This week the new intros to the District of Wonders podcasts StarShipSofa and Tales To Terrify have gone live and guess whose music is being used for Tales to Terrify? That's right Yours Truly! "I Wanna Die Easy" sung live by the Choir of the Church of Christ the King, Frankfurt (director Kathy Bird) with solo vocals by me is the new background music for the podcast. I'm a pleased puppy, that Tony wanted to use this music.
You may be asking yourself, "But why this song?" Well, there's a little story that might explain it a little bit, but for the real reason, you may have to ask Tony Smith (host and owner of the District of Wonders podcast family). Way back in 2007, when I first started listening to StarShipSofa and joined their member forum, Tony was vetting each new member and he found his way to my MySpace space, where I had this song in my playlist. He wrote to me and told me he was blown away by it, and would like to play it on the next show. Now, this was when it was StarShipSofa (no other podcasts) with him and Ciaran O'Connor shootin' the sh*t, as it were, about Science Fiction authors, reading listener email and such. I have to admit I didn't understand why he would want to play that song on a show about Science Fiction, but hey, I wasn't going to complain about the exposure! He played it on show #?? about SF author ??
Years later, Tony asked me if he could use it for the theme and promo music of the podcast Blood & Chrome, which was to be about Battlestar Galactica, if I remember correctly. Unfortunately, that show never got off the ground, but long-time, loyal listeners might remember it and the song.
Now, it has a new lot in life as the Intro and Outro music for the very popular Horror Fiction podcast Tales to Terrify. Go have a listen, you don't have to listen to the whole show if Horror is not your thing. If it is, I highly recommend it, you won't hear my dear, late friend and colleague, Larry Santoro's dulcet tones hosting the show, but the "new" host and the show are still excellent.
Showing posts with label StarShipSofa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label StarShipSofa. Show all posts
Friday, January 06, 2017
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Poetry Planet No. 16 Animals & Creatures - Show Notes
Dear Listeners, dear Readers!
It's been a long time since I produced a new Poetry Planet - about a year! And 3 years since I produced a themed edition, as opposed to a Science Fiction Poetry Association Award/Contest Showcase. But here we are and Poetry Planet No. 16 has hit the airwaves! You can listen to it as part of StarShipSofa No.
This edition features the fauna of Poetry Planet - its Animals and Creatures. And while we don't catch a glimpse of them all, we do hear from Ants, Earthworms, Rabbits, Cats (many cats!), Chimpanzees, Dragons, and Dinosaurs. I hope you enjoy(ed) it!
Since I included 12 poems including 2 rather long ones, I decided NOT to include the bios and publication credits within the show. As it is, it's 25 minutes long! So here is the missing information on the poets and their poems:
Russell Jones - "The Ant Swap" first appeared in Spaces of Their Own.
Russell Jones is an Edinburgh-based writer and editor. He is the author of four published collections of poetry: The Green Dress Whose Girl is Sleeping (Freight Books, 2015), “Our Terraced Hum” (in Caboodle, Prole Books, 2015), "Spaces of Their Own" (Stewed Rhubarb Press, 2013) and "The Last Refuge" (Forest Publications, 2009). He is the poetry editor and assistant editor at Shoreline of Infinity, a Scottish science fiction magazine, is the editor of "Where Rockets Burn Through: Contemporary Science Fiction Poems from the UK" (Penned in the Margins, 2012) and was a guest editor for The Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. Russell's poems have been widely published internationally, winning recognition in awards and competitions including The Best Scottish Poems 2013, The Eric Gregory Award, The Venture Award for Poetry and the Bridport Prize. He has a PhD in Creative Writing from Edinburgh University and has published on the poetry of Edwin Morgan. Russell’s has also published travel writing and is currently working on writing novels for young adults. Russell has taught Scottish Literature and Creative Writing at The University of Edinburgh, The City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Universities’ International Summer School (2009 to present).
Delbert R. Gardner - "The Meek Shall Inherit ... (the Earthworm Speaks)" was first published in Goblin Fruit, Summer 2009. Reprinted in The 2010 Rhysling Anthology: The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Poetry of 2009, selected by the Science Fiction Poetry Association, edited by Jaime Lee Moyer, Science Fiction Poetry Association, 2010.
A veteran of World War II, Dr. Delbert R. Gardner taught English literature and creative writing at Keuka College in upstate New York. Recent SF/F publications include a story in Lamplight and poetry in Songs of Eretz Poetry E-Zine, Star*Line, Goblin Fruit, and the 2015, 2010, and 2009 Rhysling Award anthologies. Fifty of Dr. Gardner’s poems and stories have appeared in publications such as The Literary Review, Poetry Digest, American Poetry Magazine, Provincetown Review, and Christian Science Monitor, among others. A scholar of the Pre-Raphaelites, his nonfiction credits include the book An "Idle Singer" and His Audience: A Study of William Morris's Poetic Reputation in England, 1858-1900. Learn more at www.gardnercastle.com.
Joanne Merriam - "Magic Rabbits" first appeared in Stride Magazine (27 April 2010).
Joanne Merriam is the owner and editor of Upper Rubber Boot Books, and former editor of Seven by Twenty.
She was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1973. A graduate in English and Mathematics from Dalhousie University, she has worked as an oil and gas lease and title administrator, courier dispatcher, telemarketer, charity fundraiser, sheet music librarian, Medicaid claim sorter, check composition specialist, disability and workers’ compensation administrator and web designer.
In 2001, she quit her job as the Executive Assistant of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia to travel Canada by train, and then parts of the Northeastern and Southern United States. Her first book of poetry, The Glaze from Breaking (Stride, 2005; Upper Rubber Boot, 2011), was written, in part, about those travels.
In 2004, she immigrated to the USA. She has lived in Kentucky and New Hampshire, and now resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
Joanne Merriam’s poetry and fiction has appeared in dozens of magazines and journals, including The Antigonish Review, Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Fiddlehead, The Furnace Review, Grain, The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, The Mainichi Daily News, Per Contra, Riddle Fence, Room of One’s Own, Strange Horizons and Vallum Contemporary Poetry, as well as in the anthologies Ice: new writing on hockey, To Find Us: Words and Images of Halifax and The Allotment: New Lyric Poets.
Upper Rubber Boots published two anthologies both released in 2015, How to Live on Other Planets: A Handbook for Aspiring Aliens, and Choose Wisely: 35 Women Up To No Good, which she co-edited with H. L. Nelson.
Adele Gardner - "God's Cat" first appeared in Sybil's Garage No. 6, May 2009 (Senses Five Press, Ed. Matthew Kressel). Reprinted in The 2010 Rhysling Anthology: The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Poetry of 2009, selected by the Science Fiction Poetry Association, Ed. Jaime Lee Moyer, SFPA, 2010 (Short Poem category).
A Clarion West graduate and an active member of SFWA, Adele Gardner serves as literary executor for her father and mentor, Delbert R. Gardner. Adele's first poetry collection, Dreaming of Days in Astophel, appeared in 2011. With two poems winning third place in the Rhysling Awards, she’s had stories and poems in venues like Daily Science Fiction, Legends of the Pendragon, The Doom of Camelot, Strange Horizons, James Gunn’s Ad Astra, Mythic Delirium, NewMyths, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, and more. Two stories and a poem earned honorable mention in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. Previously published as C. A. Gardner and Lyn C. A. Gardner, Adele lives under her middle name to honor her father and namesake, Del. Learn more at www.gardnercastle.com.
Greer Woodward - Far From Home originally appeared in the January 2008 issue of BEYOND CENTAURI.
Greer Woodward is a graduate of Clarion West, one of the founders of the New York City writing group Altered Fluid, and a member of the Writers Support Group at Tutu's House on Hawaii's Big Island. Her poetry has appeared in Star*Line, Illumen, Silver Blade, and Beyond Centauri. Her poem "Closure" was among the winners of the Science Fiction Poetry Association's 2012 Dwarf Stars Award, placing second. Her poem "Crater Conundrum Pizza" placed 3rd in the 2015 SFPA Poetry Contest. Pertinent to Animals and Creatures, her monologues and lyrics about a talkative budgerigar and his writer companion were featured in the Off-Broadway musical revue Pets!.
Geoffrey A. Landis - "Tree" appeared in Iron Angels, 2009.
Geoffrey A. Landis is a scientist (with the N.A.S.A. John Glenn Research Center) and a science-fiction writer.
As a writer, he is the author of eighty published short stories and novelettes, and circa fifty poems. His novel Mars Crossing appeared from Tor Books, and a short story collection Impact Parameter (and other quantum realities) from Golden Gryphon.
In 1990 his story "Ripples in the Dirac Sea" won the Nebula award for best short story; in 1992 his short story "A Walk in the Sun" won the Hugo award. (Now available on audiotape), and in 2003 his short story "Falling Onto Mars" won the Hugo. His novel Mars Crossing won the Locus Award for best first novel of 2000. In 2014, he won the Robert A. Heinlein award "for outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings to inspire the human exploration of space." In poetry his poem "Search" (which appears in his collection Iron Angels), won the 2009 Rhysling Award for best long poem. His poem "Fireflies" won the SFPA's 2009 "Dwarf Stars" award for best short short poem.
David C. Kopaska-Merkel - "Orpheus in Ulthar, in Nehwon" was first published in his blog "Dreams and Nightmares".
David Kopaska-Merkel raises giraffopards for the Venusian Defense
Force, and publishes Dreams and Nightmares magazine, now in its 29th
year. He has served as president for the Science Fiction Poetry Association. He won the Rhysling award for best long poem (2006) for a
collaboration with Kendall Evans. Their latest collaboration, The Tin Men, was published by Sam's Dot in 2011.
Mary Turzillo - "Invisible Cat" appeared in The Ubercat and Dragon Owner's Manual, Sam's Dot, 2012.
After a career as a professor of English at Kent State University, Dr. Mary A. Turzillo is now a full-time writer. In 2000, her story "Mars Is No Place for Children" won SFWA's Nebula award for best novelette. Her novel An Old-Fashioned Martian Girl was serialized in Analog in July-Nov 2004. These two works have been selected as recreational reading on the International Space Station.
Mary's Pushcart-nominated collection of poetry, Your Cat and Other Space Aliens, appeared from VanZeno Press in 2007. Her collaborative book of poetry/art, Dragon Soup, written with Marge Simon, appears from VanZeno in 2008.
Mary's collection Lovers and Killers, in addition to winning the in Elgin Award 2013 for best full-length collection, was also on the Stoker ballot and contains "The Hidden," second place winner in the Dwarf Stars award for 2012, plus two Rhysling nominees "Tohuko Tsunami," "Galatea." Her collection Sweet Poison, co-written with Marge Simon won the 2015 Elgin Award.
Michael Bishop - "To a Chimp Held Captive for Purposes of Research" first appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Jan 1985. I said in the podcast that it had won the Rhysling Award for best poem, but that was incorrect. Bishop is indeed a Rhysling Award winning poet, but for another poem, "For the Lady of a Physicist" in 1979.
Michael Bishop was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, the son of Leotis ("Lee") Bishop (born 1920 in Frys Mill, Poinsett County, Arkansas) and Maxine ("Mac") Elaine Matison (born 1920 in Ashland, Nebraska). His parents met in the summer of 1942 when his father, a recent enlistee of the Air Force, was stationed in Lincoln. Bishop's childhood was the peripatetic life of a military brat. He went to kindergarten in Tokyo, Japan, and he spent his senior year of high school in Seville, Spain. His parents divorced in 1951, and Bishop spent summers wherever his father happened to be based.
Bishop entered the University of Georgia in 1963, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1967, before going on to complete a master's degree in English. In 1969, he married Jeri Ellis Whitaker of Columbus, Georgia. He taught English (including a course in science fiction) at the United States Air Force Academy Preparatory School in Colorado Springs from 1968 to 1972. After his service career, he taught composition and English literature at the University of Georgia in Athens. A son, Jamie, was born in 1971, and a daughter, Stephanie was born in 1973. Bishop left teaching in 1974 to become a full-time writer. In those early years of freelance writing, he would occasionally work as a substitute teacher in the public schools and as a stringer for the Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus.
He and Jeri, former counselor at Rosemont Elementary School, have two grandchildren, Annabel and Joel, by their daughter Stephanie. On April 16, 2007, their son Jamie, a Lecturer in German and I.T. Studies, was one of the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre. His novelette, "Vinegar Peace; or, The Wrong-Way, Used-Adult Orphanage" was written in reaction to that event and first appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. I narrated it for StarShipSofa.com No. 82.
He has written and co-written numerous novels and is the recipient of many awards including the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award and the Shirley Jackson Award. His first solo novel in 20 years is coming out in June 2016 by Fairwood Press under the Kudzu Planet Productions imprint. Joel-Brock the Brave and the Valorous Smalls, "A Novel for Young People, Whatever Their Age," will feature illustrations by Orion Zangara.
Scott Virtes - "Tasting the Pier"
Scott Virtes has had over 500 stories and poems published since 1986. His works have appeared in Nature, Analog, Space and Time, Star*Line, Dreams and Nightmares, and many more. He has five poetry chapbooks available including "Afterlife 9" and "Improbable Jane". You can watch him die in "Master and Commander", but he's okay now.
Rachel Swirsky - "Terrible Lizards" appeared in an online issue of Diet Soap (podcast) - now defunct.
Rachel Swirsky holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers Workshop, and she graduated from Clarion West in 2005. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Hugo, Locus, World Fantasy and Sturgeon Awards. She’s twice won the Nebula Award: for her 2010 novella, “The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window” and her 2014 short story, “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love.” Her poetry has appeared in Sybil's Garage, Mothering Magazine, and Ideomancer, among other places. Her first collection, THROUGH THE DROWSY DARK, a slim volume of poetry and fiction, is out from Aqueduct Press.
Find her on Twitter as rachelswirsky and support her on Patreon.
Bruce Boston - "Dragon People" first appeared in Raven Elektrick, 2006 and was subsequently collected with other "People" poems in Anthropomorphisms, Elektrik Milk Bath Press.
Bruce Boston (born 1943)is a speculative fiction writer and poet who was born in Chicago and grew up in Southern California. He received a B.A. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, 1965, and an M.A., 1967. He lived in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1961 to 2001, where he worked in a variety of occupations, including computer programmer, college professor (literature and creative writing, John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, California, 1978–82), technical writer, book designer, gardener, movie projectionist, retail clerk, and furniture mover. He lives in Ocala, Florida, with his wife, writer-artist Marge Simon, whom he married in 2001.
Boston has won the Rhysling Award for speculative poetry a record seven times, and the Asimov's Readers' Award for poetry a record seven times. He has also received a Pushcart Prize for fiction, 1976, a record four Bram Stoker Awards in poetry for his collections, and the first Grandmaster Award of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, 1999. His collaborative poem with Robert Frazier, "Return to the Mutant Rain Forest," received first place in the 2006 Locus Online Poetry Poll for Best All-Time Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror Poem. He was named the Science Fiction Poetry Association's first Grand Master of Poetry in 1999. His collection Dark Roads was among the winners of the 2014 and 2015 Elgin Award, placing 3rd and 2nd respectively. His collection Notes from the Shadow City placed 2nd in the 2013 Elgin Award.
Boston's most recent poetry collection is Resonance Dark and Light from Eldritch Press, 2015.
It's been a long time since I produced a new Poetry Planet - about a year! And 3 years since I produced a themed edition, as opposed to a Science Fiction Poetry Association Award/Contest Showcase. But here we are and Poetry Planet No. 16 has hit the airwaves! You can listen to it as part of StarShipSofa No.
This edition features the fauna of Poetry Planet - its Animals and Creatures. And while we don't catch a glimpse of them all, we do hear from Ants, Earthworms, Rabbits, Cats (many cats!), Chimpanzees, Dragons, and Dinosaurs. I hope you enjoy(ed) it!
Since I included 12 poems including 2 rather long ones, I decided NOT to include the bios and publication credits within the show. As it is, it's 25 minutes long! So here is the missing information on the poets and their poems:
Russell Jones - "The Ant Swap" first appeared in Spaces of Their Own.
Russell Jones is an Edinburgh-based writer and editor. He is the author of four published collections of poetry: The Green Dress Whose Girl is Sleeping (Freight Books, 2015), “Our Terraced Hum” (in Caboodle, Prole Books, 2015), "Spaces of Their Own" (Stewed Rhubarb Press, 2013) and "The Last Refuge" (Forest Publications, 2009). He is the poetry editor and assistant editor at Shoreline of Infinity, a Scottish science fiction magazine, is the editor of "Where Rockets Burn Through: Contemporary Science Fiction Poems from the UK" (Penned in the Margins, 2012) and was a guest editor for The Interdisciplinary Science Reviews. Russell's poems have been widely published internationally, winning recognition in awards and competitions including The Best Scottish Poems 2013, The Eric Gregory Award, The Venture Award for Poetry and the Bridport Prize. He has a PhD in Creative Writing from Edinburgh University and has published on the poetry of Edwin Morgan. Russell’s has also published travel writing and is currently working on writing novels for young adults. Russell has taught Scottish Literature and Creative Writing at The University of Edinburgh, The City of Edinburgh Council and the Scottish Universities’ International Summer School (2009 to present).
Delbert R. Gardner - "The Meek Shall Inherit ... (the Earthworm Speaks)" was first published in Goblin Fruit, Summer 2009. Reprinted in The 2010 Rhysling Anthology: The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Poetry of 2009, selected by the Science Fiction Poetry Association, edited by Jaime Lee Moyer, Science Fiction Poetry Association, 2010.
Joanne Merriam - "Magic Rabbits" first appeared in Stride Magazine (27 April 2010).
Joanne Merriam is the owner and editor of Upper Rubber Boot Books, and former editor of Seven by Twenty.
She was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1973. A graduate in English and Mathematics from Dalhousie University, she has worked as an oil and gas lease and title administrator, courier dispatcher, telemarketer, charity fundraiser, sheet music librarian, Medicaid claim sorter, check composition specialist, disability and workers’ compensation administrator and web designer.
In 2001, she quit her job as the Executive Assistant of the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia to travel Canada by train, and then parts of the Northeastern and Southern United States. Her first book of poetry, The Glaze from Breaking (Stride, 2005; Upper Rubber Boot, 2011), was written, in part, about those travels.
In 2004, she immigrated to the USA. She has lived in Kentucky and New Hampshire, and now resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
Joanne Merriam’s poetry and fiction has appeared in dozens of magazines and journals, including The Antigonish Review, Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Fiddlehead, The Furnace Review, Grain, The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, The Mainichi Daily News, Per Contra, Riddle Fence, Room of One’s Own, Strange Horizons and Vallum Contemporary Poetry, as well as in the anthologies Ice: new writing on hockey, To Find Us: Words and Images of Halifax and The Allotment: New Lyric Poets.
Upper Rubber Boots published two anthologies both released in 2015, How to Live on Other Planets: A Handbook for Aspiring Aliens, and Choose Wisely: 35 Women Up To No Good, which she co-edited with H. L. Nelson.
Adele Gardner - "God's Cat" first appeared in Sybil's Garage No. 6, May 2009 (Senses Five Press, Ed. Matthew Kressel). Reprinted in The 2010 Rhysling Anthology: The Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Poetry of 2009, selected by the Science Fiction Poetry Association, Ed. Jaime Lee Moyer, SFPA, 2010 (Short Poem category).
A Clarion West graduate and an active member of SFWA, Adele Gardner serves as literary executor for her father and mentor, Delbert R. Gardner. Adele's first poetry collection, Dreaming of Days in Astophel, appeared in 2011. With two poems winning third place in the Rhysling Awards, she’s had stories and poems in venues like Daily Science Fiction, Legends of the Pendragon, The Doom of Camelot, Strange Horizons, James Gunn’s Ad Astra, Mythic Delirium, NewMyths, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, and more. Two stories and a poem earned honorable mention in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. Previously published as C. A. Gardner and Lyn C. A. Gardner, Adele lives under her middle name to honor her father and namesake, Del. Learn more at www.gardnercastle.com.
Greer Woodward - Far From Home originally appeared in the January 2008 issue of BEYOND CENTAURI.
Greer Woodward is a graduate of Clarion West, one of the founders of the New York City writing group Altered Fluid, and a member of the Writers Support Group at Tutu's House on Hawaii's Big Island. Her poetry has appeared in Star*Line, Illumen, Silver Blade, and Beyond Centauri. Her poem "Closure" was among the winners of the Science Fiction Poetry Association's 2012 Dwarf Stars Award, placing second. Her poem "Crater Conundrum Pizza" placed 3rd in the 2015 SFPA Poetry Contest. Pertinent to Animals and Creatures, her monologues and lyrics about a talkative budgerigar and his writer companion were featured in the Off-Broadway musical revue Pets!.
Geoffrey A. Landis - "Tree" appeared in Iron Angels, 2009.
Geoffrey A. Landis is a scientist (with the N.A.S.A. John Glenn Research Center) and a science-fiction writer.
As a writer, he is the author of eighty published short stories and novelettes, and circa fifty poems. His novel Mars Crossing appeared from Tor Books, and a short story collection Impact Parameter (and other quantum realities) from Golden Gryphon.
In 1990 his story "Ripples in the Dirac Sea" won the Nebula award for best short story; in 1992 his short story "A Walk in the Sun" won the Hugo award. (Now available on audiotape), and in 2003 his short story "Falling Onto Mars" won the Hugo. His novel Mars Crossing won the Locus Award for best first novel of 2000. In 2014, he won the Robert A. Heinlein award "for outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings to inspire the human exploration of space." In poetry his poem "Search" (which appears in his collection Iron Angels), won the 2009 Rhysling Award for best long poem. His poem "Fireflies" won the SFPA's 2009 "Dwarf Stars" award for best short short poem.
David C. Kopaska-Merkel - "Orpheus in Ulthar, in Nehwon" was first published in his blog "Dreams and Nightmares".
David Kopaska-Merkel raises giraffopards for the Venusian Defense
Force, and publishes Dreams and Nightmares magazine, now in its 29th
year. He has served as president for the Science Fiction Poetry Association. He won the Rhysling award for best long poem (2006) for a
collaboration with Kendall Evans. Their latest collaboration, The Tin Men, was published by Sam's Dot in 2011.
Mary Turzillo - "Invisible Cat" appeared in The Ubercat and Dragon Owner's Manual, Sam's Dot, 2012.
After a career as a professor of English at Kent State University, Dr. Mary A. Turzillo is now a full-time writer. In 2000, her story "Mars Is No Place for Children" won SFWA's Nebula award for best novelette. Her novel An Old-Fashioned Martian Girl was serialized in Analog in July-Nov 2004. These two works have been selected as recreational reading on the International Space Station.
Mary's Pushcart-nominated collection of poetry, Your Cat and Other Space Aliens, appeared from VanZeno Press in 2007. Her collaborative book of poetry/art, Dragon Soup, written with Marge Simon, appears from VanZeno in 2008.
Mary's collection Lovers and Killers, in addition to winning the in Elgin Award 2013 for best full-length collection, was also on the Stoker ballot and contains "The Hidden," second place winner in the Dwarf Stars award for 2012, plus two Rhysling nominees "Tohuko Tsunami," "Galatea." Her collection Sweet Poison, co-written with Marge Simon won the 2015 Elgin Award.
Michael Bishop - "To a Chimp Held Captive for Purposes of Research" first appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Jan 1985. I said in the podcast that it had won the Rhysling Award for best poem, but that was incorrect. Bishop is indeed a Rhysling Award winning poet, but for another poem, "For the Lady of a Physicist" in 1979.
Michael Bishop was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, the son of Leotis ("Lee") Bishop (born 1920 in Frys Mill, Poinsett County, Arkansas) and Maxine ("Mac") Elaine Matison (born 1920 in Ashland, Nebraska). His parents met in the summer of 1942 when his father, a recent enlistee of the Air Force, was stationed in Lincoln. Bishop's childhood was the peripatetic life of a military brat. He went to kindergarten in Tokyo, Japan, and he spent his senior year of high school in Seville, Spain. His parents divorced in 1951, and Bishop spent summers wherever his father happened to be based.
Bishop entered the University of Georgia in 1963, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1967, before going on to complete a master's degree in English. In 1969, he married Jeri Ellis Whitaker of Columbus, Georgia. He taught English (including a course in science fiction) at the United States Air Force Academy Preparatory School in Colorado Springs from 1968 to 1972. After his service career, he taught composition and English literature at the University of Georgia in Athens. A son, Jamie, was born in 1971, and a daughter, Stephanie was born in 1973. Bishop left teaching in 1974 to become a full-time writer. In those early years of freelance writing, he would occasionally work as a substitute teacher in the public schools and as a stringer for the Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus.
He and Jeri, former counselor at Rosemont Elementary School, have two grandchildren, Annabel and Joel, by their daughter Stephanie. On April 16, 2007, their son Jamie, a Lecturer in German and I.T. Studies, was one of the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre. His novelette, "Vinegar Peace; or, The Wrong-Way, Used-Adult Orphanage" was written in reaction to that event and first appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine. I narrated it for StarShipSofa.com No. 82.
He has written and co-written numerous novels and is the recipient of many awards including the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award and the Shirley Jackson Award. His first solo novel in 20 years is coming out in June 2016 by Fairwood Press under the Kudzu Planet Productions imprint. Joel-Brock the Brave and the Valorous Smalls, "A Novel for Young People, Whatever Their Age," will feature illustrations by Orion Zangara.
Scott Virtes - "Tasting the Pier"
Scott Virtes has had over 500 stories and poems published since 1986. His works have appeared in Nature, Analog, Space and Time, Star*Line, Dreams and Nightmares, and many more. He has five poetry chapbooks available including "Afterlife 9" and "Improbable Jane". You can watch him die in "Master and Commander", but he's okay now.
Rachel Swirsky - "Terrible Lizards" appeared in an online issue of Diet Soap (podcast) - now defunct.
Rachel Swirsky holds an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers Workshop, and she graduated from Clarion West in 2005. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Hugo, Locus, World Fantasy and Sturgeon Awards. She’s twice won the Nebula Award: for her 2010 novella, “The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window” and her 2014 short story, “If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love.” Her poetry has appeared in Sybil's Garage, Mothering Magazine, and Ideomancer, among other places. Her first collection, THROUGH THE DROWSY DARK, a slim volume of poetry and fiction, is out from Aqueduct Press.
Find her on Twitter as rachelswirsky and support her on Patreon.
Bruce Boston - "Dragon People" first appeared in Raven Elektrick, 2006 and was subsequently collected with other "People" poems in Anthropomorphisms, Elektrik Milk Bath Press.
Bruce Boston (born 1943)is a speculative fiction writer and poet who was born in Chicago and grew up in Southern California. He received a B.A. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, 1965, and an M.A., 1967. He lived in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1961 to 2001, where he worked in a variety of occupations, including computer programmer, college professor (literature and creative writing, John F. Kennedy University, Orinda, California, 1978–82), technical writer, book designer, gardener, movie projectionist, retail clerk, and furniture mover. He lives in Ocala, Florida, with his wife, writer-artist Marge Simon, whom he married in 2001.
Boston has won the Rhysling Award for speculative poetry a record seven times, and the Asimov's Readers' Award for poetry a record seven times. He has also received a Pushcart Prize for fiction, 1976, a record four Bram Stoker Awards in poetry for his collections, and the first Grandmaster Award of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, 1999. His collaborative poem with Robert Frazier, "Return to the Mutant Rain Forest," received first place in the 2006 Locus Online Poetry Poll for Best All-Time Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror Poem. He was named the Science Fiction Poetry Association's first Grand Master of Poetry in 1999. His collection Dark Roads was among the winners of the 2014 and 2015 Elgin Award, placing 3rd and 2nd respectively. His collection Notes from the Shadow City placed 2nd in the 2013 Elgin Award.
Boston's most recent poetry collection is Resonance Dark and Light from Eldritch Press, 2015.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Video Interview with Kim Stanley Robinson (SofaCon2 - StarShipSofa)
I had the intense pleasure of being allowed to interview master Science Fiction Author and Hugo and Nebula Award winner Kim Stanley Robinson for StarShipSofa's SofaCon2. We talk about his next book Aurora (or as much about it as he feels he can say), about his writing space, the book of poetry and another fiction anthology he edited, about education in the US and he answers several questions from fans. I was hopped up on pain-killers having just had oral surgery and I am considerably addled, but he was very kind, intensely interesting and eloquent!Interview with Kim Stanley Robinson at SofaCon2
Monday, May 25, 2015
Narration - Moon Cup, by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley
It's not poetry! At long last I narrated another story for StarShipSofa! This one is by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley, who I had the pleasure of meeting for coffee in Paris. She sent my son a hand-knit Cthulhu later!
The women will definitely appreciate this story, as it asks the question of what happens to the blood and delves into calamity as well. The assistant editor of StarShipSofa, apologized for giving me the story, if it was too icky (my words). I assured him that, since I am also a woman, I could, in fact relate to the ick, no need to apologize!
Moon Cup by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley
The women will definitely appreciate this story, as it asks the question of what happens to the blood and delves into calamity as well. The assistant editor of StarShipSofa, apologized for giving me the story, if it was too icky (my words). I assured him that, since I am also a woman, I could, in fact relate to the ick, no need to apologize!
Moon Cup by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Poetry Planet No. 15, Amazing Stories Poetry Reviews and Narration!
OK, guys, this is going to be an info filled post. First the "show notes" for Poetry Planet. Then I forgot to post here about last week's review on Amazing Stories and today the next one went up. Then last week also put a story narration of mine out into the ether. So, I'll try to keep the blather to a minimum!
Poetry Planet
I've finally finished Poetry Planet No. 15 - The 2014 Elgin Award Showcase Part 2! This time you'll hear some examples of poetry from the 3 placing chapbooks in the award:
1st place: The Sex Lives of Monsters, by Helen Marshall
Kelp Queen Press, 2014. Available from Blurb.com - $9.99 (paperback)
2nd Place: The Edible Zoo, by David C. Kopaska-Merkel
Alban Lake Publishing, 2013. $8.00
3rd Place: Inhuman: Haiku from the Zombie Apocalypse, by Joshua Gage
The Poet's Haven, 2013. $6.00
If you only want to listen to Poetry Planet (but why would you? There's some great content in this episode!) it starts at the 1:03.45 mark. Enjoy!
Amazing Stories Magazine
Poetry Review: The Rings of Ganymede by Kendall Evans. This review includes an audio excerpt by me and poetry reciter extraordinaire Robert Neufeld.
Poetry Review: The Endless Machine by Max Ingram. This review also includes 2 poems in audio form (read by me).
StarShipSofa
Story narration: Silence in Florence by Ian Creasey. This is a story I narrated for StarShipSofa at least 4 years ago, maybe 5! But now it is finally floating in the ether for your listening enjoyment!
Poetry Planet
I've finally finished Poetry Planet No. 15 - The 2014 Elgin Award Showcase Part 2! This time you'll hear some examples of poetry from the 3 placing chapbooks in the award:
1st place: The Sex Lives of Monsters, by Helen Marshall
Kelp Queen Press, 2014. Available from Blurb.com - $9.99 (paperback)
2nd Place: The Edible Zoo, by David C. Kopaska-Merkel
Alban Lake Publishing, 2013. $8.00
3rd Place: Inhuman: Haiku from the Zombie Apocalypse, by Joshua Gage
The Poet's Haven, 2013. $6.00
If you only want to listen to Poetry Planet (but why would you? There's some great content in this episode!) it starts at the 1:03.45 mark. Enjoy!
Amazing Stories Magazine
Poetry Review: The Rings of Ganymede by Kendall Evans. This review includes an audio excerpt by me and poetry reciter extraordinaire Robert Neufeld.
Poetry Review: The Endless Machine by Max Ingram. This review also includes 2 poems in audio form (read by me).
StarShipSofa
Story narration: Silence in Florence by Ian Creasey. This is a story I narrated for StarShipSofa at least 4 years ago, maybe 5! But now it is finally floating in the ether for your listening enjoyment!
* * *
Thursday, January 08, 2015
Amazing Stories - Roundup and Recap 2014 and Holiday Account
I just spent 2 weeks in Italy over the holidays, so I wasn't able to write about my final Speculative Poetry Roundup on Amazing Stories:
Quite by accident I seemed to be following a new poet around the internet. John Reinhart had poetry appearing in all 3 of the webZine's that I showcased - Interfictions, Silver Blade and Songs of Eretz. There's lots of other great poetry, which I take a closer look at, as well as a couple of sf poetry-centric blogs by David C. Kopaska-Merkel and Bryan Hall (aka Kurt MacPherson). I hope you'll go have a look. You can also hear my rendition of a poem by Kopaska-Merkel on Silver Blade if you follow the link.
Also, my first post of the year was published today on Amazing Stories. (The link takes you to the front page of Amazing Stories, you'll have to find it from there) In it I recapitulate my year with speculative poetry. If you think you might have missed anything that's the best place to go for all the linky-links.
It's always nice to go to Italy and spend time with the family and eat way too much Christmas food. However, this year was fraught with illness. For once, not mine. My husband has been suffering from a herniated disc and so all the heavy lifting and bending fell to me. My mother-in-law had been sick on antibiotics so she wasn't 100% either. My son fell ill with the flu (even though he was vaccinated - but in France!) and developed a hefty cough and a low-grade fever every afternoon for a couple of hours. Worst though, was that my 2-week-old nephew caught whatever it was that his sister had (from whom D got it too, I surmise) and ended up spending a week in the hospital on a respirator. He's doing better and better now, though.
At any rate, I'm glad to be back home only having to take care of two boys. I mean 2 people.
Quite by accident I seemed to be following a new poet around the internet. John Reinhart had poetry appearing in all 3 of the webZine's that I showcased - Interfictions, Silver Blade and Songs of Eretz. There's lots of other great poetry, which I take a closer look at, as well as a couple of sf poetry-centric blogs by David C. Kopaska-Merkel and Bryan Hall (aka Kurt MacPherson). I hope you'll go have a look. You can also hear my rendition of a poem by Kopaska-Merkel on Silver Blade if you follow the link.
Also, my first post of the year was published today on Amazing Stories. (The link takes you to the front page of Amazing Stories, you'll have to find it from there) In it I recapitulate my year with speculative poetry. If you think you might have missed anything that's the best place to go for all the linky-links.
It's always nice to go to Italy and spend time with the family and eat way too much Christmas food. However, this year was fraught with illness. For once, not mine. My husband has been suffering from a herniated disc and so all the heavy lifting and bending fell to me. My mother-in-law had been sick on antibiotics so she wasn't 100% either. My son fell ill with the flu (even though he was vaccinated - but in France!) and developed a hefty cough and a low-grade fever every afternoon for a couple of hours. Worst though, was that my 2-week-old nephew caught whatever it was that his sister had (from whom D got it too, I surmise) and ended up spending a week in the hospital on a respirator. He's doing better and better now, though.
At any rate, I'm glad to be back home only having to take care of two boys. I mean 2 people.
* * *
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Poetry Planet No. 14 - Elgin Award Showcase 2014 Part 1
This week on StarShipSofa No. 367 you'll hear the next Poetry Planet. In it I showcase the winning and placing poetry collections of the Elgin Award 2014. I read at least one poem from each collection and talk a little about the collection itself and the poet. Below you'll find links to the collections and poets as well as the reviews I've done of the collections on Amazing Stories, which contain more audio examples.
Winner:
Demonstra, by Bryan Thao Worra.
2nd place:
Unexplained Fevers, by Jeannine Hall Gailey. Review on Amazing Stories (with more audio).
3rd place:
Dark Roads - Selected Long Poems, by Bruce Boston. Interview (Part 2) on Amazing Stories (with more audio from Dark Roads). Do check out Part 1 as well!
I'll follow up with the chapbook winners and honorees in a few weeks! Stay tuned!
* * *
Winner:
Demonstra, by Bryan Thao Worra.
2nd place:
Unexplained Fevers, by Jeannine Hall Gailey. Review on Amazing Stories (with more audio).
3rd place:
Dark Roads - Selected Long Poems, by Bruce Boston. Interview (Part 2) on Amazing Stories (with more audio from Dark Roads). Do check out Part 1 as well!
I'll follow up with the chapbook winners and honorees in a few weeks! Stay tuned!
* * *
Monday, January 20, 2014
Narration Fixation #2 - Poetry (+playlist)
I was recently interviewed on a video podcast dedicated to narration, specifically (in this episode, and because I was the guest) on pod-casting poetry. It was fun. I didn't hem and haw too much... I recite Ann K. Schwader's Rhysling Award winning poem "To Theia" about two-thirds of the way through.
Enjoy!
* * *
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!!
* * *
Friday, March 01, 2013
Amazing Stories: Me and My Sofa
Today, an extra article by yours truly will run on Amazing Stories. It's a piece Steve Davidson asked me to write about my history and connection with the podcast magazine StarShipSofa.
A teaser:
Ah yes, me and my Sofa. I feel confident calling it my Sofa. With a capital S because the sofa I’m referring to, StarShipSofa, is a podcast magazine. And I can call it mine because it’s a collaborative effort. It belongs to everyone else who works on it too. Yes, it was Tony C. Smith and Ciaran O’Connor’s brain-child and is kept up and running now by Tony and a small tea...
Read More »
Enjoy!
------------------------
A teaser:
Ah yes, me and my Sofa. I feel confident calling it my Sofa. With a capital S because the sofa I’m referring to, StarShipSofa, is a podcast magazine. And I can call it mine because it’s a collaborative effort. It belongs to everyone else who works on it too. Yes, it was Tony C. Smith and Ciaran O’Connor’s brain-child and is kept up and running now by Tony and a small tea...
Read More »
Enjoy!
------------------------
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
Narration - The Timpanist of the Berlin Philharmonic - 1942, by Kim Stanley Robinson
At long last, I have another narration up on StarShipSofa No. 249. It is a very moving story by the imminent Science Fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson. This isn't actually a Science Fiction story - at least not as far as I can tell. I'm not actually sure why Tony wanted this story for StarShipSofa, except that any story by KS Robinson would be a good draw for the podcast and I think that is the idea for this month of August with 2 new podcasts he's plugging.
Anyway back to the story. It is ostensibly about the political climate in Berlin in 1942 and what happened to and in the Berlin Philharmonic at the time. The Timpanist's very personal story is intertwined with descriptions of his relationship to Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. The Symphony is a character in this story and all the "action" takes place during the course of the Berlin Philharmonic's performance of it on Hitler's birthday in 1942. There are some chilling moments as well as some very emotional moments. It is a rare story which gives a positive light to some "ordinary" and extraordinary people who did their best in a bleak time in which there seemed no hope. I almost wish it were in German so that all my German friends could listen to it. Germans as a people still struggle with how to come to terms with the events of WWII and they come down very hard on themselves as a general rule. For the most part this is the correct attitude, but there's always a flip side and this is one of them. It's powerful stuff. I used the actual recording of the symphony from that very night. Not much just about 60 seconds or so of it, but the timing is just perfect with the story...
Go listen to it: The Timpanist of the Berlin Philharmonic - 1942, by Kim Stanley Robinson Tony's intro and the segment about the cover art for the month of August isn't long, but if you'd rather skip straight to the story it begins at the 5'15" minute mark. It's about 45 minutes long.
I'd love to hear what you think about the story and/or my narration. You can post here or at StarShipSofa's Forum Episode Feedback page or FaceBook page.
In other news, I'm still working on The Rhysling Award Showcase edition of Poetry Planet. It'll probably come out in 2 weeks time because Tony appears to be on vacation. Either that or he's sleeping at the desk. :-)
--------------
Anyway back to the story. It is ostensibly about the political climate in Berlin in 1942 and what happened to and in the Berlin Philharmonic at the time. The Timpanist's very personal story is intertwined with descriptions of his relationship to Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. The Symphony is a character in this story and all the "action" takes place during the course of the Berlin Philharmonic's performance of it on Hitler's birthday in 1942. There are some chilling moments as well as some very emotional moments. It is a rare story which gives a positive light to some "ordinary" and extraordinary people who did their best in a bleak time in which there seemed no hope. I almost wish it were in German so that all my German friends could listen to it. Germans as a people still struggle with how to come to terms with the events of WWII and they come down very hard on themselves as a general rule. For the most part this is the correct attitude, but there's always a flip side and this is one of them. It's powerful stuff. I used the actual recording of the symphony from that very night. Not much just about 60 seconds or so of it, but the timing is just perfect with the story...
Go listen to it: The Timpanist of the Berlin Philharmonic - 1942, by Kim Stanley Robinson Tony's intro and the segment about the cover art for the month of August isn't long, but if you'd rather skip straight to the story it begins at the 5'15" minute mark. It's about 45 minutes long.
I'd love to hear what you think about the story and/or my narration. You can post here or at StarShipSofa's Forum Episode Feedback page or FaceBook page.
In other news, I'm still working on The Rhysling Award Showcase edition of Poetry Planet. It'll probably come out in 2 weeks time because Tony appears to be on vacation. Either that or he's sleeping at the desk. :-)
--------------
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Poetry Planet No. 6 "Moon Imaginings"
The next installment of Poetry Planet on StarShipSofa No. 245 will hit the ether today. You'll find my segment at around the 43:00 minute mark. This one is all about the Moon. These are the show notes.
You'll hear poetry by:
- Geoffrey A. Landis - Geoffrey A. Landis is a scientist with the NASA John Glenn Research Center and a Hugo and Nebula Award winning science-fiction writer. His most recent publication is in Buzzkill - an anthology of apocalyptic poetry. His poetry is collected in Iron Angels.
- Lyn C. A. Gardner - With master's degrees in English literature and library science, she's been the editor for a private maritime museum and currently serves as catalog librarian for a public library. In addition to writing, art, and photography, she enjoys fencing, swimming in lakes, biking around the neighborhood, skating (ice & sidewalk skates). Shes love owls, cats, trees, snow, the stars, the color blue, and playing folk guitar and harpsichord. Most of all, she loves spending time with her family. Her recently published poetry collection is Dreaming of Days in Astrophel.
- Sandra Lindow - Writer/Editor/Teacher. Regional Vice President for the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets. She has published five books of poetry most recently Touched by the Gods.
- Nathan Boole - StarShipSofa listener and aspiring writer. Find his short story Black Bradley and the Mercenary Captain on Amazon.com
- David Kopaska-Merkel - David Kopaska-Merkel raises giraffopards for the Venusian Defense Force, and publishes Dreams & Nightmares magazine, now in its 26th
year. He won the Rhysling award for best long poem (2006) for a collaboration with Kendall Evans. Their latest collaboration, The Tin Men, was published by Sam's Dot in 2011. - David Lunde - David Lunde is a poet and translator whose work has appeared in many journals. His work has been included in 40 anthologies, and he is the author of 11 books of poems and translations, the most recent being: Breaking the Willow (2008), and 300 Tang Poems (2011), translations of classical Chinese poetry. His collection Blues for Port City contains the Rhysling Award winning poem Pilot, Pilot.
- Mari Ness - More of Mari Ness' poetry can be found at Goblin Fruit, Ideomancer, Stone Telling and Bull Spec. She blogs, sometimes but not usually about poetry at mariness.livejournal.com and for Tor.com, or you can follow her on Twitter @mari_ness. She lives in central Florida.
- Gerald Warfield - Gerald Warfield’s short story, “The Poly Islands,” won second prize in the first quarter of the 2011 Writers of the Future contest. The same year, his humorous story “The Origin of Third Person in Paleolithic Epic Poetry” took first place in the nationally syndicated Grammar Girl short story contest. His poetry has appeared in numerous magazines including New Myths, edited by Scott Barnes. Gerald published music textbooks and how-to books in investing before turning to fiction. He is a graduate of the Odyssey Writers Workshop (2010). He is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Please follow the links to the poets' websites and publications. Support you favorite one!
Links to the other items mentioned on this show:
- "Silence" - Meinhard Gerlach, lute and Diane Severson, voice.
- "The Moment of Change" and "Here, We Cross" edited by Rose Lemberg
- SFPA Poetry Contest
- 2012 Rhysling Anthology, edited by Lyn C. A. Gardner
- PoetryPlanet Survey
Poetry Zines (online):
- Centrifugal Eye
- Inkscrawl
- Versification (poetry review site)
- Grand Science Fiction
You can find a list and links to all of my voice work on StarShipSofa and elsewhere here.
---------------
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Interview = Fame!
I'm overdue to post about various recent events, but I would like to briefly mention, while it's fresh and new, that it's official - I am now famous - I have been interviewed! A friend, colleague and former fellow student in Bremen, Astrid Nielsch, writes a monthly Newsletter in which she regularly interviews people she knows who do cool things. And imagine - she thinks I do cool things! She herself does extremely cool things of an incredibly varied nature - Harper, web-designer, artist, photographer, gardener, etc. Her Newsletter is always interesting to read, even if it's not about me. ;-)
Here's the interview:
Asni Multimedia Art & Design Newsletter
Actually, it just occurred to me that this is the second interview that's been published about me. The first one wasn't available on the web though, that one was ostensibly about my mother and as an off-shoot of that, me. It was for the alumni of the high school my mother went to in Armstrong, Iowa. I don't imagine that it was very widespread, but still. I shouldn't discount it. But this! This is now out there in the ether for the world to read if it should so choose!
Here's the interview:
Asni Multimedia Art & Design Newsletter
Actually, it just occurred to me that this is the second interview that's been published about me. The first one wasn't available on the web though, that one was ostensibly about my mother and as an off-shoot of that, me. It was for the alumni of the high school my mother went to in Armstrong, Iowa. I don't imagine that it was very widespread, but still. I shouldn't discount it. But this! This is now out there in the ether for the world to read if it should so choose!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Survey follow up
The poll is still open, so if you'd still like to participate, please do:
Poetry Planet Survey
I wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who participated! I really appreciate all the encouragement, but also the bits of constructive criticism and helpful suggestions that many pollsters made.
In the future, I will…
...Try to keep the length down. I think 20 minutes is a pretty good length and if I have to do a two part theme, well then, I’ll do a two-parter, like on Time Travel.
...Encourage poets to make their own recordings. People seem to want to hear a poet’s own interpretation. Not all poets have the capability to record and transmit it to me, so I’ll still be reading some.
...People seem to want to hear poets’ bios; hear about new publications; and hear some info on the poem including my own take on it. Some people suggested interviews with poets on technique. Of course, it’s hard to keep length down AND include all these goodies. I’ll just have to see what I can do.
...I would really like to encourage some commentary on the poetry on the StarShipSofa forum. The majority of those who responded said they’ve never commented on the poetry there, but it also seems like some aren’t aware of the forum.
...I never intended on abandoning Poetry Planet after only a year and 6 episodes. I merely wanted to find out if there were, in fact, other listeners besides the poets themselves. And it seems there are, which is very encouraging!
...I’m going to leave the poll open so anyone coming late to this, feel free to participate whenever!
-------------------
Poetry Planet Survey
I wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone who participated! I really appreciate all the encouragement, but also the bits of constructive criticism and helpful suggestions that many pollsters made.
In the future, I will…
...Try to keep the length down. I think 20 minutes is a pretty good length and if I have to do a two part theme, well then, I’ll do a two-parter, like on Time Travel.
...Encourage poets to make their own recordings. People seem to want to hear a poet’s own interpretation. Not all poets have the capability to record and transmit it to me, so I’ll still be reading some.
...People seem to want to hear poets’ bios; hear about new publications; and hear some info on the poem including my own take on it. Some people suggested interviews with poets on technique. Of course, it’s hard to keep length down AND include all these goodies. I’ll just have to see what I can do.
...I would really like to encourage some commentary on the poetry on the StarShipSofa forum. The majority of those who responded said they’ve never commented on the poetry there, but it also seems like some aren’t aware of the forum.
...I never intended on abandoning Poetry Planet after only a year and 6 episodes. I merely wanted to find out if there were, in fact, other listeners besides the poets themselves. And it seems there are, which is very encouraging!
...I’m going to leave the poll open so anyone coming late to this, feel free to participate whenever!
-------------------
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Poetry Planet No. 5b - Time Travel part 2
Time Travel Part 2 on Poetry Planet is available for download! Please head over to StarShipSofa to download it or download it from iTunes!
The poems you'll hear and links to the poets' websites and other publications:
The poems you'll hear and links to the poets' websites and other publications:
- Time Flood, by Mike Allen and Ian Watson - Mythic Delirium
- Revenants of the Time Machine, by Ann K. Schwader - Twisted in Dream (weird poetry)
- A Month of Sundays, by Geoffrey A. Landis - Mars Crossing (novel)
- Grandfather, by Dennis M. Lane - 8 Million Stories (poetry collection)
- an untitled poem by Terrie Leigh Relf - The Waters of Nyr (novel)
- Learn to Play Drums with Thomas Hardy, by Paul Badger
Please show your support for the poets and visit their sites!
Also, if you are so inclined, help me make Poetry Planet better (or otherwise give a sign of life) and fill out the survey!
Also, if you are so inclined, help me make Poetry Planet better (or otherwise give a sign of life) and fill out the survey!
----------------------
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Recording projects in the bag!
Just in time to go home on vacation, I've finished all recording projects!
Tony gave me a great story by Kim Stanley Robinson to narrate for StarShipSofa, and I had the second half of Poetry Planet No. 5 on Time Travel to finish. I had my work cut out for me, but I made it! Yea me!!!
Keep your eyes open for them on StarShipSofa.com in the near future!
-----------------
Tony gave me a great story by Kim Stanley Robinson to narrate for StarShipSofa, and I had the second half of Poetry Planet No. 5 on Time Travel to finish. I had my work cut out for me, but I made it! Yea me!!!
Keep your eyes open for them on StarShipSofa.com in the near future!
-----------------
Friday, February 10, 2012
Tales to Terrify
The StarShipSofa Podcast magazine has recently launched (on Friday the 13th...of January) a sister podcast featuring all things creepy and horrifying - Tales to Terrify. The podcast's host, Larry Santoro, is perfect for this project and does a fantastic job. The show will include fiction, poetry and fact articles (just like StarshipSofa), like 'Tour of the Abattoir' by Mike Allen. It should prove capable of making you shudder and populating your nights with the stuff of nightmares.
This week features a story that I narrated by Tim Waggoner - "Unwoven". It's a short little story about a woman who wreaks havoc with the world by killing a spider. Also included is a poem by Maria Alexander, whose poetry collection - At Louche Ends - is up for a Stoker Award and fiction by Kim Newman. Enjoy!
This week features a story that I narrated by Tim Waggoner - "Unwoven". It's a short little story about a woman who wreaks havoc with the world by killing a spider. Also included is a poem by Maria Alexander, whose poetry collection - At Louche Ends - is up for a Stoker Award and fiction by Kim Newman. Enjoy!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Catching you up
I've been too busy, or rather, I've been held captive by a little boy a lot over the past 3 - 4 weeks and haven't been able to blog about events! So, here's it all in brief:
The group I've been singing with, Raggio di Sol, performed at the Hannover Choir Festival, which took place in the Gallery Hall at the Herrenhäuser Gardens here in Hannover. We did 3 Monteverdi madrigals, Verleih uns Frieden by H. Schütz, and Riu, riu, chiu. We were mentioned in the general review of the festival as one of the highlights. Yay!
I was able to attend Carol's (Baggott-Forte) Masterclasses in Hamburg because someone cancelled with short-ish notice. Of course, the day I left, I woke up with the same throat ick that Dante had had for a week or so. It was ok for the first 3 lessons but the 4th was pretty useless. It was great to see Carol and also the other participants, most of whom I know from previous Masterclasses around Europe. We are a dedicated bunch.
Sang a wedding, near Hannover, filling in for my friend Andrea Doig, a dedicated wedding singer, who got sick. Kind of a new experience for me singing to Karaoke in a church wedding, but that's what they'd hired Andrea to do and so I did my best, singing Caro mio ben, Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah and Widmung by Schumann (instead of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, which is impossible to find in a higher key as karaoke). This was also my first venture driving a car from Stadtmobil, the local CarSharing company. A bit nerve-wracking, but all went well enough.
I recorded a Flash Fiction story for Tony Smith of StarShipSofa, very last-minute, rush-rush, hush-hush for a Sekrit Projekt he's working on. It's like to run in the feed of StarShipSofa as a bit of teasing. I hope I notice when it's up. For such a spontaneous thing, I'm quite proud of it. I recorded and edited it in less than an hour, the same day Tony asked! Yay me! I hope it's not awful! ;-)
Still working on the next Poetry Planet on the theme of Time Travel. I'm pretty sure I won't manage to finish before Christmas, so I apologize to all the poets whose poetry will be included. It will come out eventually!
Heading off to Italy for almost 3 weeks, where I'm going to become an Aunt again! Magnus' sister is due to have her first child on Dec. 19 and I'm looking forward to cuddling a tiny baby again.
So I wish all of you a beautiful holiday season, whichever holiday you celebrate. Enjoy your families, listen to good music and count your blessings - I'm blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life and to be able to pursue and do the things I love. Thank you for being a part of that!
See you in the New Year!
The group I've been singing with, Raggio di Sol, performed at the Hannover Choir Festival, which took place in the Gallery Hall at the Herrenhäuser Gardens here in Hannover. We did 3 Monteverdi madrigals, Verleih uns Frieden by H. Schütz, and Riu, riu, chiu. We were mentioned in the general review of the festival as one of the highlights. Yay!
I was able to attend Carol's (Baggott-Forte) Masterclasses in Hamburg because someone cancelled with short-ish notice. Of course, the day I left, I woke up with the same throat ick that Dante had had for a week or so. It was ok for the first 3 lessons but the 4th was pretty useless. It was great to see Carol and also the other participants, most of whom I know from previous Masterclasses around Europe. We are a dedicated bunch.
Sang a wedding, near Hannover, filling in for my friend Andrea Doig, a dedicated wedding singer, who got sick. Kind of a new experience for me singing to Karaoke in a church wedding, but that's what they'd hired Andrea to do and so I did my best, singing Caro mio ben, Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah and Widmung by Schumann (instead of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, which is impossible to find in a higher key as karaoke). This was also my first venture driving a car from Stadtmobil, the local CarSharing company. A bit nerve-wracking, but all went well enough.
I recorded a Flash Fiction story for Tony Smith of StarShipSofa, very last-minute, rush-rush, hush-hush for a Sekrit Projekt he's working on. It's like to run in the feed of StarShipSofa as a bit of teasing. I hope I notice when it's up. For such a spontaneous thing, I'm quite proud of it. I recorded and edited it in less than an hour, the same day Tony asked! Yay me! I hope it's not awful! ;-)
Still working on the next Poetry Planet on the theme of Time Travel. I'm pretty sure I won't manage to finish before Christmas, so I apologize to all the poets whose poetry will be included. It will come out eventually!
Heading off to Italy for almost 3 weeks, where I'm going to become an Aunt again! Magnus' sister is due to have her first child on Dec. 19 and I'm looking forward to cuddling a tiny baby again.
So I wish all of you a beautiful holiday season, whichever holiday you celebrate. Enjoy your families, listen to good music and count your blessings - I'm blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life and to be able to pursue and do the things I love. Thank you for being a part of that!
See you in the New Year!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Poetry Planet No. 4 "Coming Home" live on StarShipSofa
This is a biggun! With 11 poems and some news it comes in at about 35 minutes of aural delight! You'll hear poetry by Ann K. Schwader, Terrie Leigh Relf, Melissa Frederick, Lyn C. A. Gardner, Rachel Swirsky, David Kopaska-Merkel, Joanne Merriam, Dennis M. Lane, Rich Magahiz, Mari Ness, Geoffrey A. Landis, Mikal Trimm and Amal El-Mohtar. Please follow the links below to visit a poet's blog or website, read or buy the poem that ran in the show or buy their most recent collection! They'll appreciate your support!
Ann K. Schwader - Yaddith Times LiveJournal , Twisted in Dream
Terrie Leigh Relf - Sam's Dot Publishing
Melissa Frederick - Chapbook "She"
Lyn C. A. Gardner - Dreaming of Days in Astophel
Rachel Swirsky - Through the Drowsy Dark
David Kopaska Merkel - Dreams and Nightmares Magazine , The Tin Men (with Kendall Evans)
Joanne Merriam - Upper Rubber Boot Books , Seven By Twenty
Dennis M. Lane - Film Talk
Rich Magahiz - There and Back Again
Mari Ness - At Tor.com
Geoffrey A. Landis - Sultan of the Clouds (Story on StarShipSofa No. 201)
Mikal Trimm
Amal El-Mohtar
Mentioned in the News section of the short were:
SFPA Annual Online Halloween Poetry Reading
Bruce Boston, Surrealities
Maria Alexander, At Louche Ends
Necronomicon, Horror Convention, St. Petersburg, FL Oct. 21 - 23, 2011
Regular poetry reading events in Toronto, Canada
----------------------------------
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Poetry Planet No. 3 "Rhysling Award Showcase"
I've done it. I've finally managed to finish another Poetry Planet! I pre-empted the planned theme for this edition because I lost the complete recording and didn't want too much time to pass before I podcast the Rhysling Award winning (and placing) poems.
Poetry you'll hear:
CSE Cooney, Dogstar Men (3rd place, short form)
Robert Frazier, Wreck-diving the Starship (3rd place, long form)
Karen A. Romanko, Binary Creation Myth (2nd place, short form)
Bruce Boston, Dark Rains Here and There (2nd place, long form)
Amal El-Mohtar, Peach-Creamed Honey (winner, short form)
CSE Cooney, The Sea King's Second Bride (winner, long form)
They are all wonderful poems - wonderous, whimsical, erotic, funny, wry, sentimental. Those are some of the words I'd use to describe these poems. Go listen to them. You can find them at StarShipSofa Show No. 202.
-----------
Poetry you'll hear:
CSE Cooney, Dogstar Men (3rd place, short form)
Robert Frazier, Wreck-diving the Starship (3rd place, long form)
Karen A. Romanko, Binary Creation Myth (2nd place, short form)
Bruce Boston, Dark Rains Here and There (2nd place, long form)
Amal El-Mohtar, Peach-Creamed Honey (winner, short form)
CSE Cooney, The Sea King's Second Bride (winner, long form)
They are all wonderful poems - wonderous, whimsical, erotic, funny, wry, sentimental. Those are some of the words I'd use to describe these poems. Go listen to them. You can find them at StarShipSofa Show No. 202.
-----------
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)