Tag: poems

New York Glamour Magazine – Interview with Gabriela Marie Milton – Hidden in Childhood: A Poetry Anthology

Dear Readers,

I am delighted to be featured in New York Glamour Magazine the third time. I was asked to first speak about myself and then about the anthology Hidden in Childhood [Literary Revelations, 2023]. I am grateful to everyone who spread the word about this stunning anthology. I am grateful to everyone who bought it. I am proud to have brought together the voices of 150 poets to speak to you in more than 270 poems about the trauma and the joy of childhood. Hidden in Childhood is a stunning and important book. It became a #1 Amazon bestseller for 5 days after its release. Yesterday it recaptured its #1 place for the entire day.

You can get the anthology and read the poetry of those stunning writers HERE.

Apologies if I did not return some of your love. I will visit with you as soon as can. None of you knows that I have an extremely rare autoimmune condition. It is so rare that it’s basically understudied. There is no treatment for it. For years it left me alone. Now, I am going through a flare up. All medical tests were done, and there is no damage to any of my internal tissues. I am ok but I will need time to recover. Please be patient with me and I will visit your sites soon.

Now let’s go back to happier things. I am thrilled I was asked by New York Glamour Magazine to talk about me. However I am beyond delighted I could talk about Hidden in Childhood and your marvelous poetry.

Here are some snippets from the interview:

“Yes, I am an American, but I am also a child of Europe. I have been fascinated, mesmerized, frightened, brought to tears, left speechless by the greatest writers of Europe. I still am. Later, I discovered America’s greatest: Sylvia Plath, Toni Morrison, Faulkner, Hemingway, Miller, Poe. Yet, in my darkest moments – like those rare moments in which I cannot write – only the writings of Lawrence Durrell bring my muse back.”

“Hidden in Childhood: A Poetry Anthology is our first publication. It comprises over 150 authors and more than 270 poems. It is available on Amazon and for almost 5 days was the #1 Amazon Hot New Release in Poetry Anthologies. As the editor, curator, and publisher of this book, I am honored and humbled that so many poets entrusted me with their work.  The beauty and the power of the poems included in Hidden in Childhood brought me to tears. The poems of the contributors are stunners. As I wrote in the foreword of the book, if you open the pages of this poetry collection, you will be mesmerized by the talent of the contributors, and by the range of stylistic approaches they use to recreate the world of childhood“

Please read the entire interview here:

Gabriela Marie Milton – “Hidden in Childhood: A Poetry Anthology.”

Thank you!

Gabriela Marie Milton
2022 Pushcart Prize Nominee
Publisher, Editor, Award Winning & #1 Amazon Bestselling Author
Books:

Hidden in Childhood: A Poetry Anthology (ed.), Literary Revelations, 2023
Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women (ed.), Experiments in Fiction, 2022.
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow :I Love Poems and Poetic Prose, Vita Brevis Press, 2021.
Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings, Vita Brevis Press, 2020

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Literary Revelations Publishing House: updates and more #poem #poetry #publishing

Literary Revelations Publishing House- Updates

Dear Readers,

I am thrilled to remind you that Literary Revelations will open its website in early November. Please read more about us and our mission Here.

Our Motto:

“Audentis Fortuna iuvat.” Fortune Favors the Bold.
Literary Revelations favors the bold and the talented.

We will open with a call for submissions to a poetry anthology, and a very exciting interview.

Are you ready to explore your childhood and tell us what you see there? Are you ready to bring us the magic, the joy, and perhaps the pain of your childhood? Our anthology will be entitled Hidden in Childhood.

This is not a book for children. This is a book for adults. We expect you to tell us how the experiences of your childhood formed you. We will be ready to listen to you. We will be more than proud to publish your poetry. To inspire you we have chosen three quotes:

As a small child, I felt in my heart two contradictory feelings, the horror of life and the ecstasy of life.
― Charles Baudelaire

For in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be.
― John Connolly, The Book of Lost Things

The child, in love with prints and maps,
Holds the whole world in his vast appetite.
How large the earth is under the lamplight!
But in the eyes of memory, how the world is cramped!
― Charles Baudelaire

More information about the anthology and how to submit will be available on the website of Literary Revelations in the beginning of November.

Meantime if you have any questions please let me know in the comments below.

More Updates:

I am very pound I have several poems included in two anthologies.

On October 10, 2022 Vita Brevis Press lunched its forth anthology entitled: What is All This Sweet Work?: A Poetry Anthology About Love and Loss. The book is a stunning collection of poetry edited and curated by Brian Geiger. I am deeply grateful to Brian for including my work in this anthology.

On June 25, 2022 Meghan Dargue launched FromOneLine Volume 3, a superb book of poetry and flash fiction. My thanks to Meg for including me.

Best Wishes

Gabriela Marie Milton
Pushcart Prize Nominee
#1 Amazon Bestselling Author
Books:
Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women (ed.), Experiments in Fiction, 2022.
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow :I Love Poems and Poetic Prose, Vita Brevis Press, 2021.
Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings, Vita Brevis Press, 2020

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New York Glamour Magazine – Interview with Gabriela Marie Milton – Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women

Book cover Experiments in Fiction, artwork Nick Reeves

Dear Readers,

I am delighted to be featured in New York Glamour Magazine the second time. The interview is mostly about Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women, an anthology so dear to many.

Again my deepest thanks to our publisher Ingrid Wilson, Experiments in Fiction, and to Nick Reeves whose art is on the cover.

Here are a few snippets from my interview:

“I am ecstatic that the book was for 9 days a #1 Amazon Bestseller [category: poetry anthologies].”

“The book is a memorable collection of over 200 poems by more than 100 authors.
It’s a must-have because we all can benefit from the poetry of survival,
and of healing. We all can benefit from the experiences so strongly evoked in this
book. We all can come together to emerge triumphant from pain. We all need to
understand that equity among sexes will lead to the creation of social, economic,
and political structures far more suited to respond to the challenges of the future.”

You can read the entire interview in the link below.

Gabriela Marie Milton – “We need to fight for our beliefs. I fight every day…”

Have a beautiful summer everyone.

Gabriela Marie Milton
#1 Amazon Bestselling Author
Books:
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow :I Love Poems and Poetic Prose
Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings

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Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women is a #1 Amazon Bestseller #poetry #poems

Dear Readers,

Yesterday, June 17 2022, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women became a #1 Amazon bestseller! As your editor and curator and am deeply honored and excited. So are your publisher, Ingrid Wilson, and I suspect all authors who know about.

Does it say #1 and #2 in New Releases in Poetry Anthologies? That is because both editions of Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women the kindle edition, and the paperback were #1. However, you cannot have #1 twice in Hot New Releases, so we ended up #1 and #2. Taken separately you could see both editions were running #1.

I cannot tell you how much that means to me. It humbles me and it fills my heart with joy.

Yesterday evening we were #1 in Women’s Poetry category too.

Let’s keep this book a #1 bestseller for a while. Women’s lives are important. Let’s show everyone we believe that. Let’s walk the walk.

Please spread the word!

Always grateful to you.

Gabriela

Gabriela Marie Milton
#1 Amazon Bestselling Author
Books:
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow :I Love Poems and Poetic Prose
Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings

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Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women scheduled to be released on June 18, 2022

Art by Nick Revees

Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women scheduled to be released on June 18, 2022

Dear Readers,

I am delighted to announce that Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women is scheduled to be released on June 18, 2022.

It has been an honor and a pleasure to edit and curate this anthology. Every day I hear women speaking about the adversities they face. Every day I see most of them triumphing. To read the unbelievable poetry of women and men who understand how many obstacles need to be overcome in a society that is still patriarchal brought me to tears. Thank you for submitting your incredible poetry to this anthology. Thank you for opening your hearts.

Below is the description of the anthology as it will appear on Amazon.

Award-winning authors, Pushcart nominees, emerging poets, voices of women and men, come to the fore in this stunning, powerful, and unique anthology. Their poems testify to the challenges that women face in our society, and to their power to overcome them. A memorable collection of over 200 poems by more than 100 authors, this anthology is a must-have for anyone. We all can benefit from the poetry of survival, and of healing. We all can benefit from the experiences so beautifully evoked in this book. We can all come together to emerge triumphant from pain.

This anthology has been a team effort. Many thanks to Ingrid Wilson at Experiments in Fiction for agreeing to publish this book. Ingrid, you work relentlessly and you are a wonderful poet. Many thanks to Nick Reeves for his wonderful art and for his proofreading expertise. My deepest gratitude to everyone who spread the word about this anthology. Thank you to those of you who joined our Twitter Space.

On June 18, the day of the release, we will have a launch party via Zoom. Contributors are invited to read their poems. An email with more info will go out soon.

The event will be live-streamed via social media, so anyone will have a chance to hear poems from the anthology read by the poets themselves. For further updates check my blog, Ingrid’s, and the following social media accounts:

Twitter:
@shortprose1 (Gabriela Marie Milton)
@Experimentsinfc (Ingrid Wilson)

Instagram:
@experimentsinfiction (Ingrid Wilson)
@gabriela_marie_milton

Have a glorious rest of the week.

Gabriela Marie Milton
#1 Amazon Bestselling Author
Books:
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow :I Love Poems and Poetic Prose
Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings

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Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women #Cover Reveal #Poetry Anthology

Cover Design/ArtWork @2022 Experiments in Fiction/ Nick Reeves

Dear All,

Thank you for your submissions to the anthology Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women. I am privileged and honored to be your editor. Your poems and your talent brought me to tears.

Thank you to our publisher Ingrid Wilson, and to Nick Reeves for the beautiful cover book. I am thrilled to work with Ingrid on this anthology.

Submissions are open until April 15. You can read the submissions guidelines here and find more info here.

You will receive a notification of acceptance or rejection in the beginning of May.

Thank you again for your submissions.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone.

Gabriela Marie Milton
#1 Amazon Bestseller Author
Books:
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow :I Love Poems and Poetic Prose
Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings

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Dear Mama: An Immigrant’s Secret Cry by Shailja Sharma – Preface by Gabriela Marie Milton

“Dear Mama: An Immigrant’s Secret Cry” author Shailja Sharma, published by Pittsburgh-based Setu Publications, a merit-based, peer-reviewed publisher with a preface by Gabriela Marie Milton.

When Shailja sent me the manuscript of her book and asked me to write a preface I was sure I was not going to do it. I had too much work to do: too much research, too many responsibilities, too many hours helping various communities, including the poetry community. I definitely was not going to do it. That was valid before I opened the manuscript. The moment I opened it I could not put it down.

First, here is Shailja talking about her book:

“Dear Mama: An Immigrant’s Secret Cry” is a secret tear flowing from an immigrant’s heart. It’s the tear that is hidden from mama for many years while settling in a land away from home. It feels better when it finally flows. These poems depict lacks and memories, struggles and hardships, as well as hopes, promises, potential, and empowerment. Some of these pieces were recently published world-wide. Due to an excellent readership, the author was compelled to extend and compile this book.”

Below is my preface and the Amazon link where you can find the book.

In 2017, Jessica Traynor, wrote an opinion piece in The Irish Times entitled “James Joyce, the emigrant who left Dublin in body but not in mind.” The theme of immigration has been a constant presence in world literature. Most recently, contemporary novels such as Julie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic, and Cristina Henriquez’s The Book of Unknown Americans excellently depict the challenges and struggles of immigrants.

Shailja Sharma (Ph.D.), a psychologist practicing in the USA, steps on the same roads with her beautiful poetry volume entitled Dear Mama: An Immigrant’s Secret Cry. The book reflects the trauma immigrants endure when settling in new lands. The opening poem screams alienation: “I missed telling you how much I missed you.”

In order for the new life to keep as least a semblance of past – a past where the familiar lies – the author tries to reproduce in her place of settlement Indian customs. Lines like: Hold your Deepak/Flaunt the sari, are representative. Shailja decries the lack of free-play, discrimination, prejudice, and longs for the smoothness and protection that once she felt at home.

Dear Mama: An Immigrant’s Secret Cry, stands apart not only because of the theme the author addresses – immigration being a major subject in multiple societies these days – but also by the power of its astonishing verse, the talent of its author, and the empowerment the author offers. In the pages of this book the reader will find poetry at its best. Shailja Sharma’s verses are the mirror in which immigrants can find themselves and, equally, the highest expression of poetic endeavor.

Here is a snippet from the book

There used to be a wall
with a hook that anchored
my belongings. Some wet memories
have pickled over the years.
It’s raining and my feet are
running to the backyard to
save grandmother’s pickle jars.
I know it’s too late, but I continue to
stand in prickly rain drops. My
wounds are wet and I am shivering.
I am crying for the concrete floor, on which,
sat a folded towel holding her
steaming pressure-cooker.
I have lost that floor…

You can find the book on Amazon HERE:

A Gentle Reminder – Please do not forget to submit to the anthology Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women.

You can find the call for submissions HERE. Please follow the guidelines for submissions. Poetry that does not follow the guidelines will not be taken in consideration.

Thank you.
Have a great weekend everyone.

Gabriela Marie Milton
#1 Amazon Bestseller Author
Books:
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow :I Love Poems and Poetic Prose
Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings

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The Winners of The Poetry Contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose

My Dear Readers,

The Judges have spoken. Here are the winners of the Poetry Contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose. Congratulations to those who won prizes and to those who won Honorable Mentions. Your poems are fabulous. I am beyond grateful you entered the contest. In my heart you are all winners. Thank you!

This post features only the poems of the winners.

My Friday post will feature the poems of those who received Honorable Mentions.

The Winners of The Poetry Contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose are:

First Place
Virginia Mateias

Second Place
Ingrid Wilson
Eric Daniel Clarke

Third place
D. Wallace Peach
Timothy Price

Honorable Mentions [in no particular order]

Joni Caggiano
Cindy Georgakas
Jeff Flesch
Karima Hoisan
Carrie Yang

The Poems of the Winners:

Virginia Mateias, Crystals from the absurd
[Inspired by Moonlight love]

author’s site

I couldn’t see the dawn.
The bed was too far away
from the sky.
Fallen angels
had covered the window with forlorn crystals
absurdly beautiful.
Out of them
our own feelings
were watching us askance.

The air was talking to me somewhere:
Wait, he’ll be coming!
But, you see,
your arm locked me in
like an arch
and I fell asleep
to the earth’s heavy core.

I couldn’t see the dawn.
In the murky moonlight
fallen angels crystallized in silence
are keeping vigil.
Only the razor-smile
of the Seller of Time
taunts me from crystals.
It is always midnight now.

Ingrid Wilson, Event Horizon 
[Inspired by You in Other Life]

author’s site

In another life
we were lovers:
don’t you feel it?
Somewhere beyond the limits of the sea

we set sail hard for the horizon,
hard to tell if we should sink or fall
over the precipice
for sure, we fell

past the event horizon
infatuated light
obliterated
in the black hole of each other’s lover’s eyes

annihilated, sucked in, then spat out
into another world
another life
where we were lovers:
don’t you remember?

Eric Daniel Clarke, Somewhere Stations
[Inspired by The Train to Vienna]

author’s site

Night train to Verona,
somewhere, stations,
border crossings, awake,
shadow form, arrival.

By road, Lake Garda,
old walls, Sirmione,
gelato, street walking,
poolside, English tea.

Took to water, Malcesine,
close-packed, cable sway,
Monte Baldo, chilled view,
ant-like British queue. 

First class, rail to Venice,
memories, prior arrival,
duckboards, rain walking,
sweat-soaked crowds today.

Retrace, platformed faces,
Paris, twilight until morning,
steep-stepped, Sacre Coeur,
vows in silence, understood. 

D. Wallace Peach, Eclipsed
[Inspired by The Moon and I]

author’s site

The moon and I trade glances beneath the light of ages
reflections of our phases, we traverse boundaries of shadow
the birth and death of stars adorns our voyage
my course uncharted on a shoreless sea.

She is the sand-dollar storyteller of sirens and undertows
hidden caves beneath blooms of coral, troves of stolen gold
a moon-faced child unblemished by the salt of tears she weaves
tales of faithfulness sung to the sea’s rhythmic strum.

A seductress, she trades in the caress of madness and liquid kisses
when a timorous heart flares and passion burns by torchlight
skin and wings consumed, I surrender to the mariner’s lure
drown in the tide’s curling crush and gull’s lonesome cry.

She is the gibbous years, molding castles of compromise
sand towers dripping through faults in cupped hands
I comb the half-moon beach for luminous abalone
craft a chime of common jingle shells, all that I find.

She is the windborne balloon of my daughter’s dream awakening
a boy fishes upon the crescent of her smile
sea-smoothed glass tumbles at their feet for sorting, for choosing
for all my devotion, iron ships founder like paper-sailed toys.

She whispers a harmony of waxing and waning
an old crone’s serenade in her waves’ refrain
when sea thrift and violets yield petals to sheer bluffs
she chants from the conch cupped to my ear:

You are the nautilus spinning outward
eternal feminine on a string of pearls
iridescent ’til the sun succumbs to midnight deep
when a silken wind sweeps over lunar dunes
erasing your footprints
rolls you into darkness
eclipsed.

Timothy Price, One Side Sacred The Other Side Profane
[inspired by Between Sacred and Profane]

author’s site

Quicksilver shimmers, dances — it’s mesmerizing, mad
Stealthily slithered made its way slowly to the bay
Dumped in fact for many years
A disease so mysterious, unexplained
One side sacred. The other side profane

Shoulders bare in her bath of darkened waters stilled
Quicksilver’s spawn crippled lies in darkness no free will
Mother cuddles her loved, her badly damaged daughter
A mystery in her mother’s arms distorted from the pain
Industry is sacred, her life made profane

A man of vision documented, published all the strife
For his efforts he was beaten to within inches of his life 
Trying to enlighten the world he gave up his sight
He died for the cause, was his martyrdom in vain?
Jobs are sacred, his life’s end profane

Thousands fell from Quicksilver’s seeds inside their mothers’ wombs
Those children grew up oh so numb, fell blinded, deaf and dumb
Ostracized, outcasts convulsing from their awful curse
It was “cat dance fever” so many said that made them go insane
Society is Sacred. Their lives were profane

Announcements:

  1. To all winners: please send your PayPal accounts to shortprose12@gmail.com. Vita Brevis Press will disburse the prizes from my royalties no later than the end of the week.
  2. The selection of the winners was a very difficult task. My deepest thanks to the judges.
  3. Please remember to help our literary community and buy a book or two. If you do so please save this post and leave in the comment area the Amazon link of the book(s) you bought.
  4. The Honorable Mention poems will post on Friday. Please read my Friday post. The poetry of those who received Honorable Mentions is also stunning.
  5. Next Tuesday I will announce another initiative to help our community strive more.
  6. Please do not forget to visit MasticadoresUsa.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

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The Finalists of the Poetry Contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose

Finalists of the Poetry Contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose

My Dear Readers,

Congratulations to the 13 finalists of the poetry contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose!

I am thrilled to present you with their names, the titles of their poems, and the title of the poems from Woman: Splendor and Sorrow : | Love Poems and Poetic Prose that inspired them. The finalists are listed in no particular order.

Ingrid Wilson, Event Horizon, inspired by the poem You in Another Life.


Eric Daniel Clarke, Somewhere Stations, inspired by The Train to Vienna.


Cindy Georgakas, Chance Meeting, inspired by Self-Indulgence.


Virginia Mateias, Crystals from the absurd, inspired by Moonlight love.


D. Wallace Peach, Eclipsed, inspired by The moon and I.


Joni Caggiano, You Were The Best of Us, inspired by The child to be.


Jeff Flesch, and… love… is seen, inspired by And.. love…


Karima Hoisan, The Stars of Wadi Rum, inspired by Sahara.


Carrie Yang, Yellow, inspired by Yellow.


Vipul Vij, Hues of Emotions, inspired by September Tango.


Timothy Price, One Side Sacred The Other Side Profane, inspired by Between Sacred and Profane.


Jaya Avendel, I met you before, inspired by The Orphic Egg.


Eunice Aformanor, Let your heart …, inspired by Daughter of this Earth.

Thank you to everyone who enter the contest. It was no easy task for the reviewers to come up with 13 finalists. Yet, they did. The next stage in the process is for the reviewers to select the winners. I will feature all poems on my blog after the winners are announced and their work is featured.

As a reminder here is how the selection of the winners is done:

The selection method is similar to that of a double-blind peer review: the reviewer doesn’t know the identity of the author, and vice-versa.

To achieve that the following steps were taken:

  • Create a master document with all submissions. Remove the name of the authors and replace them with numbers.
  • Create a second document with the name of the authors and their assigned numbers.
  • I will not participate in the process of determining the winners. Winners will be determined by two of your peers.
  • However, I will disclose a piece of information and deviate a bit from the fully double-blind process:  the editor of Vita Brevis Poetry Magazine, Brian Geiger, will be one of the reviewers. 

Prizes:

First Place: $300

Second Place: $150

Third Place: $75

Funding for the prizes comes from my royalties.

The winners will be announced soon!

Reminders:

Please help our literary community strive. Do not forget to read, like, and submit to MasticadoresUSA.

Follow me on Twitter HERE.

Follow me on IG @gabriela_marie_milton

My book Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose is available on Amazon

@Gabriela Marie Milton

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Woman: Splendor and Sorrow Poetry Contest #anoncement #poem #poetry

My Dear Readers,

The poetry contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow is now open. This contest honors the literary community that has supported me in my writing journey, and celebrates my becoming a #1 Amazon best-selling author.

To participate, you should write one poem inspired by a piece from my #1 Amazon best-selling poetry collection Woman: Splendor and Sorrow and list the name of the piece that inspired your submission. A number of poems included in Woman: Splendor and Sorrow can be found on this blog.

The deadline for submission is September 20, 2021. Please submit your work before September 20 at shortprose12@gmail.com.

Guidelines for submission:

Submit your work before September 20 at shortprose12@gmail.com

Label your submission Poetry Contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow.

Do not submit more than one poem.

Do not forget to include: the poem from Woman: Splendor and Sorrow that inspired you, your name or pen name, and the email address where you can be contacted.

Please submit your poem in the body of the email. No attachments or links will be open.

Prizes:

First Place: $300

Second Place: $150

Third Place: $75

Funding for the prizes comes from my royalties.

If you do not have a PayPal account, please open one.

All winners will be featured on my blog. So will those who finish in the following places: 4, 5 and 6.

It is my hope that the winners will use part of their prizes to buy two or three books of their favorite fellow poets or novelists in order to help our literary community strive. If you do so, please let us know what you bought.

How the selection will be made?

The selection method is similar to that of a double-blind peer review: the reviewer doesn’t know the identity of the author, and vice-versa.

To achieve that I will do the following:

  • Create a master document with all submissions. Remove the name of the authors and replace them with numbers.
  • Create a second document with the name of the authors and their assigned numbers.
  • I will not participate in the process of determining the winners. Winners will be determined by two of your peers.
  • However, I will disclose a piece of information and deviate a bit from the fully double-blind process:  the editor of Vita Brevis Poetry Magazine, Brian Geiger, will be one of the reviewers. 

The winners will be announced in mid-October. I will update you periodically.

Good luck to everyone who wishes to participate and thank you again for your support.

To the future winners: please remember to spread love in our community and buy some books written by your WP favorite authors.

A Snippet from Woman: Splendor and Sorrow

In the evening, the sky stretches itself from blue to dark violet. The silk of the gloves hugs my fingers. I feed my iguana with cookies soaked in champagne. She hisses at me. I open a package of silk stockings. The door opens by itself, and you step in. Then it closes. I stare at you. You are in by your own volition.  One kiss, and you borrow my tears. One touch, and I borrow your pain. A passage rite. I keep a coffin adorned with lilies in my bedroom. I sleep besides death like Sarah Bernhardt.

Did you hear that noise? A rosary fell from the Spanish chest.

The wind slips between the petals of a rose and opens it.

Who am I? If I knew, I would tell you.

Did you say you love me? The twenty-four hours are up. Nobody is facing in the direction of the sea anymore.

There is no me.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

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