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NewPages Blog

At the NewPages Blog readers and writers can catch up with their favorite literary and alternative magazines, independent and university presses, creative writing programs, and writing and literary events. Find new books, new issue announcements, contest winners, and so much more!

Interfictions 2

Interstitial fiction is imaginative writing that slips through the cracks between literary genres. It’s an umbrella term under which numerous stylistic approaches like new weird, slipstream, fantastica, liminal fantasy, transrealism, and many more may fall. Though these terms lack precision, they do bear some resemblance to more established genres, using familiar science fiction tropes like spaceships and aliens, time travel and alternate histories; fantasy tropes like ghosts, fairies, as well as mystery and romance conventions. Interstitial fiction is distinguished by how it blurs the boundaries between genres and, if ever placed in one of these slots, rests uncomfortably. It blends the realistic and the fantastic in such a way that everything is defamiliarized, or where everything is (borrowing a term coined by Russian Formalist Viktor Shklovsky) “enstranged.” Paradoxically, it is its “in-betweeness” that defines it. Continue reading “Interfictions 2”

Small Kingdoms

Ever wondered about those Americans who take jobs in treacherous foreign countries? Ever wanted to know what it is like to move to the Middle East and try to fit in to conservative Islamic culture? Anastasia Hobbet’s novel Small Kingdoms answers these questions through its carefully structured narrative. Set in Kuwait after the first Gulf War, Small Kingdoms takes place in a region familiar to us from TV news broadcasts; Hobbet portrays the decadence and the difficulty of this country masterfully. The story follows five main characters: two American expatriates, one native Kuwaiti woman and her Indian maid, and one a Bedooin or resident alien, a Palestinian woman living in Kuwait. Hobbet constructs her book in short chapters, each following a single character, as these five individuals’ fates are drawn closer and closer together. Continue reading “Small Kingdoms”

Press 53 2009 Open Awards Anthology

This is the second year of this anthology which features poetry, flash fiction, short-short story, short story, genre fiction, creative nonfiction, young writers, and novella. There is a total of 28 works from 21 authors and the editor proudly points out in his introduction that entries came from 32 states and eight foreign countries. Two of the winners were from overseas: Jerusalem, Israel and Bogotá, Columbia. All judging was done blind. Continue reading “Press 53 2009 Open Awards Anthology”

The Man in the Wooden Hat

The bad news: if you have a less than comprehensive knowledge of British history and culture (as I do), you may have to run to Google periodically to understand all the acronyms and historical references in Gardam’s novel. The good news: it won’t matter. Gardam’s book is primarily a character study, the affectionate chronicle of a long marriage between two flawed but lovable characters. Continue reading “The Man in the Wooden Hat”

Homicide Survivors Picnic

It should come as no surprise that the ten stories in Lorraine Lopez’s collection Homicide Survivors Picnic make an impact, bringing the reader face-to-face with situations that are realistic and gritty but never hopeless or pitiful. Lopez, the winner of the International Latino Book Award for short stories, among other accolades, handles intricate characters and complex emotions deftly, all while spinning out plots that are captivating and believable. Continue reading “Homicide Survivors Picnic”

Hush Sessions

As the epigraph from Gertrude Stein suggests, Hush Sessions is a collection of poetry interested in wordplay, but Kristi Maxwell’s new book also assesses ways of approaching intimacy and fertility in long-term relationships. By presenting the body as imperfect, these poems expose the disappointment a lack of control brings. Continue reading “Hush Sessions”

Marcel Proust’s Search for Lost Time

French author Marcel Proust created an acknowledged masterpiece of modern literature in his 3,000 page novel The Remembrance of Things Past, which is also known as In Search of Lost Time, first published in seven volumes from 1913 to 1927. Patrick Alexander’s guide to this work serves as an introduction to readers who haven’t yet read Proust’s masterpiece, a useful tool for those in the process of reading it, and a refresher for readers who’d like to revisit favorite passages. Continue reading “Marcel Proust’s Search for Lost Time”

Holiday Stories Wanted

Chris Heavener, Editor/Publisher of Annalemma Magazine, writes: “We’re working on a new zine called Holiday in Cambodia. The idea is to collect a bunch of true stories surrounding the Holidays, compile them into a zine and donate the proceeds to Anne Elizabeth Moore, an author and activist who is teaching young Cambodia women how to make zines.”

There will be an open fee for submissions, meaning submitters are encouraged to send whatever they think is a fair submission fee. “Could be zero dollars, could be $100. Yup, just like the Radiohead thing.” This book will be available to purchase for $10 on January 31st, 2010. All proceeds from sales, as well as submission fees, will go directly to Anne’s amazing work with young Cambodian women.

Click here for more info. Deadline is January 15 – so don’t delay!

Poem: Kazim Ali

As a mythology teacher, I enjoy contemporary literary interpretations of the classic myths/characters. The title of this poem by Ali first reminded me of Björk‘s “Venus as a Boy.” Some of my favorites in this same vein are in the collection Becoming the Villianess (Steel Toe Books, 2006) by Jeannine Hall Gailey.

Persephone as a Boy
by Kazim Ali

He never says what he feels.
His father used to say, “Your face is like a flower.”
He wilts when he thinks about loneliness…

Read the rest on West Branch online.

KR Online Features Veronica Forrest-Thomson

From Kenyon Review Online:

On Saturday, January 17th, 2008, Christ’s College, Cambridge, and the Centre for Modernist Studies at the University of Sussex co-hosted a daylong symposium on the work of Veronica Forrest-Thomson, author of three poetry collections and the influential critical work Poetic Artifice: A Theory of Twentieth-Century Poetry. The publishers Shearsman and Allardyce, Barnett issued a new edition of her work in 2008: Veronica Forrest-Thomson: Collected Poems. The symposium came on the heels of this publication, in an effort to further increase the visibility of Forrest-Thomson’s life and work.

The Kenyon Review is pleased to continue that goal by publishing a special online retrospective of a selection of Veronica Forrest-Thomson’s poetry as well as six of the papers presented at the symposium.

Gina Myers :: NewPages Book Review Editor

NewPages welcomes Gina Myers as the new Book Review Editor! Gina lives in Saginaw, Michigan, where she works as an adjunct English instructor and freelance writer. She completed her M.F.A. at The New School, and her first full length collection of poetry, A Model Year, was published in July 2009 by Coconut Books. In her spare time, she publishes Lame House Books and contributes editing to H_NGM_N and 360 Main Street. In addition to writing poetry, she is an active book reviewer, with recent reviews appearing at BookSlut and The Poetry Project Newsletter. Gina is excited to join the team at NewPages, and looks forward to bringing more attention to quality work produced by independent publishers. She hopes to expand the monthly book reviews and publishing news updates, allowing more voices to be heard and more books and authors to be spotlighted.

NewPages Updates :: January 07, 2010

Added to the NewPages Big List of Literary Magazines
Bartleby Snopes – fiction
Glitter Pony – poetry
Litterbox Magazine – art, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, recipes
Little Red Leaves – poetry, multimedia
Still – fiction, poetry, nonfiction, multimedia, interview
Scheherezade’s Bequest – fiction, poetry
Halfway Down the Stairs – fiction, nonfiction, poetry

Added to the NewPages List of Alternative Magazines
Abilities (CA)

2010 Cockefair Chair Writer in Residence

Margot Livesey has been named the 2010 Cockefair Chair Writer-in-Residence at the Univeristy of missouri-Kansas, March 22 – March 26, 2010. She will present a reading and book signing as well as discussion on fiction at the university. Full event details can be found on the New Letters website events calendar.

NDQ Examines Higher Education

The newest issue of North Dakota Quarterly (75.2) focuses on “Higher Education,” and is aptly introduced by Editor Robert W. Lewis with consideration for “Lower Education.” Included in this issue, along with poems by Lee Slonimsky and Carolyn Raphael as well as a packed review section, is this incredible line-up of essays:

Thomas Van Nortwick – “Living in the Moment: A Teacher’s Thoughts on Higher Education”
Fred Whitehead – “The Citadel Revisited”
Steiner Opstead – “University of North Dakota Commencement: August 1, 2010”
Paul T. Bryant – “Academic Comparisons”
Sheryl O’Donnell – “University Inc.: Transforming the Groves of Academe”
Dan Rice – “Higher Education: Where We’ve Gone Wrong”
Laurel Reuter – “Wise Counsel, Glorious Company”
Joan Rudel – “On Becoming a Teacher”
Gaynell Gavin – “Leavings”
Michael Graham – “Notes on Teaching in Prison”
Donald Gutierrez – “Three Universities and Three Cities: A Memoir”
Gregory Gagnon – “Survival, Identity, Sovereignty, and Indian Agency: Contributions to Indians Studies Scholarship”
Louise Erdrich – “What’s in Our Name?”

New Letters Readers Awards Winners

New Letters magazine has announced the New Letters Readers Awards Winners for Vol. 75, Issues 1-4, 2008-2009:

Fiction, “Layover” By Matthew Pitt

Poetry, “Poem at Christmas” By Winfield Townley Scott

Essay, “Double Vision” By D.L. Tucker

Runners up and honorable mentions can all be viewed on the New Letters website. Readers are invited each year to nominate their favorites. For 2009-2010, selections can be make from volume 76, issues 1-4.

Required Reading: MQR’s Issue on Bookishness

BOOKISHNESS: The New Fate of Reading in the Digital Age
Michigan Quarterly Review, Fall 2009

“We… live at a double moment: the death of the book and the dearth of reading face off against a proliferation of virtual books, the overabundance of writing. At such a time, everything seems up for grabs in ways both threatening and promising; it’s either a brave new world or Brave New World that confronts us… Without abandoning our sense of what is lost, we mustn’t lose the imagination of what is potentially—and increasingly, actually—to be gained…” — Jonathan Freedman, “Bookishness; A Brief Introduction”

Essays
Leah Price, “Reading As If for Life”
Alan Liu, “The End of the End of the Book: Dead Books, Lively Margins, and Social Computing”
Phil Pochoda, “UP 2.0: Some Theses on the Future of Academic Publishing”
Jessica Pressman “The Aesthetic of Bookishness in Twenty-First-Century Literature”
Paul N. Courant, “New Institutions for the Digital Age”
Zeynep Devrim Gürsel, “The Taste of Mice”
Benjamin Busch, “Growth Rings”
David Kirby, “The Traveling Library”
Michael Wood, “Distraction Theory: How to Read While Thinking of Something Else”
Stephen Burt, “Poems about Superheroes”

[Cover image: Ann Arbor’s Shaman Drum Bookshop “Going Out of Business Sale” signs.]

Film Fans – Salmagundi Must-Have Issue

Always worth the cover/subscription price, so an absolute steal this issue, Salmagundi magazine Fall 2009-Winter 2010 is a special issue devoted to the great German film-maker Margarethe von Trotta, whose film Marianne and Juliane won the Venice Film Festival Award for Best Film and Best Director and whose other films – Rosenstrasse, Sheer Madness, Sisters, Rosa Luxemburg among them – have received numerous international awards. One of von Trotta’s latest feature films, The Other Woman, starring Barbara Sukowa, which has never been released in the United States, will be available as a DVD, sealed inside the special issue of Salmagundi.

Kore Award Nominations

The Association for the Study of Women and Mythology announces the Kore Award for best dissertation in women and mythology, offered annually in even-numbered years for dissertations completed in the previous two calendar years. Applicants can be from any discipline, including but not limited to literature, religious studies, art or art history, classics, anthropology, and communications. Creative dissertations must include significant analysis of mythology in addition to creative work. All dissertations must be in English. Applicants must include letter of recommendation from dissertation advisor or member of dissertation review committee. All materials must be sent electronically. Deadline for applications: January 15, with award to be given at AWM national conference, April 13-15, near Scranton, PA. Submit to: goldcrow47-at-comcast-dot-net

Jobs

Seton Hill University seeks published genre novelist (priority for popular mystery/crime/suspense writer; will also consider fantasy or romance author) for tenure-track position in our low-residency MFA program in Writing Popular Fiction, starting June 2010. Michael Arnzen, PhD. Feb 3

University of Central Oklahoma seeks a full-time, one-year temporary, non-tenure-track, visiting writer. Feb 15

Arc Poetry Magazine Poet in Residence, October 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. Application deadline: Jan 31

Crazyhorse Prize Deadline Extended

The Crazyhorse Fiction Prize
The Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize
$2000 each and publication in Crazyhorse
Prize Deadline Extended, Jan. 15 2010

Mail in or upload online up to twenty-five pages of fiction or up to three poems (up to 10 pages total of poetry). Reading fee of $16 per manuscript includes a one-year/two-issue print-and-e-book subscription to Crazyhorse starting with the next issue. Upload manuscript and pay reading fee by secure online credit-card payment via Authorize.net, or by check or money order. Full info on Crazyhorse website.

Narrative Contest Winners

Narrative Fall 2009 Story Contest Winners and Finalists

First Prize: Joe David Bellamy, “East House”

Second Prize: Dave Bausch, “Dim Lighting at the After Party”

Third Prize: Nate Haken, “Leach Pad”

Finalists
David Abrams
Megan Mayhew Bergman
Han-ping Chin and William O’Daly
Abby Frucht
William Litton
Jerry Mathes
Mary Morrisey
Evan James Roskos
Heather Sellers
Olivia Shannon

The Winter 2010 Story Contest, with a $4,000 First Prize, a $1,500 Second Prize, a $500 Third Prize, and five finalists receiving $100 each. Open to fiction and nonfiction. Entry deadline: Wednesday, March 31, midnight, Pacific time.

Dennis Brutus, poet and activist, dies at 85

Dennis Brutus, the prolific poet and impassioned activist who was imprisoned alongside Nelson Mandela in South Africa, died at his home in Cape Town Saturday morning after battling prostate cancer. He was 85. Mr. Brutus was exiled from his native South Africa for more than 20 years, and he successfully lobbied to ban the apartheid regime’s all-white Olympic teams from the games. (Vivian Nereim)

Read more on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Free Lunch to Cease Publication

Issue 42 (Autumn 2009) of Free Lunch will be the last, according to the Board of Directors of Free Lunch Arts Alliance. Ron Offen, the editor and founder of Free Lunch, has health issues that prevent him from continuing the magazine. Our best to Ron and those who support him in these times.

Peer Reviewers Sought

Plenum: The South Carolina State University Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies is accepting applications for peer reviewers. Areas of particular need are film, Caribbean Studies, American Studies, Education, Educational Technology, Hispanophone literature and culture, feminist literary theory and philosophy, and postcolonial literature and theory. Applicants with backgrounds in other fields are also welcome to apply. Please forward a cv and writing sample (MS Word or RTF, please) to jis at scsu dot edu.

Seeking Editor

From the staff at Shape of a Box:

After publishing 62 weekly issues, Shape of a Box is looking for a new editor or editors to take over the enterprise.

If you are interested please email current editor, Jessie Carty: shapeofabox-at-gmail-dot-com

Ideally, Jessie would like someone to take over the online journal 100% but she would be willing to stay on and help with the transition.

If we are unable to find someone to take over the journal 100% then we would like to work with individuals who would be interested in 1 – handling the website, including assisting with registering the domain OR 2 – making videos from contributor supplied footage (any software to compile – iMovie, Movie Maker etc).

We will be taking interest on a first come first serve basis but we would like to announce our decision on editorship/ownership of the project by January 15th. You can also stop by the wordpress blog.

Lit Trees for Christmas

The Concord Museum’s celebrates the holiday with “Family Trees: A Celebration of Children’s Literature,’’ an exhibit that spans 14 years and generations of authors and readers. The museum is filled with trees of all shapes and sizes, each one decorated by a different volunteer and each tree adorned with ornaments inspired by a classic or contemporary children’s book. One tree is adorned with little blue schoolgirl uniforms and French flags in the spirit of “Madeline,’’ a character that has captured the hearts of petites filles since 1939. Another is topped with a safari hat and trimmed with bugs and flowers, a nod to “Fancy Nancy: Explorer Extraordinaire.’’ There are 35 trees in the literary grove.

Buy a Book by a Black Author and Give It to Somebody Not Black Month

Starting this December event in 2008, Carleen Brice celebrates the second annual Buy a Book by a Black Author and Give It to Somebody Not Black Month. Her effort is intended to focus attention on the works of African American authors outside of the mainstream. Brice also maintains a blog White Readers Meet Black Authors, which she labels as an “official invitation into the African American section of the bookstore.”

Each year Brice recommends a short list of authors, as well as provides plenty more on her blog. For 2009:

The Book of Night Women By Marlon James
Kiss the Sky by Farai Chideya
Before I Forget by Leonard Pitts Jr.
Big Machine by Victor LaValle
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
The Air Between Us by Deborah Johnson

Annual Sexiest Poem of the Year Award

From CAConrad’s blog: “The Sexiest Poem of the Year Award is given annually to a finely crafted poem demonstrating a fearlessness which confronts injustice. The panel of judges is CAConrad sitting in five different chairs manifesting five different facial expressions. The judges must have a unanimous decision in order for the award to be granted. In the case where a unanimous decision is not decided upon, no award will be granted that year.”

See the winner for 2009 here.

A Journey Through Literary America

Still looking for a holiday gift for that literary person on your list? A Journey Through Literary America is a collaborative work by writer Thomas R. Hummel and photographer Tamra L. Dempsey. The publisher’s site describes the book: “This 304 page coffee table book takes a look at 26 of America’s great authors and the places that inspired them. Unique to this book of literary biography is the element of the photograph. With over 140 photographs throughout, the images add mood and dimension to the writing – and they are often shockingly close to what the featured authors described in their own words.”

It is indeed a gorgeous book. Neither the text nor photos dominate, but work well in harmony to create a book that can be browsed for its images or curled up with and delved into for its writing. The content on the featured authors provides commentary about their lives in the places where they lived. Even if you already know the background of these authors (click here for the table of contents), seeing them recounted here in context with the photographs adds a new, warmer sense of story to their lives. The information looks both at the authors’ lives past as well as how they continue to be recognized within the community in which they lived, and in some cases, in which their characters lived.

Additionally, the authors are running a writing contest on the theme My Hometown: “We want you to write about your hometown (we leave it up to you how you choose to define the term, whether it be the town your grew up in, the town you have adopted as your own, the place that feels most like ‘home.’) The most important thing is that your entry must strongly evoke place.” Deadline August 1, 2010.

The Review Lab – Columbia College

New out from the Fiction Writing Department at Columbia College: The Review Lab with book reviews, interviews, blog, and guest columns, including Reviewing Essentials by Donna Seaman from which the following in an excerpt:

“Many writers are published first as reviewers, and many inquisitive, generous, and devoted writers, among them Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, and Jonathan Lethem, continue to write book reviews because reviewing sharpens one’s literary insights and chops. We must read each other respectively, receptively, and critically to keep literature alive, vibrant, and varied. And we must follow the golden rule: review others the way you hope to be reviewed.”

Any writers looking to follow Seaman’s advice can contact me at NewPages, where we continually welcome new readers for lit mag and book reviews (soon to be revamped with a new editor – stay tuned!): [email protected]

A Couple Grants

The Louisiana Publishing Initiative Grant is designed to assist writers complete for publication book-length manuscripts about the history and culture of Louisiana. Projects with publishing contracts or letters of interest are preferred. Deadline February 15, 2010. Pays up to $4,000. Preliminary application strongly encouraged
at least four weeks prior to the final deadline.

The North Carolina Grants for Writers program operates on a two-year cycle. Writers will be eligible to apply in the fall of every even-numbered year. Artist fellowships are designed to support the achievements of North Carolina artists and to recognize the central contribution they make to the creative environment of the state. Currently grants of $10,000 are awarded to artists to set aside time to work, buy supplies and equipment or pursue other artistic goals. Grant funds can support any expenses related to the proposal. Grant funds cannot support academic research or formal study toward an academic or professional degree.

Postdoctoral Researcher/Resident Scholar

Louisiana State University
Postdoctoral Researcher/Resident Scholar
The Southern Review

This is a two-year non-renewable twelve-month appointment & carries a salary of $32,000 & benefits (Pending final administrative approval). Preferred start date is August 1, 2010.

The Scholar will commit 20 hours per week to editorial duties at The Southern Review & teach one class per regular semester in the English Department (courses assigned by departmental need and/or Fellow’s expertise).

Required Qualifications: Terminal degree (MFA, PhD or equivalent); one year editorial experience on the staff of an established literary journal.

Additional Qualifications Desired: Ability to demonstrate the following: editorial expertise with fiction, nonfiction, & poetry; a broad knowledge of literature, especially contemporary; basic computer skills; a solid understanding of publishing, especially small presses & literary magazines.

Special Requirements: All candidates must be eligible to work in the United States; ability & willingness to work some holidays. Flexible scheduling of hours may be available.

Responsibilities: handles manuscript review & selection, proofreading, circulation development, fundraising support & conference participation; teaches one class per regular semester for the English Department; produces new works of prose or poetry culminating in a public presentation the final semester of the residency.

An offer of employment is contingent on a satisfactory pre-employment background check.

Application deadline is January 4, 2010 or until a candidate is selected.

Apply online at: www.lsusystemcareers.lsu.edu Position #034688. AA/EOE

Glimmer Train Family Matters Winners :: 2009

Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning stories of their October Family Matters competition. This competition is held twice a year and is open to all writers for stories about family. Word count should not exceed 12,000. (All shorter lengths welcome.) The next Family Matters competition will be held in April. Glimmer Train’s monthly submission calendar may be viewed here.

First place: Cary Holladay [pictured] of Memphis, TN, wins $1200 for “The Flood.” Her story will be published in the Spring 2011 issue of Glimmer Train Stories, out in February 2010.

Second place: Scott Tucker of Seattle, WA, wins $500 for “Where the Boys Went Swimming.”

Third place: Megan Mayhew Bergman of Raleigh, NC, wins $300 for “The Two Thousand Dollar Sock.”

A PDF of the Top 25 winners can be found here.

Also: Fiction Open competition (deadline soon approaching! January 2)

Glimmer Train hosts this competition quarterly, and first place is $2000 plus publication in the journal. It’s open to all writers, no theme restrictions, and the word count range is 2000-20,000. Click here for complete guidelines.

Poster Contest

Let’s Save Michigan!

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) and Let’s Save Michigan have issued an open call to artists, illustrators, and graphic designers for original posters to inspire Michiganders to revive their state. The new posters should be a call to action, and serve as part of a campaign to rally citizens to do the hard work that’s necessary to position Michigan as a state that will thrive in the future. Ultimately, the posters should aim to be forward-looking, inspirational, and must include the phrase “Let’s Save Michigan” in the design.

The hope is to highlight the actions and assets that are critical to moving the cities forward, whether that is renovating historic homes, planting community gardens, extensive public transportation and bike lines, public art, or whatever the artist believes will carry Michigan through the 21st century—and beyond.

Ideally, the new posters will be in the fashion of Works Progress Administration artwork of the 1930s, which is the subject of DIA exhibition, and depict regional, recognizable subjects—ranging from portraits to cityscapes and images of city life that remind the public of quintessential American values such as hard work, community and optimism.

Open for Entry: December 15 to February 15

The winner will be awarded $1,000 and the runner-up will receive $250.

December Lit Mag Reviews Posted

A new batch of literary magazines reviews has been posted, including reviews of Bartleby Snopes, Bellevue Literary Review, Bloodroot, Evergreen Review, Fifth Wednesday Journal, Gander Press Review, Gigantic Sequins, Hanging Loose, inscape, Iowa Review, Long Story, MAKE, make/shift, Malahat Review, The Meadow, Moon City Review, Paul Revere’s Horse, and Shenandoah

Poet Lore Celebrates 120 Years in Print

BETHESDA, MD (Oct 14) — Poet Lore, the nation’s oldest continuously published poetry journal, marks its 120th anniversary this year.

At a time when many literary journals (and the publishing industry of which they are part) are struggling, Poet Lore, with its distinctive historic look, has remained true to its core value — bringing great poetry to light — and created a proven and lasting nationwide identity. E. Ethelbert Miller and Jody Bolz carefully read every submission they receive, and their work reaffirms the value of poetry in a landscape that often devalues the written word. “Poetry may not be regarded as culturally central,” Jody Bolz explains, “but it’s still what people turn to at the most important moments in their lives. At every life-cycle ritual—from naming ceremonies to funerals—the language of poetry speaks to us and speaks for us. As editors, our role is to connect poets and readers, building upon Poet Lore‘s 120-year-long record of literary discovery.”

That 120-year-long record is what Poet Lore and its publisher, The Writer’s Center, honor. It’s a rich and varied story, and as you’ll see below, the journal has played an active and important role in bringing literary talent to light.

Founded in 1889 by two brilliant, iconoclastic scholars, Helen Clarke and Charlotte Porter, as a journal “devoted to Shakespeare, Browning, and the Comparative Study of Literature,” Poet Lore developed an early following among literary societies and later expanded its influence by offering unique features, such as its “Play Series” — which in 1913 was the first to print a complete, English-language edition of Anton Chekhov’s play “The Seagull.” And Walt Whitman, in the final year of his life, ran three paid advertisements in Poet Lore for Leaves of Grass.

During the course of its illustrious history, Poet Lore has played an active role in introducing American readers to the likes of some of the finest international poets. In its early years, in fact, very few American authors were published in Poet Lore. For the majority of its content, Poet Lore set its sights abroad. Among the many authors who were discovered or whose careers on the international stage were advanced by Poet Lore include Maxim Gorky, Henrik Ibsen, Frederic Mistral, and August Strindberg. And it was among the first publications to introduce the work of Bengali poet and Nobel Prize winner Rabindranath Tagore to American readers. In the late 20th Century, Poet Lore published the early work of such remarkable American poets as Mary Oliver, Colette Inez, Cornelius Eady, Carl Phillips, Carolyn Forché, Sharon Olds, Dana Gioia, Pablo Medina, and Alice Fulton, among many others. In recent years, the editors were the first to publish the poetry of Dwayne Betts, who sent his submission from prison.

SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT POET LORE:

Founders Charlotte E. Porter and Helen A. Clarke were writers, editors, Shakespeare and Browning scholars, and literary critics at a time when women in these roles were few and far between. Porter composed poetry, Clarke wrote musical compositions, and both wrote essays and reviews that appeared in early editions of Poet Lore and elsewhere.

Porter and Clarke were both named “Helen” at birth. Charlotte later changed her name from Helen Charlotte Porter to Charlotte Endymion Porter, borrowing her middle name from the Keats poem. The two women exchanged rings in a commitment ceremony and lived together until Helen A. Clarke died at age 65. Charlotte Porter scattered Helen’s ashes by their summer home in Penobscot Bay, Maine.

Whitman advertised his finally completed Leaves of Grass in three 1892 editions of Poet Lore.

Poet Lore was famous in the early 20th century for translations, publishing, for example, an early edition of Chekhov’s “The Seagull” in its folios and presenting literary luminaries like Ibsen, Strindberg, Gorky, D’Annunzio, Mistral, and Tagore to readers early on.

The first piece of writing F. Scott Fitzgerald ever placed (outside of school publications) was the poem “The Way of Purgation.” He sold it to Poet Lore in September of 1917, but for reasons unknown to the current publishers, it didn’t appear in the next issue, or any subsequent. It was finally printed in our Winter 1989-1990 issue (Vol. 84, No. 4) with the note: “Poet Lore apologizes for any inconvenience this delay may have caused.”

Poet Lore’s executive editors read all submissions, without regard to the reputation of the poet, year-round. They meet in Washington, D.C., to read aloud their selections and winnow the stacks of poems.

About The Writer’s Center: Since 1987, Poet Lore has been published by The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD. The Writer’s Center cultivates the creation, publication, presentation, and dissemination of literary work. We are an independent literary organization with a global reach, rooted in a dynamic community of writers. As one of the premier centers of our kind in the country, we believe the craft of writing is open to people of all backgrounds and ages. Writing is interdisciplinary and unique among the arts for its ability to touch on all aspects of the human experience. It enriches our lives and open doors to knowledge and understanding. The Writer’s Center is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization. We are supported in part by The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, and by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of Maryland and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Jobs

Quinnipiac University (CT) invites applications for an Assistant Professor position beginning in Fall 2010. Applications must be received by February 28, 2010.

Kent State University (OH) tenure-track Assistant Professor position in poetry writing. January 15, 2010

Seton Hill University seeks published genre novelist (priority for popular mystery/crime/suspense writer; will also consider fantasy or romance author) for tenure-track position in our low-residency MFA program in Writing Popular Fiction, starting June 2010. February 3, 2010

The Pearl Hogrefe Creative Writing Fellowship offers a talented writer one academic year to study creative writing full time at Iowa State University and focus on his/her creative work without distraction. January 5, 2010

Bath Spa University seeks Lecturer/Senior Lecturer: Creative Writing and Lecturer/Senior Lecturer: Creative Writing (Nature Writing. Closing Date: 12 noon, 11 January 2010

Emerson College Department of Writing, Literature, and Publishing seeks a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor in the area of Creative Nonfiction writing. Review begins December 15 until filled.

Minnesota State Universit Mankato English/Creative Writing – Fiction, Assistant Professor. January 15, 2010. Additional information on Minnesota State University, Mankato can be found here.

Stephen F. Austin State University (Nacogdoches, TX) Faculty – Liberal Arts – English and Literature. Posted December 4, 2009 until filled.