The editors of Cave Wall poetry magazine have put in great effort to create The Nina Riggs Poetry Award to honor their late friend and poet, author of The Bright Hour  and Lucky Lucky.

This crowd-funded award will be given annually to at least one poet for "the finest writing that examines relationships, family, or domestic life" in honor of Nina's own "beautiful work on many subjects, including relationships and domestic life. She knew how to savor every moment of her too-short life, and in her poetry and her memoir, she explores the poignancy and love that resonate in the details of every day."

Nominations are made by individuals who read poems that honor family or relationships in some way that have been published within the last three years. There is no application process; readers simply send in a copy of the poem. Readers can nominate up to six poems (no self-nominations). Each winner will receive $500 with the possibility of attending a reading in Greensboro, NC. See complete guidelines here.

The Nina Riggs Poetry Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)3, so all donations are tax-deductible. Donations are currently being accepted with donors at certain levels being recognized by Cave Wall online and in print.

To read more about Nina Riggs and make a donation, go to FundRazr: Nina Riggs Poetry Foundation.

Published by Box Turtle Press, issue 20 of Mudfish features the winning entry and honorable mentions of their 13th Mudfish Poetry Prize judged by Philip Schultz.

Winner
"Barking, Pt. Reyes" by Rafaella Del Bourgo [pictured]

Honorable Mentions
1st - "We are Already at War" by John Sibley Williams
2nd - "Ode to My Body" by Tim Nolan
3rd - "Late Summer Sky" by Tony Gloeggler

See a full list of finalists here. The 14th Mudfish Poetry Prize with a $1200 first prize to be judged by John Yau is open until April 30, 2019.

With its Spring 2019 issue, Raleigh Review celebrates nine years of continuous publication. As they head into their tenth year, Editor and Publisher Rob Greene notes, "we realized it was time to reward our staff members who do the work on the magazine, so in addition to increasing the amount we're paying to our poets, writers, and visual artists by a third, we are finally beginning to take small strides to help reward our telecommuting and highly skilled editorial staff who are based throughout the country and at times the world."

Congratulations to Raleigh Review for providing a venue for writers, artists, and readers - and sharing how important financial support and subscriptions are to our community!

Chicken God  by Alexander Grigoriev - you simply can't look away from this cover of Pembroke Magazine (#51).

Who doesn't love a technicolor embroidered bat? Little Werewolves with Wings  by Danielle Clough captures our attention for Southern Humanities Review (52.1). 

The artwork of Toyin Ojih Odutola (What Her Daughter Sees ) is featured on the cover and with a full-color portfolio inside of the Spring 2019 issue of The Massachusetts Review.

American Life in Poetry: Column 732
BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE 

Ezra Pound commanded America's poets to "Make it new." And here's a good example. Has there ever been another poem written, and written beautifully, about children playing among laundry drying on a line? Thomas Reiter, who lives in New Jersey, is a poet whose work I've followed for many years. His most recent book is Catchment. This poem appeared in the Tampa Review.

Pinned in Place

A bed sheet hung out to dry
became a screen for shadow animals.
But of all laundry days in the neighborhood
the windy ones were best,
the clothespins like little men riding
lines that tried to buck them off.
One at a time we ran down the aisles
between snapping sheets
that wanted to put us in our place.
Timing them, you faked and cut
like famous halfbacks. But if a sheet
tagged you it put you down, pinned
by the whiteness floating
against a sky washed by the bluing
our mothers added to the wash water.
Could anyone make it through those days
untouched? You waited for
your chance, then jumped up and finished
the course, rising if you fell again.
Later, let the sky darken suddenly
and we'd be sent out to empty the lines.
All up and down the block, kids
running with bed sheets in their arms,
running like firemen rescuing children.
All night those sheets lay draped
over furniture, as though we were leaving
and would not return for a long time.

We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry  magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2018 by Thomas Reiter, "Pinned in Place," from Tampa Review (No. 55/56, 2018). Poem reprinted by permission of Thomas Reiter and the publisher. Introduction copyright ©2019 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction’s author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006.

Jason Splichal, Founder and Co-Editor-in-Chief of Sky Island Journal writes in his opening letter to Issue 7: "We are different from other literary journals in so many ways. While we appreciate and respect the paths that other publications have taken, it has been clear from the beginning that the path less taken will always be our path. The rugged independence and relentless tenacity required to stay on that path helps us to be mindful; every step we take should be made with kindness and humility. Reading and responding to every submission, then having the ability to share the work of writers from around the world with readers from around the world, are privileges beyond the telling. We're so grateful for our contributors and our readers."

The 50th Anniversary Spring 2019 issue of Ruminate features the winning entries of their 2019 Kalos Visual Art Prize, as selected by Final Juror Betty Spackman:

First Place
"Seen and Unseen" by Jennifer Cronin [pictured]

Second Place
"If I Were a King" by Margie Criner

Honorable Mentions
"The Lilies How they Grow" by Emily McIlroy
"EBB" by Hanna Vogel

For a full list of finalists as well as juror's comments on the winners, click here.

Reflecting on Ruminate's 50th Anniversary issue, Editor Brianna VanDyke writes that when Thích Nhất Hạnh was asked, "Is there a purpose for wearing the robe other than to clothe your body?" He replied, "To remind yourself that you are a monk."

"I wonder," VanDyke goes on, "if one day you or I might also be asked a question about reminding ourselves of who we are." 

She goes on to explore what those 'reminders of self' might be, adding, "something about this dream I hold, that these pages continue to be a reminder for fifty more good issues, how the very best stories and art and poems remind us of who we are, why we matter, our longings, our deepest work this day."

Hear, hear!

Bright colors to welcome spring caught my eye this week, starting with the 2018 annual of Rathalla Review, just released this March 2019. 

Color isn't essential to grab the viewer, as the cover of Ragazine.CC offers. Hiroshi Hayakawa is their spotlight for the March-April 2019 issue.

“Style Central” by Leah Dockrill, collage on canvas, is the featured image for the newest online Mud Season Review poetry issue.

Produced within the MFA at Eastern Washington University, Willow Springs literary magazine features writers from their current print issue online.

Featured from Willow Springs 83 are four poems by Maggie Smith (an interview with her is included in the print publication), "The Collector" by Suzanne Highland, "The Year We Lived" by Breanna Lemieux, and "Bless the Feral Hog" by Laura Van Prooyen.

With each feature, the author offers notes on the work as well as whatever random musings they might want to include under the fun title "Music, Food, Booze, Tattoos, Kittens. etc.."

In her responses, Suzanne Highland [pictured] shares, "I have two tattoos: one says 'in medias res and the other says '(write it!).' I’m wildly attached to both, but one would have to be to get tattoos like those in the first place, I think."