Good Stuff in December

Midnight Blue by Vanessa Jimenez Gabb (cover art: Nicci Mechler)

My Heart in Aspic by Sonya Vatomsky (cover: Shannon Perry)

My Heart in Aspic (Porkbelly Press, 2015)
by Sonya Vatomsky // @coolniceghost

• Sonya’s got three new poems in this issue of Noble/Gas Quarterly 202.4
  • Le Morte D’Auteur
  • Ipecac
  • Albion, Albirio
• Also they have an interview with Noble/Gas Quarterly: Objects of Derision:

NGQ: Sonya, first I’d like to ask about your origin story: if you were a character in a poem, how might you introduce yourself?

SONYA VATOMSKY: Chaotic neutral half-elf bard. I’m the scoundrel in the corner of the tavern trying to sell treasure maps to unsuspecting adventurers. Seriously, though, I’m in all my poems. At least a little bit. Especially the angry ones.

x

midnight blue (Porkbelly Press, 2015)
by Vanessa Jimenez Gabb // missgabb.tumblr.com

• interview via rob mclennan – 12 or 20 questions

13 – David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art? Yes, all those, everything. You can trust a writer with anything. | more at rob’s blog

 

press yourself against a mirror (Janelle Adsit)

press yourself against a mirror by Janelle Adsit (cover: Christopher Squier)

In a hunt for identity where dreams are “spindly and thriving,” we must search for what we want and then count on ourselves for the strength to hold it close, to keep it safe, to interrogate all that’s reflected in the people & things that are our mirrors. (Porkbelly Press, 2015) // learn more

Poems by Janelle Adsit.
Cover image by Christopher Squier.

 

Good Stuff – December (week one)

Set the Garden on Fire by Chen Chen (cover: Nicci Mechler)

My Heart in Aspic by Sonya Vatomsky (cover: Shannon Perry)

What’s pink & shiny / what’s dark & hard (stack of books)

Good news & happenings from/with our authors&poets:

Set the Garden on Fire (Porkbelly Press, 2015)
by Chen Chen // @chenchenwrites

• Chen’s poem “Write a Letter to Your Mother About Your Longest Winter” was nominated for a Pushcart by pizza pi press.

What’s pink & shiny / what’s dark & hard (Porkbelly Press, 2015)
by Sarah B. Boyle // @pyrrhicspondee

• Sarah’s chapbook is reviewed via The Hairsplitter by Meryl DePasquale.

“Boyle’s poetry chapbook, What’s pink & shiny / what’s dark and hard (Porkbelly Press, 2015), provides a brutal honesty about abortion that our culture has been yearning for, and actually dying for the lack of. Here is empathy with teeth; the kind that will reopen the wound, lick it clean, and give you another chance to heal yourself better.” | more

My Heart in Aspic (Porkbelly Press, 2015)
by Sonya Vatomsky // @coolniceghost

• Sonya’s full-length, Salt is for Curing (Sator Press, 2015), which includes poems from My Heart in Aspic, is reviewed via Alien Mouth by Christopher Morgan.

“’Salt is For Curing’ offers the ultimate reward in exchange for your darkest red. Making a thick paste from a phoenix’s bones to reexamine resurrection myths, these poems count all 32 teeth, then eat your words with bread. Sonya Vatomsky reflects upon salt and suffering, creating a literary love potion that’s equal parts wishing well and butcher’s hook.” | more