Poetry Coalition

We’ve previously introduced the Poetry Coalition (here and here). During the month of March 2018, the 20+ organizations that make up the Poetry Coalition will present programming on the theme Where My Dreaming and My Loving Live: Poetry & the Body (a line from “Flores Woman” by U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith).

Each organization will bring its unique mission to the task of presenting programs and projects on the theme of the body, including a range of events and publications that address issues such as mass incarceration, transphobia, violence against people of color, and health and self-care. This programming is supported in part by a grant from the Ford Foundation secured by the Academy of American Poets.

See a list of the organizations and their anticipated programming here.

on poetry

“Not being heard is no reason for silence.” (N’être pas écouté, ce n’est pas une raison pour se taire.)
Victor Hugo
(February 26, 1802 – May 22, 1885)

. . . . .
Portrait of Victor Hugo by Étienne Carjat

poetry on film

In our ongoing pursuit of poetry on film, we should mention the new independent film, The Kindergarten Teacher. Directed by Sara Colangelo, the film stars Maggie Gyllenhaal and includes the work of a number of poets, including Ocean Vuong and Kaveh Akbar. To learn more about how the poetry found its way into the film, view the Sundance Film Festival video on the Los Angeles Times website.

(According to the Hollywood Reporter, the film rights have just been acquired by Netflix, which will release the movie later this year.)

mark your calendar, Bellingham

Back in October, we mentioned the animated feature film, Window Horses. Written and directed by award-winning Vancouver filmmaker Ann Marie Fleming, Window
Horses is about love — love of family, poetry, history, and culture. The film’s poems include work by Rumi, Ann Marie Fleming, Sean Yangzhan, and Taylor Mali.

On Saturday, March 24, 2018, at 3:00pm, Pickford Film Center in Bellingham, Washington, will present Window Horses as part of the Bellingham Children’s Film Festival Young Sophisticates program. (Perfect for poets ages 10+.) Mark your calendar.

awards

Since 1963, the PEN Awards have honored the most outstanding voices in literature across a diverse range of genres, including fiction, poetry, science writing, essays, sports writing, biography, children’s literature, and drama. With the help of partners, PEN America confers over 20 distinct awards, fellowships, grants, and prizes each year, awarding nearly $315,000 to writers and translators.

This week, PEN named the 2018 PEN America Literary Awards winners as well as the 2018 PEN America Lifetime and Career Achievement Honorees. Among the former is poet Layli Long Soldier’s debut collection, Whereas. Among the latter is poet Kamau Braithwaite for his body of work including Elegguas, Born to Slow Horses, and Ancestors.

Congratulations to these two important voices in poetry.

countdown

It’s almost time…
The annual submission window for the Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest will open a week from today, Thursday, March 1, 2018, and remain open until 6:00pm, Saturday, March 31, 2018.

Early and late submissions will be disqualified.

This would be an excellent time to review the submission guidelines and make sure your poem does not exceed the line count or character count.

Whatcom County poets, on your mark…

comic relief

In case you’re in need of some comic relief, Tom Gauld may be able to help. His comics, which often refer to literature or the writing life, may be familiar from The New Yorker, The Guardian, or New Scientist, but you can also find them on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Laugh a little. It’s good for you.

. . . . .
image

AltLib new home for poetry

Bellingham’s Alternative Library has moved around a few times, but it seems to have found a solid home base in an historic church near downtown and the Western campus at 519 E Maple Street. In addition to a robust lending library, it is a community space, hosting near-daily events, including concerts, film screenings, workshops, and readings.

And speaking of readings, check out the Radical Poets’ Showcase: Featuring ATL Slam on Friday, February 23, 2018, at 8:00pm. (Suggested $7 donation.)

Featured poets:

Nobody Likes Us But We’re Here Anyways
Nate Mask and Ryan J are Atlanta-based spoken word artists. They are tolerated in their local scene because their poems are somewhat entertaining, but nobody actually likes either of them. Their work touches on topics ranging from the struggle of deconstructing masculinity, learning to exist in a world that looks down on blackness, relationships, mental health, to driving in Atlanta traffic. Despite their differences in approach and personality, their dynamic as a team somehow works, as Ryan actually enjoys talking to people, and Nate always comes through in the clutch, and opens tough jars for Ryan.

Robert Lashley
A 2016 Jack Straw Fellow, Artist Trust Fellow, and nominee for a Stranger Genius Award, Robert Lashley has had poems published in Feminete, Seattle Review Of Books, NAILED, GRAMMA, and The Cascadia Review. His first full-length book, The Homeboy Songs, was published by Small Doggies press in 2014. His new book, Up South, was published in March 2017.

Dee Dee Chapman
Dee Dee Chapman received her BA in Creative Writing at Western Washington University in 2016. She has been published in The Noisy Water Review, Sweet Tree Review, and Wallpaper Magazine. In September 2014 she self-published her first chapbook, Colluvium, whose title poem received a 2017 Walk Award from the Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest. She’s the Editor of Nine Lives Later: a Dead Cat Anthology, released in November 2017.

on poetry

“These days, poetry is often thought of as a mode of self-expression; the subject for a lot of poets is their own self-absorption. Poems are thought of as acts of individualism. What we have forgotten, however, is that the roots of poetry are deeply social. The earliest poems were songs of ritual that celebrated the resources of the world around us; the earliest poems were also a means of recording tribal histories.”
Rick Barot
(b. February 19, 1969)

. . . . .
Quote from “Tribute to Lawson Inada”

O, pen

Now and then we like to update you on poetry submission deadlines for Cascadia-based publications.
NOTE 1: This list does not include contests.
NOTE 2: This is not a list of all the literary publications in the region, only those with open or nearly-open submissions. To see more, see the NW lit scene links in the sidebar at right.
NOTE 3: Read the publication and read the guidelines before submitting. Please.

Here’s the latest:

• Burnside Review is accepting poetry through February 28, 2018.
• Cascadia Review reads submissions year round.
• The Cascadia Subduction Zone reads submissions year round.
• Cirque Journal deadline for Cirque #18 (Summer) issue is March 21, 2018.
• Clover, A Literary Rag Submit stories, poems, and essays until April 30,2018 for the 15th edition.
• EVENT accepts submissions year round.
• Geist accepts work (by postal mail only) with a Canadian connection year round.
• Gramma reads submissions year-round for Daily Gramma.
• High Desert Journal reviews submissions from residents of the interior West year round.
• Image Journal and the Good Letters blog accept submissions year round.
• Isthmus is open for submissions.
• Moss is open for submissions.
• Pacifica Literary Review general submission period is open year-round.
• PageBoy Magazine seeks submissions for an issue devoted exclusively to 17 word poems, deadline March 15, 2018.
• Pif Magazine is open for submissions.
• Poetry Northwest welcomes unsolicited submissions of poetry, original or in translation, through March 15, 2018.
• PRISM international accepts submissions year round.
• The Raven Chronicles will accept submissions for Vol. 26, Theme: LAST Call (literally!), March 1 – April 30, 2018.
• Ricepaper accepts submissions from Asian-Canadian writers; current theme: Found In Translation, deadline: March 31, 2018.
• Room Magazine open call, deadline: April 30, 2018.
• The Seattle Review accepts long-form submissions, February 1 – May 1, 2018.
• Shark Reef reading for summer edition through March 31, 2018.
• Silk Road Review reads submissions year round.
• StringTown reads submissions year round.
• subTerrain Issue #80 (Summer/Fall 18) Theme: Margins, will be open March 26 – June 8, 2018.
• Sweet Tree Review submissions open through March 18, 2018.
• Switched-on Gutenberg issue 25 on the theme Change open through April 30, 2018.
• Timberline Review theme for Issue #7 is Rebirth, deadline April 30, 2018.
• Tin House accepts submissions in March.
• Willow Springs poetry submissions open between September 1 and May 31.