break. blog. burn.

Astropoetica 9.2: Summer, 2011

July 18th, 2011

Astropoetica 9.2: Summer, 2011Astropoetica is pleased to announce the launch of its summer issue, featuring:

Astropoetica gets a facelift

July 10th, 2011

…or rather, should we say, she’s looking fresher after her little vacation? Proofs are out for the summer issue. Watch this space.

Astropoetica 9.1: Winter 2011

February 17th, 2011

Astropoetica 9.1: Winter 2011Astropoetica: Mapping the Stars through Poetry is pleased to announce the launch of its winter issue, featuring:

Progress!

February 6th, 2011

Proofs for the next issue have been sent! I will not tempt fate any further than to say that I hope to share this issue’s delicious verse with our readers soon.

Astropoetica Fall Update

November 20th, 2010

Yes, we’re still here, and the next issue is nearly complete – hurrah! I’m still waiting to clear a few last details, but I should be sending out proofs shortly.

Current submitters should know that I do have a bit of a submissions backlog that I am working to cut down to size. I’m pulling some strings, so hopefully I’ll be caught up after the holiday weekend.

Thanks for everyone’s patience and understanding. I’m truly grateful.

Astropoetica 8.1: Spring 2010

April 26th, 2010

Astropoetica 8.1: Spring 10Astropoetica: Mapping the Stars through Poetry celebrates Global Astronomy Month with the launch of its spring issue, featuring:

Submissions Update

April 26th, 2010

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 7.3: Fall 2009

December 4th, 2009

Astropoetica 7.3: Fall 2009Astropoetica: Mapping the Stars through Poetry celebrates the International Year of Astronomy with the release of its fall issue, featuring:

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.

The Doors of the Body

October 20th, 2009

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.

One Man’s Cannibalism

September 11th, 2009

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.