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

• As Others See Us, by Jared Carter
• Galileo Flies at Midnight, by Mary A. Turzillo
• Libration, by Christine Klocek-Lim
• Cosmologies, by Patrick Kanouse
• Emergent Property, by Howard V. Hendrix
• Violent collision of stellar winds detected, by Christine Klocek-Lim
• Hevelius, by Judith Skillman
• Saving the Appearances, by Maryann Corbett
• Separation, by Maryann Corbett
• The Astronomer, by Judith Skillman
• The Crab, by John Blakeslee
• The Grand Design, by Danny Adams
• Leonids, NM 14, by Gwen Wille
• Upon Attending the Unveiling of Galaxy Messier 101, by Jennifer Clark
• Observable Universe, by Audrey Walls
• The Golden Fleece II after Susan Mitchell, by Barbara Regenspan
• Warring Constellations, by Carmen Eichman
• CDM, by Kayleigh Ayn Bohémier
• A Day in the Life of the Universe, I, by Teegan Dykeman-Brown
• I Still Have the Sky, by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe

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

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

• Invocation, by Aratus, translated by Aaron Poochigian
• What Newton Knew, by Katie Fesuk
• The Physics Major Agrees to Take the English Major Star Gazing, by Andrew Rihn
• Bringing to Light, by Andrew Rihn
• Saturn at First Sight, by O.J. Cade
• Alexander von Humboldt Visits the Moon, by Sharon Mock
• Circadian, by Katie Fesuk
• The Diary of the Sun, by Trevor Price
• Rebel Angels, by Pat Tompkins
• A Hail of Pebbles and Dust, by Bogi Takács
• Search, by Geoffrey A. Landis
• Relativity Theory, by Kim Goldberg
• Water on the Moon, by Ray Sharp
• Bailly, by Robert Borski
• The Reverend’s Fantasy, by Mark Blaeuer
• Different Stars, Different Sky, by Aalix Roake
• Earthrise, Viewed from Meridiani, Sol 687, by Geoffrey A. Landis
• Starstruck, by John Philip Johnson
• Saturn’s moon may have hidden seas, by Christine Klocek-Lim
• Spirit at Troy, by Mary A. Turzillo
• Phobos, Deimos, by Robert Borski
• The Lives of The Stars, by Meg Smith
• The Anonymous Stars, by Aratus, translated by Aaron Poochigian
• Virgo, by Aratus, translated by Aaron Poochigian
• Strategic Place, by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
• Progress, by Rae Spencer

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.

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: 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.“