• About

Bonespark~

~ Lighting the Fire…Write Hot!!!

Bonespark~

Tag Archives: Wordgathering

New&Forthcoming Poetry To Drop UR $$$ On

21 Saturday Oct 2017

Posted by BoneSpark Blog in C.A. Explains It All, Thoughts on Poetry

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Anne Carson, Annemarie Ni Churreain, Argos Books, Barbie Chang, BloodRoot, Copper Canyon Press, David Romtvedt, Dilemnas of the Angels, Doire Press, Educe Press, Ewa Chrusciel, Fanzine, Iron Ardent, Kenyon Review, Kissing Caskets, LSU Press, Mahogany L. Browne, New Releases, Omnidawn, Rain Scald, Rattle, Samantha Zighelboim, Sheila Black, Tacey Atsitty, The Fat Sonnets, University of New Mexico Press, Victoria Chang, Wordgathering, YesYes Books

 

Kissing Caskets by Mahogany L. Browne (coming in Nov. from YesYes Books)

sample poem:

the blk(est) night

 

 


Rain Scald by Tacey M. Atsitty (forthcoming from Univ. of New Mexico Press)

Two Poems w/ audio at Kenyon Review Online

 

 

 

 


The Fat Sonnets by Samantha Zighelboim (forthcoming from Argos Books)

Two Poems at Fanzine

 

 



 

Dilemnas of the Angels by David Romtvedt (available now from LSU Press)

Sample poem (at Rattle):

Dilemnas of the Angels:Intention

 


 

Iron, Ardent by Shelia Black (available now from Educe Press)

Two Poems at Wordgathering

 

 


BloodRoot by Annemarie Ní Churreáin (available now from Doire Press)

*scroll to bottom of purchase page at Doire for sample poems

 

 

 


 

Of Annunciations by Ewa Chrusciel (available now at Omnidawn)

Sample poem:

Migrants’ Annunciation

 


Barbie Chang by Victoria Chang (available Nov. at Copper Canyon Press)

Sample Poem:

Barbie Chang’s Tears

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Get List Fit! Tools to Shape-Up Flabby Prose

16 Friday May 2014

Posted by BoneSpark Blog in Fiction Experiments

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

#ThisBook videos, Andrea Reads America, Deep South Magazine Summer Reading List, Poetry Prompt FreeForAll, priscilla long, Sundog Lit Friday Rex, the list sentence, The Writer's Portable Mentor, Wordgathering

In Priscilla Long’s helpful text, The Writer’s Portable Mentor, she describes the list sentence as a compression technique employed by “superb, first-rate, virtuoso writers” to striking effect and recommends them as an opportunity to both play with sound and improve the quality of less than stellar passages.

 

images

After a hand full of examples from contemporary work, she then asks one to jump into a exercise invoking a setting or person with such a beast. Ok, but before we embark on our own writing, let’s conduct a random survey.

Here are sentences that I gleaned from a casual selection of texts on my own bookshelves:

From Eudora Welty’s autobiographical, One Writer’s Beginnings:

The Andrews Branch my mother came from represents the mix most usual in the Southeast –English, Scottish, Irish, with a dash of French Hugenont.

From Mary Miller’s short story collection, Big World:

He had a sister who traveled the world on a boat with her sea captain husband. She sent us things through the mail: statutes of Buddha, first edition books, turquoise bracelets.

From Edna O’Brien’s novel, Wild Decembers:

A few scattered houses, the old fort, lime-dank and jabbery and from the great whooshing belly of the lake between grassland and callow land, a road, sluicing the little fortresses of ash and elder, a crooked road to the mouth of the mountain.

And from Lorrie Moore’s new collection, Bark:Stories (which I highly recommend):

Ira’s new house, though it was in what his realtor referred to as ‘a lovely, pedestrian neighborhood,’ abutting the streets named after presidents, boasting, instead, streets named after fishing flies (Caddis, Hendrickson, God-Ribbed Hare’s Ear Road), was full of slow drains, leaky burners, stopped-up pipes, and excellent dust for scrawling curse words.

Please share your own “gleanings” in the comments of the post, and on then full-steam into the exercise.

Thinking about a recent trip I made to Biloxi, I wrote this about a section of the beachfront:

Even now, almost nine years after Katrina, I am still struck by the absence of things rather than their presence. Gone are the fast food outlets, the boats, the umbrellas, the glittering streetlights, and even the median. The sand has been replaced by the red dirt of construction, by re-bar dangling from limp concrete, and by parking lots half-swallowed by weeds that stink of bird shit and piss.

Hmm, might be on to an essay there.  Have to get on that. In the meantime, let’s ponder why in Long’s examples, so many passages are from poets-turned-essayist.

Well, for one, poets are well-practiced in precise word selection, and for another, they usually have heightened skills in close-observation.  Most writers will find that even a casual dabbling in poetry can produce extraordinary improvement in your prose writing. I recommend Margo Roby’s weekly Poetry Prompts FreeForall for a round-up of stimulating exercises.

You can also improve your prose by broadening your reading horizons. You might start with Deep South Magazine’s 2014 Summer Reading List or read your way through the states with Andrea Reads America. And if you crave more bite-size selections, try Sundog List’s Friday Rex roundups. There’s always something good to be found there.

Also, might be worth a visit to #ThisBook for a smattering of videos on books that have inspired other writers.  Happy browsing, scribblenauts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Recent Posts

  • Sunday Sentence 1/19/2020
  • NonFiction November Recap
  • Read This With That
  • Hidden Treasures of Booktube
  • (Belated) Sunday Sentence 7/14/19

Archives

Categories

  • 2sDay Poems
  • C.A. Explains It All
  • Fiction Experiments
  • Foremother Friday
  • National Poetry Month '15
  • National Poetry Month '16
  • National Poetry Month '17
  • NonFiction Nook
  • Odd Bits from a Creative Life
  • Poetry Lab
  • Small Press Interviews
  • Sunday Sentence
  • Thoughts on Poetry
  • Uncategorized

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,450 other subscribers

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Blogroll

  • Amy King's Alias
  • Arts & Lit @Deep South Mag
  • Blogalicious
  • Catalogue of Women Artists
  • Dear Outer Space
  • International Centre For Women Playwrights
  • Irish Writer's Centre
  • It's About Time Art Blog
  • Kristen Lamb's Blog
  • List of Poetry Journals (Poetry Society of America)
  • Myself the Only Kangaroo
  • National Museum of Women in the Arts
  • Practicing Writing
  • Resources for Southern Writers
  • Sealaska Heritage Institute
  • THE BLIND CHATELAINE'S KEYS
  • The Book of Kells
  • The Other Side of the Story
  • VIDA-Women in the Literary Arts
  • Women's Poetry List-Serv
  • WordCraft Circle
  • Wordgathering: Finding Poetry
  • Write It Sideways

Quick Links

  • Girls Gotta Write: Lit Mags for Us
  • Literary Journals Who Read in Summer (via Blogalicious)
  • Native American Poetry and Culture
  • Presses w/ Open Reading For Full-Length Poetry MS By Month
  • Scouting Small Press Poetry: A Tiny Guide
  • Small Poetry Presses Part II
  • VIDA's List of Women-Run Presses

Recent Work

  • "In the Heartland" poem from McNeese Review
  • Art @ Belle Journal
  • Collage @Foliate Oak
  • Latest Review @SabotageReviews
  • Notes on New Orleans Small Press Poetry @SabotageReviews
  • Papercut Art @Turk's Head Review
  • Review of THE SOUTHEAST REVIEW @theReviewReview

I LOVE POETRY Button

I’m a Southern Writer

Native Blood

American NDN

Member of The Internet Defense League

  • Follow Following
    • Bonespark~
    • Join 108 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Bonespark~
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: