Reading in Pittsford Thursday

I am pleased to be reading from my chapbook Language You Refuse to Learn (Bright Hill Press, 2014) and new work along with H.B. Dill who will be reading from his recently published collection Supernal Andantes (Lulu, 2015). The reading is Thursday, March 12 at Barnes & Noble, Pittsford. We will begin at 7:00 p. m. An open mic will follow. This reading is a part of the Just Poets Reading Series and Open Mic. Anita Augesen will host. I hope to see you there! http://www.amazon.com/Language-Refuse-Learn-Claudia-Stanek/dp/1892471779/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426018405&sr=1-1&keywords=Language+You+Refuse+to+Learn

Top 5 Most Memorable Poetry Books

I started a Poetry Readers' Group in February 2004. There were 8 of us at then; 3 of the originals remain and three others sit at the table now.

Each month, a member selects a book which we will all read and discuss over a long afternoon lunch. We've read everything from selected poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins to this month's selection, Parts of Speech by Kyle Schlesinger. Needless to say, there have been some very intense dialogues and there is rarely a book of poetry  that is either universally liked or disliked.

Thinking about the discussion we will have on Schlesinger's book this month prompted me to consider which books of poetry I personally have found to be the most memorable over the years. Most of these books were not necessarily Readers' Group selections though one is, Late Psalm by Betsy Sholl. This happened to be universally liked by the group members at the time.

As I pondered other books, I decided to compile my list based on certain factors: these books aren't in the academic "canon." Reading them forever changed how I approach as well as write poetry. They come to mind immediately when someone asks what my favorite book of poetry is.

In no particular order, here they are:

Late Psalm by Betsy Sholl
Morning in the Burned House by Margaret Atwood
Song by Brigit Pegeen Kelly
Late Wife by Claudia Emerson
The Selected Poems of Max Jacob (in translation)

From these come some of my favorite poems: "Half-Hanged Mary" by Atwood, "Song" by Kelly and "Hell Has Gradations" by Jacobs.

"Half-Hanged Mary" takes 10 minutes to read. I know because I did a dramatic reading of it at Rochester Institute of Technology several years ago.

"Song" is a poem I can no longer hear read nor read myself. To do so metaphorically scrapes the walls of the chambers of my heart.

"Hell Has Gradations" is prescient, an allegorical prose poem that saw the Holocaust coming. Jacobs, who converted to Catholicism from Judaism, died in a Nazi prison camp.

If you've not read these poems or the books in which they are found, I encourage you to seek them out and know that they may overwhelm you.

Should you or shouldn't you submit to a journal where you've worked?

Here is an interesting note from Michael Nye, Managing Editor of the Missouri Review: http://www.missourireview.com/tmr-blog/2014/09/ethics-publishing-literary-journals/

If you have worked on staff at a literary magazine, what is your opinion?

Language You Refuse to Learn Launch

Despite the best efforts of bronchitis, I was able to travel to non-profit Bright Hill Press & Literary Center (www.brighthillpress.org) for the official book launch of my chapbook Language You Refuse to Learn last week.

Bright Hill, which is situated on the outskirts of the Catskills, reminds me of Doctor Who's TARDIS. From the outside you see a lovely country house but inside is a lovely gallery space with a library of used books for sale and, beyond that, a new addition which houses private book collections donated to Bright Hill as well as a children's space.

Bertha Rogers, the driving force behind Bright Hill, was a welcoming host, most gracious in extending an invitation to my friend Lorrie and me to stay in the literary center's guest space where we could have spent days perusing all that the library has to offer.

I am extremely grateful to my friends Lorrie, Kathy, Donna, and David Michael who made the trip from Rochester to Treadwell for the book launch and reading.

Future readings will be Thursday, October 2 at the DeWitt Community Library (7:00 pm) and Thursday, October 9 in the Golisano Gateway at St. John Fisher College, Pittsford, NY (7:30 pm). Many thanks to M.J. Iuppa for arranging this reading.

Interesting Poetry Stats

Here's a link to Jonathan Hobrasch's article on elite poetry prizes and those who have won them the most. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-hobratsch/on-poetry-awards-figures-_b_5668826.html?utm_hp_ref=books&ir=Books

Be sure to read the questions at the end of the article. Please post your comments!

What! Fall reading? It's still July!

Friday opens the 2014 Fall reading season, the most opportune time for poets to have their work considered for publication by the largest number of journals seeking unsolicited submissions. The floodgates at Submittable, Submission Manager, Tell It Slant as well as the inboxes on editors' desks and emails open beginning August 1 through September 15.

What you can expect to see this fall: Sadly, there will be an increase in the number of publications requiring reading fees in order to consider your work. No, these are not contest fees. Despite what some journals like to call their fees, they are money required for a journal's staff to read the work you submit to them, hence "reading fees." Reading fees that journals charge range from $1 per submission (usually 3-5 poems) to $10 per submission. The former and latter are very rare; reading fees in the 2013-2014 reading period averaged $3 per submission.

There will still be plenty of publications reading for free. Personally, as a poet, I am more inclined to support a journal without reading fees. But we need to be open to paying a journal for the privilege of reading our work. It stings. Poets rarely get paid when their work is accepted for publication. However, many journals are staffed by volunteers who believe in the value of literary pursuit and find fulfillment in publishing our work. I can much more easily accept not being paid for my work when I know the editors choosing to publish it have no monetary gain to do so.

What else? Expect an increase in online submissions with a corresponding decrease in postal submissions. This is not a new trend. Online submissions will continue to grow for the foreseeable future.

Finally, is the migration of more publications to the internet from print. Cost is the greatest driver behind this movement. Migrating away from print is not a bad thing. Consider how many potential readers your work may reach on the internet when published by a quality online journal as opposed to the number of potential readers finding your work in print.

What does this mean for Poetic Effect? Fall reading will be as busy as ever. Calendar slots will fill quickly. If you are interested in having submissions of your work prepared during fall reading, email me Claudia@poeticeffect.com to reserve your place in the queue. Reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis.

What does that rejection letter mean?

You dread receiving that #10 envelope addressed to you with the label you stuck on it and sent with your poems to "Journal X." Or, it's that email you see in your inbox and cringe as you open it. The form rejection letter.

Here's a link to an article decoding 4 rejection letter types you may see. http://lizkay.net/2014/05/03/advice-for-poets-what-it-means-when-a-journal-says-no-or-anything-other-than-yes/.

By the way, I prefer the term "response" over the negative term "rejection."

Have you received an unusual response? Post a comment if you'd like to share.

A Must-Read Interview

Fellow poet and Bennington alum, Celeste Guzman-Mendoza, is interviewed about her recently published poetry book, Beneath the Halo (Wings Press, 2013) at Letras Latinas http://latinopoetryreview.blogspot.com/2013/11/interview-questions-for-celeste-g.html.

Celeste addresses the importance of language as well as the impact of violence and faith in our lives.

Publication and Reading

The fall calendar has been rapidly filling with poetry readings, classes, and publications.

Here in Rochester, the second Fringe Festival begins this weekend. A group of poets, led by Wanda Schubmehl, will be reading the work generated from her latest project--a poetry chain gang. Participating poets responded to one poem from another participating poet. The poem generated was then be passed along to another poet. None of us (yes, I am a participant!) saw any other poem than the one given to each of us until the project was completed. The reading will be this Saturday, September 21 at Writers & Books, 740 University Ave., Rochester, NY. We'll start at 4:00 pm, so arrive early for the best seat! This is a free reading. As a result of Wanda's efforts, FootHills Publishing will also produce a chapbook with all of our poems.

Please head over to Conte Online where my poem "14th. St., Buffalo, NY" appears. I am grateful to the editors for including my work and for asking me to record the poem being read in my voice, something I have not previously done. Let me know what you think. http://www.conteonline.net/issue0901/

News This Week

There are several poetry readings this week featuring local poets. Tonight, Karla Linn Merrifield and Catherine Faurot (a fellow Bennington alum) will be reading at Writers & Books for the Genesee Reading Series, 7:30 pm.

Thursday, Just Poets will hold a reading from their annual anthology, Le Mot Juste, at the Pittsford Library (second floor) at 7:00 pm. An open mic will follow.

Saturday, Patricia Roth Schwartz will be reading at Books, Etc. in Macedon at 2:00 pm. Pat has asked a few of her friends (I am among them) to read a couple of poems as well.

I'd also like to point you to a list of the top 25 writers of faith compiled by the editors of Image. Here's a link http://imagejournal.org/page/blog/the-iimagei-top-25-contemporary-writers-of-faith-list. Post a comment if you agree/disagree with their selections.

The Merits of Online Literary Journals

As the fall 2013 reading period opens, I want to address the issue of online literary journals and the merits of having work published by them.

The most obvious benefit is the size of the potential audience. While print publications are, for the most part, quite limited in their press runs, online publications have the possibility of readership limited only by the scope of the Web. This potentiality is heavily augmented by the reach of social media: Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, blogs, RSS feeds, etc., where the Word of the Web spreads more quickly than the word of mouth ever could.

Another important consideration is the development of relationships with other poets, publishers, and editors outside of your immediate environs that can lead to further publication opportunities, invitations to read, and invitations to attend and/or lead workshops.

Then there is the Google factor. When a reader comes upon your work online, that reader is able to search the Internet for more of your work, an expanded bio, and your general reputation within the larger community of poetry.

Will your work be perceived as lesser in status by appearing online versus in print? The answer to that question differs with each reader. We all have that one friend or family member who refuses to enter the digital age but is that one person your target audience? Who is in your target audience? Could those individuals who might appreciate your work the most be the same people who spend their days connected to their technology simply because of its portability?

A friend says to you, "Hey, I just read the most awesome conceptual poem." You ask, "So, can you lend me the mag?" She says, "No. But I can show it to you on my smart phone." That poem is available for the reading anywhere there's wireless, immediately.

An often-heard argument against online lit mags is their quality compared to print. I find this argument to be less valid as time progresses and as the quality of successful lit mags increases with each publication cycle. What matters and is key, is the reputation of the publication, whether in print or online.

Arguably, print publication is still far more desired for the purposes of academia, but even there the gap is closing.

Granted, online publication is never going to be the same as holding that perfect-bound journal in your hands. It is, however, the path of our words, at least until an electro-magnetic pulse shuts down everyone's electricity.

I would be interested to read your feedback.

Literary Journal Reading Fees

Last week, I did something I hoped I would never do. I paid a reading fee to a literary journal for the submission of my work.

I have made my feelings about reading fees clear in the past and they have not changed. Why would I break with my own protocol? I had prepared the submission file and begun the process with the journal's online submission software and got to the point where payment appeared. I'll admit to being torn. My initial reaction was to close the window and move on. But, I had questions. Would the non-contest reading fee this journal charges in any way make a difference in how my submission fared? Could I expect a more timely response?

I wanted answers that would only satisfy me from personal experience. So, I paid the $3.00, knowing it probably would not make a difference in how my submission would be handled and I took comfort that I was at least monetarily supporting the journal.

Just to reiterate my feelings about non-contest reading fees, I compare the trend to airline baggage fees. Once one airline started charging, others soon followed until just about every airline in existence now charges baggage fees. It is taking a bit longer to catch on in the publishing industry, but charging reading fees for non-contest submissions is undeniably a growing trend.

In theory, these reading fees should not be objectionable. Publishing poetry and other literary creative writing is not a money maker. Most journals exist from the desire of people who love quality literature and want to share that literature with the world. Noble. Admirable. We should be grateful for these people and the publications they produce, whether online or in print. I am grateful. Truly.

However, as a poet, I can tell you from personal experience that, for the most part, poetry does not pay monetarily. There is a bit of the sting of the pay-for-publication stigma, whether or not that sentiment is justified. Many wonderful poets can't afford reading fees; they have a difficult time just paying their bills. What are the implications of excluding these poets? Will there be a difference in the quality of the poetry published due to a smaller submission pool?

As fall reading begins and new guidelines are being rolled out, I am monitoring the trend.

If you are an editor of a literary journal, please share your thoughts on this subject.

Web Site of Potential Interest to Writers

Leslie Hanson emailed me recently about her blog article on thesis and dissertation resources for writers. Topics covered include writing and research as well as writing centers. While her blog is mostly for graduate students, it might be worth your time to browse.  http://onlinephdprogram.org/thesis-dissertation/

Blogs You Should Be Reading

There are two excellent blogs I would like to recommend to my writing friends and followers. The first is by St. John Fisher College's Writer-in-Residence, M. J. Iuppa. Her blog, (A)stray: One Poet's Conversation, is especially essential during this National Poetry Month. She is posting daily writing prompts and her prompts are well-known to kickstart the creative muse in us all http://mjiuppa.blogspot.com/ 

The second is by Tom Holmes, editor of Redactions: Poetry and Poetics and a long-time resident of the Rochester area now working on his Ph. D. in Mississippi. The Line Break features a good article on promoting your published collection of poems 
http://thelinebreak.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/promoting-your-recently-or-soon-to-be-released-collection-of-poems/. He has also posted several of his book reviews worth reading.

Check them out. Follow them. Enhance your own writing experience. 

Reflection on AWP 2013

Never having been to Boston, I hoped there would not be a repeat of the nor'easter that hit there in February. Thankfully, I chose Jet Blue over Airtran and was able to get into Boston before weather hit. Being a native of western New York, I quickly forget how non-WNYers do not have the expertise to cope with what I've come to call "cosmic snot," also known as mixed precipitation tending toward the slushy side. Fortunately, Boston provides sufficient covered walkways to keep pedestrian travel outdoors to a minimum, at least where the hotels and convention center are situated.

Now for the highlights. In addition to the expected what's-trending-in-publishing panels, I attended panels on applying for Fullbright fellowships and NEA grants, panels on current Polish poetry in translation, the necessity for Christian literary publishers, and a reading by contributors to an anthology encouraging young Latina women to go to college (one of the contributors is my fellow Bennington alum and friend, Celeste Guzman Mendoza). All were very informative, thought provoking, and even inspiring.

I was delighted to meet and converse with poet James Ragan at the Seamus Heaney-Derek Wolcott reading/conversation. As drawn to central Europe as I am, Ragan's experiences teaching in Poland and the Czech Republic were fascinating to hear, especially since I have high interest in returning to Poland.

The conference and bookfair is so much better now that the annual event is held in a convention center. There was much more time to browse and chat at the bookfair between panels rather than racing from one conference hotel to another.

Books I had to purchase: Glory Bound (WordFarm, 2012) by Jessie Van Eerden. I attended a reading sponsored by Ruminate journal and WordFram Press where Van Eerden read. Her prose is poetic; the fact that the book is published by a Christian imprint made the purchase all the more appealing. Better Food for a Better World (Slant Books, 2013) by Erin McGraw. Slant is a new press, a counterpart to Image journal. Anyone who knows me knows that I could not resist a novel with ice cream on the cover! I purchased only one book of poetry, The World Shouldering I by James Ragan. How can anyone converse with a fine poet and not get a signed book?

There were plenty of other titles of interest, many of them available for my (yes, I have one) Kindle Fire. I still enjoy the experience of reading a paper-made book. I have also come to appreciate the freedom (mostly from pain) of not carrying hundreds of pages of paper while traveling.

I think I'll pass on Seattle next year, though. I've got other plans. More about that another time.

Reading with Harold Dill

Harold Dill and I will be reading from our work Sunday, October 26 at Books, Etc. in Macedon, NY. Harold (a.k.a. H.B. Dill) and I are two of the founding members of Rochester's largest poetry organization, Just Poets. If you have not heard his work, I encourage you to make the drive out to Macedon. He has a distinctive poetic voice and does not read publicly often. I will also be reading work that will be new to many of you.

Books, Etc. is a used book store and coffee shop located in the center of Macedon, east of Rochester. Click on the link for more information Books, Etc.

Hope to see you there!

What Editors Don't Want to Read in Your Poems

Although this was written by the poetry editor of the Indiana Review, I have no doubt that others would agree. In fact, I agree and have had to turn away clients because of some of the reasons listed in the linked post. Please take a moment to read this good advice. http://indianareview.org/2012/09/26/five-marks-of-oft-rejected-poems/

More Winners Announced

The winner of the 2012 American Poetry Journal Book Prize is Richard Garcia for his manuscript, The Other Odyssey. The expected release will be Summer/Fall 2013 by Dream Horse Press.

The winner of the Spring, 2012 Black River Chapbook Competition is Shane McCrae for his manuscript Nonfiction.

Black Lawrence Press will also publish No Girls No Telephones by Rebecca Hazelton and Brittany Cavallaro as well as This is not a sky by Jessica Piazza.

Publishing News

Two announcements about forthcoming books:

The American Poetry Journal has accepted the runner-up in the 2012 American Poetry Journal Book Prize, Fire Road by Barbara Siegel Carlson.  Look for it next summer/fall by Dream Horse Press.

Seth Abramson's manuscript Thievery has been selected by Dara Wier for the University of Akron 2012 Poetry Prize.

Prize Winners for Two Book Contests Announced

The winner of the Motherwell Prize awarded by Fence Books is Inter Arma by Laura Shufran. Her debut collection will be published in spring 2013. Visit Fence Books at www.fenceportal.org.

The winner of the ninth annual Marsh Hawk Press Poetry Prize is Dear Hero by Jason McCall. For a list of runners-up, visit http://www.marshhawkpress.org/.