The Big News (well, some of it, that is)

After much deliberation, we've decided to make Barn Owl Review #3 an all-poetry issue. Submissions begin Monday, June 1st. Please check out our revised guidelines below.

BOR's open reading period will resume 1 June 2009.

Barn Owl Review 3 Call for Submissions:

Barn Owl Review welcomes submissions for its third volume, which will be an all-poetry issue. We are a handsomely designed print journal looking for work that takes risks while still connecting with readers. We aim to publish the highest quality poetry from both emerging and established writers. Barn Owl Review 3 will be released in April 2010 at the AWP bookfair in Denver. Though Barn Owl Review is a print journal, submissions are only taken electronically. Please follow our guidelines carefully.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Submit your manuscript as an attachment formatted for MS Word or .rtf with ‘Poetry Submission: NAME’ as an email subject line (for example, 'Poetry Submission: Emily Dickinson'). Include contact information in the attachment. See full guidelines link for email address.

A cover letter with contact information is required, and should be pasted into your email message and addressed to the editors. Please list your attachment's name in the body of your cover letter. We are unable to open attachments that are not specified as such.

Simultaneous submissions are welcome with immediate notification of acceptance elsewhere. No previously published work, please. Barn Owl Review will provide pre-publication galleys of accepted work. Please note that we only accept one submission per author per genre during our reading period.

POETRY: Submit 3-5 poems (in a single attachment) to the attention of the poetry editors. Barn Owl Review favors no particular poetic style or school; however, we look for innovation and risk-taking in the poems that we publish. We are interested in poems with a strong narrative or lyric presence by poets who understand the energy of the line, poems that “make it new” in a way that’s truly new. Barn Owl Review prides itself on being eclectic and strives to publish new writers alongside established ones. Submissions of inspirational/greeting card verse are not for us, but otherwise we are quite open to subject and style. Dazzle us. Curl our toes. But most of all, surprise us.

Pop Quiz

With "summer" here (don't tell that to my furnace), it's easy to fall prey to the lull of relaxation (ha). So here's another pop quiz to keep you on your toes.

Please take out your #2 pencil and complete the following.

1. When was the last time you wrote a poem?

2. What was its title?

3. What was one image from the poem (if applicable)?

4. Do you currently have a poem percolating in your brain?

5. If you answered "yes" to number four, what is one image from that poem?

1 point for each response. Partial credit available. No penalty for attempting. This is an open book test.

Class dismissed.

35

So far, so good.

The last poem ever.

I haven't had the time to think, or to write, lately. I may have mentioned this before. Anyway. Right now it feels like I'll never write a poem again. Writing is so mysterious. I have ideas, but I'm just not writing (which apparently now I believe in, having no choice).

I found out last night that I am not alone in the sense of oh shit, maybe I can't do it again ever, and the last poem I wrote was my last.

I know this isn't really true. But ugh.

And now, back to grading (and not writing) I go.

Getting there.

I'm in a meeting all day today, and tomorrow at Children's since Ray is getting tubes in his ears for a third time. I've gotten a lot of grading done, though, and actually divided it up rather than going on a binge. The students did a great job on their revisions, and I spent a lot of time writing comments, so it was a good experience overall. Folks even came to pick their work up yesterday, so all that commentary won't end up in the recycling bin.

This is always such a strange time of year for me. Almost done, but not done. Almost my birthday, but not quite. Almost summer...you get the idea.

My goal for the summer is to finish my new new manuscript. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I only like what I'm currently working on. I've heard I'm not alone in this, but sometimes I wonder.

Right now it's so dark out that I'm not sure if it's super cloudy, or if the sun just isn't up yet. I think that's an accurate metaphor for how I feel.

Poem in Your Pocket Day 2009: Akron Style

Here at the University of Akron, we take Poem in Your Pocket Day quite seriously. This year we decided to do an action project on campus, passing out poems to students on the penultimate day of classes for the semester.

First the students (from my Advanced Poetry Writing undergraduate class) handed in their chapbooks. Check out a few samples of their artistry.

In anticipation of Poem in Your Pocket Day I made up distribution packets for the students. You can't get much more handy than this.

Then we took it to the streets. Campus Police eagerly accepted the poems bestowed upon them by two students.

Jimmy and Zach with their packets, ready to fill pockets with poems.

Mike was especially enthusiastic.

Nick climbed a tree and read from Howl, in order to set the tone.

Then it started to rain. But that didn't damper our spirits one bit.


Who could forget the University of Akron Press offices? Not us. Designer extraordinaire Amy Freels gladly accepts a poem for her pocket on the eve of the Akron Poetry Prize reading period beginning.
Afterwards I brought the remaining poems to my faculty meeting. Despite the drizzle, it was a great day for all. The poem in my pocket: this one.