Subscriber News: June 2023
Recent Honors
Congratulations to Lisa Dordal. Her hybrid poetry collection, Next Time You Come Home, will be published by Black Lawrence Press in September and is available for pre-order. This book distills 180 letters she received from her mother, Milly Dordal, from 1989-2001, into poetic meditations on nature, motherhood, marriage, grief, same-sex relationships, and political ills. She kindly shares a sample poem here. Poet Margaret Renkl says, "In distilling her late mother's letters to their loving essence, Lisa Dordal focuses not on the 'nighttime mother' who drank until her speech was slurred but on the vibrant, nurturing 'daytime mother' who taught her how to love the world. This is a radical compassion that heals, offering understanding without excuses or justifications, love without benchmarks or conditions."
Congratulations to Sandy Longley. Her poetry collection Mothernest was the runner-up in the 2022 Henry Morgenthau III First Book Poetry Prize for a writer over 70, and was recently published by Passager Books, a press dedicated to supporting writers over 50. The next submission period for this biennial $3,000 prize will be November 1, 2023-January 31, 2024. Sandy tells us, "The book's title comes comes from a word in a poem called 'The Crossing' that originally appeared in a Winning Writers critique about 10 years ago and that poem appears in the collection." Read the poem and Tracy Koretsky's critique on our website.
Congratulations to Alberta Nassi. She won the 2022 Brooklyn Non-Fiction Prize for her essay "Treif". The contest, sponsored by Film Brooklyn, carries a cash prize of $500 for the best literary essay with a Brooklyn setting and characters. The 2023 contest is now open through November 15.
Congratulations to Norbert Hirschhorn. His seventh poetry collection, Over the Edge, will be released this month by Holland Park Press. He kindly shares a sample poem here. National Book Award winner Marilyn Hacker calls Over the Edge "a vast small book, multi-vocal, rooted in past and present, in Mittel-Europa, New York, and Lebanon, everywhere humane and brotherly in its words and vision."
Congratulations to Gary Beck. His poetry collection Unveilings is now available from Winter Goose Publishing.
Recent Publications
Judy Juanita's poem "Reparations Approved: Yessssssss" was publlished in May in The New Verse News. This leftist online journal publishes poems on current events.
Rick Lupert's 27th book of poems, The Low Country Shvitz, is available from his imprint Ain't Got No Press. The latest entry in his humorous travelogue series, this collection chronicles his summertime travels through Georgia and the Carolinas. Read sample poems on his Poetry Super Highway website.
Richard Eric Johnson's poetry collection Free Air Berlin: Of a Wall and a Walnut Tree was favorably reviewed by Annette Grunseth on the Military Writers Society of America website. "Free Air Berlin...presents a riveting view of post-World War II Berlin, Germany. Richard Eric Johnson, a historian of Germany, Berlin, and The Wall, brings these uncertain days to life through poetry... Throughout the book, the reader can feel the oppression, snipers, checkpoints, imprisonment, yet still the 'air is free.' Not everything can be taken away so there is still hope, encouragement."
Samantha Terrell's online book launch for her poetry collection Confronting the Elements will take place June 24 at 3:00 pm Eastern time. Sign up on EventBrite. This book pays poetic tribute to three of the four natural elements—fire, earth, and air—while exploring the spiritual and social impacts of the human relationship with the world around us. She kindly shares a sample poem here.
Robin Reardon's novel For Love of Self, the sequel to For Love of God, is now available in print and e-book. A recently out gay minister is assigned to a parish in Vermont and falls in love with a member of the neighboring pagan commune.
Noah Berlatsky's poem "Gen X" and his prose-poem "All the Birds Forever" were published at Synchronized Chaos. His review of Colin Channer's poetry collection Console was published in The Common.
Amy Greenberg's essay "The Long Goodbye: An Affair of the Heart" was published in The Heimat Review.
Duane L. Herrmann's poem "Generational" was published at Spillwords this month. Other poetry was published in Fevers of the Mind, Issue #6 (2023); the anthology German Poems from Poet's Choice; and the journal Red Coyote.
J Brooke launched their author website with links to their award-winning poetry and prose at Electric Literature, Columbia Journal, Harvard Review, Craft Literary, and more.
Published: June 7, 2023
