poetry

Fake News | Poetry Prompt

Tamara Woods 1 Comment

I thought at first about using “Alternative Facts” but I feel like “Fake News” could lead to some much more interesting thoughts and comments.

Go there. Where? Wherever your mind takes you when you hear these words. These prompts are about what you’re feeling, what you’re seeing. What’s going on in your world. This is the most remarkable presidency in our lifetime regardless of where you sit on the political line. Write something real. Don’t be afraid.

This is your opportunity to write something real. Be bold and unapologetic. And it will have the opportunity to be published as a statement about the first at President Trump’s first year. This will lean neither for nor against it. Each month I will offer you a different prompt for this activity.You can interpret any way you would like. But the roots of your poem should be with the 45th President of the United States.

For this first prompt, let’s talk about fake news.

A portion of the proceeds will be dedicated to a charity of our choice. The rest will go to the upkeep of this website. Some changes are coming in the future of The Reverie Journal, but we need money to make it happen.

Write your poem about fake news. Let us know if you’d like to submit for possible publication and let’s see what we can create.

Add your link in the comments section, or if you don’t want to add it to the comments, send it to me via email at thereveriejournal@gmail.com.

Looking for a few good poets | Let’s Talk About

Tamara Woods Leave a comment

ATTENTION:

Poets, who would like to be a part of a discussion about this election for the podcast. This will work best if your poetry as some sort of political lean. If you know someone who would be perfect, send them my way. We’ve got some work to do and some interesting conversations to hold.

Contact me via email: thereveriejournal@gmail.com Subject: poet project

Older Queer Voices: The Intimacy of Survival | Submission Opportunity

Tamara Woods Leave a comment

Older Queer Voices: The Intimacy of Survival—A call for submissions in response to the harder times that have come back around.
Do you remember surreptitiously flipping through your library’s card catalog to search out who you were and finding only references to “the male homosexual” or “sexuality, aberrant” and no listings at all for gender? Did you strain to hear when your parents lowered their voices to talk about “those” women who lived together in a house at the end of the block? Do you remember the closet? Do remember the Johns Committee? How about the Reagan era when access to women’s, to all people’s, healthcare was curtailed, people with disabilities lost access to key services, and the AIDS crisis emerged?

Those of us who survived these years can help recreate the edifices of care and activism that we once constructed for ourselves and then perhaps abandoned because they were no longer needed. It’s time to reach back and get them. Our experience, the successes we had, the mistakes we made, the voices of those who were left out, and the ways we thrived can be added to the already formidable power of younger generations of queer folk as we gather together in resistance.

Co-editors Sarah Einstein and Sandra Gail Lambert are looking for creative nonfiction and poetry for an online anthology to launch shortly after President Trump is sworn into office. Tell us your stories of not only what you survived, but especially the particular mechanisms of how you found your “people” and the ways you supported and celebrated each other.

Submission Details:
Older Queer Voices: The Intimacy of Survival
Co-edited by Sarah Einstein and Sandra Gail Lambert
An online anthology scheduled for release in early spring.
Creative nonfiction and poetry. No upper or lower word limits. Previously published pieces accepted but the author must own the rights

Deadline: As soon as possible. January 10th at the latest.
Possible AWP reading.
Submit to: olderqueervoices@gmail.com

Cycles in life | Poetry Prompt

Tamara Woods 5 Comments

This week at The Reverie Journal, I’m carrying over a poetry prompt that I wrote for Poets on the Page. I was thinking about cicadas and how much they are annoying and terrible. But also, the little amount of time they have actually above ground and living. Already their siren song that sounds like the soundtrack of a slasher film has died down around here. They rise out of the ground in droves to mate and then are gone for 17 years. Only living for four to six weeks.

Let’s write a poem about something that has a cycle. Which cycle and how often is entirely up to you. Use your creativity and let your imagination run wild.

Remember, we’re potentially looking at these poems submitted for the anthology. What is this, you ask? Learn more about it here. Be sure to backlink your posts or share your link in the comments below.

 

 

Orlando Tragedy | Poetry Prompt

Tamara Woods 11 Comments

LGBT_flag_02

Whenever there’s a mass shooting in the United States, I always want to write something about it. To give words to the emotions choking my throat. I never know what to say. I never know if it’s appropriate, or if my words are even necessary. So I stay silent.

Today, I want to give myself permission to write something about the Orlando tragedy and I want to extend that permission to you poets as well. One of the beauty of the written word is that we have the power to do with it what we will. We can comment on the beautiful as well as the ugly. I feel like today is the time to comment on the ugly.

There’s no specifics that you have to meet. Your politics do not have to meet mine. There are no expectations here. Just write.

Remember, we’re potentially looking at these poems submitted for the anthology. What is this, you ask? Learn more about it here. Be sure to backlink your posts or share your link in the comments below.

 

Hunger Mountain| Publishing Opportunity

Tamara Woods 3 Comments

We at The Reverie Journal are trying to create a community where we help each other. Each week, we give you a prompt for writing, we try to highlight one of you (if you’d like to be in the spotlight on Wednesday learn more here) and on Thursdays we post a publishing opportunity. Of course, we’d like for you to publish with us, but as poets we realize that publishing can be a tough part of this journey. We try to help with the burden.

In this week’s publishing opportunity we have Hunger Mountain, which is out of the Vermont College of Fine Arts. They accept  high quality work from unknown, emerging or successful poets. No genre fiction, drama, or academic articles.

Our mission is to cultivate engagement with and conversation about the arts by publishing high-quality, innovative literary and visual art by both established and emerging artists, and by offering opportunities for interactivity and discourse.

Submit using online submission manager.

Managing Editor: Samantha Kolber

Email: hungerman@vcfa.edu

Please go to their website for more information.

Weathering the Storm | Poetry Prompt

Tamara Woods 5 Comments

Remember when Howard Beale implored people to stick the head out of the window and yell, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” in the classic Network? The thunder rolling in the backdrop as voices were heard calling out their anger all over the country, punctuated the sound sharp cries of their distress. Without that rain and the thunder, the scene wouldn’t have had as much impact.

It wouldn’t have had as much impact without that rainy weather. In Alanis Morisette’s song, “Ironic” she mentioned rain on your wedding, which for some brides would be an absolute disaster. Others, may be tempted to kick off their heels and dance in the storm.

You’ve definitely seen the weather impact life events in your life as well. On a winter’s night when you’re curled on the couch with a cup of cocoa, the snow falling outside makes it all feel that much more cozy.

Let’s write a poem about weather impacting an occasion and making the moment that much stronger. Whether it’s more intimate, more secure, just more. Remember, we’re potentially looking at these poems submitted for the anthology. What is this, you ask? Learn more about it here. Be sure to backlink your posts or share your link in the comments below.