The Enpipe Line - poetry written in resistance

The Enpipe Line consists of more than 70.000 kilometers of collaborative poetry written in resistance to Enbridge's Northern Gateway Pipelines proposal and projects like it around the planet.

Initiated and hosted by Christine Leclerc, this project started in 2010 and kept growing continually online. Now it turned into a printed  collection of poetic resistance, published by Creekstone Press.

"These poems, drawings, stories, statements—words and gestures—are more than anathemas to Enbridge's Northern Gateway proposal; they are actual and necessary functions of being here, measures of our own animal presence, and witness to a threatening greed and ignorance. Kilometre after kilometre, The Enpipe Line occupies its space by writing in it." - Fred Wah, Parliamentary Poet Laureate

You can now download your copy of The Enpipe Line as PDF-file at the Enpipe Page. The Enpipe Line in printed form will launch March 23.

About The Enpipe Line
The Enpipe Line goes dream vs. dream with Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway Pipelines. If built, these 1,170 kilometre pipelines will carry tar sands oil and its poisonous by-products across more than 700 streams and rivers between Alberta and the B.C. port of Kitimat. In Kitimat, crude oil would be pumped into supertankers for export, threatening the fragile coastal ecosystem with a major spill. Originally conceived as a 1,170 kilometre-long collaborative line of poetry to match the length of the proposed pipelines, The Enpipe Line has grown to over 70,000 kilometres.

The Enpipe Line / (pdf-link)
poetry-collection
179 pages

related links: poetry, this world

The Mexican Drug War - Words without Borders

The Mexican Drug War is a special theme issue of Words without Borders. With it, the online magazine for international literature continues their tradition of exploring global events through international writing.

Guest edited by Carmen Boullosa, The Mexican Drug War features 11 pieces of fiction, poetry, and literary nonfiction exploring the world of a modern-day Mexico held hostage by drug lords. Rafael Perez Gay, Luis Felipe Fabre, Rafael Lemus, Yuri Herrera, Juan Villoro, Fabrizio Mejia Madrid, Magali Tercero, Sergio Gonzalez Rodriguez, Hector de Mauleon, and Carmen Boullosa delve into the personal and the global repercussions of a conflict that has killed more than 60,000 people.

The issue is available online:  The Mexican Drug War. A good entry point for the article "A Report from Hell" by the editor Carmen Boullosa. For most articles, there also is a Spanish version online.

About Words without Borders
The mission of Words without Borders is to translate, publish, and promote the finest contemporary international literature: "Every month, on our online magazine, we publish eight to ten new works by international writers."
In keeping with their mission, the Mexican Drug War issue will present the human stories behind the bloodshed and struggles that have ravaged Mexico for more than a decade. It follows the May 2011 Afghanistan Issue and their July and August 2011 Arab Spring Issues.

related links
about a place, anthologies

Motionpoems

Motionpoems broadens the audience for poetry by turning great contemporary poems into short films for big-screen and online distribution.

In 2008, animator/producer Angella Kassube animated one of Todd Boss’s poems. Compelled by the results, they began introducing other poets to other video artists. A public screening at Open Book in Minneapolis drew a crowd to see 12 pieces they dubbed Motionpoems.

Direct links to selected works:
"When at a Certain Party in NYC" - Belieu/Schmitt
"Constellatoins" - Boss/Kassube (the start of motionpoems)
"Andrew Wyeth, Painter, Dies at 91" - Klatt/Jacobsen

About the Process
For new projects, video artists work from completed poems. Poets are not required to work directly with video artists. Video artists are given free rein to be their own creative directors on their projects. Todd and Angella are available to advise poets and video artists, and to connect the project with additional creative talent as needed. A small stipend rewards video artists who complete projects on deadline and whose work is selected for screening.

Website: Motionpoems

related links:
literary film clips: 6S summer, Electric Literature, Moving Poems + more

An Aotearoa Affair #1: Crossings

Germany and New Zealand. Seen geographically, these two countries are about as far apart as they could possibly be. But across oceans and timezones, people associated with these two places reach out, connect and share their current projects in An Aotearoa Affair - a blog carnival that reaches from Germany to New Zealand

"Here we introduce German and Kiwi poets, storytellers, bloggers and artists as they travel and transform, wander and dream."

The blog carnival is part of the Aotearoa Affair Blog Fest, inspired by the 2012 Frankfurt Bookfair in October — where New Zealand is the Guest of Honour.

Crossings: The first edition of this blog carnival was edited by Michelle Elvy (New Zealand) and Dorothee Lang (Germany). It has the theme "Crossings", and features entries by 24 writers from a variety of places and perspectives, including Keri Hulme, Marcus Speh, Christopher Allen, Kes Young, Emma Barnes, Rachel Fenton, Megan Doyle Corcoran, Hinemoana Baker, Tim Jones, Patrizia Monzani, Jürgen Fauth, Kate Brown, Helen Lowe, Linda Evans Hofke, Trish Nicholson, Piet Nieuwland, Raewyn Alexander, Rae Roadley, Martin Porter, Michael O'Leary and Aidan Howard.

About + How to Join
You can find more about this initiative on the Blog Fest website, which offers Weekly Highlights and Features. Submissions are now open to the highlights series and to the second blog carnival. The theme is "Past Myths, present legends" and will be edited by Rachel Fenton. The deadline for contributions for the March Blog Carnival is 20 March. For more details visit How To Join.

An Aotearoa Affair #1: Crossings

Reprint Poetry

Reprint Poetry is a new online magazine - it provides an additional home to previously published poems that deserve to be read again. The aim of the magazine is to re-call, re-discover, re-turn to and re-possess these beautiful, poetic and amazing pieces at Reprint Poetry.

The magazine launched on January first. Featured poets include: Karyn Eisler, Marcus Speh, Jennifer Wong, Sam Rasnake, Wanda Morrow Clevenger, JP Reese, Ralph Ivy, Xander Mellish, Grace Curtis and many others.

About Reprint Poetry
Reprint Poetry is edited by a group of writers who are familiar with the process of e-zine publication. The editors say: "We are particularly interested in (but by no means restricted to) works that are already published but difficult to find. We also solicit works from poets we admire. And we welcome any suggestions on where to re-discover deserving poetry."

Related Links: new online magazines, poetry

Being Human: Call of the Wild (Editions Bibliotekos)

Why do we kill certain creatures while nurturing others? When do we draw the line between protecting our property and letting other creatures live and thrive? What drives people to kill others to protect their land? Many of these stories explore the lines cast under the surface of creation, characters looking for a nibble of understanding to make better sense of their place in an evolving world.

Twelve authors and fifteen stories on the nature of being human and the human character in both the natural environment and human-made world constitute this stimulating book. The stories are engaging, memorable, contemplative, and even humorous. While we have constructed, over thousands of years, a vast cathedral of scintillating, rational humanity, we can be primal and shadowy with visceral emotions – and so this collection admirably demonstrates. There are many difficult questions posed in the book.

Contributors: Stephen Poleskie, Arthur Powers, Lisa M. Sita, Andrea Vojtko, Jeff Vande Zande, James K. Zimmerman, Anne Whitehouse, Janyce Stefan-Cole, Patty Somlo, Rivka Keren, Kelly Wantuch, Larry Eby. Foreword: Ian S. Maloney, Ph.D. Preface: Gregory F. Tague & Fredericka A. Jacks Edited by Scholar, Pushcart Prize Nominee, and Professor, Gregory F. Tague, Ph.D.

About Editions Bibliotekos
Editions Bibliotekos is a small press operating out of Brooklyn, NY, whose mission is to produce books of literary merit that address important issues, complex ideas, and enduring themes. Previous anthologies: "Battle Runes: Writings on War", "Common Boundary: Stories of Immigration" and "Pain and Memory: Reflections on the Strength of the Human Spirit in Suffering" (More). Editions Bibliotekos has one more planned anthology, most likely entitled (and on the theme of) "Faith and Doubt" (the Call is up).

Being Human: Call of the Wild
166 pages

related links: nature, human condition

From Colder Climates - John Sibley Williams (Folded Word)

In his poetry collection Colder Climates, John Sibley Williams explores the inner and outer landscapes encountered on a journey to Iceland. As with physical landscapes, surprising perspectives are revealed by each step. Lava and ice, civilization and wilderness, family and solitude--these apparent contradictions collide inside poems which beg to be read aloud, just as their Nordic ancestors were around Iceland's first man made fires.

For a touch of Colder Climates, try this poetry video: Rebuilding Over and Again

"I'm excited and honored to have my latest chapbook, From Colder Climates, arrive today, featuring the mysterious and fascinating artwork of Mark S Struzan," writes the author. "There are two versions, the $7 'green' edition and the $12 'signature' edition. Although both are beautifully done, I'm truly taken aback by the latter version, which incorporates so many different paper types and hand-sewn designs."

John Sibley Williams is the author of six chapbooks, winner of the HEART Poetry Award, and finalist for the Pushcart and Rumi Poetry Prizes. He has served as Acquisitions Manager of Ooligan Press and Publicist for Three Muses Press and holds an MFA in Creative Writing and MA in Book Publishing. Some of his over 200 previous or upcoming publications include: Bryant Literary Review, The Chaffin Journal,The Evansville Review, RHINO, Rosebud, Ellipsis, Flint Hills Review, and Poetry Quarterly.

About Folded Word
Folded Word is an independent press that continually seeks new ways of connecting readers to new literary voices: "Though we do sell our books and chapbooks, we offer free poetry and fiction to the public in our Twitter-zines PicFic and unFold, as well as our print broadside, Heron. We also value craftsmanship, both of literary works and the medium in which they are rendered--as demonstrated by our handcrafted Signature Series chapbooks." Folded Word is managed by J.S. Graustein with the support of Rose Auslander, Casey Murphy, and the entire Folded family of contributors.

John Sibley Williams - From Colder Climates
Green Edition $6.00 + $1 shipping
Signature Edition $12.00 + $2 shipping
e-book list price $0.99

related links: poetry, about a place

Stepaway Magazine

Stepaway Magazine is a new, online literary magazine publishing the best urban flash fiction and poetry by writers from across the globe. The title of the magazine draws inspiration from Frank O’ Hara’s landmark flâneur poem, “A Step Away from Them”.

Editor Darren Richard Carlaw explains: "Our magazine is hungry for literature that evokes the sensory experience of walking in specific neighborhoods, districts or zones within a city. This is flânerie for the twenty-first century. Our aim is to become an online repository of walking narratives. Our writers will lead our readership through the streets of his or her chosen city in thousand words or less. We want whatever you can share."

Stepaway Magazine so far has released four issues, you can find all of them online. The current one is Stepaway issue 4, featuring poetry from different places, from Paris Haiku by Virginie Colline to Footnotees from the Gutters by Liam Pezzano and a Salt City poem by William Cordeiro, just to name a few.

A recent supplement entitled Northern Wanderer republished a lost flaneur poem by Barry MacSweeney and urged writers to wander the streets of Newcastle and record their experiences.

The magazine is open to poetry and prose submissions with an emphasis on walking in the city.

Stepaway Magazine
online literary journal

A Baker’s Dozen - Issue 1

A Baker’s Dozen: THIRTEEN EXTRAORDINARY THINGS appears quarterly and publishes fiction (flash, micro, traditional, etc), poetry, creative non-fiction, visual art, audio, video – whatever inspires you.

The inaugral issue is now online. It includes work by Marcus Speh, Rupert Fike, Andrew Topel (included in the feature image), Paul Hostovsky, Bruce McRae, Stephen Hastings-King, JP Reese, Allan Gorman, Linda Simona-Wastila, Kathleen Radigan, Martin Brick, Matthew Dexter and a collaborative photo series by Julia Davies, Rose Hunter, Dorothee Lang and Steve Wing.

A Baker’s Dozen is edited by Michelle Elvy and John Wentworth Chapin, who co-founded the weekly flash fiction project 52|250: A Year of Flash in 2010. Now they’re back with A Baker’s Dozen: THIRTEEN EXTRAORDINARY THINGS, which evolved out of their desire to continue to read and write and edit inside a vibrant community of writers. More, here: The Editors.

Submissions: "There are no deadlines for our regular quarterly issues, as we’ll be reading on an ongoing basis. We may create challenges or themes for future issues, however. We’ll post a deadline for those submisions."

A Baker's Dozen- issue 1
A new literary online magazine

related links: first issues, stories, art

The Hide of my Tongue - Vivian Faith Prescott (Plain View)

The Hide of My Tongue is a familial and historical account of the loss & revitalization of the Tlingit language. It's Vivian Faith Prescott explains first full-length poetry collection.

The collection explores the historical and contemporary effects of the loss of one of the world’s most complex languages: Tlingit. There are less than three hundred fluent Tlingit speakers left in the world. In Southeast Alaska, many are involved in the Tlingit language and cultural revitalization including Vivian Faith Prescott and her family.

"I spent the last twelve years creating The Hide of My Tongue, Ax L'óot' Doogú," says Vivian. "The collection is dedicated to my daughter, Vivian Mork, Yeilk', Cute-Little-Raven, and those who work at revitalzing the Tlingit language."

Vivian Faith Prescott is a fifth generation Alaska, born and raised in Wrangell, Alaska. She lives in Sitka, Alaska. She facilitates writers workshops for adults and teens. Vivian is Co-Director of Raven’s Blanket, a non-profit designed to enhance and perpetuate the cultural wellness and traditions of Indigenous peoples through education, media, and the arts; to promote artistic works by both Native and non-native Alaskans. She blogs at Planet Alaska.

About Plain View Press
Plain View Press is a 35-year-old issue-based literary publishing house that hase published 350 titles presenting the work of almost 500 national and international writers. Despite evidence that relentless violence has taken root worldwide, there is hope and there are artists to show the human face of it. 

The Hide of My Tongue, Ax L'óot' Doogú
ISBN: 978-1-935514-87-9
114 pages, $14.95

related links: about a place, poetry

Sampsonia Way

Sampsonia Way is an online magazine sponsored by City of Asylum/Pittsburgh celebrating literary free expression and supporting persecuted writers worldwide.

The magazine’s key staff includes exiled writers living on Sampsonia Way, a street in Pittsburgh that spans cultures and languages, which was conceived with their advice from within their own experience of exile and repression.

Sampsonia Way seeks to protect and advocate for writers who may be endangered, to educate the public about threats to writers and literary expression, and to create a community in which endangered writers thrive and literary culture is a valued part of everyday life.

The current Issue 9 — January 2012 includes the features "The Stage is My Gun: The Cultural Intifada of Juliano Mer-Khamis" by Olivia Stransky, "Reporting from Egypt: An Interview with Democracy Now's Sharif Abdel Kouddous" by Caitlyn Christensen and "Under Chávez: Media Harassed with Online Hacking, Phone Tapping and Censorship" by Gregorio Salazar.

Sampsonia Way is produced for City of Asylum/Pittsburgh by Silvia Duarte under a grant from the Queequeg Foundation. She is proud to produce a magazine of worldwide impact with a staff composed entirely of volunteers, part-time freelancers and consultants, and interns.

Sampsonia Way
international online magazine

The Language of Dragons - Yay Words

The Language of Dragons is a collection of dragon haiku and art, edited by Aubrie Cox in anticipation of the year of the dragon, which starts with the Chinese New Year on the 23rd January 2012.
The collection is available as PDF at Yay Words: The Language of Dragons - PDF

Aubrie Cox explains: "Back in October on Yay Words!, I asked my poet friends to write poems about trolls and/or tea and posted the results of it on Halloween as "Tea with Trolls." After a poll on Facebook and Twitter—it was whether folks wanted to write about sasquatch or dragons—and discovering 2012 was the Year of the Water dragon, I decided to plan another post for January first as a way to commemorate the New Year. Poets and artists were invited to contribute short form poetry and art featuring dragons and/or water and/or fire; anyone would submitted was guaranteed one piece for inclusion."

Contributors come from all over the world and include both well established and newer haiku poets. Cover art by Kris Kondo. A contributor list with website and twitter links is included at the end of the collection.

Aubrie Cox graduated from Millikin University with a B.A. in English literature and creative writing with a philosophy minor. At Millikin, she served as the senior editor for the student owned and operated publishing company Bronze Man Books, and editor-in-chief for the literary and fine arts magazine Collage. As of Fall 2011, she is attending Ball State University in pursuit of an M.A. in English creative writing. She regularly blogs poetry on Yay Words!, where she also does collaborative e-collections.

The Language of Dragons - website
The Language of Dragons - PDF
44 pages