November Notes

by Olivia Loftis

The Orchards Submissions are Open

Get published in The Orchards: Winter 2025. Our reading period has begun and cash prizes are ripe for the harvest! We are currently accepting submissions on a rolling basis. Check out October’s blog post for a word cloud of inspiration. 

Review our guidelines and submit here: Guidelines – The Orchards Poetry Journal

Events

REMOTE: Join us for our Winter Reading on Saturday, December 13 at 1:00 p.m. Mountain time. 

Register here or click the image above: Kelsay Books’ Winter Reading

Featuring
Jean L. Kreiling is the author of four collections of poetry. Her work has been awarded the Able Muse Book Award, the Frost Farm Prize, the Rhina Espaillat Poetry Prize, and the Kim Bridgford Memorial Sonnet Prize, among other honors; she lives on the coast of Massachusetts.

Margaret Lloyd, a poet and a visual artist, was born in England and grew up in a Welsh immigrant community in New York State. She received her Ph.D. at the University of Leeds, England. She has published five collections of poems and a book on William Carlos Williams’ Paterson. Website: www.margaretlloyd.net

Alan Perry is the author of The Heart of It (Kelsay Books, 2025) and Clerk of the Dead (Main Street Rag, 2020). His poems have appeared in Tahoma Literary Review, Third Wednesday, Valparaiso Poetry Review, and elsewhere. A Best of the Net nominee, he is Managing Editor Emeritus of RockPaperPoem.

Myra Tejada Rasmussen is an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina-
Wilmington (UNCW). She has been a semi-finalist for the James Applewhite Poetry Prize and a finalist for the Poet’s Billow Pangaea Poetry Prize. She lives in Wilmington, NC with her husband Erik and daughter Zealie. Chakana is her first collection.

With Special Guests 

Karen Petersen
Barbara Lydecker Crane
J.C. Rammelkamp
 Elaine Sorrentino
Kalina Smith
Jeremy Cantor
Natalie Solmer

Register here or click the image above: Kelsay Books’ Winter Reading

FAQ: This reading does not include an open mic segment.

If you would like to host your own Kelsay Books Zoom reading, please review our guidelines. Current KB authors are welcome to inquire about this Marketing option.  

Sleepy Hollow, NY: Harriet Shenkman presents Re-Coupling, with Owen Lewis and Dorsia Smith Silva, November 22, 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. at the Hudson Valley Writer’s Center.

Poetic Excellence

Jonathan Clark Patrick visited the Library of Congress and requested his books, Out of Nashoba and Songs Presidential

Jonathan Clark Patrick with his own books in the Jefferson/Adams Main Reading Room!

Jonathan Clark Patrick with his own books in the Jefferson/Adams Main Reading Room

Gentle Grasp by Laura Daniels was reviewed on HighlandParkPoetry.org

Tip: CTRL + F "Gentle Grasp" to jump to the review! 

Myra Rasmussen and Holli Terrell-Cavalluzzi hosted a reading at Scuppernong Books in Greensboro, NC

Myra will perform at our 2025 Winter Reading on December 13! 

John David Muth’s display at the Mercer County Library book festival just outside Trenton, NJ 

Forthcoming KB author Hannah Seelman was featured in Voyage Michigan magazine online


David Shaddock wrote a column about the turn to grief at the very end of The Iliad for Poetry and Healing on Poetry Flash

 

When & If by DeWitt Clinton
DeWitt Clinton’s new collection When & If was featured on Wisconsin Public Radio

Claire Blotter won the 2025 First Place $1,000 Fischer Poetry Prize from the Telluride Institute Talking Gourds Program for the poem, "Water," from her book, EXPANDING.WATER.WAYS.

Opportunities

The CLMP Firecracker Award in Poetry:

Deadline: November 14

Books must be submitted by publishers, so please reach out to us so we may invoice you for the fee to submit on your behalf. Learn more about the Firecracker Award here. 

The Nautilus Book Award: 

For over a quarter century, Nautilus has honored books that inspire, uplift, and transform our world. Now it‘s your turn to bring forward the works that carry wisdom, ignite imagination, and spark change.
 
📚 We invite you to submit your book — whether it’s a story of healing, a vision for a sustainable future, a journey of spirit, or a call for justice. This is your opportunity to join a community of writers and publishers who believe that books can make a difference.
 
✨ Why Submit Now?
Take advantage of our Early Bird Entry Period:
September 8 – November 30, 2025
  • Save on entry fees by submitting early
  • Ensure your work receives the careful attention it deserves
📖 How to Get Started
  1. Review our Entry Guidelines carefully to ensure your submission is complete.
  2. Prepare your digital files and book shipment details.
  3. Submit your entry during the Early Bird period to secure your discount.

 

See the source imageThe Poetry Society of Virginia’s POETRY BOOK AWARD

FOR NORTH AMERICAN WRITERS AND PUBLISHERS: 

The Poetry Society of Virginia announces the 2026 PSV North American Poetry Book Award for poetry books in English published in 2025.

Submissions from authors and publishers are welcome.

Submission period: October 15, 2025 – January 15, 2026

Contact Sofia Starnes, smstarnes@cox.net for more information, or visit

The Poetry Society of Virginia website, www.poetrysocietyofvirginia.org, for details and entry form.

2026 Rattle Chapbook Prize: 

Deadline: January 15th

The Rattle Chapbook Prize is back and as amazing as ever. Three winners receive $5,000 and 500 author copies — and one of those winners must be a poet who has never published a full-length book. As always, each chapbook will receive full distribution to all of our 10,000+ subscribers, too. It‘s a contest to launch a career, and we get to publish a series of incredible books in the process.

Click for More Information

 

Anyone Who Had a Heart Vol. 37 Call for Submissions:

Blair James and Lucy Wilkinson are inviting submissions for an anthology of Anyone Who Had a Heart: An epistemology of women’s heartbreak.

Women (identifying) writers, thinkers, artists, and experiencers are invited to submit one piece in any written format (prose, poetry, essay, visual, any other…) on the concept of heartbreak in all its shapes and guises.

No previous writing background is necessary. No minimum word count. 2500 words max. Single piece only.

Honesty and rawness prioritized. Experimentation encouraged. Nothing is “too much”.

Send work to deathofworkers@gmail.com

Deadline: 14th February, 2026

 

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