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.

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

"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 KingdomThis 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.

Frances Justine Post to Read at Poets House on Wed, July 23

Frances Justine Post

On Wednesday evening, Frances Justine Post (BEAST, 2014) will be reading at Poets House in NYC as part of the Showcase Reading Series. Joining Post are poets Brett Fletcher LauerEmily Abendroth, and Wendy S. Walters.

The event will take place in association with the Annual Poets House Showcase, a remarkable initiative to collect and exhibit to the public, free of charge, every book of poetry published each year, making the Poets House stock among the most comprehensive open-stacks collections in the country.

So go for the reading, stay for the books—or vice-versa—on Wednesday, July 23, 7pm, at Ten River Terrace (at Murray Street) / New York, NY  10282.

Learn more about the Poets House showcase and other readings this week in the New Yorker.

Post will also be reading with Augury at the New York Poetry Festival on Saturday. Stay tuned for more information on the festival and readers later this week.

More on BEAST

 

 

Augury Books’ reading period is open — Submit your manuscript!

Kate Angus Writes on Poetry Readership and Keeping Poetry Sales Alive

“Ripple Effect on Water” courtesy of Sergiu Bacioiu, Wikimedia Commons

Augury editor Kate Angus’s article on The Millions today discusses the audience for poetry (wider than people often think!) and strategies that independent presses such as Augury are using to increase sales. In her article, Angus shares the idea that because of the increased capability of reading poetry outside of a bookstore or a library, Americans might in fact be reading more poetry than ever. Things like the “Poetry in Motion” project in New York, along with the increase of sharing poetry through social media, have sparked a higher readership in the US, and people have access to more poetry than they did in the past.

Thanks to the ease of sharing poems through email and social media, it’s possible that poetry’s audience might be greater now than ever. According to The Academy of American Poets director Jen Benka, the Academy’s Poem-a-Day has over 300,000 readers, so large an audience that the Hearst Corporation recently partnered with the Academy to include the poems in their online and print newspapers and magazines.”

While the readership for poetry might have increased, book sales are down overall when it comes to people wanting to actually buy poetry. In her article, Angus outlines some of the ways that smaller presses are trying to keep poetry sales alive, such as widening readership in general by branching out to publish other genres in hopes that someone reading a short story might see what else a press has published, therefore becoming interested in the published poetry.

Our hope is that readers who like the prose we publish may discover, as they poke around our catalog, that they like the poetry too (and vice versa). “

For more on poetry readership, as well as many other ways that presses are trying to increase the sale of poetry, check out Angus’ full article here.

Only 10 days left in Augury’s reading period – Submit your manuscript now!

Wendy Merry Debuts New Poem with Augury Books

Photo by Dave Bledsoe of FreeVerse Photography

Some minor confusion over the Boy Scout reincarnation badge

Loki was an imp god and a shape-shifter. He could be reborn but never die. This suits me at my easel, as what shifts is not lost; connects in a ring. It’s easy reason I wish for when I see a bird tip like kindling. As small things do I repeat myself, like our beagle Shannon, who, like a sleeve or a raisin lives the same day over, knows no difference between voices and meals. Chanting is like mouth marching so the shoes in my room are doubling by night. At this stream I am fickle; am told I have rounded the bend of this day by the hundreds. I am mostly little bones by now.

Old Man Elli, who almost died, is grateful; he says he will be ready next time. He is off to buy more hammers. We are linked together, teacher says, think of your bodies as river hulls. Think of yourself as a paper well. I am a good bird: space abled. With my beak I build sand temples. I sit alone with angled knees, hum just like a spinning wheel.

Loki was father to a world serpent. He turned last, they say, to a salmon upstream. The water here is dark and clever (I want my mother;) Was this the canary for which we must prepare? I must carve deep into my third eye to speak of it: teacher,who can prepare to become a salmon?


Wendy Merry is poet and essayist from California. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Nano FictionVesperJoe and GigsTransmissionDossier Journal and others. She lives and writes in downtown Manhattan where she freelances as an Art Director for a street collective. You can find more of her work here.

Cleaver Magazine Reviews Maureen Alsop’s MANTIC

Photo by Dave Bledsoe of FreeVerse Photography

Cleaver Magazine‘s Matthew Girolami reviews MANTIC (Augury Books, 2013) by Maureen Alsop, wherein, according to Girolami, “both the divine and the worldly share the same page.” Girolami continues:

“As the ‘-mancy’ titles suggest, Mantic is as a much a lexical read (or listen—read aloud) as it is an exploration of reaction; Mantic is beautiful for its teaching verse and for its honesty: with poem after poem inspired by divining, Alsop points to the many ways humanity has attempted to shape the world in its favor, whether that favor comes from desire or fear. As a result, the poems shift from their theses and speak less of divining and prediction than what innately drives these practices and, ultimately, humanity.” —Matthew Girolami, Cleaver Magazine — Read the full review here

More on MANTIC

Look for MANTIC new from Augury Books

 

 

 

Augury Books’ reading period is open — Submit your manuscript!

Augury’s Reading Period Opens May 1 – July 31 for Poetry and Prose MSs

Photo by Dave Bledsoe of FreeVerse Photography

It’s almost time to start polishing up your full-length manuscripts to submit to Augury Books for publication in 2015.

This year, we will be accepting manuscripts for publication in two categories: Poetry and Prose. Our new, expanded Prose Category includes both Short Fiction Collections and Creative Nonfiction Manuscripts. Augury’s reading period will open via Submittable on midnight of May 1, 2014, and remain open until 11:59 on July 31, 2014.

For you early birds who want to know what’s in store, here’s a peek at our upcoming guidelines:

FOR FULL-LENGTH POETRY MANUSCRIPTS: 

  • Submissions should be 45-80 pages. This page requirement does not include any front and back matter your manuscript might contain (title page, table of contents, dedication, acknowledgements, notes, about the author, etc.).

FOR FULL-LENGTH PROSE MANUSCRIPTS:

  • Submissions should be 150-220 pages, double-spaced, with 1″ margins. This page requirement does not include any front and back matter your manuscript might contain (title page, table of contents, dedication, acknowledgements, notes, about the author, etc.).
  • The prose sub-category in which you are submitting — Short Fiction OR Creative Nonfiction — must be clearly stated in your Submittable Cover Letter / Bio field AND on the first page of the uploaded manuscript itself.

FOR EVERYTHING, ACROSS THE BOARD:

  • Brief (approx. 300-word) bio is required, pasted separately from your uploaded manuscript on the Submittable form.
  • Multiple submissions, either within or across categories, are welcome, but must be submitted separately with separate reading fees.
  • Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please withdraw your MS immediately if it is accepted elsewhere, up until the time we announce our selections in the fall.
  • Except under special circumstances, we are unable to accept submissions from international authors. Contact us for more information if this applies to you.
  • Acceptable formats for uploaded manuscripts are PDF, DOC, and DOCX.

AND … WE’RE RUNNING A SPECIAL! 

  • All those submitting will have the option of getting a discounted book from our catalogue along with your submission. Find out more about the discounted titles when our reading period opens. Fee for submission without a book purchase: $10 per submission. Fee for submission with a book purchase: $18 per submission.*

Check back with us on May 1, when we will publish the link to our Submittable Campaign on our SUBMISSIONS PAGE, as well as here on our blog. We can’t wait to see you then and read your work!

Check out our current catalogue to get a feel for our aesthetic.

*Discount is only available with a Submittable submission. One book per submission. Your decision to submit with or without a book purchase has no bearing on our consideration of your manuscript. All funds Augury Books receives through Submittable will go toward the titles’ production fees and the maintenance of our catalogue. Complimentary copies will be available to authors of accepted titles.

Frances Justine Post Discusses "Self Portrait in the Body of a Whale" on PSA's "In Their Own Words"

 

Photo by Dave Bledsoe of FreeVerse Photography

Photo by Dave Bledsoe of FreeVerse Photography

BEAST author Frances Justine Post tells the Poetry Society of America the backstory behind “Self Portrait in the Body of a Whale.”

We walked down the beach, but didn’t see anything remotely whale-like until we came upon this sort of carpet of flesh. It was a whale carpet. The body was so broken down that all that was left was this huge, flat mass of skin, covering bones, half on the beach and half in the water. It was not as disgusting as it sounds and was, in fact, kind of beautiful. It was bleached white by the sun with darker stripes in a wave-like pattern.” 

Read the full article and poem on PSA’s site.

Buy BEAST

Poem by Saara Myrene Raappana

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Photo by Dave Bledsoe of FreeVerse Photography

Canticle of Waitresses, Waiting

 

This is how we herded by the waitress station,

waiting, as the town, turned down to one by snow,

settled like a gown that smothered all that ailed us.

.

How we first heard about the hostages

on Facebook, and then the town knelt down to zero,

still as snow once it resolves itself to ground.

.

How the sidewalk still needed seeding with rock salt.

How even when a person stands still, they can slip.

.

How we counted the seeds of our blessings.

How our blessings rebounded off the booths like buckshot.

.

How we each sometimes rebound into being

a country of one self.

How we other times are one self of a city.

.

How only below zero can we remember

September as that country where we save daylight

like fat over our muscles.

.

How a woman ran at the chained gym doors

to save her daughter.

How she dropped on the unseeded walk.

How we’ll remember her legs as

a fleet of hummingbirds skidding through snow.

.

How sometimes, to give something a shot means kill it.

How other times it means just close your eyes.

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First published in Iron Horse Literary Review, Labor Day Issue 2013

Saara Myrene Raappana‘s poems appear in such publications as 32 Poems, Blackbird, Cream City Review, Subtropics, The Gettysburg Review, and Verse Daily. She grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in southern China. She’s an editor for Cellpoems, a poetry journal distributed via text message.