Holly Walrath's Blog, page 26
April 16, 2018
April 15, 2018
Behind the Telescope
It's About Time, y'all.
On April 15, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) launched the latest issue of Eye to the Telescope, their online journal. I was lucky enough to get to guest edit and I wanted to share what it was like seeing from behind the telescope.
I have so many thoughts about this but I'll try to be brief. Editing a journal is a lot of hard work. I think as writers, it's often mysterious to us what an editor does behind the scenes. For this issue, over 170 writers sent in their poems, meaning there were about triple that number poems to read. I had about two weeks to decide. Here's how I approached it, although I'm sure every editor has a different process:
I copied all the poems into a document, removing any contact info, bios, and names. I wanted my first read of the poems to be entirely blind and unswayed by, oh, I don't know, the AMAZING names that came into my inbox. I read these poems with care and whittled them down to about 1/4 of the whole, cutting poems one by one. Once I had a list of poems I loved, I went back and cut again, down to a third round of poems. At this point I checked the bios and names of poets for things like whether their background influenced the work and any other pertinent info. Then I made my final cut and reached out to the writers. Afterwards, there was an period of edits to the website and poems, but most edits were very minor.
The poem that ended up shaping this selection was Jess Capelle's erasure of Doctor Who: Nothing O’Clock by Neil Gaiman. I knew I wanted to showcase a variety of styles, forms, and content, while still featuring new writers along with more familiar names. Once I knew I wanted Jess' poem, I was able to look at structure. I fell in love with the weird and uncanny work of Gustav Sack (1885–1916), who is translated from the German by Peter J. King. I must give thanks to Peter for sending me more translations of his work to read. LeRoy Gorman's "Tree Rings" (A very short poem) immediately resonated with me because I have a short story I'm shopping around right now about this very same concept. I had to choose between TWO poems about cats and time and I feel honored to publish the incomparable Mary Soon Lee. She is so kind and someone that young writers can learn a lot from--just look at the sheer number of works she publishes each year if you don't believe me. I adored the simplicity and yet truly fantastic science-inspired concept of Brittany Hause's short poem, "The Philologist." Brandon O' Brien was kind enough to work with me on formatting his fantastic piece "Hunting with Zeno's Arrows" for online.
I'm more than a little thrilled to welcome several new (or new to SFPA) poets to this issue. Eloísa Perez-Lozano's "The Windshield Washer" prose poem is her first-ever speculative publication. Jess Capelle's erasure is her first-ever poetry publication (Simply wowed by that) and Jules Crewe-Kluge is an eighteen (!) year-old writer with a beautiful sense for form--they are certainly a poet to watch.
Perhaps the most difficult part of editing this issue was the sheer number of friends and acquaintances I ended up having to reject. ETTT has a limited budget and thus I was only able to take a few poems. But I feel really grateful to every writer who sent me their work, and I read each poem carefully. I know how much heart it takes to send your work out. Thank you for trusting me with it.
My main goal in selecting pieces was variety and also examining how the works spoke to each other. I have tried to take care in the order of the poems, so I hope you'll read them and enjoy. Also, make sure to read my editor's note.
April 13, 2018
NaPoWriMo Day 13
An erasure of James Joyce’s Dubliners.
April 12, 2018
NaPoWriMo Day 12
This is the beginning of a pantoum poem with repeating lines. My NaPoWriMo stuff always seems to go to a dark place, or maybe that’s my natural inclination.
April 11, 2018
NaPoWriMo Day 11
Day 11 brings an erasure from William Faulkner’s Light in August.
GlimmerGlass Girl Pins Are Here!
I'm thrilled that my little lapel pins with the cover image from my newest chapbook, Glimmerglass Girl, are in! Aren't they GORGEOUS? I'm totally enamored with them.
This is the fun part of writing, getting to make your own swag! Featuring a detailed photo of the glass-winged butterfly (Cover art by entomologist Geoff Gallice), these little pins are teeny but still big enough to stand out on a shirt, jacket, hat, bag, or anywhere else you want to stick them. They are epoxy-coated so they're sturdy, and they hit the light just so to reflect and look just like a real butterfly.
And because I love you, reader, you can get one for free! Just pre-order my chapbook, then send me your address so I can mail you one. I only have 50 of these beauties to give away, so don't miss your chance to get one!
GIVE ME A PIN ALREADY LADY!Pins will ship in May/June or whenever I run out! Books are due out in August.
April 10, 2018
April 9, 2018
Pre-Orders For GlimmerGlass Girl Now Open
“Tensile and luminous as a glass-winged butterfly, Glimmerglass Girl chronicles the passions of a woman’s heart and its multifarious musings with a marvelous mix of toughness and tenderness. In a shimmering world at once ‘honey-brimmed and buzzing,’ where ‘blueberry coffee’ and a ‘kissing prayer,’ or a ‘quiet mess of a body of light’ offer diurnal delights, this wildly chimerical gathering of hybridized fairy tales and fabulous meditations on womanhood might carry Emily Dickinson’s admonition of epistolary intimacy, ‘open me carefully.’ Indeed, readers should open Walrath’s slender volume carefully, hold these rare poems up to the sun, then lean in quietly to hear each one sing in flight.”—Karen An-hwei Lee, author of Phylo of Joy, Ardor, and In Medias Res. Pre-Order Today My first chapbook of poems, Glimmerglass Girl, is now available from Finishing Line Press for Pre-order! I am beyond thrilled (and a little bit terrified, tired, overwhelmed, and awed) to share this book with you.
Glimmerglass Girl is about feminity and feminism, how we negotiate our past as women and our present, how we other ourselves into creatures and what we pass on. The lead poem in Glimmerglass Girl is from the Greta Oto or espejitos butterfly. Although this little butterfly looks delicate, it can carry up to 40 times its weight. Some of the poems are introspective and personal narrative and others are imaginary. Some are disturbing. Some are illustrated and cross-genre. All are but pieces of myself.
"Washing the dishes, peeling an onion, wearing a bra, all these details of life become immersed in magic in Holly Lyn Walrath's gorgeous poems. In Glimmerglass Girl, the questions of how to be a woman and how to reconcile the different sides of our bodies and selves is brought into startling focus. Walrath's writing takes your breath away and then sucker punches you, but I mean this in the best possible way--these poems devastate, destruct, and then bring you back to life."
—Chloe N. Clark, author of The Science of Unvanishing Objects
Special Pre-Order Promotion:
All pre-orders are eligible to receive a free, limited edition, butterfly lapel pin. These pins are 1.25" wide, custom-printed and epoxy-coated, featuring a brass butterfly clasp. Only 50 pins are available, so get yours before they sell out!
To receive your pin, simply pre-order the book at Finishing Line Press, send me your address so I can mail you your pin! Pins will be mailed at the end of the pre-order period in June/July. Books ship August 3, 2018.
April 7, 2018
NaPoWriMo Day 6 + 7
Wrote two poems today to play catch-up. Above is inspired by a line from a poem by Ursula K. Le Guin, “Twilight was a Sound of Water”
Sometimes I write tiny poem-like creatures like this snippet. They are mostly wandering stray thoughts.
