I'm honored to find one of my new poems in this issue of Barnwood International, a journal I've enjoyed for years. The poem is part of my nearly-completed book, Controlled Hallucinations.
Click HERE to give it a read!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Barnwood International
I'm honored to find one of my new poems in this issue of Barnwood International, a journal I've enjoyed for years. The poem is part of my nearly-completed book, Controlled Hallucinations.
Click HERE to give it a read!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
First review of my chapbook: The Longest Compass
By Paul Merchant- poet, translator, professor, William Stafford archivist
Donald Rumsfeld was frustrated by the "old Europe," where history is made gradually rather than in haste. By contrast, John Sibley Williams has gathered in The Longest Compass a sequence of poems celebrating those mature cultures. Moving from Vienna and Prague to Turkey and Greece, these subtle, perceptive poems enact a journey into a hard-won appreciation. They move from the bewilderment of "flowers without names" and "the wilderness below the surface" to gracious acceptance in the final poem, "Foreigner": "Comfort me, ignorance. / All these tongues / detach, reunite, / roll me in their mouth."
The early poems in this collection are illuminated by love for the poet's companion, and by the end we see the same love expressed in particulars: "Imagine mastering a landscape, even a single stairway." This poet has a tender heart, and can turn a memorable phrase. "Why fret the vastness of the world?" he says in the prefatory poem, in which "the world / fits snugly an eye socket, / is the size of the last dime / in your pocket / you've been saving / to quench your thirst." These poems have traveled a long way, and come to us loaded with experience. The Longest Compass is full of fresh and novel poems that unpack old secrets.
- - - - - - -
The Longest Compass is due out later in 2011 by Finishing Line Press.
Donald Rumsfeld was frustrated by the "old Europe," where history is made gradually rather than in haste. By contrast, John Sibley Williams has gathered in The Longest Compass a sequence of poems celebrating those mature cultures. Moving from Vienna and Prague to Turkey and Greece, these subtle, perceptive poems enact a journey into a hard-won appreciation. They move from the bewilderment of "flowers without names" and "the wilderness below the surface" to gracious acceptance in the final poem, "Foreigner": "Comfort me, ignorance. / All these tongues / detach, reunite, / roll me in their mouth."
The early poems in this collection are illuminated by love for the poet's companion, and by the end we see the same love expressed in particulars: "Imagine mastering a landscape, even a single stairway." This poet has a tender heart, and can turn a memorable phrase. "Why fret the vastness of the world?" he says in the prefatory poem, in which "the world / fits snugly an eye socket, / is the size of the last dime / in your pocket / you've been saving / to quench your thirst." These poems have traveled a long way, and come to us loaded with experience. The Longest Compass is full of fresh and novel poems that unpack old secrets.
- - - - - - -
The Longest Compass is due out later in 2011 by Finishing Line Press.
Monday, April 25, 2011
John Sibley Williams: Agent & Publicist
Dear fellor writers and friends,
To help support emerging and established poets and writers, especially those in our shared local community, I have set up a marketing and publicity agency geared toward those who want to ensure that their work reaches the largest possible audience, that their manuscript find publication, and that they have time to simply write without the burden of everything else involved in the publishing process.
More information can be found at www.johnsibleywilliams.wordpress.com.
Warmly,
John Sibley Williams
Bio:
John Sibley Williams is a poet and agent/publicist residing in Portland, OR. He has two Master’s Degrees (Creative Writing and Book Publishing) and has served as Acquisitions Manager of Ooligan Press and freelance agent/publicist for Three Muses Press, Carpe Articulum Literary Review, HoboEye, and individual authors. John has also worked with organizations, such as the Regional Arts and Culture Council.
His poetry was nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Prize and won the 2011 Heart Poetry Award. His chapbooks include A Pure River (The Last Automat Press, 2010), Door, Door (Red Ochre Press, 2011), From Colder Climates (Folded Word, forthcoming), The Longest Compass (Finishing Line Press, forthcoming), and The Art of Raining (The Knives Forks and Spoons Press, forthcoming). Some of his over 200 previous or upcoming publications include: The Evansville Review, RHINO, Rosebud, Ellipsis, Flint Hills Review, and Poetry Quarterly. John cofounded the Inflectionist poetry movement and works with the Moonlit Poetry Caravan critique group. He frequently performs his poetry and hosts discussions and workshops. His schedule is listed on his site, The Art of Raining.com.
To help support emerging and established poets and writers, especially those in our shared local community, I have set up a marketing and publicity agency geared toward those who want to ensure that their work reaches the largest possible audience, that their manuscript find publication, and that they have time to simply write without the burden of everything else involved in the publishing process.
More information can be found at www.johnsibleywilliams.wordpress.com.
Warmly,
John Sibley Williams
Bio:
John Sibley Williams is a poet and agent/publicist residing in Portland, OR. He has two Master’s Degrees (Creative Writing and Book Publishing) and has served as Acquisitions Manager of Ooligan Press and freelance agent/publicist for Three Muses Press, Carpe Articulum Literary Review, HoboEye, and individual authors. John has also worked with organizations, such as the Regional Arts and Culture Council.
His poetry was nominated for the 2009 Pushcart Prize and won the 2011 Heart Poetry Award. His chapbooks include A Pure River (The Last Automat Press, 2010), Door, Door (Red Ochre Press, 2011), From Colder Climates (Folded Word, forthcoming), The Longest Compass (Finishing Line Press, forthcoming), and The Art of Raining (The Knives Forks and Spoons Press, forthcoming). Some of his over 200 previous or upcoming publications include: The Evansville Review, RHINO, Rosebud, Ellipsis, Flint Hills Review, and Poetry Quarterly. John cofounded the Inflectionist poetry movement and works with the Moonlit Poetry Caravan critique group. He frequently performs his poetry and hosts discussions and workshops. His schedule is listed on his site, The Art of Raining.com.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Poets and Artists!
Poets and Artists has just published two of my poems with accompanying audio recordings on their online journal.
Click HERE to give them a read and listen! They're listed on the right sidebar.
Click HERE to give them a read and listen! They're listed on the right sidebar.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The Delinquent- Issue 14
Issue 14 of The Delinquent, a UK-based publisher of short stories and poetry, is now available for purchase as a $1.50 download or $5 print edition! It's an attractive, 118 page book, containing two of my poems.
CLICK HERE to give it a read!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
The Trouble With Resonance XIX
I recently rediscovered a chapbook manuscript I was working on a year or two ago, tweaked and edited it, and began submitting portions of it this morning to various journals. The book is titled "The Trouble With Resonance" and is a very experimental work based on human attempts to approach the mathematically-impossible concept of squaring a circle and realizing in architecture and art nature's Golden Ratio. Definitions of these are below.
Good news? Within a few hours, Calliope Nerve accepted and published the last poem in the collection, Section XIX. CLICK HERE to give it a read!
Squaring a circle: Ancient geometers have proved impossible the task of precisely converting the area of a circle into a square in a finite number of steps with a compass and straightedge. As pi is a transcendental number, squaring is doomed to non-perfect accuracy, though man will never cease his attempts.
Golden Ratio: Two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger one is the same as the ratio between the larger one and the smaller. In mathematics, it is the best known irrational constant. In the arts, this proportion is historically considered harmonious and aesthetically pleasing, spurring entire artistic and scientific movements.
Good news? Within a few hours, Calliope Nerve accepted and published the last poem in the collection, Section XIX. CLICK HERE to give it a read!
Squaring a circle: Ancient geometers have proved impossible the task of precisely converting the area of a circle into a square in a finite number of steps with a compass and straightedge. As pi is a transcendental number, squaring is doomed to non-perfect accuracy, though man will never cease his attempts.
Golden Ratio: Two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger one is the same as the ratio between the larger one and the smaller. In mathematics, it is the best known irrational constant. In the arts, this proportion is historically considered harmonious and aesthetically pleasing, spurring entire artistic and scientific movements.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Psychic Meatloaf Issue 3 out now!
Issue 3 of Psychic Meatloaf is now available! I'm honored that it contains two of my poems. Similarly, I had work published in Issue 2, and the poetry in this journal is often quite striking and the voices unique. I'd suggest picking one up, and certainly not just for my work!
CLICK HERE to order a copy!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
BluePrint
When BluePrintReview editor, Dorothee Lang, discovered that two pairs of Issue 27 collaborators (Farfel Lombard with Rosemary Lombard and Staci Cole and I) lived in the Portland, Oregon, area and that Rosemary and I were friends, she suggested we blog about it. In fact, I was recently honored to present a discussion on my poetry process to Last Monday Poetry, which Rosemary co-directs.
Both Rosemary and I got the idea to submit from a mutual friend, Anatoly Molotkov (fine poet, novelist, musician, artist), when he posted the journal information on Facebook. If, back at submittal time we had mentioned sending our work to BluePrintReview, we wouldn't have been so surprised when it converged in a journal on the other side of the far ocean.
----------
Process:
The artwork for “Overtures” had already been completed by Staci Cole. When I saw the piece, I felt an immediate emotional resonance and also believed there was a story hidden within it— the ambiguity of poetry and concreteness of fiction. I set out to compose a poem wholly within my own style, using my own tropes, that both matched the mood of the piece and provided it with a literary context.
We have used this process on another work together and hope to eventually build a hybrid chapbook series of art/poem conversations similar to “Overtures”. Staci is also working on the cover art for my upcoming chapbook, The Longest Compass, due out late 2011/early 2012 by Finishing Line Press.
Both Rosemary and I got the idea to submit from a mutual friend, Anatoly Molotkov (fine poet, novelist, musician, artist), when he posted the journal information on Facebook. If, back at submittal time we had mentioned sending our work to BluePrintReview, we wouldn't have been so surprised when it converged in a journal on the other side of the far ocean.
----------
Process:
The artwork for “Overtures” had already been completed by Staci Cole. When I saw the piece, I felt an immediate emotional resonance and also believed there was a story hidden within it— the ambiguity of poetry and concreteness of fiction. I set out to compose a poem wholly within my own style, using my own tropes, that both matched the mood of the piece and provided it with a literary context.
We have used this process on another work together and hope to eventually build a hybrid chapbook series of art/poem conversations similar to “Overtures”. Staci is also working on the cover art for my upcoming chapbook, The Longest Compass, due out late 2011/early 2012 by Finishing Line Press.
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