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December 2012
Star*Line Pushcart Prize Nominations
The following poems published in Star*Line during 2012 were nominated for the Pushcart Prize. —F.J. Bergmann, Star*Line editor
Star*Line 35.2
“LOL_ALIENS” by Elizabeth Barrette
Star*Line 35.3
“Crackling Octopus” by Jessy Randall
“Regrets Only” by Jeanie Tomasko
“Casting the Future” by Serena Fusek
Star*Line 35.4
“Cognizance: A Triptych” by Kurt MacPhearson
“In this House of Sinners” by Isaac Black
November 2012
Eye to the Telescope Pushcart Nominations
The following poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by their respective editors. Thanks to editors & authors for making this such a great collection of nominated poems. I hope some of them win! —David C.Kopaska-Merkel
Eye
to the Telescope 3, January 2012
“Something super” by Mary Alexandra Agner.
“The viper stands watch” by Natasha Kochicheril Moni.
Eye
to the Telescope 4, April 2012
“There once was a werewolf named Dinah” by P. Andrew Miller.
“Lullaby for arachnophobes” by Ann K. Schwader.
Eye
to the Telescope 5, July 2012
“Transmutation” by Linda D. Addison.
Eye
to the Telescope 6, October 2012
“Dark revelation” by Fred Phillips.
October 2012
Rattle Speculative Poetry issue
Tribute to Speculative Poetry
September 2012
SFPA at H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival
SFPA members Denise Dumars and Lao American writer Bryan Thao Worra will
be guests at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival September 28–29 in
Los Angeles.
The H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival promotes the works of American science fiction
and horror author H.P. Lovecraft through motion pictures by both professionals
and amateurs, current and classic, national and international. hplfilmfestival.com
LeRoy Gorman Appointed
The American Haiku Archives advisory board is pleased
to announce the appointment of LeRoy Gorman as the 2012–2013 honorary curator
of the American Haiku Archives in Sacramento, CA.
americanhaikuarchives.org/curators/LeroyGorman.html
Online Halloween 2012 Poetry Reading
Again this year, I am coordinating
the SFPA Halloween
Poetry Reading on
our website. All SFPA members are welcome to submit one audio file per
person of themselves reading one of their spooky, haunting, ghoulish,
or humorous Halloween poems.
Submissions should include the audio file and a short text blurb to go with it that includes any or all of the following: intro to the poem and where/when it was first published, intro to the poet, a website or blog link, and mention of a recent publication (collection, anthology, book) with a link to purchasing information. See the Halloween page for examples.
The purposes of the Halloween Poetry Reading are to present enjoyable speculative poetry to a broader audience, to increase awareness of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, its website, activities and membership benefits, and to promote the individual poets who take part. Participation is voluntary and unpaid. The SFPA acquires one-time audio rights only. (For the purposes of Rhysling Award nominations, posting on the Halloween page counts as publication.)
Please keep in mind when selecting a poem to record that Halloween is a popular children's holiday. If I feel that there is a problem with using a specific piece, because of either the content of the poem or the quality of the recording, I will contact the poet about it directly.
Submissions and any inquiries should be sent to me, Liz Bennefeld, at sfpoetry(at)quietspaces(dot)net—contact me also if you have any graphics, spooky photos, etc., that we can for use on the 2012 page. The plan is to have this year's Halloween Poetry Reading page live by October 1, with later submissions uploaded until about a week before the holiday.
Thank you!
Liz Bennefeld
July 2012
World Horror Con GOH
Bruce Boston will be the Poet Guest of Honor at the 2013 Bram Stoker Awards/World
Horror Con, to be held June 13-16 at the (supposedly haunted) Hotel Monteleone
in the heart of the French Quarter, New Orleans, LA. stokers2013.org/guests.html
April 2012
HWA Stoker Awards
Linda Addison is the recipient of the 2012 Stoker Award for superior achievement
in poetry. Her winning collection is How to Recognize a Demon
Has Become Your
Friend (Necon E-Books, 2011).
World Horror Convention
The 2012 World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City included two poetry panels,
a poetry slam, and the inclusion of vampire-related poems in the program
book. The poetry slam on Thursday night was sparsely attended, but enthusiastic.
Poets in attendance included Linda Addison, (2012 Poetry Stoker Award
winner) Stephen M. Wilson, James Dorr, myself, and a few others sitting
in a circle and sharing our poems. The two poetry panels were better attended.
The “Poetry of the Weird from the Romantics to Lovecraft” panel on Thursday
consisted of myself, Michael R. Collings, James Dorr, and Linda Addison
and was very informative. The “How Poetry Can Influence Your Fiction Writing”
panel on Friday consisted of Marge Simon, Michael R. Collings, James Dorr
and Roberta Lannes (see photo) and provided good advice for poets and
prose writers. Finally I’d like to thank Charlie Harmon and Stephen M.
Wilson for their work getting poetry on the program, and including poems
by many of the above poets mentioned in the program book, which, by the
way, included many illustrations by Marge Simon as well. All in all the
convention was a great experience, and Salt Lake City very welcoming.
—Gary Clark
March 2012
ConDor
More on ConDor by Denise Dumars
ConDor is rapidly becoming the yearly meeting place for SF poets in Southern
California. At this year’s ConDor, held at the Town & Country Hotel on Hotel
Circle in San Diego, we were given—as we were last year—two panels on which
to practice our art and then share it. I strongly suggest that we continue
to cultivate the convention and the space, encouraging other poets to attend.
In addition to the people in Debbie’s photograph there were other members of the SFPA and the Southland Poets of the Fantastic present and accounted for who participated in the workshop and read their work. Those individuals include Scott Virtes, Kendall Evans, and Christopher Vera, and during the reading hour we did a round-robin reading from those on the panel and in the audience. Note to Sheila Finch—don’t forget your poems next time! It was awesome to have all these great poets in one room and hear their work, and the prompts that participants came up with during the workshop were awesome—especially when David Lee Summers explained the astronomical terms to those of us who may have majored in English! The workshop and the reading made the whole weekend an inspiring and worthwhile endeavor for me and I hope others who attended feel the same way.
Jim Hay, the organizer of the convention, is wonderful and very accomodating. I suggest for next year that we ask for the room upstairs in the main building where the conference is held at the Town & Country, which is a beautiful Victorian-style salon. I did attend a writing workshop in that room last year and felt it was perfect for that use, so perhaps we could request it for next year.
It’s
sad that Los Angeles-area conventions have alienated and largely rejected
poets, so our best bet at cultivating a real community of genre poets in
Southern California is to continue to cultivate and support ConDor. I hope
to see everyone again next year and hopefully even more of our members
will attend, as well as more students of genre poetry that us “old hands”
wish to inspire and teach.
ConDor Report by Deborah P Kolodji
There was a speculative poetry workshop
and reading at ConDor 2012 in San Diego, California. Panelists were David
Lee Summers, Denise Dumars, Nancy Ellis Taylor, Samantha Henderson, Deborah
P Kolodji, and Deborah Flores. After the introduction of the panelists,
Deborah Kolodji read a section from Frances Mayes' book The Discovery
of Poetry about
synesthesia, including examples. Each workshop participant drew poetry
prompts from three different cups. One prompt was a conspiracy theory,
in keeping with the 2012 ConDor theme, "Men in Black: Aliens,
Conspiracies, & Feds, Oh My!" The second prompt was a quote
from Shakespeare and the third prompt was an astronomical object. Participants
were asked to use the prompts to write a poem, including an example
of synesthesia, if possible. Some truly wonderful poems were written.
The workshop was followed by a poetry reading, done as a read-around
circle.
Right to left: David Lee Summers, Denise Dumars, Nancy Ellis Taylor, Samantha Henderson, Deborah P Kolodji, Deborah Flores
February 2012
Stoker Award Superior Achievement in Poetry, final ballot
- Addison, Linda — How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend
- Alexander, Maria — At Louche Ends: Poetry for the Decadent, the Damned & the Absinthe-Minded
- Boston, Bruce — Surrealities
- Clark, G.O — Shroud of Night
- Simon, Marge — The Mad Hattery
- Simon, Marge — Unearthly Delights
The active membership of the Horror Writers Association vote on the nominees, and the winners (in all categories) will be presented with their awards on 3/31/12 following the Stoker Award banquet. The award presentations will be streamed live on the web—details at a later date.
Poetry for SF Fans article on io9
io9.com/5885724/the-perfect-poetry-for-every-type-of-science-fiction-fan
January 2012
Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot—Poetry
MEMBER RECOMMENDATIONS:
- Alexander, Maria • At Louche Ends: Poetry for the Decadent, the Damned & the Absinthe-Minded
- Clarke, G.O • Shroud of Night
- Borski, Robert • Blood Wallah and Other Poems
- Simon, Marge • The Mad Hattery
- Ward, Kyla Lee • The Land of Bad Dreams
JURY:
- Addison, Linda • How to Recognize a Demon Has Become Your Friend
- Boston, Bruce • Surrealities
- Marshall, Helen • Skeleton Leaves
- Schwader, Ann K. • Twisted in Dream
- Simon, Marge • Unearthly Delights
At least seven of these are SFPA members. Three will move on to the Final Ballot after HWA members vote.
Mentions of Issue 3 of Eye to the Telescope
ankh-hpl.livejournal.com/98283.html
kristinberkey-abbott.blogspot.com/2012/01/persona-poems-at-eye-to-telescope.html
New York Times zombie poetry article
“What
Rhymes with Undead? Some Poets Know”
New Scientist poetry article
“Rhyme
and reason: The Victorian poet scientists”
News Guidelines
We welcome speculative poetry news from SFPA members. Appropriate items for this page include member awards and honors, news of regional member meetings, reports from SF poetry readings and workshops, media recognition of speculative poetry, etc. Photos are welcome, but choose one photo which best represents your news. Photos may be cropped or resized. Please do not send announcements of personal poetry sales. Inclusion is at the sole discretion of the webmaster. With these guidelines in mind, send news to sfpaweb@sfpoetry.com, subject line "sfpa news."