Human Genre Project: Ondine's Curse

Cool news! My poem, Ondine's Curse, has been accepted for the Human Genre Project.

You can read my poem here, on Chromosome 4, the green one!:
http://www.humangenreproject.com/page.php?id=59

My poem is about Ondine's Curse, which is comes from an old German myth, iirc, about a water nymph (Ondine) who cursed her husband (Palemon) to suffocate when he fell asleep -- his curse for cheating on her with a mortal woman. The disease by the same name is very real & exists today; it is a sleep apnea that causes even babies to die when they fall asleep, because their autonomic controls sort of shut off, and they forget to keep breathing. Sad. Interesting, but sad.

Anyhow! There are tons of really interesting unique poems on the Human Genre Project site as well, and the editor, award-winning Scottish sci-fi writer, Ken MacLeod, will keep adding more as the project continues, so definitely bookmark the site and check back later as it develops!



More about the project & how to submit!, (from their website):
The Human Genre Project is a collection of new writing in very short forms — short stories, flash fictions, reflections, poems — inspired by genes and genomics.
Starting with just a few pieces at its launch in July 2009, the collection will grow and develop over time. Please check back regularly to see what has been added.
The project was conceived by Ken MacLeod, writer in residence at the Genomics Forum, who also edits the collection, and was inspired by Michael Swanwick's Periodic Table of Science Fiction.
The Human Genre Project is an initiative of the ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum, part of the ESRC Genomics Network, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and based at The University of Edinburgh.

How to submit:
We welcome new contributions of short works inspired by genes and genomics. Ideally your contribution would be related to a specific gene, but if not, don't worry.
Your contribution will, unless you ask otherwise, be shown with a link to your own website or blog, so this is a good way to spread the word.
Pieces may later be displayed in a variety of formats and media, besides this website: an exhibition, a book or booklet, a set of postcards, etc.
The only right we're asking is for is the right to reproduce the work for the life of the project and in any medium (online, print, public exhibition, interactive display etc) — but only as part of this project. All work will be fully attributed. You are, of course, free to publish your work anywhere else and in any way you like.
Please email your contribution to me as an attachment in Word, txt or RTF format. I will reply with an acceptance, rejection, or editorial suggestion as soon as possible.
Ken MacLeod

Claire at One Night Stanzas has given me a shout-out and posted my poem, Ravine, to ONS:
http://www.readthismagazine.co.uk/onenightstanzas/?p=969

This all in preparation for the London Poetry Festival coming up August 7th-10th, 2009.

I will be Poet in Residence at the festival, along with 4 others: Bryan Oliver, Christian Ward, Rebecca Atherton, Tony Fernandez.

Anon: Mary Celeste (with audio!)

I posted a few days ago prior to the Anon launch, that my poem, Mary Celeste, was accepted for Anon issue 6. Well, I now have the issue in my hot little hands, as mentioned, & it looks AMAZING!


They've made available a free downloadable sample of the magazine here (.pdf):
http://www.anonpoetry.co.uk/Anon6Preview.pdf

Also, they've been linking some audio recordings of the contributors reading via Anon's Twitter, and mine is there! So you can hear me reading Mary Celeste!:
http://chirb.it/svfACg



Please go help out Anon by buying an issue or subscription from their fancy website!: http://www.anonpoetry.co.uk/subscriptions.html

They're selling a bulk of 4 back issues for £13, and the new Issue 6 for £5.99. Well worth it!

Bolts of Silk: July

My poem, July, is published at Bolts of Silk!
Please go check it out, along with the rest of the lovely stuff on Bolts of Silk!

July

Out on the back porch
watching the dogs catch June bugs
praying for peace.

Red Solo cups clutter the lawn,
saran wrap hugs the leftover
hamburgers until tomorrow.

After dusk, mosquitoes make
blue sparks in the hanging zapper.
Crickets tune on the lawn.

Grandfathers sleep in Lazyboys
in the living room, holding cups
of melting ice on their bellies.

Girls in sundresses catch lightning
bugs along the still lake in mason jars
— nature’s night-lights.

My mother, her sister, sit in the kitchen,
remembering, their staccato voices echo
from the window like two canaries.

I am home. I sleep to the hum
of the fan left on overnight, dry heat,
and summer.




---------------
July, first in Bolts of Silk, 07/14/2009.

Anon 6: Mary Celeste

I’m VERY excited to say Anon has accepted my poem Mary Celeste for its upcoming issue 6!

I’d usually mention it after the fact once the issue is out and I have a copy in my hot little hands, but thought I’d say so early in order to publicize the Anon re-launch event next Thursday, July 9, 7pm, at the Scottish Poetry Library.

Colin Fraser, co-editor of Anon (with Peggy Hughes), emailed contributors to let us know what was in store for the launch:
‘Part of what we have planned is to let people have the chance to hear poets reading their own work in a rather innovative and, we hope, exciting way that involves "discovering" poems positioned throughout the building.’

Sounds intriguing! The info again:
Anon Issue 6 launch event
Thursday, July 9, 2009,
7pm, at the Scottish Poetry Library.

It’s free! Come by!


More about Anon (from their website):
Anon is a print-based poetry magazine where poems are assessed anonymously. We publish the names of all our poets if they are accepted. Poems that are rejected remain ‘anonymous’ – the editors do not discover the names of poets they reject.

Issue 6 includes interviews with Peter McCarey and Roddy Lumsden an essay on Jen Hadfield and Jen Tynes by Timothy C. Baker and a television insider's view of the recent BBC Poetry Season.