Pics: Graywolf, Tender Buttons, etc., Honored at CLMP Firecracker Awards

Dessert after the awards. A burger-shaped cake!

On Wednesday, CLMP announced the winners for this year’s Firecracker Awards at the powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn. Augury Books was honored to attend, alongside Firecracker fiction nominee Halina Duraj for The Family Cannon.

Graywolf Press took home the fiction prize for Song of the Shank by Jeffery Renard Allen. Other winners included Tender Buttons Press in the poetry category for Bernadette Mayer’s Sonnets, originally published in 1989; NBM Publishing for the graphic novel Beauty, written by Hubert and illustrated by husband and wife team Kerascoët; and Sourcebooks for Patty Blount’s Some Boys in the young adult category.

Find out more about the Firecracker Awards and the winning titles at CLMP. More pics below!

Many thanks to CLMP, powerHouse, and Halina Duraj.

Also, remember that Augury’s reading period is open through July 31. Submit here!

More on THE FAMILY CANNON

Attendees mingle before awards are announced

Getting seated before the announcements

 

A Poem by Geer Austin

Tatiana Larina’s Dream (1891), by Ivan Volkov courtesy of the Public Domain Review

 

 

Are All the Boyfriends in Your Poems Real?

 (after Aimee Nezhukumatathil)

As real as a subway train stalled in the tunnel,
a pond full of agricultural runoff, a rip in my pants
when I’m far from home. Yes, they’re as real
as that. Blond as blond, as brown as your eyes,
as brutal as a dogfight, false as an excuse
for showing up late. They’re a brain fissure,
an eruption of tissues, and they’re as present
in my life as a portrait gallery in a hallway.
I argue with all of them, then reassure them.
One snaps my picture when I need a headshot,
another advises me on an outfit to wear
to an interview, another educates me on European
history. And all of them notice you, ask me who you are,
what you’re doing in my space, and when you’ll be leaving.

 

Geer Austin is the author of Cloverleaf, a poetry chapbook from PWP Press. His poetry and fiction has appeared in anthologies, print and online journals including Big Bridge, Colere, This Literary Magazine, Potomac Review, and BlazeVOX. He leads writing workshops for underserved populations through New York Writers Coalition, most recently at New Alternatives for Homeless LGBT Youth. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

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Augury Books’ spring/summer 2015 reading period is now open for submissions in poetry and prose. For guidelines and general information, please visit our submissions page.

VIDEO/TEXT: Randall Horton Featured in Guernica/PEN Flash Series

Randall Horton has recently been featured in the Guernica/PEN Flash Series. The piece, “Because Hook Doesn’t Exist,” will be published as a slightly different version in Hook: A Memoir through Letters, forthcoming from Augury in 2015. The Guernica/PEN Flash Series, a partnership between Guernica: A Magazine of Art & Politics and the PEN American Center, publishes new flash prose twice every month. You can subscribe or submit to the series on PEN’s website.

Additionally, Horton has produced a video reading of this text, available to view above.

More on Randall Horton

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Augury Books’ spring/summer 2015 reading period is now open for submissions in poetry and prose. For guidelines and general information, please visit our submissions page.

Augury Books Among New School Writing’s Must-Read Magazines and Presses

From Harry Clarke’s illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1919), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

We’re happy to acknowledge that Augury Books has been listed as one of New School Writing’s must-read magazines and presses founded by New School MFA alumni. Others mentioned include Coldfront, Moviefied NYCThe Agriculture Reader, and Birds, LLC.

Founded in 1931, Creative Writing at The New School continues to promote, engender, and shape innovative literature.

Read the full list of magazines and presses here.

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Augury Books’ spring/summer 2015 reading period is now open for submissions in poetry and prose. For guidelines and general information, please visit our submissions page.

Please Support the 5th Annual New York City Poetry Festival

Albert Robida’s Leaving the Opera in the Year 2000 (1902), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

The New York City Poetry Festival, now approaching its 5th year running, has become an important and much anticipated event for the poetry community of NYC. Hosted by The Poetry Society of New York, the festival gathers over 200 poets on Governor’s Island for readings and other poetry-related matters.

The festival is normally free for all who attend, including the vendors, poetry organizations, and general public. This is only possible due to the generous donations received from those who can afford to give them.

Unfortunately, there have been significantly less donations this year. And if the fundraising goal of $12,000 isn’t met by May 21st, this could result in the festival being notably scaled back. We therefore encourage all who are able to donate to do so. Please tell your friends and family as well.

To contribute to the the 5th annual New York City Poetry Festival, go to their Kickstarter.

You can also help spread the word through HeadTalker by allowing them to post to your Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr on your behalf.

Randall Horton Featured in 2015 PEN World Voices Anthology

Carleton Watkins’ Among The Tree Tops Calaveras Grove (1829), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

We would like to congratulate Randall Horton on having an excerpt from Hook: A Memoir through Letters featured in the 2015 PEN World Voices Online Anthology. Hook is forthcoming from Augury Books in 2015. The PEN collection is comprised of prose, poetry, and dramatic writing from the participants of this year’s World Voices Festival. Among the other authors included are Nathalie Handal, Zoe Pilger, and Cormac James.

PEN’s World Voices Festival, running from May 4th to the 10th, celebrates literature from all over the globe. This year’s theme, On Africa, strives to make heard the voices of contemporary African artists.

The full PWV Anthology can be read online here. New writings are added weekly.

More on Randall Horton

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Geographical Archives

From A.J. Bormeester’s Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula (1684), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

Recently, Atlas Obscura wrote about the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, focusing on their enormous and impressive collection of geographical artifacts.

Originally belonging to the American Geographical Society, the collection of maps, atlases, and globes required a new home after the company was forced to sell its headquarters in the seventies. The geography staff at UWM were enthusiastic to apply for the relics. They now reside within the Golda Meir Library, a location large enough to hold all of them.

To learn more about the various articles kept at UWM, you can read Atlas Obscura’s post.

If you’re interested in visiting the archives, visit UWM’s website.

Augury Books’ Reading Period Now Open!

Felice Beato’s hand colored photograph courtesy of the Public Domain Review

Augury Books is delighted to announce that our spring/summer 2015 reading period is now open! For guidelines and general information, please visit our submissions page. If you’re already familiar with our guidelines, click the button below to be redirected to Submittable. We look forward to reading your work!