Anthology Behind Schedule!

Dear Contributors and Potential Readers of "Through A Distant Lens:  Travel Poems":

my original plan was to have the new book ready for holiday gifting.  A few days after releasing the call for submissions, I received a phone call out of the blue asking me to teach a creative writing course at Skagit Valley College (two hours+ round trip drive from home).  The instructor originally scheduled to teach this had bagged out on short notice -- of course I said yes, and then scrambled hard to put together text and syllabus.

Shortly after that, I was asked to take part in poetry judging for a local competition, so of course I said yes, and guess what?  This year saw a record-high number of submissions.  That is good news for the local writing community.

Long story short:  I am not at the point I hoped to be with the new book project, for which I have also received more submissions than anticipated.  The overall quality is high, the poems are delightful, and I do not want to rush this compilation in order to meet my earlier, arbitrary timeline.  January completion is looking much more realistic, and keep in mind that a poetry collection will be a delightful Valentines Day surprise for a loved one.

The cover photo has been (tentatively) selected.  Many poets have already been notified, but if you have not yet heard about your submission, hang in there.  Heartfelt thanks to all who sent poems.  This will be a gorgeous collection.

*** New Anthology Takes Beautiful Shape ***

Poems have been arriving from all over the place, including Australia, for Write Wing Publishing's new anthology "Through A Distant Lens:  Travel Poems."  These poems are amazing, set in Machu Picchu, Long Island Sound, Venice, Croatia, Burgundy, Wisconsin, and Buenos Aires, to name just a few, and also some destinations of the imagination.  This collection will have more pages than "Surrounded:  Living With Islands," thanks to all the wonderful submissions.  The deadline is October 18, so if you have been thinking about it, stop thinking and get writing/revising/polishing.

In other news, I had a fabulous reading with my friend and fellow poet Linda Beeman on September 25 at Anchor Books & Coffee in Clinton.  We had a wonderful turnout, seeing many well-known faces and encountering some new ones.  The audience was attentive and all were good listeners.  Linda read from her chapbook "Wallace, Idaho" and I read from "Ring of Fire, Sea of Stone."  Whoever claims that poetry is dead in America is just plain wrong.

What a wonderful buzz of energy to have a roomful of people devoted to listening to poetry, reading poetry, writing poetry, even buying poetry books (what a concept!).  The evening was pure delight from start to finish.  Many thanks to Bruce and Trish Didier and to Debbie at the Clinton Library for co-hosting this event.

Stay tuned for news of the status of "Through A Distant Lens," and keep those poems coming!

Multiple Readings in September!

Musing on the death of the wonderful Seamus Heaney, taken away from us too soon:  I recently was feeling a bit frantic at the thought of giving three readings in September, but since Seamus died, it seems appropriate to be out there putting poetry forth into the world.  Here's what I'm doing:

1)  12:30 workshop and reading with members of JANE'S STORIES PRESS FOUNDATION at In Other Words bookshop in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, September 7, 2013.  There will be readings from JSPF's new anthology, "Bridges and Borders."

2)  11 AM to 12:30 PM on Saturday, September 14:  reading at the new festival in beautiful Coupeville, on Whidbey Island, Washington, "The Art of the Boat."  My poems will be about, what else, kayaks.  This festival will hopefully turn into a yearly event celebrating boats, art and writing about boats, and the people who sail around in them.

3)  6 PM on Wednesday, September 25 at Anchor Books & Coffee in Clinton.  I'll be reading from my recently-published chapbook, "Ring of Fire, Sea of Stone."  Also reading from her chapbook "Wallace, Idaho" will be local poet Linda Beeman.  Co-sponsored by Sno-Isle Regional Library and the Clinton Library.

Meanwhile, poems from all over the country, and from Australia too, are arriving for the new anthology "Through a Distant Lens:  Travel Poems."  Keep 'em coming!  The quality of poems so far is high.  This new project should result in a fatter (more pages) anthology than last year's "Surrounded:  Living With Islands."  Postmark deadline for submitting your poems:  October 18.

NEW ANTHOLOGY: Call for Submissions

Through a Distant Lens:  Travel Poems

Call for Submissions

            Following the successful 2012 publication of the anthology “Surrounded:  Living With Islands,” the editor/publisher of Write Wing Publishing invites submissions of poems about travel.

            In a long-ago tavern, Sheryl was told she could tell someone to go to hell in a handbasket in such a way they would enjoy the trip.  She would like to hear from all you poets out there who can weave a tale of travel.  Maybe you had an out-of-body experience walking from your porch to the mailbox; maybe you lived in Morocco after college; maybe you do all your traveling while reading in your recliner.

            Submit 1-3 original unpublished poems in Times New Roman 12-point font, single-spaced.  Please include SASE, cover sheet with contact info, poem titles and brief author bio (~50 words), and $5.00 reading fee to help cover printing costs.  (Poems should not show writer’s name.)  Mail to:  Write Wing Publishing, 3795 Hubble Court, Clinton WA  98236.  Postmark deadline:  October 18, 2013.

            A prize of $50.00 will be awarded, at the editor’s sole discretion, for best overall poem.  Each poet selected for publication will receive one free copy of the book.  All rights revert to the authors after publication.

            About the editor:  Sheryl Clough earned her MFA at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Sheryl is a Founders Circle member of Soundings Review and 2010 winner of the William Stafford award from Washington Poets Association.  Sheryl’s book Ring of Fire, Sea of Stone won the 2013 San Gabriel Valley Literary Festival chapbook prize.  She is annoyed that "reading fees" over the past few years have risen to great heights -- as much as $30!  The $5.00 reading fee for this new anthology is a form of protest (also, however, an attempt to recoup the costs of publishing a book).

Blue Lyra Review New Issue

Greetings on a gorgeous July day!  Now that the fireworks frenzy is dying down, maybe we can all turn our attention back (it may never have wandered) to some good reading and writing.  I have a new nonfiction essay just published in Blue Lyra Review, titled "Under Sand and Shadow."  See: www.bluelyrareview.com

The essay deals with the wanderings of a fallen-away Catholic, formerly "good" girl -- that was me! -- as she attempts to make sense of some of the world's spiritual beliefs by hiking in the Arizona desert.  Give it a read and let me know what you think.

Copies of my award-winning chapbook, "Ring of Fire, Sea of Stone" are still available, signed by the author and mailed postage included anywhere in the U.S., for $10.  If you would like one, please send me a note at <Scatchetpoet@gmail.com>.

The older I get, the faster summertime flies by.  My husband once tried to explain the whole faster-passage-of-time thing to me.  Alas, I never took high school physics and it was too much to wrap my brain around.  Wherever you are, get out into that sunshine, take a hike, dig some clams, play with your dog, pick berries -- the charms of summer are numberless and fade fast.  Happy July, everyone.

Re-establishing Connections

On May 23, 2013, the Skagit River bridge collapsed, plunging several vehicles and their occupants into the glacially-fed river.  Thankfully, no one was injured.  This event has caused commercial disruption to an amazing degree.  Although I've lived in Western Washington most of my life, until this catastrophe, I did not appreciate or comprehend the amount of traffic using that bridge to get back and forth.

Pondering the speed with which our lives can change, I decided to organize a gathering with my daughter (a busy adult and I don't see her enough), my best friend from ages ago (lives in Monroe, an expensive ferry ride away), and an old pal who lives even farther away and who I haven't seen since last summer.  Plus two dogs:  Snickers and Lucy.  We planned a hike to Wallace Falls, a high waterfall lying within a State Park.  There are several viewpoints along the route, and one does not have to gain the highest point in order to have lovely views of the forest, mosses, the falls, and the singing Wallace River.

The weather was perfect, the company exquisite, and in addition to reconnecting with my hiking family, I felt a reconnection to the landscape in which I grew up:  the Skykomish River Valley.  I hadn't been back that way in many years, and was startled to see a roundabout (!) in the middle of Highway 2, plus a new McDonald's and Subway.

Four miles was as much as my arthritic joints could manage, and we retreated to a shaded picnic table to feast on smoked oysters, blueberries, four kinds of cheese, fresh veggies, and a cooler full of exotic beverages.

My bridge back to my hiking family was in fine shape, although the Skagit River at Mount Vernon still has no functional bridge.  The governor promises quick action; we shall see.  In the meantime, let us heed the exhortation of Wordsworth, posted on the old railroad grade trail:

Earth Day 2013

After several days of heavy downpour, frightening those of us who have watched large hunks of Whidbey Island slough itself into the sea, Earth Day burned glorious with sun.  I celebrated by taking my recyclables to the Bayview Recycle Park, and then taking Snickers for a walk in the woods.

As Snickers took off like a rocket through the underbrush, I strolled the still-muddy wooded path, observing the dappled spots of sun taking their shapes from the leaves and branches above.  Tree trunks lying on the ground, thrown down by winter storms, nursed communities of mosses and ferns.  Overhead, birds swooped and clouds scooted in the wind.  Earth Day, I thought;  how can there be only one day per year to celebrate all this?

We need an ongoing Earth Year, continuous, never-ending, to remind us every minute of every day to honor and respect the overwhelming beauty and complexity of our planet, our home, our Earth.  Maybe it should be called "Earth Age," the era when all humans band together to take back our planetary health.  I hope your Earth Day was as beautiful as mine.  Peace ...