Submit for A Chance to Participate in the Blackwater International Poetry Festival

Looks like the Fermoy International Poetry Festival got a new name. Thanks to Gene Barry for the information.


BLACKWATER INTERNATIONAL POETRY FESTIVAL
The friendliest poetry festival in the world

Ireland’s friendliest poetry festival, the world famous Blackwater International Poetry Festival 2016 will run from Thursday July 28th to Monday August 1st. Readings and workshops will take place in Glanworth, Mitchelstown, Castletownroche, Donneraile and Fermoy. Submissions for the festival anthology The Blue Max Review are open from Wednesday February 10th to Wednesday March 9th and we proud to announce that the 2016 judge is the superb Dutch poet Tsead Bruinja. The winner will be flown to Ireland for the duration of the festival and their accommodation will be taken care of. The winning poem will be included in The Blue Max Review and the winner will have an official reading at the festival. The winning poet will additionally join the Festival Poetry Trail and will also tour with the other poets on the Festival Poetry Bus.

Submissions please to blackwaterpoetry@gmail.com

• Poems submitted must be in English
• Poems submitted must be the work of the person submitting
• Maximum of three poems per submission
• Poets may submit once only
• Poems submitted must be unpublished
• Maximum of 50 lines per poem
• Poems must be sent as individual attachments on A4 sheets
• Poems must be in a Word Doc
• Submission costs are €15 for three poems
• Payment by PayPal via ‘Competitions’ on the festival website
• Poems submitted after March 9th will not be considered
• The judge’s decision is final
• The winner will be announced on the festival website and Facebook page April 3rd

“The festival was dreamed up by Gene Barry, an unstoppable poetry force.... All the events were free, including workshops by the likes of Matthew Sweeney. There were readings from mid-afternoon onwards into the small hours of the morning. The theme of the festival was ‘Inclusion’ and I thought Gene carried this off beautifully – there was an anthology launch from school children.”

Kim Moore England 2012 winner

“What I appreciated most what the sense of community, I had shopkeepers and customers in line at the post office asking about my poetry and people we'd only met days earlier greeted us on the street with hugs and smiles.
I know from my experience as an arts administrator that the economic impact of such events reaches far beyond the scheduled dates."

Professor Erin Murphy USA 2013 winner

“Here poetry and town became one, not that everything came to a stop but not that it needed to either. We were busy with words, others were busy with appointments; the victory came in the mingling, the co-existence, the mutual respect. Nothing else mattered but bonhomie and honest words. In this, the readings in the town’s shops were no less a way of life than on any other day.”

Prof Daniel Roy Connelly Italy 2014 winner

“I was fortunate to win the Blackwater International Poetry Festival competition this year (2015) and attended the four days of the festival as a guest. It was the most marvellous experience from every point of view. To be immersed in an environment where poetry is the one focus and to share that experience with poets from around the world is an uplifting and quite spiritual event.”
 
Patrick Lodge Wales 2015 winner

www.blackwaterpoetryfestival.com

Counting Last Year's Blessings, Part Two

One of the reasons I started Stone's Throw is that I really wanted to be in print again.  Maybe it was the thrill of having my book Patron Emeritus out in 2013 and I just wanted more.  I got more.  A lot more.  It was great.

Blue Max Review was out during the summer and in my hands by year's end, all the way from Ireland.I thank Gene Barry and everyone else involved for whatever their part was in choosing to publish a poem that was a little on the crazier side of what I usually write.  In fact I don't know if I've ever read "A Man Explains Why He Set Off  Fireworks The Night Before Easter" more than once, if that.  I will try to recite it at an open mic or during a feature at some point in the new year, so you can stop wondering what the poem is about.

Mo' Joe: The Joe the Poet Anthology was a fantastic opportunity to follow what I call a poetic meme of Joe the Poet poems.  Click here for that story.  I was so happy to not only have two pieces included but also incorporate a tiny bit of local history.  First with "Joe the Poet and Billy Barnum," which touches on the legendary performer who late last year moved to New Hampshire, and "Joe the Poet at Occupy Wall Street," which borrows a line from friend and poet Blaine Hebbel.  My only regret is that I never organized a release party at Stone Soup Poetry with John Roche and others.  This was partly because I was uncertain of whether there was going to be a Stone Soup Poetry in a large enough venue by the year's end.  Now that the location problem has been resolved, I would love to set something up to get this in as many hands as possible.

 
I've been trying to get into Off The Coast for years, ever since I heard that it was being taken over by former Cantab slam master Michael Brown and Valerie Lawson.  Normally I send multiple submissions to journals, including Off the Coast.  This time, I sent a single poem, "How to Write to Your Straw Man," and it was accepted.  That so rarely happens, and I'm glad it happened with this poem.  A print copy is available via their site, and you can read my poem as an excerpt by clicking here.

Multiverse blended the best of two of my worlds, poetry and comics.  It was also an opportunity to be in a book by Write Bloody Publishing, which is a thrill.  I owe a lot to editors Rob Sturma and Ryk McIntyre for including my poem "Ditko's Day" in the book.  I haven't gotten a copy of it yet because I haven't been able to make it to any of the release party readings.  My one solution is to make one at Stone Soup, which I wasn't able to do for the reasons stated above.  2015 is going to be a busy year with making up for 2014.