Tag Archives: chapbooks

Under the Surface

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I did an earlier post about being lit and one of the chapbooks I’m going to talk about today could easily have been included in that post, but I had not finished it yet so here it is: When the Only Light is Fire by Saeed Jones.

It isn’t just the title that would have fit in with that previous blog post, but this is a collection that is on fire.

The poems have a variety of fires burning: passion, fear, guilt etc. But, underneath the powerful stories and heat is simply the power of language. My favorite poem is titled “Mississippi Burning” but I’m going to link you to the first poem in the collection so you can get a taste and then finding yourself in need of this chapbook.

Besides the books I’m reading right now and the few I’m reviewing right now I still have 24 books in paper on my shelf. My summer goal is to finish them. Can I do it?

Maybe not if I stop every time to discuss them, but that is part of the fun. Like the chapbook Coal, Baby by Anne Clinard Barnhill. I’ll be reading with Anne this Sunday at Park Road Books in Charlotte so I look forward to having her sign it for me!

What surprised me reading this collection was the sneaky way the word “pearl” kept re-appearing. A pear, the irritant and jewel of the oyster; coal, the prize and problem of any town that finds it in its hills. What a juxtaposition.

My favorite poem in this collection is probably “Good-bye, West Virginia.” I couldn’t find it online, but I found the title poem on Anne’s website so you can get a taste of her work and see if it is calling to you.

Those are my reviews for today. One of my favorite things about chapbooks is finding these little connections, looking under the surface, to see the hidden connections that we – as writers – often make (consciously or not).

Have you guys read any chapbooks lately? Feel free to share!

Review: The Wonder of It All

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The Wonder of It All
The Wonder of It All by Elizabeth P. Glixman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars (or it really should be a 3.5 but I don’t get that option!)

I have read a decent amount of Elizabeth Glixman’s poetry over the last few years and I was intrigued by her pop culture commentary poems (my term for them) that I saw in Frigg where she also comments, “These poems are about present-time experiences and the memory of past experiences (childhood, family gatherings, regular trash-collection pickup—kinder, gentler times (nostalgia perhaps?) and the effect the craziness of today’s world can have on our psyches. ” Granted that statement not be true about all of the poems in “The Wonder of it All” but I think that is a way to read them.

This virtually hand sized chapbook contains poems with titles such as “The Man from TSA–Unrequieted Love Did Not Stop Glenn Close” and “The Neti Pot and the U-turn” cover a wide variety of modern day topics with a wry sense of humor as well as a touch of surrealism.

My favorite may be “Avalanche Worry” which ends with a disjointed – yet oddly appropriate list for the avalanche worrier, “Always Carry Tums / A cell phone / year supply of groceries / a can opener / a snorkel.”

Normally I rate poetry books as either a 5 – blew me away or a 4 – really loved it but not quite a 5, but I decided to use a rare 3 here (which should really be a 3.5 if I could do that) because I really enjoyed a lot of the poems and how the book overall was put together (consistent tone etc). But. There were moments when I found msyelf wondering why a poem didn’t end sooner or when I found myself pondering why there would be several lines with no punctuation but then it would start? From an execution point of view I just wasn’t quite sure.

All that being said, this is a fascinating little read; a little book you could pretty much fit in your pocket to pull out instead of your ever present cell phone.

View all my reviews

A Tale of Two Chapbooks

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I recently finished reading two chapbooks. I had them both on my desk (well, one on my virtual desk) because I wanted to review them, but then I decided I wanted to talk more about just how different (and wonderful) the world of publishing is.

These two chapbooks are terrific examples of how diverse and amazing chapbook publishing can be.

The first one I finished is C.L. Bledsoe titled goodbye to noise. This poetry chapbook appears online as a publication of Right Hand Pointing. I loved clicking through on each pointing hand to take me to the poems. I remarked, in my virtual notes, how the contents page was a poem in itself. The only real negative with the production of this chapbook as an online item is that I would have liked for the table of contents to be hyperlinked and/or there to be a navigation back and/or to the table of contents on the page with each poem. This is just me being nitpicky because the chapbook itself is wonderful mysterious and dense.

I’ve read a decent amount of Bledsoe’s work before (and I’ve reviwed at least one of his books before) and he just has this gift for engaging darkness. My favorite poem is probably Gravity. This poem is a terrific study in verb selection as a way to move a poem forward.

The second chapbook I completed was a fiction collection by Nora Nadjarian titled Girl, Wolf, Bones. This chapbook is in Folded Word’s signature series. My collection The Wait of Atom was also produced in this series. So, as a reader, I go from the online poetry chapbook to the handmade poetry chapbook and find both satisfying to read and admire for the collected writing as well as for the presentation.

Nora’s collection takes us through retellings of several fairy tales with a definite feminst slant. That is not to say these flash fiction pieces aren’t open to all readers, but the women definitely get to tell their stories this time (not that all the narrators are women).

It is hard for me to pick a favorite piece but I have to give a shout out to ‘Marzipan” which is a retelling of Hansel and Gretel which opens with, “We stood int he marzipan snow and hugged each other.” What a terrific image: marzipan snow!

Quite often Nora will have a longer flash fiction (I know!) piece with a shorter piece that follows on the same story, perhaps from a different point of view and I found in those cases I often liked the shortest of the pieces the most.

I’m so happy that terrific work is appearing online and in print still. I hope that this is the treand we see in publishing: quality no matter which world (virtual or “real”) in which we decide to share our stories.

:)

Love to the Fat Girl

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Can  you image some of the spam I’m going to get by using that blog post title?

But, anywho.

My newest chapbook Fat Girl is getting some love, and I just had to share.

For one, there is this really thoughtful review/reading by Telly McGaha up on Goodreads and for two FG is now available in a multitude of eBook formats for $4.99 via Smashwords.

All in time for tomorrow’s official release date of “Fat Girl.” Anyone have the confetti?

Now back to your regularly scheduled online things that you do :)

And here I said . . .

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No blogging, but I had a ton of great stuff in my email this morning and a little bit of time before office hours so I just had to come over here to share.

  • My publisher let me know that Fat Girl is listed with the selected titles for this week over at SPD (Small Press Distribution). How cool is that?
  • Next up is still with Fat Girl because Grady Harp has reviwed it for Goodreads! This is the first official review. By the way, if you do reviews for anyone (print, online and/or video) let me know because there are still some review copies available.
  • I also found out that I have a poem in Bolts of Silk titled “Having Gone West.” I’ve had this poem for quite some time. It has floated from project to project and is currently in what I call my “Tiger” project.
  • Then how about this for a pleasant surprise? Dorothee Lang decided to repost  I’m on a Boat for blueprint review! If you didn’t read the essay before, stop by and take a read. Then, stay and read some more of the challenge issue. Love blueprint!

Below you will see a short review of the most recent poetry book I finished.

Those of you who have been stopping by to talk about what to do about poem share are SO appreciated. I think I want to do a Friday Writes kind of post where we share work and/or talk about sending our work out. It can serve as a reminder to get out there and write; to join the conversation whether that is with yourself or sending  your writing out into the world.

What do you guys think? Friday and keep doing it the way we have been?

Now – back to work :)



The Collected Works of Billy the Kid
The Collected Works of Billy the Kid by Michael Ondaatje
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve had this on my list for quite a while because I love the notion of verse novels and/or cross genre writing. this is my first exposure to Ondaatje’s work and I’d have to say that even just the afterword about how he came to create the book was worth the price of admission. And, if that doesn’t sell you than the final lines of one poem/story should with “this breaking where red things wade.” Great read.

View all my reviews

Friday Wrap-Up

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Most of you know I’ve been running around like the cliche chicken with its head cut off all week with the first RCCC LitFest that I’ve ever been involved with. It was challenging and rewarding. And, the website has been pretty much updated although I’m not sure what to do about the Creative Writing Award winners . . . hmmm

Here are my submission numbers for the week:

  • Submit: 3 – 1 set of photos and 2 sets of poems
  • Accepted: 2 – 1 poem and 1 story! And with the short fiction piece the editor asked me to send some more over (not that I had much more to send) since the first was pretty short.
  • Rejected:  3 – poems and two stories

I didn’t find anywhere to send my fiction or poetry chapbook this week. They are both still under consideration at one place each.

I did, however, line up a reading for October. I now have one in Sept, Oct and Dec but nothing (outside of open mikes) any other times so if anyone is looking for a reader, teacher etc – let me know!

In between working on other things this afternoon I’ve been puttering around with my 2nd full length manuscript again. My three readers got back with me with very similar comments with only one big issue: no one can come up with a really great title. One more reader is looking over it now just for that purpose while I reorganize the poems in their electronic document so (when I have the magic title) I can start sending the book around.

Which, however, brings me back to the old issue: where to send it?

I  won’t spend too much time on it but here are some thoughts:

  • I have two current publishers who might be interested who have published me before. Both have eyes to print and online publication. I am definitely still wanting to have print copies but I also know I am going to push less into bookstores and focus more on the web for sales. These are known entities and I am torn!
  • Another publisher getting ready to start has sent me an email. I know they will also be into e and print publishing. Do I want to be a first again?
  • Do I send to contests and open reading periods? Especially those publishers based in my state whom I have started to get to know?

Ultimately, where does the book fit? And not only where does it fit but where is my publishing trajectory supposed to be at this point?

Decisions!

Did any of you send work out this week? Any other news? I’ve yet to do my NaPoWriMo writing for the day. I’ll be saving that for later methinks :)

OH! And one of the poems from that manuscript is now in an online journal – Praxilla

Friday Wrap-Up

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Getting back into the groove after Fall Break took some getting used to. I have to say my Wednesday class was not one of my best, but it has spurred in me the desire to revamp some of the handouts I created last summer in preparation for my fall classes. That is a work in progress!

On the weight loss front. Well. Really not much of anything to report. After 3 weeks of hovering at the same weights I took a week off from WW and just ate when I was hungry. I only had one episode when I ate when I was hungry. I also walked everyday and  . . . still a plateau. *sigh* This week’s focus is going to be on noting my calories but focusing more on making healthy food choices. The one danger with WW is that you can eat a certain amount of calories but it isn’t always the best for you calories.

Here are my submission numbers for the week:

  • Submissions: 4. 2 essays. 1 micro fiction and 1 set of poems
  • Acceptance: CHAPBOOK
  • Rejection:  4 including 1 fiction, one I submitted too early (oops) another set of poems and then one set of poems from a nice publication with comments!! Love when that happens.

Quick note on the acceptance. Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while know I have this chapbook called FAT GIRL that I have been sending around off and on since February of 2008. I am pleased to announce that Sibling Rivalry Press will be released it in the Fall of 2011! If you want a sneak peak at a Fat Girl poem then you can read Fat Girl on Fashion and  I’m Trying Weight Watchers online right now (a little irony there!) FAT GIRL was sent around 28 times since February of 2008. She was a semi-finalist, a finalist, the recipient of comments and even a personal phone call from an editor but it took a long time for her to find a final, perfect family. I can’t wait!

On my own writing front I went through a huge poem purge last weekend while my husband had company. I went through and pulled the actual good lines from all these pending poems I had and saved them in a document then I gleefully deleted the files that had all the mundane lines. I feel so refreshed and I am having so much fun playing with these really bizarre poem fragments! I’m also going through old poems that were published in student lit mags and such to see if they can fit into projects I’m working on. One of the projects (the choose your own adventure poems) just doesn’t seem like something I’m enjoying. I might salvage the good poems and lines from it but retire working on that. Or I could just November (NaNoWriMo) to try and flesh the whole thing out? Decisions.

What is up with you guys? Anything to report? Ask etc? You guys gave me some great ideas for blog posts next week and I have a guest blogger who is working on something about marketing. If you ever want to guest blog let me know! To the weekend!