Amazing Stories: Poetry Review - Offspring of the Moon by John W. Sexton

Hello! And happy holidays to you all! We're heading to Montana to spend the Christmas and New Year's holidays with my brother and his family and my mom, who moved out there this summer (from Wisconsin). There'll be much fun to be had: Tree decorating, Santa Claus visit, Owling (a special request from Dante because of a book "Owl Moon" by Jane Yolen, which we read recently), sledding, quaffing and gorging and much faullenzing (lazy making). I'm looking forward to it.

I have a new blog post (after a brief hiatus due to illness - bad head cold and couldn't record anything!) up tomorrow on my new day in the schedule. You can read my posts every other Wednesday from now on (unless, of course, I get sick or am traveling/performing too much, etc.).

This time I had the great pleasure of reviewing Irish poet, John W. Sexton's most recent collection Offspring of the Moon for Amazing Stories Mag. Here's a snippit:

I’ve read Irish poet John Sexton’s work often online and in Star*Line, so when I read that he had published a (new) collection I asked if I could het one for review purposes. His Publisher very graciously sent me a copy from Ireland (remember that I’m in France, so it’s not such a stretch). I’m so glad I got to read this collection in the dead-tree edition. It’s a beautiful little volume of 57 mostly short length poems. The cover art by Ludmila Korol, called “Moon Wind” is stunningly perfect and beautiful on the paperback cover. The original is oil on canvas and is certainly even more vibrant in that medium. The volume is a perfect bound paperback printed on smooth cream-colored paper which is very easy on the eyes and a pleasure to hold in your hand. However, if you are in a part of the world that make procuring a hard copy of this collection difficult it is available on Amazon. Sexton has published widely online and in print and I’ve always enjoyed his work. He has written many Haiku sequences and hybrid forms, which are wonderfully evocative. Offspring of the Moon contains many poems which were originally published in print journals and anthologies and they defy categorization.

To read the rest, and listen to my readings of 6 of the poems found within, please go here.

If you have missed any of my previous posts at Amazing Stories you can find a list of them on my author page.

Enjoy!

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Amazing Stories: Poetry Review - Transmissions to the Mystic Nebula

You can now read my latest speculative poetry review on Amazing Stories. It's a review of Christopher Vera's self-published collection "Transmissions to the Mystic Nebula". You may remember Chris was the mentor on my one and only poetic creation and it was published on his website Mystic Nebula. But this time it's about him and his wonderful, moving, intense collection of poetry. Here's a snippet:
 

Transmissions to the Mystic Nebula is a collection of intensely intimate poetry which map a life, somewhat (auto)biographical. Whether it’s the life of the poet himself or a fictional poet doesn’t makes no difference – you are pulled into an examination of events in a person’s life that are momentous and significant.

The collection is organized in a framework of communications with the “Mystic Nebula” by the/a (fictional) poet. This Science Fictional “story” is laid out at the beginning in a “Researchers Note” and the poems are punctuated by beautiful art depicting a Nebula and other space images with status reports regarding the “transmission”. The effect is...

Ah yes, well, you'll have to go to the post to read the rest! 

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Poetry: Scream Day, by William Markly O'Neal on Tales to Terrify

This weekend is big in all things Poetry with DivaDiane!

First, we have a poem I recited for the podcast Tales to Terrify. "Scream Day", by William Markly O’Neal, in which I scream and scream and scream and say some other words as well. It took me a long time to get this poem recorded well. My mic couldn't take the screaming and I'm not really a screamer, I'm a singer, after all. But I got a new mic - a Blue Snowball and it's great! I turned down the input volume and screamed away. I hope you enjoy it. You can go to the Tales to Terrify website and stream it there or download it or listen through iTunes.

Second, there's a new article of mine coming out tomorrow on Amazing Stories Magazine. Normally, it would've come out today, but we were having some issues with my access to the WordPress site and I wasn't able to upload everything myself, so it fell to publisher, Steve Davidson and he is a very busy guy. Anyway, keep an eye out for it then, the posts go up at about 11am or pop back over here tomorrow for the direct link and a little bit of exclusive info about it here!

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Flash Mobbing - Random Act of Culture in Paris, France

The Paris Choral Society, which is directed by Zach Ullery, who also directs the choir of the American Cathedral, will be performing The Messiah, by G.F. Handel Friday and Saturday, 22nd and 23rd of November at 20:00 (8pm) and 18:00 (6pm) respectively. As a means to advertise the performance and the choir, a Flash Mob event was organized.

In case you are one of those rare blog readers who doesn't know what a Flash Mob is, another name for it is "Random Act of Culture" (click the link to find out more) and they are a more or less seemingly spontaneous dance or musical offering in a public place unannounced to the people milling about or passing through. It usually happens at a train station, a public (outdoor) square or a Mall. Go here to watch a fantastic one on YouTube. And in fact, they are a YouTube phenomenon. There are many of them to watch. Enjoy!

I had the privilege to participate in one organized by the Paris Choral Society at the new Beaugrenelle Mall near my home in the 15th arondissement. We sang the Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah by Handel and while the PCS is a pretty big choir, they asked members of the American Cathedral choir to join them and singers to bring other singer friends. The singers were arranged on balconies around a gallery. There was a piano on lowest level, where the accompanist and Zach were. When I arrived the mall was busy, but not packed. But it got fuller and fuller as the appointed hour neared and there was barely any space to stand at the balcony (which was the only way to see Zach). As it turned out, I couldn't see Zach no matter where I stood, and as there was hardly any room to move, I just gave up and tried to keep an eye on singers' mouths who could see him. And the piano was impossible to hear! Oh well. I think it turned out well though, if the preliminary videos is anything to go on.

I will post the video when it's available!

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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?

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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!

Amazing Stories: Interview: Amal El-Mohtar

For this fortnight on Amazing Stories I had the pleasure of interviewing the amazing Amal El-Mohtar. She is an author, poet and publisher (Goblin Fruit Poetry Journal) who just oozes beauty of expression in everything she does. Here's a snippet of the interview:

Diane Severson Mori for Amazing Stories Magazine (ASM): Tell us a little about yourself, how you came to poetry and about /writing and about the genesis of Goblin Fruit. 

Amal El-Mohtar (AE-M): When I was about seven years old or thereabouts, I was living in Beirut and reading anything with pages. I loved the italicised bits in The Hobbit, and the language in my children's version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, so I wrote a poem to the moon full of thees and thous and rhymes like "light" and "plight." My parents encouraged me, telling me about my grandfather who was a poet imprisoned and tortured for his politics, telling me that poetry (and, I guess, rebellion) ran in my blood. My father taught me about rhythm by reciting lines from Shakespeare's sonnets with full iambic emphases. I grew up taught that poetry was something to speak aloud and be proud of, and I'm very grateful for that.

Please go to Amazing Stories for the full interview!

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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.

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. 

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."