Sunday, June 8, 2008

Chimaeric News

We're very proud of Angela France, Poetry Editor of our parent zine The Shit Creek Review, who has had an eventful few weeks. She has been appointed to the editorial board of the excellent U.K. poetry magazine iota along with SCR contributor Sonia Hendy-Isaac. The editorial team at iota will be headed by Nigel McLoughlin, who is another contributor to SCR ( here and here) as well as to The Chimaera. Congratulations, Angela, Sonia and Nigel!

Poetry submissions to iota poetry may be made here: http://iotapoetry.co.uk/submissions.htm

iota poetry journal is currently recruiting reviewers. Please send two sample copies of your review writing along with CV to Kate North, Reviews Editor, at: knorth@glos.ac.uk

But there's more! Angela and Sonia have had their poetry collections chosen from over 300 manuscripts submitted to the Bristol-based publishing house, Bluechrome. Angela's collection is provisionally titled Occupation, and Sonia's Flesh.

Anthony Delgrado, director of the press, commented: "Angela France’s work has a real depth of craft, and a lyrical quality to the language... Sonia Hendy-Isaac has a really saleable quality which feeds off the performance tradition but combines it with the literary tradition.”

Angela and Sonia will join a strong list of writers such as Catherine Smith, Matthew Francis, D.M. Thomas, Susan Wicks and James Kirkup, who have all recently signed up with the Bluechrome Press.

More congratulations, Angela and Sonia!


Resident artist Pat Jones, who does such fantastic work in selecting and crafting fresh, lively art to complement the poems published in SCR and The Chimaera, and who has been the soul and guiding light for SCR since its strange inception, has been honoured with a feature on her in the current Avatar Review . Go there and treat yourself to some stunning art, as well as to Pat's enlightening reflections on the artistic process.



Sally Cook, whose work is in the current Masks issue of SCR, has a poem "The Face of Morning" in the June/July
issue of First Things. Her "Advice On The Groundhog" appears in both the online and hard copy version of the recently published Poems For Big Kids. Her poem "A Passion For Fashion", which tied for third place, Limerick Award in Alfred Dorn's recent World Order Of Narrative And Formalist Poets Contest, is to be published in Light Quarterly. Two other of her poems have been accepted by The New Formalist.



Don't miss out on the Spotlight Feature on Alison Brackenbury in The May Chimaera. There's reviews, interviews, and new poems from Alison.



If you are a contributor to SCR or TC we will publish your poetry news here from time to time. Send news items to the editor([at]shitcreekreview.com . We assert our absolute right to decide what we will or will not publish, and particularly wish to avoid material which is political (rather than cultural) in nature. Sometimes we will include news of contributors' publications in other ezines and magazines, but this will be entirely at our discretion. Readers of the SCR and TC Blogs may also leave comments on the Blog sites, though these will be moderated.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

The Chimaera and Belonging

Part serpent, part goat, part lioness — the fabulous beast must roam unknown lands, always searching for its like...



The Chimaera has wandered far and brings to you now its 'Belonging' themed issue, exploring notions of both belonging and alienation through a variety of texts: poems, stories and articles that engage with the topic from a variety of perspectives.

As well there is a spotlight feature on English poet Alison Brackenbury, including nine of her new poems, an interview, and a review of her new book Singing in the Dark.

The Chimaera's lair is well-stocked with poetry, reviews and fiction for your enjoyment. Just be careful The Gryphon doesn't see you there!



After you've roamed hither, thither and yon with The Chimaera, leap into a barbed-wire canoe and start paddling upstream to The Shit Creek Review issue #7. The theme is 'Masks', the poetry is hot, the art is enough to make you lose your paddle!



('Sun-Paddle' art by Mark Bulwinkle)