Astropoetica: Mapping the Stars through Poetry celebrates Global Astronomy Month with the launch of its spring issue, featuring:

• Starfruit, by J. C. Runolfson
• Comet Girl, by Claudine R. Moreau
• The Moon and Venus, by Jim Culleny
• Volcanoes on Io, by Melissa Frederick
• Like Craters, by Stephanie Suhr
• Deep Solar Minimum Blues, by Ann K. Schwader
• Eros, by Melissa Frederick
• Lithopedion, by Robert Borski
• Dark River to Antares, by Stefanie Maclin
• Heliopause, by Raul Garcia
• The Reform of the Calendar, by Maryann Corbett
• Orbit, by Jen D. Clark
• Chant, by Raul Garcia
• Total Lunar Eclipse, by Elissa Malcohn
• Dying Butterfly, by Ann K. Schwader
• The Crab Nebula, by Albert Melear
• Not in Our Stars, by Maryann Corbett
• Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, by Stephen Lefebure
• The Eighty-Eight, by Claire Webber
• A Conclusion after the International Year of Astronomy 2009, by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

I have now responded to all submissions received prior to April 9, 2010. If you have not heard from me, please feel free to query.

Astropoetica: Mapping the Stars through Poetry celebrates the International Year of Astronomy with the release of its fall issue, featuring:

• Duet for Leviathan and Glass, by Mary Alexandra Agner
• Constellations, by Jim Culleny
• Looking for the Comet Halley, by Barbara Crooker
• Beyond These Thin Apartment Walls, by Emily K. Bright
• Apparition, by Mary Alexandra Agner
• When the Seeing is Good, by Shelly Bryant
• Myth Of Aether, by Claudine R. Moreau
• Dissolution of the Moon, by Rae Pater
• River: 18, by Jeff Streeby
• Missing A Comet, by Meg Smith
• A Dark Matter, by Kath Abela Wilson
• A Letter to the Moon, by F.J. Bergmann
• Blue Hand, by G. O. Clark
• Haystack Observatory, by Meg Smith
• Mother of the Moon, by Dan Mitrut
• Tilt Your Satellite Dishes, by Claudine R. Moreau
• Observatory, by John Colvin
• Black Hole Theorem: ‘The Great Alexander’, by Dave Shortt
• Dumbbell Nebula, by Tree Riesener
• Astro-Memorial, by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

This issue is dedicated to the memory of Steliana Gheorghe, mother of longtime Astropoetica contributor Andrei Dorian Gheorghe. She was a dear friend of astropoetry and left us much too soon.

One of my poetry professors often urged us to enjoy a leisurely après-midi de poésie, to step away from our own manuscripts and read, read, read what our contemporaries were publishing. As a student, I found it easy to take this advice, to curl up in the library for hours with a stack of journals, to scribble down thoughts and impressions, to breathe it all in. Inspired, provoked, or bored, I found it all so instructive and rejuvenating.

Of course, now, with so many demands and a gravity-defying toddler in the mix, I find it harder and harder to carve out those quiet afternoons of poetry. Working on Astropoetica is still rewarding and exciting, but it is structured, subject-specific reading, and the process of accepting and rejecting can hardly be described as leisurely. Now more than I ever I find those stolen hours for pure pleasure reading more and more precious.

Most recently I have been delighting in Mary Alexander Agner’s new collection, The Doors of the Body (Mayapple Press, ISBN 978-0932412-799). I admit upfront I am more fangirl than reviewer, so forgive me if I gush. Agner is deft of craft and fierce in voice. In The Doors of the Body, she gives fangs and heat and agency to the women of myth and fairy tale. A few of the included poems can be sampled on online, such as “Wear the Lighting” in Goblin Fruit, and “Sleeping Beauty” in Strange Horizons. Such delicious work! Check it out!

I have had the great joy of publishing Agner’s work in previous issues of Astropoetica, and two of her poems will be appearing in our next. I hope she can be persuaded someday to release a chapbook of her science-based poetry, because it too is absolutely divine.

I enjoyed the AP story “No Strain for Andromeda: Galaxy Is Cosmic Cannibal” about M31’s savage treatment of dwarf galaxies unfortunate enough to cross its path. If you have access to Nature you can read the nitty gritty here; otherwise, I recommend a peek at the Pan-Andromeda Archaeological Survey’s images and a trip to Astropoetica’s archives to read Greg Beatty’s fabulous “One Man’s Cannibalism.“

Astropoetica: Mapping the Stars through Poetry is pleased to announce the launch of its summer issue, featuring:

• Under the Geography of Heaven, by Taylor Graham
• Gardening Space, by F.J. Bergman
• Astronomy in the Dark, by Taylor Graham
• The Names of Distant Stars, by Kendall Evans
• Birds and stars, by P.S. Cottier
• Constellation, by John Mirisola
• Moonsong, by Rae Pater
• The Surface of Venus, by Geoffrey A. Landis
• Force Fields IV, by F.J. Bergman
• Losing Weight, by Tim Jones
• Fireflies, by Geoffrey A. Landis
• Absolute Zero, by Neil Ellman
• Comet, by John Bennett
• The Strange Attractor, by S. A. Kelly
• The many lives of stars, by P.S. Cottier
• The Blue of Neptune, by Meg Smith
• The Arecibo Message, by Dave Shortt
• The Yap is Forbidden in the Heavens, by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
• The Moon, Again, by Mary Cresswell
• Magician on a Bed of Stars, by Dan Mitrut

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, Astropoetica invites you to enjoy these lunar gems from our past issues:

• July ‘69, by Tim Myers
• Inconstant, by J. C. Runolfson
• The Moon, by C. John Holcombe
• There Are No Imagists on the Moon, by Greg Beatty
• Apogee, by Jennifer G. Cuthbertson

More poems about the moon can be found in our archives.

In honor of Mother’s Day, I would like to share Greg Beatty’s poem HD179949 (for Mother’s Day) from Astropoetica’s Spring 2006 issue.

I love you, Mom.

Astropoetica now has a page on Facebook. Become a fan to receive updates on new issues, events, and submission windows.

I was happy to learn recently that Terrie Leigh Relf’s poem “There, where the universe begins” published in Astropoetica V. 6.2 has been nominated for the 2009 Rhysling Award.

Congratulations, Terrie, and good luck to you and all of your fellow nominees!