Cider Press Review Editor's Prize

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I'm pleased to announce--no, actually I'm ecstatic--that my manuscript "My Dear, Dear Stagger Grass" will be published by Cider Press Review after winning their inaugural Editor's Prize. The day that Ruth Foley, managing editor of the press, called me with the news I was speechless, stunned with joy. And I'm still celebrating.

Congratulations, too, to the runner-up and honorable mentions:

      Runner-Up:
           Snow White, When No One Was Looking, Donna Prinzmetal

      Honorable Mentions:
           The Green Cup, V. P. Loggins
           The Principle of Flickering, Laura Donnelly
           Planetary Nights, Jeanne J. LeVasseur

My Dear, Dear Stagger Grass will be released in the fall of 2013.

I've followed the recent history of the press and admire so much the work that they're doing, the authors that they are publishing. I had the pleasure of hearing Landon Godfrey, author of Second-Skin Rhinestone-Spangled Nude Souffle Choffon Gown, read last fall; I've enjoyed reading Liz Robbins's Play Button; and I fell for the poetry of Joseph Fasano, author of Fugue for Other Hands, when he won the Rattle Poetry Prize a few years ago. Landon, Liz, and Joseph are all past winners of the Cider Press Book Award.

If you're not familiar with this press, please do check it out:

Cider Press Review website

Mark Smith-Soto has won this year's James Applewhite Poetry Prize

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Congratulations to Mark Smith-Soto, winner of the 2012 James Applewhite Poetry Prize for his poem "Last Retreat to Topsail Beach." The winning poem and those of the finalists will be published in the North Carolina Literary Review (NCLR). Mark's poem was selected by poet James Applewhite from the work of six finalists chosen by NCLR Poetry Editor Jeffrey Franklin. Almost fifty poets submitted to the competition.

Here are the finalists:

• 2nd place: Laurence G. Avery’s poem “Only Yonaguska”
• Honorable mention: Grace Cloris Ocasio’s “Little Girlfriend”
• Other finalists:
• Richard Betz’s “Picking Blackberries on Yellow Mountain Road” 
• Samantha Lee Deal’s “North Carolina, This Will Be The Last Poem”
• Susan Laughter Meyers’s “Banding Hummingbirds” and “Beggar’s-Lice”

NCLR has further details at its website.

2013 Poet's Market

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At the end of last May, editor Robert Lee Brewer put out a call for submissions of unpublished poems, with plans to select 20 and publish them in the 2013 Poet's Market. In the fall he announced the 20 poems selected, and my poem "Wind Chimes, Minus the Wind" was one of them. How exciting for me to have a poem published in Poet's Market! Thank you, Robert Lee Brewer.



Here's a list of the 20 poets and their poem titles. Congratulations to all the other poets:

• Kelli Russell Agodon, "On Some Other Planet We're Newlyweds"
• Nin Andres, "Ghosts"
• Pris Campbell, "Sackcloth"
• Jessie Carty, "The Painter's Pantoum"
• Sage Cohen, "Dear Fritz Guest House"
• Iris Jamahl Dunkle, "Photography Lesson, Pt. Reyes"
• Terri Kirby Erickson, "At the Bowling Alley"
• Patricia Fargnoli, "When I Re-Read His Letters"
• Jen Karetnick, "Arrival: A Love Villanelle for Haiti"
• Jeffrey H. MacLachlan, "Sea Ghost, Fire of the Sea"
• Susan Laughter Meyers, "Wind Chimes, Minus the Wind"
• Heather M. Moore Niver, "Flinging the Unsaid into the Surf or Seeing You Again . . . "
• Shann Palmer, "Occluded"
• Nancy Posey, "Follow the Leader"
• Nate Pritts, "Frost at Midmorning"
• Karen Rigby, "Echolocation"
• Rebecca Givens Rolland,
• Linda Simoni-Wastila, "Greetings from Motel 6"
• Kelli Simpson, "Hands to"
• Joannie Stangeland, "As a Beginning"

You can go to the Writer's Digest website for more information about this newly released edition of Poet's Market, as well as information for ordering a copy.

SCENE | Levi's® 501® 140 Year Anniversary Party

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Photos by Eric Charbonneau/WireImage.
 
L.A. is all abuzz right now with The Grammys (happening as I type), and when there's an award show in town, there's also lots of parties. On Friday, Levi's celebrated the 140th anniversary of their iconic 501 jean with a set by best new artist nominee Frank Ocean and a killer installation at the Ace Museum that featured the evolution of the 501—from farm staple to style staple. Levi's Vintage Clothing accurately reproduces ten different variations of the 501 going all the way back to 1890. So, if you want that 1954 fit, as an example, you don't need a time machine.

While Frank Ocean brought down the house with Thinkin Bout You, there was plenty of tomboy style to go around in 501s and otherwise. Two of my favorites: Solange Knowles in a polka-dot suit with a matching clutch and Rumer Willis in ripped 501s, a black blazer, and bright peach stilettos. Solid.

UNIFORM | Snurfing Safari

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Photo of a girl snurfing in the desert via Snurfer's Journal.

That's right, snurfing, with an 'n'. Snurf boards, or Snurfers, created in 1965 by Sherman Poppen in Muskegon, Michigan, are what many argue to be the predecessors to modern snowboards. Although snowboarding history is dominated by men, the beginnings of the sport actually started with Poppen's 11 year-old daughter who was standing on her sled riding it down a hill. I couldn't find any images of girls snurfing on snow, but I did find an image of this girl shredding sand on a Snurfer!

Original Snurfer (they pop up on eBay now and again); Levi's Made & Crafted tee ($85); Mollusk boardshorts ($60).

Mark Smith-Soto has won this year's James Applewhite Poetry Prize

To contact us Click HERE
Congratulations to Mark Smith-Soto, winner of the 2012 James Applewhite Poetry Prize for his poem "Last Retreat to Topsail Beach." The winning poem and those of the finalists will be published in the North Carolina Literary Review (NCLR). Mark's poem was selected by poet James Applewhite from the work of six finalists chosen by NCLR Poetry Editor Jeffrey Franklin. Almost fifty poets submitted to the competition.

Here are the finalists:

• 2nd place: Laurence G. Avery’s poem “Only Yonaguska”
• Honorable mention: Grace Cloris Ocasio’s “Little Girlfriend”
• Other finalists:
• Richard Betz’s “Picking Blackberries on Yellow Mountain Road” 
• Samantha Lee Deal’s “North Carolina, This Will Be The Last Poem”
• Susan Laughter Meyers’s “Banding Hummingbirds” and “Beggar’s-Lice”

NCLR has further details at its website.

2013 Poet's Market

To contact us Click HERE
At the end of last May, editor Robert Lee Brewer put out a call for submissions of unpublished poems, with plans to select 20 and publish them in the 2013 Poet's Market. In the fall he announced the 20 poems selected, and my poem "Wind Chimes, Minus the Wind" was one of them. How exciting for me to have a poem published in Poet's Market! Thank you, Robert Lee Brewer.



Here's a list of the 20 poets and their poem titles. Congratulations to all the other poets:

• Kelli Russell Agodon, "On Some Other Planet We're Newlyweds"
• Nin Andres, "Ghosts"
• Pris Campbell, "Sackcloth"
• Jessie Carty, "The Painter's Pantoum"
• Sage Cohen, "Dear Fritz Guest House"
• Iris Jamahl Dunkle, "Photography Lesson, Pt. Reyes"
• Terri Kirby Erickson, "At the Bowling Alley"
• Patricia Fargnoli, "When I Re-Read His Letters"
• Jen Karetnick, "Arrival: A Love Villanelle for Haiti"
• Jeffrey H. MacLachlan, "Sea Ghost, Fire of the Sea"
• Susan Laughter Meyers, "Wind Chimes, Minus the Wind"
• Heather M. Moore Niver, "Flinging the Unsaid into the Surf or Seeing You Again . . . "
• Shann Palmer, "Occluded"
• Nancy Posey, "Follow the Leader"
• Nate Pritts, "Frost at Midmorning"
• Karen Rigby, "Echolocation"
• Rebecca Givens Rolland,
• Linda Simoni-Wastila, "Greetings from Motel 6"
• Kelli Simpson, "Hands to"
• Joannie Stangeland, "As a Beginning"

You can go to the Writer's Digest website for more information about this newly released edition of Poet's Market, as well as information for ordering a copy.