carry on

Today I was accepted as an associate artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, to study under the poet Gregory Orr for 3 weeks. I'm thrilled. This means that I'll be taking a two day road trip across a bit of the south (Texas to Florida). If you don't know how much I love Gregory Orr, you can read about it here.


Gigantic Sequins went to AWP in Chicago. We came, we saw, we shone, we shivered. We drank too much coffee & saw lots of friends. We're excited for next year when we're on our college-hometown turf in Boston. There are still a few days left in this submission period, so send your work in.




Everyone should go see this movie, based on Another Bullshit Night In Suck City, a memoir by Nick Flynn. It's short notice, but if anyone is in NYC tomorrow night, there's a benefit screening for the AIDS service center, which you should attend...

I wrote my name in yr book / only God knows where

my poem Say When is up at Pank Magazine.


We are still open for submissions at Gigantic Sequins until March 10th.


The song today is Laura Marling's Goodbye England (Covered in Snow)

& learns by breaking

My poem Against Desire appears in the latest issue of Pebble Lake Review. There's a recording there too, of me reading the poem. I think it turned out nicely. Ploughshares just send me proofs last week, as did TYPO. A nice winter/spring publishing.


If you didn't know, Gigantic Sequins is still open for submission. The other day in workshop, Tony Hoagland said that he wanted "wet blood poems." Fresh kill. Send me some bloody poems.

Gigantic Sequins will be at AWP, at the bookfair, right next to Wave Books, which is amazing for so many reasons, including the fact that they've supported us via raffle donations for the past two years. We're having a reading too, on Saturday night. More about that later.


I am feeling quiet today, chickadees. Holding stillness. I taught my kids a little about syntax and discursive poetry and Carl Phillips and there's just so much I do not know. Off to read Transtromer and Moore and more and more.

3.1

Gigantic Sequins 3.1 is now available for pre-order.

Featuring:

Poetry from Carrie Murphy, Ken Taylor, Jake Kelly, Chrissy Friedlander, Candice Wuehle, Laura Goode, Analicia Sotelo, Kimberly Grey, Amanda Auchter, and Chuck Carlise.

Fiction from Kelli Trapnell, Olivia Kate Cerrone, Nathanael Green, and Meg Cameron.

Art &/or Comics from Sarah Schneider, Gillian Lambert (cover art), and Goodloe Byron

angel in the thicket

There is a wonderful post today at The Rumpus today: All At Once Is What Eternity Is: Musings on Kenneth Patchen. Kenneth Patchen is one of those rare writers who truly gives his wildness permission. If you have not read The Journal of Albion Moonlight, stop reading this post right now, go to your local bookstore, and buy it immediately.



This post is written by Carolyn Zaikowski, who apparently is a strong and brilliant writer:

"...Your language does not need permission to be said, to be written. Your life does not need permission to exist. Your blur, your cliff, your bewilderment does not need permission.... You don’t need permission to be just as you are in this moment. Your strange language doesn’t need permission to be itself. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar who wants your power, who wants war, who wants your beautiful huge seed. Anyone who tries to shame or break your language is betraying you."

Amen. This is exactly the kind of voice we want in Gigantic Sequins. Yes, our submissions are open.




onwards, chickadees.

To Friend

Facebook made "friend" a verb, which is a little unfortunate, since "befriend" was working just fine More unfortunate is the awkward verb "unfriend," but so it goes.

This is a post about friends, about poetfriends.

I really like this poem by my poetfriend Alexis Orgera at H_NGM_N.

If you are in Pittsburgh today (November 9th), you should go see the lovely and talented poetteacherfriend D.A. Powell read for free.

Today is the BIRTHDAY of my poetfriend Leigh Phillips, who is brilliant and endlessly inspiring. Sometimes she falls into despair about writing, but even the expression of her despair is poetry. Go say Happy Birthday to her on Twitter.


Our submissions are open at Gigantic Sequins for issue 3.2. This is included in a post about friends, because small journals are very friendly. They purr. Send us some writing on fire.

new sight

now I have a website

I was looking through old pictures of myself last night, trying to find one that would be appropriate for a press release / posters for a Gulf Coast reading in the fall. 90% of the pictures really aren't appropriate, but they reminded me how much I used to live with my camera. Tom shared this Sally Mann/Nan Goldin transcript with me the other day - also a reminder.

Official-reminder-to-self #2 - get your camera.

The Gigantic Sequins reading on the 22nd was very lovely. It felt like a family affair. Elizabeth Hoover has a chapbook called "Love In The Wild" that is just fantastic You can find a few pictures of the reading here, along with some reminders ( submit! buy a raffle ticket! ) and an announcement that we're having a reading in NYC, July 12th, in a pop-up bookstore. There's a 70% chance that I will be there.

Okay chickadees. I'm going to try to convince Jason to pick me up in his Cadillac and take me to the drive-in tomorrow night. Take care of yourselves.

NEXT WEDNESDAY:
Gigantic Sequins presents: Shine On (celebrating the publication of issue 2.2) A reading featuring Jim Daniels, Elizabeth Hoover, and Alayna Frankenberry. ModernFormations Gallery, 4919 Penn Ave., Lawrenceville; doors open at 7:30 p.m. and the readings follow at 8 p.m. Cover charge, $5 includes dessert. 412-362-0274.

Jim Daniels’ recent collections include Having a Little Talk with Capital P Poetry, and From Milltown to Malltown, a collaborative book with photographer Charlee Brodsky and writer Jane McCafferty. Forthcoming books include All of the Above, Adastra Press, Trigger Man, his fourth collection of short fiction, Michigan State University Press, and Birth Marks, BOA Editions. He recently wrote and produced the independent film “Mr. Pleasant” which premiered at the Three Rivers Film Festival in November. He lives in South Oakland, near the boyhood homes of Dan Marino and Andy Warhol.

Alayna Frankenberry graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with degrees in Creative Writing and Hispanic Studies. Her work has appeared in Weave, Open Thread, OH NO, and Night Train. She has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize. She serves as the unofficial Poet Laureate of Munhall, Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth Hoover received her MFA in Creative Writing from Indiana University and has published poetry in The Adirondack Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, the Atlanta Review, and The Other Journal. Recently, New Letters nominated her for a Pushcart Prize.

Gigantic Sequins issue 2.2, and tickets for our summer raffle will be available for sale at the reading, as will books and chapbooks of our readers. Hope to see you there (and the next night too, at the Cave Canem reading...)

Hello chickadees,

I've been very busy organizing things for Gigantic Sequins. Not only are our submissions open again, but we're about to be releasing issue 2.2, and we are in the middle of our summer lovin' raffle. The cherry on top is that I'll be hosting a Gigantic Sequins reading on Wednesday, June 22, featuring contributing poets Jim Daniels (2.2) and Elizabeth Hoover (2.1). I can't say how much it means to have both of these poets on one bill. You will have to come to the reading to hear me attempt to say why.

Starting next Friday, my older sister Anna and I will be driving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (our hometown), but first stopping in Rudy, Arkansas, to stay at her mother's farm. When I was last there in August, I caught a kitten, and the peacocks were just skinny little slips of bird. There were hummingbirds at the feeder, and Pat's old dogs mumbling around the periphery of the house. Every time I get to visit Rudy, I think again about somehow, one day, having a house out in the country, where a train whistles at the edge of the property, the creek runs through it, and at night, the house becomes it's own private lantern in a world darkwashed. Anna and I have never been on a road trip together. It should be beautiful, as long as the Mississippi holds. And if not, well, we will have a great adventure. Babycat is coming along. I have purchased a black leash for her, and a black collar (being an indoor cat now, she never wears on) with a black bell, and a tiny gingham bow. I didn't have a choice about the bow, and she doesn't seem to be bothered. I'm amused at the idea of her prancing through the tall grass at the farm, alongside the sheep, with her tiny gingham bow. At least it matches her - black & white.

"A poem is not a report on an experience. A poem can't really be "about" drug use or recovery; it has to create an experience in language, and then to reach inside that language in the direction of making meaning. If a poem merely tells us a story -- well, is it a poem at all?" --- A very interesting blog post by Mark Doty today, partially on assumption.

I turned 28 last week, and the only present I received was a book of Rilke's poetry, with certain poems marked by the giver. It was exactly what I needed.

Gigantic Sequins Presents
RAFFLE ME, BAFFLE ME:
The Summer Lovin’ Edition

You – yes, you- could win

books from:
D.A. Powell
Nick Flynn
Jonathan Franzen
Matthew Zapruder
The 2011 Wave Books catalog
& many others

Music from:
Blanketfort Records
Brendan Little
Emily Easterly
Emily Rodgers
VDMA

Art by:
Darla Jackson
Savannah Schroll Guz

Visit
www.giganticsequins.com
to purchase your raffle tickets
and find out more about our donors
AND
you will automatically be eligible for a prize
if you pre-order Gigantic Sequins issue 2.2.

GIGANTIC SEQUINS KICKSTARTER : GO!

We have 30 days to raise AT LEAST $500,so please, spread the word about this thing! You will have our undying love.

If you happen to be in Baton Rouge, LA tomorrow, come to this small press panel & reading:

The Delta Mouth Literary Festival is a two-day event on Thursday, March 17, and Friday, March 18, 2011, presented by LSU's New Delta Review. For more information, visit the DELTA MOUTH event page at http://tiny.cc/be5zp

let's just call this a teaser

http://giganticmagazine.wordpress.com/


While writing submissions are closed at Gigantic Sequins, we are still open for ART & COMICS submissions for issue 2.2. This is because we do not get as many of these as we do writing submissions, and we can always use more.

Keep an eye out for an upcoming announcements about 1. our Kickstarter page 2. our 2nd annual fundraising raffle...

often he reckons, in the dawn, them up. / nobody is ever missing.

Over at Gigantic Sequins, where I am the poetry editor, we are getting ready to close the doors on this submission period & snuggle up to the work we think has got that je ne sais quoi. But - you have 4 MORE DAYS to submit your writing and art. For more information, hop on over to the Gigantic Sequins site. You can purchase issues online over there, or at the following fine bookstores:

Trident Booksellers & Cafe | 338 Newbury Street, Boston, MA

St. Mark’s Bookshop | 31 3rd Ave. New York, NY

bluestockings | 172 Allen St. New York, NY

Flying Object | 42 West St. Hadley, MA

We're revving our tiny journal engine & kicking this thing into the next gear. If there is an independent bookstore near you that you think would be a good match for Gigantic Sequins, please let me know.


Speaking of matches, check it out:



that's me holding Matchbook 3, from Small Fires Press, in which I have a tiny poem about Batman. I love love love tiny things, so it's very lovely to be published in this particular handmade form, an obvious labor of love. This issue debuted at AWP and will soon be available for purchase online at Small Fires Press.

Tons of [Gigantic] Fucken Sequins

Submissions at Gigantic Sequins are open, so editor-and-chief Kim Southwick and I are all stirred with excitement. It looks like the female/literary version of this man's enthusiasm:



go directly to our Submissions site HERE

If you haven't heard of us, well, we're a small print journal based out of Philadelphia/Houston. We like all types of writing with guts. Bones & muscle & guts. But also, ponies, say, if you are really jazzed about some beautiful ponies, we might like that sort of poem/non-fiction/fiction too.


Looking forward to reading your work !

Venti Latte vs. A Chance to Win a 2010 Wave Books subscription?

Gigantic Sequins (the literary magazine I'm the poetry editor for) is holding a fund-raising raffle (that's right, I said RAFFLE!) to fund our future adventures in publishing.

And what can I win from this raffle? you ask. Well, says I, a lot of neat stuff. And, unlike a venti Starbucks latte, which probably costs around $5, your $5 raffle ticket might win you more lasting treats from places like Wave Books and ModCloth. Check out the link below to purchase a raffle ticket, find out more information on the drawing, and to see a more complete list of our prizes from musicians, small presses, etc. So so so much better than a latte!

Raffle Me, Baffle Me !

For more about Gigantic Sequins : we live here : http://giganticmagazine.wordpress.com/

More about Gigantic Sequins:
We're in the middle of our second season - issue 2.1 will be coming out towards the end of October, & 2.2 will be published likely in late winter. I'm excited to be publishing writers like Leigh Phillips, Jim Daniels, James Wagner, Jeremy Schmall, Anne Marie Rooney, and F. Daniel Rzicznek in our second season, and hope that some of you will send in work when we re-open submissions in the spring! If you are interested in submitting poetry, prose, or artwork in the future, look for our new submission guidelines within next month. Queries may be directed to giganticmagazine@gmail.com

i take my waking slow

on shuffle, Placebo's cover of Kate Bush's Runnin'Up that Hill came right before Iron & Wine's "Lion's Mane."

I have been (gasp) social this weekend, as I was already coaxed out of my hermit hole for a Gulf Coast staff meeting. We start reading slush next weekend - entirely excited to be involved with a publication of this scale. A little bird tells me that a Gulf Coast blog will be live on October 2, so keep an eye out.

Meanwhile, in the shining world of Gigantic Sequins, our editor is reading over the proof for 2.1 while we do a bit of fund-raising. We're having (don't laugh) a raffle, which I am calling Raffle Me Baffle Me!, which is to say we are happily baffled and entirely pleased by the array of donations — from the likes of ModCloth,Tao Lin, and Wave Books - arriving for our up-coming raffle. Thanks for those who have donated so far! If you, your press, your band, or your craft, would like to be a part of our fund-raising raffle, or want to know more, please contact GIGANTICMAGAZINE@gmail.com, or comment here with your email address and I will send you our editor-in-chief's mailing address.

And so, nous finissons, chickadees. Tune in next time.

slow leaving a goodbye to things

I'm terribly sad, chickadees. At 87, Jose Saramago has died. Every so often you find an author who transports you entirely - who you can barely imagine except as a kind of intuitive magician or unreal character themselves - someone whose mind you might get lost in were they not so masterfully guiding you along. Jose Saramago was one of those authors. I first read Blindness in high school, and immediately began to slowly collect his works, reading each voraciously, slowing as I neared each ending, wanted each to never end. A true storyteller, a true inventor & artist, a humanitarian. I don't think I can write an accurate description of just how much he means to me. His newest book, "The Elephant's Journey," will be published in September - his last gift to us. Thoughts on Saramago's death here. And here, Saramago's Nobel Lecture from 1998. Rest in peace, dear Saramago.

Over at Gigantic Sequins, we are just finishing up our 2.2 reading period, which ends officially on June 30th. A few days ago I was talking to Kim, our editor-in-chief, about exactly what it is Gigantic Sequins is looking for, and our conversation planted in my head this idea of an aesthetic-based community. Perhaps this description leads towards sounding superficial, but what Kim had expressed was that she wasn't simply interested in publishing poets writing poetry, and fiction writers writing fiction, but the writing of artists & musicians & all sorts of creative people. This desire to publish more expansively, not just as a literary journal, but as a journal of arts & culture, is what sets Gigantic Sequins apart from the clambering crowd of lit mags - basically, we're invested in publishing any sort of excellent & thoughtful writing, from classical verse to essays on film. And you still have until June 30th to submit!

I am slow in the world today, brimming with endings and beginnings.....

It's Gigantic!

Snazzy, eh? This is what issue 1.2 of Gigantic Sequins looks like.

poetry by Kathleen Rooney, Geoffrey Cruickshank-Hagenbuckle, Leigh Alexander, Adam Falkner, Jeff Laughlin, Cheena Marie Lo, Kyle Tacsik, Sophia Natasha Sunseri, Ryan Hunton, Joe Letourneau, & Kiara Kharpertian

fiction by Zach Yontz, Lucretia Zappi & Ben Dover

art by Mark Toneff

Submissions for issue 2.2 are currently open...