just a moment

New: Lost in Translation, Blog Fest & 2 calls: Senses, Crossings

2012-01-27T10:59:00.003+01:00

The new BluePrint newsletter is online! Here's the online version:
New: Lost in Translation, Blog Fest & 2 calls: Senses, Crossings

With the newsletter, it's easier to keep track of new BluePrintReview issues, language/place editions and other blueprint projects. The newsletter also includes current calls + interesting links. If you havn't received it, you can subscribe here.

BluePrintReview "Diary of"
In addition to the newsletter, an update on the next BluePrintReview issue, "Diary of". The issue is planned for March - submissions closed now, a big thanks to all who submitted. I am in the process of looking through submissions now, and will contact all who submitted when the content is fixed.

And 2 dates:

Language/Place submissions for #14 open on Febuary 1st, theme is: Locating the Senses in Language/Place, Guidelines
And the deadline for the first NZ/German Blog Fest 2012 is: February 5, How to join.

Lost in Translation + 2 calls: Senses, Crossings

2012-01-16T18:10:00.000+01:00

Just Launched:
Language / Place Blog Carnival #13: "Lost in Translation"
Edition #13 of the language place blog carnival is live! This edition is all about language and how humorous or just plain hard it is to understand when it's foreign. "Lost in Translation" is our first multiple-view edition! Big thanks to host + Lebenskünstler Christopher Allen, who makes it possible to get lost in a fancy mosaic, in classic style, in snaphots... Here's the link: Edition #13: Lost in Translation

Note: Click on the dropdown-menu on the left, right underneath "I Must Be Off" to select the style of your choice, and enjoy getting lost.

*
Call:
Edition #14: Locating the Senses in Language/Place
The upcoming edition of the Language/Place Carnival will be hosted by writer and poet Stella Pierides, who lives in Germany and England. The feature theme of Stella's edition is "Locating the Senses in Language/Place". Contributions are invited from writers, poets, and anyone with an interest in this topic. As alwasys, we welcome a wide variety of posts. Submissions are open 1.2. - 10.3: Guidelines

*
Special Call:
Kiwi / German Blog Fest 2012: Crossings
Frankfurt Bookfair 2012: An Aotearoa Affair is a literary web initiative in anticipation of the Frankfurt Bookfair in October, where New Zealand is the Guest of Honour. It's based both in New Zealand and Germany, and will feature Kiwi and German writers (and writers with interest in the event) in a weekly series, and in special features. There also will be an edited monthly online journal that shares perspectives on New Zealand and German literature - the first edition is planned for February, deadline is February 5, the theme will be "Crossings": Guidelines.

"Diary of" issue in progress + Life In A Day

2012-01-16T06:43:00.001+01:00

"Diary of" issue in progress
Just a quick note: submissions are open for the upcoming "Diary of" issue of BluePrintReview. Guidelines are online here: "Diary of" Call

Please note that the issue is about the theme in a larger sense. And maybe it's the season, but i received a chain of rather dark submissions. so if you have a lighter idea, send along. Deadline is January 22.

And connected to the diary theme, here the link to a youtube-video:

YouTube: Life in a Day
"On July 24, 2010, thousands of people around the world uploaded videos of their lives to YouTube to take part in “Life in a Day”, a historic cinematic experiment.." ...which is online now. full length. 1hour 34minutes.

How to make a link in a comment clickable

2012-01-10T12:13:00.001+01:00

a little link advice: for all who include links in their comments, there's a simple way to make the links clickable:

BluePrintReview nominations: Pushcart

2011-12-22T07:42:00.001+01:00

October brought a first reflection of the year with the BluePrintreview Sundress nominations. A month later, it was time for the Pushcart letter. Again, such a task, but also so beautiful to revisit the previous issues, and to be able to put a letter together that starts with the words "It's a pleasure to nominate the following texts.."

Pushcart Prize - Nominations 2011

The Peppermint Bottle
creative non-fiction by Sherry O’Keefe

I’m on a Boat
creative non-fiction by Jessie Carty

The Dare
fiction by Michael J. Solender

Smoking
fiction by Mary Stone Dockery

The House Made of Brambles
poetry by Marcia Arrieta

Cross-Section of my Day / Comfort
a collaborative work of fiction &
poetry by Susan Gibb and Steve Ersinghaus,
based on paintings by Carianne Mack Garside

Congratulations - and thanks to all contributors and all readers for making BluePrintReview what it is.

___
Collage images: "lake triptych" by Ron Kostar; "cross section" by Carianne Mack Garside; "Wandering" by Claire Ibarra, "suspension" by Brigita Orel

Current Calls

2011-12-18T15:29:00.000+01:00

Some current calls - charity contest, co-operative poem, mindful challenge, found poetry, poetic encounters ..

Leaf Press is inviting poets to send poem fragments for their annual co-operative poem. Deadline: December 29, Guidelines.

a river of stones is now open for registration: the idea: starting the new year with 31 days of mindful "stones": short, attentive notes. more about the river of stones: January 2012 in a blueprint book blog feature: A River of Stones

A Baker's Dozen: Thirteen Extraordinary Things is a new quarterly online journal. Submissions are now open for the inaugural issue, to be published in January 2012: "We’re looking for fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, visual art, audio, video. Each issue, we put thirteen ingredients into our giant cyber-oven and see what happens." There also is a special 2012 Challenge for former 52/250contributors. Guidelines

Found Poetry Review is accepting found poetry submissions through Dec. 31. website

Blue Fifth Review: Submissions open: Nov. 1 - Dec. 31 for 2012 (Jan.- June) - regular and special issues of Blue Fifth Review: Blue Five Notebook Series. See Guidelines.

MICROW is open to prose, poetry and image submissions for the Winter issue, the theme is: "Transport." note that special guidelines apply: guidelines. deadline: 1. January

Nanoism is inviting submissions for their Annual Charity Contest. First entry is free, subsequent entries require proof of donation to charity. Deadline: 1. January, Guidelines.

Language/Place Carnival: Edition #13 will be hosted by writer and Lebenskünstler Christopher Allen. A native Tennessean, Christopher has lived in Germany for more than fifteen years. When he’s not editing, teaching or writing ficiton, he blogs about his travels at I Must Be Off! The feature theme for Edition #13 is “Lost in Translation: The Humo(u)r Edition". Posts should be humorous, on the theme of homour, an attempt at humour, or even a blatant rejection of humour. Your post can be prose, poetry, photos, jokes—but as always, a wide range of contributions is welcome. Edition #13 is planned for mid-January 2012. Deadline: 8. January. How to join

Cha Poetry Contest - a contest for unpublished poems in English language (or poems translated into English) on the theme of "Encountering". Guidelines, Closing date: 15. January

IthacaLit launched in September with it's Issue One, and is now open to submissions for their winter issue, website.

How to create an own google map

2011-11-30T20:34:00.000+01:00

An own map
Creating an own map with various places in google maps is something i tried a while ago, then gave up on after repeated trial-error. Now I appraoched the theme again, for the new edition of the language/place carnival - and this time, fumbled my way through it. It's not really complicated, just takes a bit to get used to the systematics. There is a how-to-page by Google itself: Maps User Guide

How-to-video
Here's a short video with the basics that shows which buttons to click for the start, and where to find them. The map page is in German - I tried to switch, yet Google was persistent to remain in the local language. But from place and systematic, the buttons and the process should be the very same in English.

Display options

After creating the map, you can either link to a map page (for example, the map I created: Map: Streets Signs Directions) - or you can embed it in a website or a blog (like here, the map is at the end of the entry: blog carnival: Streets Signs Directions).

In both cases, you find the link / the code on the right top of the map page, just press the "link" symbol next to the mail and print symbol.

---
Other blueprint How-to posts:

- How to create an automatic paper.li newspaper

- A quick guide to Book Publishing Services (Lulu, Issuu, Smashwords...)

BluePrintReview nominations: Best of Net

2011-11-03T11:11:00.008+01:00

It's the season of nominations!
Always a difficult task, but also a joy to revisit the previous issues, and be able to contribute to projects like the Sundress Best of Net Anthology , the Million Writers Award or to Dzanc Best of Web, projects with the mission "to promote and expand the reach and prestige of online literature by offering this annual glimpse into the best writing the internet has to offer."

Going through the pages, the thought occured that it would be good if there also was a best of web for photos and artwork. Not that this would make the task easier. So here, the first round of nominations:

Best of Net / Sundress - Nominations 2011

Short Stories

My Mother, Marylin Monroe- Len Kuntz

Love and War - Jónas Knútsson

Poetry

memory revises us – Arlene Ang & Daniela Elza

A Fragment, with Mask and Horn – Sam Rasnake

h/eartland - Lynne Shapiro

Make-Believe – Al Rempel

Temenos –Daniela Elza & Robin Susanto

Anchor Baby – Harold Terezón (USA), Clint Cambell (USA), Carleen Tibbetts (USA), Kaira Jordan Ki (USA), Anne Yale (USA), and Omer Zalmanowitz (Israel) - a collaborate poem

Congratulations to all, and best of luck for the anthology selection!

___
Collage images: "mm" by Jeff Crouch; "into the ear" by Robin Susanto; "Astral Land" by Cliff Tisdell; "Dark Nebula" by Terrin Stam Munawet

automatic newspaperism (some clues to paper.li)

2011-09-30T11:49:00.000+02:00

The idea of automatic newspapers
There's more and more content on the web - everyday, new links float through twitter and facebook, in an ongoing stream of data. The idea of automatic newspapers like paper.li is to help to curate this content: "We believe that people (and not machines) are the ones qualified to curate the content that matters most. We also think that these same people can greatly help their own communities to find their way through this “massive content world” we live in."

a blueprint of a newspaper
Since this summer, there is a BluePrintReview newspaper, which is still in the trial/error/adjust phase, but comes with daily editions that often look like they have been pieced together by an editor. (Well, there in fact is an editor at work: behind the settings, and to some degree, with the content). And added to that, the generator often pulls interesting articles that otherwise would have gone unnotice, especially as Twitter is short-text only, and Facebook has the tendency of pre-selecting content by cutting down the newsfeed to a core circle of connection. (more about that, here: facebook cuts newsfeed)

Here some clues to creating / optimizing paper.li papers:

the newspaper is created automatically, based on suggested keywords for twitter and facebook. twitter settings allow to be more specific and seem to work better than facebook settings/keywords
it's basically trial and error: experiment with settings and see what works best
paper.li seems to work especially well with events that have an own hashtag in twitter, like #storysunday or the 100days group project: #100days2011
it also works well with very specific keywords. for a freelance project, i tried a trial newspaper, and with only one keyword: "webcomics", it creates interesting editions.
format: to add a single twitter user, use the format: @twittername. for a twitter list, the format is: twittername/listname.
test suggestion: to get an idea of how the various keywords / settings work, i suggest to try each as single setting in a test newsletter, and look how it shapes out, then erase the test again, and try the next setting in a new test (that way, you can work ahead instead of having to wait 12 or 24 hours for a new edition after changing settings). some things i noticed there: it seems rss-feeds sometimes create no content, and keywords like "book" raise japanese content, which can be fixed by setting the content language to english
i tried "photo" as keyword in the settings, which then produced a photo and media field (not sure if those would have come up anyway at some point)

adjust content

once the edition is published, you can adjust / control the content on the newspaper page by hovering over the right lower corner of each newsbit – hovering will make a field come up that allows you to move up into the headline, move down from headlines, or to erase the newsbit.

more clues

some more clues can be found in the paper.li blog

language/place #10: "The Heart and Soul of the Cultural Landscape" + call #11

2011-09-28T07:38:00.002+02:00

language/place #10:
"The Heart and Soul of the Cultural Landscape"

Edition #10 of the >language >place blog carnival is now online.

White Spaces > Blue Sea > Blue Riots > Green Birds
Green Grass > Black Bags > Black Slabs > Red Heart
Red Heat > Orange Seaweed > Orange Sand >
Grey Shades > Grey Lace ... & The Art of It

Hosted by Sheree Mack, this edition draws a colored map of The Heart and Soul of the Cultural Landscape in 14 entries from around the world.

first feedback
“wow, i like what you have done and how each piece speaks to the next. a chain, resulting from such careful thought on your part. thank you for all the work you've put into this edition.“ - Sherry O'Keefe

“love the coloured theme headings... and as always, some wonderful out there pieces to make you think!" - Julia Davies

Edition #11
Edition #11 marks the 1-year anniversary of the language/place blog carnival! The edition will be hosted by Dorothee Lang, who started the carnival in October 2010 and blogs at life as a journey. The feature theme for edition #11 is “Streets, Signs, Directions” - but as always, a wide range of contributions is welcome. The edition is planned for late October 2011. Submissions are open 1.-20. October. More details here.

equinox sky collages

2011-09-23T07:26:00.001+02:00

in celebration of equinox, here a revisit of 2 sky collages that belong to the blueprintreview collab issue, both based on sky pictures of blueprintreview contributors:

happy equinox!

--
original posts: sky crossing 1 + sky crossing 2

May you live in interesting times ~

2011-09-01T23:13:00.002+02:00

The new blueprint newsletter is online!

BluePrint News
The BluePrintReview challenge issue is complete. Almost parallel to it's completion, edition 9 of the language/place carnival launched. Added to the new pages, there is: a new wallpaper (for the blueprint book blog), and: an experimental blueprint newpaper. More about all this, in the blueprint newsletter. Which starts with a quote i remembered, but couldn't place: "May you live in interesting times".

The quote is - a curse. That much i knew. The more interesting and fast forward the times, the less chance for reflection. I now googled the quote, trying to find its origin. Turns out, i'm not the only one who tried to find it. So far, despite of a number of written credits, no one found the origin. Here's more, on the may-you-live-in-interesting-times-wiki-page. The page also notes the other part of the curse: "May you find what you are looking for. (In the sense of: May your wishes be granted.)

Some notes on the process
After going through the challenge issue and the other new pages of this month, and assembling the newsletter (the hardest part, as always, was: finding the words for the introduction.), i felt it’s almost overwhelming, the hugeness of the themes both the challenge issue and the language/place carnival are touching.

I hadn’t fully realized how far both editions are reaching. makes me remember of what i thought in the beginning, that this will be a smaller / simpler issue compared to the previous synergy/collaborations issue. "i don't think trying to compete with that in the next issue would be a good idea," i noted in a mail back the. "i guess i'd better go for a simple issue next." Looking at it now, this issue might only be simpler in format.

language/place #9: "Assimilation / Individuation" + call #10

2011-08-23T07:27:00.002+02:00

language/place #9: "Assimilation / Individuation"
New edition online! Edition #9 of the >language >place blog carnival is now online. Hosted by Brigita Orel, this edition moves through 5 continents in different formats, following the theme Individuation/Assimilation.

Note on the edition + first feedback
“There are fewer contributions than usually, but I think it's very rich in the media used, from films to poetry, art to non-fiction, so I quite like how it turned out.“ - Brigita

“Cool re blog carny. I think Brigita did a great job. The theme really reveals itself, in aspects I hadn't thought of.” - Rose

Edition #10
The next edition will be hosted by poet and artist Sheree Mack, a resident in the North East of England. The feature theme for edition #10 is “The Heart and Soul of the Cultural Landscape”, but as always, a wide range of contributions is welcome. The edition is planned for late September 2011. Submissions are open September 1 – 20. More details here.

The ä ö ü of it

2011-08-21T07:50:00.002+02:00

this post belongs to the language/place blog carnival #9: "Assimilation / Individuation", which is hosted by Brigita Orel, and is now online.

The ä ö ü of it (or: Come here Umlaut)
a facebook conversation + a translation by Ron Kostar, Rose Hunter, Jeffrey Brautigam, Dorothee Lang

It all started with a note on facebook in German, typed by Ron Kostar, which picked up on some extra alphabet letters in German: the "Umlaute". Derived from a, o and u, they add 3 more vocals to the german alphabet: ä, ö and ü, which also are included in german keyboards.

Ron: Wir mussen in dem Ozean gehen aber mit nicht ein Umlaut! (ich vergesse alles!)

Ron: Der Umlaut must in dem Haus mit die Kinder hinter der Tur und die troublesome Articles und Preopositions bleiben. Lol!!

Rose: Und gleich mit dem Subjunctive usw

Ron: Eine greosse Problem und ein Problem und einander!

Jeffrey: I do not know how to make facebook do an umlaut, but I can produce one in both Word and Wordperfect

Ron: mit ein Wort (wart) more preceisely eine Brief herunter?

Dorothee: Here come the Umlaute: Mögen die Häuser ihre Türen öffnen, und die Umlaute die Worte aufhübschen. Viele Grüße

Ron: Come here Umlaut, I would like the door of your house open and the Umlaut of the word (aufhubschen?). Many greetings ???

Ron: Very moldy to the point of decaying my German become has.

Rose: See I would have thought the plural would have been Umläuter.... But that just sounds like some around people I guess. OPTION + u and then the letter on a Mac. Here umlaut, good umlaut benimm sich gut....

Dorothee: more Umlaute: green: "grün", nice="schön" or "hübsch". and derived from that: to make nicer: aufhübschen. And this one: Many Greetings - Viele Grüße

Rose: Grüss Gott!

Ron: Dorothee, has anyone ever written a poem in German about an or The Umlaut? From our perspective it is very interesting, even intriguing. I know of nothing like it in English.

Dorothee: An Umlaut-Poem - i don't know about any. the thing is, in German, it's just the way the language is, so the Umlaute are just normal letters, like the "ß"-s, too. will look, see if i find something. cool that you know German. Grüße!

Ron: Nicht so gut, sehr schlecht, ja, sehr sehr schlecht.
I always did like many of the words, though, especially for some obscure reason the word "auswendig."

And here the conversation ended, but lead to an Umlaut-poem search:

(later)
Dorothee: I found an Umlaut-Gedicht!

Laut mit Umlaut
Brigitta Firmenich

Haha, du verunstaltetes Um, sagt der Laut angriffslustig zum Umlaut.

Du kleines anämisches Würstchen,
brüllt der Umlaut aufheulend zurück.

Du bist zu dick, sagt der Laut,
und was sollen die Punkte auf dem Kopf?

Öffentlich berühmte Leute
kleiden sich fein, verteidigt der Umlaut sich hämisch.

Das schaffe ich, ohne fett zu werden,
sagt der Laut stolz.

Dann solltest du dich vielleicht mal häufiger ansehen,
meint der Umlaut, ich bin genau in dir drin.

the poem is up here: Laut mit Umlaut

(much later)

Ron: I tried a translation. I know it's very, how you say, un-literal, and I took great liberties and, my German not being very good, at times translated more from sound and image than from any sense of literal meaning.

Dorothee, what does "Um" mean lterally? If Laut means loud, which I knew, what, literally does Umlaut mean? (Not with that would be mit, no?)

Dorothee: „um“ is a german prefix to add to verbs and nouns, like this:

- to build / a building
- bauen / ein Bau

- to renovate / the process of renovation:
- umbauen / ein Umbau

apart from that, “um” exists in many variations
- at 3 o’clock: um 3 Uhr
- to walk around the tree: um den Baum herumgehen

Umlaut literally has no real meaning, it just points at the fact that the „Umlaut“ (like ä ö ü) is derived from the relating Laut “a o u”

ah, languages!

Ron: Dorothee, heres' another shot at it, another version. i made up a word, behatted (hatted is actually the word), and i adopted some of your changes but also tried to do something with the sound of the poem, since you said a lot of this poem depends on sound and playing with words and sounds.
i like the two liver spots on the forehead, even though they are hardly literal, and the light and lithesome manner of Missy Laut ... but i wonder if i could do more with Laut and Umlaut? Sound and UnSound? Loud and UnLoud? Or Sound and UmSound (like a drum)? i'm also playing up, though less so, the slender young nature of Laut and the thick and maternally nature of Umlaut - is that accurate? i the original poem? the sounds of the verbs in the early part of the poem sound aggressive, which is why i used "shot" and "howled"). and .. i played off the contrast of thin slender Laut and thick Umlaut in the the penultimate stanza, though that is teh stanza i'm least happy with

Laut and Umlaut

Ahh!! You try to spoil everything,
shot slim slightly clad Laut to Umlaut.

Why you anemic little sausage!
behatted Mother Umlaut howled back.

Oh you have gotten so fat! hissed Laut,
and what's with those two liver spots on your forehead?

Dignified well-known people like me dress well,
Mother Umlaut shot back proudly.

Perhaps, but I carry myself in a light and lithesome manner,
slender Laut eased back.

Yes, Missy Laut, but perhaps you need to check your mirror more often.
said Umlaut. Then you'll see that you are just part of me.

original poem "Laut mit Umlaut" written in German by Brigitta Fermenich translated very liberally into English by Ron Kostar

i'm thinking that if the point is that Laut is contained within Umlaut maybe i can say something about that in the last stanza, something more explicit but shrewd like: "when you look in the mirror you see that we genetically overlap"

also, i think Laut may be naive, nicht wahr, in thinking that she has nothing in common with Umlaut, so maybe i need to bring that out with a "she naively replied" or something similar.

Dorothee: so interesting, the theme of translation and Umlaut. i think your revised version works well – and i like the idea of your ending line: "when you look in teh mirror you see that we genetically overlap"

maybe, to spin that towards language, it could even be: "when you look in the mirror you see that we phonetically overlap"
****

a blueprint of a newspaper

2011-08-18T15:25:00.005+02:00

there now is an experimental "BluePrintReview newspaper"

the newspaper is created automatically, based on suggested keywords for twitter and facebook: 100daysproject, books, read. also, there's no preview, so it's basically trial and error: experiment with settings, see what the paperli-generator then generates.

i have no clue where all the japanese entries in the lower half of this edition are coming from. but love the look of the "headlines" page. i now switched settings to "english" only. and switched the keyword "today" to "art". am curious now for the next edition.

PS: the "Headlines" page has all articles/categories listed, no real need to browse the single category pages.

enjoy~

update: i just checked their "about" - paper.li is based in Switzerland. their mission: "We believe that people (and not machines) are the ones qualified to curate the content that matters most. We also think that these same people can greatly help their own communities to find their way through this “massive content world” we live in. We’re here to help!"

London - reflections, thoughts, blog posts

2011-08-14T13:10:00.007+02:00

London - collected reflections, thoughts, blog posts

Linking Minds
"There is so much more to say when you feel every day the pain and rage, the cultural and material impoverishment, the chaos just beneath the surface. Reaffirming the power of hearts and words feels like one of the few things I can do at this moment, so below the photo is what I was going to post today anyway, and here are a few more subtle voices on the riots."
- Jean Morris, London

Upside Down World
"It may be seen as ridiculous to be worrying about short stories - about fiction, about the arts in general - when looters are smashing windows around England, burning down buildings..."
- Tania Hershman

Feral Capitalism
"OK, a rare rant. I too am appalled by mindless rioting and looting, especially by children, but I am not surprised, not at all."
- Beth Adams

London
"the last time London received such a huge media coverage was in April, with the royal wedding. putting the riot images next to it now makes the divide that runs through societies very clear. ... today i wish for someone like a new Gandhi."
- Dorothee Lang

White beconing black and blacks becoming white
"...I very much fear that England is going to get this spectacularly wrong. All the commentators, like Starkey, are responding reflexively from within the narrow framework of their entrenched positions.."
- Petina Gappa

Too Many Words
"Those who have said the most useful things are not politicians or pundits but people whose actions are better than words."
- Natalie d'Arbeloff

& a blog post that is worth the visit especially for the ongoing disussion in the comments, which are almost up to 500: Penny Red / London.

the photo is from 2009, this is near Underground Station Old Street. the higher houses beyond the old buildings belong to the banking district.

The challenge

2011-08-04T22:04:00.001+02:00

The challenge, I think, is to witness beauty at home.

These days, I see it all around me.

*

Click links below for full images:

Flowers 1

Black White Black White Black

Waterfall 1

*

from Karyn Eisler's blog: Living? / VisuaLiving

new issues + calls: Individuation, Worship, Nature's World, Resistance, Luck

2011-08-02T06:22:00.052+02:00

new issues + calls, roughly sorted by deadline:

BluePrintReviw: the new issue of BluePrintReview is now launching! theme is: "Challenge"

Otoliths: Issue twenty-two of Otoliths has just gone live. As always, it presents the broad church of creativity the journal is renowned for. + Otoliths is open to electronic submissions of textual poetry, vispo, fiction, essays, photographs, art & any combination of the above.

Blue Fifth Review: Now online - from the Blue Five Notebook series - Broadside #23, "Prideful Buddhist" by Rupert Fike ...

Language/Place: if you are interested in language and place, you are invited to contribute to edition #9 of the language >place blog carnival. The feature theme for this is “Individuation/Assimilation”, but as always, photographs, essay and stories that relate to the theme of language and place; for example: travelogues, reflections on bilingual living, (mis)understandings, and abroad encounters with other languages are just as welcolme. The deadline is August 20 - guidelines.

Festival of Trees: Look high, look low, and look carefully. The Festival of the Trees 63 invites to take notice of what the animals and other wildlife are up to in the trees and will be hosted in Mike's Slugyard. Official theme: "How animals and other wildlife interact with trees", guidelines, deadline: August 30.

qarrtsiluni: "We’re very pleased to announce that submissions are open for a new theme: Worship, edited by Kaspalita and Fiona Robyn. The deadline is August 31, call + guidelines. (And yes, the Imprisonment issue is still underway for another month.)

Metazen Call for Charity Submissions: "This summer we are holding a contest with the hopes of raising some money for the Somalian Drought Relief Effort (via East Africa Drought Relief Fund). We will accept submissions with an accompanying fee throughout the month of August. All submissions will be considered and a winner and 3 runners up will be selected by our judges. Winners and runners up will get prizes."
Deadline: August 31 - guidelines.

Call of the Wild - Nature's World: Editions Bibliotekos is looking for writing that goes beyond pollution reports, beyond news-writing about the ravages of mining – focus on the changing character of humankind (internally and externally) in relation to the environment. Deadline (subject to change): 1 September 2011. Fiction only. Writers are asked to refer to the Call and Guidelines: http://www.ebibliotekos.com/

Mixitini Matrix is a new electronic journal of creative collaboration and is now accepting submissions for their first issue to appear in Fall 2011. Mixitini Matrix link + guidelines, deadline September 15

Enpipe Line Book Submissions: "The Enpipe Line is a long poem—1,173 kilometers of collaborative poetry. The idea is to go dreams vs. dream in a collaborative poem designed to engulf and overwhelm the structures that allow proposals like Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Pipelines proposal to emerge." This project started as the Enpipe Line online, and will be published by Creekstone Press as a book. The deadline for contributions to the book is September 30, 2011 - guidelines.

Hobart: the August issue is now live at the Hobart website. + "We're still reading for our next theme issue, Hobart #13: Luck." (no deadline stated)

Soundzine: "It's here! Soundzine "Lucky Issue 13" is live and chockfull of goodness! Go. Read. Listen. Please." + "Submissions for Issue 14 are now being accepted. Send us formal poems, free verse, prose poems, haiku.." (guidelines, deadline is October 15)

Stone Highway Review is a new journal of short prose and poetry. We are seeking submissions for our inaugural issue. Stone Highway will publish twice yearly, in both print and electronic format. We hope to gain an online presence, though we understand and appreciate print as well. Submissions are open until November 1, 2011 - guidelines.

BluePrintReview #28: "Challenge" - some notes on the process

2011-07-26T17:17:00.005+02:00

challenge issue launch
the new issue of BluePrintReview is now launching – the first pages are online, coming in the shape of a peppermint bottle, and a New York novel, here at http://www.blueprintreview.de/

and there are more challenges waiting – you can see the next ones lingering on the mainpage already: a thin model, a Wednesday, and a river rising. more to come, soon: like the issues before, this issue will be launched in sequences, to give all contributions some individual recognition and space, with new sequences going online on a probably biweekly basis.

some notes on the issue:
as the previous synergy issue was largely poetic from format, this one really was initially planned as story issue (more about that, here). but while working on the issue, it developed an own shape, and now includes stories, poems and non-fiction.

one of the contributors asked how the issues develop and find their shape. a good question. this issue grew in phases, and that is still in process, its shape defined by the contributions and by the way they connect. it's a bit like creating a mosaic: laying out the pieces, and then seeing how they might connect - and also: how they reach out beyond the formal contributions. like with the starting pages of this issue, "The Peppermint Bottle" - Sherry’s blog entry and Julia’s image, they both weren’t directly submitted, but pages i visited while working on the issue. and the second page is consisting of 2 found creation: the found "News York Novel"-poem. and the found glass window image, inspired by 100 days.

another interesting aspect is the sub-theme this issue developed: water. you will find it in the issue in many forms: there are bottles, rivers, oceans. also, there’s surfacing and falling. i'd blame it on my own subconscious, but the water flow didn't only in this place: if you visit the new edition of language/place, you also will find a water sub-theme. the main theme there is The poetry of place. age of aquarious, maybe?

newsletter & your personal best of
2 extra notes: later this week, there’s a blueprint newsletter upcoming for this issue, to subscribe, click here.

and if you want, there is a creative challenge up in facebook: “What’s your personal best-of 2010?”

but now, enjoy the challenge~
peace & inspiration~~
Dorothee

challenges: Fail

2011-07-26T07:42:00.001+02:00

as prelude to the launch of the challenge issue:
a challenge story that was published in BluePrintReview #20, "The Missing Part" issue.

FAIL by Zhoen
"My father thought that the trick to a good life was being able to play an instrument. (He always thought there was a trick to any kind of success. He'd never managed the trick to it, so was where he was.) I was terrific at cutting my losses. I minded my mother telling me I lacked sticktoitiveness.

I failed to have her ironclad faith. Lost it when I was eight, if I'd ever had it at all. I wanted it, prayed for it...."

read it all, here: "Fail" by Zhoen, photo by Cecilia Austin

language/place #8: "The poetry of place" online + notes on the edition + call #9

2011-07-24T08:07:00.006+02:00

The poetry of place
The eight edition of the >language >place blog carnival is now online! It is hosted by Walter Bjorkman at his blog Qwik-Bake Synthetics. Edition #8 explores The poetry of place in 24 contributions that lead from America to Europe and Asia.

Feedback

Here are some feedback notes on the carnival "beautiful presentation, great lineup, thank you, walter & everyone else for turning this into a great ride... qwik-bake made me laugh, too... "- Marcus Speh
"This looks fabulous! I will be diving into this properly tomorrow/tonight if insomniac, can't wait! (An uncharacteristically busy Friday for me over here....) I love the sideshow, and presentation. I see there are profound blurbs/intros too. I don't know how people do this but it's very impressive. Thank you Walter, awesome." - Rose Hunter
"Enjoyed this, Walter. Great focus. Wonderful look" - Sam Rasnake
"love the slideshow and the way each post speaks to the theme walter chose." - Sherry O'Keefe
"well done, Walter! and the contibutors, too!" - Steve Wing
"wonderful layout and contributors" - Michael J. Solender
"What riches! I look forward to over-indulging over the next few days. Thank you." - Sandra Davies
"Walter, thanks so much for “baking” this edition in such a special way. such a beautiful + poetic place to pause." - Dorothee Lang

the story behind "Qwik-Bake":

"Qwik-Bake is a now defunct company down by the gritty Brooklyn docks I worked way back - they sprayed plastic coatings on industrial parts & pots & such - loved the name & byline - "wrinkle-crackle crystal specialties" - so grabbed it for the blog . . ." - Walter Bjorkman

The hosting experience
And here’s how Walter Bjorkman describes his experience as host of this edition, in a blog post from carnival-contributor Karyn Eisler: "When asked … I jumped on the chance. I have been part of previous editions, and found the reading fascinating – to see what talented writers were doing on their own blogs. This experience enhanced that feeling moreso. It was a joy to get each entry in the mailbox and explore these hidden treasures, and being part of Dorothee Lang’s great promotion of them was exciting. The explanatory blurbs sent in also enhanced my reading, and I put them into second person wherever practical. If anyone else has a chance to host future editions, I would advise to do so – they will be greatly rewarded, as I have been." - Walter

more experiences: for more notes on hosting the carnival, visit the Q+A-section of edition #5, hosted by Parmanu, who asked the previous hosts "why did they choose to host, and how would they summarize the hosting experience?" - the answers: Hosting the carnival

previous language/place editions: some previously featured themes of the carnival incldued "another language, another place, another self"; "unwritten language / unnamed places", "language and place on the edge" - you can find an overview of all previous editions here: language/place blog carnival - previous editions.
*

Call for "Individuation/Assimilation"
Edition #9 will be hosted by poet & author Brigita Orel. Although born in Slovenia, she studied Creative writing at Swinburne/Australia, writes in English and blogs at Do The Write Thing. The suggested (but not mandatory) theme for edition #9 is “Individuation / Assimilation”. Submissions are open August 1 – 20., Invitation + Guidelines

Night and Day, 2005, revisited

2011-07-11T18:23:00.000+02:00

The crew on board the Columbia took this picture during its last mission, on a cloudless day: Europe and Africa when the sun is setting. Note that it's still daylight in Dublin, London, Lisbon, and Madrid, while the lights are already on in Holland, Paris, and Barcelona (the bright dots you see are the cities’ lights).

The top part of Africa is the Sahara Desert. It is huge and can be seen clearly both during day time and night time.

In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean you can see the Azores Islands; below them to the right are the Madeira Islands; a bit below are the Canary Islands; and further South, close to the farthest western point of Africa, are the Cape Verde islands.

To the left, on top, is Greenland, totally frozen.

(from July 2005)

calls, new issues, deadlines, links

2011-07-03T13:48:00.003+02:00

the BlueprintReview newsletter July is online, it includes calls, new issues, deadlines, links.
themes included::

language/place edition #7
call: The Poetry of Place
Creative Summer: a River of Stones & 100 Days
Your Personal Best of 2010
Summer 2009, revisted
Issues + Stories + Author Talk

link: BlueprintReview newsletter July

& for more reading joy, try the blueprint blogroll

social media for authors - 4 links

2011-07-03T07:40:00.020+02:00

Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Video, Reviews, Newsletters, Websites: the following links include some interesting suggestions on how to use social media as an author, and also reflect on the media buzz.

Social Media for Authors

Social Media for Authors: Forever in Search of Buzz
by Lauren Cerand
"The task of finding readers and an audience is made much easier by joining the conversation that you feel you belong to, whether it’s via media that you maintain, community sites you check daily, or blogs that you read and comment on when you have something important to add.”

An author's plan for social media efforts
by Chris Brogan
"If I were an author looking to get the most out of the social web (and I am), I’d do something along the lines of what I’m about to share. Your mileage may vary, (and) this sounds like a lot of steps. It is. But this is how people are finding success."

Blogging for Writers - a Grammar
by Marcus Speh
"Whatever blogging for writers is, it is as it is with all forms of writing: you have to make of it what it can become in your hands. And it won't be until you begin to make something of it. Which is where the fun begins, too, because thousands of other writers have done it before you and lots more will, and of those who tried it many keep doing it and are getting better at it as they do when they keep showing up on the page, or the screen, or the desk or wherever you keep your secrets."

Social Media Platforms Authors and Writers Should Explore
by Tyora Moody
"This is a presentation created for authors and writers. It includes basic knowledge of Web 2.0 and is designed for a person who doesn't have time to explore social media platforms, but wants to market online." (from 2008, still interesting)

poetry! poetry of place, found poetry, poetry giveaway

2011-06-23T11:31:00.003+02:00

3 poetry links:

poetry of place
language/place edition 8 call
official announcement to follow with the launch of edition 7, but thought i share this news right away:
If you are interested in Language and Place, you are invited to join Edition #8 of the Language/Place Blog Carnival. It will be hosted by poet & author Walter Bjorkman. Born in Brooklyn, Walter recently moved into the Pennsylvania countryside and blogs at Qwik-Bake Synthetics. The suggested (but not mandatory) theme for edition 8 is “The poetry of place”. The edition is planned for late July 2011. Submissions are open July 1 – 20. More about the blog carnival, here: language place blog carnival: about + links.

found poetry
call from Found Poetry Review
The new literary online magazine The Found Poetry Review, edited by Jenni B. Baker, is currently looking for submissions of found poetry for the first issue. They also can be found at twitter, here a quote re: submissions: "Still time to send in your found poetry for consideration for our debut issue. We look forward to your submissions! (deadline: June 30)" "We've received a lot of great poetry submissions -- could use some photos too!"

poetry giveaway
TNBBC / To the River
The TNBBC book blog is featuring Artistically Declined Press this week - check out their blog, they have interesting reviews, and indie press features. AND they have a special giveaway: Rose Hunter’s poetry collection "to the river".
And an extra-link, to bring this post to a point of full-circle-closure: “to the river” is about passing through and staying in places - there is an author talk with Rose up in the blueprint book blog - and from themes, this now also connects to language/place: Daily s-Press author talk on poetry, travel, languages.

Blogs + New Issues: Language/Place, Festival of Trees, wood s lot, YB, Melusine, qarrtsiluni, Drunken Boat, HAL, The Litpub

2011-06-04T09:59:00.003+02:00

BLOGS

Language and Place Blog Carnival: In stunning images and words, people in places as different as Baltimore and Hong Kong, Newport and London, Germany and Nepal, explore the edges of art, story, poetry, text, history, innocence, experience. Hosted by Michelle Elvy in New Zealand: Language and Place on the Edge

Festival of the Trees: The 60th edition of the tree blog carnival is live at Rubies in Crystal, and what a feast it is! Quite a few participants responded to Brenda’s request to “record an engagement with a tree or trees” in multimedia form. Read, watch, and listen: Festival of the Trees #60

wood s lot: sharing daily gleanings in areas of arts, culture, mind-body, science and anything else that catches the wood's host fancy, wood s lot fishes the web since more than 10 years.

*

NEW ISSUES

YB: The new issue of YB launched: YB issue 4: Windows: "As well as poems by a line-up of lovelies, we have reviews by Melanie Lynn Moro-Huber and Nic Sebastian, and a photo feature: “8×8″ – eight windows from eight countries".

Melusine: Melusine, or Woman in the 21st Century 3.1. The Spring/Summer 2011 issue is online, with fiction, poetry, art - and the winning poems of the Vivienne Haigh-Wood Prize, all right here: Melusine. (And an extra link: Melusine interviews poet Lyn Lifshin on change and on being an artist/poet in the 70s and now).

qarrtsiluni: Now playing in qarrtsiluni: the Imprisonment issue. This might get thought-provoking, here's a quote from the call for submissions: "What are the objects, desires, laws, thoughts, that imprison us? Must punishment be linked to constraints; and where are our prisons of the mind, heart, and place? Might there even be times when imprisonment is welcomed?"

HAL: The 3rd Anniversary issue of Hamilton Arts & Letters is online. The issue features compelling art, reviews, and reflections, like this one: "Why Must We Die? An Introduction by John Terpstra.

Drunken Boat: Issue 13 of Drunken Boat includes 2 noteworthy thematic features: first peoples, plural (writing and art by indigenous people worldwide) and /slant/sex (bold, honest writing + art on aspects of women and transgender people’s sexuality that are taboo or discounted)

*
NEW INDIE LIT PROJECTS

The Litpub: An ambitioned new literary endevour launched on 1st June: The Litpub. The magazine is founded by Molly Gaudry: "Our mission is to promote a sustainable literary community by introducing readers to authors we know and love. By providing a public gathering place for ongoing conversations, we aim to connect readers, authors, publishers, and other independent artists of all creative disciplines." - an interview with Molly about Litpub is online in The Faster Times: The Pub Is Here

**

MORE NEWS: in the BluePrintNewsletter - with an invite, a challenge, books + more

calls, stories, events

2011-05-31T11:57:00.018+02:00

CALLS

If you are interested in language and/or place, you are invited to join Edition #7 of the Language/Place Blog Carnival. It will be hosted by Julia Davies, the theme is “unwritten language/ unnamed places”. deadline: June 20, invite + carnival homepage.

Submissions are now open for the next issue of BluePrintReview. The theme is Challenge (with a focus on short stories, deadline: 26. june). Details, including a best-of-2010-challenge, here: guidelines.

Blue Five Notebook is now open for submissions for our second half of 2011. We are reading for our regular monthly issues as well as the last two quarterly themed specials, Black and White. Send your flash (1000 words or less), deadline: June 30. Sooner is good: we are reading now, guidelines

Referential invites multi-media submissions: "We are, potentially, looking for original audio and video, but we’d particularly like to see other artists make audio/video interpretations of the poetry and prose that already appear on this site. And, even further out of the box, comics? Stage/screen? Yep! We’d consider it all." - call

Pank's next special issue will be edited by Aubrey Hirsch and Devan Goldstein and it will be the Science and Fiction issue. Guidelines, deadline Oct. 15.

Silk Road is inviting submissions of fiction, essays, poetry and translations that give readers a vivid point of exchange, an interaction that could occur only in a specific time: "We all start somewhere, so"place" is the touchstone the magazine uses for the pieces we publish". guidelines.

*

SHORT STORIES

Short Stories: collected during short story month: a whole set of short story links

The Glass Woman Prize announced the winners for the the ninth Prize, they are up with story links at the Glass Woman website. The Tenth Glass Woman Prize reading period is now in effect, deadline is September 21, 2011, guidelines.

More short stories: just some days now, then the Story South Million Writers Award shortlist is now online and the voting is now open, you can vote through July 6: Top Ten Stories. For more great stories check out the longlist.

*

100 DAYS
For all who are in need of a creative push: the 100 Days Project is now on! The project gathers story writers, poets, painters, photographers, filmmakers, musicians, and programmers together for one hundred days of creative effort: a piece a day for 100 days. 100 Days 2011 Homepage, the project runs from May 21 - August 28. You can still join by starting an own 100day blog.
Participating BluePrintReview authors/artists include: Susan Gibb, Marcus Speh, Nicolette Wong, Dorothee Lang, Julia Davis...

*

NEW ISSUES
...are on in a seperate post: New Issues: YB, qarrtsiluni, The Litpub, HAL

MORE NEWS
is up in the BluePrintNewsletter - with an invite, a challenge, books + more

Jump / your voice (a collaboration)

2011-05-30T20:03:00.004+02:00

Jump

the deeper the darker
like me
you stretch on superciliously forever
inviting and foreboding
all at once

I smell you in my thoughts
feel your edgy crystals on my tongue
the salt in the air
the air in my lung

you roil and foam and I think
– I hope –
you came looking for me
like I seek you when I am blue
and we match

then
when I splash into you
your greedy hands lick my flesh
eagerly
gorge on me until full
swallow me in
and then

then
there’s no more you and I
as you become the skin
that envelops my soul

poem: Brigita Orel, photo: 'Collage' by Cathrine Lodoen
~

your voice
is
one I've read on a 1000 pages
past
voices and characters fingered through
in books devoured and loved
lives longed for repeatedly
returned to me
from dusty shelves
fresh now from cover to cover
like coming home
bookmark me.

poem: Cathrine Lodoen , photo: 'reading' by Brigita Orel
~

Notes on the Process

While reading Hotel World by Ali Smith, Cathrine was inspired to write the poem ‘Your Voice’. The photo is Brigita’s response to the poem with the overlying words ‘remember you must live’ that appear several times in Hotel World. The creation of this work was like a straightforward conversation between the poet and the photographer. This exchange is mirrored in the conversation between the poem and the photo which illustrates how we can become so absorbed in words and stories that some of them stick with us long after we’ve put down the book.

The poem ‘Jump’ was created as a reaction to Cathrine’s photo with the same title, depicting a girl splashing into water. The image evoked the feeling of surrendering to another being, an outside force, until we merge with it/him/her into a single entity. A further reaction to this was to modify the photo so it would reflect the longing of submerging oneself into the ocean and becoming one with it. The result was a collage of images of a girl wading in water and finally plunging into it.

- Cathrine Lodoen + Brigita Orel

~

this collaboration belongs to the BluePrintReview synergetic transformations issue

Happy Birthday BluePrintReview!! + call #28: challenge

2011-05-22T08:41:00.007+02:00

today is a day of a celebration: 6 years ago, on 22nd May 2005, BluePrintReview launched. the issue is still up, here: BluePrintReview Issue 1, and consists of 9 pages: a text, a reality, a dream, a film, a prayer, a book, a walk, a motion, a reflection.

all issues are listed in the archive - which also shows the growth of BluePrintReview. from issue 10 onwards, the issue had themes - first those themes developed from the submissions sent, later there were theme calls. issue 17 includes a reflection on the growth in the note "about #17", here's a quote which also catches the spirit of BluePrintReview beyond the issue:

"can literary magazines develop a sense of self? if so, it would only be logical that blueprintreview, at 17, turned physical. and no, it isn't me, the editor, who chooses the issue themes. they develop through incoming submissions, just like adolescents develop their personality through exposure to the world. .. it's one of the dynamics of blueprintreview: the way texts and images in each issue develop unplanned connections.

another aspect of turning 17: a shift of pace. meetings with strangers. ventures into new places. a rush of happenings. - never before has blueprintreview received so many submissions, both from new and regular contributors. never before has the review been reviewed itself. as a result, the bodyscapes come with texts that spin and frill and curve, with images that line into colour patterns that cross over - and with a reflection of itself:

“BluePrintReview is an online journal constructed to ease the complex and beautiful convergence of language and art and all the possibilities this entails." - NewPages.com

~

the synergy issue + language/place
the current issue #27: "synergetic transformations" was the largest and most complex issue so far - it included 23 collaborations, 45 contributing authors and artists, and had a size of 70 pages, and an unexpected focus on poetry. more about it, in the post below: synergetic completion

not to forget on this birthday: since November 2010, BluePrintReview has a sister publication: the > language >place blog carnival, a journal that works in a different way: blog-based, with changing hosts and decentral structure. like BluePrintReview, it has an international range of contributors, it includes multiple different formats. the current edition#5 is hosted by Parmanu, who created a virtual Museum of Language & Place, the upcoming edition is hosted by Michelle Elvy, has the theme "Language & Place at the Edge", and will go live in the next week.

~

upcoming: issue #28
back to BluePrintReview: i am still excited about the synergy issue. at the same time, it left me wondering about issue 28. i don't think trying to compete with that in the next issue would be a good idea. "i guess i'd better go for a simple issue next," i noted in a mail. "maybe a summer story issue, after the collaborative poetry of #27. not sure about the theme yet."

this week, the theme surfaced, out of a combination of moments and conversations. details and guidelines to follow, but i want to announce it already: issue #28 will be about "challenge", with a focus on short stories. and it won't include 70 pages.

the call for submissions is up here:

Call for BluePrintReview #28: Challenge
looking forward to it. and will go browsing the pages of the previous issues now, in celebration!
happy blue sunday + thanks to the countless authors and artists who contributed to this venue of words, images, and cross-connections.

blue cheers~
Dorothee

synergetic completion

2011-04-27T17:02:00.006+02:00

the "synergetic transformations" issue of BluePrintReview reached completion.

it's all up here: issue #27: the collab issue
23 collaborations.
45 contributing authors and artists.
70 pages.

i just put a list of all authors and artists together, sorted alphabetically, in "about".
but numbers and lists can't really capture this issue.

looking through the pages again, now that the issue is complete and online, i am still stunned by the way it came together, almost as if some synergy out there had weaved themes into it, and while the issue expanded into different formats and moods, kept knitting cross-connections into it. some probably are still unnoticed - this actually is the first issue that still was in progress while it launched. as the editor, i didn't see it completed before i put the final group together.

it also took until now for the poem on the starting page to form: the introduction lines to the collaborations, each of them a quote from the contribution itself, pieced together:

synergetic transformations

missing all but queries, limits:
we being one - suddenly
the silence between

casting our lives
I'd like to think

but never finished
here I lie

it's true:
the change
should have been so lucky

if look a/gain
the space between

day's end
a frame, a wall
to pause

a renku
every day

a stub of string
the untangling will cut
how to

in criss-crossing paths
mine and yours
we cleaved / we, as one machine

~~

From end to beginning

yesterday, not long after the final group of collaborations went live, Karyn Eisler mailed me with a question about the issue: "Why did you decide to include process notes in this issue?"

the question brought me back to the start of the issue, to the initial call for submissions. which also provided a different view to the synergy issue, as part of the chain of BluePrintReview theme issues. after browsing the archive, i wrote back:

"Curiosity. It’s the first time that a whole issue of BluePrintReview is focusing on collaborations, and also is open re: format. It’s in some ways the counterpart to the usual issues. I just looked for the original call:

The next issue of BluePrintReview is dedicated to collaborative works and has different guidelines: usually, the text + image on each page is coming from different submissions. For this issue, they come from one submission – with the submission itself coming from more than 1 person: please submit collaborative works that are combinations of text+image, and if you want, add a note on the process.

The issue itself was partly inspired by the collaborations in the previous issues (listed at the bottom of the “Re: Synergy” page ). With each of those, I wondered how it had come together. What had been the starting point – an image? A line? How had it all come together?” So I added the invite to send notes.

(this answer is now part of Karyn's blog entry in Living ?s)

and today, a mail from contributor Steve Wing pointed at another element that made this issue so special:

"It is a stupendous issue. It brought people together to create. It is filled with wonderful work that is not just published in BluePrint Review, it was inspired by BPR. It would not exist to be published somewhere else."

~

What next?
for the collab issue itself, there is one last step to take: as it launched in groups, with each group added on the top of the page, it is now online in reversed order. it will remain for this for a bit, and then turn into the original order. the sorting for this is already included, too, on an extra page: synergies - original sorting.

and if you want to reflect on collaborating, Daniela Elza has a collaborate blog post up that ends with 3 questions:
Do you collaborate? How did it go?
Will you do it again?
What do you think about collaborations?

BluePrintReview issue 28
beyond the synergy issue - i am not sure. apart from the issue number, of course: after #27, there's #28.

one thought i had: maybe it could be a re-visit issue. pages from the previous 27 issues. like a summer walk through words and images written in earlier summers and winters. (picking up on the seasons theme here). will see. and will send mail once this is figured out.

thanks again for making this issue happen. it's amazing to see how it turned into so much more than the sum of the pieces.

- Dorothee

Best of the Net 2010

2011-04-21T16:56:00.005+02:00

Sundress Publications announced the 2010 Best of the Net Anthology.

The anthology continues to promote the diverse and growing collection of voices that are choosing to publish their work online, and serves to bring greater respect to an innovative and continually expanding medium.

From format, the anthology focuses on poetry, and also includes fiction and nonfiction: List of Finalists. Again, like the story south award, it's great to see so many magazines and authors featured in one place.

Best of the Net: BluePrintReview finalists
Very excited to see 2 poems from BluePrintReview among the finalists:

"Agave" by Rose Hunter from BluePrintReview

": nightfall, and / : at 37.000 feet" by Patrick M. Pilarski from BluePrintReview

Congratulations to all finalists, and thanks to Sundress for organizing the anthology!

storySouth Million Writers Award: long list of notable short stories 2010 is up!

2011-04-18T07:36:00.016+02:00

The long list of notable short stories is up - it includes 158 stories!

The storySouth Million Writers Award now put the long list of best online short stories online: Notable Stories of 2010. The list is based on the open nomination lists of readers and editors, the nominations were screened by 17 preliminary judges who based on the nomination lists and their own reads picked their favorites.

It's good to see so many great stories and authors and magazines in one list. And great to see BluePrintReview included in the long list, together with contributors in other places:

BluePrintReview
"The Rain Connoisseur" by Robin Susanto

Istanbul Review
"Where We Come From, Where We Go" by Susan Gibb

Kill Author
"Rites of Spring" by Finnegan Flawnt (= Marcus Speh)

Metazen
"Taking Flight" by Ben Tanzer

Super Arrow
"All These Violent Children" by J. A. Tyler

Some relating BluePrintReview links:
Susan Gibb is included in the new BPR collab issue, here: Cross/Comfort. Marcus Speh is part of the colalb issue, too, with a story that mentions Finnegan Flawnt: Short Cuts. Ben Tanzer was featured in the blueprint book blog with his e-book "99 Problems".

~~~~

Best Of
Best publication (based on most listed stories) is the international magazine Words without Borders. Best newcomer is: Lightspeed Magazine.

~~

Stories with multiple nominations:

Lightspeed
"Flower, Mercy, Needle, Chain" by Yoon Ha Lee
"Arvies" by Adam-Troy Castro

Barrelhouse
"Most of Them Would Follow Wandering Fires" by Amber Sparks

Blackbird
"Singing for Dixie" by Airin Miller

Hobart
"The Private Eye's Investigation" by Sam Martone

Memorious
"Dreaming in Italian, 1964" by Sandra Scofield

Strange Horizons
"The Mad Scientist's Daughter" by Theodora Goss

Night Train
"This Is How We Walk on the Moon" by Thomas Cooper

~~
Congratulations to all long-listed authors & magazines!
And big thanks to Jason Sanford for organizing it all.

synergetic themes, connections and formats

2011-04-13T11:23:00.010+02:00

the "synergetic transformations" issue now reached its midpoint: 13 works are online, 10 are still upcoming.

i keep being amazed by the different formats that now form the new issue, and by the connections that developed between the different contributions. some of them, i noticed during editing. some of them surfaced now, during the launch.

here some examples, notes and quotes:

h/eart
in the current group "what alley found in poem" and "h/eartland", the direct connection was the theme of art. after putting them together, i came across this direct parall in words and images:

from alley __ from word ____from he/art
heartland ___industrious distances ___ indiscreet streets

trees, reptiles..
some themes are obvious across the groups, especially the trees.The Group Treeline Lullaby / Potted / Overtures is based on the tree theme, and there is a second tree group to follow. why so many trees? maybe they are one of the symbols of constant transformation.

trees are also present in Cross / Comfort, and in Haunted Garden. added to that, both works venture into the realm of animals:

Winter shower stops.
Reptile, turtle, talks a poem.
Home west delights him.

one moment I'm a frog
another a toad
then a cat
a dog
it depends on the size of the day

..wings, seasons..
another animal connection is lingering in the second group: "Make Believe" / "Spool of Life" and "My Unified Theory of Everything". when grouping them, i followed the word “life / untangling”. what i hadn’t realized until i now put this note together: all 3 collaborations were created between partners of both genders - and all have a wing included, either in word or in the image:

when a crow lifts a wing
the universe sleight-of-hand

there lies the rooster at my feet,
waiting for me to untangle him

how to play the flute
to please the angels,

"winter" will also picked up in a later group again. and there are, of course, many more thematic cross connections, some obvious, some subtle - another

poetry & stories
just like the trees keep reappearing as theme, there is a format that keeps reappearing throughout the collaborations: poems. from the 23 collaborations, 19 include poems, and 5 include short stories. (1 includes both, that's how 19+5 makes 23).

working through the issue, i realized that maybe poetry lends more to collaborations than stories: it probably is easier from format to write a poem together than a story, and some poetic formats almost invite collaboration, like the classic renka - maybe that is why there are 2 of them included in the issue: "Treeline Lullaby" and "Haunted Garden". another classic format that lends to collaboration and is upcoming yet is: a sonnet.

feedback / coincidences
some more connections and notes arrived through mail, and in facebook conversations, which are now also online, here: Re: synergy

~

addition: a mini-dialogue on the blog entry (via facebook, link)

"The threads you find between collaborations, done independently, is fascinating. It is also wonderful to see some of the many reactions brought together in one place, to get the overall impact of this remarkable issue. And even further so, to see the editor, as I am sure the readers will also, discover new delights even after having lived with these works for so long." - Walter Björkman

"Yes, it's fascinating! One of the reason to launch the issue gradually is to give those discoveries more space, and to enhance the existing connections by combining the works into groups. for this issue, i really wished there was an exhibition, a space to visit them physically, especially the art, maybe in a sorting that keeps changing." - Dorothee Lang

calls, calls, calls: Language&Place at the Edge, Imprisonment, Windows, Nature...

2011-04-04T18:38:00.016+02:00

current calls for submissions, sorted by deadline.
calls that are past their deadline are moved to the bottom.

Language and Place on the Edge: edition 6 of blueprint's blog carnival project >language >place will be hosted by Michelle Elvy. the suggested theme of this edition is: “language and place on the edge”. The issue is planned for late May, submissions will be open from around 15th April to 15th May. guidelines.

Home sweet home, unintended consequences, threesome: The flash initiative 52/250 A Year of Flash has the final themes up. You can still join. guidelines. upcoming: "Home sweet home" / deadline: April 24, "unintented consequences": May 1, and "threesome": May 8

Imprisonment: qarrtsiluni's next theme will be "Imprisonment". submissions are now open. "As always, we consider contributions of nonfiction, poetry, short fiction, photographs, digitized artwork, short films, original musical compositions, spoken word recordings, and collaborative works. deadline is April 30. guidelines.

Windows: YB has a brand new home on WordPress and is now accepting submissions. theme: windows. deadline: Guidelines: YB: An Online Journal of Poetry "Submissions are now open so get windowing, before the window closes, on May 20." YB is also looking for creative, casual or convential reviews of poetry books (link).

Call of the Wild - Nature's World: Editions Bibliotekos is looking for writing that goes beyond pollution reports, beyond news-writing about the ravages of mining – focus on the changing character of humankind (internally and externally) in relation to the environment. Deadline (subject to change): 1 September 2011. Fiction only. Writers are asked to refer to the Call and Guidelines: http://www.ebibliotekos.com/

---
Web Archives / Lists

Electronic Literature Directory - an extensive database listing individual works + resources

Poetry Publishers - links to more than 821 poetry journals, magazines and reviews that accept electronic submissions, from A-Z

---
[calls past deadline (still included to keep the links]

Stories for Japan: New Sun Rising is a volunteer project that is looking for stories, poetry and artwork right now. Submissions should be relevant to or evocative of Japan. guidelines. deadline: April 11

The Revolutionaries Issue: Burner is interested in science, art, truth, conspiracies, naturalism, cyborgs, music, beauty, sex, and everything in between, as long as it involves change, transformation, enlightenment, revolution. guidelines. deadline: Apr 20

collab launch

2011-03-30T07:14:00.000+02:00

the new issue of BluePrintReview is now launching – the first 3 pages are online http://www.blueprintreview.de

this is the largest issue of BluePrintReview so far. and also: the most complex issue, with notes on the process included in almost every collaboaration. also, it’s the first issue that itself got transformed by the contributions – there are several new page formats included, some of them sent direclty, some indirectly inspired / transformed by other contributions.

like the issues before, this one will be launched in sequences, to give all contributions some individual recognition and space, with new sequencs going online on a probably biweekly basis – the issue will reach completion by end of April.

the issue also includes a “re:” page, with some notes on the process and extra links: re_synergy. i will also collect feedback to the issue there. feel free to drop a mail when you blog about the issue.

thanks to all who joined this issue and added their touch to it!

i hope you enjoy the collected collaborations.

and here, the link again: http://www.blueprintreview.de

spring synergies ~~
Dorothee

sky crossing 1

2011-03-28T09:56:00.003+02:00

as prelude to the upcoming collab issue, 2 skies collages from 2010, based on sky pictures of blueprintreview contributors.

meteor shower

the sky so patient
an anxious ceremony of
waiting
wisps of life rays of light
and i am
waiting
for the stars to come out.

---------
click & about
- click sky to enlarge image
- photo collage: Steve Wing, Florida + Michael K. White, Colorado + Diana Wynne, San Francisco + Dorothee Lang, Germany
- sky poem: Michael K. White, Colorado

sky crossing 2

2011-03-27T13:06:00.002+02:00

second sky

and if we could take
the shapes of
past horizons
and rearrange them
which sky
would this add
to day.

(there's a second version of the collage,
same images, yet: different sky)

---------
click & about
- click sky to enlarge image
- photos: Jeff Crouch, Texas + Elle Driscoll, Australia + Marica Arrieta, California + Mel Bosworth, Massachusetts + Susan Gibb, Connecticut; collage by Dorothee Lang, Germany

synergy upcoming

2011-03-23T13:34:00.008+01:00

the new issue of blueprintreview - #27 "Synergetic Transformations" - is upcoming: like the issues before, it will be launched in sequences, to give all contributions some individual recognition and space. the first pages are planned to go online in the course of next week, with new sequencs going online throughout April.

above, a screenshot of the current issue image file. yes, it's a rather huge and colorful issue - there will be 23 different collaborations included. from collaborative works, it turns out to be a rather poetic issue – maybe poetry lends more to collaboration?

another interesting clue to the synergy issue: it developed some own sub-themes: trees. love. sesaons. also: art.

from format, the issue developed different page layouts, with some collaborations having inspired others during the layout phase, in a process of unexpected synergies that reached beyond the works.

added to the collaborations themselves, there are the notes on the process, which accompany almost all collaborations included.

altogether, this will probably be the most complex and varied issue of BluePrintReview so far. thanks again to all who collaborated and contributed to this issue! it's a very special joy to work on this, and i am looking very forward to the launch day.

collaboratively yours,
Dorothee

PS: there's a bit more on the process of editing this issue online from an earlier stage, here: synergy in progress

and in case you want to visit the current issue while it is still frontpage instead of archive, go here: BluePrintReview #26: identity

after the shock

2011-03-14T18:48:00.011+01:00

reflections, thoughts, blog posts.

The Unnamed
"I keep thinking of the people, unnamed who wake up in the morning, leave their houses and return to the Fukushima plant wearing frail protective gear and thicker prayers to protect their bodies soaking up more radiation than is reasonable, sustainable, possible."
- Christina Rosalie

quiet
"I feel quiet. In the wake of Japan's disasters, everything I have to say is small."
- Sherry O'Keefe

Who will it be tomorrow
"But the events in Japan trouble us. Deeply. They create an imbalance and we do not know where to turn. Or how to turn away from the media that has been feeding us with mind-numbing facts and images."
- Parmanu

Songbirds and nuclear reactors and the horrible beauty of the world
"How does one write poems in the middle of something like this? What good, really, are my words now? How do we make the words meaningful in the face of disaster.."
- Jennifer Saunders

Charity Biddings / the real tragedy
"If you have a dollar to spare, bid on my photo or someone else's in this Flickr campaign to help Japan. The money will go to a charity of your choice. Or go here and bid on great books, on authors offering to name a character in their next book after you or dedicating their book to you etc. ."
- Brigita Orel

In Japan, the sun will rise again
"My heart and thoughts are currently with all my friends in Japan, the people at my publishing house Shinshocha, the amazing journalists I talked to from Japan Broadcasting Corporation.."
- Petina Gappah

after the shock - leftbrainwrite
"my heart and prayers to those in Japan -- and to those who love them. through friday, for every comment i will contribute one dollar to relief efforts; another dollar for every tweet or blog or fb link. peace..."
- Linda Simoni-Wastil

Information: what for? - tasting rhubarb
"Rolling media coverage of disasters, as we’re currently getting from the earthquake in Japan, both freaks me out and numbs me, leaves me not knowing what I feel, not knowing what to feel.."
- Jean Morris

the images coming from japan these days - do the write thing
"There have been many worthy projects done for other catastrophes that have happened recently. I think the Japanese more than deserve a similar effort and all of us keeping them in our prayers and thoughts."
- Brigita Orel

The Earth Quakes, We Tremble - Blaugustine
"Who has seen the videos and photos of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, made even worse now by possible nuclear meltdown, and not thought: what does anything mean when faced with such devastation?"
- Natalie d'Arbeloff

waterside - virtual notes
"it is a time that makes me grateful for the fact that my home never was torn apart, and that we live in a time of peace in this country that has seen so many dark times in the past."
- Dorothee Lang

storySouth Million Writers Award: link + nominations

2011-03-09T12:22:00.004+01:00

the storySouth Million Writers Award is still open for nominations. nominations can be made by readers + writers (1 story). editors can directly nominate 3 stories. deadline for nominations: 15.3.

eligible for the award are stories that have been first published in an edited online literary journal in 2010, with a length of at least 1,000 words.

details and guidelines: The storySouth Million Writers Award

-----

BluePrintReview nominations 2011
it's a special joy to send nominations to storySouth after one of the BluePrintReview stories made it into the 2010 top ten list: “The Library” by Jolie Braun

the BluePrintReview nominations for the storySouth Award 2011 are:

Story 1: “Dream Girl” by Z.Z. Boone

Story 2: “The Rain Connoisseur” by Robin Susanto

congratulations and best of luck for the award!

blueprint newsletter: calls, new issues, deadlines, links

2011-03-03T10:56:00.003+01:00

To make it easier to keep track of new BluePrintReview issues and deadlines, and to share links to interesting literary webpages, there now is a BluePrint newsletter.

The first letter got mailed yesterday, it inlcudes:
- an invite to join the new blueprint language/place
- an update on BluePrintReview issues
- links to the storySouth award and other lit links

If you didn't receive the newsletter, here is the online version of the newsletter.

To subscribe to the newsletter, click here.

>Language >Place Blog Carnival: #4 online & invite #5

2011-03-02T12:24:00.001+01:00

edition 4
The idea of the language/place carnival is to create collaborate cyber journeys that features international perspectives on language and place. The latest edition is now online: language / place blog carnival #4. It includes 25 contributors, and is hosted by London-based author Jean Morris at tasting rhubarb. Feature theme of this edition is: "another place, another language, another self":

"The contributions to this fourth edition of the blog carnival trace a meandering, creative, self-reflective path through the vicissitudes of place and language. Some point in particular to an expansion of or challenge to identity: "another language, another place, another self". If the section headers are like street signs, these are streets that intersect and double back." - Jean Morris

edition 5
The next edition of the carnival is now opening for contributions, with an invite that also includes a reflection on the blog carnival idea: A blog carnival by Parmanu

"As this may be new for some of you, let’s start with some definitions...

Carnival
-noun
1. a traveling amusement show, having sideshows, rides, etc.
2. any merrymaking, revelry, or festival, as a program of sports or entertainment: a winter carnival..."

synergy in progress

2011-02-23T14:41:00.009+01:00

last sunday, submissions for the upcoming blueprintreview "synergy" issue closed. i am still in the process of looking / reading through submissions. with some contributors, i mailed already, and there are some first layouts, too. all issues of blueprintreview are special, but this one is different on so many levels, with new formats, and with the additional notes to the pieces. to keep track of things, i now created a "work"-page that includes the pages in progress, and the ones that are complete. while at it, i made a screenshot of the image file of this issue, and added it above the list, as a second, visual approach to the contributed material.

another difference to the previous non-collab issues: many of the contributions are exclusive works, inspired by and created for this issue. added to that, some of the collabarations are first times. here are 2 quotes, one from the notes on the process, one from a submission mail:

We met face to face to begin the poem. We even taped part of our conversation, which was itself like a poem.
- Daniela Elza / Robin Susanto

I am still working on a description of our collaboration processes, but we wanted to send the piece to you right away. Thank you for being the catalyst that made this piece possible; it has opened the door to what we hope will be an ongoing collaboration/dialogue.
- Lynne Shapiro / Cliff Tisdell

it's moving and beautiful to read that this call for collaborate submissions sparked creative works and connections. and it's a pleasure to work with the submissions, to weave this issue together. i can't wait to share some of the works included - and at the same time, i don't want to rush the process. still aiming for middle / end of March to launch. a big THANKS to all who submitted! so exciting, to receive your unique synergies and transformations.

+ 2 submission notes
and as i am just coming from submissions, 2 notes:
the final submission mail i received arrived early on Monday, with a time note included that it still is in-time-for-deadline: "Here it is 11:49 Pacific Standred Time, so still Feb. 20."
here's a secret: i usually keep submissions a bit open for latecomers after the official closing date. this, after all, is a freewheeling endevour, and the guidelines and deadlines are just means to keep things organized.

the only thing that really left me puzzled in the submission phase so far was the submission that arrived today, without letter or note or any personal word. it consisted only of a long 3rd-person biography, and an attached (non-collaborate) word file. it's like receiving a draft of a submission mail. and the words "X.Y. received grants and awards" as opening words make it even weirder, unless the big secret to receiving a grant is to send out unpersonal multiple mails. anyway. back to editing :)

blueprint deadlines upcoming + storySouth nominations open

2011-02-17T17:37:00.002+01:00

there are 2 blueprint deadlines upcoming:

blueprintreview #27
theme is: "synergetic transformations"
deadline is 20. February
guidelines: "Synergetic Transformations".
please note that there are specific guidelines for this issue.

language / place carnival #4
suggested theme: "another place, another language, another self"” - but the carnival is open to all themes that relate to language and / or place.
the carnival is hosted by Jean Morris, deadline is also 20. February.
how to join: guidelines
+ link to a previous carnival issue: language/place #1

.... and on the other end of deadlines:

It's time to nominate!
The storySouth story award is now open for reader + editor nominations. Deadline for nominations is March 15. The award is for any fictional short story of at least a 1,000 words first published in an online publication during 2010. more here: The storySouth Million Writers Award

Facebook settings cuts down your newsfeed - update

2011-02-10T17:17:00.001+01:00

(via Facebook / Funky Elephant - "New Facebook")

Please read and pass on...

Have you noticed that you are only seeing updates in your newsfeed from the same people lately? Have you also noticed that when you post things like status messages, photos and links, the same circle of people are commenting and everyone... else seems to be ignoring you?

Don't worry, everyone still loves you and nobody has intentionally blocked you. The problem is that a large chunk of your friend/fan list can't see anything you post and here's why:

The "New Facebook" has a newsfeed setting that by default is automatically set to show ONLY posts from people who you've recently interacted with or interacted the most with (which would be limited to the couple of weeks just before people started switching to the new profile). So in other words, for both business and personal pages, unless your friends/fans commented on one of your posts within those few weeks or vice versa - you are now invisible to them and they are invisible to you!!

HERE'S THE FIX: Scroll down to the bottom of the newsfeed on the homepage and click on "Edit Options", click on "Show Posts From" and change the setting to "All Of Your Friends and Pages" Note: This is the fix for personal pages but I am unsure of whether or not the business pages are set up the same way.

Simply posting an update about it won't do any good because lots of your friends/fans already can't see your posts by default. You'll either have to send out a message to everyone on your list (which I'm not even sure business pages can do and is a rather tedious method) or post an event explaining the situation like this one and invite your entire fan base and/or friend list. You can also tweet about it hoping that most of your fellow facebookers are also on twitter.

bloggy reads & links & rolls

2011-01-30T14:59:00.018+01:00

the new edition of the blueprint project language/place is online! the edition is hosted by MiCrow editor Michael J. Solender who suggested the theme: "a place i felt i really belonged." enjoy the cyber journey through blogs, countries, stories, reflections: language + place #3

for more blog goodness, check out the language/place blogroll, with blogs from America, Asian, Australia, Africa...

& more blog links: the virtual notes blogroll (with literary links, art blogs, news, author blogs etc.) &

& 2 blueprint notes: blueprintreview #26 re-inverted
as the blueprint issues go online in sequences, with new contributions appearing at the top of the index page, the issue is inverted during the going live - and gets turned around after completion. so issue #26 now starts at the start again, with an "Alternate Timeline".

+ a blueprintreview memory:
this day, one year ago, the (dis)comfort issue went online. it was the first issue to go online in sequences, and was inspired by 3 discomforting submissions (a story of being a repeated victim of theft, a serial killer story and a disconnecting poem), and by the question: "Why would we get such delight from unpleasantness?"

blueprintreview pushcart nominations

2011-01-10T17:24:00.007+01:00

the BluePrintReview nominations for the Pushcart Prize 2011

not forgotten, just not posted yet. here they are:

- Susan M. Gibb: Descriptions

- Sam Rasnake: Studies in Window

- David Jordan: Father of the Suicide

- Rose Hunter: Aposematic

- Michelle Elvy: Almost There

- Richard Stevenson: Stuck in the mud

congratulations and best of luck for the prize!

BluePrintReview in Folded Word

2010-12-31T19:58:00.000+01:00

there's a feature on BluePrintReview in the Folded Word Blog:
What’s New with Blue Print Review
:)

the feature also includes a note on the new blueprint blog project ">language > place blog carnival".

below, an additional note from the host of the current carnival edition, Nicolette Wong.

Nicolette Wong on edition #2 of >language >place
"The second edition is a voyage into imaginary spaces and real places re-imagined, in voices from around the world. Writers decipher what they see and hear--in words, codes, images and hints between the lines that they write. And the places shift amid detours, tender moments of misunderstanding or confusion to arrive at the heart of the stories. What's on the page/screen is often born out of one's search along a circuitous path.

Some of the authors included were previous contributors to the blog carnival and/or BluePrintReview. Some came across the first edition and wanted to join. The creative pieces--flash stories and photography--I solicited. The process was a little similar to that of writing a group of flash fictions: collecting impressions, then finding the right words, moods and homes for them."
- Nicolette Wong

and an additional link that reaches back further in time:

a bit earlier this year, Casey Foley from Folded Word talked with me about the beginnings of BluePrintReview, and about Daily s-Press, the book blog that developed from a former BluePrint book page. Also included: some lines on my own new book, the collection "in transit":
The Many Tales of Dorothee Lang

structural identity crisis

2010-12-31T12:45:00.004+01:00

calls: collabs, places, stones, floats

2010-12-27T14:18:00.003+01:00

some current calls for submissions:

blueprintreview #27: collabs
the next issue of BluePrintReview will be dedicated to collaborative works. theme is: "synergetic transformations". please follow the specific guidelines for this issue. submissions open 10. January, deadline is 20. February. guidelines: "Synergetic Transformations".

language + place carnival #3: places
>language >place is an open blog project that features writers from around the world. the next carnival will take place at the end of January, it will be hosted by author and MiCrow editor Michael J. Solender at Not From Here, Are You - suggested theme: "A place where I felt I really belonged”. deadline: 20. January. guidelines.

NaSmaStoMo: stones
National Small Stone Month is about a reflective challenge. the task: write a small stone - a polished moment of paying proper attention - every day during the month of January. more in Daily s-Press: NaSmaStoMo - National Small Stone Month.

52/250 flash: floats
52/250 is an online flash story writing challenge with weekly themes. upcoming themes: "floating away" (deadline 2. January), "loose connections" (9. January) and "Animal Behaviour" (16. January). guidelines.

more calls:
calls, calls, calls

solstice

2010-12-21T07:28:00.001+01:00

at the end of this year
a collage of december moods
that reach into the past
in just a moment:

solstice
city lights -

the void,
stars, souls and me
-- was that life yours?

- december '07 / december '05

happy holidays~
.

language place #2, blueprint "identity" + call #27, NaSmaStoMo + the first literary online magazines

2010-12-18T20:33:00.002+01:00

some links of this week:

language + place: the new edition of the the BluePrintReview blog project ">language >place" is online! hosted by Nicolette Wong, this edition features over 20 writers from around the world. enjoy the cyber journey through blogs, countries, stories, reflections: language + place #2

blueprintreview: the identity issue of blueprintreview is now halfway online, and shaped out both philosophical and colorful. first feedback: "Issue 26 is going live by stages. And it's quirky, endlessly allusive and beautiful, as always." - Jean Morris. "Really a diverse and surprising range of perspectives on the theme" - Rose Hunter. also up now: the call for #27, which is a collaborative issue, theme: "Synergetic Transformations".

NaSmaStoMo: there is a new web writing project coming up in January 2011: National Small Stone Month, initiated by Fiona Robyn. the challenge: write a small stone - a polished moment of paying proper attention - every day during the month of January. more in Daily s-Press: NaSmaStoMo - National Small Stone Month.

the first online lit zines: started with the re/visit/cycle/turn blueprint issue, and now updated through a facebook thread: a trip to the beginnings of the internet, and to the first online literary magazines. without the web, none of the here mentioned projects would exist.

Seagull

2010-12-17T21:48:00.001+01:00

The he-man lifting the barbell grunts. Everybody’s morning
is different. I start the day with a pill, sometimes two.
And it’s not because I believe Buddy Holly looked right at
me at the show in Duluth three days before his plane
crashed. I smoke the last cigarette in the pack. The
seagull doesn’t know that it’s a seagull, only we know
that and that its lidless yellow eyes are empty.

----
Howie Good (more + more)

foggy

2010-12-12T10:49:00.002+01:00

photo by Brigita Orel
(click photo for larger version)

origin

2010-11-22T14:57:00.004+01:00

…and not to be different was so essential, I prayed - let me fit. I prayed -
don’t let them see; then hid it until time came it became time to use it,
certain ghost buttresses and winged flips would distinguish me. Paint
flaked & slowly fell off masks and that which I’d so feared revealed,
revealed was not so different, oh so not different.

-----
Karen Neuberg
more poetry from Karen Neuberg: Detailed Still
'origin' appeared in Wheelhouse Magazine, Issue 8

What Am I

2010-11-16T16:08:00.001+01:00

in a digitalized world
__i have lost all my fashionable clothes
except as a 100% naked number
__dull, dumb but beautifully deformed
often wondering among piles of statistics
__which set of numbers is my true self
my dl, my sin, my pin, or #?

---
Changming Yuan - Vancouver, Canada

(Hungarian) sanitarium

2010-11-09T13:43:00.007+01:00

they soak in medicinal waters
bury their joints in mud packs
drink the minerals and pray

watching

i see myself in the......future

stiff neck

h
a
n
g
i
n
g flesh

shuffled gait walking cane

laughter and frown lines
etched into my face

cause for concern
at age forty-six

may no longer be problems
just thirty years.........away

--
Karyn Eisler, Canada (Living?s)

It is

2010-11-08T08:52:00.003+01:00

Life fitting into pieces
Cutting into words
Piecing images
Life is boundless
Going beyond the call
It's all within your reach

Life is.
Simpliflying.
Mesmerising.
All about trying.

Listen. Answer.
Reach out and
touch someone
Be what you are
takes nothing.

It is
We are
life.

---
Smitha Murthy, China/India
(originally posted Nov '06)

identity.

2010-11-07T21:43:00.000+01:00

working on the identity issue. and coming across it in so many places. the image above popped up when i visited the tumblr-blog of a forthcoming contributor: Grace Wingo, who blogs at Cherish the Day. it received 41.843 tumblr notes in a week.

some related identity reflections, on the mechanisms of belittling others, are up in virtual notes: We Are More & multicultural mockings

new issues + calls

2010-11-02T20:05:00.006+01:00

NEW ISSUES (for all seasons)

Otoliths: the southern spring 2010 issue: "a variety of what can be loosely described as e-things, that is, anything that can be translated (visually at this stage) to an electronic platform. If it moves, we won't shoot at it."

Foliate Oak: "Check out the November Issue of the Foliate Oak Literary Journal! We feature the artistic photography of Jeff Crouch, as well as poetry and prose by various writers."

elimae: "new. 2010 : November. Sojourn Dearden Bay fiction. Africa poetry. Oranges fiction. Café de Olla During the wave's lifetime poetry..."

Festival of the Trees edition 53: "a festival replete with poetry, fall colours, thoughts and pictures of magnificent trees" - come on over and wander this tree-licious woods"

HA&L issue three.2: - "Traffic". includes art, poetry, visuals, living arrangements, portfolios, bibliomania, envoi, and a compass&map.

Emprise Review: "Featured writers Matt Bell and Kirsten Dierking not only contribute great writing, they also take some time for in-depth chats with Amber and Tracy on the writing process."

CALLS
> language >place is looking for authors/bloggers who are bilingual, living abroad, or interested in languages. deadline: Nov9 (this is a blueprintreview blog carnival project)

Microw is the tiny sibling of Full of Crow and looks for Flash Fiction works in the under 1000 word range. The theme for the Winter edition is; Void. They also look for illustrations - pen, ink, charcoal..
deadline: Nov 15

New Scientist are running a flash fiction contest with Neil Gaiman as a judge. 350 words max., theme "forgotten futures": details, deadline: Nov 19

Cha is calling for Submissions: Poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, reviews, photography, art. guidelines, deadline: 15 December

and this just in: Metazen will be doing a charity E-Book once more this year. "If you are interested in submitting stories to the E-book, email me (editor.metazenATgmail.com). Stories need not be "Christmasy" but should be "Christmasish".

more calls + issues

nominations Dzanc Best of Web + Micro Awards

2010-10-30T13:45:00.002+02:00

after the Sundress nominations in September, now the next award nominations: Dzanc Best of Web, and the Micro Award. as noted before, it's always a difficult task, but also a pleasure to revisit the previous issues, and send out the nomination mails to the award judges and the authors.

plus, it's a special joy to send links to Best of Web after one of the BluePrintReview stories made it into their 2010 anthology: Nostrum by Michelle Reale.

and now.. the nominations 2011:

BluePrintReview nominations for Dzanc Best of Web 2011:

- Susan M. Gibb: Descriptions

- Sheldon Lee Compton: How To Burn Years

- Tyler Cobb: Pre-Cell Observations In Two Parts

BluePrintReview nominations for the Micro Award 2011:

- Kirsty Logan - Imaginary Birds

- Ed Higgins - Five

best of congratulations, and good luck for the awards!

Alone

2010-10-25T15:55:00.001+02:00

ghosts of passing cars, flaky and white in
soundwaves uninvited to a melancholy willing
to remain like all the wrong memories that
litter the floor with half-empty coffee cups,
and silence creeping about with bony fingers
that used to be kind, but remembering is
always off by just enough to guarantee
life will never live twice, and i can never
pretend away the vestiges of years like
suitcases perhaps never meant.

---
words: Bethany Basset (coffee-stained clarity)
image: Dorothee Lang (virtual notes)

(originally posted in October 2008)

invite to join >language >place

2010-10-16T12:13:00.003+02:00

this is an invite for authors/bloggers who are bilingual, or living abroad, or learning a new language, and are interested in blogging about their experience of language and place - can be a personal note, a poem, photography, a travelogue, a memory, a video, a flash story, a moment of (mis)understanding...

invite to join the blog carnival ">language >place"

first carnival is planned for November 15th. if you have a blog post that might fit, send the link along. deadline: Nov 9th.

looking very forward to hear from you, wherever you are.
- Dorothee
..

3 theme calls, 3 nano calls, 3 experimental calls + 3 more calls

2010-09-25T18:50:00.019+02:00

BluePrintReview is currently looking for short stories, poems, creative non-fiction - and especially for photography & artwork - for the upcoming identity issue. from the call: "identity: different faces of a person; identity and time / place; the individual and the crowd; family trees and their blank spots.." - identity guidelines; submit: 15.9. - 15.10.

3 more theme calls

"Maps" - fringe - Jan 01, 2011

"Chance" - subTerrain Magazine, Jan 15, 2011

"China" - AsianCha , April 15th 2011

3 micro / flash calls

50 to 1 - is looking for two things: 50 word stories and first lines

Six Sentences - "It’s simple. Just write six sentences."

Pic-Fic - an experimenatl jounrnal of twitter-size fiction, 140 characters max

3 experimental calls
Timber - a journal of new and innovative writing - is inviting submissions for inaugral issue: poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, digital lit (screen writing, digital poetry, multimedia lit, etc.), link, no deadline stated.

Gulf Islands Review is now accepting submissions for its inaugural (print) issue, especially looking for "articles, reviews, and interviews that approach themes from unexpected directions; literature and art that revel in the cosmopolitan mixture of legacies and tradition" - guidelines, no deadline stated

South Loop Review Creative Nonfiction + Art is looking for experimental forms of creative nonfiction such as segmented essays, montage memoir, illustrated or graphic memoir, and short form creative nonfiction. guidelines, deadline March 1, 2011 for Fall 2011 issue.

and 3 more calls...
NoTell - "No Tell Motel's reading period for poetry will be open during the month of October - guidelines.

Word Riot is currently holding 3 contests in celebration of their 10th anniversary anthology: Flash fiction, short story and poetry - guidelines.

Full of Crow is looking for various work for their publications Full of Crow, fashion for collapse, BlinkInk, MUST microzine, MiCrow Flash, On the Wing... etc. check out the crow guidelines.

previous call posts: calls, calls, calls

BluePrintReview nominations: Sundress Best of Net

2010-09-23T10:29:00.004+02:00

it's the season of best-of nominations again. it's always a difficult task, but also a pleasure to revisit the previous issues, and send out the nomination mails to the award judges and the authors.

one the BluePrintReview stories already received some special praise: "The Library" by Jolie Braun made it into the Million Writers Award top ten stories of 2009.

here the BluePrintReview nominations for Sundress Best of Net 2010:

poetry:
- George Moore: The Cork Trees of Alentejo
- Rose Hunter: Agave
- Patrick M. Pilarski: : nightfall, and / : at 37.000 feet
- Heather Hodges: Complexion
- Sean Burn: scarif

short stories:
- Sam Rasnake: Studies in Window
- Robin Susanto: The Rain Connoisseur

non-fiction
- David Jordan: Father of the Suicide
- Christina Rosalie: Today More Coffee

congratulations and best of luck for the award!

(2 additional notes: Sundress timing: "The poem, story, or essay must have been first published or appeared on the web between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010" - for blueprintreview, this meant: issues 21, 23, and 24 (22 was the reprints-issue, with great work in it, too, alas not first published ;) - and the image above is a visual derived from the BluePrintReview archive page.)

to follow in October: the nominations for the Micro Award and for Pushcart.

blueprintreview: "two²" complete, "identity" open

2010-09-16T19:36:00.003+02:00

blueprintreview two²
"two²" is the current issue of blueprintreview - after going live in sequences in August, it now reached its final shape: the sorting, inversed during launch, now is in the original shape, starting with "Pre-Cell Observations in 2 Parts".

call for submissions: identity
now that #25 is complete, the next issue is starting its journey: since yesterday, submissions are open for #26, the theme for this issue is "identity". details: submission guidelines #26.

2 story links
& 2 links to stories that connect to the "identity" theme:
- Human Connections by Mary Whitsell (The Battered Suitcase)
- Eros, Philia, Agape by Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com, Runner Up in the Million Writers Award)

now, on to reading first submissions.

calls: charity, 2 x art, 3 x best-of-deadlines

2010-09-10T11:07:00.025+02:00

CHARITY
50 Stories for Pakistan
"Once again I find myself unable to keep ignoring the need to do something. This time it is Pakistan … Let’s put together a book of 50 stories, each no more than 500 words in length. Any subject or genre is acceptable, however, no stories with any violence, death, or mass destruction." - Greg McQueen, editor of 100 Stories for Haiti
Proceeds from sales will be donated to the Red Cross Pakistan Floods Appeal. Detailed Guidelines, deadline: Sunday September 19

TWITTER
"Twallenge" #2 - Twitter Writing Contest
Former Booker Prize Judge Holds Writing Contest on Twitter. "Write the best, most arresting simile you can in 140 characters or less." details. + Twallenge#1 winners. date: Monday, September 13 - Wednesday September 15 (1 entry / day)

2 x ART
Referential Magazine is currently looking for art submissions: "Referential Magazine has quite a list of fiction, poetry and non-fiction pending for publication but not much in the way of art... either way, we always like to see and read more of your submissions" – (via facebook/Referential)

Negative Suck is also currently looking for art submissions: Negative Suck. (via e-mail)

---
3 x BEST OF deadlines upcoming: SUNDRESS, MICRO AWARD, PUSHCART PRIZE

Sundress is now accepting nominations for Best of the Net 2010, either from editors or from authors. "The poem, story, or essay must have been first published or appeared on the web between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010." Best of the Net guidelines, deadline 30. 9. (+ here the link to the 2009 webpage: Best of Net 2009)

The Micro Award is presented annually for the best work of flash fiction originally published in the previous calendar year (now up for nomination: year: 2010, word length: max 1000 words). The winner of the $500 prize and all other finalists will be announced on Feb. 17, 2011. Details: Micro Award. Submissions will be accepted from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2010.

Pushcart Prize "Little magazine and small book press editors (print or online) may make up to six nominations from their year’s publications by our December 1, (postmark) deadline. The nominations may be any combination of poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot." - Pushcart webpage. (note: a feature on the 2010 edition with some (somewhat sobering) insights on the nomination process is up in Daily s-Press: Pushcart Prize anthology)

more: calls, calls, calls

issue two² complete + feedback

2010-08-27T18:42:00.011+02:00

"two²" is complete!
the final 2 pages of the new BluePrintReview issue went live this week - the "Two²" issue is now complete and includes 17 pages, and texts and images by 27 artists & authors:

Michael K. White, Marcia Arrieta, Ray Scanlon, Michael Brandonisio, Sheldon Lee Compton, Smitha Murthy, Karyn Eisler, Claire Ibarra, Eckhard Gerdes, Molly Sutton Kiefer, Linda Simoni-Wastila, Z.Z. Boone, Changming Yuan, Kirsty Logan, Michelle Elvy, Rose Hunter, Kim Keith, Susan Gibb, satnrose, Jean Morris, bl pawelek, Jeff Crouch, Brad Rose, Steve Wing, Suzanne Marie Hopcroft, Tyler Cobb, Justin Kern.

it was a true double-joy to put the pages together.
here's the issue link: http://www.blueprintreview.de/

~~~

and some feedback quotes / links:

The Absolute Very Best Thing I've Read This Week
August 17, 2010

Word that dance a little jig and slide down fire-poles landing triumphantly are what you'll find in Susan Gibb's wonderful piece, Descriptions, over at BluePrintReview. This short micro-flash will make you smile and leave you full of just what great prose can do in tiny but effective bursts. BluePrint has luscious artwork and fine writing, a place to linger.

(blog link: notfromhereareyou , the note was in the sidebar last week)

~

two2
Tuesday, 17 August 2010

BluePrintReview, edited from Germany by Dorothee Lang, draws together a new thematic web for each issue from a wide range of contributors, with an ongoing feature format that pairs independently created words and images from two different authors - linking them aslant, making connections not always obvious but always resonant. I like this very much. It's what I often try to do here in a small way, but has much greater potential, of course, when text and picture come from different authors.

The latest stage includes an image of mine, paired with a short-short story by Susan M Gibb and together entitled Descriptions. I like the story a lot, and I like the mind that put these two together, teasing out the shared themes of melancholy, distance and surprising affinity.

(blog post: tasting rhubarb - two2)

~

BluePrintReview - Gratitude #19
Monday, August 23, 2010

I am grateful today for editors who take passionate chances on new and emerging writers, who embrace their vision of art without compromise.

.. Dorothee also edits the fine literary journal BluePrintReview. In keeping with the theme 'two-squared', Issue 25 reveals two poems or stories every two days, allowing readers to savor each artist. Today I am grateful and honored to have my story Second-Hand Video-Cam featured alongside contributions by respected writers and artists, including Michelle Elvy, Kirsty Logan, Rose Hunter, Sheldon Lee Compton, bl pawalek, Susan Gibb, and many others. Take a gander -- you will not be disappointed.

blog post: BluePrintReview - Gratitude #19

~

calls, calls, calls

2010-08-23T07:35:00.018+02:00

BluePrintReview: call for next issue: identity. invited: short stories, poems, creative non-fiction, photography & artwork. "identity: different faces of a person; identity and time / place; the individual and the crowd; family trees and their blank spots.."
identity guidelines; submit: 15.9. - 15.10.

Writer's Ink is inviting works for their first Special Edition. The theme for this issue is The Far East. "We welcome all works around a theme of the orient, whether you want to write in an oriental style (haiku, tanka, etc.) or a piece revolving around an oriental theme." -- The Far East guidelines (scroll to bottom), deadline: 31.8.

Litro, the UK-based free monthly literary magazine that publishes new, original short fiction, has a call up for their upcoming issue: Russia. deadline: 15.9.

tongues of the ocean is open for submissions for poetry, fiction, non-fiction. special feature: "catch a fire": poetry / flash fiction inspired by the prompts: "float, lizard, rain, sleep, fire". guidelines: tongue of the ocean. deadline: 17.9.

apparatus magazine: encourages writers to submit translations for the September issue: "Lost in Translation & What the Messenger Said", deadline: 29.8.. October theme is: "Eldorado & River Styx", deadline: 29.9. - guidelines (scroll to bottom)

New Madrid will dedicate the Winter 2011 issue to the viability of water as resource and symbol. "We’re looking for submissions that incorporate lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, rain in all its guises." -- water guidelines, deadline: 15.10.

In Posse Review is inviting works for the upcoming theme issue: The Bio Issue: Gradeable or bio degradable - "We want poems and creative essays about your life—truths, half-truths, secrets, adventures and misadventures you’ve buried under the carpet. We're interested in unusual interpretations of this theme. Edgy, creative poetry and essays are always appreciated." bio guidelines, submit: September-October

Embracing Our Differences invites writers to participate in its 8th annual exhibit celebrating diversity. National and international submissions are encouraged. Entries should be no more than 30 words and express what the theme “embracing our differences” means to you. website + guidelines: Embracing Our Differences, deadline: 20. Dec.

more: calls, calls, calls

1st week of two² - feedback

2010-08-15T11:22:00.011+02:00

some feedback from week 1 of blueprintreview two², including 2 web-loops

-------------------------
blueprint online notes
this morning, i logged into facebook to put up a sunday blueprintreview two² note - and the first thing that popped up was: a blueprint sunday note. written already by Michelle Elvy from 52/250. such a good loop suprise:
"Such a wonderful summer issue of BluePrint Review, including poems about Oslofjord and Las Vegas, Monarch butterfly colors and the relentness nature of grey, and a burning hot story by Sheldon Lee Compton... check it out here."

and right at launch day, Karyn Eisler put a note up in facebook that is summing up the concept of BluePrintReview in such a brief yet encompassing way:
"BluePrintReview #25: The gradual unfolding of the issue starts today! Words + images from unrelated places--the works of authors and artists from different points on the globe meet on the digital page: www.blueprintreview.de"

-------------------------------------------
blog + mail: poetry / fiction overlap

Rose Hunter blogged about the issue, this includes a flip-note on her own poem-pair (aposematic / grey), and also a quote from a Two-poem:

"....And here is a poem by Tyler Cobb. It has

"large eyes to take in the mechanics of gore," and
"just one missing adversary
in the clotted system."

Follow the link to his poem at a journal called apt, if you like that one. Oh, hell, here's that direct link. And here are the last lines of that poem, "Relapse:"

Answers are fascinating but always too late,
A million complaints still unanswered,
But one has to feel that this odyssey
Was just a rumor and nothing more.

This is speaking to me today." - Rose Hunter

the whole blog note is up here: Preamble/ BluePrintReview/ Goodies

more poetry quotes:
and more poetry: i received a mail from Steve Wing, it started with lines from a poem i knew, but couldn't place on first read:

"this is such tactile and enchanting poetry:

the grass long ago rubbed away
by the feet of dozens of roaming kids who
left the flat floors and porches of their homes to
feel the earth tilt on its axis beneath them.

And at the edges and sometimes the
centers of those bald patches of hillside were
the bones of ancient rocks and cliffs,
always cool to the touch and painted
with strokes of a dull moss, pressing
out into the sun, restless
beneath the root structures of old trees.

and of course, the milkweed poison! Not everyone will get that, but it is good. I love this issue!" - Steve Wing

it took a second read to place the lines: they are from Sheldon Lee Compton's story "How To Burn Years" ...

----------------------
#StorySunday

... which now leads to the second online-loop: today is #StorySunday again. the base concept of this twitter-initiative that was started recently by Tania Hershman: "Link to a story by someone else that you enjoyed this week."

the story i wanted to link to? - "How to burn years".
so i logged into twitter. typed #storysunday. started to type. then saw the very title 4 tweets down:

MarthaWriting: #storysunday How To Burn Years by Sheldon Lee Compton http://blueprintreview.de/25burn.htm cc @shelcompton @taniahershman

------------
so beautiful, those mentionings. thanks to you and all others who help to spread the word.

issue two² contributor roundabout

2010-08-13T00:40:00.000+02:00

the "Two²" issue of BluePrintReview is online!
the issue goes live in sequences, starting with 3 pages. to introduce all two-contributors-to-be right at the launch, and to go on a rolling journey through words and places, here a contributor roundabout in connecting colors:

Karyn Eisler is soaking away the summer in Hungarian thermal waters and Canadian hot springs. She was PicFic's Featured Contributor for July, and her image "Red/White/Blue" appeared in Referential Magazine. Track her down at Living ?.

Sheldon Lee Compton returned to using a typewriter this summer. Just before that he saw the stories "Johnny's Blue Mosrite Guitar" published at Staccato Fiction and "The Son of a Man" at Divine Dirt Quarterly. He writes and interviews and reviews at Bent Country.

Susan Gibb is spending the summer writing one, sometimes two stories a day. She recently had a story named "Cooper's Promise" in Divine Dirt Quarterly, and "Where We Come From, Where We Go" in the May 2010 Istanbul Literary Review. She blogs at Spinning.

Brad Rose is spending the summer writing poetry and flash fiction, and listening to the Black Keys, while working to pay the mortgage. He wonders if, in fact, T.S. Elliot wasn’t wrong? Isn’t August is the cruelest month? Brad’s poem “The Liberation of the Knife-Thrower’s Daughter” appears in Right Hand Pointing. Brad’s novelette Lola Loves Richard, a tragicomedy told in 6-sentence chapters, is in progress at lola-loves-richard. Links to his poetry and flash fiction can be found at bradrosepoetry.

Rose Hunter is spending her summer in the winter. (A recent, disorienting move to the southern hemisphere.) She's not sure what she's doing yet, except being cold. Her poetry book, to the river, is being published by Artistically Declined Press this November. She blogs at Whoever Brought Me Here Will Have to Take Me Home, and also edits the poetry journal YB.

Michelle Elvy is spending the summer getting accustomed to the New Zealand winter. Her flash fiction piece, "Bedtime Story", appears later this month in Gloom Cupboard and her latest sailing photos/story can be seen in the August issue of Blue Water Sailing magazine. You can find her at Glow Worm.

This summer Marcia Arrieta is spending time at the ocean in California and is also on the road through Utah, Colorado, Idaho, & Montana. Two of her recent poetry publications include "the mysterious" in Bolts of Silk and "Days" in Melusine. You can find her at indefinitespace.

Linda Simoni-Wastila is eating her way through her garden and conducting plastic surgery on her second novel Pure. Her short story "Another Thursday Night" recently appeared in The Shine Journal and her poem "Unction" was named as one of the Top 50 poems by Robert Brewer of Writers Digest in the April Poem-A-Day Challenge. She pontificates almost daily at her blog leftbrainwrite.

Kirsty Logan is spending the summer working on her first novel, Little Dead Boys. She had a story named "Beauty" in Annalemma and a prose sestina named "Anchor of the Suburbs" in Weave. She blogs at kirstylogan.

Michael K. White is spending the summer like a lotto winner spends fifty dollar bills. He recently had the a micro-novel "My Apartment" published at blueprintpress and a staged reading of his play at paragontheatre. He doesn't blog anywhere but his gnarly website can be beheld at brokengopher.com.

Steve Wing's summer has included traveling in North Carolina, painting his kitchen, and spending quality time with intestinal parasites. His photography was included in the first issue of Lantern Review, and 3 images of a photo collaboration with blueprint editor Dorothee Lang appeared in Issue 18 of Otoliths: "2 Layers". Steve is a sometimes contributor to the this blog, his bio page can be found here.

bl pawelek is currently stressing a move from San Diego to Madison. Recently, there has been a flash piece called '"North of Paris" at The Northville Review and an art piece called "after the prayer" at the latest Dogzplot Flash Fiction. He would love to see you at blpawelek.

Suzanne Marie Hopcroft is spending August battling PPD (post-Paris depression!) by writing and reading and writing some more. Last month, she saw her first published piece - "The Old Lie" - appear in Camroc Press Review. More of her short fiction is forthcoming in JMWW and Moon Milk Review, among other lovely magazines. You can find her at suzannemariewrites.

Kim Keith is spending the summer trying to not overheat. She recently had a poem called "Forsaken" in the Vampires issue of Skive Magazine and another poem entitled "Lunaticks" appearing soon in Fissure Magazine's Steampunk issue. Kim can be found blogging at sparkygurl.

Jeff Crouch recently had a story named crackle pop in the magazine abjective and a short film with Cece Chapman named paste in the magazine unlikely stories 2.0. He blogs at Famous Album Covers.

Eckhard Gerdes is spending the summer editing the next issue of The Journal of Experimental Fiction and working on his own writing. He recently had a pair of novels published together as The Unwelcome Guest plus Nin and Nan by Enigmatic Ink in London, Ontario. You can find him at eckhardgerdes.com.

Michael Brandonisio has been spending the summer battling the intense heatwave that has gripped New York City. His story, Schiz, recently appeared at PenSpark, and a poem with corresponding photograph about Jean Genet, Darling Divine, is in the current eye-opening Fetish Issue at Shit Creek Review.

changming yuan is enjoying a 'free' summer for the first time in his entire life. Most recently he had poems accepted by Cha, 4 & 20, MTLS, Windmills and Turbulence. Yuan blogs at bquest-yuan.blogspot.com.

Ray Scanlon lives in Massachusetts. The two² image is his first published photo. His writing has appeared at Tiny Lights and his story Karma in Camroc Press Review, and he's on the Web at read.oldmanscanlon.com.

Claire Ibarra is spending the summer raising her puppy and whittling down her towering stack of 'must read' books. She recently had a story titled "Confession" in Midway Journal and a creative essay titled "A Blessing" in Quiet Mountain Essays. You can find Claire at claireibarra.

This summer, Dorothee Lang has started to carve out some time for flash writing and for sunday mountain drives. She recently had a Sky Blue story in metazen, and talked about writing, reading and travelling with Rose Hunter in the first daily s-press author talk. She keeps a sky diary and a blog of virtual notes.
.

on editing BluePrintReview + Daily s-Press from a race / class / gender point of view

2010-08-10T10:15:00.003+02:00

earlier this year, the Luna Park editors started a series titled "Race, Class, Gender & Sexuality in Indie Publishing", and invited editors and writers to participate.

i now took part in this series, and talk about editing BluePrintReview and Daily s-Press, the gender balance of the magazine, and also about general / and personal aspects of race / class / gender and categorization.

here's the starting passage:

"If you asked me about the general ratio of female and male authors included in BluePrintReview—the online literary magazine I founded in 2005, and that is now up to 24 issues—I would be able to give you the answer without going through pages: it’s about 50/50. Same goes for the answer to the question: “What’s the ratio of poetry versus prose?” Again, the answer would be: about 50/50.

These ratios developed during the first months of editing, combined with the plan to create issues that offer a balance of voices and cover a wide array of styles, approaches, and originating countries. This concept has continued since the start, with one exception: the current issue (“micro cosmos”), which is dedicated to flash fiction.

Even though I try for a balance of poetry and prose, those categories don’t appear anywhere. The starting page of each issue includes only the titles of the texts, without telling if it is poetry or fiction or non-fiction... "
the whole essay is up here:
Tag Poc 50/50, or The Complexities and Effects of Categorization

and here the link to the series with all essays included so far:
Luna Park: Race, Class, Gender & Sexuality in Indie Publishing

blueprintpress goes micro novel

2010-08-09T15:04:00.000+02:00

Blueprintpress is proud to present its 2 first micro novels:

The Republic of Love by Nora Nadjarian
My Apartment by Michael K. White

Both micro novels are offered as signed author copies in hand-made, limited editions. They will arrive at your doorstep with international air mail.

Pre-orders are open now.

For details, author info, excerpts, order info, go here:
Blueprintpress micro novels
..

sunday reads: author talk, #StorySunday + more

2010-08-08T08:19:00.012+02:00

Writers on writing

Daily s-Press: author talk Rose Hunter and Dorothee Lang: on poetry, solo travels, point of view and finding your way as writer: "all kind of things can go wrong (and right).."
Metazen: Pi in the Sky by Michelle Elvy - "Why do you write?"

.
#StorySunday

today: the second Story Sunday on Twitter. "The idea behind #StorySunday is that you link to a short story by somebody else that you've enjoyed recently - Tania Hershman." (more & details & link list of the first StorySunday)
join by twittering a link to a story you enjoyed
direct hashtag link: #StorySunday

.
52/250 Year of Flash

new stories are up -theme of the week: "Allergic Reaction"

new blueprintreview soon

2010-08-03T11:36:00.007+02:00

this weekend, i went on a drive and took some images in an old, small town that is set next to a stream. yesterday i played with one of the images - i am still looking for a fitting title image for the upcoming issue of blueprintreview, which is reaching completion now, and probably will launch next week. and it looks like a (heavily digitally rendered) abstract of the water moment might turn into the cover.

the original image and a drive + a town pic are up here: sunday elephant

to shorten the waiting for the new issue, 2 links:
- blueprintreview summer '09: Shortcuts / Detours
- blueprintreview summer '08: Bodyscapes .

two² and a union of opposites

2010-07-19T14:39:00.007+02:00

the upcoming issue of blueprintreview, "two²", is in layout stage now, it will go live in august. in an interesting overlap of themes and authors, this week's group writing theme of "A Year of Flash" is: Union of Opposites - and a number of blueprintreview authors took part.

so here, as an unplanned thematic prelude to "two": a flash Union of Opposites

+ some direct links to some of current blueprintreview authors who also joined the Union of Opposites:

"The Game" by Susan Gibb

"A ∩ B" by Linda Simoni-Wastila

"Swastika" by Susan Tepper

"Mafia Marriage" by Marcus Speh ("Finn")

"White" by Dorothee Lang ("me").

calls, calls, calls + a return + a leaving

2010-07-10T11:58:00.021+02:00

(upcoming deadlines are marked red)

Referential Magazine is looking for submission that refer to texts / images that are online in Referential already: references

Editions Bibliotekos is now seeking submissions for their anticipated third book, an anthology on the theme of "War", deadline: 1.9., guidelines.

Fractured West is currently reading for Issue 2. the editors welcome submissions from all writers, but are particularly interested in new, unpublished, and emerging writers - guidelines (beneath the launch note)

Folded Word will be holding a literary/art contest, everyone is encouraged to submit work that answers the question “Freight: What are you carrying?”, deadline 31.12.

A Broken Laptop is running the series "Writers in Masks" and invites writers to send notes on + pictures of the real and literary masks they wear - guidelines

Spiral Orb, an experiment in permaculture poetics, is now open for poetry submissions through 1.9. , for complete submission guidelines, please see spiralorb.net/submit

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal is now accepting submissions for "The China Issue", an edition of the journal devoted exclusively to work from and about contemporary China. deadline: 15.4.2011 (issue is planned for June 2011)

Annalemma invites submissions for Annalemma Issue Seven: "Endurance" - stories about the power to persist in the face of obstacles. deadline: 6.8.

Litro, the UK-based free monthly literary magazine that publishes new, original short fiction, has a call up for their upcoming 2 issues: Money. (Money deadline 15.8.)

NOT is running a Dog Days Summer Contest, invited are entries of exactly 101 word, with the words "Summer" and "Heat" included, deadline 15. 8., the entries will be compiled into an e-book

Halfway down the Stairs is now accepting submssions for their September issue: Beginnings and Ends, deadline: 15.8.

-----

+ a return + a leaving

Eyeshot is back for one issue: "After a few months on ice, Eyeshot hath arisen to offer an online semi-literary excellence edition for the bimonthly period known as July-August 2010 and forever after till death do us party down..."

Jack Magazine has it's final issue up: "This is the end of a decade-long run of the magazine. In Jack's final issue, we go on journeys..."

summer reading, summer writing, and more summer

2010-07-08T08:40:00.006+02:00

now up in Daily s-Press: a summer special with features on summer reading and writing projects, summer issues, and summer books:

- "Elephant summer" and "Zombie summer" (a blog filler that grew into an e-book)
- "The Summer of Genji" (a joined summer reading project),
- the "100 Days Project" (a creative collaboration with daily projects).

and more summer to come: anticipated summer reads, a flash summer, and summer issues.

link: Daily s-Press summer special

(Daily s-Press is a companion project of BluePrintReview, induced by the blueprint new book pages).

blueprint micronovels

2010-06-29T14:17:00.003+02:00

in spring, blueprintpress called for micro novels, to publish this summer.

27 authors followed the call and sent a micro manuscript. it was a joy to read through the different stories, which ranged from historic to futuristic. and it wasn't easy to move from long list to short list, and then to the final 2 micro novels to be pulished.

the blueprint micro novels for summer 2010 are:

The Republic of Love
by Nora Nadjarian

My Apartment
by Michael K. White

more about the concept of the micro novels, here. congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all authors who took part.

micro cosmos / tales, links, journeys

2010-06-12T11:00:00.015+02:00

the blueprintreview micro cosmos reached completion at the end of may. now, just 2 weeks into june, there is a wave of words and images and moves related to micro cosmos contributors, so here a micro cosmos contributor roundabout - surprise focus points are: fairytales/myths/classics, and real life journeys.

classics, myths, fairytales:

Shannon Anthony has a story included in Enchanted Conversation, a fairy tale journal: Manley and the Missing Link - a spin of a well-known tale.

Steve Wing has an image in qarrtsiluni, as part of their 'New Classics' issue: Cadillac Gargoyle. he also has 2 images included in the inaugral issue of Lantern Review: Door Shadow and Street Puddle Reflection.

Kirsty Logan has a story up in Seven Letter Words, a retold fairy tale titled Storytelling - and has a note on it in her blog: "I am a nerd for fairy tales. I wrote my undergrad dissertation on fairy tales. I teach a class in writing fiction based on fairy tales. I’ve written handfuls of fairy tale and mythology-inspired poems. But I hadn’t retold a fairy tale..." + she has a piece in the new >killauthor: Milk & Meat

Susan Tepper has a story on Tales From the Velvet Chamber, an anthology of revisioned fairy tales and myth: The Fall of Love -- and she has a new story in Metazen: "Floater" .

Pop, Asemics, Clay, published for a day, etc.

Karyn Eisler has a 'Pop on Fire'-image up in Referential Magazine, as reference to Jenny Billings’s poem “Love at the Movies”. in Referential Magazine. notes on the image and its pop-history are up in Karyn's blog: Pop on Fire.

Jeff Crouch contributed the image ing up to foffof, a journal of AsemicWritingLettersAndMarks (Asemic writing is a wordless open semantic form of writing). and more Asemics: Jeff also has a collaborate effort with Sheila E. Murphy and a film named Violent Rendezvous (with Ceclia Chapman) in The New Post-Literate Gallery of Asemic Writing.

Mel Bosworth has a story in The Northville Review called Need for Nothing, and Folded Word Press recently announced that his novella, Freight, will be released June 2011.

bl pawelek and Dorothee Lang have been published for a day in Word Riot, together with 60 other authors.

Kate Brown's story 'Two Girls Under an Apple Tree' has made it to the shortlist of the Bristol Short Story Prize. One of twenty stories, it will be published in their anthology, this summer. The winner will be announced on 17th July. & In the spring issue of The Linnet's Wings, she has a micro fiction that contains a whole life story: Swimming Pool.

Finnegan Flawnt has a writing story in Foundling Review: "Off the Record", and a flash story in the 52250 A Year of Flash project: "20:46 hrs - Chongqing, China"

poetry: a ghazal, a memory, a nonsense poem, and more

Ed Higgins has a poem, The Surge of Green (A Ghazal), in Little PinkShack, Vol. 2, No. 2, June, 2010, and a second poem: Memory At Near Zero in Dark Sky Magazine.

Cathy Douglas has a nonsense poem up at Verse Wisconsin, titled "A Memo Went Out"

Michael Brandonisio has two poems, Da Medea Brand and The Veil Wept, appearing online in the premiere issue of Milk Sugar, released in early June 2010. Michael also has 5 photos and texts up in the latest issue of Otoliths.

travel roundabout:

Mel Bosworth has been travelling to Boston, where he met with J.S. Graustein from Folded Word, Junior, and Rose Auslander, more in the Folded Word blog: Meeting in Boston

Karyn Eisler has been travelling to Europe, visited Budapest, and has met with the BluePrintReview editor in Vienna. some Budapest impressions are up in her blog: Post-Vacation Blue, and several impressions from Vienna as noted from Dorothee Lang (aka the BluePrintReview editor) are up in the editor's virtual notes: Vienna - musuem moments; Vienna & Bratislava; ways to take ....

Kate Brown is gearing up for the move to Berlin in four weeks time.

Kirsty Logan has a travel story in Pear Noir #4: Peach Cigarettes in Tokyo + some images to take you there: Tokyo + Tokyo + Tokyo

Cathy Douglas has a travel (& life) note up in her blog: "Paint it Black (Naples, Florida, June 3)"

Finnegan Flawnt will be leaving Facebook and Twitter (and some other territories of the online lit world), and enter the world of undistracted novel writing: "i am off on bloomsday, 16 june, as you know, anything hitting the road before that date will be spread like flowers!" --- all the best for the novel journey~

New Yorker summer fiction issue / 2nd language authors

2010-06-11T22:50:00.004+02:00

the new issue of the New Yorker is a Summer Fiction Issue - it features 20 authors, and has the title "Summer Fiction: 20 under 40" (the title and approach already were vividly debated elsewhere, for example here.)

today, i read the live chat transcript of the summer issue, and the introduction by the editors, which was pretty interesting and surprising, some quotes:

Q: What is it about 40 that makes a useful age cut-off?
A: It’s random to a certain degree. We could just as easily have cut things off at 38 or 42. But one thing we did notice, while reading, was that for a lot of people the thirties are when things start to click: a real voice develops that’s more mature; writers are figuring out their own identities, rather than experimenting and learning through imitation.

Q: Will The New Yorker ever have an “over 40” fiction issue?
A: We joke that next summer we’ll be doing “7 over 70.” But it’s generally true that people over 40 are well-represented in our fiction section on a weekly basis.

Q: How did you go about making a list like this? It must be very difficult to keep list to 20!
A: It WAS very difficult. At one point we had a long list of close to 40 people, any of whom would really have qualified. .. We had to restrict our list to North American writers.

and this, from the introduction, on the origin of the authors:
"The fiction being written in this country today is not necessarily fiction set in this country, or fiction by writers who were born in this country. Although all the non-native writers on our list have made a home for themselves in North America—some moved here as children, some as adults — the diversity of origins is striking: Nigeria (Adichie), Peru (Alarcón), Latvia (Bezmozgis), China (Li), Ethiopia (Mengestu), Yugoslavia (Obreht), and Russia (Shteyngart)."
(quick statistics: that is 7 from 20, more than 30%!
and while doing counts, here a gender ratio: the list has an exact 10:10 ration of female and male authors.)

and this, on the background of the authors:
"These writers also turn out to have vocations beyond the crafting of fiction. Bezmozgis has directed a feature film. Adrian is training to be a pediatric oncologist and, like Morgan, studied at Harvard Divinity School. Galchen completed medical school at Mount Sinai. Li moved to the United States to pursue a Ph.D. in immunology. Meyer, before starting his novel, worked as a derivatives trader and drove an ambulance. Ferris wrote advertising copy. Scibona, at one point, worked for a bricklayer."

"How did these twenty writers end up on this list? We were able to read at least one complete book or manuscript by each writer, and at least a portion of whatever work was coming next. In some cases, we saw an explosion of talent from the first chapter or story: a freshness of perspective, observation, humor, or feeling. In others, we saw a stealthier buildup of thought and linguistic innovation. Some were brilliant at doing one thing. Others made radical shifts of focus and style from one piece to the next. What was notable in all the writing, above and beyond a mastery of language and of storytelling, was a palpable sense of ambition. These writers are not all iconoclasts; some are purposefully working within existing traditions. But they are all aiming for greatness: fighting to get our attention, and to hold it, in a culture that is flooded with words, sounds, and pictures; fighting to surprise, to entertain, to teach, and to move not only us but generations of readers to come."

----

2nd language authors
the editorial doesn't exactly state the age of the non-native auhors when they settled in the US, and maybe some arrived as young children, but even for those the mother language was probably not English. which made me think about the current editorial of Asian Cha: "Bathing in a Ski-Suit: Writing in a Second Language" by Tammy Ho Lai-Ming - this is about the experience of using English as a second language.

"I learnt (as opposed to 'was taught') English in my formative years and for better or worse, I now see it as my default instrument for writing. I freely play my own poetic music on it, tuning my instrument to suit different registers and ranges. Just as Asian music often focuses on tones which sound foreign to Western ears, I can use words and grammatical structures differently than a native speaker to bring foreign thoughts and sounds into the language.

My deployment of the language is more personal than ideological or political, although of course the personal is inevitably political, especially when it comes to language. (I suspect the central role of language in culture and identity explains why people question my not writing in Chinese, but do not wonder about the motivations of Asians playing Bach. Music may be important to our cultural identity, but it is surely not as crucial as language.) I cannot deny I am, neither proud nor ashamed, a by-product of colonialism and postcolonialism, and that therefore my use of English in some sense has deep political roots. .. Instead I hope to use English as a way of expressing one particular Asian identity, as a means of exploring my own personal, Chinese themes. "

In this goal, I find the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe's comment on writing in a second language very insightful and resonating. His response to the question "Can [an African writer] ever learn to use English as a native speaker?" was:

"I hope not. It is neither necessary nor desirable for him to be able to do so. The price a world language must be prepared to pay is submission to many different kinds of use. The African writer should aim to use English in a way that brings out his message best without altering the language to the extent that its value as a medium of international exchange will be lost. He should aim at fashioning out an English which is at once universal and able to carry out his peculiar experience."

I think this is a perfect piece of advice for creative writers whose first language is not English but have made a choice to use the language anyway: you do not need to use English as a native speaker. You just need to use it honestly and your experience will shine through whatever medium you use. Take it from me, shedding your ski-suit is easier than you think."

Why Small Publishing Will Save the World

2010-06-10T14:51:00.004+02:00

"There's an artistic revolution coming.

It will be interactive. It will be visual. It will be electronic. It won't be tactile. Other than that, I have no idea what it will be.

But it's coming.

And I guarantee you the place we'll see it first will be small presses: self publishers, small publishers, entrepreneurs."

- from Janet Reid, Literary Agent

read the whole post: Why Small Publishing Will Save the World.

new issues + news calls

2010-06-06T10:12:00.007+02:00

New Issues: Avatar, Tryst, Hobart, Bloodlotus

Avatar is announcing the release of Avatar Review Issue 12, featuring poetry, prose, flash fiction, art and reviews. feature poets of this issue: Eugenia Ritz and Peter Golub.

Tryst is celebrating their 8th Anniversary Issue. "As an aside, we have opened up a new section for our readers and writers to Sound Off, to voice their opinions in the News Section Blog. We welcome thoughtful essays, letters to the editor, articles of interest, and on occasion, we'll publish poems on the fly."

Hobart: "We've been working on putting together a "Beginnings" themed issue, and here's some of the goodness: stories, comics (!!), and possibly one of the more ambitious things we've tried to do with the site: a huge roundtable discussion with twelve (12!!) authors of first books, including Kyle Beachy, Jedediah Berry, Andrew Ervin, Roxane Gay, Rachel B. Glaser, Julia Holmes, Caitlin Horrocks, Holly Goddard Jones, Tom McAllister, Laura van den Berg, Kevin Wilson, and Mike Young. Whew.

BloodLotus: "We've finalized our selections, and issue #16 is now online for your reading and viewing pleasure". Featured work by Shimmy Boyle, Felipe Cabrera, Steve Dossey, Melanie G. Firth, Erica Goss, Meg Johnson, Tracy Koretsky, Christopher Leibow, Alex Linden, Ed Makowski, John McKernan, Maurice Oliver, Camilo Roldán, Chantel Schott, and Megan Van Dyke.

------------

Calls: two², The Crowd, Zombie Summer, Bizarro flash fiction

BluePrintReview: submissions are now open for issue 25. theme is: "two²" - invited are fiction, non-fiction, poetry + images that capture "two" both in a formal and thematic way. (for example: a story inside a story about a couple, 2 corresponding poems about the 2 sides of things etc., photos in 2 layers) deadline: June 27. link: two²

qarrtsiluni: "Submissions are open through June 30 for our next issue, The Crowd."

Nothing to Say: "A Call for Submissions: Zombie Summer" Anything goes as long as it has a zombie innit!! Zombie Haikus or zombie interviews or zombie drawings, anything you want to send me. 10 words to 2,000! It’s up to you! Link: "Zombie Summer"

Pedestal is looking for “Bizarro flash fiction”: "Loosely speaking, “Bizarro” is an umbrella term encompassing different kinds of weird, absurd, horrific, uncanny, and/or grotesque speculative fiction. Literary and experimental forms are strongly encouraged." (deadline June 14)

micro cosmos note II

2010-05-30T08:13:00.014+02:00

full moon, full micro cosmos
the micro cosmos reached completion. the final sequence went live on Friday. which happened to be the day of full moon. it is all up now, here: BluePrintReview Issue 24: micro cosmos. 19 pages. 27 contributors. thanks again to all contributors for sending their micro/cosmic texts and images. it was a pleasure to edit this issue.

micro cosmos note, part I + II
after the first sequences of the micro cosmos launched, i put a blog note together with some reflections, realizations, background information, links and quotes: micro cosmos note I.

now that the issue is complete, some additional notes:

sequence sorting & review
like the previous issue, the micro cosmos went live in sequences. new sequences always were added on top of the starting list. now that the issue is complete, the micro cosmos took its final step, and turned around, into its original sorting, starting with 'The Writer', and ending with 'Conversations between Kingdoms'
+ an interesting review on the theme of sequences in bluerpintreview is up here in Yes, Poetry: On Our Radar).

sorting
the sorting of the blueprintreview issue is based on various factors: text length (shorter stories first, longer stories later in the issue). another factor is title length, for the starting-page shape. also, there is the aim to create a vivid image combination throughout the issue. if the issue comes with poetry and prose, it usually is a mixed sorting of poem - prose - poem - etc.
beyond all those factors, it was fascinating to see how the sequences of this micro comsos issue shaped into smaller 'micro theme' circles inside the whole issue, how the texts and images clicked together, without knowledge of each other.

for example, the 3rd sequence: 3 stories, each picking up on another constellations in the social cosmos of society: 2 colleagues (March 2037), a woman + a man (Intentions), a father + child (Red Giant)

or the 5th sequence (consisting of "Turville Woods" / "Our Vernal Ties" / "The Rain Connaisseur") - this turned into a contemplation on the physical and natural world that surrounds us: the forest, the wild animals, the invisible line between civilization and wilderness, our vernal ties and connection to the season, and to the base elements of this world: stone, air, water.
.. and the rain. which also appears in the following sequence, in "cold / warm / lukewarm": "I will most likely cry right now. And it will be the warmest rain I've ever felt on my face."

the images
one idea for this issue was to ask contributors to accompany text submissions with an image submission, to shape a 'roundabout' of stories and images ("accepted stories will be combined with an image from another contributor & vice versa").
i didn't expect this to work out for the full issue, and it didn't, which is fine. but it lead to a wider variation of images, and to an interesting side effect: for 3 images, there are now notes on the process, developed through the work on the issue:
- meta-cosmos / Intentions
- Five / taxi thoughts
- circination / Conversation between Kingdomswhich lead to this comment from Steve Wing: "It is nice to have this added depth, I think. It is something special, to show not only the photo, but also a glimpse of its roots, of the seed it grew from."
and one more photo note, as i rejoice in notes these days: the 3 images are combined in the collage above.

next issue: two²
like i wrote in the first note, the micro cosmos issue had a second, unplanned underlying theme layer: figures+numbers. there were stories composed out of 3 sub-stories, and out of 5 sub-stories. there was a story tryptich. a 3-way mirror. a four radius. (more details on this, in the micro cosmos note I, second thought: "three, and 2, 4, 5, 6").
following up on this structural theme, the next issue of blueprintreview will have the theme "two²" - with 2 being the concept both in a formal, and in a thematic way. the call for submissions is online already: BluePrintReview #25: 'two²'.
(submissions open June 1, and close June 27.)

blueprintreview birthday
while the cosmos expanded, blueprinreview crossed its birthday. i hadn't been aware of that - it was the "happy birthday" notes in facebook that made me realize it. but how beautifully fitting, i thought. i now noted the date in the calendar: on 22nd May 2005, the first issue of blueprintreview went live. an overview of all issues is up in the blueprintreview issue archive. happy 5 year birthday, blueprintreview!

new issues + a goodbye

2010-05-29T10:06:00.002+02:00

YB Issue 3: "This issue is a bit different from the previous two; there's an interview, and photos with some of the poems / photo-poems. Re themes: Well, there seem to be a lot of non-human creatures. And vehicles. Especially if legs (and perhaps balloons) can be considered a type of."

Melusine 2.2 - "Spring/Summer has launched! You can read Melusine 2.2, complete with our poetry contest results and the winning poems, as well as fiction, reviews, and more. .. Hope you enjoy, see you in the Fall"

Asian Cha #11 : "Issue #11 is here. We are very delighted to announce that the May 2010 issue of Cha has now been launched. .. We hope you enjoy the new issue."

Pindeldyboz - final issue -- the new issue is out, accompanied by this mail: "I have been trying to write this email for over a month. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Pindeldyboz, we've made the decision to shut it down. At some point in the next month or so, therefore, the site will be going dark. .. And that's okay. 10 years is a good solid run -- centuries in internet time -- and I could not be prouder of what we've accomplished." - so stop by at some bye to Pindeldyboz is still there.
.

Million Writers Award - Top 10 stories of 2009

2010-05-28T16:20:00.000+02:00

with the release of the Top 10 stories, the storySouth Million Writers Award 2009 reaches the next stage. the award is organized by Jason Sanford, the list of stories is up in his blog:

Million Writers Award top ten stories of 2009

the next selecion stage of the award is the public vote: "The public vote for the storySouth Million Writers Award is now open. All writers and readers are welcome to take part in the vote, which will last until 11:59 pm Eastern time on May 31, 2010."

here a copy+paste of the Top 10 list - and yes, it's time to celebrate: there's a story from BluePrintReview included this year:

•"Secondhand Objects" by Renee Simms (from 42opus)
•"I Am My Rooster" by Taylur Thu Hien Ngo (from Blackbird)
•"The Library" by Jolie Braun (from BluePrintReview)
•"Non-Zero Probabilities" by N. K. Jemisin (from Clarkesworld Magazine)
•"A Song to Greet the Sun" by Alaya Dawn Johnson (from Fantasy Magazine)
•"The Moose Head Haus" by Tom Burkett (from Storyglossia)
•"Ditch" by Eric Beetner (PDF download, from Thuglit)
•"Eros, Philia, Agape" by Rachel Swirsky (from Tor.com)
•"This Program Contains Actual Surgical Procedures" by Roxane Gay (from Twelve Stories)
•"Hospitality" by Summer Block (from Wheelhouse Magazine)

this list got selected from the list of 190 notable stories of 2009, which were picked by the Million Writers Award preliminary judges, who picked their nominations from the long list of editor nominations and reader nominations, and from their own online reading.

(dis)comfort zone addition

2010-05-25T15:45:00.012+02:00

3 moments from Tasnim Jivaji, in addition to the previous (dis)comfort zones issue of blueprintreview:

Who wants to be a plane crash survivor?

The aviation industry must
Must on high priority design
The aircraft better seated
For surviving crashes.

These narrow tubes, packed for profit
Have bodies jammed, on aprons all over the globe
Right now, even as you are reading this
After soft landings, their payload still trapped.

How difficult it is to merely disembark, orderly and calmly
That obviously an emerency evacuation is impossible
No matter how earnestly you listened
To the pre-flight briefing and you are seated near the door.

You, you as a survivor
Would not make it to any door
Or a crack
Nor a window.

It is time
Every ticking blink
That will save anyone
To leave it all and break lose.

But with heavy and high rigid chairs
Stunned people grabbing belongings rather than fleeing
No matter how much you have your wits
You will perish because the aircraft design failed you.

The Black Box they treasure
Put it in a safe place to learn from its contents
But they must now push the limits so that from their safer aeroplanes
More people will walk out of crashes than ever before.

Written By: Tasnim Jivaji
25th May 2010.
--------

Three die in head on collision
The pain when you hear about a tragedy is numb. It silences the noise of our lives with an unsettling calm, because for the rest of our lives we will never have them who had to leave so abruptly to complete the picture of the world we see ahead.

Written By: Tasnim Jivaji
20th May 2010.

-----------------

For just one moment, could we do this, just once?

Blood - G, donno.

Hunger - er, we do not wear G strings.

Water - Great, why?

War - Google Terrorism.

Canada, let's treat G click, let's air lift, person bloodied, hungry, sheepskin water jug, child not waking to peace and plonk them with G#.

Next G to be held, oh, where gangs are rallying, where they line up for food for half a day, walk a marathon to dig their water and for sound effects, there is nothing like war.

Written By: Tasnim Jivaji
Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Prizes and shortlists all around

2010-05-24T15:50:00.000+02:00

it's a time of shortlists and prizes, here an overview with notes on blueprintreview contributors that are among the listed authors:

Glass Woman Prize
short list + winner announced, based on 616 entries.
winning story of the 7th prize: "Sanctuary" by Julie Innis
the short list of the Prize with links is up on the website, one of the top contenders was Beverly Akerman's story "Pie". Beverly Akerman in blueprintreview: "Insight" #22

The Wigleaf Top 50
Top 50 list of very short fictions of 2010, selected from 200 stories
included: Rabbit Drive by Brad D. Green (blog note), Brad D. Green in blueprintreview: "A Slow Pull of Orange Taffy" #18

Bristol Short Story Prize Longlist
Longlist of 40 stories, based on 1496 entries from all over the world
included: "Two Girls Under An Apple Tree" by Kate Brown (blog note). Kate Brown in the new issue of blueprintreview: "Place de la Revolotion" #24.

and this just in:
Pandora's Collective Citizenship
This award is given "to an individual who has excelled in their commitment to support writers within our community". the new recipient of the award is: Daniela Elza, a current contributor of blueprintreview (The Math Ex.am).
links: blog link Daniela Elza, link Pandora's Collective

congratulations to all listed / nominated / awarded authors!

Broken Gopher in BluePrintReview, and in Paragon Theatre

2010-05-20T10:09:00.009+02:00

in issue 18, BluePrintReview published its first scene from a play:
Mailwife by Broken Gopher Ink, a scene from their play "I Know That You Love Me - 14 scenes between men and women."

Broken Gopher now mailed with exciting news - the play is upcoming in the 2010 season of The Trench / Paragon Theatre, Denver. their short description: "I Know That You Love Me is a vaudeville of the sexes and a zoetrope of the heart."

-------------------------------
I Know That You Love Me
by Broken Gopher Ink

August 9, 2010 at 7pm
Directed by Shelly Gaza

I Know That You Love Me is fourteen scenes between men and women, examining multiple facets of the same stone via drama, comedy, song, and monologue. These snapshots are savage and hilarious, disturbing and familiar. I Know That You Love Me is a vaudeville of the sexes and a zoetrope of the heart.
Broken Gopher Ink are a pair of humble westerners whose delightfully crude and vicious plays have been produced in the United States and abroad. No one is sure who they are, but their mega-monologue play, My Heart and the Real World, received eight separate off-Broadway productions and two UK shows.

missing words

2010-05-20T09:03:00.002+02:00

in my teens, twenties, then
more completely in my thirties
I gave myself to words

trained myself to say ravenous
instead of hungry, indisposed instead of
sick, dormant not quiet

I thought: I'll grow in synonyms
until better translations come along
thought spirituality must

be about sophistication until I
saw the naked power in words
like: no, help, and please.

----
words: Peter Schwartz, Maine (Sitrah Ahra)
image: Jeff Crouch, Texas (more)

- originally posted in April 2009

micro cosmos note I

2010-05-15T15:36:00.024+02:00

now that the first 2 sequences of the micro cosmos launched, some notes i wanted to add, plus some links and quotes:

the cover image -
is a story in itself. the image was induced by the previous issue of blueprintreview, (dis)comfort zones. after the issue was complete, an exhibition opened not far from here, titled: "Man Son - on the distress of the situation". it was the dis-theme that made me go there. one of the exhibition items was a pyramid, bleak on the outside. the inside consisted of angled mirrors.
i stepped inside that pyramid. the exhibition guide closed the door behind me. a sound generator kicked in. and i was there. inside this mirror sculpture that looks different for everyone, as your own reflection influences what you perceive. which actually is only enhancing the truth that all our impressions are filtered by our mind. we live in a personal micro cosmos of this world, each of us.
following that, later, was this thought: the stories we write and read - they are like pyramids of words, and we send them out, and receive them, and can step inside someone else's micro cosmos while we read them. but again, our take on the story is influenced by our perception. and even the same story can feel different when read on a later point, as it always includes our own reflection, too.
that's one of the thoughts that shaped out during the editing of the micro cosmos issue. while there, in the pyramid, i only wanted to take 1 picture as memory, and only later realized how fitting that picture might be as micro cosmos cover. the full story of the dis-day, and the full picture, is up here: virtual notes: into the dark.

three, and 2, 4, 5, 6 -
the previous (dis)comfort zones issue also brought the shift from launch-all-pages-at-once to launch-the-issue-in-sequences. for the micro cosmos issue, there will be 6 sequences, most of them are 'launch groups' of 3 pages. 3 is a number you will find a couple of times in the issue: Finnegan Flawnt sent 3 connected flash stories, The Writer - The Fool - The Families. later in the issue, there will be a 3-Way-Mirror appearing, and a story consisting of 3 sub-stories. but 3 is not the only number: there are the twins of Africa in Place de la Revolution. the two collages in Butterflies of Night. a story named four radius. and 2 (completely unrelated) stories, each composed of 5 sub-stories.
all those component structures made me think of molecules, and the different ways the same elements can be structured - it almost feels like all those figures form a second, unplanned, underlying layer of this issue. and whenever i see the image "Hard at Work" that combines with "The Writer", it feels like a geometric reflection of this layer.

thematic connections -
the main idea of launching the issue is sequences is: to give the single pieces more space. a side effect of the 'launch groups' is that they enhance the thematic / formal connections and counterparts between the group pieces that otherwise might have gone unnoticed.
for example, the countryside setting that is an element of all 3 new stories. Butterflies of Night takes the reader right into the micro cosmos of a farm, to caterpillars and bugs. in Imaginary Birds, the countryside is almost iconized: the story is set inside a clapboard house. and The Math Ex.am retreats even further: in it, the characters move in a train that crosses through fields and fields of sunflowers and lavender.

parallel to that, the sequences provide more space to follow external links, sometimes with surprise discoveries: if you visit The Next Naked Alien, and then follow Michael Brandonisio's link to Counterexample, you arrive at TRANS - a space poem. here a line:

colonize Venus, colonize Mars
-----------------embodiments interstellar take shape
caste anew

----
and some feedback and a first issue reflection:

story + image: The Math Ex.am / 'tracks' -
one of the concepts of BluePrintReview is that the included texts and images are usually from unrelated places, to add an additional, unplanned dimension both to the text and the image.
for Daniela Elza's story "The Math Ex.am", i tried a number of images. non really clicked. there were 2 other text that were still without matching image, too, so i wrote to 3 photo contributors of previous issues and included 3 key words. the next day, i received 'tracks' from Karyn Eisler. now that the page went live, i received notes from both, i wanted to share them:

"I think the photo seems very appropriate and even more meaningful when I think that both Karyn and myself are from Vancouver. I love it. all those different tracks one can travel, or branch out on. perfect." - Daniela Elza (+ to follow an.other word track, try this: Poemeleon)

"so exciting to see my train tracks with Daniela's words, live, just now, after dinner, in Heviz, Hungary, with my blog post notes at home, taped to my stone wall behind my computer, waiting to be typed out, with a screen shot yet to be made ...." - Karyn Eisler

the new issue / directions / comparisons / story south
and here, a first reflection on the whole issue:
"This is so good, to see Butterflies of Night as part of the new sequence, along with such good pieces! Karyn's tracks especially knock me out today!
And I had this thought about the new issue: it follows after (dis)comfort zones, the most intense issue ever, an issue that went in a new direction. I think this new issue might seem a little mild by comparison, so far. But it is good in the way that the BluePrint Review always was good, in a quieter, more thoughtful, usually overlooked way that made you so glad that you were reminded. And now also you might be wishing every piece could be as exceptional as the nominated piece. My thought is that it is a very good issue. " - Steve Wing

---
and then there is .. a tablecloth surprise
this is just a detail, kind of irrelevant. i first had included it under "thematic connections". then removed it. and then thought: most things of the everyday are actually just irrelevant details. but without them, the everday would be missing so much. and added to that, i received Steve's line on things that are usually overlooked. so here it is. the table cloth surprise.

yesterday, after the new sequence went live, i revisited all 3 pages. and then noticed this word crossing: in all 3 new stories, there is the word "tablecloth" included in the first paragraph, almost like a hidden code word for this sequence:
• "On the red-checked tablecloth in a clapboard house somewhere in the middle of your country .." (Imaginary Birds)
• "She spread an old tablecloth on the ground between two rows of soybean plants. It was May, .." (Butterflies of Night )
• "I f.eared the look on his face, the same look he gave me when I was four or so and tried to se.cure a drumstick on my plate with a fork and knife. Instead, it flew a.cross the t.able.cloth .." - (The Math Ex.am)

best of web + flash stories

2010-05-14T10:47:00.009+02:00

good news: Dzanc's "Best of the Web 2010" collection is officially finished and sent to the printer, it will be released in the middle of June. the collection is edited by Matt Bell, and guest-edited by Kathy Fish. Matt put a blog note on it online that generously offers a preview of the index and of the introduction. it's all up here: Best of the Web 2010: Finished! - click the cover at the bottom to get to the preview of index and introduction.

Matt Bell's introduction includes a note on print and online fiction, and on flash fiction that i would like to quote here, as it relates to the current issue of blueprintreview, which from concept started as flash issue. the quote also relates to the blueprint micronovel print plans for this summer:

"There is room - and perhaps even a need - for our literary community to have both print and online incarnations, and for both to thrive. We're lucky to have as many options as we do, arguably more than any generation of readers and writers has ever had.
Consider, for instance, the explosion of flash fiction as a form, which is, in my opinion, one of the hallmarks of current online literature: While the rise of flash has commonly been cited as a response to or panacea for the supposedly shortened attention span of contemporary Americans, I believe instead that the internet merely provided the room for new markets to arice, particularly those that might focuse on the kinds of fiction or essays or poetry somehow less popular with already magazines. This sort of thing can only be a good thing for the future of literature." - Matt Bell.

i can only second this view: print and online aren't counterparts or rivals, they are options that often connect and overlap.

but back to "Best of Web":
- the collection is now available for pre-orders at Dzanc Books.
- the full content overview is up here: Best of the Web 2010 - index
- this list also includes a story from the blueprintreview shortcuts/detours issue:
- "Nostrum" by Michelle Reale.

new: blueprintreview #24: micro cosmos

2010-05-11T16:25:00.005+02:00

the new issue of blueprintreview is up!
#24: micro cosmos

this is a flash fiction issue, launched in sequences, streaming from philosophic to funky to galactic and back to this earthly dimension

for starters: Finnegan Flawnt: The Writer – The Fool – The Families >>> Shannon Anthony: The Next Naked Alien >>> Kate Brown: Place de la Revolution

& artwork by: Carlye Birkenkrahe ('Hard at Work', 'Gravity', 'Inspired') >>> Michael Brandonisio ('Gigante') >>> bl pawelek ('demos')

and that’s just the first cosmic sequence. so much more to come.

here is the cyber link that beams you into the new blue: http://www.blueprintreview.de/

new cosmic sequences will unfold every couple of days, check back or just follow the announcements on twitter and facebook.

enjoy this micro cosmos ~
Dorothee

PS: and make sure to check out the note on the bottom of the starting page, with the links to the blueprintreview book blog Daily s-Press, and the call for micro novel manuscripts

new new new issues

2010-05-10T13:38:00.014+02:00

lots and lots and lots of new issues:

New Issue of Hamilton Arts & Letter is Ready - Issue: three.1 "Gold" - Spring 2010, 2nd Anniversary Issue - Available Now at: samizdatpress

qarrtsiluni: "Now playing: New Classics"

"Writers' Bloc just transmogrified into its eleventh incarnation": Writers' Bloc Eleven Island

Otoliths: the southern autumn, 2010 issue, has just gone live. Four years old today! Issue #17

Emprise Review: "Volume 14 is now live and arrives with some changes"

SubtleTea May – August 2010 Edition is online now! Subtletea

DIAGRAM 10.2, "boosted the record and ya looped it": Issue 10.2

HOBART 11: the great outdoors! bonus materials website including all kinds of extras: the great outdoor bonus

New Issue of Concelebratory Shoehorn Review Now Online: Issue Forty

and soon to come: BluePrintReview issue 24: MicroCosmos

----

and more more more literary link round-ups:

- Metazen - this is a god-damned round up

- Pank - May May May We Show You a Garden of Literary Delights?

- Mel B. - May Is My Favorite Color

kari edwards

2010-05-09T19:24:00.005+02:00

kari edwards contributed to the blueprintreview print issue mo(nu)ment in 2006. i invited her to send something for the following online issue, but didn't hear back. it was a year later that i learned the sad reason for her silence: kari edwards died in 2006.

now Belladonna Press put an anthology together in honour of kari edwards. so good to see this collaborative paperback with texts of those who were moved by her. more about the anthology in daily s-press: "kari edwards - NO GENDER"

and here, some painfully fitting lines from one of the poems kari contributed to mo(nu)ment:

wedding and funerals, mournings and festivals
tear rocks on lost cliff legs
time mirage accents
conveniently indivisible in units of salt
somewhere where light is law and tunes for dying
evaporate pure reason
.

and the winners are...

2010-04-24T17:19:00.004+02:00

it's a time of big awards - and this year, indie presses are belonging to the shortlists and the winners:

The Pulitzer Prize 2010
Category fiction:
Tinkers by Paul Harding (Bellevue Literary Press)
- a book feature is already up in Daily s-Press: Tinkers
- and here, the Pulitzer website link: Pulitzer Prize

Orange Prize for Fiction 2010
shortlisted as 1 of 6:
Attica Locke: "Black Water Rising" by Serpent’s Tail
- Serpent's Tail is an indie press, website: Serpent's Tail
- and here, the Orange Prize website: Orange Prize shortlist

2010 National Magazine Awards
Category fiction:
Winner: McSweeney’s Quarterly: Dave Eggers, Editor for “Memory Wall,” by Anthony Doerr, October 1; “Raw Water,” by Wells Tower, October 1; “Further Interpretations of Real-Life Events,” by Kevin Moffett; March
- McSweeney website + special Award Bundle
- National Magazine Awards website

small press + indie press books
for a stroll along new small press + indie press books, stop by at Daily s-Press and have a cup of words.

new genre +play calls: iStory, micronovel, youth drama

2010-04-23T22:25:00.005+02:00

the micronovel word is spreading, and connecting with other calls.

from this week:

Fictionaut
A big day for new genres: after the "iStory" (Narrative / iStory Guidelines), @blueprintreview is looking for "micro novels:" http://bit.ly/9wobt0

Eye Brains
Calling all Playwrights and other wrights. Right? Write.
Prick of the Spindle has teamed up with the Pensacola Little Theatre to produce (youth drama) plays during the fall of 2010. They need your plays. Learn more HERE.
And Blue Print Review very much wants your micro novels. Yes they do. Learn more HERE

Bah bah be bah...

new calls, new issues, new books

2010-04-11T10:35:00.015+02:00

a stroll through literary land. the focus this week: content+form, and all the different digital and printed shapes words and images can take.

content + form:
- feature discussion about content in the digital age: "Content and Form Are Not Equal", Ernesto Priego (phd: comics books in the digital age) + Beth Adams (editor or qarrtsiluni + Phoenica Publishing). reading through it, i kept thinking: this goes for poetry and stories as well, the difference printed pages make.
- Litterbox feature: project 365 - "the goal of project 365 is to take a photo a day and post each one, chronicling the entirety of the year 2010, one day & one photo at a time."

new calls:
- BluePrintReview goes (micro)-print this summer, and is looking for micro novel manuscripts (4000-5500 words). deadline: end of April, more here: micro novels
- Outsider Writers is seeking submissions for their brand new category "Deep Thoughts - Alternative perspectives, original ideas and new directions in philosophy, politics, cultural criticism, and personal essays", up to 1000 words, link: Deep Thoughts
- 971 MENU is back after a one-year-hiatus, and looks for original fiction or nonfiction (any length). link: 971 MENU
- matchbook is now accepting art + poetry submissions for a series of postcards that will showcase both visual art and poetry. deadline: June 30. link: matchbook postcard series.
- Vagabondage Press is looking for literary quality erotic fiction for inclusion in their new anthology series. deadline: July 15th. link
- six little things is open for submissions for their next issue, deadline May 30, theme: Third Base

new issues:
- April turns into a month of list: start of April, storySouth published the storySouth long list of notable stories 2009, and now Dzanc published the content list of Best of the Web 2010, their best-of print edition.
- and new issues are up: Hobart Baseball Issue, Clementine quarterly of persona poetry and photography , Writer's Bloc 10 - space issue

new books:
- 'magic realism' was the theme that surfaced this week in Daily s-Press with "A cappella Zoo - spring 2010" and "How to Escape from a Leper Colony" by Tiphanie Yanique.
- this week also brought the first e-book in Daily s-Press: "Elegy for the Builder's Wife" by Nick Courtright. and of course, there was print: "In This Alone Impulse" - prose-poetry by Shya Scanlon; and "Where the Dog Star Never Glows" - short stories by Tara L. Masih.
- all books, here: Daily s-Press

Dzanc Best of the Web 2010

2010-04-08T21:44:00.008+02:00

"While we let all of the authors know, as well as the journals that published the original stories, poems and essays, we never made a general announcement as to what authors are going to be included in Best of the Web..."

...said the Dzanc Book editors. and then went ahead, and put the list for the Best of the Web 2010 up on their page: Best of the Web 2010

i posted the nice news before: a story from blueprintreview has been selected for inclusion in Dzanc Books' Best of the Web 2010, too, it's from the shortcuts/detours issue: "Nostrum" by Michelle Reale.

further blueprintreview contributors that are included (through their stories in other magazines) are:

Molly Gaudry with "The Sky as John Saw It the Night Kate Sparkled" in Abjective
J.A. Tyler. with "Jimmy and his Father and the Ways About Them" in > kill author
Lisa Zaren with "Segue" in Juked

congrats all around ~

small colors

2010-04-07T06:35:00.011+02:00

Birthing blooms vines leaves
my window spring morning fresh
I see

Bushes, trees, and fields
popping with small colors.
Newborns, eyes closed.

The sun brushing
the spring flowers
with light fingers

Their fragrance drifts
on the breeze
a sweet, arresting scent

That makes me consider
the many forms
of power
.

-
words and images:
Karyn Eisler, Mel Bosworth
Steve Wing, Dorothee Lang

distilled from the garden party
at Living ?s, (still open + ongoing)
pieced together by DL