Much thanks to the City of Ottawa for the award of a grant as part of the Creation and Production Fund for Emerging Writers so that I can work on Grace, a poetry manuscript that explores a middle-aged woman's interaction with the city, young men, long life & gin.
If you'd like to support this blog, you can donate via https://www.paypal.me/AmandaEarl
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Monday, June 20, 2016
why create a close reading service for new women poets?
AngelHousePress: Announcing A Close Reading Service for New Women Poets
WHAT: I will read five pages of your free verse or prose poetry, offer editing suggestions and possibly suggest poetry to read;
WHO: new poets, not yet published with a press (chapbook or spine), who identify as women; must be avid readers of contemporary poetry;
HOW: send poetry to amanda@angelhousepress.com; name a contemporary influence (poet, work of poetry);
WHEN: anytime; work read on a first come first served basis, one poet per month;
WHERE: wordwide;
WHY: lack of chapbook submission by women; an attempt to encourage and mentor;
COST: free.
FURTHER INFO: AngelHousePress.com
The
creation of this service may come as a surprise for anyone who follows me on
social media or knows me personally. I despise stereotyping & prejudice of
all forms. I have always seen the act of publishing based on gender as a form
of prejudice, regardless of which gender. But I have also always believed in
welcoming voices that are little heard in the mainstream. So those two ideals
have been in conflict for me & I’ve struggled with them. Recently though, the
evidence of a lack of women writers’ voices has hit home & I’d like to try,
in my own small way, to do something about it.
Since starting
AngelHousePress in 2007, our mission has always been to create a space for
outsiders, those not published or published rarely in mainstream publications,
who don’t win awards or get invited to be part of official verse culture. To
offer a space where writers dared, a place where they could be free to try out
oddball stuff, to risk. I believe creating an outsider space for rebellion
against convention is what small presses are for.
I put
out an open call last year for long poem/poem series manuscripts. I received 30
queries/manuscripts & only three were from women. I also put out calls for
NationalPoetryMonth.ca & for our essay series. I received a lot of work
from men, but almost nothing from women. I had to send out individual requests
to get women to send me stuff for NPM & for the chapbook series, even after
sending out requests to women whose work I admire, but who aren’t
well-published in the mainstream, I still didn’t get chapbook submissions.
When I
asked some women why they didn’t submit chapbook manuscripts, I was given a
variety of reasons, such as wanting to reserve the publication for spines,
being too busy with work, children, etc, but the one that particularly stood
out for me is that some women didn’t think their work was ready for
publication.
I’m
concerned about the lack of submissions from women. & I am fully aware that
this is a problem for larger spiny presses as well. If a reason that women aren’t
sending work out is because they need to receive more feedback, more
encouragement, more mentoring, then perhaps I can help with that. I’ve been running
Bywords.ca for more than a decade. It’s given numerous poets a chance to have
their work published for the first time. I’ve been running AngelHousePress
since 2007 & am always on the lookout for art & literature from voices
all over the world.
Now, given
the lack of women writers sending us work, I’ve decided to make that a
priority, so I’ve started this
close reading service for new women poets.
Not
because I’m some kind of authority on poetry, but because I also hear that
little voice inside too, the one that says my work won’t be good enough, that I
have no business putting it out there. I see women in ball gowns & men in
tuxedos live streamed at literary award galas or receive invitations to pay
money to hear polite talks in fancy hotels by well-published poets. I don’t belong in that world. AngelHouse,
& its transgressive prose imprint Devilhouse, is for people who don’t
belong. So I’m reaching out to women who also feel like outsiders, who feel that
their work has no place in the world & I’m telling you that it does. I’m going
to find ways to support you & to mentor you. The reading service is one
way.
I’m
hoping that I’ll discover some new voices & that AngelHousePress will be
able to share those voices with kindreds by means of our chapbooks, our online
magazines & our essay series.
After
a day, I’ve received only one query so far. It is possible that no one will send
anything, I suppose. But I hope the service resonates for some out there.
Thanks
to all who have retweeted the announcement. Please continue to do so. If this
is of interest to you & you fit the criteria, please send me your work. If
you don’t fit the criteria, please share the announcement.
Saturday, June 11, 2016
All Hail Queen Christina

The chapbook has been published as part of Ghost City Press's summer microchapbook series. Thanks to Kevin Bertolero for publishing my work.
You can download the chapbook here, along with others. You can either take the work for free or pay any amount you'd like. All proceeds go to the authors.
I read some of these poems last September during a reading with Daniel Allen Cox, Marcus McCann, Billeh Nickerson at Venus Envy in celebration of my husband's birthday. It was a great party. I hope this chapbook is a great party for you! With Pride coming up soon, let's take the opportunity to celebrate those who, despite the merciless fucking treatment by this wretchedly conventional society, continue to push boundaries and make this a world worth living in.
& a postscript: my heart goes out to those who have been brutally murdered and wounded in Orlando, to their families, friends & the entire LGBTQ+ community.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)