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

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

Best of the Net BHR logo2

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!

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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Orison Books Anthology Nominations from Blue Heron Review for 2015 Announced!

Blue Heron Review is pleased to announce our nominations for The Orison Anthology, due out summer/2016. Orison Books supports the philosophy that, “… spiritual writing has little to do with subject matter. Such work is not merely about spiritual contemplation, but itself leads the reader into profound contemplation. It is not merely about the sublime, but itself has a sublime effect on the reader.” Congratulations to all of our poets nominated to be included in this special anthology! If any of our contributors are chosen, we will make a special announcement on this page.

Blue Heron Review Nominations:

1. “Luminary” by Laura Bayless (published in the Winter 2015 issue of Blue Heron Review, Issue #3)

2. “You Tell Me Happiness May Not Be Communicable” by Ronda Broatch (published in the Winter 2015 issue of Blue Heron Review, Issue #3)

3. “Lauds, November 2: New Camaldoli Hermitage, Big Sur” by Russell Colver (published in the Winter 2015 Issue of Blue Heron Review, Issue #3)

4. “Vessels of Light” by Elizabeth J Mitchell (published in the Summer 2015 Issue of Blue Heron Review, Issue #4)

5. “Beads of Dew” by Paula Schulz (published in the Summer 2015 Issue of Blue Heron Review, Issue #4)

6. “Sisters Praying” by Chris Abbate (published in the Summer 2015 Issue of Blue Heron Review, Issue #4)

Other Nominations/Awards:

Blue Heron Review will also be selecting poems from our past year of issues for both the Best of the Net prize and the Pushcart Prize. We will make announcements after those nominations are submitted.

Call for Submissions! Blue Heron Review is Now Reading Submissions for Our Winter 2016 Issue! Deadline: October 10th, 2015

Welcome back, poets and readers!  We’ve had an exciting summer.  At the end of July, we published our 4th issue, BHR Summer 2015. Hope you’ll stop by to read inspiring poetry and view stunning photography by our highly talented contributors. We are now ready to read and consider poems for our next issue – Winter 2016 (due to be published at the end of February).

(photo by Jason Iffert)

(photo by Jason Iffert)

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! Polish up your poems and get them ready to send. Submissions for Blue Heron Review are officially open! The deadline is October 10th, 2015. Our reading period is a bit shorter this time, so send your poems early. We always suggest that writers read sample poems from past issues on the BHR site before submitting. Blue Heron welcomes submissions from emerging and established writers. We provide a space for spiritual and life-affirming poems. While we aren’t necessarily looking for overtly religious poems, we tend to be drawn to well-crafted, imagistic poems with a meditative or contemplative quality.

Please read our complete list of guidelines carefully on the SUBMISSION GUIDELINES page. We look forward to reading your work!

Don’t forget to visit the Blue Heron Speaks page to read sample poems by, Stephen Anderson, our featured author for the month of September. Stephen’s latest collection, Navigating in the Sun (Finishing Line Press, 2015), was just released.

With kind wishes for autumn,
Cristina M. R. Norcross, Editor
Blue Heron Review

Stephen Anderson is the September 2015 Blue Heron Speaks Featured Poet!

Stephen Anderson

Welcome to the September 2015 Blue Heron Speaks feature! This month, we are very pleased to share the work of poet, Stephen Anderson. Please visit our Blue Heron Speaks page to read 3 sample poems from his new poetry collection, Navigating in the Sun (Finishing Line Press, 2015). While reading Stephen Anderson’s poems, we closely hold the miracle of each memory he shares with us, as if they are our own. Anderson has that rare gift as a poet of showing us the magic of small moments through beautiful imagery and thoughtful details. We, too, are on that swing as a child. We, too, are listening to the cicada serenade. We, too, are contemplating the fate of a colony of yellow jackets. I hope you will linger long and often, while reading these poems, as we welcome the new life that awaits us behind the russet and gold of September.

(Photo credit: Shlomo Godder)

(Photo credit: Shlomo Godder)

Stephen Anderson is a prize-winning Milwaukee poet whose work has appeared in numerous print and online journals including Southwest Review, Tipton Poetry Journal, New Purlieu Re-view, Free Verse, Verse Wisconsin and Foundling Review. Many of Anderson’s poems have been featured on the Milwaukee NPR-affiliate WUWM Lake Effect Program. He is the author of Montezuma Resurrected And Other Poems (2001) and The Silent Tango of Dreams (2006 chapbook).  Several of his poems appeared in the poetry collection, Portals And Piers (2012). In the summer of 2013, six of his poems formed the text for a chamber music composition entitled, The Privileged Secrets of the Arch, performed by some musicians, including two members of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and an opera singer. Because of a particular set of life experiences, Anderson considers himself a poet with a global perspective rather than a regional poet. His newest poetry collection, Navigating in the Sun, was recently published by Finishing Line Press (2015). Copies can be ordered directly from the poet ($14.49 plus shipping of $2.50).  Contact author for details at: stephen.anderson724@gmail.com

Navigating in the Sun (Finishing Line Press, 2015)

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Blue Heron Review Issue 4 Summer/2015 is Now Available to Read Online!

(Cover photo by Gail Goepfert)

(Cover photo by Gail Goepfert)

CONTRIBUTORS
Poets:
Arya F Jenkins * S Wallace * Elizabeth Tornes * Elizabeth J Mitchell * Art Heifetz * James Sanchez * Ronnie Hess * Monika John * Bonnie Durrance * Ronda Broatch * Loukia Borrell * Davita Joie * Kim Hunter Perkins * Karla Van Vliet * Nancy Bevilaqua * Annette L Grunseth * Paula Schulz * Ethel Mortenson Davis * Martin Willitts Jr * David K Wheeler * Susan Martell Huebner * Fred Kreutz * Jeannie E Roberts * Yuan Changming * Scott T Starbuck * Gary Glauber * Mary Jo Balistreri * Liz Rhodebeck * Chris Abbate * James P Roberts * Tom Montag * Peter Piaskoski * Ray Young Bear * Jordan Sanderson * Rachel Dacus * Anne C Kaiser * M J Iuppa * Charlene Langfur * Jamie Lynn Morris * Hannah Marie Nelson * Laurie Kolp

Artists:
Gail Goepfert * Laurel Best * Jason Iffert * Pd Lietz * Holly Kallie * Dawn Eves

Please visit the Blue Heron Review Issue 4 Summer/2015 page of this site, to enjoy a selection of poetic offerings and visual art by our contributors.

We have another wonderful collection of poetry and artwork to share! Our summer issue sings with color and vibrancy. There is a call to reach for life, and one’s source, with grateful hands in these poems and images. Under the careful watch of the sun, this issue definitely blooms. I hope you enjoy the eclectic mix of writing styles and visions for living, in this collection, as much as I do.

~Cristina M. R. Norcross, Editor
Blue Heron Review

Submissions for Blue Heron Review Will Be Open Again September 15th through October 10th, 2015

Artwork by Daniel Adams

Artwork by Daniel Adams

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! Blue Heron Review is an online poetry magazine specializing in mystical and spiritual verse. Blue Heron provides a space for poets who offer a positive message about living fully and engaging with the world through beauty, a sense of community, and acceptance. Our next open call for submissions (for the WINTER/2016 issue) will be September 15th through October 10th, 2015. Blue Heron welcomes submissions from new, emerging, and established writers. Visit the Submission Guidelines page of this website for our contact e-mail address and a complete listing of our submission guidelines. Please read sample poems from past issues before submitting. We look forward to reading your work!

~Cristina M. R. Norcross, Editor
Blue Heron Review

Summer 2015 Blue Heron Review News

The Blue Heron Speaks page, where we feature one poet per month, will be on a brief summer vacation for the months of July and August, but we already have 2 fabulous featured poets lined up for September and October!  Don’t forget to stop by to check out our June featured poet, Pam Uschuk, and all of the wonderful poet spotlights from previous months.  Our SUMMER 2015 Blue Heron Review issue will be launched on our site at the very end of JULY 2015.  We have an amazing issue of poetry and photography to share.  An announcement will be made on our home page!

~Cristina M. R. Norcross, Editor
Blue Heron Review

Artwork by Daniel Adams

Artwork by Daniel Adams

Pam Uschuk is the June 2015 Blue Heron Speaks Featured Poet!

PAM USCHUK

Welcome to the Blue Heron Speaks feature for June 2015. This month we are shining a spotlight on the work of poet, Pam Uschuk. Her latest collection of poetry, Blood Flower, was recently published by Wings Press (2015). Uschuk’s unique voice is both raw and honest, with a deep reverence for the temporal beauty of life. We follow her skillful thread of imagery to the very end of each poem, knowing that every word is chosen with great care. In our feature this month, nature sings to us in memorable ways. Please visit the Blue Heron Speaks page of our site to read two sample poems by Pam Uschuk.

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About Pam Uschuk

Political activist and wilderness advocate, Pam Uschuk has howled out six books of poems, including Crazy Love, winner of a 2010 American Book Award, Finding Peaches In The Desert (Tucson/Pima Literature Award), and Wild In The Plaza of Memory (2012). Her new collection of poems, Blood Flower, appeared in February 2015.

Translated into more than a dozen languages, her work appears in over three hundred journals and anthologies worldwide, including Poetry, Ploughshares, Agni Review, Parnassus Review, and Valparaiso Review.

Uschuk has been awarded the 2011 War Poetry Prize from Winning Writers, 2010 New Millenium Poetry Prize, 2010 Best of the Web, the Struga International Poetry Prize (for a theme poem), the Dorothy Daniels Writing Award from the National League of American PEN Women, the King’s English Poetry Prize and prizes from Ascent, Iris, and Amnesty International.

Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Fort Lewis College and Editor-In-Chief of Cutthroat, A Journal of the Arts, Uschuk lives in Bayfield, Colorado. She also has a home in Tucson, Arizona. Uschuk is often a featured writer at the Prague Summer Programs and was the 2011 John C. Hodges Visiting Writer at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She’s working on a multi-genre book called, The Book of Healers Healing; An Odyssey Through Ovarian Cancer.

Blood Flower (Wings Press, 2015)

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