Olive Senior - literary crush of the week

it takes diggin' in the crates, late nights and early mornings
spending the set-aside, essential creative time for precious projects
on web-surfing, google, bing, etc... but when you come across
that previous nugget-of-the-dark-unknown™ then it all seems worth it.

(at least until the people you're beholden to wanna know what's up with your deadlines!)

Olive Senior... why do we not know who she is on the education circuit?

check her out... her work is canonical.

tongues of the ocean is another good site to check out... this link takes you to Olive's poem there.

fresh! for twenty-ten...

after four years of work, my Tangerine Tubman poem is 99.99013745% finished...
this has been one of the longest ongoing literary projects i've undertaken in the 20+ years
i've been writing... i am thoroughly pleased with this final result!

now to cut the cord, smack it on the ass and send it out into the world to fend for itself.
initially, i was gonna make it available as pdf file and sell it for $3 online (plus $10 for a poster
of its cover)... but most magazines consider pdf files (as well as blog posts!) the equivalent to
an electronic chapbook/self-publishing.

im wanting to avoid any unnecessary hassles, at least until (and 'if') the poem is sufficiently
rejected by the publishers im sending it to. if that happens, then i'll make the pdf available for
purchasing via my paypal account.

below is 'the cover' and also a piece of collage incorporating a couple of lines from it;
surely thats okay with any panel of judges, right?

legba walks into a bucket of blood

its my nature to swallow seeds
to have them ferment in the soils within my skull
to birth themselves from daydream/their daylight bursting
from the inseams of forehead/my whole head a calabash
uncollapsing... the daylight strands a dreadlock each,
potential breaching virtue. new gods from a nappy gourd.
the guardian at the gate of dreams draped in gonesh

and gunsmoke... his guitar smoking/his black hand
stroking the 'nations sack under his suit coat.
ask him to tell you your future...watch and see
if he dont sing/maybe he will swallow you; the seed
in my head shorn from thunder/born under a bad blues,
a Conqueroo, becoming/how how how how ------- whoa!,
babe.

upfromsumdirt, 2010

Prayer to Masks by Léopold Sédar Senghor

Black mask, red mask, you black and white masks,
Rectangular masks through whom the spirit breathes,
I greet you in silence!
Any you too, my lionheaded ancestor.
You guard this place, that is closed to any feminine laughter,
   to any mortal smile.
You purify the air of eternity, here where I breathe the air of
   my fathers.
Masks of markless faces, free from dimples and wrinkles,
You have composed this image, this is my face that bends
   over the altar of white paper.
In the name of your image, listen to me!
Now while the Africa of despotism is dying - it is the agony
  of a pitiable princess
Like that of Europe to whom she is connected through the
   navel -
Now fix your immobile eyes upon your children who have
   been called
And who sacrifice their lives like the poor man his last
   garment
So that hereafter we may cry 'hear' at the rebirth of the
   world being the leaven that the white flour needs.
For who else would teach rhythm to the world that has
   died of machines and cannons?
For who else should ejaculate the cry of joy, that arouses
   the dead and the wise in a new dawn?
Say, who else could return the memory of life to men with
   a torn hope?
They call us cotton heads, and coffee men, and oily men,
They call us men of death.
But we are the men of the dance whose feet only gain
   power when they beat the hard soil.



Léopold Sédar Senghor

cave canem book prize

taken from Poets & Writers

Cave Canem Foundation

Poetry Prize

Deadline:

April 30, 2010

Entry Fee:

$15

Web site:

www.cavecanempoets.org

E-mail address:

camillerankine@ccpoets.org

A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Georgia Press will be given annually for a first poetry collection by an African American poet. Elizabeth Alexander will judge. Submit two copies of a manuscript of 50 to 75 pages with a $15 entry fee by April 30. Call, e-mail, or visit the Web site for complete guidelines.

Cave Canem Foundation, 20 Jay Street, Suite 310-A, Brooklyn, NY 11201. (718) 858-0000. Camille Rankine, Contact.

TAGS:

African American

Back to Writing Contests Database Listings

sigh-ku, volumes 1 and 2

this entry exists
by shear will of extreme
laziness - a poem.

...

if only i blogged
as brilliantly as i com
ment on other blogs.

lucille clifton...

of the 3 poets who have shaped my approach to writing,
alongside ishmael reed and haki madhubuti, mother lucille clifton
has always been the one to best balance message, emotion and craft: the 3
strongest elements, to me, defining 'black poetry' - an artform that has
recently shifted away from those core strengths in favor of
mainstream poetry's predominant aesthetic... ((clears th'oat))

i've never been one to to say the right things at the right time...
i usually cut straight to the point during the times when pointlessness
is the most expected sought after type of literary foreplay (when i do talk
too much i ramble/painfully obvious right about now)...


this is the poorest damn eulogizing ever!!!!!


i never met ms. clifton, but she remains an entity that i will carry forever within.
the act of pouring libations and setting up ancestral altars is for the remembrance and
continued acknowledgment of those most venerable to who we are and how we choose
to live - a recognition of those we deem the most worthy of being so-honored...

ms. clifton will always be welcomed in our home.

this is my favorite of her poems, and perhaps my most favorite of all poems:

"if i stand in my window"

if i stand in my window

naked in my own house

and press my breasts

against the windowpane

like black birds pushing against glass

because i am somebody

in a New Thing

and if the man come to stop me

in my own house

naked in my own window

saying i have offended him

i have offended his

Gods

let him watch my black body

push against my own glass

let him discover self

let him run naked through the streets

crying

praying in tongues

a kentucky haint thinks of haiti

im not a witch
nor the son of one
but i want to be

so instead, i write
to shore up the lack,
every written word

thrown head first
into the ohio river
more than once

to sink or to float
whichever fits
the thick lipped

phonetics/foundation
for this self-anointed
poet building towers

atop
the
waters

...

audre lorde is my lady of the lake
ghost hands parting this southern mouth
housing a kentucky pond/each word a frond
every stem a magic wand/the tongue a baton
wagging in yemoja's general direction,
all of her reflection upon this body of water

...

anyway, the coffee kept on ancestral altars
has crumbled into dirt; prayers dehydrate
into dust fertilizing the eggs of this diaspora

i can await the answers to prayer, im patient
and i meditate. besides, all of my ancestors are
out on loan... tho shorn from kentucky i am kin
to haiti. my not-so-distant cousins needing more
angels than i because love is an immediate action

...

and speaking of punching pat robertson
in the mouth, he and rush limbaugh can call
my ancestors retarded or niggers and me
a retarded nigger for crafting faith from where
the hate of blacks was created. pyre respects
pyre and i am sunflower-supreme. i do not
shrink shrieking into shadows reeking with
shame or fear or of the fear-of-flame... there
is switchblade in my sepals. and just ike all
of my gods, i too speak from my mouth. dont
require prophet-mongers to translate what god's
written on my cheek, so let's not escalate this
renunciation to your ignorance. push me too
hard and i shall no longer pray for you

not that
praying
for you
is ever
a first
venture

every amen
must begin and
end somewhere

and the brackets of this body and
soul do not embrace everybody.

...

but if i was a witch
or the son of one,
how wonderful...

from such
a blessing
would come the
understanding
of beauty and
the undertaking
to use it.

(god damn the prevention
of this american polyglot
spoiling a black man's
asymmetrical patois)

midnight paregoric (side effects from a nickel slick nigger serum)

('this thisness' redux)

...

BRRRRIKCtikkktiklikttickkcc...
the sound my blackness makes
fading in and out the shadows
and the i-have-a-dreamcicle
incense smoke separating us
brrrrrkkkktickticktaktickkkkkkk,
i lick you/the bootblack of my tongue
leaving a slender streak of oil-slick
slob on your cheek/the globules
of a literary gawlo practitioner.
bbbbrrrkkkktkkttckcktttckkkk
so electric my eclectic shadow
passing its solids through you;
african + cosmic in your nasal
cavity, the cave wall for my
disembodied canon/etching shades
of hatshepsut & franz fanon
on 3rd eye-lid insides,
i kid you not...
brrrrrbbbrrrkkkktkkkbbbrrrrrrttttit
i come from a long line of long lines
the day you can see me
i could kiss you, but brrkktktkktkkkick
nothin' but static/your heels brrklckclicking
like shards of flint for good-witch
glinda to send harlequin bush-babies
to cover you in kansas
bbrrrrcktkckckttkcikcktaackktickkak...
but all there is is this crepuscule on
canvas, this rainbowed excrement & this
  - thisness.


(see your doctor immediately
if ochered inflections persist
longer than 4 hours)

contests/submissions/etc

Willow Books Legacy Chapbook Series 

and Integral Music Chapbook Series

Postmark Deadline: March 1, 2010

Reading Fee: $15 per entry

The Legacy Chapbook Series is designed to showcase and further enhance the legacy of writers of African descent. The length of the submission should total no more than 28 pages.

Note: to kick-off the Legacy Chapbook Series, Willow Books will be publishing National Book Award Finalist Carolyn Rogers in the month of April.

The Integral Music Chapbook Series, which is named after the poet Ed Roberson, will feature innovative poems that push boundaries through musicality and word play. We encourage risk-takers to submit their work to this series. The length of the submission should total no more than 25 pages.

Both chapbooks will be perfect bound with an ISBN. The selected authors will receive 10 copies. Willow Books, the poetry division of Aquarius Press, agrees to make the chapbook available to readings, conferences, bookstores and any other venue where the poet has a scheduled reading.

Poets, please make sure that your cover sheet includes:

• The title, your name and contact information (address, phone number and email address). This is an open submission process.

• An acknowledgments page listing previously published poems.

• A brief bio (no more than 50 words).

• State which series you would like to enter.

There is a reading fee of $15 for each manuscript submitted. Multiple submissions are accepted, as long as each submission is accompanied by a separate $15 reading fee. Manuscripts submitted during this open reading period may not be revised nor re-submitted. Please include the $15 reading fee (PayPal, check or money order), payable to Aquarius Press. We also accept credit card payments (leave name, card type, number and expiration date at 877-979-3639) . ($25 fee for returned checks and/or declined credit cards.) Include a self-addressed postcard for acknowledgment of receipt of your manuscript and #10 SASE for notification. Manuscripts will not be returned.

We reserve the right to not make selections for this year if the editors decide that there are no manuscripts meeting our editorial standards.

Manuscripts must be postmarked by March 1st, 2010. Send two copies of your manuscript, with cover sheets, to:

Aquarius Press

(Include the name of the Series that you are entering here)

PO Box 23096

Detroit, Michigan 48223

2010 Cave Canem Poetry Prize Guidelines
Award: Winner receives $1,000, publication by The University of Georgia Press 
in fall 2011, 15 copies of the book and a feature reading.
Final Judge: Elizabeth Alexander. (Judge reserves the right not to select a winner or honorable
mentions.)
Eligibility: African American writers who have not had a full‐length book of poetry published by
a professional press. Authors of chapbooks and self‐published books with a maximum print run of
500 may apply. Simultaneous submission to other book awards should be noted: immediate notice
upon winning such an award is required. Winner agrees to be in the United States at her or his own
expense when the book is published in order to participate in promotional reading(s).
Deadline: Reading period opens March 15, 2010. Manuscripts must be postmarked no later than
April 30, 2010. Manuscripts received after May 8, 2010, 5 pm, will not be considered, regardless of
postmark date. To be notified that your manuscript has been received, enclose a stamped, selfaddressed
postcard. Winner announced in September 2010.
Entry Fee: $15. Enclose check with submission, made payable to Cave Canem Foundation. Entry fees
are non‐refundable.
Direct packet to:
Cave Canem Foundation
Cave Canem Poetry Prize
20 Jay Street, Suite 310‐A
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Submission
�� Send two copies of a single manuscript. One manuscript per poet allowed.
�� Enclose a stamped, self‐addressed envelope to receive notification of results.
�� Author’s name should not appear on any pages within the manuscript. Copy One must include a
title page with the author’s brief bio (200 words, maximum) and contact information: name, postal
address, e‐mail address and telephone number. Copy Two must include a cover sheet with the title
only.
�� Manuscript must include a table of contents and list of acknowledgments of previously published
poems.
�� Manuscript must be single sided with a font size of 11 or 12, paginated, and 50‐75 pages in length,
inclusive of title page, table of contents and acknowledgments. A poem may be multiple pages, but
no more than one poem per page is permitted.
�� Manuscript must be unbound. Use a binder clip—do not staple or fold. Do not include illustrations
or images of any kind.
�� Manuscripts not adhering to submission guidelines will be discarded without notice to sender.
�� Due to the volume of submissions, manuscripts will not be returned. Post‐submission revisions or
corrections are not permitted.

2010 BARROW STREET PRESS BOOK CONTEST

The Barrow Street Press Book Contest award will be given for the best

previously unpublished manuscript of poetry in English. The winner will

receive book publication by Barrow Street Press, and $1000.00.

Judge: Mary Ruefle*

Deadline: June 30, 2010

Fee: $25.00

If entrants would like to receive a copy of the winning book, please include a book mailer with

$2.75 postage. Thank you.

*manuscripts by current and past students of Mary Ruefle will not be considered

GUIDELINES*

*(note – send to Rhode Island Barrow Street address, not New York City)

1) Submit a 50 - 70 page unpublished manuscript of original poetry in English. Include

acknowledgement page for published poems.

2) The manuscript should be typed, single-spaced, on one side of the page

only, on white 8 ½" x 11" paper. Clear photocopies are acceptable. Please

do not send your only copy, as manuscripts cannot be returned. If the manuscript is

illegible or not a clear copy in any way, it will not be considered and your check will be

returned.

3) Include two (2) title pages. The author's name, address, and telephone number should

appear on the first title page only, and should not appear elsewhere in the manuscript.

The second title page should just contain the title and nothing else.

4) Include SASE for notification of contest results.

5) Please include a check for $25.00, payable to Barrow Street.

6) Send entries to: **(note – send to Rhode Island Barrow Street address, not New York

City)

Barrow Street

PO Box 1558

Kingston, RI 02881

Our best wishes,

The Editors

www.barrowstreet.org

Black Infinity: 

Adele V. Holden Prize for New African-American Poets

CityLit Project announces the first Black Infinity Poetry Prize in honor of Adele V.

Holden, born on Maryland’s segregated Eastern Shore, educated at Johns Hopkins

under Elliott Coleman, devoted high school English teacher. Through her art,

career, and life, Ms. Holden promoted equal rights while shaping the minds of

young people. Prize recognizes African-American poets under 40 not previously

published in book-length form. Send $15 entry fee, SASE for notification of

winner, and a manuscript not more than 30 pages with coversheet to Black Infinity,

CityLit Project, 120 S. Curley Street, Baltimore, MD 21224. Must be postmarked

before February 1, 2010. Winner receives publication, small honorarium, 25 copies.

Reginald Harris will judge. Guidelines at www.citylitproject.org.

Submission Guidelines

1. This chapbook competition is open to any African-American writer who has not

had either a chapbook or full-length book of poetry published by a professional

press. CityLit Project staff, interns, board members, and their immediate family

are ineligible.

2. Contestants must be under the age of forty at the time they submit the

manuscript to the competition.

3. Send one (1) copy of a single manuscript, one (1) submission per poet.

Manuscripts must be typed and available in electronic format. Submit no fewer

than sixteen (16) and no more than thirty (30) pages of poetry. All poems must

be original (translations are not accepted).

4. Manuscripts must be unbound. Use binder or paper clips (no staples).

5. Include on separate pages

a. A cover sheet listing poet’s name, date of birth, mailing, contact

telephone number, email address, and collection title. Author’s name

should not appear on any pages within the manuscript.

b. List of acknowledgments of previously published poems (if applicable).

c. Brief one paragraph brief bio not to exceed 200 words.

d. Separate page with title of collection only (to be forwarded to the final

judge).

6. Manuscripts will not be returned; after the winner has been selected, all other

manuscripts will be recycled. Please do not send your only copy.

7. Simultaneous submission to other awards should be noted. Immediate notice

upon winning an award is required.

8. Enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard so that we may acknowledge receipt

of your material, and a stamped, self-addressed envelope to receive an

announcement of the prize winner.

9. Entry Fee: $15 (made payable to CityLit Project) along with submission to:

Black Infinity Prize

c/o CityLit Project

120 S. Curley Street

Baltimore, MD 21224

FINALIST MANUSCRIPTS WILL BE JUDGED ANONYMOUSLY.

Postmark Deadline: February 1, 2010.

Notification: Winner will be notified in May 2010, with the winning chapbook

published in Fall 2010.

Prize Winner: The winner of the Black Infinity: Adele V. Holden Prize for New

African-American Poets receives $250, publication by CityLit Press, and 25 copies of

the winning chapbook.

Prize Honoree: Adele V. Holden (1919-2005)

Through her art, career, and life, Adele V. Holden promoted equal rights while shaping

the minds of young people.

Born on the racially segregated Eastern Shore in 1919, Adele grew up in Pocomoke

City, Maryland, during the Great Depression, a time when the state’s final lynchings

were taking place in nearby towns. She attended Morgan State College and Johns

Hopkins University, where she was an early student of Writing Seminars founder Elliott

Coleman. Adele dedicated her energy to educating young people as a devoted English

teacher at Dunbar High School and the Community College of Baltimore. She

published a collection of poetry in 1961, and forty years later her second book, the

memoir Down on the Shore: The Family and Place that Forged a Poet’s Voice.

Adele and her editor criss-crossed the region promoting the widely-praised book,

forming a relationship that lasted until her death in 2005. She willed the car in which

they traveled—an otherwise barely-used black Infiniti—to that editor, who donated it to

CityLit Project to establish a prize in her honor. While Black Infinity references that car,

it also represents Adele V. Holden’s belief in young people, poetry, education, and

equal rights for all.

2010 Prize Final Judge: Reginald Harris

Reginald Harris is recipient of Individual Artist Awards for both poetry and fiction from

the Maryland State Arts Council. His first book, 10 Tongues: Poems (Three Conditions

Press, 2001) was finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and the ForeWord Book of the

Year. A graduate fellow of the Cave Canem: African American Poetry Workshop /

Retreat, his poetry, fiction, book reviews, and articles have appeared in various journals,

reference works, and websites, including 5 AM, African-American Review, Beltway,

Black Issues Book Review, Gargoyle, smartish pace, Sou’wester; and the Best Gay

Poetry 2008, Bum Rush the Page, Role Call, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South,

and Voices Rising: Celebrating 20 Years of Black Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and

Transgender Writing anthologies. He serves as Manager of Help Desk and Training for

the Systems Department for the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.

Prize Sponsor: CityLit Project

CityLit Project nurtures the culture of literature in Baltimore and throughout Maryland.

CityLit builds and connects a community of avid readers and writers through public

events, workshops, web resources, and publishing. Its signature event—CityLit

Festival—was selected “Best of Baltimore” by Baltimore magazine in 2005 and 2009,

and is now a “can’t miss event on the city’s cultural scene.”

THE 2010 IOWA REVIEW AWARDS
Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction
Brenda Hillman, Michael Cunningham, and Jo Ann Beard, judges

$1,000 to each winner
$500 to runners-up
Plus publication in our December 2010 issue

Submit during January 2010

• Submit up to 20 pages of prose (double-spaced) or 10 pages of poetry (double or single; one poem or several). Work must be previously unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are fine assuming you inform us of acceptance elsewhere.
• Manuscripts must include a cover page listing your name, address, e-mail address and/or telephone number, and the title of each work, but your name should not appear on the manuscript itself.
• Enclose a $20 entry fee (checks payable to The Iowa Review). All entrants receive a yearlong subscription to the magazine.
• Label your envelope as a contest entry, for example: "Contest: Fiction." One entry per envelope.
• Postmark submissions between January 1 and January 31, 2010.
• Enclose a #10 SASE for final word on your work. Enclose a SAS postcard if you wish confirmation of our receipt of your entry.
• No electronic submissions.
  

The Iowa Review
308 EPB
Iowa City, IA 52242

Milk Money
http://www.milkmone ymag.com/

Entry Deadline: Feb. 15, 2009 for the next issue
Milk Money, Volume Seven: Vile Pile
They say print is dead. But who are “they” to say such a thing? The editors of Milk Money Magazine in Cincinnati, Ohio think otherwise, and they can back it up with the very real existence of their mechanical duplicator. It’s not alive – it’s a machine – but the quarterly literary magazines it mass-produces are evidence of a very alive scene for printed works of fiction, prose, and poetry from national and international writers.
Milk Money is accepting submissions for its latest edition, Volume Seven: Vile Pile. They are looking for exceptional works of literary and experimental fiction and poetry. Works should be no more than 5,000 words whether it's fiction or poetry. Please only submit one short story per issue, but feel free to submit several works of poetry. We accept submissions year round, but the deadline for our next issue is February 15th.
If a work has been published outside of the United States or published in an online-only journal, Milk Money will consider it; please specify in the body of your e-mail if this is the case when you are submitting. All other previously published material will not be considered.
Milk Money only accepts work submitted via e-mail at (replace (at) with @). Please attach your work in the form of .doc, .rtf or .txt files. Any submissions received otherwise cannot be considered for the magazine. Please do not paste the text in the body of your e-mail. A formal cover letter is not necessary. However, we do like to read a little bit about our contributors so please include a short bio in your e-mail.
Visit www.milkmoneymag. com for previous issues and more information regarding submissions.

The Prairie Schooner Book Prize Series welcomes manuscripts in poetry and fiction from all living writers, including non-US citizens, writing in English. Both unpublished and published writers are welcome to submit manuscripts. Writers may enter both contests. Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but we ask that you notify us immediately if your manuscript is accepted for publication somewhere else.

Winners will receive $3000 and publication through the University of Nebraska Press.

Manuscripts should be mailed with a postmark between January 15th and March 15th, 2010 to:
Prairie Schooner Prize Series
Attn: Fiction or Poetry
201 Andrews Hall
PO Box 880334
Lincoln NE 68588-0334

Any questions, please send an email to Managing Editor James Engelhardt at jengelhardt2( at)unl.edu or Prize Book Series Coordinator Cody Lumpkin at (replace (at) with @).

For information and a complete set of guidelines, please see our website http://prairieschooner.unl.edu/ prizes/index. html

2010 Intro Prize in Poetry/fourwaybooks

Judge: Alan Shapiro

Submission Dates: January 1 - March 31, 2010
electronic or mail submissions accepted

Awarding publication of a book-length collection and $1000.00

Open to any poet writing in English who has not previously published a book-length poetry collection

For Complete Guidelines please visit:
www.fourwaybooks. com

Four Way Books
P.O. Box 535 Village Station
New York, New York 10014

The American Poetry Journal Book Prize
Guidelines and Information for 2010
http://home. comcast.net/ ~jpdancingbear/ dhpcontests. html

The postmark deadline for entries to the 2010 The American Poetry Journal Book Prize is February 28, 2010. To enter, submit 50-65 paginated pages of poetry, table of contents, acknowledgments, bio, email address for results (No SASEs; manuscripts will be recycled), and a $25.00 non-refundable fee for each manuscript entered. The winner will receive $1000, publication, and 20 copies. All entries will be considered for publication. All styles are welcome. Multiple submissions are acceptable. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but if your manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere you must notify The American Poetry Journal and/or Dream Horse Press immediately. Fees are non-refundable. Judging will be anonymous; writers' names should not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Please include your name and biographical information in a separate cover letter. Please be sure to include your email address. The winner is chosen by the editor of The American Poetry Journal, J.P. Dancing Bear. Close friends, students (former or present), and relatives of the the editor are NOT eligible for the contest; their entry fees will be refunded.

The American Poetry Journal Book Prize entries may be sent, following the guidelines above, to:

The American Poetry Journal book prize
P. O. Box 2080
Aptos, California 95001-2080

Please make checks payable to: Dream Horse Press.
Or, you can now submit your manuscript in email, save on postage, paper, and envelopes

by paying online at
http://home. comcast.net/ ~jpdancingbear/ dhpcontests. html

Poetry Chapbook Contest/swan scythe press

Swan Scythe Press, founded by poet Sandra McPherson, and now under the management of poet James DenBoer, announces its 2010 Poetry Chapbook contest. Submissions will be accepted between January 15, 2010 - June 1, 2010. Any poet writing in English is eligible to submit. Winner will receive publication and 25 copies of perfect-bound chapbook. For details see: www.swanscythe. com

We require submissions in the following format:

*Title page with author’s name, address, phone number, and email address
*Another title page without any identifying information; book title only
*Table of contents
*Acknowledgments page (optional)
*20 to 36 pages of poems
*All pages must be numbered
*Submit ms. bound only by a binder clip

Please include with your manuscript:

*Reading fee check for $15 made out to Paperwork (not to Swan Scythe Press);
“Paperwork” is James DenBoer’s business checking account
*Stamped SASE for announcement of winner(s)
*No SASE for mss, which will be recycled

Send your manuscript to:

James DenBoer, Managing Editor,
Swan Scythe Press
515 P Street, Apartment 804,
Sacramento CA 95814.
Email: yahoo.com> (replace (at) with @) if you have further questions.

Swan Scythe Press began publishing in 2000, and over the last decade has published 26 chapbooks. Its authors have won many national and local grants, awards and fellowships, and have distinguished themselves as artists and educators throughout the U.S. and in foreign countries. Now launching its second decade under the direction of James DenBoer, Swan Scythe Press is committed to discovering and publishing the best new poets in America today, and to featuring poets of diverse ethnicities/ races, ages, sexual preferences, and genders -- though our emphasis is on the quality of the writing, not on any particular demographic.

Tidal Basin Review

Reading Period & Submission Guidelines
Tidal Basin Review seeks to publish high-quality, well-crafted literature for our electronic debut! Our vision is to amplify the voice of the human experience through art that is intimate, engaging, and audacious. We do not seek shock value art, but rather work that broadens the artistic landscape.

Reading Period Inaugural Spring E-Issue:
January 1, 2010 – February 28, 2010

Submission Guidelines(for Inaugural Spring E-Issue Only) Please send submissions of 3-5 poems totaling no more than 5 pages, one (1) short story, one (1) stand alone novel chapter or creative non-fiction piece of no more than 2,500 words, in an email attachment in doc., rtf, or .pdf format to (replace (at) with @)
for poetry submissions and (replace (at) @)
for fiction and non-fiction submission.

Please send work, in English, which has not been previously published. Publication rights revert to the author upon publication. We accept simultaneous submissions, however, please inform us immediately upon acceptance of your work elsewhere. Be sure to include a brief cover letter which includes your name, mailing address, email address, and phone number, as well as a brief bio with a maximum of 60 words.
Best of luck from the Basin

bluelightpress
Extended to February 20, 2010:

The editors of Blue Light Press warmly invite you to submit a manuscript to our 2010 Blue Light Book Award Competition. Contest rules and previous winners are listed below. Please share this E-mail with other poets, and if you teach writing, please let your students know about our contest. If you have received this from a friend and want to be on our E-mail list, please send an E-mail to aol.com> (replace (at) with @).
and let us know.

BLUE LIGHT PRESS
Announces
THE 2010 BLUE LIGHT BOOK AWARD

Guidelines:
1. Blue Light Press is dedicated to the publication of poetry that is imagistic, inventive, emotionally honest, and pushes the language to a deeper level of insight. We are a collective of poets, and our books are artistically designed. 
2. Please note our new address. To enter, send a manuscript of 50 to 80 pages of poetry, typed or printed with a laser or inkjet printer, to:  
Diane Frank, Chief Editor
Blue Light Press
1563 - 45th Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94122
3. Submit your manuscript between September 1, 2009 and February 15, 2010. Extended to February 20, 2010
4. Include a reading fee of $20.00 - check payable to Blue Light Press.
5. Include a self-addressed stamped envelope for results. We must have a SASE to correspond with you. No manuscript will be returned without a SASE.
6. Please do not send manuscripts by registered or certified mail, as this requires a trip to the post office. If you want confirmation of receipt, include a postcard with your manuscript. We are not strict about deadlines – if your manuscript comes a few days late, we will still read it.
7. The winner will be announced in June, 2010. The winning book will go into production in September or October of 2010, depending on our production schedule.
8. Winner will receive 10 copies of the book and a 30% royalty on book sales thereafter. The book will be distributed by Ingram, Amazon.com, any bookstore you suggest, and published in cooperation with our partner, 1st World Library.
9. If you win the contest, you will need to give us your manuscript on disk. Acceptable formats:
IBM - MSWord or RTF (Rich Test Format).
Macintosh - Clarisworks, Quark Express, Word, or RTF (Rich Test Format).

Books by Blue Light Press:

Recent books include poets Rustin Larson, Nancy Berg, Alice Rogoff, Stewart Florsheim, Diane Frank, Andrena Zawinski, Barry and Steve Benson, Michelle Demers, Stephen Schneider, Suzanne Niedermeyer, Christopher Buckley, Leah Shelleda, Nancy Tupper-Ling, Kevin Zepper, and Ken McCullough. In 2010, look for books by Tony Krunk, Paul Fisher, Mary Kay Rummel, Scott Caputo, and our new anthology. 

Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest
www.winningwriters.com/tompoetry

Eighth year. Ten cash prizes totaling $5,550. Top prize $3,000. Submit poems in any style or genre. Both published and unpublished work accepted. Winning entries published online. Entry fee is $7 for every 25 lines, payable to Winning Writers. Postmark deadline: September 30. Judges: J.H. Reid, D.C. Konrad. Submit online or mail to Winning Writers, Attn: Tom Howard Poetry Contest, 351 Pleasant Street, PMB 222, Northampton, MA 01060. Winning Writers is one of the "101 Best Websites for Writers" (Writer's Digest, 2005-2009). More information: www.winningwriters. com/tompoetry

Diverse Voices Quarterly 

- http://www.diversev oicesquarterly. com
is a new online literary journal looking for submissions from all walks of life.

Our second issue is available for download here:
http://www.diversev oicesquarterly. com/2009/ second-issue- available- now

Deadline for submissions is 02/15/10.

Submission guidelines are:
Poetry:
3-5 poems, 40 lines MAX. Please send in one file, separated by a page break between poems.
Short stories:
3,000 words MAX. You may submit up to two short shorts that add up to 1,000 words. If sending two shorts, please send two separate files.
Personal essays/creative nonfiction:
3,000 words MAX. Send only one essay at a time.
Artwork is especially requested. We accept in .jpg or .png format. Send only two high-quality images at a time.
–Simultaneous submissions are accepted but multiple submissions are not, unless you wish to send in artwork at the same time. Please query first.

–We will not read any material previously published online; this includes works published in other online journals or from any message board or blogs.
–While we will read submissions from everyone, the work MUST BE in English.
–Be sure to include your last name and type of submission in the subject line (Example: Kaling – Short Story Submission).
–Include a cover letter, a short bio, and your complete contact information in the body of the e-mail.
–Only attachments are accepted, either as MS Word (.doc or .rtf) or WordPerfect (.wpd) files. Pasted-in submissions WILL BE deleted.
–Send your submissions to: (replace (at) with @).

 Noemi Book Award for Poetry
http://www.noemipre ss.org/contest. html

Guidelines for Submissions
Send 48-70 pp. of poetry, along with a $25 entry fee (check or money order) made out to Noemi Press, via U.S. Postal Service, to the following address:
Noemi Book Award for Poetry
P.O. Box 1330
Mesilla Park, NM 88047
Include two title pages: one with title, acknowledgments (if applicable), name, and contact information; one with title alone. Your name must not appear anywhere in the manuscript. Current and former students, close friends, and relatives of the Noemi Press editors are not eligible to enter.
Please use a binder clip to fasten your manuscript.
Enclose an SASE for notification of winners. Manuscripts will not be returned. Revisions of entries cannot be accepted.
Poems that have been previously published individually are eligible, but manuscripts must not have been previously published as a whole. Do not submit poems that appear in a full-length book already published or under contract for publication. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable under the condition that you notify us in the event your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
All entries must be postmarked on or before March 15, 2010.

Naugatuck River Review
a journal of narrative poetry, welcomes submissions for
the Summer 2010 issue.

Submission guidelines:

The winter submission period is an open (no fee) submission and is from January
1 – March 1st at midnight.
We accept electronic submissions only through our ONLINE SUBMISSION MANAGER at
http://naugatuckriv erreviewsubmissi ons.com/

Contributors will be rewarded with a copy of the journal. We are not in a
position to pay you otherwise, but hope the journal is worth much more than the
cost of its paper.

During the submission period ONLY please submit no more than 3 unpublished
NARRATIVE poems of no more than 50 lines through the online submission manager.
Please remove your name from your file, as the poetry is read blind by our
editorial staff. Questions? Feel free to email us at
aol.com> (replace (at) with @).

Multiple submissions are discouraged, but simultaneous submissions are fine, as
long as you inform us right away if your poem is accepted elsewhere. Publishing
rights revert to the author after the initial publication period. We prefer
work that has not been previously published.

2010 Omnidawn Poetry Chapbook Contest
Judged by Elizabeth Robinson

is Omnidawn Publishing's first annual
chapbook contest
open to all poets writing in English.

Prize includes $1,000.,
Fall 2010 publication by Omnidawn &
100 complimentary copies of the chapbook.

The entry fee of $15 entitles you to a copy of
the winning chapbook if you send an SASE.

Submission period: 1/1/10 - 2/28/10.
Accepting both electronic
and postal submissions.

For details visit
www.omnidawn. com/contest

PALABRA:  
A Magazine of Chicano and Latino Literary Art

invites Chicano & Latino writers to submit short stories, flash fiction, poetry, standalone novel excerpts and short plays that explore new avenues of Chicano & Latino writing. Innovative/cross- genre/hybrid work is welcome. Especially interested in work that is fresh and takes literary risks.

Fiction and novel excerpts to 4000 words, flash fiction 3 maximum of up to 750 words each, poems 5 maximum of any length and style, plays to 15 pp. Work can be in English, Spanish, Spanglish or any combination thereof. Simultaneous submissions are okay. There is some pay. Submissions are accepted from September 1 through May 31.

Detailed guidelines and information are available on the website: www.palabralitmag. com.
Submit via USPS only to PALABRA, P.O. Box 86146, Los Angeles, CA 90086-0146. Include SASE. Manuscripts will not be returned.


PALABRA A Magazine of Chicano & Latino Literary Art

P. O. Box 86146
Los Angeles, CA 90086-0146

www.palabralitmag. com

New Madrid Summer 2010 Issue

www.newmadridjournal.org

The editors of New Madrid, Journal of Contemporary Literature invite well-crafted, compelling submissions of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction for the Summer 2010 issue. Quality is the determining factor for acceptance in New Madrid. There is no special theme for the Summer issue—the subject matter is open. We will consider work submitted between January 15 and March 15, 2010. For detailed guidelines and to access our Submission Manager, visit www.newmadridjournal.org.

 BELLDAY POETRY PRIZE
$2,000 PRIZE TO WINNING POET
http://www.belldayb ooks.com/ contest.html
Submission Deadline: March 15, 2010

CONTEST FINAL JUDGE: Lucia Perillio
Lucia Perillo has published five books of poetry, including Dangerous Life (1989), The Body Mutinies (1996), The Oldest Map with the Name America(1999) , Luck is Luck (2005) and Inseminating the Elephant (2009). She has also published one book of essays, I've Heard the Vultures Singing (2005). She has taught at four universities and was awarded a MacArthur Foundation fellowship.

Bellday Books will publish the winning book and award $2,000 and 25 copies of the book to the winning author.

Contest Rules:

• Submit a manuscript of 60-90 pages of original poetry in any style in English. The manuscript must not have been published in book or chapbook, but may contain poems that have appeared in print or on the Internet. Entries may consist of individual poems, a book-length poem or any combination of long or short poems.

• Submitted manuscript must contain 2 title pages: Name and contact information should appear on first title page only. Name should not appear anywhere else in the manuscript. Include a table of contents page, but do not send an acknowledgements page.

• Manuscript must be typed single-spaced, paginated and bound with a spring clip.

• Enclose an SASE for announcement of the winner. Manuscript cannot be returned.

• Postmark deadline: March 15, 2010.

• Include a check or money order for $25 reading fee, payable to BELLDAY BOOKS.

• Bellday Books reserves the right not to select an award winner, in which case all reading fees will be refunded.
CONTEST MAILING ADDRESS:
Bellday Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 3687
Pittsburgh, PA 15230

Potomac Review's biennial Poetry Contest

Winning poet receives $1,000 and publication. Second place takes home $250 and publication. All entries will be considered for publication and given a one year subscription. Published poems will appear in our Best American Series recognized journal, next to Elizabeth Spires, David Wagoner, and other great poets we've published.
Finalists will be announced two weeks after our Feb. 1st deadline. For more info, see our guidelines or read below.
Send up to 3 poems (up to 6 pages) along with $20 reading fee payable to Montgomery College/Potomac Review. All entrants will receive a one-year (2 issues) subscription to the Potomac Review.

Put author's name and address on the cover letter only. Include a cover letter (including contact info and names of poems), and a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) for contest results. Entries will not be returned.
All poems must be typed and previously unpublished; no name or address should appear on the poems themselves.
Online submissions are accepted at <http://www.potomacr eview.org/ prsp/>by submitting under the genre "contest," although your entry fee will still have to be received through the mail.
Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please note this in your cover letter and notify us immediately of acceptance elsewhere.

Contest deadline is February 1, 2010.
Winners announced February 15, 2010.
The winning poem will appear in the upcoming issue of Potomac Review.

The second place poem will be published on the Potomac Review website. Semifinalists will be listed on the website and considered for online and print publication.

urban stele #3

my orisha took me for a walk/led me
by the tongue - a long leash of ambient
etymology/a nubian nucleosynthesis.

this is how we get down,
a tether of speech and asemic languages;
eldest africa in the aeriform:

two dope boys in a cataract speaking
isangamo slang in spatial poetry, where
shared voices flare in asymmetric spaces.

my orisha took me for a walk/talked
of eddie hazel of houngans of octavia,
of blount of waymon of bearden

of other hyperbolic mysticisms;
2 sesquipedalic spell casters 
                 - servants unto each other.

my new blues name...

i envision myself 30 years from now as an old ass man
walking the streets with a near-busted guitar strapped
across my shoulders/beard nappy, grizzled and gray...
dreadlocks dragging the ground behind me as i walk,
sweeping up behind me... yeah... hell, yeah...

think ima change my name to sumphn like
little-tourettes "plantain" nkrumah... or blind-sugarcane lumumba...
(its tradition that a good blues name have an infliction, the name of a fruit and the name of a president
in order to be considered 'the real thing'  - and yes, nkrumah is a president, obama might be america's
'first black president' but africa been having 'em ever since the end (supposedly) of colonialism...

really, i'm wantin to write a poem from this perspective... talkabout how a juke burnt down around him
while he still played/came up out the flames smokin'/harmonica at his lips...

might even write his 'ending' - have all'a his wimmins show up at his eulogy...

always wanted a woman in black to fall on my casket with bright red panties showing as my wife and kids
looked on wonderin' just who the fuck this woman was to me... maybe have 2 or 3 of 'em do this.

- crystal says this fantasy is OUT and can give up the ghost on that bullshit nonsense.
if i hafta... i mean, i hear you baby!

so, anyway... who would you be if you could be a b.b.? what is your blues identity?

it's an age-old story:

the hebrew interpretation of cain and abel suggests that cain was actually the son of the serpent that seduced eve in the garden, explaining his 'evil' nature...

thats the nature of almost all sibling rivalries. in my case, my sister karen is the bad-seed and im the good one (however, in my own mind, i dont die - i just beat the shit outta her - its payback... or karma... but belee me, she has it coming/she's earned it.)

its actually a beautiful feud; i think we both enjoy 'cant standing' each other sometimes. where we grew up, thats how we showed familial affection - a scratch, a bruise, a scar, etc (except mama - there was none of that shit going on between her and daddy - they battled, but it was more like tupac vs. biggie/west coast vs. east coast; all stage/no street)

karen whines that i had a small milkcrate sized tv in my room and she didnt, tho she's 5 years older and was old anuff to work and buy her own damn tv... crybaby.

i whined that she's the reason i dont like poets and have refused to call myself one, even tho i've been writing poetry for 20 years - karen was a poet, but because i couldnt stand her those emotions bled over blanketing all poets everywhere... plus, the poets she hung out with were fullashit (except mary, mary was cool/she still cool!)

i dont know why but karen gave up trynta kill me in my bassinet as well as consistently writing poetry some years ago... incompetence, maybe?
but she started channeling her inner Malissia Pettway and has been making art-quilts professionally for several years.

but i love my sista. and from this day forward i promise to stop referring to her as "that ol' stankhead heffa" behind her back... i mean, we're 'grown' now right?
bygones anshit.

anyway, i pulled a book off the shelf yesterday to take to louisville while crys teaches at spalding university for the week, 'halala madiba: nelson mandela in poetry'. as poetry editor for mythium i'm always looking out for black and other ethnic writers, researching the genre, what's out there and in what form... halala madiba is pretty thick volume of work full of many familiar favorites: Keorapetse Kgositsile, Kamau Braithwaite, Ntozake Shange, Wole Soyinka, Kalamu ya Salaam, Karen Davis, Haki Madhu- -wait!- KAREN DAVIS?
WHAT'S THAT STANKHEAD HEFFA DOIN' UPPINNAIR?!?!?

"caint i have a day of peace without having that ol' albatross show up and ruin my day?

damn...

well... let me see what she done did... maybe its a whole 'nother different karen davis..."

karen davis, FOR MANDELA (1988©)
(printed without permission and with complete and utter disregard for what might be said and/or done should i see karen sunday at mama's house)

The chokers of "The Resistance" foolishly
watch their hands bleed and swell against the edge
of the struggle, your life, the people
entwined like a three strand rope
tying into a hangman's noose
for the death of apartheid

_____


a real short joint, but a completely effective use of the public outrage our activists used to wear badge-like on their shoulders when condemning those who utilized oppression as a major weapon in controlling a people.

strong, eloquent and to the point... entirely reflective of karen's personality.
as a fan of poetry, i hate that there's little else publicly available for me to read of her. and as a sibling-critic, i publicly blame her absence helping to create the chasm that became 'conscientious black poetry' during the 1990's (inspired by rap-attitudes and black propaganda more than the black literary canon that dominated in the 1970's and early '80s).

in fact, there are tons of black poetry (including my own!) that have mimicked what karen had written, only we did so without simile or craft, only with poetic attitude, making us what i hated about poetry to begin with - politically superfluous and poetically empty.
(for my own endeavors, my intentions were good/i swairfogawd! and i think the maturity in my work has developed the more humility i devoted in regards to understanding the craft)
((and yes, my punctuation sucks - but to hell with all yall that might criticize, i was an art major, not an english one! plus, i take the license to call bad punctuation "my personal aesthetic" - non-grammar majors are allowed to that, right?))

strong, steady voices are few and far between in the black poetry field (at least, in what passes as 'popular' black poetry) - there are tons of talented writers out there, but we put too much of our egos and our own personae into our work... so instead, we wouldnt have this type of genuine mandela poem, we'd have (insert poet's name here) doing his/her mandela poem, playing to the crowd and not the cause.

karen's poem reminds me of the secret reasons i wanted to write to begin with; works that read well as well as attempted to make or reinforce a political/social change in society; to have work that stood on its own two (or more) feet without always having it reference back to "that poet who wrote it" for it to be accepted.
karen wrote because it mattered to her and it shows in her work.

or maybe she just got lucky, but what she coulda ever done to have earned such good karma is besides my knowing...

poetry's worst nightmare presents:

the flesh of my forearm is a dead myth
a cold rhyme/an old rune/a new ruin;
its opened pores is poetry's worst nightmare...

quick

run tell
olodumare to assemble his finest forensics
team/scrubbed into my every gray follicle:
a puss of jet blackedness, fairy tales
for a stolen people segregated from the sun.

...

on forearm's skin - sweat has a soapbox;
this recombinant phantasmagoria/a disassembled
midnight in miscegenation with the tongue

concerning these stories of skin,
what 'should' was
is.

and my sweating tongue speaks volumes.