Samiya Bashir's Blog, page 9

I *do* love Tuesdays ...

Thanks Black Bottom !

(and yes, I also love black bottoms ... so there's that.)http://scryptkeeper.blogspot.com
www.samiyabashir.com

Something about poets and math ...

So tonight Thylias said to me, "You are mathematical. You don't have to do math; you are math." Well. True.

Also -- here's a little math I can get with:

"A Thaum is the basic unit of magical strength. It has been universally established as the amount of magic needed to create one small white pigeon or three normal-sized billiard balls." --Terry Pratchett quotes (English Writer, b.1948)

Also, I may consider a side-gig in thaumaturgy.

Yes. I think I may.

"I believe anything is possible.
Research into quantum physics
proves that a system changes
simply by someone observing it.
Therefore, all you have to do is be
awake and aware of your environment,
and that enables you to
transform everything around you.
It sounds like hocus pocus, but
scientists are coming to realize that
just thinking about something can
make it happen. Turns out maybe
faith can move mountains."
--Christine Andersonhttp://scryptkeeper.blogspot.com
www.samiyabashir.com

War Diaries is hitting the streets!

Word on the streets is that War Diaries, the amazing new anthology edited by powerhouse writers and editors Tisa Bryant and Ernest Hardy, and published by APLA and MSMGF, is getting vast amounts of love from the international HIV/AIDS prevention communities.
Over 1,000 copies were recently distributed to great acclaim at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna and feedback was extremely enthusiastic, from diverse segments of the African diaspora as well as delegates from India, Latin...

Awwww ... Thanks Poetry House!

The sweet, talented, incredibly amazing Reginald Harris, recently sent me this pic snatched from the Poets House's Annual Poetry Showcase.
Yep, that's Gospel prominently displayed right on the front shelf! Thanks, Poets House, for the showcasing joy and for inviting the world to rub itself all over my square-faced stone-puppy love.
(Swoon!)http://scryptkeeper.blogspot.com
www.samiyabashir.com

Gospel Nominated for Hurston/Wright Legacy Award!

Thanks to The Hurston/Wright Foundation for recognizing Gospel as one of the best poetry books of 2009!
Selected from hundreds of books nominated for the 2010 Huston/Wright Legacy Award, Gospel was shortlisted for the prize alongside Cooling Board, by Mitchell L.H. Douglas; Sonata Mullatica, by Rita Dove; and Liberation Narratives, by Haki R. Madhubuti.
Earlier this year, Gospel was shortlisted as a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. Just this week, Gospel was shortlisted again, chosen this...

Poetry Foundation Reprints 3 Poems from Gospel

Click "Poetry" below to check out three poetry selections from Gospel: poems recently published online by The Poetry Foundation:

In the summer of 2008, Where the Apple Falls found its way onto the Poetry Foundation Bestseller List three years after its publication. Steady sales, the dedication of readers, professors, students, teachers and poetry lovers have kept my first poetry collection in print year after year.

Last year, RedBone Press again showed their faith in my work by generously (and ...

Ooooo. Ahhhh. Ohhhhh.

Now this is fascinating, or, as Michael Byers said, "mesmerizing" -- Indeed.

So yeah, I stole it from his freakishly entertaining Finding Pluto blog. Once the hypnotism of watching the years go by wore off (if it actually has) I realized that I had to offer it here. Also, because then I knew I could always find it when I needed another hit.

So ... how many Saturnian years can you get through before that good good dizziness descends?http://scryptkeeper.blogspot.com
www.samiyabashir.com

Poems on TORCH!

Earlier versions of two poems from Gospel were recently published in the latest edition of Torch!

Check them all out -- great poems, great women, great editor in Amanda Johnston.http://scryptkeeper.blogspot.com
www.samiyabashir.com

Austin, Gospel, and Lucille Clifton's *Voices*? Wow. Nice.

Join Bookwoman's Book Group for National Poetry Month when they discuss Gospel and Voices! Me? I'm flattered. Thanks Austinites!

April is National Poetry Month, and the BookWoman Book Group will be celebrating with Lambda Literary Award-Finalist Samiya Bashir's Gospel. If you finish Gospel early, feel free to read Lucille Clifton's Voices (her final collection before her death on February 13th) as well; we can compare and contrast these two works during our discussion.

"Gospel is an ecumenical...

Thank You to the Lambda Literary Awards for shortlisting ...

Thank You to the Lambda Literary Awards for shortlisting Gospel: poems as a finalist! Congratulations to all of my co-finalists:

Bird Eating Bird , by Kristin Naca (HarperCollins) Gospel: Poems , by Samiya Bashir (Red Bone Press), by Marilyn Hacker (W.W. Norton) Stars of the Night Commute , by Ana Bozicevic (Tarpaulin Sky Press) Zero at the Bone , by Stacie Cassarino (New Issues Poetry & Prose)And a special congratulations also goes to G. Winston James for the nomination of his Shaming the...