection: "When we think of the word art we might first think of a painting, a poem, or a musical score. But art is also a branch of learning. A skill. In The Art of Departure Maureen Sherbondy uses her art, as a poet, to show us there is an art to leaving; to surviving deaths, divorce, and the redefinition of the self." Visit the author's website to learn more about her award-winning poetry and fiction.
Congratulations to Anne Sweazy-Kulju. Her historical YA novel Grog Wars, a story of love and adventure on the Oregon Trail in the 19th century, won the silver medal in the General YA category of the 2015 Literary Classics International Book Awards.
Congratulations to Phyllis Goldberg. She and co-author Rosemary Lichtman recently published Whose Couch Is It Anyway? Moving Your Millennial with Fuze Publishing. Through case studies of five families, the book explores the obstacles to financial independence for today's young adults, and how to maintain healthy relationships with adult children who move back home. Find out about their life coaching services at HerMentorCenter.com.
Congratulations to Anita Haas. Her novel Creating Florinda (Red Dashboard Press, 2014) was published in a Spanish edition this year. The book depicts a wife's scheme to help her novelist husband overcome discouragement from bad reviews. In other news, Anita won awards in three flash fiction contests in Spain: first prize in the Aldaia Cuenta flash fiction contest in May 2015, for the story "Entran de todos modos" (They Get In, Anyway); first prize in the ALCER Almería flash fiction contest in June 2015, for the story "La Nueva Vida" (New Life); and finalist in the FNAC flash fiction contest in July 2015, for the story "Final Feliz" (Happy Ending). Her poems and stories were published this year in the Zodiac Review (Summer/Fall 2015), The Furious Gazelle (May 2015), Vox Poetica, Verse Virtual, and Drunk Monkeys.
Congratulations to Trish Hopkinson. Her poem "Footnote to a Footnote" won second prize in the 2015 Poetry Super Highway Contest. Read the winners here. The most recent deadline for this contest was October 3, with prizes up to 50% of entry fees (top prize was $447.50 this year).
Congratulations to Dawn S. Davies. Her essay "Disquiet and the Lyric Essay" is forthcoming in the creative nonfiction journal Fourth Genre (Spring 2016) as a finalist for the 2015 Steinberg Essay Prize. The next submission period for this award will be January 1-March 15. In other news, her essay "King of the World" will be published in The Missouri Review (Winter 2015). Her essay "Four Animals" is forthcoming in Blood and Thunder: Musings on the Art of Medicine, a publication of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. Her essay "Keeping the Faith" is forthcoming in Chautauqua (Fall 2015). Her essay "The Slattern" was published in The Austin Review, Issue 4. Her essay "Fear of Falling" was included in the anthology Mothering Through the Darkness: Women Open Up About the Postpartum Experience (SheWrites Press, 2015).
Congratulations to Lesléa Newman. Her picture book Ketzel, the Cat Who Composed was published this fall by Candlewick Press. It is based on the true story of composer Moshe Cotel, who wrote a prizewinning piano piece based on his cat's walk across the keyboard.
Recent Publications
Winning Writers contest judge Ellen LaFleche was profiled on November 12 in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, a Western Massachusetts newspaper (articles are behind subscriber paywall). From the article: "Northampton poet Ellen LaFleche, 61, says she's interested in creating poetry about the experiences of women and working-class people. She also writes about the body, exploring its sensual and symbolic dimensions through imagery. And, since the recent death of several family members, she says, she is especially interested in challenging established ideas about the stages of grief as well as the experiences and sensations of the dying person."
Winning Writers contest judge Ellaraine Lockie's poem "Memorials" was featured on November 16 in the new online journal Ekphrastic California. This site accepts poems about art with a connection to California. Her poem "La Géante" was also featured there on December 4. Poems from her chapbook Where the Meadowlark Sings (Encircle Publications, 2015) were reprinted in Songs of Eretz Poetry Review as daily features from November 25-30. Her poem "Edge of Night" appears this month in a poster on the Devil's Slide Ride buses in Pacifica, California, as a result of a poetry contest sponsored by Dorsetta Hale, Pacifica's Poet Laureate, and the Parks and Rec Department.
Joan Gelfand's poetry video "The Ferlinghetti School of Poetics" was accepted into the 4th International Poetry Video Film Festival in Athens, Greece. The 5-minute film will be shown on December 19. View it on YouTube.
Linda Principe's new poetry collection, Echoes of Light, is now available on Amazon.com. She kindly shares a sample poem here.
J.C. Todd will be a featured presenter offering one-on-one poetry critiques at the Winter Prose and Poetry Getaway, January 15-18, at the Stockton Seaview Hotel near Atlantic City, NJ. She was named the 2015 Pew Fellow at the Ucross Foundation and was granted a one-month residency there. She has also been awarded a collaborative residency with visual artist MaryAnn L. Miller to Ragdale.
Linda Heuring's short story "Until There's Not" was published in Crannóg, an Irish literary journal. Her story "Little Mister" was published in Crack the Spine, Issue 165, accompanied by an author interview.
Julie Vincent's books Travels Within: Art and Poetry and Travels Without: My Fabulous Adventures in Europe and America in Art and Poetry are now available from her website. The former book explores the author's intimate journey of completing her doctorate degree while escaping domestic violence. Watch her YouTube video about the book.
Patricia Renard Scholes's science fiction/fantasy novel series "Lorekeeper of the Tapestry" is being reprinted by Celestial Waters Publishing. The first book, Her Darkest Beauty, will be released soon. Visit her Facebook page to learn more.
R.T. Castleberry's poem "Events Leading to an Aftermath" was published in Caveat Lector, Vol. 26, Issue 1.
Peter Boadry's poem "Dear Mom (May 1, 2004)" appeared in the anthology The Field of Winds, edited by Kevin Watt.
R. Bremner's poem "Patching the Roof" appeared in Shot Glass Journal. "My Father Walks" and "That Recliner" will be published in the "Family" themed issue of Writers Tribe Review.
Barbara Brockway's story "The Clouds Over Molokai" was published this month in Grand Central Review. Her essay "The Christmas Birthday Conundrum" will be published on the parenting website Brain, Child. Visit her website to read more of her writing.
Published: December 9, 2015
