Monday, May 09, 2005
Some Sub calls
Just thought to throw a few calls for proposals/submissions up here for anyone who might be interested in such a thing: in the grand spirit of self-promotion, there is the regular call for submissions at Triplopia: our next two issues are themed "Noise" and "Heat," respectively, and the reading period for the first is open until June 1st. The second, "Heat," opens July 15th and continues until September 1st, though if you've a proposal, we'll file it. Poetry is always welcome, but we are especially keen on anyone who can take up the task of poetry reviews, or well thought out articles on poetic form, or any issue pertinent to contemporary poetics. We do work fairly closely with our writers, so if the proposal is still a bit sketchy, but you've the time to work on such a project, do float it by us. E-mail for that is editor AT triplopia DOT org.
An interesting call for proposals over at Scan your Skin, a project that is putting together a multi-media presentation centered around the subject of our largest organ. Their original deadline of March 31st has been extended to May 31st, so there's still time to get something into them, if you're interested. Quote taken from their project message: "SyS wants to explore this territory from different points of view. Creative personalities will suggest artistic interpretations of the project message, thus offering their own reading of the human skin. Photography, graphic arts, the written word; a bold, abstract approach or a sober and realistic one - each contribution will be a key component of this multifaceted jigsaw puzzle. The goal is to build a well-structured picture of human skin as a concept/research object. The final work will be published in a book and distributed to selected retailers all over the world." Follow the above link for the entire project message.
Dee Rimbaud is putting together an anthology under the working title of "The Book of Hopes and Dreams," and the deadline is 30th June 2005. The proceeds of this book are to go to Spirit Aid, a UK based charity that describes itself as "a humanitarian relief organisation dedicated to alleviating the suffering of children and young people whose lives have been devastated by war, poverty, genocide, ethnic cleansing and all forms of abuse." For more information on this charity, follow the link provided above, and of course, if anyone has more information on Spirit Aid, comments are quite welcome. "The Book of Hopes and Dreams" carries a title that is bound to cause a few nervous tics among skeptics and cynics (and I count myself among those, at least in my worst moments...), but does show some promise of avoiding the "Chicken Soup" syndrome, largely on the basis of Dee Rimbaud's own writing history, and also based on Rimbaud's mission statement: "what I’m looking for is work that is transcendent or uplifting in nature: poetry, prose, short stories, true stories, essays, articles and artwork that are both inspired and inspirational. At the same time, submissions are required to be rigorous, well-crafted and if not actually grounded in, at least tethered to reality, whatever you may perceive reality to be. Your ‘reality’ can be as gritty or as strange as you like, as long as the work as a whole is powered by hopes, dreams and ideals." "Gritty" gives me some, erm, hope for this one, as I'm sure there are others who have thought their own hopes out, and grounded same in something approaching rational belief. Biggest drawback on this one is the requirement that all submissions be made via snail mail, and the fact that it's based in the UK. If that doesn't put you off the scent, the full guidelines may be read here.
Finally, for the parents out there, an interesting sub call for an anthology on reflective parenting under the working title of "Think Aloud." Quoting from their sub call: "We are looking for thoughtful and authentic responses (1,200-1,500 words) to ontological issues in parenting that aren’t commonly addressed in popular handbooks on childrearing...We are not interested in: Humorous anecdotes, cute or cliché stories, parenting tips/advice, lists of parenting do’s and don’ts, persuasive or dogmatic essays, overly academic papers, gimicky writing or topics that are too general." The deadline for this one is August 1st, and although I have not located a web page for same, full submission guidelines, in the form of a pfd, may be requested by sending an e-mail with the subject field "Think-aloud" to dadaredux AT hotmail DOT com.
Finally, some reading--a pretty cool blog entry re: the foetry.com 'outing'.
Happy subbing. Tchitch
An interesting call for proposals over at Scan your Skin, a project that is putting together a multi-media presentation centered around the subject of our largest organ. Their original deadline of March 31st has been extended to May 31st, so there's still time to get something into them, if you're interested. Quote taken from their project message: "SyS wants to explore this territory from different points of view. Creative personalities will suggest artistic interpretations of the project message, thus offering their own reading of the human skin. Photography, graphic arts, the written word; a bold, abstract approach or a sober and realistic one - each contribution will be a key component of this multifaceted jigsaw puzzle. The goal is to build a well-structured picture of human skin as a concept/research object. The final work will be published in a book and distributed to selected retailers all over the world." Follow the above link for the entire project message.
Dee Rimbaud is putting together an anthology under the working title of "The Book of Hopes and Dreams," and the deadline is 30th June 2005. The proceeds of this book are to go to Spirit Aid, a UK based charity that describes itself as "a humanitarian relief organisation dedicated to alleviating the suffering of children and young people whose lives have been devastated by war, poverty, genocide, ethnic cleansing and all forms of abuse." For more information on this charity, follow the link provided above, and of course, if anyone has more information on Spirit Aid, comments are quite welcome. "The Book of Hopes and Dreams" carries a title that is bound to cause a few nervous tics among skeptics and cynics (and I count myself among those, at least in my worst moments...), but does show some promise of avoiding the "Chicken Soup" syndrome, largely on the basis of Dee Rimbaud's own writing history, and also based on Rimbaud's mission statement: "what I’m looking for is work that is transcendent or uplifting in nature: poetry, prose, short stories, true stories, essays, articles and artwork that are both inspired and inspirational. At the same time, submissions are required to be rigorous, well-crafted and if not actually grounded in, at least tethered to reality, whatever you may perceive reality to be. Your ‘reality’ can be as gritty or as strange as you like, as long as the work as a whole is powered by hopes, dreams and ideals." "Gritty" gives me some, erm, hope for this one, as I'm sure there are others who have thought their own hopes out, and grounded same in something approaching rational belief. Biggest drawback on this one is the requirement that all submissions be made via snail mail, and the fact that it's based in the UK. If that doesn't put you off the scent, the full guidelines may be read here.
Finally, for the parents out there, an interesting sub call for an anthology on reflective parenting under the working title of "Think Aloud." Quoting from their sub call: "We are looking for thoughtful and authentic responses (1,200-1,500 words) to ontological issues in parenting that aren’t commonly addressed in popular handbooks on childrearing...We are not interested in: Humorous anecdotes, cute or cliché stories, parenting tips/advice, lists of parenting do’s and don’ts, persuasive or dogmatic essays, overly academic papers, gimicky writing or topics that are too general." The deadline for this one is August 1st, and although I have not located a web page for same, full submission guidelines, in the form of a pfd, may be requested by sending an e-mail with the subject field "Think-aloud" to dadaredux AT hotmail DOT com.
Finally, some reading--a pretty cool blog entry re: the foetry.com 'outing'.
Happy subbing. Tchitch
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Allen Ginsberg Retrospective
After the recent death of Hunter S. Thompson, (& a reading challenge to all to spot the Thompson tribute over at the most recent Yawp) I've been finding myself thinking about a lot of those folks I read as a teenager, those writers in relationship to whom I would be more likely to use the word 'adore,' rather than 'respect,' the ones that made me see that writing was everyone's business, and everyone's right, in terms of legacy. Bit odd, really, because, although the writers I have in mind were preceded by another group of writers, many pulled from the genre of horror (hey, I was 13...and I did learn many things about time and perspective from the writings of Stephen King, though I haven't picked anything up by him since I read Different Seasons before it came out in paperback...), these were the writers who were not only fun to read, but who showed me that it was my art, too. 'You're a genius all the time,' and all that. What's odd about thinking about them only recently in terms of legacy (and Kerouac has always been legacy for me) is that many of these writers preceeded Thompson into death--writers like Kesey (v. big one for me), Burroughs, Brautigan, Ginsberg...you get the picture--and while Tom Wolfe isn't dead, after picking up the Bad Sex award, he might as well be. Thing is, I haven't really been compelled to review any of their work. It's like a teenage love affair...who wants to find out that the fox you used to drool (and worse) over in those lonely, hormone-driven nights has turned out to be a dumpy housewife type who has never ventured further than 50 miles from her hometown? With Thompson, between being genuinely interested in his writing, especially that masterwork, F&L in Las Vegas, and the fact that the book that propelled him into the national spotlight, Hell's Angels, happened to be laying around my house, I recently cracked some of his work open again, and was honestly thinking about how his work might be assessed 50 years from now. No conclusions, just a bit of startledness on my part to be thinking of him in those terms.
All of which is a much longer wind-up than I'd meant to post to lead to a rather interesting blog entry over at Philly Sound, 3rd entry from the top in the April archives, entitled "How Some Stand on ALLEN GINSBERG Today". Interesting cross-section of reflections on a poet who did indeed open up some new spaces in American poetics, but one whose lack of discipline left many, myself included, cold near the end of his career.
Still, maybe it's time to crunch through Howl again. When I do, though, I think this time I'll be reading while wielding a red pen...just for kicks.
Thoughts, on a slow day. --tchitch.
All of which is a much longer wind-up than I'd meant to post to lead to a rather interesting blog entry over at Philly Sound, 3rd entry from the top in the April archives, entitled "How Some Stand on ALLEN GINSBERG Today". Interesting cross-section of reflections on a poet who did indeed open up some new spaces in American poetics, but one whose lack of discipline left many, myself included, cold near the end of his career.
Still, maybe it's time to crunch through Howl again. When I do, though, I think this time I'll be reading while wielding a red pen...just for kicks.
Thoughts, on a slow day. --tchitch.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Son, she said, have I got a little story for you...
oh ye-eah, I-ay-I'm still alive...and after a week of no communication, I'm swamped...but, wanted to alert you to two new additions to the sidebar, where you can go see work of mine: a poem, Madrid, and a prose piece entitled In the Hands of the Living God. Enjoy, and more soon.
Tchitch.
Tchitch.
