Subscriber News: May 2023
Recent Honors
Congratulations to Fernando Andres Torres. His debut book, Walks Through Memories of Oblivion, was recently published in its English-language edition by Unsolicited Press. From the book blurb: "Walks Through Memories of Oblivion is a collection of short stories and essays about resistance, prison, and exile; a creative nonfiction narrative based on true events. This is a debut book by Fernando Andres Torres, who at 18 years old was a political prisoner during the military regime that, with the help of the United States, overthrew democracy and established a brutal civic-military dictatorship (1973-90) in Chile." The Spanish-language edition, Paisajes desde el olvido; Memorias de un ex-prisionero político, was published by Pampa Negra Ediciones in November 2022 in Chile. Read a review (in Spanish) in Cine y Literatura.
Congratulations to John Sibley Williams. His chapbook Skyscrape won the 2022 WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest from Writer's Relief and is now available on Amazon. He kindly shares a sample poem here. The 2022 contest, judged by Luisa A. Igloria, offered $500 and print and e-book publication. Visit John's website for his upcoming online poetry workshops.
Congratulations to Diane Lederman. Her story "The Surprise of It" was shortlisted in the 62nd Short Fiction Contest from Jerry Jazz Musician and published on their website. Diane's story is excerpted from her collection of tales about the impact of World War I on the West End community in Boston. This long-running free contest, offered three times a year, gives $150 for short stories that relate to the magazine's themes of music, social history, literature, politics, art, film, and theatre, particularly that of the counter-culture of mid-20th century America. The next deadline is May 31.
Congratulations to Gary Beck. His poetry collection Unillumined was recently published by Purple Unicorn Media.
Congratulations to Gloria Mindock. Her seventh poetry collection, Grief Touched the Sky at Night, is forthcoming from Glass Lyre Press. This book focuses on the war in Ukraine. Gloria is the editor of Červená Barva Press, which celebrates its 18th anniversary this year. She kindly shares a sample poem here.
Congratulations to Lesléa Newman. Her two newest picture book publications are The Fairest in the Land (Abrams Books for Young Readers), about a boy and girl who both like to dress up as princesses, and The Babka Sisters (Kar-Ben Publishing), about a dessert-making competition. Lesléa will be a workshop presenter at Writing the Rainbow, an online conference for picture-book creators sponsored by Highlights Foundation on June 2-5.
Congratulations to Ruth Thompson. Her collection Journey Bread: New and Selected Poems was accepted by Broadstone Books for publication in 2024.
Recent Publications
Winning Writers Editor Jendi Reiter's poems "Aprile Is the Cruelest Month" and "He Was Gay, Gary Cooper?" were published in Travesties?! A Queer Journal of Uncanny Arts. Their poems "Uncle Junior Shelters in Place", "Silvio Dante Contemplates Puberty Blockers", and "You Know, Quasimodo Predicted All This" are forthcoming in Snarl, Issue #5 (Spring 2023). These poems are excerpted from Jendi's chapbook manuscript The Waste-Management Land: Poems Inspired by "The Sopranos". Contact Jendi to make them an offer of publication they can't refuse.
Cheryl J. Fish's debut novel, Off the Yoga Mat (Livingston Press, 2022), was featured on Kerry Freeman's blog Books and Bevies, which pairs a book with a beverage that has meaning in the book and/or to the author. Cheryl was also featured on the podcast "Rock Is Lit," hosted by Christy Alexander Hallberg, to discuss the influence of rock music on her characters.
Scott Best's 100-word essay "Giving Freely" was published in the New York Times "Tiny Love Stories" feature for April 4. A non-paywalled version can be found on Scott's blog at Medium.
Annie Dawid's story "Saved" appeared at 101 Words on April 11. Her story "The Last Day of Mrs. Jim Jones" was published in Rowayat.
Koss's flash prose piece "Friday, Saturday" was published in Anti-Heroin Chic. Her poem "Color Therapy for Beginners" appeared in Diode Poetry. Four of her short-short stories were published in Flash Boulevard.
Alan W. King's poetry chapbook Crooked Smiling Light (Plan B Press, 2021) was favorably reviewed by Taylor Byas in Cincinnati Review. "King proposes an antidote to the societal and familial curse—revising the story already written for our lives, choosing to match violence with love instead."
Judy Juanita's essay "The Surest Route" was published in Living Buddhism. In it she talks about how Buddhism helped her realize her potential as a writer and avoid burnout as an activist.
Duane L. Herrmann, Helen Bar-Lev, and Joan Leotta were featured in Poetry Super Highway's 25th annual Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) Issue. (If you are a Winning Writers subscriber in this issue and we did not mention your name, contact us before June 10 to include it in next month's newsletter.) In other news, Duane's poem "Remnants of My Father" was published at Spillwords in March. Five Fleas published his poems "Holding Up" and "Dining In". Five of his poems appeared in Literary Yard in April. "Tree and Me" appeared in Plant Your Words Anthology, a nature poetry and photography compendium from Tiny Seed Literary Journal. Download a free PDF copy here. "Warrior Poet Worries" and "Time Healing" appeared in Sparks of Calliope.
Eva Tortora's "Lighthouse Poem" was accepted for publication in the newsletter of the National Lighthouse Museum in Staten Island, NY. She kindly shares it with us here. She also had two letters to the editor published in the NY Daily News in March.
Shobana Gomes's political novel Mrs. Robinson, Eyes on Freedom can be read for free on Inkitt. The protagonist is a writer who is subjected to death threats and intimidation in her country. Read more of Shobana's work at Shobana's Book Station.
The Poet Spiel's flash piece "Zambia, Cup Monkey" was published in 101 Words.
Lisa Schantl is hosting a reading on May 24 for Tint Journal, a literary journal for non-native English speakers, of which she is editor-in-chief. It will be livestreamed at 6 PM Central time on YouTube. Find out more on the journal's website.
Published: May 8, 2023
