Literary Times Plus, the childrens magazine, has appointed a new poet-in-residence, Paul Cookson. Click here for more details.

October will be Shine a Light on Poetry month at PWB. Each day I will spotlight a new blog off our blogroll. Your challenge is to then visit that blog and show some support for that blogger.

I obviously can only pick a small percentage of our blog list to highlight but I hope to get a good mix of different styles. Please take the time to visit some of these sites and show the bloggers that PWB works.

Note- When looking for poems for the September Collection, I found a lot of bad links on our list. I am going to have to delete those blogs, when I find the time. If you would like to readded, leave a message. I check my email sporadically so it could be a while before I can get back to anyone. I found blogs only open to invited readers and blogs that were erased. I want the list to be of blogs that have poetry so it will have to be fixed, as soon as I find time to dive into it and get it right. Please USE the list, when you can, so that the effort I make to make it better is for a good cause.

PWB Poetry Collection- September

This is the fourth month of this feature at PWB.

The idea is to list twenty poems, from different bloggers on our blogroll, that I have found enjoyable.They are not listed in any particular order. Do not submit poems to me for this feature.

Please check out some of these poems and leave comments. If there is a positive response then I will continue this next month. It takes about two hours to compile this list so please, if you have time, take a moment to stop in to some of the blogs listed below.

Thank you for supporting PWB and making it a wonderful haven for poets in the blogosphere.

1. Dementia: Forgotten Sounds by Phuoc-Tan Diep
2.Drowning by Noah the Great
3. Haiku LIX by Wordcrafter
4. Vernix by Paisley
5.Homeless by Angelica
6.Flooding by Corinne Elizabeth
7.Whence by The Mad Celt
8. A Poem for Tuesday by Constance Brewer
9.Smoke from Muse Kissed Lips
10. Never to be by Fenny
11.Untitled by John Barthel
12. September 5,2008 by GRH
13. Topography by Heather
14.Unleashed by Rachel Clark
15. Poisin by Craft Green Poet
16. Writer's Prayer by Tiel Aisha Ansari
17. Untitled Brief Poem by Brian
18. Black by Lissa
19. Broken Body, Shattered Mind by Jane Doe
20. Versus by Adi

Congrats, Tim Green!

Tim Green, who edits Rattle Magazine, will have his first book length collection published by Red Hen Press in January 2009. It will be titled American Factual. Check it out if you get a chance.

Ever try the poetry form Cleave?

A poet who just joined PWB created a poetic form in 2006. Its called Cleave.


How to read a Cleave poem?


1. Read the left hand poem as a first discrete poem.
2. Read the right hand poem as a second discrete poem.
3. Read the whole as a third integrated poem.


To get a better understanding of this type of poetry, and maybe try one yourself visit The Cleave

Have you checked out Moondance's Summer Issue yet? To read their featured poetry, click here.

Bird's Eye reView, a new online literary journal, seek submissed.

Deadline December 1.

They are looking for "strong narrative poetry based out of personal experiences."

Editors say, "We believe everyone has a story to tell and a unique voice with which to tell it." Formal and free verse both welcome, but no experimental or avant-garde work. Send 1-5 unpublished poems by mail or email.


Click here for more details.

Anyone a member of Neopoets?

Its an online international poetry community.

Congrats, Benjamin Taylor Lally!

Benjamin Taylor Lally was named the winner of the seventh annual Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest sponsored by Winning Writers for his poem First Edition, 2008.

PWB wishes Mr. Lally congrats on his win!

Little Lovin' Monday is a day we celebrate the work of fellow artists.

We share our work and hope others will enjoy it. Online, comments let us know our work has been read and appreciated. On Monday, come by BES and check out the links to works published by your peers.

Beginning on Saturday through Tuesday evenings, post a link to previously posted work that generated zero to few comments. Works can be short stories, essays, poetry or visual art.

On Monday let's have a marathon posting of comments. Show even greater appreciation for your fellow bloggers by commenting to a new piece as well as the shared link.

*For definition purposes, older will be any post that is no longer visible on your front page.

To take part in Little Lovin Monday, please visit Black-eyed Susan's.

A poet stopped by last month and left a link to his blog. He blogs villanelle poems. Check it out by clicking here.

Tell him PWB sent you.

Ever visited the site Classic Poetry Aloud? If not, you can click here to check it out.

If you have published two collections of poetry think of submitting your second to the Barnard New Women Poetry Prize contest. This prize "is given every other year for an exceptional second collection of poems written by an American woman who has already published one book of poetry (in an edition of 500 copies or more). The winner will receive an honorarium of $1,500 and publication of her manuscript by W.W. Norton & Co."

Deadline is October 15th.

Everyday poets is looking for submissions. Cruise on over there to find more detials by clicking here. They will stop posting poems on November 1st.

Cruise on over to the Writer's Digest online column of Robert Lee Brewer, Poetic Asides, to read an exclusive interview with poet Sandra Beasley by by clicking here.

Tell them PWB sent you! Spread the word about us all around the blogosphere.

Sandra Beasley is the author of Theories of Falling. You can currently find her work Summer/Fall 2008 issue of Cave Wall.

Poetry News?

Send me all poetry related news that you would like shared on PWB to poetswhoblog at yahoo.com

Please make sure that you put something poetry related in your subject line.

Thank you,

Sara

Congrats, Mad Kane!

All PWB members please share your hearty congratulations with one of our very own, Mad Kane, who has recieved the great honor of taking first place in the 2008 Robert Benchley Society Award for humor. One of the judges on the panel who picked the winners was legendary actor Bob Newhart. Please stop into her blog and give her your congrats on this great honor by clicking here.

The London-Atlanta connection: poets set up a poetry and art journal



Poets Christine Swint of Atlanta, Georgia and Jo Hemmant of London, England have joined forces to set up a new poetry and art journal, ouroboros review.



The pair met while blogging. 'We are part of an online community of poets,' Christine explains. 'As we have similar attitudes to poetry, we teamed up and became writing partners. We read each other's poems and offer feedback before they are sent off to publishers. It has worked really well for us.'



A couple of months into the partnership, they decided to set up their own magazine. Ouroboros will appear online quarterly and in print biannually (a combination of winter/spring and summer/autumn issues respectively) -- using a print-on-demand service to keep costs down and save paper. Jo says, 'Ouroboros wants to be one of the first fully hybrid poetry and art magazines -- most are either in print or online. We feel this model offers the best of both worlds.'



Jo worked as a managing editor for many years, for a variety of publishers, and is

excited by the prospect of combining her two loves: poetry and publishing. Christine is a former high school Spanish teacher who studied English and Spanish literature. She has written poems and stories all her life, loves to read, and is excited about discovering new authors to share with others.



The editors say that ouroboros will showcase new, emerging and established poets who are passionate about art and craft. They believe that a strong poem speaks for itself. 'Poets shouldn't need a cv with a long list of publishing credits,' says Christine. 'We are happy to work with writers who are not widely published, if at all.' Jo agrees, 'It's about use of language. We want to read vivid, modern poems with impact, poems that change our perceptions.'

The submission call for the maiden issue reads: 'Poets — got rhythm, does your work sing, play the piano, dance? Do you paint amazing visuals with words? Experimental, concrete, satirical, lyrical, narrative, prose poem, if it's different and really speaks out, send it in, we'd love to publish you.'

Ouroboros is also keen to publish art works – digital art, photography, paintings. They are interested in work that reflects the poetry of visual images -- representational, narrative, mythic or abstract expressionism.

The deadline for submissions is November 10th. The first issue will be online in early December. For further information and detailed guidelines, visit the journal's blog at ouroborosreview.

The New Plains Review is seeking stories, essays and poems on the subject of writing workshops and MFA experiences for its fall issue, devoted to the theme of how writers grow--or not--in educational settings.

Submit original work by email to Editor Douglas Goetsch at douglasgoetsch(at)gmail.com (replace (at) with @)(as Word attachment or typed into the body of the email); or send hard copy to
Submissions
New Plains Review
100 N. University Dr., Box 184
Edmond, OK, 73034.

Deadline is Sept. 24, 2008. Note: Will consider previously published work if the author owns the rights to it.

Another Lend a Line Poem

Emilio used my line to write the following poem. Thanks, Emilio! To read more of his work, please visit Fragments of Reality.

SCREECHING

Like ice scraping against the glass, glass, glass
He moves reluctantly
Scuffing, lifting
The soles of his shoes
Along the boulevard

Finally reaching
The place to sleep
A little Volkswagen
Parked in the 24 hour
Grocery store lot

Leaning back
As far as he can
Instead of sleep
He thinks and weeps

Hearing the parking lot
Guard pass
His mind is screeching
Like ice scraping against
The glass

You can use Poetryvisualized.com to add graphics and sound to your poems. Read about the site here and visit it by clicking here.

The Urban Poetry Project is seeking submissions. Click here for details.

The Favorite Poem Project sought out Americans to submit their favorite poem, and to tell a little bit about themselves and about the poem they chose. In one year, 18,000 Americans took part. Several collections were born from the project. Click here to find links to Americans reading and discussing their favorite poems, and an interactive gallery for viewing the favorite poems.

Call for Poetry for the Punto Poetry Project

The Punto Poetry Project, "an intergenerational anthology that will reflect the historic & expansive contribution of Latina/os to the art of performance poetry," is seeking submissions, postmarked no later than November 2, 2008.

Click here to learn more about this project.

Third Lend a Line Poem

This poem uses Emilio's donated line as a the first one.



CATFIGHT



Barking neon illuminates
the trash strewn street – dogs
crying for night;

the city burns
under their electric canine piss.
The Quarter hums,

poised, stomach tight,
bracing herself for a sadistic
sideways rain lashing.

Neon and souls
still churn inside her flesh,
clutching at beads

which soon float
as shiny plastic rainbow legions
inside new rivers

that flow where
rivers didn't used to flow
with asphalt avenues

for riverbeds. She
is held underwater until she
loses thirteen hundred

souls. A cosmic
catfight: her versus Katrina. Nails
and hair are

flying in a
whirlwind of chaos. She falls,
bruised and bloodied,

onto the earth.
Even now, she still tends
to her wounds.

But she is not dead yet.



By Nicole Nicholson from

Raven's Wing Poetry

You may purchase her new chapbook, Raven's Feathers, by visiting here

Have young kids? Well then you might want to read Home Appreciation by Susan Thomsen. The article, posted at the Poetry Foundation, talks about spreading the joy of poetry to children, specifically those that are home schooled.

Click here to read the article.

Ever been to Litstation? Its an " online radio station dedicated to streaming the best radio and archival work done in the literary arts" founded by Jim Finnegan. Finnegan is the founder of Brick Walk Poets.

Click here to check out LitStation's schedule.

Say hello to the newest poet to join PWB by stopping by The Storialist.

Make this poet feel welcome among the ranks of PWB members. This site works when poets like you make it work.

Thanks!

Sara

Lend a Line Poem Two

This poem uses Raven's line, just like the last one did, as the first line in a new poem.

Rising ...


Trailing her midnight cloak behind

an ache for flight she spirals rage,

flays time with scorn though it's blind

trailing her, midnight cloak behind



her now. Caught in the wires, unkind

visions and a drowning madman age

trailing, her midnight cloak – behind

an ache for flight. She spirals. Rage.




By Shell from Forget Me Now

Thank you to our Poetry Prompt Friends

Well I just found out that facebook had a National Poetry Prompt Appreciation Day
on August 8th. Though PWB is one month late in recognizing it, I would like to take a moment to think all the sites that put prompts out. Those sites work tirelessly to bring the poetry blogosphere together. Your work is appreciated by myself and many more.

Thank you!

First Lend a Line Poem

Hello poets. Recently we started a project where you can lend a line from one of your poems to be the first line used in a new poem. Punatik from Fragments of Reality used
Raven's line to write the following poem:


Moonlight by Emilio

Trailing her midnight cloak behind
She move within the circle
Passing by the sigils
She speaks words
Of a tongue
Long thought lost

The light of the moon
Casts a glow
On censer, book, and sword
She performs the
Ancient ritual
No one is ever told

Of questions asked
Or answers given
They are for her alone
She is the triple Goddess
Maiden, Mother, Crone

OPEN ISSUE for Writers over 50
Submit work: June 1 - September 15 (postmarked date)

Results announced (projected date): November, 2008

No reading fee for Open Issue submissions; 3-5 poems, 50 lines max. per poem; or, Short fiction, all stories totaling no more than 4,000 words; or, one Memoir, or a series, 4,000 words max. in total.

Include cover letter and brief bio. Include name and address on all pages. All work must be accompanied by a Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope (SASE) with sufficient postage for reply/work return.

No previously published work. Simultaneous submissions to other journals are okay, but please notify if the work is accepted elsewhere.

No email submissions, inquiries only.

If you need more information, send an email: (replace (at) with @), or call: 410.837.6047. Send all submissions to: Passager; 1420 N. Charles Street; Baltimore, MD 21201-5779

Click here to read "The Professionalization of Poetry" by David Alpaugh, an article that orginally appeared in Poets and Writers Magazine.

Lend a line poem

I orginally read about this concept at Read. Write. Poem.

What you do is find a line from one of your poems and donate it to other poets to use by leaving it in the comments section. All other poets are allowed to take that line and use it as the first one in their own poem.

Send your completed new poem to poetswhoblog at yahoo. com to be posted on this site, along with your screen name and the link to your poetry blog.

Cruise on by Embargopoets to read the English translations of poems written by poets in countries that have embargoes with the United States.Click here to visit them.

A great way to spread the word about PWB is when you visit a site you heard about here make sure you leave the comment:

Poets Who Blog sent me.

Thanks!

Good news, PWB members, after a haitus from blogging, KM Ryan will soon start updating again. Click here to visit Mind on Display.

Barrelhouse, a literary magazine with a pop-culture twist, seeks unpublished poetry, fiction and essays on the theme of "The Future". Editors say: "Barrelhouse, like any writer with a hint of an alcohol problem, both loves and dreads the future. But who cares what we think? What are your thoughts on the topic? Got a great story about what the world will be like in 2327? Got a super essay delineating why the hover board is not yet flying off the shelves of your local Toys R’ Us? Got an amazing poem about what type of programming will dominate network television schedules in the next millennium? When it comes to writing about the future, the possibilities are virtually limitless....

A quick note: Please keep in mind this is not exactly a sci-fi writing contest. That isn’t to say we won’t publish an awesome future-oriented sci-fi story if you’ve got one, but keep in mind Barrelhouse is a little more interested in people than in plot, in personal connections with ideas than in personal connections with crazy aliens who have three penises (though if you could effectively work that into an essay or story we’d love to read it).The future is about lots of things, including what might happen next week, with you and that bike messenger with the tattoo of Gary Coleman on his calf, or when your kids go to college, or when Ryan Seacrest is finally crowned King of America."

Deadline - Must be recieved by September 12th

Poetry Contest

Poets for Human Rights has announced to annual contests- Anita McAndrews Award Poetry Contest and the Alexander Popoff Youth Award Poetry Contest.
Click here for details.

Bogie's Delicatessen, in Memphis, Tennessee, has papered its walls with poems written by children. To read an article about this called Focus: Poetry- Eating Their Words click here.

A sad announcement, PWB sister site Writers Who Blog is closing today. The site never took off and after much deliberation I just don't have the enegry to make it grow the way I should if it is to be a success. I still love the idea of it but it takes more tender loving care than I have to give. I'm still dedicated to PWB though and after a very rough summer of not being able to give this site the attention it deserves I hope to get back to taking care of it ( and responding to emails) in a much more reliable manner.


Thank you to anyone who ever stopped by Writers Who Blog. Maybe it will be resurrected one day when I am able to really give it the gas that it would need to become the site I envisioned.

Sara