Subscriber News: September 2020
Recent Honors
Congratulations to Anna Scotti. Her debut full-length poetry book, Bewildered by All This Broken Sky, was selected by Katharine Coles as the winner of the inaugural Lightscatter Prize. She kindly shares a sample poem here. Forthcoming in early 2021, it will be the first book published by Lightscatter Press, an independent literary publisher founded in 2019. Coles said of the winning collection: "Suffused with doubt and faith, with memory and its mysteries, these poems are wry and snappy, equal parts sorrow and bliss, deeply self aware." The most recent deadline for this $1,000 prize was April 15.
Congratulations to Gary Beck. His poetry collections Fractional Disorder and Redemption Value, his new novel Wave Length, his political and cultural essay anthology Collected Essays of Gary Beck, and his drama anthology Collected Plays of Gary Beck, Vol. I were recently published by Cyberwit. Wave Length is the coming-of-age story of a Mexican-American boy in a Southern California beach town. When his mother's boyfriend kicks him out of their trailer, he lives on the beach where he becomes fascinated by surfing. His life is transformed by a job in the Wave Length surf shop.
Congratulations to Ute Carson. Her book Gypsy Spirit was recently published by Plain View Press. Spanning from her family's escape from eastern Germany in 1945 to her present life in Austin, Texas, Gypsy Spirit is a lifetime's collection of published short stories, flash stories, essays, commentaries and memoirs, illustrated with photos and artwork from her daughter, grandson, and son-in-law.
Congratulations to Paul Scollan. His latest poetry collection from Antrim House Books is Bagful of Bags (2019). He kindly shares a sample poem here. More poems are posted on Antrim's website. Award-winning poet John Surowiecki says of this book, "We rarely see poetry like this any more: gritty, direct, burdened by what's genuine, what's human, what counts. Paul Scollan's Bagful of Bags jumps from our troubling war in Vietnam to a troubled city in Connecticut, and along the way extols the extraordinariness of ordinary lives." His two previous collections, Liberty Street Hill and Unaccounted For, are also available from Antrim.
Congratulations to Barbara de la Cuesta. Her new novella, The Mists, is forthcoming in November from Finishing Line Press and is now available for pre-order. From the book blurb: "Three young Chicagoans flee a war they don't consider 'theirs', only to encounter a conflict in the mountains of Central America they must achingly own."
Congratulations to Jennifer R. Farmer. Her book First and Only: A Black Woman's Guide to Thriving at Work and in Life will be published in February 2021 by Broadleaf Books.
Recent Publications
Janet Garber has several new publications to report. "Two Trees in a Hurricane" appeared in Tiny Seed Literary Journal. "Family Values" was published in BoomerCafe. "Call Me Tante" was published in Jew-ish: True Stories of Love, Latkes and L'chaim, edited by Edward McCann (Read650, Inc., 2020)
Dr. Christopher D. Handy's book Racism: The Absence of Good is available on Amazon. This book describes the history and emotional impact of racism in America, and offers hope for reconciliation through the Christian values of love and equality.
Rick Lupert's 25th poetry collection, The Tokyo-Van Nuys Express, is now available from his imprint Ain't Got No Press. These humorous travel poems were written last summer while in Japan, inspired by Richard Brautigan's book The Tokyo-Montana Express. He kindly shares a sample poem here. Read more on his Poetry Super Highway website.
Meg Eden's poetry collection Drowning in the Floating World (Press 53, 2020) was favorably reviewed by Sally Ashton in DMQ Review.
Neil Perry Gordon's historical novels Hope City, A Cobbler's Tale, Moon Flower, and The Righteous One are available on Bookshop.com.
Michael McKeown Bondhus's poem "Minx, Dad, Dildo" was published in July at Yes Poetry.
Angélique Jamail, Ellaraine Lockie, and Suzanne O'Connell were the featured poets for July 6-12 at Poetry Super Highway.
Freddy Niagara Fonseca's poetry collection The Bomb That Blew Up God was reviewed in BookLife, a paid review serice from Publishers Weekly. BookLife called this collection "a dynamic, yet intimate travelogue through our soul and the life we are living on Planet Earth" and recommended it for fans of A.R. Ammons, Gary Snyder, and Li-Young Lee.
Antoinette Carone's story "The Stranger in Chock-Full-o'Nuts" was published in Fudoki Magazine. "The Guardian Demon" was published in Brown Bag Online.
Cynthia Harris-Allen's memoir-in-progress, East 132nd Street, was excerpted in Cleveland Neighborhood, an anthology from Literary Cleveland.
Duane L. Herrmann has several publications to report from this summer. His poem "Tree's Lament" appeared in the 2020 issue of Wayne Literary Review. His memoir essay "Until It Happens to You' was published in the inaugural issue of Limit Experience Journal. His essay "Games My Brother Played" was featured on the Adirondack Center for Writing website on July 20. Three flash fiction pieces were posted in The Short of It. His poem "A Father Who..." was included in Father and I, an anthology from Wingless Dreamer. Herrmann's newest collection of poems (with one short story), No Known Address, was released by Poetica Publishing. This collection is a response to the Holocaust. His essay "Awakening Poet" was included in Far Villages: Welcome Essays for New and Beginner Poets, edited by Abayomi Animashaun (Black Lawrence Press). On July 4, Herrmann was quoted on BahaiTeachings.org about Robert Hayden, the first African-American poet laureate of the United States. His poem "Dancing on the Wind" was posted on Tiny Seed. The July 2020 digital issue of The New Engagement contained three of his poems under the title of "Grass Waving Under Wind". On July 11, Just Place Chapbook posted the first of five of his poems, "Prairie Bones". Others will be forthcoming through October. A suite of five poems was published at Duane's PoeTree on July 25: "Fly With Me", "Little Bodies", "Frozen Tan", "Baby Bonding", and "Grieving for..."
Published: September 9, 2020
