From ghosts and visitations, malevolent folk spirits, spells, incantations and curses to surrealistic takes on the present and the future -- poets love the weird, the absurd, and the supernatural. Now through November 1, receive a generous 20% off on these four poetry books, when ordered through our online store. Use coupon code MGQ8JWW when ordering. (E-store only; offer not available for Amazon orders.)
Angels & Beasts, by Claudia Serea Watermark, by Clayton Michaels: "Right now I feel so goddamn rock-and-roll -- like a grinning Keith Richards death's-head"... (from "Watermark") Journaling the Apocalypse, (qarrtsiluni vol 1.1) edited by Dave Bonta and Beth Adams Words of Power (qarrtsiluni vol 1.4) edited by Dave Bonta and Beth Adams Thanks, and Happy Halloween! One of the most satisfying aspects of editing qarrtsiluni is that we get to work not only with writers but artists, and to publish their images, building a visual vocabulary that enlarges each issue's theme. This painting, by Welsh artist Clive Hicks-Jenkins, is a modern interpretation of the story of the prophet Elijah being fed by ravens, found in the Bible; it appears in "Words of Power." Dave Bonta and I discuss this painting, the Elijah story it illustrates, and raven behavior in a short podcast along with the original post. We also talk about other paintings of the same story, particularly this one by British painter Albert Herbert, showing a raven giving a man a host-like piece of bread, and end up with stories of talking crows! Above: Elijah and the Raven by Albert Charles Herbert (1925-2008)
Clive Hicks-Jenkins (website, blog) has worked as an actor in film and on TV, and was a highly successful choreographer, director, and stage designer before switching his focus to painting in the mid-90s. He has exhibited regularly with the Attic Gallery in Swansea, the Martin Tinney Gallery in Cardiff, Keith Chapman Modern Art in London, and Anthony Hepworth Fine Art in Bath, and has had well-received exhibitions in public galleries. He has been a member of The Welsh Group since 1997, exhibiting with them throughout Wales, in Scotland, Ireland, France and also in the USA, and 56 Group Wales since 2004. In 2008 he was nominated a Royal Cambrian Academician. After working from a studio in central Cardiff for several years, he recently moved to Mid Wales. It all depends on where you look.
Phoenicia editor and publisher Beth Adams takes a close look at the recently-released statistics on the gender gap in traditional literary journals vs. online publishing, using qarrtsiluni as an example, on her blog The Cassandra Pages. The conclusions may surprise you! On her "Women and Books" blog, respected poet Glenda Bailey-Mershon recently published a list: "Books I Loved in 2010 and Think You Will Too." Her top ten list included "A Walk through the Memory Palace" by Pamela Johnson Parker. Here's what she said about it:
"Artful and precise in their construction, these poems won Johnson Parker the Chapbook Prize from qaartsiluni, a small press doing some of the most innovative issues on the web (and, in the interest of full disclosure, a publisher of some of my own work.) I include the Memory Palace here because I believe it will please those who favor poems that catalogue, parse, and sliver the human experience in ways that reflect like shards of glass. While I prefer poetry that is more accessible and wholistically illuminative, I couldn’t help but admire this poet’s skill. I know why it was chosen, and I think it’s important to all writers to examine carefully that which challenges as well as pleases." Qarrtsiluni managing Editors Dave Bonta and Beth Adams have submitted six nominations for the 2010 Pushcart Prizes. While most of these fine poems will appear in subsequent print editions published by Phoenicia, Clayton Michaels' "Tantric" is from his chapbook, Watermark, currently available here!
As we often say, we have a love/hate affair with contests and awards. It's great to be able to nominate our authors, and even more wonderful when they win, but we see so much work that is deserving of greater recognition, so it's very hard to choose only a few pieces to single out. Our goal is to congratulate and encourage all writers -- but today, to give a special tip of the hat to these fine poets and their work, and to the qarrtsiluni guest editors who chose some of these poems for their issues. “24” by Barbara Young (New Classics issue) “Tantric” by Clayton Michaels (Watermark) “Relics” by Sherry Chandler (Health issue) “Sea of Stars” by Dick Jones (The Crowd issue) “So soft his neck, so distant from the thought of stone” by Jee Leong Koh (New Classics issue) “Apart” by Aline Soules (Chapbook Finalists 2010; originally published in The Houston Literary Review, May 2009) |
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