Million Writers Award: The Best New Online Voices + The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy

For nearly a decade the Million Writers Award has honored the best fiction published in online magazines and journals. Now for the first time are the most exciting stories recognized by this award gathered in 2 collections:

Million Writers Award: The Best New Online Voices
includes stories by Sefi Atta, Elizabeth Stuckey-French, Corey Mesler, Roxane Gay, Eric Beetner, Randa Jarrar, Jessica Schneider, Matt Bell, Anjana Basu, and many more

Million Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy
includes stories by N. K. Jemisin, Saladin Ahmed, Rachel Swirsky, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Aliette de Bodard, Richard Bowes, Lavie Tidhar, Hannu Rajaniemi, Catherynne M. Valente, and many more

Some of these authors are well-known from print magazines and books; others have only published online. But all of them are reshaping the world of short fiction. Read these groundbreaking stories and you’ll understand why online magazines and journals are the place to find today’s most vital and challenging fiction.

If you “are curious about the boundaries writers are pushing in short fiction, (the Million Writers Award) is a very good place to start.” – Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times “Jacket Copy” blog

Pre-Order Special— free ebook offer!
If you pre-order one or both anthologies from Spotlight Publishing before June 14 you'll receive special pricing on print editions and ebooks.

Million Writers Award Anthologies + Pre-Order offer
edited by Jason Sanford
publication date: June 14th
pre-orders are open now

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Call: The Million Writers Award 2012
The Million Writers Award is now inviting nominations from readers, writers, and editors. This award is for any fictional short story of at least a 1,000 words first published in an online publication during 2011. Info + Guidelines: Million Writers Award 2012. The deadline for nominations is April 9.

Indefinite Space 2012

amidst the portraits & trees & word halters--
the poems underwater, the poems in air,
the poems breaking the horizon
// sundials & shadows--
Indefinite Space.

The 2012 edition of Indefinite Space contains work from 24 poets & artists: Peter J. Grieco, Lauren Hilger, Guy R. Beining, Kristina Marie Darling, Dan Raphael, J.T. Whitehead, Lara S. Williams, Corey Kimmel, Robert Tremmel, Ian Hatcher, Marton Koppany, Lance Nizami, Candace Kaucher, Mark Young, Britt Melewski, Josh Nadeau, TWIXT, David Wanczyk, B.Z. Niditch, C.S. Carrier, Steve Wing, Dorothee Lang, Nicolas Grenier, John McKernan.

Indefinite Space is edited by Marcia Arrieta. Her first book of poems triskelion, tiger moth, tangram, thyme is available through Otoliths (+ was recently reviewed by Melusine, here). Her chapbook experimental: was published by potes & poets press, and another collection the curve against the linear is part of The Quartet Series— An Uncommon Accord, published by toadlily press. She has a MFA in poetry from Vermont College.

About Indefinite Space
Marcia Arrieta founded Indefinite Space in 1991 after receiving a grant for her work from the Pasadena Arts Council. She has continued to publish the journal independently for 20 years. Indefinite Space has a penchant for the avant-garde, the philosophical, the minimal (but not always), the natural, and the intangible.

Indefinite Space 2012
single issue $7
ISSN 1075-6868

related links: poetry, art

the weight of dew - Daniela Elza (Mother Tongue)

In the weight of dew, Daniela Elza’s remarkably elegant debut book of poetry, we are taken on a literal, metaphorical and philosophical journey from the city, inland through (mostly) British Columbia. In the miles and meditations Elza’s poems travel light, with the ‘shape of me nameless’. the weight of dew settles around us, after the long journey of contemplation.

These poems are delicate, condensed, crystallized, yet paradoxically spacious, not only visually but philosophically. They gently ask questions about our existence. Use language to investigate belief. Use metaphor to awaken consciousness. Beautifully transforming us and herself through the alphabet of her knowing.

"These poems are like the sculpted mindscapes of the Zen garden: evocative, resonant, and serene. They are also delightfully complex, as if the poet with the rake has a sense of humour, is part Zen master, part Trickster, demonstrating with a wink how the wondrously simple and the eminently elaborate reside inside each other." –Aislinn Hunter

"There is a sweet music and the sensuality of careful attention in Daniela Elza's work, the sort of things by which the world recovers its proper gravity." –Tim Lilburn

An interesting interview with excerpts is online at Rob Taylor's blog:  part1 (with "crumbling into harmony") + part 2 (with "past Hope"). A quote: "There was a kind of control and at the same time a letting go. A kind of freeing myself and the reader to experience the fluidity of the words as they meta-morph through the different rooms of our beings." - Daniela Elza

Daniela Elza has lived on three continents and crossed numerous geographic, cultural and semantic borders. Her work has been published in more than fifty literary and peer-reviewed publications and to date she has released more than 200 poems into the wor(l)d. In 2011 Daniela received her doctorate in Philosophy of Education from Simon Fraser University and launched her first e-Book, The Book of It (now also available in print).
About Mother Tongue Publishing
Mother Tongue Publishing is dedicated to publishing unique, bold and stimulating books of British Columbia art history, fine art and literature. The Unheralded Artists of BC, their new series, is dedicated to recognizing 20th century B.C. artists and igniting an overdue discourse on their artistic and historic significance.

Daniela Elza: the weight of dew (Mother Tongue Publications, 2012)
Poetry collection, 112 pages, introduction by Aislinn Hunter

ISBN 978-1-896949-21-5

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Books, Blogs, Review Forward

This post belongs to the BluePrintReview book + lit blog, which explores and celebrates the diverse and growing landscape of indie presses, authors, books, e-books, online literary projects and related projects. It belongs to the literary online magazine BluePrintReview.

Review Forward: This entry is inspired by Review Forward, a new online initiative for authors & book bloggers. For more reviews, visit the facebook page or the twitter-stream.

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