Welcome to the Wild Life

I am so jazzed to be featured on PAGE ONE of Ruthless Peoples Magazine's Wild Life issue (download by clicking on the picture). I LOVE RPM. Their fantastic taste notwithstanding, I love their crisp pdf layout and their "reader guidance" comments. Funny comments.  This issue is full of what I call "safe" pieces, but Tom Sykes' Bad Territory #2 is prefaced with:  Be advised that this is not light reading and will easily offend even robust individuals.  I know, some of you are now going to run right over there right now and check that one out...


For the rest of you that are still here, my One Yorkshireman's Perfection is my first ekphrastic poem. I wrote it last winter in response to my favorite photograph, Winter Light by Richard Kettlewell; jotting new words from it every morning for 30 days. I even interviewed the photographer for additional insights.  Richard kindly gave me permission to share a thumbnail of my poem's inspiration with you here.

A special thanks goes to Dominic Hamer and Stewart Baker of RPM. You guys ROCK on both sides of the Atlantic. I'd also like to thank Jessie Carty, whose insight helped me step back enough to let readers see.

Cheers,
J.S.
(J Sudborough)

September Slipped By

September. What a month. My head is still spinning. To the point that I can only think in bullets:

• My poem "He Asks" came out in the print-only Rattlesnake Review.
  
• Surprise Valley Writers Conference asked me to be their submissions chair for next year's conference.  I also (somehow) ended up as their "new media" administrator.  So come visit me on their page on Facebook and their stream on Twitter.  Let's get this party started!
• Nanoism nominated my serial-tweet story Dakar 1989 for Best of the Net.  SO jazzed about that.  Caught me way off guard, since I was busy nominating everyone else for Folded Word.
• I also have some lovely editing projects that got underway in September.  They're going to be my secret for just a little longer...
• I started a Folded Word group on Fictionaut.  So pop on by and join the conversation.

Each of these items deserves a post of its own, but I'm afraid I have to dash.  My gram has been neglected far too long.  It's Friday Lunch Date time!

Cheers,

J.S.

Mary Anne's Home on Mars

Cue Julie Andrews:

Brown paper packages tied up with strings. These are a few of my favorite things...

There really is life on Mars. Or in Mars, rather. That's right, space cadets. Fuselit's Mars issue is finally for sale. And tucked within its pages? My very own Mary Anne Randall-Smith in "That's Why She Bought a New TV Today."

There is no online version. So to read my poem (on page 28-29 as J Sudborough) along with the brilliant works of Philip Burton, Ben Fergusson, Chrissy Williams, and many more, you'll have to pop over to Fuselit and purchase a copy for the bargain price of £4. And yes, that's a bargain. Because this isn't just a print issue. It has a mini-cd with audio works. And a clever activity book as well. Oh, and did I mention that they don't charge extra for overseas postage?

Thanks so much to Kirsten Irving and Jon Stone for giving this silly Yank a voyage she'll never forget!

Cheers,
J.S.


Safety Goggle: Fuselit: Mars

think before you read
my content *page 28-29 = TV-PG
other content = TV-PG & TV-14

Blank Verse for Black Bear

You crossed my husband's path today, still small
yet without mum. When you were foraging
our maple woods, did you expect to see
the fireworks tonight? Poor thing. I watched
Steele Hill's spectacular tucked safe behind
glass panes and plaster board. I wonder if
you pressed your face in saturated loam
to hide from SPARK and BOOM--or if you stood
atop our granite clearing flanked by ferns
to watch those crazy stars come out to play.

Bad Poet, Bad

I like quirky and odd. This was a problem in high school when conformity was the only way to procure invitations to dance. But now that I no longer have to worry about such trivialities, I can be as bizarre as I like.

Which is why I submitted two pathetic examples of my student poetry to Very Bad Poetry. Some people use screen names here, but I used my J Sudborough. Why admit these overly ing-y and alliterative works are mine? 'Tis a nod to my inner Sud--that barkingly eccentric piece of my DNA that gives me intellectual prowess on one hand & social anxiety on the other.

And, despite the editors' claims to the contrary, SLR has nothing to do with online gambling. Honest.

Cheers,
J.S.

P.S. My DAR grandmothers will be thrilled when they see that Sugar Pop is Poem #1776;-)

Safety Goggle: "SLR" and "Sugar Pop" at Very Bad Poetry

(think before you read)
my content = TV-G
other content = TV-14 (D L S V)

In League with Women-Writers

I've never been a big one for feminist ideals. Though I enjoy my right to vote and my access to education, the truth is I could have been happy 1000 years ago milking cows and sewing my own wimples. Actually 1000 years ago I would have died at age 11 without becoming a woman, so I guess it doesn't pay to play "what if."

Still, I am so jazzed to have my work included in I Can't Be Your Virgin and Your Mother. Crytal Folz, the passionate editor of the collection, caught me by complete surprise when I submitted to another of her projects. Her goal? To collect as wide a range of poetry's underground female voices as possible, speaking as candidly as possible. She's certainly succeeded.

Not only do I have four poems in the collection, but a two-paragraph first-person bio (very intimidating to write). If you're brave enough, check it out on page 29 along with my poems on pages 30-31: Wish I Did, On Our Anniversaries, Puzzle Child, and For a Moment She Lets Him Go.

Limited edition print copies are available. If you're interested, the ordering info is on the Shoots and Vines website. I might even sign my pages if you're nice to me;-)

Safety Goggle: I Can't Be Your Virgin and Your Mother

(think before you read)
my content *pages 29-31 = TV-PG (D V)
other content = TV-14 (D L S V) & some MA (L)

Poetry Church

An appropriate post for Sunday: This week I received my book-bound Poetry Church Collection vol. 18 via Royal Mail from the moors of Yorkshire. Inside sit two of my poems, published as J Sudborough: "Heavens" and "Handiwork."

You'd be correct in assuming from the collection's title that this is a Christian collection. Many of the poems are inspired by Bible verses, others take the form of prayers. Most in the form of ballads. My contributions are extended metaphors in free verse, thus require a bit of thinking--as does Philip Comfort's "papyrus maker." And Patricia Lucas paints three lovely portraits of spring flowers in "Snowdrop," "Daffodil," and "Hellebore." As Julia Connor (my workshop leader from Surprise Valley Writers' Conference) said, "Poetry is big enough for all of it."

Cheers,
J.S.

Safety Goggle: Poetry Church Collection vol. 18

(think before you read)
my content *page 99 = TV-G
other content = TV-G