PrazeitPoetry

Favorite Poems from October Shine!

Bill Trudo's poems in the October issue of Shine! magazine immediately caught my eye because my husband was busy watching the Ohio State football game. More importantly, he kept me reading because of the musicality inherent in his poems. The words fall off your tongue while reading them and he paints an image that places you immediately in the context of the poem. Along the Ohio catches a flood of imagery both of the natural world and of the city. Daybreak places you at dawn. Adrian S. Potter's poem Tell Me Lies in a Dead Language is rich with the emotion of a troubled romance and cultural norms where abuse is made okay. Joanne Faries has a fun visual poetry piece about a roller coaster ride that paints the picture in words and imagery and action. Many other quality pieces of writing I left unmentioned.

Kaleidotrope No. 3 had more iron, curious?

Yes, this issue has more technology and androids, very interesting. Really fun is Marc Schuster's comic strip titled Eyes, think new ones and what they'll do to you. Eric Stever's story "The Tailings of Men" is touching, it starts with a narrator following a creepy but sad, metal man. The theme reflects on the horrors of having to face change. "Best Friends Forever" has a good, unexpected twist that recalls the humor of the first issue of the magazine.  "Terraformers" also has an interesting end that is twisted. I also liked LaShawn M. Wanak's piece titled "Click" featuring a different sort of television. There's also some strong poems--"The Moth Explains" by Rachel Swirsky is a favorite and I liked seeingMark Rich's work for the first time. Betty Ragan has a nice article about Dr. Who and a neat inset about how to become a fan. The Horoscopes were still funny once more. A neat issue.

Writer Magazine contains useful articles and good information.

Writer Magazine contains useful articles and good information.

Review of: Writer - Wi, Magazines

By: Sheri F. on Judy's Book

Rating: 4 stars

Read review on Judy's Book.

Writer Magazine contains useful articles and good information on markets or in the case of the Nov 2006 issue, on MFA programs. Each issues has regular columns plus feature articles on mystery, memoir, journal writing. One especially useful article was on what 5 top editors found was "hot" -- mystery, romance and science fiction being tops, especially with a really strong female protagonist. Part of what they were looking for was "voice", the way the story being told could be leveraged. A couple of the how to articles had good advice 1) about cutting unrelated narrative, the verb gave, anything that beat the reader over the head, and convoluted construction -- i.e. multiple flashbacks. Another good article was about harvesting the power of metaphor. A good book review of Writing Spirit by Lynn Andrews made me want to purchase a copy. Definitely a magazine to check often.

Byline Magazine is especially helpful for writers early in their career

Byline Magazine is especially helpful for writers early in their career

Review of: Byline, Magazines

By: Sheri F. on Judy's Book

Rating: 5 stars

Read review on Judy's Book.

Byline Magazine is especially helpful for writers early in their careers. They have regular columns on market listings friendly to new writers, a regular schedule of contests that helps you focus on writing to deadlines, articles about bookstores, first publications, and a poetry page. Many of their how-to articles really cut to the chase when explaining synopsis, or how to write haiku. I've read it for a number of years and keep renewing my subscription.

Poets and Writers Magazine has helpful articles and good market listings

Poets and Writers Magazine has helpful articles and good market listings

Review of: Poets & Writers Magazine, Magazines

By: Sheri F. on Judy's Book

Rating: 5 stars

Read review on Judy's Book.

Poets and Writers Magazine has many good articles about new comers that make it in writing and know many of the obstacles to getting published. The front cover photo is often delightful -- you can almost wonder what you'd look like. It has many market listings, contests calls and results and a lot of coverage about MFA and MA programs. They have a website that shares much of the information see www.pw.org. They also have a database of authors and their publications.
I enjoy reading it every time it shows up in my mailbox -- every other month.