Category: Chapbook Publishers

Poetry Postcard Fest Invites Poets to Participate

Published on by Nadja Maril3 Comments

As writers and poets, many of us have been trained to write with an aim to edit and revise, seeking to choose the right word, the right sound, the right meter, and rhythm to capture our thoughts. But there’s a different kind of writing, spontaneous writing, not meant to be censored. Once the phrase is written, it stays.

In visual art, I watched the sculptor Reuben Kramer create what he called his one-minute ink sketches. The game, he said, was not to lift the brush off the paper, once he began, but to keep moving it until the image was complete.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Postcard poetry follows the same protocol. You write within the confines of the small space, what pops into you head that you think will be well received by the recipient. In the case of the annual Cascadia Poet’s LAB  Poetry Postcard Fest, the recipient will likely be a stranger, but that is part of the fun.

The festival began in 2007, the brainchild of Lana Ayers and Paul Nelson, and has expanded into an international event. Last year they had 544 participants from twelve countries, five Canadian provinces, and 44 USA states, the highest participation rate ever. So, anyone who is thinking poetry is dead, think again. The artform is alive and well in many different forms.

Co-founder of the festival Paul E. Nelson wrote this essay “The Joy Of Postcards”, published by Rattle, a valuable read, https://www.rattle.com/the-joy-of-postcards/  it can get you started on exploring the medium, if you aren’t already familiar with the form.

Photo by Armin Rimoldi on Pexels.com

And it’s not too late to sign up for this year’s Festival or if you are so inspired, start another version of a poetry exchange on your own. To participate in the Cascadia Poet LAB Postcard Fest click here and learn all about the various approaches to writing postcard poetry and how to participate in the festival.

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Introducing Collective Member Nadja Maril

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            “I like a challenge,” says writer/poet Nadja Maril, “Which is why I like short-form writing. Carefully choosing just a few words to depict a scene or describe an experience is skill that requires tenacity. The process is humbling. The results gratifying.”

            Ten dedicated writer poets comprise the Old Scratch Short Form Collective,
with the goal of working with the Devil’s Party Press, a small independent publisher, to bring to fruition the concept of publishing chapbooks of poetry and short form prose under the
imprint Old Scratch Press.

            This week we are introducing Nadja Maril.

            Nadja began her writing career as a freelance journalist and subsequently as a magazine editor, but her love has always been creative writing. “I remember reading Shirley Jackson’s  short story in high school, “The Lottery,” and wanting to re-read it again, to fully digest everything it contained and thinking what a gift,” she says, “to write a story less than 10 pages long, so powerful that it calls out to be read over and over again.”

            Nadja Maril’s first published books, while she was still in her twenties, were two children’s books about Molly Midnight, the artist’s cat (Stemmer House) that were short form in their own way. Inspired by her artist father Herman Maril’s paintings of the family cat, the text required brevity and the use of simple language. “The content,” Nadja says, “Needed to appeal to a child and to the adult who was reading the book to the child. A favorite children’s book is read many times, but it can’t be boring to the parent or caregiver. It has to sound pleasing to the ear, be visually appealing, and tell a story worthy of reflection.”

            An expert on antique American lighting from the late 19th and early 20th century, Nadja’s two books on the subject (Schiffer) became mainstays in collector’s libraries as she continued to pen weekly newspaper and magazine columns about antiques.

            Refocusing her efforts on further refining her creative work, in 2018, she returned to school to earn her MFA in literary fiction from Stonecoast at the University of Southern Maine (graduating in January 2020). Her essays, short fiction, and poetry has been published in dozens of literary magazines including; Lunch Ticket, The Journal of Compressed Literary Arts, and Invisible City Literary Journal.

            “I like flash fiction,” she says, “Under 750 words. But then I discovered short memoir, which takes on the form of a prose poem.” Her working title for her chapbook, tentatively scheduled to be published by Old Scratch Press in 2024, is Recipes from My Garden: herb and memoir short prose and poetry.

“I’ve published a number of pieces about herbs, vegetables, and kitchen memories,” she says, “And I like the idea of putting them together in a small book.” One of her favorites, published last summer by Anti-Heroin Chic is “Cilantro.” Her prose piece, “Reboot,” appearing in the upcoming edition of the Devil Party’s Press literary magazine Instant Noodles, has a number of components, but the imagery of growing things play an important role in the story line.

Concurrently, working on a novel, Nadja likes to write and revise her work in the context of each short chapter or section, being complete in itself. “I like telling a long story from several points of view which means that each point of view is short story within itself, another short form, she says.

This year, in  2023,  Old Scratch Press is looking forward to the upcoming releases of chapbooks by Ellis Elliot and Robert Fleming.

Don’t forget to visit our Old Scratch Press Facebook Page and follow us on Twitter to find out what our contributors are up to and the latest poetry news. Thank You as always for your support.

            “

Introducing Collective Member Janet Holmes Uchendu

Published on by Nadja Maril3 Comments

Ten dedicated writer poets comprise the Old Scratch Short Form Collective,
with the goal of working with the Devil’sParty Press, a small independent publisher, to bring to fruition the
concept of publishing chapbooks of poetry and short form prose under the
imprint Old Scratch Press.

This week we are introducing founding member Janet Holmes Uchendu.

Janet Holmes Uchendu grew up in Eudora, AR, with a love of reading, writing, abstract drawing, and music. She wrote many poems and stories, created loads of colorful abstract drawings, and sang in her church and school choirs.

When she graduated from high school in 1973 she left behind her love of drawing and writing, and focused on music. She attended the University of Arkansas at Monticello with the aid of a vocal scholarship majoring in vocal performance. In 1978 she attended Henderson State University, and finally earned her BA in Music Education from Philander Smith College in 1985.

Life has taken many twists and turns, but Janet never lost her love of reading and writing. She will tell you that the dream of being a writer never died. It was simply a dream deferred. In April 2018, thirty-three years after earning her BA, she enrolled in an Introduction to Creative Writing class at the University of Central Arkansas. It took another two and a half years before she decided to apply to graduate school.

“It was always my intention to go to grad school after I retired from the workforce,” says Janet. “When Covid-19 moved my retirement date up to about two years earlier than I had planned, my deferred dream of being a writer woke up, spoke up, and said the time is now.”

She is currently studying for her master’s in creative writing through the Arkansas Writer’s MFA Workshop at UCA.

Janet is working on a poetry collection, and a memoir. She is a longtime member of a poetry writing group titled, Pens on Fire, that meets weekly via Zoom. She has been a guest contributor in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, her story, “The Color Red,” was posted on the Arkansas Heritage blog in August 2021 and you can read it here.  She has also been published in Writing Our Lives, A Southern Storytellers Anthology, Volume IV, and Volume V.

Don’t forget to visit our Old Scratch Press Facebook Page and follow us on Twitter to find out what our contributors are up to and the latest poetry news. Thank You as always for your support.

Introducing Collective Member Alan Bern

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For writer, poet, photographer and performer Alan Bern, pairing of images and words, what are termed photo-poems is a daily practice. As he states in his introduction to his work “next S-s-startle” published in Mercurious : “Creating photo-haiga is a central part of my daily art practice: I find it both invigorating and meditative, an often odd, but for me, happy combination. I have found that my photo-haiga can bring some readers closer to the poems. And please note that sometimes I find the photos to match poems sitting in waiting.”

One of the ten founding writer poets comprising the Old Scratch Short Form Collective, this week we introduce Alan Bern.

Alan Bern is the author of three books of poetry: : No no the saddest and Waterwalking in Berkeley, Fithian Press; greater distance and other poems, Lines & Faces press. Alan launched broadside press  linesandfaces.com, with artist Robert Woods. Robert and Alan grew up together in Berkeley in the 1960s. Both men became commercial printers, but also continued to produce works that combined Woods’s prints and Bern’s writing as well as the writing of other poets, such as Robert Hass and John Anson.  

Alan has been short-listed for several poetry and prose awards and has published in a wide variety of online and print publications. Alan’s story, “The alleyway in the downtown library,” was a runner-up for The Raw Art Review’s The John H. Kim Memorial Prize for Short Fiction

A photographer and a performer with dancer/choreographer Lucinda Weaver as PACES and with musicians from Composing Together, Alan also had a career as a children’s librarian. Drawing inspiration from his work as a librarian, he has a book forthcoming from UnCollected Press, titled IN THE PACE OF THE PATH. which is a fictionalized memoir, a hybrid of prose, poetry, and photo-images. As Alan describes it, “It is a book about homelessness as seen and understood by a librarian — I worked as a public librarian for over 25 years before retiring three years ago — and also about the town where the librarian grew up and where he still lives. “

The draft title for Alan Bern’s chapbook, to be published by Old Scratch Press is sway. The theme/content of the chapbook, says Alan, “is (loosely) my responses as an American to the Festa di Sant’Agata in Catania, Sicilia. This chap is the intertwining of my words and photo-images, a vital part of my daily art practice. ”

Members of the Old Scratch Short Form Collective work together with the Devil’s Party Press, a small independent publisher, to bring to fruition the concept of publishing chapbooks of poetry and short form prose under the imprint Old Scratch Press.

Don’t forget to visit our Old Scratch Press Facebook Page and follow us on Twitter to find out what our contributors are up to and the latest poetry news. Thank You as always for your support.

Introducing Collective member R. David Fulcher

Published on by Nadja Maril2 Comments

In 1993, while still a student at the University of Maryland, College Park, R. David Fulcher founded a literary magazine. As he writes in an article, this is how it all began:

“During my studies I came across the Buddhist concept of samsara, the continuous cycle of suffering and rebirth until one achieves enlightenment.  Of course, my twisted college brain immediately thought:  “Why wouldn’t that be wonderful!  A literary journal based on suffering!”

Well, maybe there was a  bit more to it than that.  After all, the official theme of the journal is artwork, poetry and fiction centered around suffering and healing, the latter being arguably far more important to us as human beings.

Through the years, the magazine’s reach has expanded (we’ve published writers from Africa, Canada, Mexico, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom), and my wonderful wife Lisa Flach-Fulcher joined the effort as the Managing Editor, vastly improving many of the day-to-day operations of the journal.  Despite these changes, Samsara has remained true to form, only accepting works that emphasize the central theme of suffering and healing.  Beyond that, the magazine has no genre restrictions, and we’ve been amazed by the variety of ways that artists and writers have incorporated these themes into their submissions over the years.

We expected stories from cancer survivors, those recovering from addiction, and those mourning a lost love.  All these themes are critically important to Samsara.  But the creative spark will not be denied, and we received pleasantly unexpected new spins on suffering and healing as well.  Consider the suffering of an alien race slowly perishing due to a dying sun, or a vampire with dementia.  Consider a man plagued by the voice of a subway train that lures him to his death, or a paranoid individual convinced that fish live in his waterbed, giving him incurable insomnia.”

It’s not surprising that when publisher Dianne Pearce thought of writers she’d worked with, that she invited R. David Fulcher to be one of the founding members of the writers working behind the scenes to help support the concept of a press focused on publishing poetry and short form work.

Ten dedicated writer poets comprise the Old Scratch Short Form Collective, with the goal of working with the Devil’s Party Press, a small independent publisher, to bring to fruition the concept of publishing chapbooks of poetry and short form prose under the imprint Old Scratch Press.

This week we are introducing founding member R. David Fulcher

David’s work has appeared in numerous small press publications including Lovecraft’s Mystery Magazine, Black Satellite, The Martian Wave, Burning Sky, Shadowlands, Twilight Showcase, Heliocentric Net, Gateways, Weird Times, Freaky Frights and the anthologies Dimensions and Silken Ropes. Fulcher’s work can also be found in the DPP collection Halloween Party 2019, available at Amazon and at the DPP online store.

Author of horror, science fiction, fantasy, and poetry. Major literary influences include H.P. Lovecraft, Dean Koontz, Edgar Allen Poe, Fritz Lieber, and Stephen King. Fulcher’s first novel, a historical drama set in World War II, Trains to Nowhere, and his second novel, a collection of fantasy and science fiction short stories, Blood Spiders and Dark Moon, are both available from authorhouse.com and  Amazon.

In the Fall of 2023, Devil’s Party Press released a new collection of R. David Fulcher’s horror tales called The Pumpkin King: The Collected Horror Stories of R. David Fulcher. While some of these stories have appeared in the past in other collections and anthologies, this will be the first time all of horror stories will be consolidated into two volumes.

The first volume, The Pumpkin King, will focus on his traditional horror stories.  The second volume, Asteroid 6 and Other Tales of Cosmic Horror, will focus on his cosmic horror stories. 

A writer, with diverse interests and talents, if you’d like to check out one of David’s poems, entitled “Perception” published by Poetry Pacific in May 2020, here’s a link, Enjoy. And don’t forget to sign up to follow this blog, where you’ll get the latest news about the Old Scratch Press writers and ways to stay connected to the poetry and short form prose community. Thank you for reading.

Introducing Collective Member Morgan Golladay

Published on by Nadja Maril1 Comment

How does one convey the feeling of a place? Twice-recognized by the Delaware Press Association for her poetry, Morgan Golladay gathers images and thoughts into a story of living in an area where rivers and mountains converge into dreams and memories.

                                                Destination by Morgan Golladay

Ten dedicated writer poets comprise the Old Scratch Short Form Collective, with the goal of working with the Devil’s Party Press, a small independent publisher, to bring to fruition the concept of publishing chapbooks of poetry and short form prose under the imprint Old Scratch Press.

This week we are introducing founding member Morgan Golladay

Morgan Golladay

Morgan Golladay has been intrigued with words all her life. Her poetry reflects this, and she uses illusion and allusion in her writing.  Much of her work focuses on her native Shenandoah Valley, as well as coastal Delaware.

 Morgan says that poetry originated as an oral form, and she thinks it works best when it is heard. To that end it must be concise, simple, and tight. The poet bears the responsibility to speak old truths in new ways, to encourage the reader/listener to consider ideas from a different point of view. To do this the poet must be vulnerable, must allow their inner thoughts and fears and secrets to surface. This is particularly difficult in a society that doesn’t share its hurts, its fears, its pain. And that poetry, of love, loss, sadness, fear, and joy binds us together in our humanity and give us opportunities to grow. 

                                                            Daylight in the Swamp by Morgan Golladay

Now a resident of central Delaware, Morgan ‘s latest work The Song of North Mountain is a love song to the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Growing up in a valley nestled between the Blue Ridge and North Mountain, Morgan Golladay was greeted daily by the aura of a quiet landscape blessed by sky and rolling hills. The images in this chapbook are, for the greater part, memories of a time where all that was important was sky, mist, land, and trees. Publication is tentatively scheduled for 2024.

artwork by Morgan Golladay

                                    Above the Gap by Morgan Golladay

Morgan  past work and life experiences have provided her with a diverse perspective which she brings to her writing and her visual artwork. She  has worked with non-profits as a volunteer and staff member, been a librarian, a blood donor recruiter, and a customer service and purchasing agent for a residential water-well wholesaler.  Her watercolor and acrylic-collage paintings have won awards, and she is a member of the Mispillion Art League in Milford, DE, where she currently lives.

Her poetry and prose has been published in the Broadkill Review, Halloween Party ’21, and Instant Noodles. She is currently editing her first novel.

Introducing Collective Member Anthony Doyle

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Writer and poet Anthony Doyle often uses short form prose in his work to link a concept or idea into a larger story. In talking about his forthcoming novel Hibernaculum, he says, “I hope the novel makes people consider hypotheses they may not have thought of before….it takes a multi-faceted approach. It’s a little like looking at something in a hall of mirrors, and that can be challenging but fun at the same time.” 

Ten dedicated writer poets comprise the Old Scratch Short Form Collective, with the goal of working with the Devil’s Party Press, a small independent publisher, to bring to fruition the concept of publishing chapbooks of poetry and short form prose under the imprint Old Scratch Press.

This week we are introducing founding member Anthony Doyle.

Anthony Doyle was born in Dublin and raised in Wicklow, Ireland. He has been living in São Paulo, Brazil, since 2000, where he works as a translator of fiction, non-fiction and film scripts from Portuguese. He has published numerous translations, including the novel There Were Many Horses, by Luiz Ruffato (Amazon Crossing), and the acclaimed memoir Operation Car Wash (Bloomsbury), by Jorge Pontes and Márcio Anselmo. In addition to short stories and poems, he has published the children’s book O Lago Secou (Companhia das Letrinhas, 2013). His first novel, Hibernaculum, is due for release in July 2023 through Out Of This World Press, the sci-fi imprint of Devil’s Party Press.

If you’d like to read a short piece of prose, by Anthony Doyle, his piece “Brain in a Jar” just won the AUTHOR OF THE MONTH AWARD on Spillwords.

Don’t forget to visit our Old Scratch Press Facebook Page and follow us on Twitter to find out what our contributors are up to and the latest poetry news. Thank You as always for your support.

Introducing Collective Member Virginia Watts

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“My prose and poetry is about daily human life, the small moments in the hometowns of contemporary America,” says writer and poet Virginia Watts. “Through my work, I hope to celebrate the unique characteristics of close-knit communities, shared family histories, local war heroes, larger-than-life characters.  I am interested in exploring the concept of home, whether that is a city, suburbia, rural life, the far future. Why does one person leave while another stays? Why do some people go back? What haunts those who never do?”

Ten dedicated writer poets comprise the Old Scratch Short Form Collective, with the goal of working with the Devil’s Party Press, a small independent publisher, to bring to fruition the concept of publishing chapbooks of poetry and short form prose under the imprint Old Scratch Press.

This week we are introducing Virginia Watts.

Virginia Watts is the author of poetry and stories found in CRAFT, The Florida Review, Reed Magazine, Pithead Chapel, Permafrost Magazine, Broadkill Review among others. Her poetry chapbooks are available from Moonstone Press. She has been nominated four times for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. A short story collection is upcoming from The Devil’s Party Press.

On her website she introduces herself by stating, “I have always been drawn to creating with words. In fifth grade, I began staying inside during recess to write stories. I didn’t care about the taunts of “nerd,” because once my pencil hit the paper it never stopped flying until the bell rang. I wish I’d kept those notebooks. I do remember one entry was entitled “Peanut Butter and Peas.”

To enjoy Virginia’s poetry and prose, there are no shortage of opportunities available just by googling her name, but here are links to two notable poems you might enjoy. The first poem published by Two Hawks Quarterly is entitled “The News” and the second one, first place winner of the Joan Ramseyer Poetry contest, is entitled “Choose a Memory to Keep.”

If you’d like to learn more about Virginia’s writing practice and sources of inspiration, this link to her interview with Dark Lane Books will provide more insight.

And don’t forget to visit our Facebook Page and follow us on Twitter to find out what our contributors are up to and the latest poetry news. Thank You as always for your support.

INTRODUCING COLLECTIVE MEMBER GABBY GILLIAM

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Ten dedicated writer poets comprise the Old Scratch Short Form Collective, with the goal of working with the Devil’s Party Press, a small independent publisher, to bring to fruition the concept of publishing chapbooks of poetry and short form prose under the imprint Old Scratch Press.

This week we are introducing Gabby Gilliam.

Gabby Gilliam is a writer, an aspiring teacher, and a mom. She lives in the DC metro area with her husband and son.

Her poetry has appeared in One Art, Anti-Heroin Chic, Plant-Human Quarterly, The Ekphrastic Review, Vermillion, Deep Overstock, Spank the Carp, and others. It has also appeared in anthologies from Pure Slush, White Stag Publishing, Black Hare Press, Raven’s Quoth Press, Devil’s Party Press, and others. 

Old Scratch Press will publish Gabby’s first chapbook of poems. The working title is No Ocean Spit Me Out. Approximately 30 pages in length, the poems in No Ocean Spit Me Out explore the dynamics and evolution of family relationships. It is scheduled for release during the second quarter of 2024.

Whether Gabby Gilliam is writing about the universe or writing about the give and take of emotions between two people, her work covers a wide range of topics. Want to read more? Here are a few links to Gabby’s poems published in Topical Poetry, One Art Poetry, and Ekphrastic Review : Quantum Physics Proves There is No Such Thing as Nothing, What We Can Gather and When a Woman Reaches Super Nova.

Keep up with Gabby’s work by following her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Visit her website for her latest literary news.

Daffodils and Mud Inspired Poetry

Published on by Nadja Maril3 Comments

Welcome to Week Two of National Poetry Month. The four seasons of the year are the subjects of many different types of poetry from traditional sonnets to exuberant free verse sprawled out across the page. So to start this week we are sharing two poems by American poets from the past.

The first poem is by Amy Lowell (1874-1925). A Pulitzer Prize winner for her poetry collection, What’s O’Clock, Lowell is associated with the early 20th Century Imagist Movement, which sought to use precise, colloquial language and concrete imagery in lieu of traditional poetic diction and meter. Compared with the second poem we’re posting by E.E. Cummings, however, to our twenty-first century ears it sounds very traditional, until you compare it to last week’s poem posting by William Shakespeare.

To an Early Daffodil

By Amy Lowell

          Thou yellow trumpeter of laggard Spring!

           Thou herald of rich Summer’s myriad flowers!           

           The climbing sun with new recovered powers

          Does warm thee into being, through the ring

          Of rich, brown earth he woos thee, makes thee fling

           Thy green shoots up, inheriting the dowers

           Of bending sky and sudden, sweeping showers,

          Till ripe and blossoming thou art a thing

           To make all nature glad, thou art so gay;

          To fill the lonely with a joy untold;

           Nodding at every gust of wind to-day,

          To-morrow jewelled with raindrops.  Always bold

           To stand erect, full in the dazzling play

          Of April’s sun, for thou hast caught his gold.

The second poet, E.E. Cummings ( 1984-1962) was one of the most popular poets of the twentieth century. Challenging the established approach to words on a page, Cummings experimented with form and language to create a distinct personal style. The exhilaration of the change in seasons is transmitted by his merging certain words together and distancing others in a poem that shouts out to be read aloud.

[in Just-]

By E.E. Cummings

in Just-

spring          when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

whistles          far          and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it’s

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far          and             wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it’s

spring

and

         the

                  goat-footed

balloonMan          whistles

far

and

wee

Do you have a favorite poem to greet the season? Share it with us and share it by posting it on your own social media account as well. Poetry is not only meant to be read aloud, it is meant to be shared.

Thank you for reading and don’t forget to follow us on WordPress, Facebook , Instagram, and Twitter.

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