Summa Summarum

Eeeeee!

I know that's a childish expression of glee, and I know someone who hates when I do that (okay, it's Eric), but I can't help it! I'm just sooooo happy!

Two of my friends have had projects in the works for awhile now, and I've had to wait patiently to announce it. Today, I am able to make both announcements.

First of all, Yoav J. Tenembaum, a writer with whom you might be familiar through Magnapoets' blogs (he has been a member since its inception five years ago), has released a collection of poetry called Unwrap Me. This isn't Yoav's first book, but it is his first poetry collection. I'm sure it won't be his last. It's availablehere.

Second of all, Marie Lecrivain has begun a print publication. And get this, it pays! Marie is the editor and founder of Poetic Diversity, an LA-based lit mag. She also was Magnapoets' first short stories and essays editor for two years. Now she has begun Dashboard Horus: A Bird's Eye of the Universe!. Guidelines are here.

Best wishes to both on their new projects. 

Changing Times

Poetry blogs are like eyeliner on men - so 2004. So after five years of poetry blogging, Magnapoets blogs will be closing on March 5, 2010, and a new interactive form of poetry communication will take place.

We toyed with the idea of starting a Facebook page, or a twitter account, but let's face it: Facebook and Twitter are going the way of MySpace and belong to a different group of social networking. We're always looking for something fresh and innovative to keep poets inspired and communicating with their audiences, so we are going to begin a series of interactive, print supplements to our magazie, beginning with the next issue.

I've already sent out invitations to our first supplement, but the second one will be open to everyone. We'll make the announcement in issue 6 with all the details. The few with whom I've shared specifics  are pretty excited about the project and can hardly wait for it to begin. I'll give but one hint. It will be reminiscent of Magna-on-Magna Poet's Speak, which was our popular,  interactive 5-question interview between poets, but with a twist. :) And that's all I'll say for now.

Please remember that our next submmission period doesn't start til May 1-31, 2010. We're all pretty busy with work, family, friends, and our own writing projects, and it can be pretty time consuming to weed through submissions to send a reminder that we're not reading yet. I know there are lots of poetry journals out there and it can be hard to keep everyone's guidelines straight, but they're plainly on our site, and following them makes things easier for everyone.

Until our next update, I wish you lots of good poetry.