Pond 40 - 2018 |
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This is the Big 40, StC’s fortieth issue, and it’s a great one. In addition to featuring eight talented authors and poets, we have a new Mind of a Poet and because I enjoyed it so much, I’m re-running the previous Carpwork Gallery images.
But wait, there’s more... This issue continues the StC “tradition” of featuring Author Profiles of legendary writers, this time Ernest Hemingway. Finally, as a reminder StC is now accepting Creative Non-fiction submissions. - Ken Apparel for all at the Bait Shop. Support the Carp.
(No account needed to view or purchase. Women's and Men's apparel available.) |
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P R O S E P O E M
TV game shows experienced a resurgence in the 70’s, partly because, well, you’ll see in John Jeffire’s ‘Homage to Gene Rayburn, Daytime TV Gameshow Legend’.
P O E M
I find villanelles fascinating, since I personally cannot write them. So when a great one comes along I love sharing it. Enjoy M.C. Danzinger’s ‘yellowflowernoxiousweed’.
S H A P E P O E M
Shape poems often suffer from being “merely clever”. Not so ‘Art is a Two-Way Street’ by Nancy Kay Peterson. It’s clever, meaningful, and another hint, hint, nudge, nudge, self-referential.
F L A S H
Wolfgang Niesielski’s ‘Asteroid’ is a great antidote to all the melodramatic "the end is nigh" crap out there.
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P O E M S
Metaphysical poetry tends to be hokey. Not so Gary Lark’s beautifully written ‘Nothing’. And his ‘The Old Neighborhood’ being more grounded, is just as deep.
P O E M
Michael Blaine’s ‘Samaras’ captures the joy of childhood, and is positively intertwining. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge.
S H A P E P O E M
I admit it. When I was younger I got real drunk and real high a lot. (Older now, I’d just fall asleep if I tried to get either.) I realized long ago what Rob Brakeman’s ‘A Marriage’ tells us so eloquently. It ain’t worth it.
S H O R T S T O R Y
‘Just the Right Size’ by Emily Andrade is storytelling and character portrayal at its best. And it ends on a positive note! How refreshing.
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Show Your Support...
Ongoing:
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Special Author Profile
Ernest Hemingway 
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Mind of a Poet
Gary Lark 
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ARTISTS and SHUTTERBUGS I’m looking for original artwork and enhanced photos featuring Carp (including Koi) for the Carpwork Gallery. See the Submissions page for details. |
Author's Row
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Patrick Reardon
In “Requiem for David,” Patrick T. Reardon wrestles with the suicide of his brother and the pain they shared as the children of demanding and emotionally absent parents. Novelist-poet Sandra Cisneros calls Reardon's book “the heart’s howl,” and poet Haki Madhubuti writes: “Reardon’s poetry reminds me of the great poet and Catholic priest, Daniel Berrigan.”
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William Swarts
Readers praise William Swarts’ latest poetry collection, Harmonies Unheard: for example, ”Bill Swarts rewards us with poetry of an often delightful earthiness and much ironic humor,” says Black Buzzard Press publisher and poet Bradley Straham. “This is a book not to be missed.” And, University of Vermont English Professor Emeritus Richard Sweterlitsch agrees, “His verses resonate with rich images; his themes are universal.”
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Ken Poyner
A collection of fantastical mini-fictions. A man who encounters mammoth rustlers. Houses that begin to move on their own, forcing the inhabitants to finally introduce themselves to their neighbors. Giant chickens that are hunted for processing in the chicken sandwich industry. And much more.
Humor, irony, mythical realism, surrealism, soft science fiction. |
Ken Schweda
If you enjoy thought provoking, unusual science fiction, that might not even make sense the first time you read it, then this book of short stories is for you.
A summary for them might be: first contact, pig, birds and black holes, conspiracy, more birds, lunacy (or not?), lost time. Your reaction to each story might be something like: ? ? ? , , , ? . . . !!! , , ? |
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Jacqueline Jules
“Jules’ gift is in finding the small moments — green paisley pajamas, carrot cake, the giggle of a nine-year-old boy — and gracefully elevating them to tell the story of a life. If half of all marriages end in widowhood, Stronger Than Cleopatra is a manual for how to go on.”
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Jeanne Julian
The changing seasons provide a framework for these poems that explore the loss and rebirth in the natural world and in the spirit. "These poems challenge and resonate; the reader will be haunted by them." - David E. Poston, author of Slow of Study
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Ken Poyner
Forty-two surreal, irreal, subreal fictions of master bird races, nine foot tall women, chickens and their cell phones, the collection and consumption of oxygen, a surrogate lover for a mermaid.
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Brett Stuckel
Guided by Shadows: A Westward Walk on Spain's Camino de Santiago. Discover the absurdity of Europe’s most famous pilgrim path (a Kindle eShort, ~15,000 words, also available for Nook and Kobo).
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Carol Roan
When Last on the Mountain: The View from Writers over 50 offers nonfiction, fiction, and poetry that range from the heart-wrenching to the hilarious. Who better to bear witness to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune than writers over 50?
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Carol Roan
Speak Up: The Public Speaking Primer is an inspirational guide through the thickets of stage fright, in all its forms, to the freedom of speaking up. The journey begins with a breathing exercise and wends its way through practical advice about the use of space and energy.
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William Quincy Belle
Fate can be kind. Fate can be cruel. However, every once in a while, fate can be funny. This is the lust love story of how one man met the most unusual of women in the most unusual of circumstances.
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