Best of FM 2009?
It’s that time again, when Leslie and I will be going back over the past year’s poetry & fiction to select our nominees for online & small press awards. Which are your 2009 favorites so far?
Electric Literature
Literary zines providing content in a variety of formats I’ve heard of. Literary zine paying writers $1,000 per story? This you’ve got to check out: http://flavorwire.com.
Originally posted January 26, 2008
Here’s a myth-related call for submissions from Poetry Superhighway & Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center:
A Poets’ Seder
Saturday, April 26th, 2008, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, Venice CA
This is an open call for submissions for “A Poets’ Haggadah” to be produced and released as part of the “Poets’ Seder” event at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center in Venice, California on April 26th, 2008. The book will be compiled, designed and edited by Poetry Super Highway’s Rick Lupert.
The Haggadah is the book read during the Jewish Passover Seder which tells the story of Passover as well as guides participants through the ritual components of the seder.
The idea is to fill this unique book with reinterpretations of the themes and original text of Passover, written through the lenses of poets.
Submission Guidelines:
1) Send no more than three pieces of any style or length which specifically relate to one of the themes of Passover, with one of the 15 components of the Passover Seder in mind.
Some of the general themes of Passover and the seder are: Freedom, Slavery, We used to be slaves and now we’re free, Bitterness, Memory, History as memory, Telling a story, Plagues, Giving Thanks, Drinking Wine, Celebration, Praise, Festive Meal.
The 15 components of the Passover Seder and a brief explanation of each can be found here:
http://www.shalomatlanta.org/page.html?ArticleID=36809
2) Please indicate which of the 15 components of the Haggadah you have in mind with each piece you send.
3) Previously published material is ok but we’re eagerly looking for pieces which specifically relate to the themes of Passover and one of the components of the seder. (If previously published, please indicate where and when so we can properly credit.)
4) Please include a maximum 100 word bio.
5) Work may only be submitted by e-mail to submit@poetseder.com (PDF, .doc or text pasted into e-mail)
6) The deadline to submit your work is Monday, March 3rd, 2008.
7) If your work is accepted, you will receive one copy of the published book and free admission to the Poets’ Seder event at Beyond Baroque on April 26th, 2008.
8) Submission does not guarantee publication.
9) You will be notified by March 31st whether or not your work was accepted.
10) Some contributers will also be asked to participate in the Poets’ Seder event though acceptance into the book does not guarantee an invitation to read in the event. (This will mainly depend on our desire to have one piece presented for each of the 15 components of the seder as well as a desire to present varied material and the author’s ability to be at Beyond Baroque in Venice, CA on April 26th, 2008)
Need more info or clarification? Send an e-mail to info@poetseder.com
Originally posted March 25, 2007
I was delighted when Sari asked me to take on the role of fiction editor. I hope that my background will add to the texture of Fickle Muses. Although I have a basic knowledge of classic mythology, my interests lie most profoundly in third world legend and storytelling (that includes the Southwest.) As a child in Costa Rica and Guatemala, I heard tales with both indigenous and African origination. I read The Arabian Nights, Robin Hood, Zorro, Bible stories and Grimm’s fairy tales with equal relish. I’ve studied Native American writing, Southern, African American and 18th Century Gothic and “Oriental” novels, as well as post-colonial fictions from India, Korea, Japan, New Zealand and the Caribbean. In my fiction, I lean toward the mythic with a hint of magic realism and a propensity toward symbolism. As far as submissions go, what I will look for is good story telling. I want to be swept away by voice and character into another world, whether contemporary, historical or fantastic. As a grad student, I taught three semesters of creative writing. I gained more from those classes than from all of the workshops I’ve attended combined. I know that reading your submissions and deciding which stories should be published will be an extension of this learning process for me and I’m honored to be trusted in that capacity.
– Leslie Fox
Originally posted March 15, 2007
The submissions process here at Fickle Muses is an experiment.
Before starting FM, I was on staff at a few magazines that selected work through committees. The process was, in a sense, objective – while our tastes might not always agree, we could generally agree on how skillfully a piece was written, how adept its technique.
But something is lost in this objectivity. For me, the most important thing writing can do is evoke feeling and thought – not exactly the best measures for impartial deliberation. In those cases where one or two committee members felt strongly about accepting a piece that others rejected because it needed a bit of polish, I think we may have lost something truly valuable, even if I happened to be one of the naysayers.
So in starting Fickle Muses, I decided on an intentionally subjective selection process. Though objective quality of writing is still a factor, I’m more apt to accept a moving piece with a few loose threads than a highly skilled piece that doesn’t touch me.
(In other words, a rejection from FM is as likely to mean the submission doesn’t suit my tastes as my standards. Good work, I hope, will find a good home with the right editor.)
Back to the experiment: If an editor creates a magazine that s/he wants to read, will other readers enjoy it too? The conclusion, dear reader, is up to you.
– Sari
Originally posted February 15, 2007
Getting published takes a great deal of perseverance, talent, and plain old good luck. You’ve heard it before – submitting requires a thick skin.
For my part, I have two remedies for the rejection blues – a Wall of Rejection next to my computer, papered with notes of all colors, shapes, and sizes, and a healthy dose of sarcasm, which the well-intentioned insipidity of the standardized rejection letter provides excellent fodder for. Here’s a sample of the latter (you can guess which parts came from actual rejection slips):
Dear_____,
We regret that we are unable to publish your work at this time. We were just on the point of accepting it when an entire battle fleet of Martians burst into our office, pointed their ray guns at our heads, and said: “If you value your lives, the lives of your families, and the survival of the human species, REJECT THAT SUBMISSION!”
Your interest in independent publishing is important to our journal. Subscribe now at a discounted rate offered as a thank-you to our submitters, and help us meet our goal of hiring a private army to rid the publishing industry of the threat of Martian censorship once and for all!
Sincerely,
The Editors
– Sari
Editor
Sari Krosinsky lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her partner and two cats.
She received a B.A. in religious studies and a M.A. in creative writing from the University of New Mexico. Her poems have appeared in Poesia, Pebble Lake Review, The American Poetry Journal, Arsenic Lobster, Verse Daily, and others. Fiction Editor
Leslie Fox lived in Central America during her formative years and in New Mexico since the mid-70s – before it was cool.
She writes novels, short stories, plays, screenplays and creative nonfiction. Some of her short fiction has appeared in The Medical Muse, red. a journal of arts, Earth’s Daughters and Earthships: A New Mecca Poetry Collection. She has a M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of New Mexico.Art Editor
Dianne Schlies is a practicing artist and has taught studio art since 1986. She received her M.F.A. from SMU at Dallas, Texas in 1990. She has studied or worked with David Bates, Mel Bochner, Squeak Carnwath, Harmony Hammond, Ed Harris, Joyce Kozloff, Mary Ellen Mark, Duane Michals and Robert Rauschenberg. Schlies presently teaches Drawing and 2-D Design in Albuquerque, New Mexico.