I promised myself I would not ignore this spring, the surprises and certainties. That I would work less and live more. I’ve not done so well on keeping this promise. Old habits die hard.
And winter had been so cold, dark, lengthy. 
Pleased to have a poem forthcoming in CAGIBI Literary Journal
Publications, Updated
Publications, Laura Lee
Some of my poems, short stories, and nonfiction articles are included online and in print books and magazines published in the UK, Greece, India, New Zealand, and the United States. Many thanks to the staff at these publications.
“The Professor and the Gravel,” a poem, at Wingless Dreamer.
“Not Sleep,” a poem, in Cagibi: A Literary Space, forthcoming in April 2019 at Cagibi a Literary Space.
“Saltwater Faces,” an ekphrastic poem inspired by paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago, High Shelf Press, 2018, https://www.highshelfpress.com/saltwaterfaces.
“Click,” “The Night is our First Language,” and “They Left the Bed,” poetry published in The Poetic Bond VIII print issue, December 2018. Available at Poetic Bond VIII.
“Moving Gravel” a short story at Crack the Spine – Themed Anthology Submissions, “Routine”, print edition, 2018. Available at Crack the Spine Anthology.
“Walk with Child” at https://www.snapdragonjournal.com/ September 2018 Issue, “Here and Gone.” http://pub.lucidpress.com/9b90935e-82ec-4edd-a09e-725a9cf574b8/#Vu72fBijlewR
Coffin Bell Journal,2018, “Herstory,” October 2018. https://coffinbell.com/herstory-lesson/
Spillwords Press, “Stopped,” 2018, http://spillwords.com/stopped/.
Tuck Magazine, June 2018, “Teach to Kill” http://tuckmagazine.com/2018/06/06/poetry-1528/.
Tuck Magazine, May 2018, “Refuge,” http://tuckmagazine.com/2018/05/29/poetry-1511/.
Southernmost Point Guest House (UK), poetry.
Journal of Modern Poetry 21 (Volume 21), “Hell, No,” a poem at JOMP Volume 21 Dear Mr. President.
Journal of Modern Poetry 20 (Volume 20), “Moonlit Awakening,” JOMP Volume 20 Poetry Writer’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Journal of Modern Poetry 18 (Volume 18), The Official Poets Guide to Peace, two poems: “Open” and “After Poetry Class.” 2015. Purchase here.
Journal of Modern Poetry 17 (Volume 17), JOMP Volume 17.
Cram Volume 12: “White Board Clown,” 2011. Chicago Poetry Press 2011.
Magazine (New Zealand) , Raewyn Alexander, Publisher, nonfiction and poetry. Raewyn Alexander NZ.
Fiction in: http://staxtes.com/2003/ “Between the Sunlight and the Skipping” in English Wednesdays
Poetry in: https://poetsagainstthewar.org/ archives.
Illinois English Bulletin, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English, nonfiction article about teaching in an alternative education program.
Poetry in Marginalia, Elmhurst, IL.
Ploughshares Accepting Submissions until January 15th
From their site: “We accept submissions to the journal from June 1, to January 15, at noon EST. We greatly prefer online submissions—some submission categories require it. Please see the following pages for full submission guidelines:”
Look here: https://www.pshares.org/submit
Publications, Updated
Publications, Laura Lee
Some of my poems, short stories, and nonfiction articles are included online and in print books and magazines published in the UK, Greece, India, New Zealand, and the United States. Many thanks to the staff at these publications.
“The Professor and the Gravel,” a poem, at Wingless Dreamer.
“Not Sleep,” a poem, in Cagibi: A Literary Space, forthcoming in April 2019 at Cagibi a Literary Space.
“Saltwater Faces,” an ekphrastic poem inspired by paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago, High Shelf Press, 2018, https://www.highshelfpress.com/saltwaterfaces.
“Click,” “The Night is our First Language,” and “They Left the Bed,” poetry published in The Poetic Bond VIII print issue, December 2018. Available at Poetic Bond VIII.
“Moving Gravel” a short story at Crack the Spine – Themed Anthology Submissions, “Routine”, print edition, 2018. Available at Crack the Spine Anthology.
“Walk with Child” at https://www.snapdragonjournal.com/ September 2018 Issue, “Here and Gone.” http://pub.lucidpress.com/9b90935e-82ec-4edd-a09e-725a9cf574b8/#Vu72fBijlewR
Coffin Bell Journal,2018, “Herstory,” October 2018. https://coffinbell.com/herstory-lesson/
Spillwords Press, “Stopped,” 2018, http://spillwords.com/stopped/.
Tuck Magazine, June 2018, “Teach to Kill” http://tuckmagazine.com/2018/06/06/poetry-1528/.
Tuck Magazine, May 2018, “Refuge,” http://tuckmagazine.com/2018/05/29/poetry-1511/.
Southernmost Point Guest House (UK), poetry.
Journal of Modern Poetry 21 (Volume 21), “Hell, No,” a poem at JOMP Volume 21 Dear Mr. President.
Journal of Modern Poetry 20 (Volume 20), “Moonlit Awakening,” JOMP Volume 20 Poetry Writer’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Journal of Modern Poetry 18 (Volume 18), The Official Poets Guide to Peace, two poems: “Open” and “After Poetry Class.” 2015. Purchase here.
Journal of Modern Poetry 17 (Volume 17), JOMP Volume 17.
Cram Volume 12: “White Board Clown,” 2011. Chicago Poetry Press 2011.
Magazine (New Zealand) , Raewyn Alexander, Publisher, nonfiction and poetry. Raewyn Alexander NZ.
Fiction in: http://staxtes.com/2003/ “Between the Sunlight and the Skipping” in English Wednesdays
Poetry in: https://poetsagainstthewar.org/ archives.
Illinois English Bulletin, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English, nonfiction article about teaching in an alternative education program.
Poetry in Marginalia, Elmhurst, IL.
Crazyhorse Prizes Open for Submissions Until January 31st
I have long heard about Crazyhorse literary journal, and have now submitted a short story to its annual fiction contest. Crazyhorse is a literary journal with a 50-plus year history of publishing fine poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Reading about its journey over the years to its present home at College of Charleston is interesting; this journal is a survivor.Crazyhorse notes:
“From January 1st to January 31st, submit short stories and essays of up to 25 pages or a set of 1-3 poems. Winners in each genre will receive $2,000 and publication.”
Follow this link to learn more about the contests they sponsor and to submit:http://crazyhorse.cofc.edu/prizes/. Crazyhorse uses Submittable, making submissions easy and fast.
I just did.
Phone Poems
OLD DEAD PHONES
Measure my adult years
In dead phones
Alive with memories of others who spoke with me:
Gone, lost, left, dead.
All Ioved once.
Flip phone last used
To speak to Mother
Hearing her last
Sense to go
Publications, Updated
Publications, Laura Lee
Some of my poems, short stories, and nonfiction articles are included online and in print books and magazines published in the UK, Greece, New Zealand, and the United States. Many thanks to the staff at these publications.
“Not Sleep,” a poem, in Cagibi: A Literary Space, April 2019. https://cagibilit.com/
“Saltwater Faces,” an ekphrastic poem inspired by paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago, High Shelf Press, 2018, https://www.highshelfpress.com/saltwaterfaces.
“Click,” “The Night is our First Language,” and “They Left the Bed,” poetry published in The Poetic Bond VIII print issue, December 2018. Available from Amazon and fine bookstores.
“Moving Gravel” a short story at Crack the Spine – Themed Anthology Submissions, “Routine”, print edition, 2018. Available from Amazon and fine bookstores.
“Walk with Child” at https://www.snapdragonjournal.com/ September 2018 Issue, “Here and Gone.” http://pub.lucidpress.com/9b90935e-82ec-4edd-a09e-725a9cf574b8/#Vu72fBijlewR
Coffin Bell Journal,2018, “Herstory,” October 2018. https://coffinbell.com/herstory-lesson/
Spillwords Press, “Stopped,” 2018, http://spillwords.com/stopped/.
Tuck Magazine, June 2018, “Teach to Kill” http://tuckmagazine.com/2018/06/06/poetry-1528/.
Tuck Magazine, May 2018, “Refuge,” http://tuckmagazine.com/2018/05/29/poetry-1511/.
Southernmost Point Guest House (UK), poetry.
Journal of Modern Poetry 21 (Volume 21), “Hell, No,” a poem at JOMP Volume 21 Dear Mr. President.
Journal of Modern Poetry 20 (Volume 20), “Moonlit Awakening,” JOMP Volume 20 Poetry Writer’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Journal of Modern Poetry 18 (Volume 18), The Official Poets Guide to Peace, two poems: “Open” and “After Poetry Class.” 2015. Purchase here.
Journal of Modern Poetry 17 (Volume 17), JOMP Volume 17.
Cram Volume 12: “White Board Clown,” 2011. Chicago Poetry Press 2011.
Magazine (New Zealand) , Raewyn Alexander, Publisher, nonfiction and poetry. Raewyn Alexander NZ.
Fiction in: http://staxtes.com/2003/ “Between the Sunlight and the Skipping” in English Wednesdays
Poetry in: https://poetsagainstthewar.org/ archives.
Illinois English Bulletin, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English, nonfiction article about teaching in an alternative education program.
Poetry in Marginalia, Elmhurst, IL
And it’s live… debut issue of High Shelf
And it’s live. Pleased to have a poem in the debut issue here: https://www.highshelfpress.com/copy-of-poem-template-13
After a Week of Rejections–“Saltwater Faces” to be Published by High Shelf Press
It’s been a week of rejections, including one I waited SIX MONTHS for, at the journal of my dreams. That one stung, and I know I need to improve, rewrite, revise, and rework my poetry if I am to ever publish there. And then…after four rejections, an acceptance of a poem I had a lot of fun writing.
The background: I took a short class at the Art Institute of Chicago this autumn, but I missed one class since I FELL RUNNING FOR THE TRAIN and managed to end up in urgent care. Graceful I am not. But for the class I attended, I wrote a poem based on a prompt, a double sort of persona ekphrastic poem, with persons in one painting talking to persons in another. I am pleased to learn that High Shelf Press will publish this poem, “Saltwater Faces,” soon–in their debut edition.
Thanks for reading.
Laura Lee 