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Blue Heron Review Issue 5 / Winter 2016 Released Today!

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Welcome to our latest issue of Blue Heron Review!

Please visit the Blue Heron Review Issue 5/Winter 2016 page of our website to read and view all of the beautiful work in this collection.

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(Cover art by Sharon Auberle)

 

CONTRIBUTORS
Poets:
Ethel Mortenson Davis * Chris Abbate * Elizabeth J Mitchell * Martin Willitts Jr * Joan Mazza * Richard King Perkins II * Kenneth Pobo * Lila Hope-Simpson * Steven Bucher * Robert Lee Haycock * Terrence Sykes * Su Zi * Karissa Knox Sorrell * Heidi Hallett * Mary Carroll-Hackett * Devi S Laskar * Philip Dacey * Gary Jones * Zara Raab * Anne Higgins * David Anthony Sam * Nancy Ann Schaefer * Patricia Williams * Sarah Gilbert * Emily Harel * Maryann Hurtt * Julia Rice * Marilyn Zelke-Windau * Katy Phillips * Bauke Kamstra * Linda Aschbrenner * Erina Booker * Judy Wucherer * Daniel Birnbaum * Florence Weinberger * Melissa Fu * Pamela Ahlen * Gonzalinho da Costa * Marcia J Pradzinski * Keith MacNider * Cathryn Essinger * Cindy Rinne * Cindy Bousquet Harris * Donna H DiCello

Artists:
Sharon Auberle * Phil Shepherd * Richard Havenga * Daniel Adams * David Kessler * Keith MacNider * Robert Lee Haycock

I hope you enjoy this stunning collection of poetry and photography. Each, unique creation offers up a rich tapestry of mindfulness and beauty for the reader.

With kind wishes,

Cristina M. R. Norcross, Editor
Blue Heron Review

The Blue Heron Speaks Featured Poet for February 2016 is Karla Van Vliet

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Welcome to the February 2016 edition of Blue Heron Speaks! We are very pleased to share the gifts of poetry and artwork, by Karla Van Vliet. Her latest collection is, From the Book of Remembrance (Shanti Arts Publishing, 2015). These poems are lit from within. With an attention to the beauty of language and the embodiment of soul, these poems sing of core emotions, with a raw honesty. Pairings of abstract art and verse provide the reader with a close examination of the human heart, which we must explore by reading, and re-reading, each line. These poems are meant to be savored.

Please visit the Blue Heron Speaks Featured Author page of our site to experience the depth and beauty of 3 selections from Karla Van Vliet’s new book.

 

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(photo credit: Sadie Newman)

Karla Van Vliet is a poet, artist and Integrative Dreamwork analyst. Her poems have appeared in such journals as Poet Lore, Blue Heron Review, The Tishman Review, Found Poetry Review and Green Mountain Review. Her most recent book From the Book of Remembrance (Shanti Arts, 2015) is a collection of poems and paintings. The River From My Mouth, her first book of poems, is being reissued by Shanti Arts this coming year. She is currently working on a full-length collection of poetry titled Iterate and a collection of poetic non-fiction pieces titled Beholding, which explore her deep relationship to the Vermont landscape she lives within. She is the co-founder and editor of deLuge, a literary and arts journal and is the administrator of the New England Young Writers’ Conference at Bread Loaf, Middlebury College. Find out more about this author at her website: www.vanvlietarts.com

From the Book of Remembrance (Shanti Arts Publishing, 2015)

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Blue Heron Review at the Woodland Pattern Annual Poetry Marathon in Milwaukee on Saturday, January 30th, 2016 at 2pm

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Artwork by Daniel Adams


Blue Heron Review​ is co-sponsoring the 2-3pm time slot of the Woodland Pattern 22nd Annual Poetry Marathon and Benefit on Sat. January 30th in Milwaukee!

“All of the money raised will support Woodland Pattern’s 2016 programming in literature and the arts, including our Lynden Sculpture Garden Writer-in-Residence and our Urban Youth Literary Arts Program.” (Woodland Pattern Book Center, 720 East Locust Street | Milwaukee, WI 53212)

Here is our featured poet line-up:

Cristina Norcross​
Susan Huebner
James Roberts
Fred Kreutz
Gail Goepfert
Ruth Bavetta
Martie Ingebretsen

Those who live locally, will be there in-person, and for our long-distance poets, we will be reading poems on their behalf. It will be a great reading! Hope to see you there!

The Blue Heron Speaks Featured Poet for January 2016 is Wallace Stevens

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Welcome to the Blue Heron Speaks feature for January 2016! Take a brief break from writing up your New Year’s resolution list (or procrastinating creating a list), to breathe deeply, and read a few poems by Wallace Stevens (1879-1955). About twice a year, I like to offer samplings of work from past voices, whose writing still casts light in our world from the next realm. It gives me a little more time to line up the next 3 months of featured, contemporary poets, but it also allows for a time of reflection. Winter, for many of us, is a time of solitude, when the cold chill brings us inside the hearth a bit more. It is also a time to appreciate voices from the past, who may have some wisdom to share. I will let the poems of Wallace Stevens speak for themselves. Whether you remember studying Stevens previously, or if this is your initial foray into his verse, I invite you to stop, rest, and stay awhile. Perhaps, read a past issue of Blue Heron Review, while you’re here, too. Enjoy!

Visit the Blue Heron Speaks Featured Author page to read 3 poems by Wallace Stevens.

Happy New Year from Blue Heron Review!

Your presence makes a difference. What will you do with the beauty of words this year? Your participation in life is required.

Peace,
Cristina M. R. Norcross, Founding Editor
Blue Heron Review

The Blue Heron Speaks Featured Poet for December 2015 is Susan Rich

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Susan Rich

Welcome to the December 2015 Blue Heron Speaks feature! Our guest author this month is the beautiful, soulful poet, Susan Rich. Her latest poetry collection is Cloud Pharmacy (White Pine Press, 2014). Susan Rich’s poems evoke a musical melding of the unknowable and the rich, textured details of the tangible world. You can just touch the red velvet stars in her lyrical lines. You can taste the Boston egg creams. In these beautifully crafted poems, Rich reminds us that we are holy beings, that our lives are sacred and mystical.

Please visit the Blue Heron Speaks Featured Author page to read three poems from Cloud Pharmacy.

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(photo credit Kelli Russell Agodon)

Susan Rich is the author of four collections of poetry including Cloud Pharmacy, and The Alchemist’s Kitchen, which was a Finalist for the Foreword Prize and the Washington State Book Award. Her poems have been published by many journals including in the Antioch Review, Gettysburg Review, Harvard Review, Poetry Northwest, Poetry Ireland, The Southern Review, and World Literature Today. Susan’s other books include Cures Include Travel (2006) and The Cartographer’s Tongue (2000) winner of the PEN USA Award and the Peace Corps Writers Award. She is a recipient of awards from Artists Trust, 4 Culture, The Times Literary Review Award, Seattle Mayor’s Award of Cultural Affairs and the Fulbright Foundation. She teaches at Highline College and lives in Seattle, WA. Find out more about this author at her website: http://poet.susanrich.net/

Cloud Pharmacy (White Pine Press, 2014)

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Blue Heron Review Pushcart Prize Nominations

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From BHR3 Winter 2015

1. “Rising” by Andrew Albritton
2. “To My Brothers and Sisters” by Chris Abbate
3. “Diagram of Serenity” by Sheelonee Banerjee

From BHR4 Summer 2015

1. “Crepuscular” by Jordan Sanderson
2. “Unstitched” by Karla Van Vliet
3. “At Day’s End” by Tom Montag

Congratulations and good luck to all of our Blue Heron Review Pushcart nominees!

Cristina M. R. Norcross, Editor
Blue Heron Review

Our Next Open Call for Submissions for Blue Heron Review Will Be March 20th Through April 20th, 2016

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Artwork by Daniel Adams

Our next open call for submissions will be from March 20th through April 20th, 2016. All poems received will be considered for our BHR Summer 2016 issue, due to be published at the end of July 2016.

Please follow us to read a NEW featured poet EVERY month on our BLUE HERON SPEAKS FEATURED AUTHOR page. Visit our ARCHIVES page to read past issues before submitting. Complete list of guidelines available on our SUBMISSION GUIDELINES page.

Still in the works, is our BHR Winter 2016 issue, due to be published at the end of February 2016!

The November 2015 Blue Heron Speaks Featured Poet is Ronda Broatch!

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Ronda Broatch

Welcome to the November 2015 Blue Heron Speaks feature! Our talented guest author this month is poet, editor, and photographer, Ronda Broatch, whose latest poetry collection is Lake of Fallen Constellations (MoonPath Press, 2015). The senses hum and glow with Broatch’s words. Her imagery brings us into the world of each poem so fully, that we feel the rush of river water on legs – we experience the dusting of sand on skin. This vibrant collection will awaken a longing for connection to earth and sky, for the need to understand the stars. Beautiful, rich, and evocative! You will want a copy of this collection to read and re-read.

Please visit the Blue Heron Speaks Featured Author page to read two sample poems from Ronda Broatch’s latest book.

(photo credit Ronda Broatch)

(photo credit Ronda Broatch)

Ronda Broatch is the author of Lake of Fallen Constellations, (MoonPath Press, 2015), Shedding Our Skins, (Finishing Line Press, 2008), and Some Other Eden, (2005). Her journal publications include Prairie Schooner, Fourteen Hills, Mid-American Review, and Fire On Her Tongue: An Anthology of Contemporary Women’s Poetry (Two Sylvias Press). Ronda co-edits the literary journal, Crab Creek Review. Poet and photographer, she is attracted to words and textures like a moth to a bare bulb on a twilit porch.  Find out more about this author at:  http://www.rondabroatch.com/

Lake of Fallen Constellations (MoonPath Press, 2015)

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Blue Heron Review Best of the Net Nominations

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Blue Heron Review is honored to publish very fine work from all of our contributors. Below is a list of 6 poems by poets whom we have nominated for the Best of the Net prize. These poems were all published in Blue Heron Review between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015. Congratulations and good luck to all of our nominees!

Best of the Net Nominations

Caitlin Johnson: “Tierra” from BHR Summer (July) 2014

Patrice Boyer Claeys: “Waiting for the Elevator” from BHR Summer (July) 2014

Trina Gaynon: “Orbits” from BHR Winter (February) 2015

Marzelle Robertson: “Road from Castolon 2” from BHR Winter (February) 2015

Lauren K Carlson: “Directions Home” from BHR Winter (February) 2015

Kiarra Lynn Smith: “August” from BHR Winter (February) 2015

(*To read individual poems, click on the issue link and scroll down to that particular poet.)

The Blue Heron Speaks Featured Poet for October 2015 is Jan Bottiglieri!

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Jan Bottiglieri

Welcome to the October 2015 Blue Heron Speaks feature! This month Blue Heron Review is delighted to share the exquisite poetry of Jan Bottiglieri, whose latest full-length poetry collection, Alloy, was recently published by Mayapple Press (July, 2015). One cannot read Bottiglieri’s poems without a rushed intake of breath. Her language, imagery, and rhythms leave the reader stirred, if not a bit light-headed. Emily Dickinson’s adage, “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry,” is very true of Jan Bottiglieri’s writing. Her poetry is filled with sparkling details. Each one sings a new note, asking the reader to pause and drink in every nuance of meaning. Bottiglieri’s details capture moments at their most vulnerable and real. We have no choice but to tenderly hold each word, in cupped hands, with great appreciation.

To read 3 sample poems from her new book, Alloy, please visit the Blue Heron Speaks page of our site.

Bottiglieri author photo

Jan Bottiglieri is a freelance writer living in suburban Chicago. She is a managing editor for the literary annual RHINO and received her MFA in Poetry from Pacific University. Jan’s poems have appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies including Harpur Palate, Court Green, Bellevue Literary Review, Rattle, and Sunrise From Blue Thunder. Her chapbook, Where Gravity Pools the Sugar, was published in 2013 and her full-length poetry collection, Alloy, was recently published by Mayapple Press (July, 2015).

Alloy (Mayapple Press / 2015)

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