Howdy – How’s your April shaping up? Have you been celebrating poetry? Reading it? Writing it? I got an email from Lummox Poetry Anthology #5, which is looking for work on the theme of “ism" or "isms." Examples cited include: Alcoholism, Capitalism, Patriotism, Buddhism, Globalism, Conformism, Masochism, Regionalism, Commercialism, Pessimism, Mannerism, Egotism, Dogmatism, Realism, etc, etc. Lummox #5 is also looking for illustrations, collages, artwork of all kinds. … [Read more...]
Mourning in Kalamazoo and other news
Hello. I missed writing to you. But a project came up that needed my immediate attention. Besides, I haven’t much to report. To tell you the truth, socializing has taken up a lot of time recently. I can always talk myself into going out because human relations are what count in this lifetime. So why say no to a nice lunch? No doubt, you heard about the shooting in Kalamazoo, MI. Elizabeth Kerlikowske (who wrote two poems in Solace in So Many Words) has written about the … [Read more...]
Contributor updates and new submission leads
Peace and love to you all. I usually wish this to you at the end of every post but today I want to extend it to you first thing. I have nothing smart or new or world-changing to say about current events so I'll just repeat myself: Peace and love to all. I heard from Kathy Donahoo last week. She lives in California now. She's had two pieces of fiction recently placed. "Joey" a short story appears in Water-Stone Review (Volume 18, 2015), which has the theme: All We Cannot … [Read more...]
News and nifty
"Keep your sunny side up, up!" ("Hide the side that gets blue"). I write this to myself as well as to you. No whining. I’ve been watching Foyle’s War on Netflix and really enjoying it. It very rarely hits the wrong note; I’ve watched two seasons and only had some quibbles with the series. It’s been making me think of the sacrifices made at that time (1940s), wondering whether modern society could soldier on so. Here’s news I know. First off, big congrats to Ellen Bass … [Read more...]
Ambivalence, being judge-y, and links
Yesterday on the local talk show from Chicago, Windy City Live, I heard it’s almost been the coldest average February in Chicago since the late 1800s or something—we’re only missing it by a degree or two. It’s a record I don’t care if we break. Ambivalence – it’s a quality I am trying to develop, especially as it applies to wanting something too much. Well, at least that’s what I think this morning. That’s because last night I read Amy Poehler’s book Yes Please and in the … [Read more...]