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Diana Spechler Starts "Going Off" Column for The New York Times

Ernst Haeckel’s Radiolaria (1862), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

Augury friend Diana Spechler has recently begun a weekly column for The New York Times’ Opinionator entitled “Going Off.” In this series, she recounts her experiences while coming off of the prescription medications she uses to treat depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Diana sat down with Augury assistant editor Nicolas Amara to talk about the new column.

Augury Books: What has the initial response to “Going Off” been like?

Diana Spechler: A lot of advice. A lot of people sharing their own stories. Some thank you notes. Some anger–that I’m not coming out as staunchly anti-meds or staunchly pro-meds. I love it. All of it. What’s clear to me from the response and what was clear to me before I started the column, is that in 2015 psychiatric medications are still a taboo; now that I’m writing about them in the New York Times, in this very candid way, people are dying to talk. For some reason, we’re supposed to hide our psychiatric disorders and treatments. We’re supposed to feel embarrassed about them. That’s silly. There’s this story a guy once told me, probably seven or eight years ago, that’s always stuck with me: He went out with a woman and was turned off because he found antidepressants in her medicine cabinet. He relayed this information to me to explain why he never called her again. I told him, “You have to be kidding.” For one thing, what was he doing in her medicine cabinet? For another thing, turned off by her medication–her efforts to be healthy and happy? Jeez. Tough crowd! Antidepressants are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs in America. Chances are, you know a lot of people on antidepressants and benzos and sleeping pills and mood stabilizers. Great. We’re all on drugs. Now let’s talk.

A: Did you ever feel nervous about running the column?

D: I was terrified before I started. Even after I started, I was terrified. I had a couple of bad days when the first piece ran. I felt so exposed. I felt like I was mooning the world. But it’s worth it for me to do this, to be as honest and open and straightforward as possible. It’s still scary, but now that I have this platform, I feel intense responsibility: I have a voice; I need to use it. I’m grateful to have public support through such a brutal process. Most people getting off their meds have one or two people to talk to, or they have no one. I’m extremely lucky and I never forget that.

A: Do you think the sort of writing you’re doing helps de-stigmatize depression?

D: That’s the idea. I don’t like any topics to be off-limits. I want to talk about everything. I want everyone to tell me everything, too. You know how people cover their ears and say, “TMI! TMI!”? There’s no such thing as TMI to me. If you’re insanely jealous of someone, or if you’ve stalked someone, or if you have a rash on your genitals, I totally want to know about it. I’m not above talking about my exes on a first date, either. We have all these pointless rules. It’s not hurting anyone if I talk about my period, if I talk about my panic attacks, if I talk about my medication. What are we, Puritans? I hope to help others feel less ashamed.

To read “Going Off,” click here.

More on Diana Spechler

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SPARK Movement Commemorates ‘Forgotten’ Women of History

Jacques Le Moyne’s A Young Daughter of the Picts (1585) courtesy of the Public Domain Review

With the aid of Google’s Field Trip app, the SPARK Movement is honoring history’s forgotten and overlooked women by marking locations on the map that bear significant connections to their lives. These highlights on the app were launched during the first week of March, and they include over 100 women in various fields. Among the women recognized are Nellie Bly, Xie Bingxin, and Gloria Anzaldúa.

For more about the new initiative, you can click here.

To learn more about the SPARK Movement and how you can get involved, visit their website.

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Finalists For Lambda Literary Awards Announced

From Baude Cordier’s “Belle, bonne, sage” (1350-1400), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

The finalists for the 27th annual Lambda Literary Awards have been announced. The Lambda Literary Awards honor the best LBGTQ literature of the year in 24 categories, including fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Among the nominees for 2015 is Augury friend Shelly Oria. Other noteworthy finalists include Ana Castillo, Tom Spanbauer, Danez Smith, Lenelle Moïse, and La JohnJoseph. The winners will be declared at the awards ceremony on Monday, June 1st in New York City.

For the complete list of finalists and their works, visit the Lambda Literary Awards website.

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Joe Pan To Lead Brooklyn Poets’ Yawp

From Shin-Bijutsukai (1901-1902), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

Augury author Joe Pan will be leading Brooklyn Poets‘ Yawp on March 9th. A monthly event, Yawp consists of a writing workshop at 7 PM, followed by an open mic night at 8. The primary focus for this month’s Yawp will be the evolution of poetry throughout the writing process. It will take place at 61 Local, and admission is $5 for nonmembers.

To learn more about Yawp, visit the Brooklyn Poets website.

Joe Pan’s book, Hiccups, or Autobiomythography II, is forthcoming from Augury Books in 2015.

More on Joe Pan

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"Pick-Your-Price" Sale at Brooklyn Arts Press

From Snowflakes: a Chapter from the Book of Nature (1863), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

Effective until March 7th, Brooklyn Arts Press is holding a “Pick-Your-Price” sale on Noah Eli Gordon‘s The Word Kingdom in the Word Kingdom. This deal allows book buyers to purchase one copy of Gordon’s book at the price of their choosing (plus $5 for shipping). Brooklyn Arts Press is an independent publishing house dedicated to publishing the poetry, fiction, and nonfiction of upcoming artists. Joe Pan, their managing editor and publisher, has a collection of poetry forthcoming from Augury in 2015.

For more on the “Pick-Your-Price” sale, visit their site.

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Pen & Brush Calls for eBook Submissions

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A detail from 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō as Potted Landscapes (1848), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

 

Pen & Brush is currently accepting submissions of literary fiction and poetry, both short and long form, to be published on their website and/or in eBook format through their imprint, P&B Books. Pen & Brush is a 120-year old nonprofit dedicated to supporting women-identified artists and writers. Submissions are currently being accepted on a rolling, open basis, and will be judged by a rotating pool of literary arts curators. Their hope is to give exposure to writers who might otherwise have difficulty being recognized. For more information, including submission guidelines and legal details, see Pen & Brush’s site.

Augury’s own Kate Angus has recently joined Pen & Brush as a literary arts curator. Read an interview between her and P&B’s executive director, Janice Sands, on the Huffington Post.

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No, Dear/Small Anchors Press Chapbook Contest: Deadline Approaching

a photo from ‘Transit of Venus’ (1882), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

Brooklyn-based poetry journal No, Dear and Small Anchors Press are currently accepting five-to-twenty page submissions to their Poetry Chapbook Contest. The contest is open to writers currently residing in New York City, and a single winner will receive limited edition chapbook publication in 2015, as well as an additional $200 prize. The deadline is March 2nd; only a few days left to submit! See No, Dear‘s site for details.

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Randall Horton Featured on Poetry Society of America

Image from James C. Watson’s A Popular Treatise on Comets, courtesy of the Public Domain Review

Randall Horton‘s poem “When Winter is a Transitional State” was recently featured on the Poetry Society of America‘s website. The Poetry Society of America is the oldest poetry organization in the country, and its mission is to foster an interest in poetry and to support poets nationwide. Horton discussed his thoughts on the poem:

I wanted to explore what an unconventional love looks like. To most of the outside world, this kind of love would seem abnormal. I worked within the freedom and constraint of the couplet form, going for the duality of thought within the speaker’s mind.”

To read the full poem and Horton’s commentary, click here.

Horton’s second memoir is forthcoming from Augury Books in 2015.

More on Randall Horton

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"A Book of Uncommon Prayer" Anthology Features Kate Angus, Alicia Jo Rabins

Augury Books’ founding editor, Kate Angus, will be featured in Outpost19‘s A Book of Uncommon Prayer, an anthology of “everyday invocations,” due out in May 2015. Angus appears alongside Alicia Jo Rabins, a recent winner of the APR/Honickman First Book Prize and reader for our offsite AWP event in 2014, as well as a myriad of other known talents, including Marie Howe, Bob Hicok, Leslie Jamison, Catherine Lacey, and Rick Moody. The anthology is edited by Matthew Vollmer, and all proceeds from book sales will go to 826 Valencia, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization that is dedicated to supporting creative and expository writing skills in students ages six to eighteen.

To preorder the anthology, see Outpost19’s site.

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Three Opportunities to Publish: AWP, National Poetry Series, and Four Way Books

a detail from “Illustrations of Ventilation” (1869), courtesy of the Public Domain Review

 

As a small press that understands the writer’s most constant struggle, we’d like to highlight three contests that will soon be closing submissions. We recognize them as distinguished prizes from equally distinguished organizations, and we hope they’ll be helpful in your pursuit of publication.

The National Poetry Series’ Open Competition‘s deadline has been extended to February 23rd, 2015. Five manuscripts will be selected by five distinguished poets, and each winner, in addition to a $1,000 cash prize, will receive the opportunity to be published by a participating publishing company. These include HarperCollins Publishers, Fence Books, University of Georgia Press, Penguin Books, and Milkweed Editions.

Four Way Books’ Levis Prize in Poetry will be judged by Martha Collins this year, and it is open to any poet writing in the English language. One winner will receive a book-length publication, a reading sponsored by Four Way Books in New York City, and a $1,000 award. Their deadline for submission is March 31st (postmarked, if mailed), or April 1st, by 3 AM EST (if submitting online).

The AWP Award Series includes a slew of prizes for creative nonfiction, poetry, short fiction, and the novel, offering publication from University of Georgia Press, University of Pittsburgh Press, University of Massachusetts Press, and New Issues Press of Western Michigan University, respectively, with cash awards ranging from $2,5000 to $5,500. Details about each prize, as well as their submission guidelines, can be found here.

Happy submitting.