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

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.

a blueprint of a newspaper

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!"

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

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

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

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

BluePrintReview in Folded Word

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

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

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

new blueprintreview soon

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 .

micro cosmos note II

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!

Million Writers Award - Top 10 stories of 2009

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.

micro cosmos note I

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)

new: blueprintreview #24: micro cosmos

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

kari edwards

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
.

Dzanc Best of the Web 2010

"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 ~

storySouth long list of notable stories

The Million Writers Award notable stories of 2009 have now been posted. Check them out here: The storySouth Million Writers Award Notable Stories of 2009.

it's a beautiful long list of magazines and authors, with stories in all lenghts and genres and styles included.

BluePrintReview included
and so nice to see: a BluePrintReview story is part of the list, too: “The Library” by Jolie Braun, from the 'shortcuts/detours' issue: "It began accidentally, the way nearly anything truly important does..."

some of my favourites
and here, 3 links to notable stories that remained with me, long after i read them (note: all 3 are, each in their own way, partially disturbing.)

• Roxane Gay: “Things I know about Fairy Tales” (Necessary Fiction)
• Seanan McGuire: "Inspirations" (The Edge of Propinquity)
• Kij Johnson: "Spar" (Clarkesworld)

there are so many very well written stories, but those stood out for me as they both were remarkable in their voice, and in the way they took me to places i haven't been to, and left me there with some open questions that nudged my thoughts for the next days.

why do we read fiction?
and in a fictional theme match, the NY Times has a scientif article on cognitive / evolutionary theories which "..may help to answer fundamental questions about literature’s very existence: Why do we read fiction? Why do we care so passionately about nonexistent characters? What underlying mental processes are activated when we read?"
one of the keys: "The layered process of figuring out what someone else is thinking — of mind reading — is both a common literary device and an essential survival skill."
link: Literary Scholars Turn to Science, NY Times (via The Millions)

storySouth: next
the next step in the storySouth Award will be the release of the top ten stories of the year - it's scheduled around May 1st, with the public vote for the top story beginning then.

gender / minority / tags

there is a blog post up in Big Other that made me ponder on a whole row of editor/author issues. the blog post itself starts with a quote of CL about the disproportional submission quality from women and poc (persons of color), and the quoted follow-up suggestion: "When you go through your back issues/backlist for the big names to list on your website, be sure to put the names of women writers and poc front and center. A publisher/magazine that has a lot of recognizable “minority” names on its website is basically putting out the welcome mat for “minority” writers."

this made Roxane Gay (editor of Pank) wonder: "How on earth can you know someone’s race from their submission? I have no idea, save for a poet who is a friend of mine in real life, who is or is not a person of color amongst the Pank writers."

here the whole post from Roxane: Recognizable Minority Names... Really?

the blog post ends with an invite: "I’d love to hear what other folks think about this."

here's what i posted in repsonse:

-------------------
my 2 cents from my experience as editor of blueprintreview:
when reading submissions, my main focus is the story quality, and when editing, i try to put together issues that include a wide array of styles and approaches.

one element of this wide array is that i try to include submissions from abroad, and that i try to reach a balanced ratio of male / female contributors for blueprintreview. which now seems to effect the submissions, too, and their gender ratio. i guess it’s only logical that the theme and style / atmosphere of a current issue of a magazine influences the submissions for the next issue. but i don’t put those aims up as a specific note on the starting page, and i think it’s up to each editor to set their outlines for their journal / magazine. (and discussions like this one are surely helpful when it comes to defining those outlines).

“How on earth can you know someone’s race from their submission? I have no idea, save for a poet who is a friend of mine in real life.” – that is a good question. it’s also a point i ran into recently, too, with the book blog i started, Daily s-Press - http://dailyspress.blogspot.com/

the concept of Daily s-Press is to feature books from small presses, and parallel to that, to explore the landscape of small and indie publishers. there are some search functions up already, mainly about the books themselves (fiction/poetry - style - format etc). but there are more options planned. one that is up already is a geographic search: authors / editors by continents - later, with more books up, this will move to the level of countries.

the next tag-search to be included will be a gender search for authors and editors.

but how to include a poc search option? or other options that might be interesting, and also tell about the landscape of authors and editors, for example: age, education.

working on this, i wondered if the gender theme sometimes is in the focus of discussions as it is more visible than other characteristics of authors. not sure. on the other hand, it’s interesting to see that the internet tends to level certain factors: the place where an author lives, the “part of town” or social level he or she belongs to, their age and appereance, their ethnic background (including religion), etc.. – all these factors aren’t visible in submissions if they aren’t explicitly stated in the bio. and even the gender aspect can be removed, either by using initials, or by creating an abstract.
------

and connected to the fe/male theme, here 2 links to recent virtual notes on gender ratios in the lit scene: "Women & Men" and "indie lit scene gender imbalance".