March Horizons
Introduction
With Black History Month and Women’s History Month top of mind this season, it’s always a good time to support and celebrate marginalized writers. As a woman-owned hybrid small press, we have a responsibility to our poetry community to move in solidarity and reflect on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the publishing industry. I realized, waiting on the train platform recently, that next year will mark a decade since the landmark Lee & Low survey. Let’s talk about where we’re at.
Perhaps I was reminded of Lee & Low in part because in the world of kid lit, March is also Reading Month! We have enjoyed an influx of poetry books for children in recent years, so this post will highlight a few Daffydowndilly selections for young readers. If I missed yours, please shout it out in the comments!
We love to celebrate the excellent authors with whom we have collaborated out loud, whether with open mics or award nominations, like the Eric Hoffer da Vinci Eye Award for outstanding book covers. Spring in the Northern Hemisphere is ideal for both and more, plus National Poetry Month—around the corner in April— will open abundant opportunities, so stay tuned as our poets come out to play.
Poetic Excellence
Women's Poetry Contest 2023 Winners Announced Here!
Congratulations to the winning authors and their beautiful poems. And to all the women who submitted this year. We are grateful and humbled to have received such stunning work. You can read the poems on our website by clicking the link.
Lynne Burnett
1st Place ~ “From the Front Porch”
Rhett Watts
2nd Place ~ “The Double Nest”
Liz Abrams-Morley
Honorable Mention ~ “My Father, 13 Years Gone”
Anastasia Vassos
Honorable Mention ~ “October”
Awards
Karen received notice of this New Writers Award opportunity from Colleen Smith at the GLCA! First-time authors, please contact us if you’re interested in being considered for our poetry nomination.
I invite you to enter the Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) NewWriters Awards (NWA) 2025 competition for poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction. In each category, the submitted work must be an author’s first published volume. For this year’s competition the GLCA will accept entries that bear a
publication imprint of 2023 or 2024. Winning writers are announced in
January 2025 (see this link for 2024 winning writers).
For the 55th year, this group of thirteen independent Midwestern colleges will confer recognition on a volume of writing in each of three literary genres. Publishers submit works on behalf of their authors. All entries must be written in English and published in the United States or Canada. Judges of the New Writers Award are professors of literature and creative writing at GLCA member colleges.
The winning authors tour several of GLCA’s member colleges from which they receive invitations, giving readings, lecturing, visiting classes, conducting workshops, and publicizing their books. Because of this provision of the award, all writers must live in the U.S. or Canada. Each writer receives an honorarium of at least $500 from each college visited, as well as travel expenses, hotel accommodations, and hospitality. By accepting the award the winner is committed to visit member colleges that extend invitations. GLCA works to identify dates that accord with campus calendars and a writer’s availability.
Publishers are encouraged to read the Complete Guidelines for
the award, including answers to frequently asked questions. A single publisher may choose to submit an entry to more than one category (i.e., one for poetry, one for fiction, and one for non-fiction). It is important to note, however, that each publisher may enter only one work in each genre, and that four copies of each entry must be submitted. The GLCA cannot return volumes that do not qualify or are withdrawn. There is no entry fee for this award. To be considered for this year’s award, all entries must be received no later than May 25, 2024.
Nomination materials must be submitted *electronically* (and hard copies of books *mailed*). To nominate a book:
(1) Publisher fills out and submits Nomination Form(2) Authors fills out and submits Author Statement of Agreement agreeing to the terms of the award. Forms can (and likely will) be submitted separately.
(3) Mail four copies of the books to the address below (electronic copies of books are NOT accepted)
Send books to:
GLCA New Writers Award535 W. William St., Suite 301
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me at smith@glca.org
Congratulations to Jane Muschenetz on taking home Poetry Collection of the Year at SDWF 2024!
Events
In a February blog post, Ann E. Wallace revealed the cover of Days of Grace and Silence, forthcoming from Kelsay Books, and announced her lineup of National Poetry Month events! Read more over at Ann E. Wallace, PhD’s personal blog.
Reviews & Publicity
Sally Brown interviewed Nadia Arioli, author of Be Stil: Poems for Kay Sage for Arteidolia!
Matthew Brennan, author of The End of the Road, was featured in a Terre Haut, independent newspaper article here. The End of the Road is also nominated for an Eric Hoffer award for best cover art. Congratulations, Matthew!
Third Wednesday Magazine covered Metes and Bounds by Jane Blanchard!
The blog One Minnesota Crone interviewed Rose Mary Boehm, on Life Stuff!
Reagan Upshaw’s In The Panhandle was reviewed in Quadrant, an Australian magazine! Note: Links are not sponsorships or endorsements.
Michael Escoubas, Senior Editor of Quill & Parchment reviewed What Do You Mean When You Say Green? and Other Poems of Color by Lori Levy!
Ebooks
Daffydowndilly Press
Laura Rodley has created a wonderful collection of children’s
poetry, a modern book of nursery rhymes. Each one is a small
piece of what it’s like to be in a child’s world of enchantment,
where animals insects and plants come to life and communicate.
These are happy colorful little tales for all to enjoy. Like childhood,
they leap and bend, pause and run, skip and play, all the time
filled to the brim with imagination.
—Jean Varda, Author of “Oracle,” an anthology of poetry and
prose presented by Sacred Feather Press.
Poet and educator Curt Curtin has crafted classroom-ready poems that lead young readers on a journey of discovery. We learn what happens when trees sneeze, how to talk to vegetables, which cat is the rudest, and much more. Filled with wit, inventive rhyme schemes, and fun wordplay, this is a collection that curious minds are sure to enjoy.
—Devon E. Evans, Public Services Librarian, Worcester Public Library
Jeannie E. Roberts writes, draws and paints, and often photographs her natural surroundings. She is the author and illustrator of Let’s Make Faces!, a children’s book dedicated to her son (author-published, 2009). She has exhibited her artwork in the Midwest and in Mexico City and her poetry and visual art appear in online journals, magazines, and print anthologies.
