Welcome all and sundry! Today marks the beginning of a journey we are particularly excited to take around here: showcasing the poets, whose poetry has been nominated for this year’s (2017) Rhysling Award. Their poetry can be found in full in the Anthology (which if you are a member, you will receive and if you are not, you may purchase a PDF or pre-order the print anthology now), but we will link to the nominated poems here where possible (some poems appear only in print but we are working on getting around that…).
So, here meet the first six poets from the 2017 Rhysling Anthology:
- Anne Carly Abad • “This Rat” • Chrome Baby 48
- Layla Al-Bedawi • “Propagation” • Strange Horizons 18 April
- Francis Wesley Alexander • “3D printer” • Scifaikuest, November 2016
- Stephanie M. Wytovich • “Of My Wounds, There Are Many” • Sanitarium Magazine 48
- Jane Yolen • “Black Bull of Norroway” • Goblin Fruit, Winter, & “Death Rides USAir At Night” • Parody 5:1, & “Rusalka” • Mythic Delirium 3.1
- Danielle Zaccagnino • “Supercomputer Spends the Night” • Weirderary 4
Anne Carly Abad has recently been nominated for the Pushcart Prize for her poem “The Bitter Gourd’s Fate”, which was published by Niteblade. Between making custom jewelry and taking care of her hedgehog, Porky, she writes poetry, fiction and political musings. Her work has appeared or will appear in NameL3ss Digest, Apex, and Not One of Us, Strange Horizons and the Philippines Graphic Magazine. Find out more about her at http://the-sword-that-speaks.blogspot.com. Follow on Twitter @annecarlyabad
Layla Al-Bedawi is a poet, writer, language teacher, and bookbinder (among other things). English is her third language, but she’s been dreaming in it for years. Her work is published or forthcoming in Strange Horizons, Liminal Stories, Mithila Review, Fantastic Stories of the Imagination, Bayou Magazine, and elsewhere. Originally from Germany, she currently lives in Houston, TX, where for the past two years she has been the Festival Director of Writefest, a weeklong festival for new and emerging writers of all genres. Find her on Twitter under @frauleinlayla and at laylaalbedawi.com.
Born in Sandusky, Ohio, Francis Wesley Alexander is a 1969 graduate of Sandusky High School. He received his B.S. degree in Psychology from Wayne State University and earned his teaching certificate in Mathematics from Eastern Michigan University. Wes has had poems,stories, and articles published in AIM, Star*Line, Beyond,
Scavenger’s Newsletter, Starsong, African American Review, Journal of Black Studies, Black Scholar, Modern Haiku, Dragonfly, Black Bear Review, Papyrus, Haiku Quarterly, New Cicada, Frogpond, and other publications. Currently, his published work can be seen in Chrysanthemum 19, Eye to the Telescope, Star*Line 39.1, Failed Haiku, Scifaikuest, Spaceports & Spidersilk, Devolution Z Bigfoot Special Edition, A Robot, a Cyborg, and a Martian Walk into a Space Bar; and Zombified Reloaded. He is the Featured Poet in the February 2016 Scifaikuest. Find him on Twitter under @FWAlexander.
Stephanie M. Wytovich is an editor by day, a horror writer by night, and her work has been showcased in numerous anthologies such as Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, Shadows Over Main Street: An Anthology of Small-Town Lovecraftian Terror, and The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 8 (edited by Ellen Datlow). Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University, and a book reviewer for Nameless Magazine. Her next poetry collection, Sheet Music to My Acoustic Nightmare is scheduled to be released October 2017 from Raw Dog Screaming Press, and her short story collection, Inside the Skin Bouquet is set for a late 2017 release from Dark Fuse. Follow Wytovich at The Madhouse and on twitter @JustAfterSunset.
New York Times best-selling author Jane Yolen is often called “the Hans Christian Andersen of America.” She is the author of over 360 published books, including Owl Moon, The Devil’s Arithmetic, and How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight. The books range from rhymed picture books and baby board books, through middle grade fiction, poetry collections, non-fiction, graphic novels, and up to novels and story collections for young adults and adults. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages. Her books, stories, and poems have won an assortment of awards: two Nebulas, a World Fantasy Award, a Caldecott Medal, the Golden Kite Award, three Mythopoeic awards, two Christopher Medals, a nomination for the National Book Award, and the Jewish Book Award, among many others. She is also the winner (for body of work) of the World Fantasy Association Lifetime Achievement Award, Science Fiction Poetry Association Grand Master Award, the Catholic Library’s Regina Medal, the du Grummond Medal, and the Smith College Medal. She was the first woman to give the St Andrews University’s Andrew Lang lecture since the lecture series was started in 1927. Six colleges and universities have given her honorary doctorates. Also worthy of note, her Skylark Award — given by NESFA, the New England Science Fiction Association — set her good Scottish coat on fire. Her favourite fruits are Gala apples and Madjool dates. If you need to know more about her, visit her website.
Danielle Zaccagnino is from Queens, New York. She is in her third year of the MFA program at Texas State University. Her writing appears or is forthcoming in Word Riot, The Butter, Puerto del Sol, SAND, and Rust + Moth, and she was the winner of the Sonora Review‘s 2016 Essay Prize. She is a poetry reader for Third Point Press and Front Porch Journal. Follow her on Twitter @yell_yesful and visit her website at Danielle Zaccagnino
