Hoo whee. I just noticed that it has been over a year since I last posted to this blog. It's not that I haven't had anything to blog about, quite the contrary. Just too busy and distracted to actually sit down and do it.
So, since last January, some stuff has been going on. First, we moved. To the UK. Again. Magnus was headhunted for a job with Urenco, a company that enriches and sells uranium. This time we are outside, but fairly close to London, in Buckinghamshire. We've been here for about 6 months now (since early August) and things are settling in. It's a beautiful area, quiet with lots of nature around. We have an orchard in our back yard: 5 apple trees, 1 each of plum, pear and cherry trees and blackberries too. We are close enough to London to take day trips, but we haven't done many. Weekends have been spent settling into the house.
The Boy is enjoying school, especially since he got a place at the local school, St Paul's Church of England Combined School in Wooburn Green. He went to a school in High Wycombe (Beechview), which is a 15 minute drive from home, because there were no spots available at closer schools. Long story. He is participating in a lot of activities: Fencing, Tech Club, Cub Scouts, Film Club, and Karate. He has made several friends and is doing well academically.
On the poetry scene - I had 3 reviews of collections in issue no. 40.2 of Star*Line: Jackalope Girl Learns to Speak, Field Guide to the End of the World, and An Assortment of Sky Things. They are in Alphabetical order on the linked page.
I also had another poem published in Star*Line 40.3 "Rocket Fuel".
And The Boy had a poem published in Star*Line 40.4 as well:
The Big Bang
where our imaginations began
and the fluid of time
flows.
Brilliant, isn't it?
I have a concert coming up in Germany: The 20th anniversary concert of the Women's Schola Choir Hildegardensis of Dillenburg. I've been singing as their soloist, primarily on the program of music by Hildegard von Bingen since their inception. We'll be singing some Hildegard, plus Cesar Franck, Frank Martin, Heinrich Schütz, P.F. Böddecker and others. It will be so lovely to sing with the group, Joachim Dreher (the church musician there) and in Dillenburg. Who knows when I'll ever do it again!
I've hooked up with the local church and there are some gems of musicians hidden away there. A retired professional accompanist has been helping me prepare for the concert in Dillenburg and we are having fun just singing all sorts of things and thinking about what we could perform in a recital. We might do a joint recital with a wonderful baritone, Craig Turpie, who is also a member of the church.
I have a few singing pupils already, just by word of mouth, but hopefully I'll be able to get a few more in the coming months.
Showing posts with label SFPA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SFPA. Show all posts
Thursday, February 08, 2018
Monday, June 01, 2015
Poetry Review - The Sex Lives of Monsters by Helen Marshall (Amazing Stories Mag)
The Elgin Award winning (2014) collection The Sex Lives of Monsters by Helen Marshall was one I'd been planning on reviewing in full (more than just the mini-review that I did in 2014 along with all the other Elgin nominated works). I also recorded 2 full poems (one of which is a series of 5 short poems on Billy the Kid) for your listening pleasure!Poetry Review – The Sex Lives of Monsters by Helen Marshall
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Resonance Dark and Light by Bruce Boston (Amazing Stories Mag)
Poetry Review - Resonance Dark and Light by Bruce Boston
I recorded three full poems for your listening pleasure as well.
Wednesday, October 01, 2014
Interview Part 2 and Reviews in print
Today the 2nd part of my interview with Elizabeth Barrette came out on Amazing Stories: "Interview with Elizabeth Barrette Part 2" . Here's a snippet from the beginning:
Sound intriguing? Go read the rest of it! Thank you.Thank you for joining me as we continue our conversation with Elizabeth Barrette, Poet and Wordsmith. If you missed part one, you can find it here.Today, Elizabeth tells us more about her activities in Crowdfunding her poetry, the poets who have been influential in her own writing, recommendations for further poetry reading and the usefulness of publishing your poetry on clay tablets.
* * *
In other news, I've officially begun my reviewing career with the SFPA's journal Star*Line. In it, I review a collection horror poetry by the poetry editor of Raw Dog Screaming Press, Stephanie Wytovich. It will be printed in truncated form in the print magazine, but you can read it in full on the SFPA website: Mourning Jewelry, by Stephanie Wytovich. You'll have to scroll down, the posts are in alphabetical order by title.
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Friday, August 22, 2014
I have little excuse
Hello folks!
There's been a lot of activity here at Poetry Planet Headquarters (PPHQ), but I've had little time and and even littler head-space to process everything and report or announce. So, one thing at a time. In manageable doses. That's the ticket!
In a rush to read all the nominee books for this years Elgin Award, I was granted permission to post my article a day later than usual. So, that was last week Thursday. I wrote a short blurb about each of the books nominated, if I was able to read them. And yes, I read all but one, somewhat perfunctorily but I read enough to get a good impression and to give me something to write about. My goal was to give readers and idea of what each book was "about", if indeed there was a theme, and clue them in to what type of poetry they could find there. Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Humorous, formal, long and short, retrospective or narrative. It was all there. Go have a look - maybe there's a collection that intrigues you? You'll find links to all the books and where you can purchase them in the post.
Poetry - Elgin Award Nominee Showcase
Next: WorldCon / LonCon3 in London, England! My first convention ever...
There's been a lot of activity here at Poetry Planet Headquarters (PPHQ), but I've had little time and and even littler head-space to process everything and report or announce. So, one thing at a time. In manageable doses. That's the ticket!
In a rush to read all the nominee books for this years Elgin Award, I was granted permission to post my article a day later than usual. So, that was last week Thursday. I wrote a short blurb about each of the books nominated, if I was able to read them. And yes, I read all but one, somewhat perfunctorily but I read enough to get a good impression and to give me something to write about. My goal was to give readers and idea of what each book was "about", if indeed there was a theme, and clue them in to what type of poetry they could find there. Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Humorous, formal, long and short, retrospective or narrative. It was all there. Go have a look - maybe there's a collection that intrigues you? You'll find links to all the books and where you can purchase them in the post.
Poetry - Elgin Award Nominee Showcase
Next: WorldCon / LonCon3 in London, England! My first convention ever...
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Poetry Planet - 2013 SFPA Poetry Contest
The show will go has gone up Wednesday 22 January 2013 ca. 10:00 GST! Alas, it is a botched version, having omitted the winning dwarf length poem by Lorraine Schein! The corrected version (minus all the great fiction on the StarShipSofa version) can be listened to through the SFPA site here.
Yes, I'm finally getting this edition of Poetry Planet out to the world. It's been in the works for a long time and basically on hold while I worked on several other projects. Poetry Planet No. 12 showcases the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place poems in three length categories in the 2013 Poetry Contest sponsored by the Science Fiction Poetry Association. This was my donation to the prizes for the contest. You can listen here on StarShipSofa No. 321. You'll find it at about the 1:18.00 (one hour eighteen minutes). (edit: go ahead and listen to it for the fiction though!)
The poems you'll hear on the podcast are:
Dwarf length (10 lines or less):
Yes, I'm finally getting this edition of Poetry Planet out to the world. It's been in the works for a long time and basically on hold while I worked on several other projects. Poetry Planet No. 12 showcases the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place poems in three length categories in the 2013 Poetry Contest sponsored by the Science Fiction Poetry Association. This was my donation to the prizes for the contest. You can listen here on StarShipSofa No. 321. You'll find it at about the 1:18.00 (one hour eighteen minutes). (edit: go ahead and listen to it for the fiction though!)
The poems you'll hear on the podcast are:
Dwarf length (10 lines or less):
3. "A Butterfly in Costa Rica",
by Mary C. Rowin
2. "The Spell No One Said at
Her Birth", by Jennifer Schomburg Kanke
1. "Dorothy’s Poem", by
Lorraine Schein (please listen!)
The Short form poems (up to 49 lines):
3. "Wolf’s Four Question", by
Megan Arkenberg
2. "The Martian’s Wife", by
Helen Patrice
1. "We Pay Our Fare in Apples
Here", by Megan Arkenberg
And the Long Form poems (50 lines and above):
3. "The Dyson Tree’s Promise",
by Bryant O’Hara
2. "Hungry as Living Sorrow",
by Jenny Blackford
1. "The Girl Who Tipped
Through Time …", by Robert Frazier
I give biographical information about each poet during the course of the podcast and also brief anecdotal background to the poems themselves. I encourage you to listen to these poems twice! The second time you can skip through every thing non-poetic!
Some of these poets' names (at least) will be familiar to you, if you follow speculative poetry or have listened to Poetry Planet or read my blog at Amazing Stories regularly. Since I don't want to clutter the podcast with linkage, please find below recently published works by each of the poets and where you can find their websites and blogs etc. Please help support these poets and visit their sites and read more of their poetry. They work so hard!
Megan Arkenberg - Blog and Bibliography/News.
"Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" (fiction) appears in The Lorelei Signal, January-April 2014.
"Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" (fiction) appears in The Lorelei Signal, January-April 2014.
"Necromancies" (poetry) appears in the Fall 2013 issue of Goblin Fruit.
Star*Line Editor's Choice: Their Quantum Toy .
Robert Frazier - ISFDB Entry. Paintings. Collection Phantom Navigation.
Star*Line Editor's Choice: Lost in Holographic Storage.
Interview: “Editor’s Corner #1: Jennifer Schomburg Kanke for The Southeast Review” VidaWeb, February 19, 2013
Bryant O'Hara - Soundcloud poetry. "In the Era of the Silent" in Eyedrum Periodically.
"How to Fix the Poet" feature about Bryant.
Helen Patrice - Blog
Poetry Collection: A Woman of Mars
Diane's review of A Woman of Mars
Mary C. Rowin - Blog
"Yellow Curve" in VerseWisconsin
Lorraine Schein - Book: The Futurist's Mistress from Mayapple Press
Anthology: Alice Redux Editor Richard Peabody
"Merlin" in Strange Horizons
"Three Glass Shards" in Enchanted Conversation
* * *
Friday, November 08, 2013
Amazing Stories: Speculative Poetry Round-up October/November 2013
My latest blog post on amazing stories mag has gone live! As the title of this post indicates, it's all about the genre poetry you can read all over the web. It ranges from FanZines to professional journals, from the weird to science fiction and everything in between. Here's a snippet:
Hi there, genre poetry lovers! Here we are and it’s already November. In lieu of a review or interview this week, I’d like to present you with another round-up of the speculative poetry I’ve found online in the past month or so. It’s not all super current, meaning that you could’ve read some of this poetry months or even years ago, but I just found it, or was reminded of it, so maybe you haven’t seen it before either?
* * *How did I not know that Strange Horizons actually does a genre poetry podcast?! Anaea Lay, their poetry editor, has done a podcast of the poetry from the Indian issue, which appeared the last week of September 2013, and all of the poetry from October 2013. Poetry by Shweta Narayan, Marchell Dyon, Margarita Tenser, April Grant, and Richard Prins is featured, and you can also read everything on the Strange Horizons website.
Read the whole post here! If I missed anything put it in the comments on Amazing Stories!
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Poetry Planet: 2013 Rhysling Award Showcase (Part 1)
My newest edition of Poetry Planet will has come out on StarShipSofa No. 309 today! This is another contest winner's showcase and the third year running for the Rhysling Award Showcase. You'll hear 6 of the 7 poems that placed in the top three (You'll hear the 7th next week). They are:
1st place:
Short: “The Cat Star” by Terry Garey, Lady Poetesses from Hell, ed. Bag Person Press Collective (Bag Person Press)
Long: “Into Flight” by Andrew Robert Sutton from the online magazine Silver Blade 14
Terry A.Garey's poetry has been published in many journals and anthologies, including Dodeca, Uranus, Star*Line, Asimov's, Weird Tales, The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, Raw Sacks, Paper Bag Writer, Dreams and Nightmares, Women en Large, and Burning With A Vision. She has edited poetry for Janus, Tales of the Unanticipated, and is the editor (with Eleanor Arnason) of Time Gum, and also Time Frames: an anthology of speculative poetry. She lives in Minneapolis, MN with a librarian, two cats, and more books than she can count. She is a founding member of Lady Poetesses From Hell.
2nd Place:
Short: “Futurity’s Shoelaces” by Marge Simon found in the Balticon 2012 Program Book.
Long: “String Theory” by John Philip Johnson in James Gunn’s (online journal) Ad Astra 1.
Long (tie): “The Time Traveler’s Weekend” by Adele Gardner - Liquid Imagination
Megan Arkenberg lives and writes in California. Her work has recently appeared in Asimov's, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, and The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 5, and has tried for best short story of 2012 in the Asimov's Readers' Award. Her poem "The Curator Speaks in the Department of Dead Languages" won the Rhysling Award for best long poem of 2012. Megan procrastinates by editing the fantasy e-zine Mirror Dance. She also has recent poetry publications in the September issue of Asimov's and the Fall issue of Star*Line.
I will provide biographical and link information for Wade German and her poem next week. Her fantastic poem "The Necromantic Wine" is epic in length and would have burst the seams of this week's StarShipSofa. And I'd like you all to be fresh when you hear it!
Appearing on StarShipSofa No. 310:
Wade German's poems have appeared internationally in numerous journals and anthologies, including Dark Horizons, Dreams and Nightmares, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Midnight Echo, Mythic Delirium, Nameless, Phantom Drift, Space and Time, Star*Line, Strange Sorcery and Weird Fiction Review. Barbarian is a recent poem appearing on Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.
"The Necromantic Wine" was inspired by George Sterling's "A Wine of Wizardry" and Clark Ashton Smith's "The Hashish-Eater," two poems which I have read again and again with a never ending fascination. Both are replete with bizarre, hallucinatory imagery and ideas sprung from the dark fantastic imagination. But for the most part, they are very different poems, with perhaps the exception that both convey a sense of voyaging into the unfamiliar, of questing for the unknown. It was that sense of voyage and quest that I was after when I wrote "The Necromantic Wine."
1st place:
Short: “The Cat Star” by Terry Garey, Lady Poetesses from Hell, ed. Bag Person Press Collective (Bag Person Press)
Long: “Into Flight” by Andrew Robert Sutton from the online magazine Silver Blade 14
Terry A.Garey's poetry has been published in many journals and anthologies, including Dodeca, Uranus, Star*Line, Asimov's, Weird Tales, The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, Raw Sacks, Paper Bag Writer, Dreams and Nightmares, Women en Large, and Burning With A Vision. She has edited poetry for Janus, Tales of the Unanticipated, and is the editor (with Eleanor Arnason) of Time Gum, and also Time Frames: an anthology of speculative poetry. She lives in Minneapolis, MN with a librarian, two cats, and more books than she can count. She is a founding member of Lady Poetesses From Hell.
Andrew Robert Sutton was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University where he studied both telecommunications and the written word. His heart has been torn between his love of cutting-edge technologies and traditional art forms ever since. His articles on the history of technology and its impact on business have appeared in over forty publications, including newspapers, magazines, and numerous blogs. "Into Flight" is his first foray into poetry.
2nd Place:
Short: “Futurity’s Shoelaces” by Marge Simon found in the Balticon 2012 Program Book.
Long: “String Theory” by John Philip Johnson in James Gunn’s (online journal) Ad Astra 1.
MargeSimon's works appear in publications such as Bête Noire, Niteblade, Daily SF
Magazine, Silver Blade, and Dreams & Nightmares. She edits a column for the
HWA Newsletter and serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees. She has won the
Strange Horizons Readers Choice Award, twice the Bram Stoker Award™, the
Rhysling Award and the Dwarf Stars Award. She has published several collections
including Like Birds in the Rain, Unearthly Delights, The Mad Hattery,
Vampires, Zombies & Wanton Souls, and Dangerous Dreams. Her poem, "The
Gods, Fallen" is up at Liquid Imagination.
John Philip Johnson has had work in, or forthcoming in, Dreams & Nightmares, Mythic
Delirium, Strange Horizons, Rattle, Southern Poetry Review, and Daily Science
Fiction, among other places, besides James Gunn's Ad Astra where this poem
first appeared. He reviews for Star*Line and elsewhere, and just recently
earned a master's degree in English, with a thesis of science fictional poetry,
from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. His astro-engineering work at Raytheon
is still classified, but let's just say...His poem "Stairs Appear In a Hole Outside of Town" can be read (and eventually listened to - narration by yours truly - Diane) at Rattle.
3rd Place:Short: “Sister Philomela Heard the Voices of Angels”, by Megan Arkenberg, Strange Horizons- 8/7/12
Long (tie): “The Time Traveler’s Weekend” by Adele Gardner - Liquid Imagination
Long (tie): "The Necromantic Wine” by Wade German Avatars of Wizardry, edited by Charles Lovecraft (P'rea Press)
Megan Arkenberg lives and writes in California. Her work has recently appeared in Asimov's, Lightspeed, Strange Horizons, and The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 5, and has tried for best short story of 2012 in the Asimov's Readers' Award. Her poem "The Curator Speaks in the Department of Dead Languages" won the Rhysling Award for best long poem of 2012. Megan procrastinates by editing the fantasy e-zine Mirror Dance. She also has recent poetry publications in the September issue of Asimov's and the Fall issue of Star*Line.
Adele Gardner's
poetry collection, Dreaming of Days in Astophel, is available from Sam's Dot
Publishing. Her stories and poems have appeared in Daily Science Fiction,
Legends of the Pendragon, The Doom of Camelot, Penumbra, Scheherazade's Façade,
Strange Horizons, Mythic Delirium, Goblin Fruit, and New Myths, among others.
In 2012, she chaired the Rhysling Awards for the Science Fiction Poetry
Association. Currently cataloging librarian for a public library, she's also
literary executor for her father, Delbert R. Gardner.
Appearing on StarShipSofa No. 310:
Wade German's poems have appeared internationally in numerous journals and anthologies, including Dark Horizons, Dreams and Nightmares, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Midnight Echo, Mythic Delirium, Nameless, Phantom Drift, Space and Time, Star*Line, Strange Sorcery and Weird Fiction Review. Barbarian is a recent poem appearing on Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.
"The Necromantic Wine" was inspired by George Sterling's "A Wine of Wizardry" and Clark Ashton Smith's "The Hashish-Eater," two poems which I have read again and again with a never ending fascination. Both are replete with bizarre, hallucinatory imagery and ideas sprung from the dark fantastic imagination. But for the most part, they are very different poems, with perhaps the exception that both convey a sense of voyaging into the unfamiliar, of questing for the unknown. It was that sense of voyage and quest that I was after when I wrote "The Necromantic Wine."
Friday, September 13, 2013
Amazing Stories - More Awards! The Rhysling Award
So, did I say it was awards season? But with WorldCon in San Antonio, TX just past you'd know that. That is, if you are interested in Science Fiction in any manner. But if you aren't you probably aren't reading this! Let me know in the comments if you get to the end, despite having no love for Science Fiction! :-)
The Rhysling Award for 2013 was officially announced at WorldCon and I've posted an announcement of my own and a discussion of the two winning poems at Amazing Stories Magazine.
Here's a snippet:
And if you don't normally read Science Fiction I'd like to encourage you to read this blog post by Nina Munteanu about "When Science Fiction IS Science Fiction". She does a great job of illustrating what it is about SF that I love and what motivates me to read it. Let me know what you think!
The Rhysling Award for 2013 was officially announced at WorldCon and I've posted an announcement of my own and a discussion of the two winning poems at Amazing Stories Magazine.
Here's a snippet:
...
However, the main thrust of this post is about the Rhysling Award, the Science Fiction Poetry Association's award for poetry in two length categories: short (under 40 lines) and long (40 lines and over). As per the rules only SFPA members are entitled to vote, so it's more like a Nebula Award than a popular award, but if you are interested in helping choose the best SF Poetry becoming a member is very easy and quite inexpensive, especially if you are willing to read the association's journal Star*Line as a PDF instead of in print. I urge you to check it out.
This year's winners were gleaned from a selection of 110 poems (70 short and 40 long). which could be found in 57 different print, online and audio publications. Kudos go to Star*Line, Goblin Fruit and Stone Telling with 11, 9 and 7 poems nominated respectively.
Go to Amazing Stories for the whole article! Enjoy!I will be producing an edition of Poetry Planet for StarShipSofa showcasing the Rhysling Award winning and placing poems, much like I've done in the past 2 years. I hope you'll listen! It's always a wonderful way to get fresh insight and deepen your understanding of a poem. But I'm not biased at all.Terry A. Garey's winning short poem, "The Cat Star", published in the anthology Lady Poetesses from Hell (Bag Person Press) won by ....
And if you don't normally read Science Fiction I'd like to encourage you to read this blog post by Nina Munteanu about "When Science Fiction IS Science Fiction". She does a great job of illustrating what it is about SF that I love and what motivates me to read it. Let me know what you think!
* * *
Wednesday, September 04, 2013
Poetry Planet No. 10 - Elgin and Dwarf Stars Awards Showcase
Poetry Planet is back!
After 8 months, it's embarrassing to say, I've finally produced another Poetry Planet. This is the 10th one. You may (or may not) be wondering what happened to No. 9. Well, way back with the Time Travel episodes, I did something ridiculous and numbered that split episode Nos. 5a and 5b. And then went on with No. 6 etc. However, there have, in fact, been 10 episodes, so I'm going to remedy that now!
This 10th edition of Poetry Planet is dedicated to the recently announced winners and placers of both the new Elgin Award and the Dwarf Stars Award in Science Fiction Poetry awarded by the Science Fiction Poetry Association.
You'll find it on StarShipSofa.com in episode No. 303 at about the 01:17.0 marker. As usual, you can listen to it on the site itself, or download it on iTunes or your usual podcatcher.
Linkety linkage:
You'll hear a poem from each of the best chapbook length collections (Elgin Award):
And a poem from each of the full-length collections (Elgin Award)
The top 3 Dwarf Stars Award poems
3. "Sarcophagus", (inkscrawl 3) N.E. Taylor,
2. "The Hidden", from Lovers & Killers, Mary Turzillo and
1. (Winner) "Basho after Cinderella (iii)", (Rattle 38), Deborah P. Kolodji
Please follow the links to their websites and/or books and check them out!
I had the pleasure of reviewing each of the collections, which placed in the Elgin Award on Amazing Stories. If you would like to check out those reviews please go to my author page.
Enjoy!!
After 8 months, it's embarrassing to say, I've finally produced another Poetry Planet. This is the 10th one. You may (or may not) be wondering what happened to No. 9. Well, way back with the Time Travel episodes, I did something ridiculous and numbered that split episode Nos. 5a and 5b. And then went on with No. 6 etc. However, there have, in fact, been 10 episodes, so I'm going to remedy that now!
This 10th edition of Poetry Planet is dedicated to the recently announced winners and placers of both the new Elgin Award and the Dwarf Stars Award in Science Fiction Poetry awarded by the Science Fiction Poetry Association.
You'll find it on StarShipSofa.com in episode No. 303 at about the 01:17.0 marker. As usual, you can listen to it on the site itself, or download it on iTunes or your usual podcatcher.
Linkety linkage:
You'll hear a poem from each of the best chapbook length collections (Elgin Award):
- 3. Come Late to the Love of Birds, Sandra Kasturi,
- 2. The House of Forever, Samantha Henderson and
- 1. (Winner) Out of the Black Forest, F. J. Bergmann
And a poem from each of the full-length collections (Elgin Award)
- 3. The Edible Zoo, David C. Kopaska-Merkel,
- 2. Notes from the Shadow City, Bruce Boston and Gary William Crawford and
- 1. (Winner) Lovers & Killers, Mary Turzillo
The top 3 Dwarf Stars Award poems
3. "Sarcophagus", (inkscrawl 3) N.E. Taylor,
2. "The Hidden", from Lovers & Killers, Mary Turzillo and
1. (Winner) "Basho after Cinderella (iii)", (Rattle 38), Deborah P. Kolodji
Please follow the links to their websites and/or books and check them out!
I had the pleasure of reviewing each of the collections, which placed in the Elgin Award on Amazing Stories. If you would like to check out those reviews please go to my author page.
Enjoy!!
* * *
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Amazing Stories - Awards! Science Fiction Poetry Awards!
It's been a very long time since I blogged here. Well, it's been a very long time since I did much of anything such as blogging or podcasting. I've been away on an extended vacation. We spent the summer in my home town, living with Mom in the house I grew up in, which I probably won't ever see the inside of again. :-(
But I don't mean to be maudlin. I have great news for you! It's award season for the Science Fiction community. This weekend (Aug. 29 - Sept. 1) is WorldCon, or LoneStarCon 3, which is the world Science Fiction convention occurring this year in San Antonio, Texas. The Hugo Awards are the main thing at this convention, but I'm not going to go into that. Mostly because they don't give an award in SF Poetry. The Science Fiction Poetry Association has established their own set of awards due to that lack and the lack of a Nebula Award in poetry. So, as a matter of fact, the SFPA is announcing the winners of the Rhysling Award and presenting the awards to the winners of the Dwarf Stars Award and the first annual Elgin Award. I've blogged about the latter two awards over on Amazing Stories. Please go here to read all about it. I warn you though, you'll be led down a rabbit hole...
Here's a snippet:
---------------
But I don't mean to be maudlin. I have great news for you! It's award season for the Science Fiction community. This weekend (Aug. 29 - Sept. 1) is WorldCon, or LoneStarCon 3, which is the world Science Fiction convention occurring this year in San Antonio, Texas. The Hugo Awards are the main thing at this convention, but I'm not going to go into that. Mostly because they don't give an award in SF Poetry. The Science Fiction Poetry Association has established their own set of awards due to that lack and the lack of a Nebula Award in poetry. So, as a matter of fact, the SFPA is announcing the winners of the Rhysling Award and presenting the awards to the winners of the Dwarf Stars Award and the first annual Elgin Award. I've blogged about the latter two awards over on Amazing Stories. Please go here to read all about it. I warn you though, you'll be led down a rabbit hole...
Here's a snippet:
After an extended summer break I’ve returned with lots of exciting news and a whole bunch of wonderful books, which I’ll be reviewing for you in the coming months. It’s award season!!! With WorldCon this weekend, that may seem obvious, but the Hugo Award is for everything but poetry. So, the Science Fiction Poetry Association (SFPA) has created a few awards to fill the gap.
---------------
Friday, June 01, 2012
Announcing the 2012 SFPA poetry contest
The Science Fiction Poetry Association announces its 2012 speculative poetry contest. Speculative poetry encompasses science fiction, fantasy, and horror poetry. Deadline September 15, 2012.
There is no entry fee, and the contest is open to non-members, with $50 prizes and publication to the winners in 3 length divisions, and an additional $50 prize to the best poem by a non-member. Winners also receive a year's membership in SFPA and member publications.
The complete guidelines for the 2012 SFPA contest are posted on the SFPA website here.
Oh! And if you think you might have the odd genre poet who frequents your blog or website, the SFPA would be much obliged if you'd copy and paste the above and post it somewhere prominent! Thank you!
There is no entry fee, and the contest is open to non-members, with $50 prizes and publication to the winners in 3 length divisions, and an additional $50 prize to the best poem by a non-member. Winners also receive a year's membership in SFPA and member publications.
The complete guidelines for the 2012 SFPA contest are posted on the SFPA website here.
Oh! And if you think you might have the odd genre poet who frequents your blog or website, the SFPA would be much obliged if you'd copy and paste the above and post it somewhere prominent! Thank you!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Seekrit Projekt is Reality! "Poetry Planet"!
Poetry Planet is Reality, folks. What is Poetry Planet you might ask? It's a monthly segment I've decided to produce for my favorite podcast, StarShipSofa. And as you might guess it showcases Poetry. Science Fiction Poetry. Or Fantasy Poetry. Or Dark Poetry. Or Speculative Poetry. All of the above and more, probably.
This has been a long labor. I first had the idea last year to record more poetry for Tony, but he wasn't fielding submissions anymore. It's a lot of work! I had the idea that I could do a monthly segment and do all the work of receiving submissions and just deliver a finished project to Tony. But I just couldn't wrap my mind around getting it done. Then it was New Years, and I was considering what could be my New Years Resolution. I decided I would create a first article and spring it on Tony, so he couldn't refuse! I joined the Science Fiction Poetry Association and ordered Suzette Haden Elgin's Handbook of Science Fiction Poetry. I roamed around the web familiarizing myself with things. I rolled the formatting around my mind and decided the first show would be simple, with only one poem - an SF poem about poetry by Suzette Haden Elgin that I'd found on her website, and otherwise, just talking about poetry, how I've come to enjoy reciting and reading it aloud and giving guidance on how listeners might learn how to appreciate poetry.
But then life happened. I got radio silence from the powers that be (all volunteers) at the SFPA. Life happened for them too, I guess. I couldn't raise any signs of life from Ms. Elgin and so I started looking around for other poems I could. I turned to a couple of the poets whose poems I'd already read for SSS and inquired about poems about poetry. I introduced myself at the SFPA Forum and YahooGroup and announced my intention for creating the segment and got good feed back (not overwhelming though - I guess I was too vague in my request for submissions). Laurel Winter and Bruce Boston gave me wonderful poems that I'm using and Ann Schwader was so helpful and supportive of the idea, that I am indebted to her indefinitely. Check out Bruce Boston's poem "The Poetry of Science Fiction" on his site.
Finally about a month ago I wrote my first draft of the article, recorded it in very rough form and sent it to Tony for approval, which he gave with his usual enthusiasm! Yippee! I could get going! Then I couldn't find the time to record the actual thing. I had grand plans of using a new recording software, but I had even less time to delve into THAT. I wanted to have music and well, it all seemed insurmountable.
Then I discovered that April is National Poetry Month in the USA. Oh MAN! I've got to get it done before the opportunity comes and goes! So I gave myself a kick in the butt and submitted the final product (flawed as it is) to Tony.
You can listen to show No. 184 by going to StarShipSofa's website. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to listen on the website or listen on iTunes Poetry Planet is after the main fiction at the 51 minute mark (Thanks Steve!).
And if you are a fan of poetry or of StarShipSofa, or of all things Science Fiction or just of me :-), please link, link, link! Thank you! And if you are a poet, my idea for the next segment in May 2011 is "First Contact". If you have any poetry even vaguely fitting that label, please get in touch with me. For discussion of the SSS show go to the Forum, where all possible links will be posted as well!
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This has been a long labor. I first had the idea last year to record more poetry for Tony, but he wasn't fielding submissions anymore. It's a lot of work! I had the idea that I could do a monthly segment and do all the work of receiving submissions and just deliver a finished project to Tony. But I just couldn't wrap my mind around getting it done. Then it was New Years, and I was considering what could be my New Years Resolution. I decided I would create a first article and spring it on Tony, so he couldn't refuse! I joined the Science Fiction Poetry Association and ordered Suzette Haden Elgin's Handbook of Science Fiction Poetry. I roamed around the web familiarizing myself with things. I rolled the formatting around my mind and decided the first show would be simple, with only one poem - an SF poem about poetry by Suzette Haden Elgin that I'd found on her website, and otherwise, just talking about poetry, how I've come to enjoy reciting and reading it aloud and giving guidance on how listeners might learn how to appreciate poetry.
But then life happened. I got radio silence from the powers that be (all volunteers) at the SFPA. Life happened for them too, I guess. I couldn't raise any signs of life from Ms. Elgin and so I started looking around for other poems I could. I turned to a couple of the poets whose poems I'd already read for SSS and inquired about poems about poetry. I introduced myself at the SFPA Forum and YahooGroup and announced my intention for creating the segment and got good feed back (not overwhelming though - I guess I was too vague in my request for submissions). Laurel Winter and Bruce Boston gave me wonderful poems that I'm using and Ann Schwader was so helpful and supportive of the idea, that I am indebted to her indefinitely. Check out Bruce Boston's poem "The Poetry of Science Fiction" on his site.
Finally about a month ago I wrote my first draft of the article, recorded it in very rough form and sent it to Tony for approval, which he gave with his usual enthusiasm! Yippee! I could get going! Then I couldn't find the time to record the actual thing. I had grand plans of using a new recording software, but I had even less time to delve into THAT. I wanted to have music and well, it all seemed insurmountable.
Then I discovered that April is National Poetry Month in the USA. Oh MAN! I've got to get it done before the opportunity comes and goes! So I gave myself a kick in the butt and submitted the final product (flawed as it is) to Tony.
You can listen to show No. 184 by going to StarShipSofa's website. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to listen on the website or listen on iTunes Poetry Planet is after the main fiction at the 51 minute mark (Thanks Steve!).
And if you are a fan of poetry or of StarShipSofa, or of all things Science Fiction or just of me :-), please link, link, link! Thank you! And if you are a poet, my idea for the next segment in May 2011 is "First Contact". If you have any poetry even vaguely fitting that label, please get in touch with me. For discussion of the SSS show go to the Forum, where all possible links will be posted as well!
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