Stories and Poems from 2018

I think about Milo in The Phantom Tollbooth a lot, particularly the second line, "When he was in school he longed to be out, and when he was out, he longed to be in." Except for me it goes: When I am writing I'm thinking about art, and when I am making art I'm thinking about writing. Perhaps there is an ongoing, even subconscious, cross-pollination. I enjoy both and try to stay in the moment otherwise, but things tend to go more slowly because I go back and forth between them.

Anyway, I had a few things published in some terrific literary magazines this year. Here's what came up for me.


Chiron Review: Summer-Fall 2018; "Acceptance"
A flash prose piece, based on a dream. This issue is print only, a hefty double issue with a familiar, yet strange cover.



The Pedestal Magazine: December 2018 Issue 83; "The Burn Zone"
An online magazine, their eighteenth anniversary issue, which was just posted today. In the form of a haibun (which autocorrect would like to be "halibut"), this poem was a stripped-down reaction to a story I'd read in the newspaper about the fires here in northern California. It is unlineated at the top and a haiku at the bottom. Audio of me reading as well.

Blink-Ink: December 2018 Issue #34, Uninvited Guests; "Greatest Show on Roof"
I subscribe to this pocket-sized print zine/journal because of its playful vibe, and I can't resist fifty-word stories. Fun cover and lavender inner pages. My story was in response to watching some neighborhood crows.



Unlost Journal: October 1, 2018; "Instability" and "Displacements" (erasures/photocollages)
The focus is on found poetry and art, so these combinations of erasure poems with layered photos I took were apparently a good fit. Unlost is a cousin to Unbroken Journal, which published my prose piece last year, "The Demon Tree."

Nomadic Press Journal, Wonder; September 18, 2018 "Houses Imagined"
Nomadic Press turns out some very nice looking small books, of which their journal is a part.  They publish in Oakland, CA and Brooklyn, NY, with a huge community mission. My poem is about pulling up oak seedlings outside compared with the spider weaving and preparing inside my house.



The Ekphrastic Review: August 4, 2018; "Four Shorts on Cecilia Vicuña"
The entire magazine, based in Canada, is devoted to writing that is inspired by art. I immersed myself in a few photos I had taken from her exhibition and imagined these short prose poems.

Litro Magazine: March 24, 2018; "Between Stops"
An online magazine based in England. A nonfiction story about prayer on the subway in Boston, MA.

Because there are so many magazines with so many subjective editors and so many themes and slants, with perseverance it is possible to get published. I'm glad these magazines exist, giving writers and artists various opportunities, and I try to subscribe or purchase a copy when there is one I particularly like. It doesn't take much to support independent publishing!

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