R.B. Lemberg's Blog, page 16

Two new pieces up, and a poem sale

My poem “After the Mistress of the Copper Mountain,” a queer retelling of one of my beloved childhood stories, is up at Through the Gate. This poem is dedicated to Shweta Narayan. My notes about the poem are at the website. This issue also contains work by Sonya Taaffe, Mari Ness, Michele Bannister, Jack H. Marr, and Brittany Warman. It’s wonderful. Thank you, Mitchell!

The podcast of “Giant,” my magic realist piece about the death of Alan Dundes, is up at Toasted Cake today. Hope you enjoy – and many thanks to Tina Connolly for buying and recording it.

My short poem “Scatter and return,” dedicated to Saira Ali, has been accepted for publication at Cascadia Subduction Zone (Aqueduct PRess).

Originally published at RoseLemberg.net. You can comment here or there.

Editorial confidentiality: a public statement

by Shweta Narayan and Rose Lemberg

Recently, an editor outed a pseudonymous writer using the writer’s private information available to him as an editor/publisher. The editor in question later claimed that he received permission from the author in question. The author in question has not, to our knowledge, made a public statement either confirming or denying that permission was given.*

Editors and publishers often have access to their submitters’ legal information, and more – the submitters’ wallet name, address, phone, etc. This one-directional access creates a power imbalance between editors and authors; trust in editorial discretion is necessary for submitters – all submitters, but especially those who may fear violence or other reprisals – to be able to work in this field.

As editors of Stone Telling magazine, we, Shweta Narayan and Rose Lemberg, believe that when editors publicly disclose such information, it erodes trust between editors and writers, and creates an atmosphere of suspicion and fear in the community. Even when permission is given, if a formerly pseudonymous author desires to make legal and other information publicly available, it is best done by someone other than an editor.

Certain information may need to be shared when disciplinary action is at stake, e.g. by conventions or legal authorities, but we feel that a public outing of writers by editors/publishers is problematic even in these cases.

As editors of Stone Telling magazine, we, Shweta Narayan and Rose Lemberg, pledge never to publicly reveal confidential information disclosed to us by submitters – this includes people whose work we choose to publish, and people whose work we choose not to publish. We have, previously, published work by pseudonymous authors while keeping strict confidentiality, and will continue to do so.

As an editor of An Alphabet of Embers and other anthologies, and as an editor of any future projects in fiction and poetry, I, Rose Lemberg, pledge never to publicly reveal confidential information disclosed to me by submitters – this includes people whose work I will choose to publish, and people whose work I will choose not to publish.

We call other editors in genre to join us in this pledge.

ETA from Shweta. How the specific author feels about being outed in this particular case is irrelevant to our post, because the bigger issue is editorial confidentiality/ethics, and we have been in contact with multiple authors who are frightened by this situation.

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* This entry is strictly about editorial process. Comments about the situation alluded in the first paragraph, as well as about specific personalities involved, will not be allowed to pass moderation.

Originally published at RoseLemberg.net. You can comment here or there.

Dualities

My mythic SFnal poem “Dualities” is up in Mythic Delirium.

The universal flow of prime numbers

unleashed from your/my sleeves

surrounds you/me in pillars of light. I/you never

understood math, you/I never

knew much about architecture, languages,

the processing of speech into data and storysong, that

wordshaping that anchored me/you in the ground. You/I navigate

between stars with motion/no motion

that exists outside timeflow and yet bound in it; the manifold, unfolding

along the pathways of the veins.

(read all of it at Mythic Delirium)

The science fictional parts of “Dualities” are set in the Boundless Universe, a very old universe of mine in which I have hardly written anything, but in which I suddenly have two other upcoming pieces: “Archival Testimony Fragments/Minersong“, a poem in Uncanny; and a short story, “Stalemate,” in Lackington’s.

“Dualities” is matched in the issue with Michele Bannister’s wonderful “The Ensouling of Spacecraft,” which I wholeheartedly recommend.

Originally published at RoseLemberg.net. You can comment here or there.

A poem sale

My seasonal poem “The law of germinating seeds” will appear in a future issue of Goblin Fruit. Very happy about this. I love Goblin Fruit.

“The law of germinating seeds” is a land-poem; there’s a small series of them now, together with “Landwork” (Goblin Fruit), “The rivers, the birchgroves, all the receding earth” (forthcoming at Strange Horizons) and “Earth Map” (forthcoming at Mythic Delirium). These poems are also indirectly connected to the Journeymaker Cycle, but do not feature the same characters.

Originally published at RoseLemberg.net. You can comment here or there.

“These are the roads…” sale

I am pleased to announce that I sold “These are the roads that loop and entwine me,” a short story/magic realist memoir about leaving the Soviet Union, to the inaugural issue of Bahamut. Bahamut is a new biannual print journal focusing on the progressive fringe in transnational literature. It is edited by Darin Bradley and Rima Abunasser, and it will be published by Resurrection House. I’m very much looking forward to seeing the first issue!

Originally published at RoseLemberg.net. You can comment here or there.

An Alphabet of Embers reading period, update

We’re about 2 weeks away from the end of the reading period for An Alphabet of Embers. We are reading until Sep 30th (inclusive of that day).

We’ve received many wonderful stories, and are hoping to receive many more before closing to submissions. Please do not be discouraged from submitting! You’ll never know whether something will fit unless you send it in for consideration.

A few things which are in the guidelines and which I’d like to reiterate:

1) I will consider up to two stories per author. If you have submitted one story already, you can submit another. Please do not submit more than two.

2) No simultaneous submissions. If you want to send your piece elsewhere, please withdraw it from AoE first.

3) Please check the guidelines before submitting!

RESPONSE TIMES: I will send all responses after the submissions window closes. I will respond to all submissions before the end of October.

Happy writing and submitting! This anthology will rock.

Originally published at RoseLemberg.net. You can comment here or there.

Announcing: Stone Telling 11, Reverberations

We are happy to announce the cover and lineup for the 11th issue of Stone Telling magazine, featuring all new-to-us voices. The issue is scheduled to go live in the next 2 weeks.

Stone Telling 11: Reverberations

Poetry:

Isabel Yap, The Monkey Climbs the Tree, as the Turtle Watches

Valeria Rodríguez, Vertigo and Annihilation

Gillian Daniels, To the Creature

Shruti Iyer, Confluence (Triveni Sangam)

Michael Matheson, No Fixed Points In Space

Peg Duthie, Ballad Breath

Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas, Coyolxauhqui

Kythryne Aisling, Nothing Writes To Disk

Sara Norja, Finnish-English Dictionary (1)

Saira Ali, I do not know your ἀλφάβητος

Margarita Tenser, Labyrinth Soup

Ruth Jenkins, Scales

M Sereno, The Exile, i.

Review: Alex Dally MacFarlane reviews The Haunted Girl, by Lisa M. Bradley (Aqueduct Press, 2014).

Originally published at RoseLemberg.net. You can comment here or there.

Uncanny: sale and interview

I am pleased to announce that my poem “Archival testimony fragments/minersong” will appear in Uncanny. This is a SFnal poem, which is rare for me, and it is set in the same SFnal universe as another poem of mine, “Dualities, ” which is forthcoming in Mythic Delirium.  I am thrilled that “Archival testimony fragments/minersong” has found a home; it is the first poem I wrote as a part of An Alphabet of Embers Kickstarter poetry rewards.

Uncanny has also just published a mini-interview with me. I talk about languages, genderqueerness, and uncanny things that happened to me. Thank you, Michi Trota, for conducting the interview!

Originally published at RoseLemberg.net. You can comment here or there.

Through the Gate: can we help?

I became a fan of Mitchell Hart's work when he solicited a poem for the first issue of inkscrawl, a magazine of very short poetry. It filled a niche in the field, the website was minimalistic and elegantly designed, and I thought his selections for the first issue were excellent. So were his selections for the next issue, and the next. When Mitchell announced that he could no longer edit inkscrawl, I offered to take it over as a publisher, with Samantha Henderson as the editor, and occasional guest editors. In the process of taking the reins over from Mitchell, I learned some details: that he is very young (back then just starting his undergraduate degree), and that he was strained for resources.

Some time later Mitchell returned, eager to edit more poetry. He guest-edited an issue of inkscrawl, and then founded Through the Gate, in which he published wonderful works by many of my favorite poets - Sonya Taaffe, Michelle Bannister, Mat Joiner, Dom Parisien, Mari Ness, and others. My favorite issue of the magazine was the second, in which only three poems appeared: by Bogi Takács, myself, and Sonya Taaffe. I admired Mitchell's courage in choosing only three poems for the issue; I loved the way these poems worked together, in dialogue with each other. I often thought his selections were pitch-perfect.

There has not been an issue in a year.

I have recently written to Mitchell to ask how he was doing, and heard back that there'd been some logistical trouble with transfering universities; I also heard back that Mitchell is trying to put himself through his BA, and is very strained for resources.

Well, I think it's a loss for the field. There is a lot of great poetry being written right now, and not so many good venues; and I think that a venue with a strong, consistent editorial voice is a delight.

I asked Mitchell how much he needs, and between hosting, domain fees, and putting out regular issues of more than 3 poems each, we're looking at 150-200$ a year. I am sure that if we can raise this relatively small sum, a full year of Through the Gate is going to be wonderful. I also would love to see the community support a young editor.

I've written, some time ago, an essay on the power of a single copper coin. Community fundraising for venues might not be a perfect model, but it's also something that attests to our power as a community, to create and support each other's art.

So, if you feel like helping, here is the handy paypal button:

Two new sales

I’m happy to announce that my poem, “The Mikveh of Past Meanings,” will appear in Other Countries: Contemporary Poets Rewiring History, edited by Claire Trévien and Gareth Prior. I am very excited about this project and cannot wait to see the final product.

I have also sold a SFnal short story, “Stalemate,” to Lackington’s for their Institutions issue. It’s been accepted a while ago, but it’s finally possible to announce! I love Lackington’s, and am very much looking forward to the fourth issue.

 

Originally published at RoseLemberg.net. You can comment here or there.