Subscriber News: December 2017
Recent Honors
Winning Writers Assistant Judge Ellen LaFleche was a finalist for the 2017 Sunshot Poetry Prize for her manuscript Walking into Lightning with a Metal Urn in My Hands. This award series from the literary journal New Millennium Writings gives prizes up to $1,500 and publication for unpublished collections of poetry and short prose. The most recent deadline was May 30.
Congratulations to Anna Chan. Her flash fiction suite "Snow Globe Romance" was a finalist in the Defenestrationism.net contest, an opportunity she discovered in the Winning Writers newsletter. The stories will be published December 28-31 on the website, and readers will be able to vote for their favorites until January 3. The most recent deadline was October 25 for this contest with prizes up to $95. Anna advises our subscribers to "pursue the leads and keep submitting through all the rejections."
Congratulations to Gary Beck. His poetry collection Perturbations was published in October by Winter Goose Publishing. View the book trailer with a sample poem here. His poetry chapbook Hallowed Be Thy Gun was published this month by Atlantean Publishing, a British literary small press. From the book blurb: "Hallowed Be Thy Gun is a long poem in a chapbook format. It starts when a householder does his duty in the French and Indian War. He passes his musket on to succeeding generations, who go to war, face the dramatic changes in America and struggle to preserve their families as life becomes more complicated and demanding."
Congratulations to Kym Cunningham. Her debut poetry chapbook, l'appel du vide, is available for pre-order from Finishing Line Press. She kindly shares a sample poem here.
Congratulations to Dean Kostos. His poetry collection Pierced by Night-Colored Threads was recently published by MadHat Press. He kindly shares a sample poem here.
Congratulations to Charlotte Mandel. Her tenth poetry collection, To Be the Daylight, was published by White Violet Press, an imprint of Kelsay Books. Acclaimed author and critic Cynthia Ozick says of her work, "Charlotte Mandel's humane and lyrical vision is exuberant with image after surprising image, each one as precise as mathematics—incontrovertible, as if foretold."
Congratulations to Lynn Schmeidler. Her debut poetry collection, History of Gone, will be published in February by Veliz Books, a Texas-based independent press with an interest in English, Spanish, and Portuguese literature. She kindly shares a sample poem here. History of Gone is inspired by the life and unsolved disappearance of Barbara Newhall Follett, a once-famous child prodigy writer of the early 20th century. In other news, Lynn's poetry chapbook Wrack Lines was recently published by Grayson Books, a Connecticut-based poetry press. "In these poems—heartbreaking, wildly inventive, wise and innocent by turns—she conjures the world of unrequited love," writes award-winning poet Gillian Cummings. Lynn tells us, "I'm a longtime subscriber to your helpful and inspiring newsletter."
Congratulations to Debbie Hall. Her debut poetry collection, What Light I Have, was published this month by Main Street Rag. Read sample poems on their website. Acclaimed poet and Guggenheim grant winner Kwame Dawes praises this book's "considered honesty of a woman who has devoted her life to studying the minds of people, to seeking, through empathy and intense, almost obsessive attention, to crack the complexities of the mind, and who now has grudgingly resigned herself to the mysteries of the unknowable things in life...Here is an auspicious and generous debut by a poet of immense promise."
Congratulations to Ruth Thompson. Her poem "Hero's Return" was a finalist for the 44th New Millennium Writings Awards and will be published in an upcoming issue. This twice-yearly contest gives prizes of $1,000 for poetry, fiction, flash fiction, and essays; the 45th contest is open through January 31, 2018. In other news, Ruth's poem "Lightness, High Desert" was published in the December issue of American Poetry Journal, which nominated the poem for a Pushcart Prize. She kindly shares it with us here. Her poems "In Koosharem" and "Ode to a Leaf of Black Sage" will be published in bosque in December. "Mynah Eye" will be published in Tar River Poetry.
Recent Publications
Daniel Savery Raz's novel The Qwerty Man is available on Amazon.com in print and e-book formats. The Qwerty Man is a dystopian comedy set in a society where all digital words cost money. Global chaos ensues when the word "God" is released for sale.
W.R. Rodriguez's poetry collection From the Banks of Brook Avenue: Annotated Edition is available as an e-book from Smashwords. This edition is designed to give insight into the creative process. Each poem is followed by a commentary, or backstory, that discusses the people, places, and events that inspired the work. Each commentary is linked to the Appendix, which offers comments on the evolution of the poem, and often includes previous drafts or early notes. The links allow the reader to jump from the poem/commentary to the earlier drafts and back again.
Judy Juanita's essay collection De Facto Feminism: Essays Straight Outta Oakland (EquiDistance Press, 2016) received a starred review in Publishers Weekly, which called it "a dynamic and illuminating take on a distinct subset of feminism" and "a rhythmic and unforgettable portrait of an artist and activist coming of age."
Ken Allan Dronsfield's poetry has been nominated for three Pushcart Prize Awards and two Best of the Net Awards for 2016-2017. His poetry collection, The Cellaring, a book of 80 poems of the paranormal, weird and wonderful, is available through Amazon. He kindly shares a sample poem here. He is the co-editor for two anthologies, Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze and Dandelion in a Vase of Roses.
Annie Hill Otness's poetry collection Dream Beaches Invisible Landscapes and her Travellers trilogy (written as M.A. Hill) Trackless, Windforce, and Sweptback are available from her website. She is a writer and visual artist based in Fremantle, Western Australia.
Lesléa Newman's essay "Clothes Call" was published at Full Grown People. Her story "Jack of Hearts" was published at JewishFiction.net (subscribers only).
Published: December 8, 2017
