dumbfoundry

DES MOINES, Iowa - The story behind a book of poetry written by Guantanamo detainees could be as compelling as the poems themselves.

Prisoners, denied pens and paper, wrote some of the poems by scratching verses onto foam cups with pebbles. Other poems were translated into English by linguists with security clearances but no literary credentials.

'It was a long and draining project,' said Marc Falkoff, a law professor who represents 18 detainees.

When poet Frank X Walker won a $75,000 literary prize from the esteemed Lannan Foundation in 2005, he vowed to use some of the money to expose other emerging writers of color.

Now the Danville, Ky., native who coined the term "Affrilachian" for Appalachian residents of African descent -- the word is now in the New Oxford American Dictionary -- has launched PLUCK!, an arts and culture magazine that explores the black aesthetic of the 12-state Appalachian region. [...]

[...] the Elizabeth Bishop Society of Nova Scotia ... is hosting its annual meeting Saturday and, along with the Great Village Historical Society will also hold a ribbon-cutting at 2 p.m. for an outdoor display celebrating the poet’s life, work and connection to Nova Scotia.[...]

The museum exhibit will be accompanied by a series of public talks in July, August and September, focusing on Bishop in Brazil, readings of her poetry and her time on Sable Island.

As part of its relentless efforts to make of Emirate’s capital city a pool of excellence of Arab culture in general and poetry in particular, the Abu Dhabi institution of culture and patrimony announced the launch of the Academy for Arab poetry. [...]

The National Gallery at Castellani House was once again the scene of another important event in Guyanese letters when it hosted the launching of two new books: Selected Poems of Egbert Martin, edited by David Dabydeen and The Berbice Uprising, 1763 by AJMcR Cameron (Anna Benjamin). [...]

The collection of poems by Egbert Martin (c.1861 - 1890) who published under the name of "Leo" is a rediscovery. He was the best of the black poets writing anywhere in the Caribbean in the nineteenth century, may be described as the first native West Indian poet of substance, and certainly the first known to have published two books of verse and one of short stories. [...]

The Age of Huts (compleat) comes as a welcome collection from Chester County's own rabble-rouser-in-residence, poet Ron Silliman. Through his prodigious output and a hugely influential blog that has attracted more than a million hits, Silliman has become a kind of elder statesman in the world of innovative literature. While I'm reluctant to pigeonhole his work - sorry, his "texts" - into any specific -ism, there's no denying that The Age of Huts is a shining example of what the language poetry school has contributed to contemporary letters.

At the risk of gross oversimplification, language poetry demonstrates the ways in which words write us (and therefore construct reality) as much as we write them. The formal structure of The Age of Huts requires some explanation, so please bear with me. According to the preface, Silliman has been working for more than 30 years on a single poem titled "Ketjak." When complete, it will be made up of four texts: one long poem, Tjanting (already available in book form), and three poetry cycles (The Alphabet, Universe, and the present volume, The Age of Huts). Stay with me here. [...]

We are a new literary press operating out of the Boston/Cambridge area.
We accept unsolicited manuscripts that follow these guidelines:

up to 6 poems
5-6 pages of fiction
2-3 pages of non fiction/ book review/author interview

For this edition we have a theme – HOME
We are open to your associations with this theme. Memories, Roots, Family, Homelessness, Running Away, Lack or loss of family, treasured moments, being at home, uncomfortable or in despair with yourself or your world – your truths. We accept poetic forms, free verse, prose/verse. We want to hear your voice, practiced use of words, conscious use of language, imaginative and unique associations, language that reaches us on a deep level. No hallmark verse or porn.

Here are the poems to vote for in the final round of my Daily Poem Project (the winning poems for each week from Monday, March 26, to Sunday, June 17):

1. Christian Wiman, 'The River'
2. Tom Sleigh, 'Blueprint'
3. Jessica Fisher, 'The Promise of Nostos'
4. Allen Grossman, 'A Gust of Wind'
5. Laure-Anne Bosselaar, 'Friends'
6. Robin Ekiss, 'Vanitas Mundi'
7. Maurice Manning, 'Where Sadness Comes From'
8. Reginald Shepherd, 'Eve's Awakening'
9. C. Dale Young, '33rd & Kirkham'
10. Hadara Bar-Nadav, 'Inside the Maze (II, III, and IV)'
11. Adrian Blevins, 'Hey You'
12. Maurice Manning, 'Bucolics III'

"I have in my possession about 20 or so extra copies of my Dusie Kollectiv chap, brief history of girl as match, which are available for trade (this includes books, chapbooks, art, assorted ephemera, paper scraps for collage, baked goods, velvet elvis paintings, pink poodles, shrunken heads, etc..etc..) No offer denied."

Renowned Iraqi poet Nazek al-Malaika, who was famous as the first to write Arabic poetry in free verse rather than classical rhyme, died Wednesday. She was 85.

Al-Malaika died of old age at a hospital in Cairo, where she had lived in self-imposed exile since 1990, said Nizar Marjan, the Iraqi consul in the Egyptian capital. [...]

In 1949, in her introduction to her second volume of poetry, Shazaiya wa Ramad (Shrapnel and Ash), she explained the new theory of meter which she had introduced into Arabic poetry and her own practice of free verse. The essay gave rise to a series of attacks on Al-Malaika by proponents of the older poetics; however Al-Malaika, who was not only a poet but was also a theorist, grammarian and musician, defended herself ably. [...]

Announcing an exclusive preview of Jacket 33 - July 2007 - Guest editor: Pam Brown

The verses would be no more than the erotic, if masterful, outpourings of a prodigious poet and Nobel laureate were it not for the fact that they appear to talk of his amatory adventures with a series of nuns. But now that a Spanish publishing company has decided it is time to publish the erotic musings of Juan Ramón Jiménez, an outraged order of nuns has asked for his poems to be silenced.

Jiménez, who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1956, two years before he died, is believed to have become involved with at least three nuns from the Sisters of the Holy Rosary congregation. The three worked at a nursing home run by the order in Madrid, where the young poet spent two years at the beginning of the last century. He later described the period between 1901 and 1903 when, on doctor's orders, he was cared for by the nuns, as the "happiest of my life". [...]

In an earlier article entitled ‘Sociology of Oromo Literature and Asafa Dibaba, leading Oromo Intellectual’, we presented analytically the methodological tools the Oromo scholar used in his research focused on Jaarsoo Waaqoo’s poetry. We noticed a massive interest in the article, and due to the importance of the subject, we re-publish here another part of Mr. Dibaba’s book “Theorizing the present” that evolved out of the author’s MA thesis entitled "Towards a political sociology of Oromo Literature: Jaarsoo Waaqoo’s Poetry". [...]

The sixth issue of Autumn Sky Poetry is now online.

Read poems by Mary Alexandra Agner, Michael Baker, Antonia Clark, Theresa Edwards, Doran Khamis, J. Rod Pannek, Kenneth Pobo, J.R. Salling, Larina Warnock, and Kelley J. White. [...]

They have been delayed a little by production problems, but Otoliths is pleased to announce the balance of its quarterly round of books — Nick Piombino's by now legendary "visual collage novel" Free Fall, Sheila E. Murphy's first integrated linear & visual collection The Case of the Lost Objective (Case) & Rochelle Ratner's memoir / found text / poetry journal Leads. [...]

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

HORSE LESS PRESS will publish a print anthology in 2008. THE THEME is response. WE ARE INTERESTED in the following 1) writings that respond to, collaborate with, collage from, extend, elaborate, etc. a piece of writing that HAS APPEARED in horse less review, 2) COLLABORATIONS WITH WRITERS who've been published by horse less press or review, 3) BEGINNINGS, FRAGMENTS, PROPOSALS, HALF-MADE WORKS which desire some attention. We may also be interested in collaborative or response-based writings that do not fall into these categories. Please query early if you have an idea. SUBMISSIONS GO to horselessresponse at gmail dot com. Our deadline is December 15, 2007. Send work IN THE BODY of email or as a single word, rtf, or pdf file. IN A COVER letter please tell us a little about yourself and a little about the work you are submitting. PLEASE CLARIFY whether your submission falls into category 1, 2, 3. If #1, MAKE SURE you identify the source work. IF YOU NEED MORE information, visit our website or send questions to the above email address.

BLOOD PUDDING PRESS (www.BloodPuddingPress.etsy.com) is now recruiting poetry for a special project--a one-off, limited-edition, hand-designed poetry magazine, which will include poems by approximately fifteen to thirty contributors.

Each contributor will receive a one-of-a-kind copy of the issue—and the issue will be gorgeous in its own warped way. If you think you might wish to have your material represented therein, please peruse the guidelines below.

Submissions will be accepted from now until September 7. The magazine will be published in October. I will be announcing its title closer to that time.

Please submit 3-6 poems either in the body of an email OR as an attached Word Document OR both, however you see fit. The subject line of your email should include the words ‘poetry submission’. The body of the email should include a small bio. Cover letter is optional; please do feel free to introduce yourself to me if so inclined, but also feel free to be brief and just submit the poetry and bio.

Submissions should be sent via email to JulietX@Bust.com. [...]

We're currently seeking submissions for our fourth chapbook, The Musculature Of Small Birds, a small anthology of poetry, fiction, & cross-genre work centered around, well, birds.

*Update: Due to an overwhelming—yet welcome—barrage of submissions, The Musculature Of Small Birds will no longer be printed in a limited edition of 25 copies. Each copy, however, will still be hand-stitched with a library pouch & card. The goods don’t stop.

- Deadline: June 15, 2007

Nigerian author Chinua Achebe has won the Man Booker International Prize in honour of his literary career.

Achebe is best known for his 1958 debut novel Things Fall Apart, which sold more than 10 million copies.

The 76-year-old, who was paralysed from the waist down after a car accident in 1990, beat writers including Ian McEwan and Salman Rushdie to the honour.

"If you are an editor or publisher of an online poetry magazine and would like to have my honest opinion, send me your link to didimenendez at hotmail dot com. I will post my observations on this blog. This is my pursuit to bring dignity to online publications. From dig in it to digital."

"...the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize---the only initiative in the United States that specifically and intentionally supports the publication of a first book by a Latino or Latina poet. What does the winner get? First: a standard book contract with University of Notre Dame Press. Second: $1000. Third: a reading, with the final judge, at the University of Notre Dame---specifically, at the Regis Philbin Studio Theatre ('the black box'), which is part of Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center (DPAC). And now a fourth item: something I am not at liberty to officially disclose yet. But I will say this: it will involve three partner organizations, and it will involve writing residencies in the midwest. [...]

IRISH poet Colette Bryce yesterday walked away with a £5,000 prize after being named the Academi Cardiff International Poet of 2007.

Awarded for her poem Self Portrait in a Broken Wing Mirror, Bryce, 37, a Literary Fellow at Newcastle University, was judged for one of the UK’s biggest and most prestigious poetry awards out of more than 400 entries.

Dear Ceres,

I've just read "Disappeared." Was this so long ago, you ask. Yes, it was, because from this remove, I can't recall if I ever thanked you for the story that you reprinted today. You see, the women in the story were the inspiration -- though I find that word insipid in this case; it was more of provocation, instigation -- for my poem "Brave Woman."

It was not an easy poem to write, and it took me some time to get it to move. That happened only after I let go of my third-person, omniscient-point-of-view voice, and allowed the mother to speak and tell the story herself. (Did I say "allow"? It felt more like "compelled.") It was her story, after all. The poem belonged to her.

"Brave Woman" was first published in 1983, if I remember correctly, and it was last published (as far as I know) in 2003, as part of an anthology of anti-Iraq war poems ("Poets Against the War," edited by Sam Hamill, published by Thunder's Mouth Press/Nation Books). I believe it is also in some textbooks.

But to tell you the truth, I am a little tired of it. Sometimes I wish I could bury it, lock it away with other juvenilia. How could I let it go, though?

The English nominee Paul Farley's work is new to me. His manner of dress is not: black suit, taffy-coloured loafers, shirt the colour of eggplant.

He is from Liverpool. He said, "Thank you very mooch" just like the Beatles.

Farley also has a Liverpudlian wit. He surveyed the crowd and said it was marvelous for once not to have to say at a reading, "Thank you both very much for coming."

We were so many more than both.

He also told us it was his birthday, urged us to squeeze in closer, whipped out a camera and took our picture. Alas, I am ashamed to say that none of us thought to respond with a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday."

Farley is 42 years old. He read his first poem from memory, which is risky, charming and generous, as is his work.

"You will receive an issue of 4SQ once a month from June 2007-May 2008, as well as 4 Special Editions featuring the work of single authors (planned: angela rawlings, Maureen Thorson, Brenda Iijima)

More information at foursquareeditions.blogspot.com"

The Red Room Company presents An installed parade of poems, tailors‚ dummies and materials that investigate poetry's relationship with costume, fashion and the slogan.

Taking the wit and disguises of the late Gwen Harwood as its muse, The Red Room Company has commissioned Adam Aitken, Claire Potter and Greg McLaren to each write a poem for an occasion.

The installation will dress the waterfront windows of Simmer on the Bay from Thursday 31st May - Sunday 3rd June.