The Sonnet Project

If you are interested in Shakespeare, or sonnets, or New York City, The Sonnet Project has it all. The idea, originally slated for completion on Shakespeare’s 450th birthday (April 23rd 2014), is “to film all of Shakespeare’s sonnets, each performed by a different actor in a carefully chosen New York City location.”

When that deadline turned out to be unmanageable, the New York Shakespeare Exchange forged ahead anyway. Today there is a Sonnet Project website (with daily sonnet postings), Facebook page, Twitter feed and a Sonnet Project app. The films are posted on the website and on YouTube.

If you’re interested in recitation, this is a great place to hear Shakespeare.

Love letterpress printing?

If you’re a fan of letterpress printing, you’ll never think of it in quite the same way once you’ve witnessed the Steamroller Smackdown. As part of Seattle’s South Lake Union Block Party (can you say SLUBP?), the School of Visual Concepts will host the annual Steamroller Smackdown,in which 20 teams of top designers print gigantic posters using a steamroller in lieu of a traditional printing press. This Friday, August 7, 2015, 2:00-8:00pm.

Seattle Writes

Seattle Writes is a free, public program of The Seattle Public Library that offers workshops, write-ins and writing space. The Seattle Writes calendar currently includes a workshop on SELF-e, the Library’s free self-publishing platform, a presentation on book publishing by author Jayne Ann Krentz, and weekly NaNoWriMo write-ins during the month of November. Learn more on Seattle Writes.

on poetry

“What do you listen for, briefly, among the afternoon voices, / that the others do not”
Kenneth Fearing
(July 28, 1902 – June 26, 1961)
. . . . .
quote from “If Money” by Kenneth Fearing
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hot pixels!

Just launched: The Seattle Review of Books, “a literary news and review site dedicated to covering the best book city in America.” Reviews. Opinions. Notes. Events.

Watch it unfold (and subscribe) at The Seattle Review of Books online and on Facebook.

living on the mountain*

2015 Merit Award
By Luther Allen

living on the mountain

i can’t even begin
to keep up with the slugs
nor minister
to more than a few
of the grotesque leaves
of the big-leaf maple
in the fall

and i remain mystified
about the survival of the blacktail
and coyote and cougar
during the cold endless rain
and sopping long nights of winter

the black bears
i am sure
winter-sleep down at the casino
waking occasionally
to gorge on fried chicken
and that expensive craft beer
play a few hands of black jack
warm and dry, grinning
. . . . .
*Copyright 2015 by Luther Allen. Broadside illustrated by Mat Hudson.

poetry travel

A good travel guide can help you see more of what interests you. So, for your next trip to New York, consider tucking a copy of Writing Manhattan into your pocket.

The city guide is one of the “witty, pretty, curious and opinionated” publications of Herb Lester Associates, who also offer (non-literary) guides to Seattle, Portland and other cities around the world.

auspicious

When we last mentioned Seattle’s bid for official UNESCO designation as a City of Literature, in February 2014, there were seven such cities and Seattle’s effort was earnest and grassroots. Still earnest, the project now has a new advisory board, a new presence on social media, a new video, and a book by Ryan Boudinot, Seattle City of Literature, scheduled for release this fall by Sasquatch Books.

More on the Seattle City of Literature website and on Facebook as Seattle waits to see if it will be selected as number 12 — a particularly auspicious designation, for which the city seems exceedingly well primed.
. . . . .
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parched

If you are thinking or writing about drought, you are invited to submit up to three poems for an anthology on the subject. Four small presses — Fern Rock Falls, Noah’s Shoes, Uttered Chaos and Tiger’s Eye — will co-publish. The submission deadline is Wednesday, September 30, 2015. Read the call for submissions here.
. . . . .
photo by Tomas Castelazo

what to do with those poems

While we don’t suggest that your submissions should be geographically limited, we do suggest that you support regional publications. And in case you’re thinking about submitting some poems, here’s a deadline update on some literary journals that are based in the Cascadia region, some print and some online. The links will take you to the submission page of each publication.

• A River & Sound Review – open reading period August 1 – November 30.
• Bellingham Review – general submission period September 15 – December 1.
• Burnside Review accepts submissions year round.
• CALYX, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women, accepts submissions of poetry, short fiction, visual art, essays, reviews, and interviews annually from October 1 – December 31.
• Cascadia Review reads submissions year round.
• The Capilano Review is accepting submissions for its fall issue through August 31.
• The Cascadia Subduction Zone reads submissions year round.
• Cirque Journal – Issue #13 is next, submission deadline not yet announced.
• Clackamas Literary Review – accepts submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction September 1 – December 31.
• Clover, A Literary Rag – Volume 10, Winter 2015, deadline is September 30.
• Crab Creek Review – submissions are closed; check back for updates (usual reading period is autumn).
• EVENT accepts submissions year round.
• Geist accepts work with a Canadian connection year round.
• High Desert Journal submissions reopen September 1.
• Image Journal and the Good Letters blog accept submissions year round.
• Isthmus reads submissions year round.
• The Monarch Review reads submissions year round.
• Pacifica Literary Review – general submission period September 15 – May 15.
• PageBoy Magazine reads submissions throughout the year.
• Poetry is Dead is accepting submissions on the theme of working class through August 15.
• Poetry Northwest welcomes unsolicited submissions of poetry, original or in translation, September 15 – March 15.
• PRISM international accepts submissions year round.
• Ricepaper accepts submissions year round.
• Room Magazine currently lists deadlines on July 31 and October 31.
• The Seattle Review reads submissions year round.
• Shark Reef has two deadlines each year: September 30 and March 31.
• Silk Road Review reads submissions year round.
• Soundings Review will reopen for submissions in September.
• subTerrain accepts submissions for themed issues on a rolling basis.
• Tin House accepts submissions September 1 – May 31.
• Whatcom Writes! will be accepting submissions on the subject of choices through October 9.
• Willow Springs accepts manuscript submissions September 1 – May 31.
• Windfall has two deadlines: August 1 for the fall issue and February 1 for the spring issue.

Be sure to read and follow the guidelines. Please note that some publications have submission/reading fees.

If you know of a poetry journal in the Pacific Northwest with an upcoming deadline, please leave a Comment. Links to known journals are in the NW Lit Scene section of the sidebar, at right, and include many publications in addition to those listed here.
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