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Tag Archives: Poetry
Summer Reading Club 2012/13 – Untangled Tales is choc full of holiday awesomeness
The Untangled Tales website is the best of the Summer Reading sites. Going over the site, was like being in one of the famous ‘But WAIT, there’s more!’ advertisements! At every click of the mouse, there was more and all of it FREE! There is something here for children of all ages [preschool, primary, secondary], for their parents, teachers and librarians. The site is gorgeous [literally] to look at, easy to navigate, entertaining in content and layout and engagingly informative!
The Celebrity Corner questions brought out the creative quirkiness of authors and illustrators in a very entertaining way and featured a very diverse group of creatives!
The Untangled Tales game is a blast – great fun! It challenges memory and prods research capabilities and informs about other cultures, their customs and attitudes as reflected in their fairytales and legends.
Check out the side tabs and their drop down menus – there is heaps and heaps of fun activity, fantastic tales, playful poetry and fanciful stories, arty opportunities, creative competitions in writing and art activities and painless learning along the way!!
I’m thrilled to be part of this year’s Summer Reading Club. I’m in Celebrity Corner with Kerry Brown, Christian Bocquee [with whom I am collaborating in our own Fractured Fairytales collection], Terry Denton, Lucia Masciullo and numbers of other wonderfully creative folk!
Opportunities for writers, artists, poets –
NEW Opportunities!
http://nightwolfpress.yolasite.com/submissions.php
Novel competition and an anthology going. Submission guidelines for ms submission.
Cover to work to....
Triangulaton
Short Story Anthology – theme ‘Last Contact’ – flash up to 5,000 words, 31 March deadline. See website:
http://parsecink.org/staticpages/index.php/triangulation_11_guidelines
OPPORTUNITIES
1. Notes from the Gean (March 2011) featuring haiku, tanka, haiga, haibun, renga/renku. Writers are invited to submit their work for the June issue.
http://www.geantree.com/indexcover.html
2. Haibun Today (March 2011) featuring Haibun and Tanka Prose and the largest online collection of literary criticism of the haibun and tanka prose forms. Writers are now invited to submit haibun, tanka prose and articles for consideration in the June 2011 issue.
http://www.facebook.com/l/31a98MHsMap6v9MR4qVq06_Hw2w/haibuntoday.com
AND
Romance under a Waning Moon: Call for submissions. This is a poetry and image website focused on the ups and downs of later-in-life romance. This project has just been started and writers are invited to submit already published poems (preferable) or new work to Editor Ray Rasmussen.
http://raysweb.net/fallromance/index_introduction.html
WIN A VIDEO MONTAGE, closes 6th March
Sandie Muncaster is hosting a giveaway on her site:
Video Montage GIVEAWAY
Want more exposure for your blog, book or a service you offer? Perhaps you’re looking for a fun, family adventure captured to video? TattleTott Productions can help by making a video montage.
Montages are professionally done and posted on YouTube where it may be seen by hundreds, thousands or even millions of people. Once its uploaded onto YouTube, embed codes are available to use on your own blogs, social networks, newsletters or even emails. Think about how much more exposure that will create, plus it’s FUN to watch.
Montages may include any information, pictures and link backs you want – music is included.
TattleTott Productions normally charges $45.00 for a video montage, but you can win one FREE. How? Just leave a comment (and contact info) at;
http://sandie-lee.blogspot.com
Giveaway ends March 6th and will be done by random drawing.
Enter today. Good Luck!
You can check out my work at;
http://www.youtube.com/my_videos?feature=mhum
Writers:
OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS:
Basics of Life anthology open till 28th Feb – Austlit http://auslit.net/2010/11/27/australian-literature-anthology-basics-of-life/
Artists/Illustrators/Poets, Short story writers ++ :
Going Down Swinging taking submissions till 28th February – http://goingdownswinging.org.au/submissions/
Poets, Artists and Illustrators:
Haijinx still open for submissions till 1st March! Haiku, haiga, renku, sumi-e and haibun – http://www.haijinx.com/I-1/
Writers:
Peter Cowan 600 Short Story Competition open -http://www.pcwc.org.au/index.php?p=1_10 Closes 1st May 2011.
Links for Writers – a growing resource
This series of links were included as part of an article I wrote for WQ Magazine,”Markets – from woe to go and getting a foot in overseas! ” [March issue 2011] . Sadly, the actual links had to be removed due to space restrictions so I have placed most of them here.
This list of resources, sources and publishing opportunities on the internet and elsewhere is far from exhaustive. Please do contact me if you have or know of a resource that can be included!
Review Blogs and sites
Book Review blogs
- Terry Doherty – Reading Tub and Jen Robinson – Reading Tub Blog
- Dr. Virginia Lowe – Create a Kid’s Book
- Debra Sloan – The Picnic Basket
http://www.thepicnic-basket.com/
- Carol Denbow – A Book Inside
http://abookinside.blogspot.com/
- Magdalena Ball – Compulsive Reader
http://www.compulsivereader.com/html/
- Susan Whitfield
http://susanwhitfield.blogspot.com/
- Jo Linsdell – Writers and Authors
http://writersandauthors.blogspot.com
- Betty Dravis & co-bloggers - Dames of Dialogue
http://damesofdialogue.wordpress.com/
- New Zealand Writer –
http://new-zealand-writer.blogspot.com
- Sarah Chavez-Detka
http://minorreads.blogspot.com/
- Kerry Neary
http://kerryneary.blogspot.com/
- Catherine Johnson www.kangaroobee.wordpress.com
- Sandie Lee Muncaster
http://imaginationcafeblog.blogspot.com/
Review Sites
All genres:
Goodreads –
http://www.goodreads.com/
Children’s Literature:
Terry Doherty Reading Tub
http://www.thereadingtub.com/
Reading Tub Blog
http://readingtub.wordpress.com/
Marketing & Promotional Aids
- BookBuzzr www.BookBuzzr.com World’s No. 1, Free Online Book-Marketing Technology for Authors
- Freado www.fReado.com World’s Biggest Book-Winning Site
- Free Press Relese DIY site -
http://www.prlog.org/submit-free-press-release.html
Magazines that publish short stories and poetry
[I have submitted a list of online journals most on Facebook, some with links -
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150093435850908
and growing.] New additions
Leaf Garden Press
http://leafgardenpress.blogspot.com/
http://leafgardenpress.blogspot.com/2009/01/submissions-open.html
Rose and Thorn
http://www.roseandthornjournal.com/Home_Page.html
Good Reading –
http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/
Children’s Writers & Illustrators:
Dream Chaser promotes children’s writers and illustrators globally.
http://www.dreamchasersmagazine.webs.com/
Poetry Sites and Blogs:
- QPF –
http://www.queenslandpoetryfestival.info/?page_id=11
- Graham Nunn – Another Lost Shark
http://anotherlostshark.com/
- Graham gives an excellent list of inks to other poet’s blogs.
- Jessica Bell
http://thealliterativeallomorph.blogspot.com/2011
- Poetry UK
http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/
- My own, under J.R.McRae :
http://jrmcrae.blogspot.com/
– note review of John Knight’s “Letters from the Asylum”
Children’s Poetry
Publishers
- Salt Publishing
http://saltpublishing.com/kids/
- List UK
http://www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/publishers/children/
- USA Children’s Poetry Publisher
http://www.boydsmillspress.com/reviews/wordsong
http://www.boydsmillspress.com/writers-and-illustrators-guidelines
http://www.cupcakepoetry.com/?tag=wordsong-boyds-mills-press-childrens-poetry-kids-publisher-publishing
Magazines
Interview with RebeccaNewman of “Alphabet Soup” and with Meredith Costain of ”Comet”, “Explore”, “Challenge “(Pearson education)
http://monthofpoetry.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/poetic-aside-publishing-poetry/
CHILDREN’S POETRY Blogs
Julie Larios – The Drift record
http://julielarios.blogspot.com/
Children’s Writers’ Blogs :
- Jackie Hoskings
http://www.writing4successclub.com/public/department63.cfm
- Kat Apel:
http://katswhiskers.wordpress.com/
- Tara Lazar
http://taralazar.wordpress.com/
- Susanne Gervay
http://www.sgervay.com/blog/
[YA] - I am endeavouring to add regular tips, tricks and resource links to my own blog, so keep posted…
Publisher’s blogs:
- Sharon Creech -
http://sharonkaycreech.blogspot.com/2011/01/book-design.html#comment-form
- Tate Publishing - Curtis Winkle, Senior Editor tatepublishingeditors.blogspot.com
- Tate Publishing – Melanie Hughes, Director of Production melanieharrhughes.blogspot.com
Writers blogs – tips n tricks
Jayme Ian Woode
http://jaymesianwoode.wordpress.com/
Writers’ Organisations:
Writing cross genre:
- Fellowship of Australia Writers [FAW]
http://www.writers.asn.au/
- Australian Society of Authors [ASA]
http://www.asauthors.org/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=ASP0016/ccms.r
- State of Writing [free] –
http://astateofwriting.org.au/
Children’s/YA writing Organisations:
- CBCA
http://cbca.org.au/
- SCBWI Australia and New Zealand also provides updates for members via an emailed newsletter:
http://www.scbwiaustralia.org/
- QWC
http://www.qwc.asn.au/
- Book Links
http://www.booklinks.org.au/
Wacky Wordage No. 5 – Self Portrait of Mattias Adolfsson
Self Portrait of Mattias Adolfsson
REFLECTION UPON THE SELF PORTRAIT OF MATTIAS ADOLFSSON, by J.R.Poulter
Nice shade of Blue!
Do you do other Hues too?
A puce or vermillion
Could look like a Million.
Heliotrope’s a nice shade
But a bit prone to fade….
+++—+++—
Just tan is so boring,
Common White isn’t scoring
Can you really bare to be inked
In pink!
And then there’s yellow
Well that ‘s a tad mellow…
Black’s back,
At least on the fashion track.
+++—+++—
I do think blue
Looks good on you!
Would you colour me too?
+++—+++—
[This is brave stuff - he has also done a selfportrait as a merman, or is it being half eaten by a sharkodile? I might have to do a wacky wordage on that one too...]
Wacky Wordage No. 4 – The Armourplated Elephort – illustration by Mattias Adolfsson
Illustration by Mattias Adolfsson
The Armour-Plated Elephort by J.R.Poulter 08
The armour-plated elephort
Lumbers through my mind
On his way to Fanciful
To join more of his kind.
xxxx—-xxxx—-
He rumbles on, he never sleeps
He tumbles down the mountain steeps.
He snorkunks through the ocean deeps,
He goes to join his kith and kin
Fight their way through thick and thin!
xxxx—-xxxx—-
NOTHING stops the elephort
And nothing ought!
xxxx—-xxxx—-
Each night he goes to Fanciful
He wades through blood and gore,
Each war is more FANTASTIC
Than he fought the night before!
xxxx—-xxxx—-
But alas,
When we get to the interesting parts
Of ripping off heads and tearing out hearts,
My mother comes in and shakes me awake,
“ENOUGH! It’s late! Up, OUT THE GATE!”
xxxx—-xxxx—-
I wish the elephort would come
And stumpalumph my meanie Mum!
Tribute to my Mentors – the late Gloria Benjamin Yates and the very “LIVE” Les Murray!
Gloria and Les are two very, very different poets, both conjurers with words, both larger than life and exuberantly celebrating language with every stroke of the pen.
My favourite poem of Gloria’s and one she signed and retitled at our last meeting (I wish I had the power to illustrate this as it deserves!):
Memorial Collage by Gallit Shaltiel
A Perfect Moment
I went to walk around the park
before beginning of the dark
and saw a single pink galah,
alone.
In all my life I’ve never seen
the grass and trees so very green
and such a rosy pink galah,
alone.
I’ve seen galahs so many times
in flocks, with friends, or on the wing
but never one so pink and so
alone.
If you’d been there you would agree
and be just as surprised as me
that any bird could be so pink,
alone.
by Gloria Benjamin Yates
[published under GALAH AT SUNSET in J.R.Poulter ed., "Let's Jabberwocky!", KBS, 2005 ]
Gloria’s humour and zestfulness, her fearless tackling of any topic and her performances – with Gloria, performance added a whole other dimension to her work. She was a master at delivery – she coloured in her words with her tonal qualities, incredibly expressive face and body language!
This is an tiny ‘taste’ from my favourite poem, “Airscapes” in Les Murray’s latest collection, the evocatively titled “Biplane Houses”. If this appeals, you need to read the whole yourself:
Here be carbons, screamed up
by the djinn of blue kohl highways
that have the whish of the world
for this scorch of A.D.
‘djinn of blue kohl highways’ is breathtaking.
{ Interestingly, Martin Duwell has pulled out part of the same poem in his review : http://www.australianpoetryreview.com.au/0609murray.htm%5D
I am constantly surprised and blown away by Les’ use of imagery – others have paid tribute to this, notably Gorton in his review where he refers to Les and a select few others as “Martians’.
The “Martians’ Australian = poets noted for their wild and wonderful imagery – http://home.vicnet.net.au/~abr/JunJul06/Gorton%20review.htm
Another good review: http://www.smh.com.au/news/book-reviews/the-biplane-houses/2006/04/24/1145730846723.html
- Biplane Houses cover
Australian Poetry – cross section – links worth looking at:
http://www.convictcreations.com/culture/poetry.htm
Poetry books are books to dip into and savour – to refresh the soul or heighten the sensibilities. “Biplane Houses” is one of the best collections by any poet anywhere!
Write Realities
Words are something I play with – blend, bend, break and mend, shape, shift scape and grift into wild and wonderful patterns of saying! Words can make stories, dramas, poetry, songs, information and I work with all of these. I love showing others how to use and express themselves with words in hands on workshops.
I also illustrate the poems I write with line drawings and photography and I make jewellery. That’s me plus spouse, five kids, two cats, possums and geckos and water dragons….
Mending Lucille by J.R.Poulter, illustrated by Sarah Davis
I have just had my 9th book released, “Mending Lucille” with Hachette Livre, and it has had the most amazing reception! It sold out the first print run in the first week, got picked up by ASO (Australia’s biggest distributor) and within the first fortnight was a recommended book for counseling/biblio-therapy by the Australian Centre for Grief Education, Monash Medical Centre. The story in itself did not take long to write – under 15 minutes, although it was ‘cooking’ for many many years whilst I was growing up, listening and observing the devastating effects of childhood grief/loss played out in the lives of those around me. The story was important to me, so when it was accepted by Lothian (Hachette LIvre), I was keenly interested in who would illustrate my story. To be given the opportunity to find my own illustrator as a relatively unknown author was HUGE! I found Sarah on the internet – her style was perfect for the story. Sarah intuitivley saw all the layers and the result – stunning!
Sarah and I had the honour to be asked to present our story of creating “Mending Lucille” at the SCWIBI International Conference in Sydney, February, 2008. A huge deal for two relative ‘newbies’. The Conference was a BLAST! Met numbers of amazing folk and networked with amazing writers, illustrators as well as publishers from all over the globe. I highly recommend SCWBI membership to anyone!
This is an example of my illustrative work. I write poetry under my maiden name, J.R.McRae. The illustration of the tree came first, then the poem (“Fledglings”) and I added the screen of leaves to the right. I drew it with my mouse in Paint and imported the colours into the palette with the dropper tool.
The illustration can add a whole further dimension to the poem, but generally the poem and picture work hand in hand. I like the experimentation and the extension that working with line and color give to my writing.
I also make jewelry – beading and what I call RaptRocs – these are semi-precious rocks that have been tumbled to take off the roughest bits. I hold them in my hands and feel their texture, the fissures and shape, any faults – then I wrap them in silver to make pendants etc so that the best features of the rock are highlighted. Now they will say something about the wearer as well – one of them is now in Germany.
-
RaptRocs
semi-precious rocks wrapped in silver wire
Word Play!
This is another poem with image that I created recently. The image came first, then I wrote the poem. The photograph in the banner is one of mine – I wrote a short poem to go with it. The whole image plus poem:
Poem and illustration by J.R.McRae
