April Midnight

When I discovered this poem, it evoked my relationship with books and the reading I do late at night, after the work is done.  For me, literature is the dancer; I am, of course, the dreamer enjoying its dance, and together we roam the streets of London and beyond…

 

Side by side through the streets at midnight,

Roaming together,

Through the tumultuous night of London,

In the miraculous April weather.

 

Roaming together under the gaslight,

Day’s work over,

How the Spring calls to us, here in the city,

Calls to the heart from the heart of a lover!

 

Cool the wind blows, fresh in our faces,

Cleansing, entrancing,

After the heat and the fumes and the footlights,

Where you dance and I watch your dancing.

 

Good it is to be here together,

Good to be roaming,

Even in London, even at midnight,

Lover-like in a lover’s gloaming.

 

You the dancer and I the dreamer,

Children together,

Wandering lost in the night of London,

In the miraculous April weather.

 

                                       ~ Arthur Symons

 

“Trafalgar Square by Moonlight” by Henry Pether, circa 1865

Call for Submissions – Autumn House Press

Autumn House Press is currently accepting entries for its annual poetry, fiction, and nonfiction contests through June 30, 2013.

All full-length collections of poetry 50-80 pages in length are eligible for the poetry prize.  Fiction submissions should be approximately 200-300 pages of any sub-genre (short stories, short-shorts, novellas, or novels) or any combination of sub-genre.  Nonfiction submissions should be approximately 200-300 pages.  All nonfiction subjects are eligible, including personal essays, memoirs, travel writing, historical narratives, and nature or science writing.

The winner in each category will receive publication of a full-length manuscript, a $1,000 advance against royalties, and a $1,500 travel grant to promote his or her book.  For more information and to submit online, visit the website at http://www.autumnhouse.org/contest-submissions.

 

When to the Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

I summon up remembrance of things past,

I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,

And with old woes new wail my dear time’s waste:

Then can I drown an eye, unus’d to flow,

For precious friends hid in death’s dateless night,

And weep afresh love’s long since cancell’d woe,

And moan th’ expense of many a vanish’d sight;

Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,

And heavily from woe to woe tell o’er

The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,

Which I new pay as if not paid before.

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,

All losses are restor’d, and sorrows end.  

 

           ~ William Shakespeare, reportedly born on this day in 1564 and died on this day in 1616

 

“Lost in Thought” by James Carroll Beckwith, 1908

The Nineteenth of April

This year, till late in April, the snow fell thick and light:

Thy truce-flag, friendly Nature, in clinging drifts of white,

Hung over field and city: now everywhere is seen,

In place of that white quietness, a sudden glow of green.

 

The verdure climbs the Common, beneath the leafless trees,

To where the glorious Stars and Stripes are floating on the breeze.

There, suddenly as Spring awoke from Winter’s snow-draped gloom,

The Passion-Flower of Seventy-six is bursting into bloom.

 

Dear is the time of roses, when earth to joy is wed,

And garden-plot and meadow wear one generous flush of red;

But now in dearer beauty, to her ancient colors true,

Blooms the old town of Boston in red and white and blue.

 

~ From “The Nineteenth of April” by Lucy Larcom

 

“Boston Common at Twilight” by Childe Hassam, 1885

An Evening with Literary Agent Betsy Amster

The Pen on Fire Writers Salon is pleased to present an evening with literary agent Betsy Amster for a discussion on “How to Catch an Agent’s Attention with a Great Query Letter” on Tuesday, April 23, at 7:00 p.m.  This monthly salon is hosted by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett and features authors, literary agents, and others involved in the field of writing.  The events take place in the atmospheric Scape Gallery in Corona del Mar and entail readings, literary discussions, and book signings.

Amster is president of Betsy Amster Literary Enterprises, a full-service literary agency located in Los Angeles and Portland.  Before opening her agency in 1992, she spent ten years as an editor at Pantheon and Vintage, two divisions of Random House, and two years as editorial director of The Globe Pequot Press.  Her clients include bestselling novelists María Amparo Escandón and Joy Nicholson and authors Will Allen, Kim Boyce, Linda Venis, and many others.

Amster specializes in literary fiction, voice-driven mysteries and thrillers, narrative nonfiction, memoirs, and a wide array of practical nonfiction.  Her agency works with both first-time and established writers with expert attention to every aspect of the publishing process.

Advance tickets are required to guarantee a seat at this event, which typically sells out fast.  To read more about the speakers or the Pen on Fire Writers Salon and to purchase tickets, visit www.barbarademarcobarrett.com.

 

2013 Raymond Carver Short Story Contest

The 14th annual internationally renowned Raymond Carver Short Story Contest is now accepting entries of previously unpublished literary fiction of up to 6,000 words until midnight on May 15, 2013.

Carve Magazine seeks to recognize new and emerging talent as well as to include contributions of those already established in the literary community.  While its editors cannot provide a unique response to every submission, they offer comments and critiques on stories most closely aligned with the journal’s vision.

A prize of $1,000 will be awarded to the winner, with prizes of $750 and $500 awarded to the second and third place winners, respectively.  Two Editor’s Choice prizes of $250 will also be awarded.  All winning entries will be published in the Fall 2013 issue in September.  Winning authors will also be considered for representation by the Rees Literary Agency, Folio Lit Management, and Sobel Weber Associates, Inc.

The entry fee is $17 per online submission, and there is no limit on the number of entries per person.  To review the guidelines, peruse previous issues of the online journal or print Premium Edition, and submit your work, visit the website at http://carvezine.com/about.

 

Spring

To what purpose, April, do you return again?

Beauty is not enough.

You can no longer quiet me with the redness

Of little leaves opening stickily.

I know what I know.

The sun is hot on my neck as I observe

The spikes of the crocus.

The smell of the earth is good.

It is apparent that there is no death.

But what does that signify?

Not only under ground are the brains of men

Eaten by maggots.

Life in itself

Is nothing,

An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.

It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,

April

Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

 

                              ~ Edna St. Vincent Millay

 

Photograph of Millay by Arnold Genthe, 1914