Author: awhitetrashpoet

writer.

Chapbook Open Call 2019 Selections

On By awhitetrashpoetIn Call for Submissions, News

Swimming with Elephants Publications, LLC has concluded our Open Call for Chapbook Submissions. We had literally over three times as many submissions as last year and many, many quality works to choose from. This was no easy task.

We are excited to be welcoming four new poets to our Parade.

Many thanks guest judges Maxine Peseke and Gina Marselle who did a wonderful job selecting the manuscripts. Not only did they read, discuss, and select the manuscripts, but they did an AMAZING job writing the reply letters. Like many writers, I receive lots of regret letters and many are generic and curt. Sometimes it doesn’t even seem like the publisher read the submission. But these two ladies did an amazing job reaching out and giving personalized feedback to every submitter.  I am grateful to have them on the team and representing Swimming with Elephants Publications.

We would like to thank everyone who submitted and all of our amazing supporters who have kept us afloat over these past five years. We are grateful and very appreciative.

Keep your eyes on the site and the Facebook page for updates on the progress of our new publications.

 

And now…

…without further ado, the selected manuscripts are…..

….in no particular order….

drum roll

…actually they are in alphabetical order….

drum roll

Belly-up Rosehip: a Tongue Blue with Mud Songs

by Tyler Dettloff

I’ve Been Cancelling Appointments with My Psychiatrist for Two Years Now

by Sean Dever

Shorn: apologies & vows

by Benjamin Bormann

Thalassophile

by Abigayle Goldstein

Weekly Write: ” Somnambulist” by Charles Duffie

On By awhitetrashpoetIn Weekly Write

Somnambulist

The pills knock you out, so you’re asleep when I make the rounds. That’s good. Easier. You hate that I still do this. I got into the habit when you were pregnant. It was prayer back then, pausing in each room, murmuring, “Thank you” and meaning it. Every night. Sixteen years.

So, I make the rounds, even now. Stand in the kitchen, where he picked up your love of cooking. The living room, where every Wednesday was Family Game Night, even when he got busy in high school. Our bedroom, where you fell asleep so easily, curled in contentment. The little sunroom where I pretended I was a novelist and he pretended he was a songwriter. His bedroom, where he evolved like the history of man, from neanderthal toddler to cro-magnon tween to a sometimes surly, often fine homo sapiens.

So every night I make the rounds, pause at each station, but without “Thank you” now, those clasped words slammed apart as easily as the Honda slammed through the guard rail, our boy asleep at the wheel. He just fell asleep. That’s all. Why is that the one detail I can’t accept?

The first few weeks, it hurt you, that I kept making the rounds. Your husband became a somnambulist and all you could do was sleep. I envy your hibernation. You’ll survive this long winter and wake in some unseeable spring. Meanwhile I go through the motions. I feel unmoored even from my grief. I kneel in the surf of the shag carpet; I’ve been in a shipwreck, a castaway washed ashore in my own home.

That annoying grandfather clock he loved chimes downstairs. As if summoned, I shuffle into the kitchen. This routine I do for you, while you sleep. I make the rounds for me, I make dinner for you. This was your sacred space with him. God, he was a chubby kid. That’s why you learned to cook. No more fast food, you said. All the diets the two of you started and quit.

I flip The No Meat Athlete Cookbook to the next recipe. I hated all his plant-based lectures. But I have to admit, he lost weight, got trim and fast. Watching him glide downcourt, stretch his body, pluck the ball from the air and finger-float it through the rim — he was more beautiful than anything in nature. A gazelle leaping is a graceful machine, but a boy doing that? That’s conscious grace. That has to be proof of something.

Tonight I’m making Loaded Spaghetti Squash, Garlicky Rosemary Potato Soup, Kale Salad with You-Won’t-Believe-It’s-Cashews Ranch Dressing, and No-Bake Mocha Cheesecake. The silvery sounds of new pans, ceramic plates, glass bowls, steel measuring cups — his birthday present from you, a complete set. Crisp cuts through squash, potatoes, kale stems; easy motions, pouring, whisking, scooping; distinct smells, garlic, rosemary, basil, bay leaves; stirring slow like cranking a gurney or prayer wheel. I lose myself in these mundane things until the flavors sweeten the air and pull me back.

It’s a feast. Center all the bowls on the white table, each filled with color: bright orange pasta, golden soup, blue-green salad, small black cheesecake with blanched almonds serrating the edges. Sometimes I notice there’s no silverware, sometimes I don’t.

It’s almost 3 AM. We haven’t sat together, husband and wife, at this table since the crash. But I end up here every night. Maybe I’m waiting for the day I’ll feel hungry again. I don’t know. It’s only been six weeks. Give it time, people say. I’ve lost thirty pounds. How do fathers do it? This is an old story, losing a son. How have all the fathers before me carried on? Why can’t I wake up?

My foot bumps something. His basketball rolls out from under the table, across the hardwood, taps against the front door. Yesterday when you went shopping, I played in the driveway, then hid the ball when you came home. I forgot to move it back to his room. You don’t like me doing anything we used to do with him. His death grated across us, leaving all these holes in our life. Everything is falling through.

It’s cold outside. Look at that moon. Almost full, almost there. I shoot a few hoops, the ball bouncing, hitting the rim, so loud in the silence I stop, waiting for someone to shout out their window. But if anyone’s awake, they keep it to themselves.

I should go back in, but the park is just down the block. I can’t see it, so I walk to the street lamp on the corner. From here, the jungle gym looks like a pile of empty cages; the trees are as still as a diorama. And all that night behind it. Somewhere out there is the basketball court where we played until, one day, he magically was better than me.

“What?” I say to the half park.

It’s so quiet, I hear water in the sewer flowing under my feet. Somewhere behind me, the freeway sounds like a river too. I feel like I’m being swept away.

“What?” I call. “What?!”

I throw the ball like I’m trying to hit something. It loops high into the dark, gone. A moment later I hear it bounce on the court, again, again, then gone.

It takes a long time, until the sky softens, but I turn around. There’s nothing to do but follow the curve of the earth back home, choke the food down the disposal, and clean the kitchen before you wake up.

 

Charles Duffie is a writer and designer from California. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books and Role Reboot, and will be featured in the 2019 American Story Anthology published by New Rivers Press.

 

 

“Like”, “Share”, and comment on this poem to nominate it for the Annual Swimming with Elephants Publications 2019 Anthology.

Click here check out Parade: Swimming with Elephants Publications Anthology 2018 available for only $7.95.

Weekly Write: “Limit” by David Magill

On By awhitetrashpoetIn Sunday Poem, Weekly Write

Limit

Fish guts on the Sunday paper, one of my favorites,
Herman, covered by an eye and some gills.
She tells him it’s too sharp for me but
he ignores her and hands me another sunfish.
I work it under the tail and slide it along the spine,
careful of the meat under the skin.
He guts another one and shows me the eggs; I nod
and rinse the fillet in a steel bowl.
She sees blood on my hand and protests again,
but I have learned to ignore her, too, as long
as he is with me and I am busy.
The smell is acrid for a moment but it passes,
the scent of my father’s cigar cutting through
the scales and the blood and the guts.
“Will them hogs eat the heads?”
“They’ll eat anything you throw over the fence. Don’t forget
to bring them bowls back.”
I stood by the pen and looked at them.
I hadn’t given them names yet.
I wondered if they’d ever get a chance to eat
fish heads

without me.
I threw one far over their heads
so they would go away
and then dumped the rest inside the fence.
I didn’t want to see those fish die twice.
I heard the air compressor roar to life
and went and got the hose.
Summer was a short walk
away.

 

David Magill, born in Kansas City, Missouri, moved to Minnesota as a young boy and grew up on a hobby farm in Afton. He has been married to his wife, Patti, for 23 years. His work has recently been published in Metonym,The Esthetic Apostle, and Cagibi.

 

 

“Like”, “Share”, and comment on this poem to nominate it for the Annual Swimming with Elephants Publications 2019 Anthology.

Click here check out Parade: Swimming with Elephants Publications Anthology 2018 available for only $7.95.

Weekly Write: “I Can’t Eat” by Christopher Edelen

On By awhitetrashpoetIn Sunday Poem, Weekly Write

I Can’t Eat

But mostly it’s the deafening roar of traffic, and us,
trading arpeggiated screams
or intolerable silences,
born of the bottom falling out.
We only wanted not to be alone.

Please, let’s not look too hard at this.
Because the highest question here is,
until when?
We’re biding time I’m making.
I’m making plans.

 

Christopher Edelen was born in Boston, MA, and currently lives in Los Angeles with his dog. Most recently his work has been featured in FORTH Magazine and, Harper Palate, and is forthcoming in The Helix Magazine, and Parhelion. Follow him on twitter at @EdelenAuthor.

 

 

“Like”, “Share”, and comment on this poem to nominate it for the Annual Swimming with Elephants Publications 2019 Anthology.

Click here check out Parade: Swimming with Elephants Publications Anthology 2018 available for only $7.95.

Weekly Write: “Monville” by Gabriel Jarman

On By awhitetrashpoetIn Sunday Poem, Weekly Write

Monville

Not alone, I am married to the revolution
we just have this schedule conflict
affection passes in a brilliant flash, a match struck in a power outage
while loneliness yawns and calls me back to bed
my official title is Steward, since I don’t just wash dishes
in this spirit I address the janitors as sanitation commandos
ils ne comprennent pas
my giant metal baby caught lime disease
curled up in the womb of the industrial dishwasher
scraping inelegantly like a back alley butcher
sous chef complains about Lamaze class with the girlfriend
how old would my kids be now?
I do not wish to remember anymore, this must be burnt out
slam me through the scalding love of the machine
where did I learn that pain is the cleanser?
my past intrudes upon my present cajoling me for something
no one else remembers
pushing me out, making me worry and worry and worry
I am a satellite with a misfiring thruster spinning out into the void
the universe, I find, is a sentient being that delights in making us eat our words
so laugh
work steadies me
after mopping I stand in the doorway, chin on the pommel
onion skin penumbras of my co-workers re-enact snippets of the day
empty workplace like a cathedral after mass
where echoes of holiness resound

 

Gabriel Jarman is a largely unpublished author who was born in Victoria, B.C. grew up in Fredericton, N.B. and now lives in Montreal, QC.

 

“Like” and “Share” this poem to nominate it for the Annual Swimming with Elephants Publications 2019 Anthology and click here check out Parade: Swimming with Elephants Publications Anthology 2018 available for only $7.95.

A list of our 2018 Publications (and links to buy)

On By awhitetrashpoetIn News

We had a busy year!

Swimming with Elephants Publications produced several books during 2018. Review this years publications and get your hands on them before we embark on our publications for 2019.

All our books are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, BookWorks Albuquerque, and can be ordered by Independent Bookstores around the world.

Parade: A Swimming with Elephants Publications Anthology 2018

Get your hands on Swimming with Elephants Publications 2018 Anthology, Parade, featuring the poetry of Kevin Barger, SaraEve Fermin, Wil Gibson, Jessica Helen Lopez, Matthew Brown, Maxine Peseke and so many more!

Only $7.95 and free shipping with Amazon Prime. Make great gifts and are a fine sampling of the poets Swimming with Elephants represents.

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La Diáspora de un Aztlán norteño:: MiChicanidad Creativity as Witnessed in Bilingual Ethno-Poetry and Photography 

“La Diáspora de un Aztlán norteño” details the unique ‘MiChicanidad’ experience of life on the border in Michigan. This is another definition of Aztlán, as seen on a Northern Border, this time between Canada and Southwest Detroit’s predominantly Mexican American neighborhood. Growth of this Spanish speaking barrio began in the earlier part of the 20th Century due to the rise of migrant labor and employment at factories. Later, the area prospered as those immigrants began to choose to stay. Their addition to the interpretation of life on the border, as well as the community’s vibrant nature, is unparalleled especially as it is defined through creativity.

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Rock Paper Scissors

“…this collection carries both the beauty of human resilience and the searing pain of postatomic burning carnage. The poetry, like hope, is an obstinate and sturdy survivor, for ‘what could i do but write songs.’ These verses often push the envelope, asking questions that make more sense than our grammar. ‘are you out there in the stealth night on the edge of blue? listening/ are you loving me for sending you this fix of heartbreak/ slid down metal, taut and wound. electric. are you?’…haunting, resonant odes and the rhythmic power of promises and truth, poems spread across Hiroshima and Barcelona, Laos and Albuquerque. These poems bring the world into a familial embrace, but spit out the naked power of truth, both personal and political, as if it were a well-chewed chicken bone, gnawed raw. Through it all, this mother-daughter poetic duo reminds us that, in the beauty of human hope, ‘nothing sacred can be lost.’”

-Carmen Tafolla, State Poet Laureate of Texas

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I Bloomed a Resistance From My Mouth

“Mercedez Holtry’s poetry speaks to the origin stories of her Chican@ and Mestiz@ people. It is a mixed bag of mixed blood and the celebratory songs of family, culture and the history of the la tierra that she has blossomed from. Her poems are resistance and resilience. She is a fierce page poet warrior who also casts her spells from the stage, as a true bruja does. Oppressors beware. Holtry mixes up curses, prayers and incantations with her poetic brew. This is a poet who uses her mas palabras for healing and retribution. Her collection de poesia es muy firme, a true reckoning of what is to come from a generation of woke poets who have much to say and aren’t afraid to say it. ”

-Jessica Helen Lopez, ABQ Poet Laureate, Emeritus and Author of the award winning book

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Pina Bausch

Originally written in french by Werner Lambersy, this short book serves as an homage to Pina Bausch, an extraordinary modern dancer. This English translation, by Jack Hirschman, serves as a continued remembrance to not only an amazing modern dancer but the poet whom she inspired.

 

 

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bliss in die/unbinging the underglow

“Bassam writes poems that feel like slow motion car crashes where, at every turn, you’re also reassured that it’s ok to feel like this, like even if nothing is going to be ok, there is strength to hold like a parking brake, like the axis of a planet. Bassam’s words are a gut punch, a pull to beating heart chest, a hand that holds yours in the bleak. One senses that the act of poetry for Bassam is truly one of survival. What a strength it takes to show our deepest insecurities, to not ask for forgiveness. To not be the hero of your own story. Bassam is a bright non binary voice. One that asks not for acceptance, but simply is, and tells the stories of body and mind that is so intimate and accessible to those of us who endlessly battle with our shapes, our selves. What a gift to give.”

—Charlie Petch, Spoken Word Artist, Playwright, Musician

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BEKIMI I NËNËS / A Mother’s Blessing 

Within these pages, entitled “Bekimi I Nënës, A Mother’s Blessing,” Jack Hirschman and Idlir Azizaj present a translation of Jusef Gërvalla’s poetry. This is the first time this collection, originally published by the Naim Frashëri Publishing House, in Tirana, Albania in 1983, is translated in the English Language. In 1983, a year after the original publication in his native Kosovo Albanian, Jusuf Gërvalla, his brother Bardhosh, and comrade Kadri Zeka were allegedly murdered by the Serbian secret service in their exile in Germany. Gërvalla was known as a journalist and a musician as well as a poet, novelist, and founder of the Marxist-Leninist group, the National Movement for the Liberation of Kosovo. For the first time, Jusuf Gërvalla’s poetry, including selections from his three books: They Fly and Fall, Green Stork, and Sacred Marks, can be shared by the english speaking population.

Unease at Rest

“Unease at Rest” is an ‘ugly butterfly’, anatomized. It is the death’s-head moth pinning itself under glass. Every poem is another marking on the insect’s back, resembling a human skull. Each one steadfastly reminds its author that it isn’t, in fact, a skull. But each feels about that heavy. In this grossly gorgeous collection, Gibson doesn’t wrestle or toss away the bones on his back. He quietly, humbly carries them. Wil doesn’t fly straight into the lantern’s yawning flame. He stares it down, he names it, and he reaches for it. He does so for us, sparing us the discomfort. And he does it with a steady and trained hand: imperfect palms stretched perfectly. The textual body of his poems, too, flex and fold this way. Every page a ‘soft, awkward, and most authentic’ wing. Wil reaches for the fire with such an ugly human grace, that it explains the ugly human light that swallows us too, by which we are lit from inside, to which we all are bound.”

– Bill Moran – author of “Oh God Get Out Get Out”

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Nail Gun and a Love Letter

This collection of poems alternately pierces the reader with astute and heartbreaking observations (Good Drums is a particularly devastating musing on white, male American-ness) while at the same time using evocative language to spar with and challenge the ideas of belonging and connection and love. These poems invite the reader to contemplate what it means to come from somewhere, and how it feels to long for a place that isn’t home, but could be. They invite us to see the mundane as essential, and to see and celebrate the things that connect us to our identity. The title of this collection is apt; like a nail gun, these poems violently pierce, but do so in service to building something sturdy and sheltering, and every one is a love letter to the dance that makes us who we are.

– Sherry Frost, Educator

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from below/denied the light

Out of Denver, Colorado, Paulie comes “from below” and rises to join our parade of writers. A two time National Poetry Slam finalist, Paulie Lipman is a loud Jewish Queer poet, performer, and writer. His work has appeared in the anthology ‘We Will Be Shelter’ (Write Bloody Publishing) as well as The Emerson Review, Drunk In A Midnight Choir, Voicemail Poems, pressure gauge, and Prisma (Zeitblatt Fur Text & Sprache).

 

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The Promethean Clock or Love Poems of a Wooden Boy 

“These poems are a way of telling you what I saw, at least the remnants of those things. My poems have codes in them. They have forms that have long since lost favor. They have rhyme schemes and syllabic structures of old and new places. They have formlessness that abides by current trends, but embraces none of them wholesale. They are, as Milton once wrote, poems that attempt to champion the unnamable and the indeterminable. Mine are the equations of empty sets and irrational numbers as much as they are of ritual and nostalgia. I have decided not to appease all critique. I am at rest, because the people I trust most have said that there is something in them, something of where I am from, what became of my home, and what is becoming in the world. And for the first time in a long time I’m not ashamed of my part in this story. With all that I am, let these poems be a part of my apology to the world and to my beloveds, an apology for each moment as it passes to the next…”

~from the preface

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Student Anthologies

 

Tiempo/Oolkil – Now is the Time: Voces Summer Writing Institute Anthology 2018

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Eye of the Eagle 2018: Native American Community Academy

Are you ready for the Weekly Write?

On By awhitetrashpoetIn Weekly Write

Starting next Sunday, January 6 2019, follow this site for a new featured work of writing every week.

The Weekly Write will post a variety of poetry and prose. Each week, read our new addition and if you like it and share it, it may be featured in the 2019 Swimming with Elephants Print Anthology.

The twenty pieces with the most “likes” and “shares” get a spot in our 2019 anthology, so don’t be shy about promoting the work you like, especially if it is your own work.

If you would like to learn more about our yearly anthology, click here to check out Parade: Swimming with Elephants Publications Anthology 2018 for the current low price of $7.95 plus free shipping through Amazon Prime. This collection features a variety of poetry from around the world and would make a great addition to any poetry lovers collection.

Tune in next Sunday and every following Sunday until October 2019, for the Weekly Write.

Get our 2018 Anthology for only $7.95

On By awhitetrashpoetIn News

Due to a successful fundraising event during the month of December, we are able to pass on our good fortune to our amazing readers.

For the month of January 2019, you can purchase our 2018 Anthology: Parade for only $7.95 plus free shipping through Amazon Prime. Click here to order today!

Our goal as a publisher of predominately poetry collections is to get the words of our writers into the hands of our readers, and what better way than to lower the price!

We have many new publications released during 2018, including chapbooks by Paulie Lipman, Bassam, and Manual Montoya,  and full length poetry collections by Wil Gibson, Mary & Aja Oishi, and Beau Williams. But this particular anthology contains work by all of them and many more. Get a wonderful sampling of what Swimming with Elephants Publications does and the work we produce and then find more books by these authors from us or other small presses.

Swimming with Elephants Publications Chapbook Open Call 2018 Has Closed

On By awhitetrashpoetIn Call for Submissions, News, Weekly Write

Swimming with Elephants Publications, LLC has closed submissions for our Chapbook open call in 2018.

We had a great submission experience with more than double the submissions of previous years. Our judges are working diligently to read all the of the wonderful manuscripts and make their decisions.

The three manuscripts chosen for publication in 2019 will be announced in January 2019. Please stay tuned and follow along for the announcement of our chosen manuscripts and up coming publication information.

We have an excited 2019 planned for Swimming with Elephants Publications, including the creation of the Weekly Write, new releases from our Parade of Poets (including Jessica Helen Lopez and SaraEve Fermin), and the continuation of our yearly anthology, Parade. We will once again run an Open Call for Chapbook is the fall of 2019, as well as be looking for future features for our Weekly Write and artwork submission. Keep an eye on the website for upcoming Submission Calls.

Currently, we are looking for Prose Submissions for an upcoming anthology focusing on Eating Disorders. If you have a story regarding Eating Disorders, whether it is a personal telling or an observation of another or even a commentary regarding the issue, please consider submitting it for the upcoming anthology. Find more information on our Submittable Page. Chosen submission receive publication, two contributor copies of the anthology, and the ability to purchase the anthology at publisher cost for the lifetime of the publication.

We are also seeking artwork for two upcoming publications in the Spring. We do not charge a submission fee for artwork and chosen artwork will be purchase from the artist. Please see our Submittable Page for more information on what we are looking for and how to submit.

New Release: La Diáspora de un Aztlán norteño: MiChicanidad Creativity as Witnessed in Bilingual Ethno-Poetry and Photography

On By awhitetrashpoetIn News, Publications, Shameless Self Promotion

Now Available from Swimming with Elephants Publications:

La Diáspora de un Aztlán norteño:

MiChicanidad Creativity as Witnessed in Bilingual Ethno-Poetry and Photography

Narrative by Dr. S.L. Rottschafer, Ph.D.
(The University of New Mexico and Aquinas College)
Photography by Mr. Daniel Combs

“La Diáspora de un Aztlán norteño” details the unique ‘MiChicanidad’ experience of life on the border in Michigan. This is another definition of Aztlán, as seen on a Northern Border, this time between Canada and Southwest Detroit’s predominantly Mexican American neighborhood. Growth of this Spanish speaking barrio began in the earlier part of the 20th Century due to the rise of migrant labor and employment at factories. Later, the area prospered as those immigrants began to choose to stay. Their addition to the interpretation of life on the border, as well as the community’s vibrant nature, is unparalleled especially as it is defined through creativity.

In addition to the scholarly research detailed above regarding La Diáspora de un Aztlán norteño, this project employs an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach. In Spring 2017, Dr. Rottschafer led an excursion to Detroit’s Southwest Mexicantown with some of her students.  This time Mexicantown was framed through the lens of her Latinx Literature course which also studied the diaspora of this area.  Specifically, Rottschafer introduced her students to the murals at the Eastern Market, TAP: The Alley Project, and Garage Cultural. Students then created bilingual ethno-poetry to reflect upon their experience of this intersectionality of Mexican and Mexican-American history and Visual Story through Art.

In Spring 2018, Dr. Rottschafer continued this study in her Chicanx Literature course. Referencing Levi Romero, New Mexico’s Centennial Poet and his text Sagrado: A Photopoetics Across the Chicano Homeland, students wrote poetry invoking a sense of place, a cultural fusion or clash, and their right to claim authenticity of belonging.

To culminate the project, Dr. Rottschafer returned to Detroit in June 2018 with her partner and photographer, Daniel Combs. His photographs of the Murals in the Market within the Eastern Market district, TAP: The Alley Project, and the Garage Cultural murals in Mexicantown create a Visual Story. The images accompany the scholarly research on the MiChicanidad experience, which in turn reflect the voice garnered in bilingual ethno-poetry of the MiChicana community.

Find this publication on Amazon or purchase directly from Dr. Rottschafer.

Swimming with Elephant Soiree THIS SATURDAY!

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Make your way down to Tortuga Gallery this Saturday to join us in celebrating five years of publishing under Swimming with Elephants Publications, LLC.

An size donation will get you in the door, but a minimum 5$ donation will get you a SwEP Swag bag.

We will have a limited supply of books for sale at the event. All available books will be priced at 10$ each or three for 20$. Bring cash or credit card (a 1$ service charge will be added for credit card purchases). If you want to be sure to have a certain book signed by one of our performing poets, you are encouraged to purchase it prior to the event and bring it along.

Many of our poets will also be bringing their personal crafts to sell at the event so come get some shopping done for the holidays.

Poetry Performers include:

Bassam, Emily Bjustrom, Matthew Brown, Courtney Butler, SaraEve Fermin, Kat Heatherington, Zachary Kluckman, Manuel Gonzalez, Sarita Sol Gonzalez, Jessica Helen Lopez, Kristian Macaron, Gina Marselle, Manuel Montoya, Mary Oishi, Liza Wolff Francis

Musical Guests:

Kai Ocean

Marion Carrillo

Bring Food!

This is a pot luck, bring your own beverage event (Yes, alcoholic beverages are okay, just be responsible).

Please attempt to bring reusable plates/cups etc. View Tortuga’s Zero Waste Goals for more information. 

Coming January 2019: The Weekly Write

On By awhitetrashpoetIn Weekly Write

The Weekly Write features a new piece of poetry or short prose every Sunday from January to October during 2019. The works with the most ‘likes,’ ‘shares,’ and ‘comments,’ at the end of November 2019 will be featured in the Swimming with Elephants 2019 Print Anthology due for release in December of 2019.

After the date of publication, each Weekly Writes has two weeks to earn as many ‘likes,’ ‘shares,’ and ‘comments’ as possible. So if you read something you like, share it and interact with it as much as possible. Both the SwEP staff and the author will be most appreciative.

An open call for submissions for the 2020 Weekly Writes and Anthology will begin in October 2019.

Coming Soon: The Weekly Write

On By awhitetrashpoetIn Weekly Write1 Comment

The Weekly Write features a new piece of poetry or short prose every Sunday from January to October during 2019. The works with the most ‘likes,’ ‘shares,’ and ‘comments,’ at the end of November 2019 will be featured in the Swimming with Elephants 2019 Print Anthology due for release in December of 2019.

After the date of publication, each Weekly Writes has two weeks to earn as many ‘likes,’ ‘shares,’ and ‘comments’ as possible. So if you read something you like, share it and interact with it as much as possible. Both the SwEP staff and the author will be most appreciative.

An open call for submissions for the 2020 Weekly Writes and Anthology will begin in October 2019.

Seeking Prose on the Subject of Eating Disorders

On By awhitetrashpoetIn Call for Submissions

Seeking Non-Fiction Prose for the second edition of the anthology Light as a Feather which focuses on eating disorders.

View Submittable Form here.

Assumptions about eating disorders have historically fallen upon the shoulders of feminine presenting individuals with white skin, typically suffering from anorexia. However, the reality is much more complex, touching on people from every race, creed, socio-economic background, gender identity, sexual orientation, with each person standing at different crossroads of privilege and marginalization. We still discuss eating disorders in hushed voices, with shame and confusion cracking our words. It is the intent of this publication to shed a little more light on this subject.

This is where YOU come in!

We want to know your story. You do not have to be a  professional writer to be considered for this work. We are looking specifically for nonfiction prose, with special consideration for humor, confessions, and memoir.

You can write about anything that comes to mind, as long as it is authentic to your experience. It doesn’t have to be “heavy” or overly serious, unless you want/need it to be; we are looking for raw, honest pieces and believe that you would contribute a deep and meaningful facet to the larger story of hope and resilience.

Also, different view points are welcome. Perhaps you have lived with a person experiencing an eating disorder and have a story to tell or maybe you are in the medical field and have an introspective on the disorder you would like to share.

To Submit:

  • All submissions will be done through Submittable. Find the form by clicking here.
  • Please submit 1-3 pieces of short prose (3000 words max).
  • Please title your work and edit to the best of your ability for stronger consideration.
  • Include a brief cover letter and bio in the space provided by Submittable.
  • Writers are encouraged to use their real names. However, pen names will be accepted. No submissions will be accepted under “Anonymous.”
  • Contributors will be given two contributor copies and the ability to purchase more copies at publisher cost.
  • All proceeds are donated to a non-profit TBD
  • We would love to broaden the view of eating disorders, so if you feel your story is unusual/atypical, it might be just want we are seeking.

The first edition of Light as a Feather was published in 2014. It’s described as- “With themes centered on eating disorders and mental health issues, many may hesitate to pick up this collection, expecting either a morose and somber compendium of struggle, or perhaps thinking there is nothing here they can relate to. They would be wrong on both counts. Light as a Feather is a potent and surprisingly gentle assemblage of voice and experience threaded together with a delicacy that almost belies the harsh, at times almost violent, brutality of body image, external perspectives and self doubt that go hand in hand with the issues being discussed.” For reference, please check out the first edition of Light as a Feather,available through all major bookstores/distributors. Click here to find it on Amazon.

Soon to be discontinued….

On By awhitetrashpoetIn News, Publications, Shameless Self Promotion

Every year, Swimming with Elephants Publications reviews our bookshelves for books which will be discontinued in the new year.  This year, we will announce two books, with discontinuation dates of December 15, 2018.

If you would like to get your hands on either of these fantastic publications, order today or pick up a copy at the Swimming with Elephants Soiree.

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CuntBombCover

Cunt. Bomb.

A Chapbook by Jessica Helen Lopez
Available at Amazon for $10.95.
Available at Bookworks ABQ  $10.00

A little from the foreword:

These precious jewels of epiphany continue to guide me as I uncover for myself women, gender-identified women and allies who advocate for equality, who fight against the oppression and pillage against women and of course who dive whole-heartedly into the vastness and mysterious complexity of unbridled sexuality. Yes, I love the cunt. Yes, I have one. And yes, I will continue to use the word because it is not disparaging but rather has been wrangled into submission for hundreds of years; only to be used against women and girls as a tool for abuse and means of brutal capitulation. For those who recoil at the thought of the title of this humble chapbook, I invite you to sit and listen/read for a bit. The poems included are but a small journey stitched together to create my life as a mother, daughter, sister, poet, and woman of color. Woman. Cunt.

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Light as a feather coverLight as a Feather

Available at Amazon for $12.95.

Hear what is being said about Light as a Feather:

“Light as a Feather transports readers into the bleak landscape experienced by so many of us who suffer from eating disorders and depression. We are swept into an exploration of bones clinking “like wind chimes,” “blubber like chain mail,” “nights so black,”and “making friends with bullets.” These poems are raw and revealing yet communicate hope through perseverance and love.”

Lucretia E. Penny Pence
Associate Professor of Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies

Today I ate“I ate today.” This simple statement, which opens the poem Falling, is the perfect embodiment of the simple necessity and stark power of the work contained in this collection. With themes centered on eating disorders and mental health issues, many may hesitate to pick up this collection, expecting either a morose and somber compendium of struggle, or perhaps thinking there is nothing here they can relate to. They would be wrong on both counts. Light as a Feather is a potent and surprisingly gentle assemblage of voice and experience threaded together with a delicacy that almost belies the harsh, at times almost violent, brutality of body image, external perspectives and self doubt that go hand in hand with the issues being discussed. The authors included herein have strewn themselves in vulnerable and fearless positions throughout these pages to speak truth, empathy and encouragement to anyone reading and frankly the result is an impressive, urgent and altogether timely message. Sometimes the simple act of feeding yourself makes you a lighthouse. There are shipwrecks within these pages, and for every one of them, there is a survivor hugging the coastline of their own body, holding a lifeline and refusing the sea’s invitation to determine their shape.

Zachary Kluckman
Author of Some of it is Muscle and Animals in Our Flesh

The writers in this collection range from poets who have published more than one book, to high school students just embarking on their writing careers, but they all write about these difficult subjects–depression, eating disorders–with passion and honesty. This book, which showcases human experience carefully crafted into poems, ends up being more uplifting than bleak, and reminds us that “everybody wears beauty exquisitely.” An important collection!

Lisa Chavez
Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico

In Search of Amazing Artwork

On By awhitetrashpoetIn Call for Submissions, News

Are you an artist who has interest in seeing your work pass through the hands of an audience all around the world? Do you want to get paid for your artistic creations?

Consider submitting your artwork to our open call. Currently, author and poet, Jessica Helen Lopez, is looking for artwork to represent the cover of her upcoming book. This publication will be a second and more complete edition of her best selling chapbook, Cunt.Bomb. However, as opposed to the stark, plainness of her first cover, she would like this one to be colorful, symbolic, and eye catching.

Do you think you have some artwork that would fit this collection? It could be brand new or something hidden in your archives? Let us take a look at your art!

For inspiration, grab a copy of the original Cunt.Bomb. or check out some of Jessica’s poetry on youtube.

Please submit your file in a JPEG or PNG format through our submittable account. You may submit as many different times as you like. Include a short cover letter to let us know what your goals are as an artist.

We are not seeking a full cover design but an image that can be place on a book cover. We are capable of editing and/or resizing the artwork as needed. Although if you are interested in creating the full cover, we can discuss that process at time of selection.

There is no fee to submit your artwork. The artwork chosen by the author will receive a commission plus publication.

If you would like more information, please send us an email.

CALLING ALL ARTISTS

On By awhitetrashpoetIn Call for Submissions, News

Hello Lovely Artists!

Swimming with Elephants Publications are in search of artwork for an upcoming book cover.

The book is about intersex and the author is seeking a design which is reflective of the two gendered/two faced alchemic design. (Find inspiration and get an idea of what we are looking for here: http://www.alchemywebsite.com/bookshop/Alchemical_hermaphrodite.html)

Please submit your file in a JPEG or PNG format through our submittable account. You may submit as many different times as you like. Include a short cover letter to let us know what your goals are as an artist.

We are not seeking a full cover design but an image that can be place on a book cover. We are capable of editing and/or resizing the artwork as needed. Although if you are interested in creating the full cover, we can discuss that process at time of selection.

There is no fee to submit your artwork. The artwork chosen by the author will receive a commission plus publication.

The Haps

On By awhitetrashpoetIn News

Save the Date: December 15, 2018

This December recognizes five years of publishing and we have a lot to celebrate: We have a new anthology, Parade, a new logo, SwEP Swag, a new commercial and a photo slideshow.

Join us for the festivities on December 15th at Tortuga Gallery from 6-9. We will incorporate music and poetry throughout the night beginning at 6pm and going until 9pm, with a toast at 7:30pm.

Any SwEP authors who would like to perform, please contact me. We really just want to have you there. You will be able to pick up your SwEP Swag and contributor copies of our anthology.

Keep your eyes on the website and facebook page for more information on our upcoming festivities.

 

Open Call for Chapbooks

Swimming with Elephants Publications, LLC (SwEP) is hosting a chapbook open call to find some fresh work and new voices from October 15-December 15, 2018.  Click here for more information.

From our submissions, our guest judges will choose three for publication. All three chosen publications will receive the same award of 25 author copies. All our publications include an ISBN, Swimming with Elephants Publications, LLC contract, and creative control over cover and production. For more information on what SwEP provides its authors or to see a general contract, please email us.

 

New Releases

 

Current Projects

Swimming with Elephants Publications, LLC currently has its hands full with various projects:

  • We are working diligently on the submission process for our Open Call for Chapbooks, creating a new edition of Light as a Feather, wrapping up two publications: Diaspora and Parade, planning our Anniversary party, and organizing and reading submissions for the Weekly Write 2019.

 

Support and Donations

There are many ways to support our authors: Purchase books from our poets, review books on websites and in print journals, see our poets perform when they come to a town near you, interact with our website and Facebook page, or send them compliments and applause.

Supporting our writers and events also helps support our press, but as a not for profit, growth can be difficult. Consider supporting our press by purchasing anthologies, donating through our website (via PayPal), or placing orders for multiple copies directly through us rather than a major book distributor. All our contact information is available on our website.

 

As always we encourage interaction with our website and Facebook page, as well as welcoming reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and other book review places. Please contact us with any questions or queries.

Why we charge a submission fee…

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Because we are not profitable and have no formal sponsorship, we charge a submission fee to pay for the production and distribution of our publications. This includes purchasing ISBNs, creating proofs and author copies, and various forms of promotion. There are many monthly charges for essential products such as Submittable, WordPress, Photoshop, and Microsoft office which are necessary for creating, formatting, and advertising our products.

Also, although we rely heavily on the volunteer work of our colleagues, we would like to pay our guest judges, artists, and book reviewers for their time, energy, and talent.

Our authors receive the full royalties of all book sales, aside from press created anthologies (Catching Calliope, Parade).

Our Editor in Chief and other prime administrators receive no financial reward for their time and skill spent creating our publications and events.

Want to help out?

Please buy our anthologies or make a tax deductible charitable donation through our Paypal button on the website to support the press. Support our individual authors by reading and sharing their work, reviewing their publications, and attending their events.

Swimming with Elephants Publications at the NM/AZ Book Awards

On By awhitetrashpoetIn News1 Comment

We are proud to announce that two of our publications are finalist in the 2018 NM/AZ Book Awards. 

Kat Heatherington’s collection, the bones of this land, winner of our 2017 chapbook competition, is a finalist in the category of best Arizona Poetry Collection.

Rock Paper Scissors, a collaboration between Mary Oishi and her daughter Aja Oishi, is a finalist in the category of New Mexico Poetry Collections.

Those of us at Swimming with Elephants Publications, LLC are thrilled and excited to represent these authors. We will be cheering them on at the award ceremony and wish them the best of luck in the competition.

Learn more about Kat Heatherington and her publications here.

Learn more about Mary & Aja Oishi’s collection here.

Please help support our poets by purchasing their collections. Please support our press by donating to our Paypal.

Keep your eyes peeled for our Five Year Anniversary Anthology Release Party, coming in December 2018.

All publications are available at all major book sellers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powell Books.