The Bard Newsletter #3

Hey there! Long time no see. I’ve been super busy with life (trying to make money and chapbooks can be a harrowing time for a publisher). I really had meant to have a blog entry out every month, but since I’m doing this all on my own for a while (until potentially after the Grand Tournament) sacrifices have to be made. Cleveland poetry is tiring work, but it is so much fun!

Enough about me, let’s get to the real meat of the matters. I have been working like crazy on a number of projects for WK. We have a number of poetry books to be released soon. Writing Knights’ first full length book “Graffiti Wisdom” is being released May 25th. I intend upon putting up a prerelease page on WritingKnights.com after I post this blog, so stay tuned for that.

We have a number of poetry events coming up. May 25th at Mac’s Backs will be a double headliner, Zach Ashley from Detroit and Skylark Bruce will be leading the way with Shelley Chernin, Autumn Aki Smith and special guest, visiting poet Larry O. Dean who is on tour promoting his new book Brief Nudity.

June 1st we are changing our format slightly. Typically at our shows we have the features stand up and speak for their 20 or 30 minutes and sit down then we have open mic performers threaded through the night. But going into Year Three, Writing Knights is changing the format. The Literary Café shows will sit the features down in some semblance of a circle with the rest of the audience and share their poetry with the rest of us. The words will bounce around the circle and everyone attending from the Cleveland poetry community will share a piece as their turn comes. The “features” will have a set amount ready to share, but the rest of the group can learn and grow with them with everyone on the same level. Our features on June 1st so far (we are hoping for one more): Mary Turzillo, Julia Jones, and Paul Skyrm.

June 29th Writing Knights will return to Mac’s Backs with a “standard” feature. Cavana Faithwalker will headline, and the alternative rock, hip hop group The Dangerous Colors will be there as well. We are still looking for two more features that night, so if you are interested email writingknightspress(at)gmail.com with the subject line: “June 29th Feature”.

July 6th Cleveland poetry returns to the Literary Café. Writing Knights Press Presents headliner and Writing Knights Original Steve Brightman (who is releasing the chapbook “Absent The” with Writing Knights). With Steve we have Matt Reiman, an up and coming Cleveland poet. We are also looking for two more performers for this night. All those interested should email writingknightspress(at)gmail.com with “July 6th Feature” in the subject line.

Speaking of poetry books, Writing Knights Press has released a number of books since our last newsletter. February saw the release of Vladimir Swyrinsky’s book “Cleveland Hostel Poems”. March brought us FIVE releases. First a chapbook by P.C. Vandall from British Columbia “Something From Nothing”. The Squire: Volume 3 “Seasons” Anthology, full of many local, national and international poets. The Writing Knights Press Best of 2012 Anthology with all of our PushCart Prize nominees inside as well as the best poems from the authors released by Writing Knights. Last, but not least, were two FourPlays released: FourPlay #7 “Chaos Inspired” by Mike Ottinger and FourPlay #8 “Insomnia Songs” by Azriel Johnson. April brought Illinois poet, Lennart Lundh’s “Pictures ofan Other Day” chapbook and Walter Beck’s double (reversible) FourPlay #9 and #10 “On the Midnight Stage/High Ground Valley Flashback”. May showed us Utah’s own, Maggie Mae with her release “Some Things Ache in the Dark” chapbook.

We aren’t just here for Cleveland poetry. We are here for the world!

Final words: the Writing Knights Press website is operational, but not fully armored. Our store section is ready to accept transactions, but I need a little more time with the non-store section. Please feel free to peruse and purchase as you will. Updates are made weekly if not daily and we will try to have everything worked out before the next Newsletter.

Thank you and remember… only poetry can save you now!

Azriel Johnson

P.S. – Writing Knights is accepting singular Submissions of poetry between 10-30 lines to showcase at the end of each newsletter. All poetry will be considered, multiple shorter poems may be submitted to crest the 10 line minimum. These poems should be sent in the body of an email to writingknightspress(at)gmail.com with the subject line “The Bard Submission – (Poem Name) – (Author Name)”. Please send only one submission at a time, and please do not submit another piece until your previous submission is accepted or denied.

PicBomb

Get ready for a brand new app that will crack your friends and family up every time. PicBomb (from Mind Matter Games Inc) allows you to “drop” speech and thought bubbles into your pictures or allows you to take new pictures with the bubbles already included. This is a great way to socialize with friends, family, coworkers and complete strangers. PicBomb photos can be shared with your friends of Facebook, your followers on Twitter and your contacts via multimedia message.

If you are using the iPad you can send these images via email. Also, iPad users can use PicBomb to adjust the brightness and contrast. What is more, iPad users can even crop the photos taken with PicBomb. All with simple touch screen commands.

For those in business, PicBomb can be used as a social network aid. Take a picture of an attractive young person “going crazy” about your product and add a thought bubble saying “This is the bomb” and let PicBomb blow up your product. This is advertising like you have never seen before.

The user interface is easy to handle. The photo editing is point and click. Taking photos through the application is just like taking a regular photo. Then you can add bubbles or captions with a click and some typing. PicBomb allows for editing colors, bubbles and fonts. It is so simple to use, children as young as 4 can edit the photos on your phone, but even the savviest smart phone users will have hours of fun.

"Academic" VS "SLAM" VS "Underground"

"I am not a fan of when people judge poetry they judge it by merits of a different poetic style. You can't judge most paintings by their lyrical content. You can't judge most music by its brush strokes.

"That isn't to say there aren't some similarities between Slam, Academic, Underground etc (they are all poetry after all), but the intent is usually different.

"I think the only thing one can significantly judge ALL poetry on is how you "feel" about the piece." -- Azriel Johnson

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To this a former professor replied:

"What are "slam," "academic," and "underground" poems...how are you defining these terms? I'm going to make the argument that there are some craft techniques that are universal to all of these styles of poetry, or make all of these styles of poetry stronger or weaker through their use or lack thereof."

I hate defining these terms because I don't see them like others do. If I were to define them (and by define, I mean how I perceive others' perceptions) I would do so thus:
          Please note nothing I say in these definitions is all inclusive. For example, I will say academic poets sound flat when performed, but this is not always true. These "definitions" as I write them are nebulous and purely of my own invention, which at best, makes them just as flawed as the writer.

"Academic" poetry is technically the most sound, more focused on meter, rhyme, or forms. When it is performed it sounds flat. This is likely because the reader is more concerned with the precise reading of the work instead of the emotional content found therein.

"SLAM" poetry is less technically sound, than "academic" poetry. The focus comes more in the rhythm of the piece as it is most certainly going to be read out loud. As it is read out loud there will be less focus on the conciseness of the words and more so with the emotional content behind them. 

"Underground" poetry is least focused on the structure of the words and more focus on how they sound or what thoughts/feelings they evoke. This is poetry associated with breaking rules or establishing new rules. There may be form play here, but it is more likely to be newly invented forms by the author.

The problem with establishing definitions is that no one's definition will be exactly like anyone else's. Instead of taking each poem at its own merits they are compared to other styles, forms, and/or writers. This comparison isn't inherently bad, but it becomes detrimental to poetry when the comparison becomes "THE gospel truth" and no other expression is sufficient unless they conform to the tenets set.

A Billy Collins poem isn't going to read like a Saul Williams poem isn't going to read like an exemplary local poet whom no one outside of their city has heard of. This doesn't mean any one else's poetry is going to be better or worse, just different. The feelings evoked by a piece are subjective, it is highly unlikely everyone is going to feel exactly the same way about a piece, but when people get trapped in their cycle of what is "good" and "bad" without considering something outside their sphere of taste poetry suffers.

I don't have a problem with reviewers. I think reviewers are necessary, but poets who receive a bad review should only take it as far as "this is one person's opinion, what does someone else think?" If a poem affects one person for better or worse then the poem is good. Even if it is bad.

          -- AJ 

The Grand Tournament II: Rules

Grand Tournament 2013 Rules

To commemorate the Two Year Anniversary of Writing Knights Press events, we are preparing the Second Annual Grand Tournament. Poetry can only save you if it works on the page as well as on the stage. The Grand Tournament is designed to find the best writers AND performers in the global poetry scene.

Jump to: First Round / Second Round / Prizes / Notes to Potential Entrants / Judges / Compensation

First Round – On the Page

1. Entries will be accepted between March 2, 2013 and June 1, 2013. Any entries sent before or after these dates will be discarded unread.  All entries should be sent to writingknightspress@gmail.com.

2. Poets should compile a sample manuscript between 275 and 325 lines long including stanza breaks.  Manuscripts not within these parameters will be discarded unread. 
            a. For the purposes of this contest: A line is between 8 and 12 words long.
            b. Prose writers should submit between 2,750 and 3,250 words.

3. Material provided should be unpublished or not published during the last 12 months. 
            a. Previous contestants are welcomed and encouraged to enter the tournament, however;
            b. No previous pieces entered to the Grand Tournament will be considered.

4. The manuscript should be sent as an attachment in .doc, .rtf, or .txt file format ONLY. Any files in any other file type will be discarded unread.

            a. The file should be named “Grand Tournament Entry”. There should be NO identifying notations inside the entry of the identity of the writer, this includes lines in the pieces themselves.

            b. Exceptions can be made in the cases of ghazals (or other poetic forms of this nature) where the poet is expected to “sign” their work. However, the poet should make an effort to disguise their name. Example, “Azriel” could be disguised as “as real.”

5. In the body of the email include: Name (Pen Name and Legal Name), Address (email and snail mail), phone number, and the list of pieces included in the manuscript. Do not include the list of pieces in the manuscript attachment.

6. Manuscripts will be scored 0-10 by the five judges.

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Second Round – On the Stage

1. The top five scoring manuscripts will be invited to perform their submissions at the Grand Tournament July 27, 2013 at Mac’s Backs in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

2. Only one prop will be permitted per performer.

            a. Approved props include, but are not limited to: masks, walking sticks, stage blood, riding crops, scarves, whips under 3 feet long.

            b. Any mess created by the performer or prop must be cleaned up, or the performer will be disqualified.

            c. Not approved props include, but are not limited to: musical instruments, other people, non-service animals, apparatuses of a strictly sexual nature (stimulation devices, gags, fuzzy handcuffs, etc).

3. Performances will be scored 0-10 by the five judges.

4. The highest combined score of the manuscript and performance round will win. If there is a tie, the performers in contention will be given a 1 minute lightning round performance to decide the winner.

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Prizes

1. The winner of the Grand Tournament will be offered a full length, perfect bound book deal with Writing Knights Press.

2. The four runner up competitors in the Second Round will be offered a chapbook deal with Writing Knights Press.

3. Honorable mentions from the First Round may be invited to submit chapbook manuscripts.

4. Judges will be asked to pick one or two pieces from each manuscript for consideration in The Squire: Grand Tournament II Anthology.

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Notes to Potential Entrants

1. The performance will be held in Cleveland Heights, Ohio on July 27th, 2013. There will be no video conferencing or competing. If an entrant qualifies from the manuscript round and they are unable to be at the event location by 7pm July 27th they will forfeit all possible contest winnings.

2. Competitors in the Second Round who have merchandise are invited to sell it at the Grand Tournament event. Individual consignment agreements will be brokered between the poet, the organizers and the venue.

3. Traveling poets cannot be explicitly offered room and board. Arrangements may be made, but this will be on a case by case basis and are not guaranteed.

4. Family members, romantic partners, and current or former Writing Knights Press staff or current event judges are ineligible to compete.

            a. Past judges, their family members or romantic partners are eligible to compete as long as they are not disqualified in another way.

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Judges

1. This year’s judges will be the same from the Page (manuscript) and Stage (performance) rounds.

2. Last year’s winner, Skylark Bruce, will be one of the judges, and the only judge revealed before the event itself.

3. Judges will score anonymously from each other and from the contestants in the Page and Stage rounds.

a. Scores in the Page round will be sent to the Event coordinator as they are tallied.

b. Scores in the Stage round will be kept secret until all five competitors have been scored.

c. It is up to the Judges’ sole discretion how they will score the contestants.

4. Judges will be requested, but not required to submit a piece for The Squire: Grand Tournament II Anthology.

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Compensation

1. All Entrants and Judges will receive a free copy of The Squire: Grand Tournament II Anthology.

2. All Finalists and Judges will receive a free copy of the winning full length book produced.

3. Entrants will be able to buy additional copies of The Squire: Grand Tournament II Anthology for a reduced price.

More details will be added as needs arise.

Any questions, comments, or suggestions may be sent to writingknightspress@gmail.com. Any complaints, gripes or bitches can be directed to your own email address. We only accept constructive criticism.

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1 Storage Place NY

Winter is by far the worst time to move house. Unfortunately sometimes circumstances require moving in the winter. Thankfully, the best moving truck rental in New York is available all year round with climate controlled storage. Each of these units has access from inside the building so there is no extra draft coming in from outside. For the larger items that must be stored outside there are fenced and lighted areas with video surveillance for boat and vehicle storage. This video surveillance protects not only the possessions, but the renters who move in and out of the units daily.