Juliet Cook's Blog, page 104

NEW in Red Fez - "Broken"

"Maybe a small ghosthad been attemptingto burst itself out ofthat broken down brain eggand float up and away."from my poem "Broken" in Red Fez Issue 99

more HERE - https://www.redfez.net/poetry/suicide-broken-2503

Blood Pudding Press update

Well it was a rough decision, but I have now managed to get it narrowed down to 8 poetry chapbook manuscripts that I want to consider in their entirety for Blood Pudding Press, so everyone who submitted their sample poems to the Blood Pudding should have heard back by now.Thank you all for thinking of Blood Pudding Press as a possible home for your poetry.

Happy April!

Sharing a photo from Stephanie Kaylor's photos of poetry books on display at the Simmons College library, in honor of poetry month. :)The one with the red cover and burning witch bodies is A Red Witch, Every Which Way, by j/j hastain and me.

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A Red Witch, Every Which Way can be acquired here (from the Hysterical Books press that published it - https://www.hystericalbooks.com/product-page/1a2d7e83-4bef-31d5-09e1-3326ee271c09
 Or here from Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Red-Witch-Every-Which-Way/dp/0940821044
Or here from my own Blood Pudding Press shop - https://www.etsy.com/listing/473901408/new-a-red-witch-every-which-way-2016?ref=shop_home_feat_3

My Blood Pudding Press is slightly delayed...

If anyone who submitted poems for Blood Pudding Press consideration is wondering why they haven't heard back from me yet, that's because nobody has heard back from me yet.I apologize for the delay, but I failed to meet my own expectations of responding by the end of March to everyone who submitted, since it's now April.I'm getting closer though, so it shouldn't be too much longer...

NEW in The Rising Phoenix Review - another "When I Used to be a Little Girl"

"When I finally glanced down, there was a circle shape
of blood on the floor. It was dripping from in between
my legs, brightening the cold concrete surroundings."

from another of my "When I Used to Be a Little Girl" poems, newly up at The Rising Phoenix Review HERE - https://therisingphoenixreview.com/2017/03/30/when-i-used-to-be-a-little-girl-by-juliet-cook-2/

NEW in Rag Queen Periodical - Not a Baby Doll

"I growl through another nightmare in the bathtub.
I give birth to more fetal flesh
then use it like shampoo for a witch."the beginning of my poem "Not a Baby Doll", now up at Rag Queen Periodical (my third and final Not a Baby Doll poem, for now...)https://www.ragqueenperiodical.com/single-post/2017/03/24/Not-a-Baby-Doll

NEW in The Rising Phoenix Review - "When I Used to be a Little Girl" ... AND NEW FLAPPERHOUSE #13

"We did not want a leader who would tilt nests upside down,
watch the baby birds fall out
and call himself the boss as they died."

from my poem "When I Used to be a Little Girl", now up at The Rising Phoenix Review, HERE - https://therisingphoenixreview.com/2017/03/20/when-i-used-to-be-a-little-girl-by-juliet-cook/

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Also, FLAPPERHOUSE #13, Spring 2017 is newly available today, HERE - https://flapperhouse.com/zine/13-spring-2017/

PJ Harvey's Sheela-na-gig

Sheela-na-gig is the first song I ever heard by PJ Harvey, my second year in college maybe?This song is what got me into her in the first place. It's from her first album, "Dry", which came out in 1992 (and was a pretty short album - and I think her second album came out shortly after her first album in 1993).Over the years, she's had lots of different albums come out and a lot of them are really stylistically different from each other, and some I like better than others (I especially love the first three; my personal favorite is probably her third album, "To Bring You My Love" whose overall style strikes me as artsy Goth rather than dress style/dance club Goth).When I first heard this song, probably before I was even 20, I loved her voice and lyrical stylings right away. She seemed unique, she seemed different, and she seemed like she was purposely choosing to express whatever the hell she felt the need to express, which is what should always be done with poetry/art/music in my opinion.The title of the song, "Sheela-na-gig", refers to figurative carvings of naked women displaying an exaggerated vulva. To me, the song lyrics were an implication about how some men interpret some women as nothing but body parts with holes to penetrate. In some men's eyes, who cares what might exist beyond that temporary penetrative hole.If a woman enjoys her own body and sex as much as the man, then that woman must be some sort of slutty slot machine, who you could temporarily fuck the shit out of, but then quickly move on and never think about that sort of female as a serious partner or potential wife, because come on. Serious women can't be as into their own bodily pleasure as hard working men are for fuck sake.Any woman who is really into her own body focused pleasures must just be some self-focused, body-focused exhibitionist, on display for men's eyes. Heck, women who sexually exhibit their own bodies are nothing but body-focused whore flesh in some men's eyes (even in some other women's eyes too). Only men are supposed to offer sexual commentary about female bodies. Women aren't supposed to offer their own bodies for anything other than male-focused sexual pleasure or for non-exhibitionistic procreation.Anyway, that commentary derived from part of how I perceived this song 25 years ago.And actually, well beyond that twenty plus years ago (or more recently than twenty plus years ago, I should say), it's still too bad that when you're a slightly exhibitionistic woman with a high sex drive, a lot of men just seem to view you as a hot quick temporary fix sort of sex partner body, without much mind or depth beyond that.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkS_R7RDuMc

The Blood Pudding Press chapbook submission period has now come to an end

The Blood Pudding Press chapbook submission period has now come to an end - and everyone who submitted should have received a small email, either last night or tonight, informing you that your submission was received.

If you submitted and did not receive that email, please let me know ASAP.

As mentioned in my guidelines, I hope to let each of you know by the end of March whether or not I would like to receive your entire chapbook manuscript submission.

Thank you for your interest in Blood Pudding Press.

Less Than 24 Hours to Submit to Blood Pudding Press!

A little less than 24 hours left to submit samples from your poetry chapbook for Blood Pudding Press consideration.This submission period ends right after midnight Wednesday March 15 (when Wednesday turns into Thursday).See the details in this Blood Pudding Press blog post - http://bloodyooze.blogspot.com/2017/03/blood-pudding-press-is-now-accepting.htmlALSO, tonight I sent a small group email to everyone whose submission has been received so far - so if you didn't receive that email, that means I didn't receive your submission yet.I will send another email a little after midnight tomorrow, to those who submit tomorrow.Thank you for your interest in Blood Pudding Press.