Poetry

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Submit to ‘La Casa de Colores,’ a Nation-Wide Poetry Project

Origanum from De Materia Medica, courtesy of the Public Domain Review

U.S. poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, the 21st poet to hold this position and first Hispanic poet to do so, recently announced his new nation-wide poetry project, “La Casa de Colores.” The project will form one giant epic poem by compiling submissions from the public. Herrera believes “La Casa de Colores, ‘the House of Colors,’ is a house for all voices. In this house we will feed the hearth and heart of our communities with creativity and imagination. And we will stand together in times of struggle and joy.” Each month will address a new theme. Submissions opened this week; anyone can submit up to 200 characters per 30 days to the project on the Library of Congress’ website. From now until Oct. 15, submissions should address the subject of family.

Learn more about La Casa de Colores here.

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Kenyon Review Call for Submissions

Illustration from a 16th century manuscript, courtesy of the Public Domain Review

The Kenyon Review is looking for poetry, fiction, essays, and drama involving science, ecology, and the environment for a special issue to be published in Sept/Oct 2016. Surrounding this special issue, the Kenyon Review will host an online discussion of writers, editors, and scientists on the question of what makes science writing literary. Find out more on submitting your work here!

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One Month Left to Apply for the Sarabande Writing Residency

Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest

Located at the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest in Louisville, Kentucky, the Sarabande Writing Residency offers an annual residency to writers of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction. The residency includes a two-to six-week stay in a private cottage, as well as a $500 travel stipend. Sarabande Books, founded in 1994, publishes works in poetry, short fiction, and essay, hosting about 225 readings, workshops, and lectures per year.

You can learn more about this residency and how to apply at Sarabande Books.

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INTERVIEW: Stephen Ira and Kay Gabriel on Trans Poetry Journal ‘Vetch’

Vetch, a biannual journal of trans poetry and poetics has recently published its first issue! The journal aims to publish work highlighting the ways in which power shapes language, poetry and relations among trans people. Editors Stephen Ira and Kay Gabriel recently took some time to sit down with intern Emily Kaufman to discuss the online periodical, among other things.

Emily: Why did you start Vetch?publication that, like most poetry journals, had an open reading period and published only poetry. It feels like a way to stake out space in the poetry world for trans writers.

Emily: What do you hope Vetch will provide to the public?

Vetch: Our call for submissions for this issue asked for work “by trans poets in trans language,” which “does not bother to translate itself for a cis reader.” To elaborate on this point, we see Vetch as supporting work by trans poets that allows itself to speak primarily between trans people, and that is not faced with the necessity of authenticating itself to a cisgender audience through appeals to a narrow and reductive set of tropes. Our hope is that Vetch will help broaden the horizon of trans poetics, and through the work we publish, foster trans poetry written in new and currently unimagined registers.

Emily: The media has put a spotlight on trans culture in several ways, including shows such as Transparent. Why do you think it took the media so long to highlight trans issues and how do you think the face of trans people in the media will change in the future?

Vetch: It’s very popular right now to talk about the importance of trans visibility and representation in mainstream media. The thing is, trans people–particularly trans women–are already hypervisible in our culture. We’re thinking here of the stares and street harassment trans women receive walking down the street, or the way the bodies of trans people are scrutinized by the medical industrial complex in order to be eligible for lifesaving care–or of the constant jokes in media that posit trans women as repulsive punchlines. In 2015, a year that’s ostensibly the best it’s ever been to be trans in America, twenty-three trans women had been murdered so far. So this increase in visibility does not necessarily bring better living conditions with it, particularly not for those trans people who are most marginalized intersectionally–the majority of those murdered women were black. In the future, we hope that trans people will have increased agency and ability to tell our own stories in media, rather than having scripts written and scenes directed for us by cis people. Maybe that can bring this conversation beyond visibility, and then we can ask different questions: When we see trans people in media, what are they doing? How do representations of trans people in media train us to treat trans people in daily life? As lurid and disposable spectacles, or as fully-fledged three-dimensional human beings?

Check out more on Vetch and download the issue for free!

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Join Us for Oct 7 Book Launch of ‘American Gramophone’ and ‘Hiccups’

We are very happy to announce an October launch party for this year’s poetry titles: American Gramophone by Carey McHugh, and Hiccups by Joe Pan. Guest readers Karen Russell and Debora Kuan will help us ring in these two new books alongside McHugh and Pan. The launch will take place October 7th at Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop from 7 to 9 PM. Berl’s is located at 126A Front Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Please join us to have a drink, pick up a book, and be generally merry!

For updates and more information, please see the event listing.

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Off the Grid Press Contest for Poets Over 60

From the 19th-Century Album of Ottoman Fashion courtesy of the Public Domain Review

Off the Grid Press is currently accepting manuscript submissions of previously published work from poets over the age of sixty. The contest runs through September 15th, and one winning poet will receive $1,000, plus a published collection of their work. Founded in 2005, Off the Grid Press is a non-profit focusing on providing a forum for older, perhaps recently overlooked poets.

To learn more and submit your manuscript, visit their site.

 

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Six Days Left to Submit: Gulf Coast’s Barthelme Prize and Prize in Translation

By Maksym Kozlenko (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0] via Wikimedia Commons

There are only a few more days to submit work to Gulf Coast‘s Barthelme Prize for Short Prose and 2015 Prize in Translation.

The Barthelme Prize is open to pieces of prose poetry, flash fiction, and micro-essays of 500 words or fewer. Established in 2008 after American postmodernist author Donald Barthelme, the contest awards its winner $1,000 and publication in the journal. Two honorable mentions will be awarded $250. All entries will be considered for online publication. Prose author and journalist Steve Almond is this year’s judge.

This season, the 2015 Gulf Coast Prize in Translation is open to fiction and nonfiction in translation. Akin to the Barthelme Prize, one winner will receive $1,000 and journal publication; two honorable mentions will receive $250; all will be considered for online publication. This year’s judge is Ammiel Alcalay, the poet, critic and translator, among many other titles.

For more information on these summer prizes, see Gulf Coast‘s guidelines.

 

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We’re Now Distributed by Small Press Distribution!

From a selection of Yokohama-e courtesy of the Public Domain Review

We are pleased to announce that we are working with SPD to distribute our recent back catalogue and forthcoming titles! Founded in 1969, Small Press Distribution remains the only distributor in the country focusing solely on independently published literature. A non-profit aiming to help under-represented literary communities participate in the marketplace, SPD offers book distribution, information services, and public advocacy programs to hundreds of small publishers. Learn more about SPD here.

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PICS: Augury Books at the 2015 New York City Poetry Festival

On Saturday, July 25th, Joe Pan (Hiccups, 2015) and Carey McHugh (American Gramophone, 2015) read on behalf of Augury Books at the 5th annual New York City Poetry Festival, put on by the Poetry Society of New York. The festival took place on Governors Island and featured three stages with over 250 poets reading their work. Check out some photos here:

Decorative ravens at the entrance, symbol of the Poetry Society of New York

Carey McHugh

Joe Pan

A great crowd!

Thanks to everyone who came out to support us and the festival, as well as the Poetry Society of New York for hosting.

More on HICCUPS by Joe Pan 

More on AMERICAN GRAMOPHONE by Carey McHugh

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Reading Period Closed—Thank you for sending us your work!

From ‘France in the year 2000,’ courtesy of the Public Domain Review

Thank you very much to everyone who sent your work to us for consideration for 2016 publication, and those of you who helped spread the word and share with your friends and writing contacts.

We will be posting updates later this year after we consider everyone’s work. Follow our blog, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter for updates on finalists and publication selections.