News in Poetry

Do you get the weekly newsletter from The Review Review? (If not, you can sign up here.) I've been getting it for a month or so now, and every issue has linked me with articles and resources that are useful or interesting.

For instance, this week they report on The Grinder, a site aiming to take over the void left when Duotrope became a fee-oriented tracking service and database, keeping many cash-strapped writers from being able to use their once-free services any longer. Right now The Grinder is only up and running for fiction markets, but it plans to add poetry and non-fiction soon.

In other news, Ocean Vuong, a young poet I admire and whose name is the name as one of my sons and for just about the same reason, is intereviewed at The Well & Often Reader.

Poetry Kanto, Japan's longest-running bilingual journal (which counts among its impressive list of past contributors Jane Hirshfield, Alicia Ostriker, Ilya Kaminsky, and Judy Halebsky) has recently become an online journal, leaving behind its paper history. They have a call for submissions out now; submit 3-5 poems before June.

Harpur Palate, another journal I routinely enjoy, is calling for submissions for a "country living themed issue." If you've got something related, or could write something, give them a try.

Finally, not exactly breaking news but news to me nonetheless, Flavorwire has some crazy punctuation marks to consider. Do you know the ElRey mark, for example? When you want to express equivocal enthusiasm, use this:

And, unfortunately too late for Valentine's Day, we learn of the Love Point:

And who doesn't need a sarcasm mark?:

Flavorwire has seven other obscure punctuation marks, and you can find more such marks at my blogpost from 2011 called "Recognize these Puncs?"

Three+ Poetry Ideas

Today, three good poetry ideas.

First, Poetry Kanto editor Alan Botsford announced on his website that the submission period is open for the 2012 issue from December through April or May. Poetry Kanto is a high-quality bilingual print journal out of Kanto Gakuin University, and has featured poets such as Jane Hirschfield, Mari L'Esperance, Alicia Ostriker, and Judy Halebsky. If you want to see your poem alongside work in Japanese as well as in English, you'll want to submit to this gorgeous print journal.

Second, if you don't already subscribe to Diane Lockward's *free* monthly online newsletter, you'll want to sign up now (go to her blog, scroll down and keep your eye out for the newsletter sign-up on the right side). This month Lockward features a craft tip from Alicia Ostriker called "Confronting Your Fears."  Ostriker includes such insights as "The idea that poets neither conquer nor surrender to their fears, but use them, and find form through them—to me that is brilliant. Because fears—notice the plural—are part of our deepest selves. We have fears from the time we are born," and "And a mantra in my writing workshops is 'Write what you are afraid to write.' It is a lifelong task. Use the fears. Bring them up from the subconscious, and find the words, find the form." You'll want to read the entire piece and get some writing prompts from the master Ostriker.

Plus Lockward's newsletter this month features the link to Charles Bernstein's Experiments page, and other interesting online resources. You really do want to receive this monthly newsletter, so sign up now.

Third, subscribe to the journal Hoot: a postcard review of {mini} poetry and prose to get one postcard per month featuring fiction, non-fiction, poetry and prose in under 150 words. That's under 150 words for the entire journal, which fits on a single postcard. Come on, even you have time for that! Consider submitting there too, with poems under 10 lines, and prose under 150 words.

So 3+ good poetry ideas for a Sunday morning (Japan time). Enjoy!