New Issue of Ghoti

The Winter issue of Ghoti just came out, with a few of my older poems in it. http://www.ghotimag.com.

Barnwood International now online

I just received word today my poems "Left Hand" and "For Federico Garcia Lorca", taken by Barnwood, are now available online at http://web.mac.com/tomkoontz/Site_26/Williams.html.

Anyone else tired from watching balls on CNN all night? They are one striking, fun, and down-to-earth couple that cut quite a remarkable image few will soon forget.

Southern Ocean Review

So sad to hear Southern Ocean Review has printed its final issue, no. 50. It's a fantastic international journal from New Zealand publishing unique work from across the globe since 1996, edited by Trevor Reeves. I was lucky enough and feel honored to be published in their last edition, now available online and in print. Link: http://www.arts.org.nz/jsw.htm.

Thank you, Trevor, and best wishes...

YES WE CAN!

On such a monumental moment, huddled with coworkers, clapping, some with tears welling up, I'm again struck that this is one of the first times in our generation the American and international public can be proud of our country. I truly feel for our new president. Not only are the difficulties handed down to him immense, but there's also this expectation in the air that no human can really achieve. We're expecting the world (literally) from him. Though he can only do so much, he has proved himself the perfect person to reach into all divides and lay waste to the faulty reasoning behind them. All my time in Europe has proved them expect as much. I try not to get too caught up in this belief in complete change. As much of this is in our hands as his. But if ever the time was right and if ever the right person was standing before us and if ever we've all been joined together to combat so many simultaneous struggles...it is now...and him...and it's hard not to think, perhaps, it will be our hands that will reshape our nation...

Cambridge Reading This Monday, 1/19

Just one day before this historic inauguration, which will keep us all glued to the television, I'll be reading at an open mic in Cambridge. Stone Soup poetry meets every Monday at Out of the Blue art gallery in Central Square. Open mic between 8-9pm. This past Saturday's reading went incredibly well. I got to meet Martha Collins, an award winning poet who pulled me aside to compliment me after my reading, which was a wonderful surprise. The Brockton group is a very warm gathering hosted by a Pushcart nominee. Hopefully this Monday will be as successful...

Et Cetera Et Cetera Et Cetera

Actually just one of the above. My poem "Et Cetera" has been accepted today by The Evansville Review. It will be displayed in Volume XIX, out later in the year.

Question: If the work one likes the best is oft rejected and those which took less effort and that seem less polished are more easily accepted, does that say something about the industry/poetry reading editors or public, or does it say something about the author's ability to judge his/her own work?

Regardless, The Evansville Review is a rather decent one. Might see it at Barnes & Noble soon...

A Must Read story

I just read an utterly unique and mesmerizing story in winter 2007/2008 Hayden's Ferry Review. Conviction by Ch'oe Such' ol, a Korean writer with 50 works published in his native land, though this is the first to be translated (why? How many versions of The Inferno do we need at the expense of fine literature left untranslated?) Somewhat Kafkaesque but dodging the oft-muddied trap of sounding like him, Conviction also dodges the increasingly-traditional form of magical realism, with a perfectly executed, non-chrononlogical storyline with no direct dialogue, as a middle-aged man with a physical fear of water tries to rid himself of this by living on an island, where he loses himself within himself, spiraling tensely yet undramatically, rather humanly, into oblivion. It vaguely reminded me of Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, though also Camus and Sartre. I loved it so much I contacted the translator after unsuccessfully researching the author. Apparently this is it in English, but it's very well worth the Review (or borrowing it from me).

I'm reading at Brockton Public Library this Sat. 1/17

There's a public reading series once a month at the Brockton Public Library, including workshop and readings. I'll be reading somewhere between 2-3pm.

Anyone interested or in need of a ride, let me know.

3 new publications!

Within a few weeks I've received three bits of good news.!

Barnwood International Poetry has accepted "Left Hand" and "For Federico Garcia Lorca" for publication. This will be my first official payment for poetry, so I'm very excited. I might have to cash the check and frame the dough. These poems are not online yet, but they will be within the next month or two. Barnwood's main website is: http://web.mac.com/tomkoontz/Site_3/Mag.html.

Seven Circles Press has accepted for both their print and online editions four poems: "Bonfires", "A Train to the Coast", "Those Washed By the Sea", "A Night’s Song for Lake Traunsee". Online they can be found at http://www.sevencirclepress.com/johnsibleywilliams.htm.

Finally, Ghoti has accepted two of my older, less mature and more non-traditional poems, odd selections indeed: "Autism" and "Upon Looking Up at Kahlo’s Unos Cuantos Piquetitos, She Just Hung Over Our Bed". They will be displayed in Issue 17 in January 2009 at http://www.ghotimag.com/.