"Victims"

 

I should mention that collaborators Mary Turzillo and Marge Simon have a new book of dark poetry out, Victims, from Weasel Press. Seems like a lot of literature celebrates villains; it's a little more unusual to see the other side.

Both paper and e-versions are available, either from the publisher, or from Amazon.

This is one of the braver dark poetry collections I’ve seen in a while. Horror poets generally employ victims in their work, but the focus is generally on the Evil. Turning the camera the other way is unusual, unsettling, emotionally risky, and surprisingly effective. From their stark opening take on Pygmalion, to the ending poem about the wasted life of Stateira of Persia, this powerful collection teases apart an impressive number of the threads of victimhood. Some are the usual cases, but quite a few are surprises, or reversals, or cases with unexpected layers. There is nothing repetitive about this collection.

 —Timons Esaias

Haiku! Mary Turzillo

The 5th Not-Exactly-Annual Haiku Death Match is only 10 days away! To celebrate the countdown to the haiku contest, over the last two weeks I've been featuring a haiku (or senryu) from each of the deathmatch contestents.
Here's Mary Turzillo:

mind dark as your fur
green eyes, crimson tongue, white fangs
thanks for the dead bird

--Mary Turzillo

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And don't forget that for just a few dollars you can sponsor a haiku warrior team! To sponsor Mary, click here:

Mary Turzillo

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The Haiku deathmatch will be April 8 at 7 pm at Dobama Theatre. You can get tickets to the haiku deathmatch at the Heights Arts gallery, 2175 Lee Road, via phone at 216-371-3457, or online:
ORDER HAIKU DEATH MATCH TICKETS
$15 General public  | $10 Heights Arts members  | $15 at the door

Sponsor a haiku warrior team!

DONATE TO THE CAUSE

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Previous Haiku warriors featured:

• Ray McNiece

• Dianne Borsenik

• Michael Ceraolo

• Cordelia Eddy

• Celeste McCarty

Haiku Death Match Coming up April 8!

Spring is coming: are you ready for haiku?
Coming up on Saturday, April 8, at 7 p.m. at the Dobama Theater in Cleveland Heights: The 5th Not-Exactly-Annual Haiku Death Match, featuring haiku poets battling to prove who's the champion haiku master of Cleveland!

Haiku Death Match tickets are now available for purchase at the Heights Arts gallery, 2175 Lee Road, via phone at 216-371-3457, or online.

$15 General public  | $10 Heights Arts members  | $15 at the door

• Read more at the Heights Arts Haiku Death Match page

-But that's not all.  You can donate toward sponsoring a poet. The event is a fundraiser for Heights Arts, and each poet has a sponsor. Your donation can help

DONATE TO THE CAUSE

Or donate to join the sponsorship of one of the contestants: 

1. haiku warrior Ray McNiece

2. haiku warrior Cordelia Eddy

3. haiku warrior Geoffrey Landis

4. haiku warrior Dianne Borsenik

5. haiku warrior Christine Donofrio

6. haiku warrior Mary Turzillo

7. haiku warrior Celeste McCarty

8. haiku warrior Michael Ceraolo

Herb Kauderer interviewed

I want to give a shout out to this interview of Buffalo-area poet Herb Kauderer by Mary Turzillo:

• An Interview with Herb Kauderer

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MT:  So, are poems by nature lies, or only some of them?
HK:  That’s a marvelously metaphysical question that requires secondary definition. Is a lie only a conscious attempt to mislead? What if the teller of the lie believes it? If the latter is true, then the teller is not qualified to call it a lie or truth.
I write some poems that are intentional lies in pursuit of a greater truth. I write other poems that are as true as I can make them at the time of composition, only to find out that time has turned them into lies.
[...]
Therefore a concise answer to your question is, “only some poems are lies, but I’m not telling you which.”

The Book of Whimsy-- and Monsters

Orrery by Dianne Borsenik

OK, it's official! 
My chapbook collection of poetry, The Book of Whimsy, has now been released from Dianne Borsenik​'s NightBallet Press​. This one has 36 of my poems, mostly the funny and whimsical ones. 
Only $10.00 from NightBallet-- cheap!  (Well, plus shipping).
And, also just released, Mary​'s chapbook A Guide to Endangered Monsters. 
What more could you want?  Buy extra copies so you have one give one away to your friends!

• Monsters! Whimsy! What more could you ask for?
• NightBallet Press

Ekphrastacy: Artists Talk and Poets Respond May 21

On Thursday, May 21, Heights Arts presents

Ekphrastacy: Artists Talk + Poets Respond

 Poetry and art-- together again!

•  Ekphrasis: writing about art

Thursday, May 21, 2015; 7:00 pm at the Heights Arts gallery on Lee at Cedar

Join us for an evening with SYNCOPE exhibition artists Rachel Beamer and Achala Wali, who will share insights about their photographs and drawing on view in the gallery, as well artistic process and conceptual development.
Cleveland Heights Poet Laureate Meredith Holmes has invited four poets to respond with original works that are inspired by select imagery in the exhibition: Amy Kesegich, Robert Miltner, Mary Turzillo and I will present poems inspired by, descriptive of, or in conversation with, the works of art on display.

Ekphrastacy is always a lively time; come a bit early to get a seat and enjoy refreshments! FREE.

Heights Arts: 2175 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118

• Ekphrasis: definition
• Ekphrasis: Poetry Confronting Art
• Ekphrasis: poetry foundation

• Heights Arts on Facebook

4 for Valentine's Day: Firefly by Mary Turzillo

"Fireflies at Night", Tsukioka Kogyo (1869-1927)

Flash of joy in our wild dark life
that look
a word
the time you wrote the firefly poem.

--Mary A. Turzillo 

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4 for Valentine's Day:

• "Valentine Blues" by Marcus Bales
• "Firefly" by Mary Turzillo
• "Crash and Burn" by Geoffrey Landis
• "Greenheart" by Dianne Borsenik

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Some Beautiful 'Zines

                                        Handbow.  Image by Smith, from The City

One thing about the new era of poetry 'zines published electronically is the full-color art.  Now, a great poem is a beautiful thing even typeset in black and white, but we are living in an era when 'zines are not merely text, but works of art, with images and poetry woven together.

I was thinking about this because a couple of 'zines I follow recently came out with new issues.

 Preeminent among local 'zines with poetry and art has to be Lady Smith's The City Poetry.  The summer issue, as usual, is gorgeous, with poetry (and art) by the Cleveland poets we're all familiar with.

 In the way of fantastical poetry, Goblin Fruit's Spring Issue recently came out.  Over the years Amal & Caitlyn have featured several northeastern Ohio poets; this issue has a poem by Mary Turzillo.

And, the summer 2014 issue of Astropoetica just came out, with the art and poetry of the stars.  Two of my poems reprinted here, but still, a bittersweet issue, since Emily Gaskin, the editor, says that it will be the final issue.  For ten years Astropoetica has been the premier showcase for stellar poetry, and I'll be sad to see it conclude its run.

                                           Butterfly Nebula.  Photo by Hubble Space Telescope.

These are some of my favorites.  If you have your own favorite 'zines blending art and poetry, list them in the comments.

Best Cleveland Poem!

Ray McNiece rocks the house

Here they are, the ten finalists and three alternates for the 2nd Annual Best Cleveland Poem Contest.  Come to the Willoughby Brewing Company at 4pm this Sunday  to hear them read, orchestrated Master of Ceremonies Ray McNiece.
Please invite one or two hundred of your friends to support this event sponsored by Tim "I'll make them rhyme" Misny.

In no particular order:

• Steven Smith
• TM Göttl
• JP Armstrong
• Dianne Borsenik
• Jeffrey Bowen
• Lee Chilcote
• Renay Sanders
• Michael Murray,
• Geoffrey Landis
• Danilee Eichhorn
• Anita Keys
• Mary Turzillo
• Frances Lograsso

This will be great!

See you all Sunday. Please promote the event on fb, twitter and other media platforms!

Willoughby Brewing Company:

• 4057 Erie Street Willoughby Ohio 44094

--oh, and check out the book from last year's contest.   If you love poetry, and love Cleveland-- this is the book for you.

•  last year's contest

Slices from a Silver Blade

The most recent issue of  Silver Blade Magazine has Mary A. Turzillo and me as the featured poets, including a couple of poems from each of us, and an interview with both of us by editor John C. Mannone.
And he says flattering things about us, too!

• Introduction
• Interview
• Silver Blade home page

Halloween Poetry Reading Online

Once again, the Science Fiction Poetry Association is featuring their annual Hallowe'en Poetry Reading, a half-dozen poems read by the authors, featuring spooks and jack o' lanterns and candy, and available for free in audio form, with poetry by

• David Kopaska-Merkel 
• Shannon Connor Winward
• David L. Summers
• Adele Gardner 
• Dennis M. Lane
• F. J. Bergmann
• Mary Turzillo
• Liz Bennefeld
• & yours truly, Geoffrey A. Landis 

Looking for something to listen to on the evening when ghouls and children walk the night?  Check it out!

Photo by GL 2012

And, if you prefer to get out and do your celebrating with poets on Hallowe'en night, how about trick-n-treating over to the Hallowe'en show of Ray McNiece and Tongue & Groove at the Barking Spider?  8pm, over on 11310 Juniper behind Case-Western-- a good time is guaranteed.

Dwarf Stars at Mac's!

Mac's at night
photo by Geoffrey A. Landis

One of the longest-running poetry reading series in Cleveland is the Second-Wednesday poetry reading at Mac's Backs on Coventry.

The August show of the Second-Wednesday poetry reading-- coming up this Wednesday!--will feature the poets of Dwarf Stars, including me, not to mention local poets and Dwarf Stars contributors Holly Jensen, dan smith,  J.E. Stanley and Mary A. Turzillo.

We will celebrate haiku, scifaiku, cinquains, ghazals, and other forms of short-short poetry. Come on over and join us-- you are encouraged to bring your own dwarf poetry to read during open mic!

Silly, serious, manic, inspired, poignant-- short poems can hit hard!

Dwarf Stars 2012.  Cover Art: "Once Beyond a Time" by overseer.deviantart.com

Dwarf Stars 2013. Cover Art: "Elephant"
by neisbeis.deviantart.com

Some Amazing reviews

A couple of Cleveland poets who write poetry toward the speculative direction in the geography of poetry have recently gotten reviews from Diane Severson in Amazing Stories.

Cleveland's haiku master Joshua Gage's new chapbook, Inhuman: Haiku from the Zombie Apocalypse (OR Inhuman: Zombie Haiku in Four Acts) (just out from The Poet’s Haven, as No. 18 in the Poet’s Haven Author Series) was reviewed in the most recent issue.  Diane writes:
"This is a volume to enjoy as a brief diversion on a stormy night and also to pull out each October in preparation for Hallowe’en."

At six dollars for a copy, it's a bargain for any poetry fans with an interest in haiku, or in horror.  And it's not too early to start thinking of gifts to give your friends and family for World Zombie day!

And Mary Turzillo's book Lovers and Killers (which has been mentioned here before) also rated a good review from Diane in the April Amazing: 
"I really like Mary Turzillo’s writing style. It’s less formal than many poets in her syntax and word choices, which makes it easy to read.  It’s a book that could be ripped through, it’s so easy to read, but its many-layered nature benefits from a bit more leisure."

"Lovers and Killers" a nominee for Stoker award

Mary A Turzillo's recent poetry collection, Lovers and Killers, from Dark Regions Press, has been named a finalist for the Stoker Award for poetry by the Horror Writers Association.  Horray for Mary! The awards will be announced June 13-16, at the World Horror Convention/Bram Stoker Awards® Weekend in New Orleans.

It's been a good spring for Mary-- she also had the book nominated for the Science Fiction Poetry Association's new Elgin award, and she (along with other local poets J.E. Stanley and dan smith) had several poems nominated for the Rhysling award as well.  Congrats, all!

• Lovers and Killers, available from Dark Regions, discount price $4.95 (plus shipping)
• Review in Pedestal magazine

the City, year zero

A new issue of Lady Smith's "the City" zine of poetry and art is out-- "Fall issue, Year Zero: Learning to Swim."
Contains some of your favorite poets from Cleveland (and elsewhere), along with stunning visuals: check it out!

“Beziers, France” photo by Lady

Shimmer: a Love Song to Cleveland

"Shine," by Mary Platz Hughes

Stars that in California glitter hard and crystal
shimmer over our lake.

We eat pierogis and walleye
we read of killers who lure women with promise of love.

We drive by crumbling mansions:
millionaire’s row.

Our emerald necklace is long as God’s arm.
Our children don’t ask why is the sky blue.

We scorn jibes: our river burned first;
we founder in floods on Deadman’s Curve.

We tell dour tales of declining empire.
We read Derf and take pride in our funk.

NASA Glenn lures us to starflight.
Our politicians star in the tabloids.

We make loud music and breed bitter genius.
We drink Nosferatu and Elliot Ness

Drunk on honeysuckle, day-lily, moonflower scent,
we make love on front porches in the blackout night.

We wear pants with elastic waistbands
and thumb noses at New Yorker black dresses.

Our names are unspellable, five consonants in a row:
ski is not a sport to our city, but a family suffix.

We consider moving, but where would we go?
What church in LA serves cabbage roll suppers?

We tell legends of freighters broken in two:
our lake is eerie, our tower is terminal.

We watch cats slink, old sly cats with rumpled fur.
We prevail and grow old. Our stars shimmer.

~ Mary A. Turzillo

Lovers and Killers

Mary Turzillo's new book of poetry, Lovers and Killers, is out from Dark Regions Press, appropriately in time for Halloween & the Day of the Dead.
It just got reviewed in Pedestal:
         "Award-winning poet Mary Turzillo delves into the abyss of the human soul in her new book, Lovers & Killers, a departure from her clever science fiction and fantasy work. She utilizes plain language enhanced by poetic devices such as alliteration and consonance in most of these poems, also employing the sharp imagery for which she is known. Many poems address such themes as human loss and desperation leading to abhorrent acts, while others border on outright satire...
         "Turzillo’s words flow like a winding road, the mark of a master wordsmith. The women in Turzillo’s poems are sometimes real, sometimes mythical. Each one has human flaws and, unfortunately, human reactions. Lovers & Killers is an unusual book of poems bound to leave an enduring impression on the reader. And isn’t that the trademark of any good book?"

The book can be purchased directly from Dark Regions ($9.95), or copies are available at readings.

Mary will be the feature reader in several upcoming readings, including the Canton First Friday Poetry Spectacular on November 2 (the Día de los Muertos) and then at the Deep Cleveland Poetry Hour on November 9, at MugShotz Cafe, 6556 Royalton Road in North Royalton.

Poetry in the Woods on Thursday

At the risk of too much tooting, I'd like to point out the Poetry Back in the Woods reading, at the Shaker Heights Library, Bertram Woods Branch, coming up this Thursday at 7pm.

Shaker Heights Library Events

It'll be featuring some fine poets, namely Joshua Gage, J.E. Stanley, Mary Turzillo, and dan smith. Plus possibly a surprise reader as well.

Uh, I might point out that the reading is not actually in the middle of a forest (not that there's anything wrong with that.) It will be at:

Shaker Heights Public Library,

Bertram Woods Branch

20600 Fayette Road, Shaker Heights, Ohio

(that's off Warrensville Center Road, just south of Shaker Boulevard-- just to the south of the Rapid station at Warrensville, if you're car-free)

Check out the Facebook page.

Poetry in the Woods, I might point out, has been a long-running series at the Shaker Libraries:

the series was started eleven years ago by poet, college teacher, and environmental activist Barry Zucker. After starting the readings at the Bertram Woods library--"Poetry in the Woods"-- the series also included readings at Horseshoe Lake Park ("Poetry Really in the Woods") and readings at the Main Library ("Poetry Not in the Woods.") The series is funded by the Friends of the Shaker Library and, now that it's back at Bertram Woods, it's (what else?) "Poetry Back in the Woods."

Anyway-- be there!

Ohio Poetry Day: October 15-16 2010

The 2010 Ohio Poetry Day will be celebrated on October 15 and 16 at Heidelberg University, in Tiffin, Ohio.

Ohio Poetry Day is celebrated on the third Friday and Saturday of October. From the page, I see that "Ohio Poetry Day was the first government sanctioned Poetry Day in the United States. It was through this day that other states began to celebrate a poetry Day and eventually National Poetry Month came to be."

The poetry day celebration includes the Friday evening "poets meet and greet," followed by the poets heading to Carmie's for an open mike and other amusements, but the main event on Saturday (October 15), with readings from the Ohio poet of the year, awards to the poets who won the Ohio Poetry Day contests (followed by readings), and various other readings and poetry events; not to mention the book room. The events finish up at 5, except for the after party.

Check the website at ohiopoetryday.org for more, and read the Ohio Poetry Day forum if you want to comment, ask questions, or get the most up-to-date information.

If you're on Facebook, check out the Ohio Poetry Association group.

--by the way, this year's winners of the 2010 Ohio Poetry Day contest includes a good sampling of area poets. Just noticing the names who contribute to clevelandpoetics, I see T.M. Gottl, Mary A. Turzillo, Geoffrey A. Landis (um, that would be me), Dianne Borsenik, and Joshua Gage. Congrats, poets!

Hessler Street Fair Poetry 2010 - Pix

The Hessler Street Fair took place over the weekend, and, despite a few glitches about the time, we had a blast reading poetry! Here's some snapshots of the headliners:

Me on stage

Jill Riga reads

Mary Turzillo takes the mike

Add Poets Miles Budimir & dan smith in the audience

First place poet Geoffrey Landis reads

Mary on the stage

For more pix, see the Facebook album

-or see Diane Borsenik's photos on her album

--Previous posts about Hessler Street Fair poetry