Hello! And welcome to the eighth instalment in our quest to introduce you to the poets behind the Rhysling Award nominated poems. Today we have 5 wonderful and fascinating poets for you, who range from newer poets who have exploded onto the scene more recently to superstars and masters of the genre. We hope you enjoy learning more about them.
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 order the print anthology now). As noted before, we will link to the nominated poems here where possible.
- Steinfeld, J. J. • “Learning the History of War” • Star*Line 39.3
- Stone, Mary • “The Last Woman on Earth” • Amethyst Arsenic 6:1
- Sundar, Naru Dames • “Were-” • Liminality, Summer
- Cato, Beth • “The Box of Dust and Monsters” • Devilfish Review 17; “The Death of the Horse” • Remixt Magazine 1:8; and “Morning During Migration Season” • Star*Line 39.4
- Clink, David • “In Defence of Science” • The Role of Lightning in Evolution (Kelp Queen Press, CZP); “A Natural History of Snow” • The Role off Lightning in Evolution (Kelp Queen Press, CZP); and “Surviving a Canadian Poem” • The Role of Lightning in Evolution (Kelp Queen Press, CZP)
Canadian fiction writer, poet, and playwright J. J. Steinfeld lives on Prince Edward Island, where he is patiently waiting for Godot’s arrival and a phone call from Kafka. While waiting, he has published seventeen books, including Should the Word Hell Be Capitalized? (Stories, Gaspereau Press), Would You Hide Me? (Stories, Gaspereau Press), Misshapenness (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions), Identity Dreams and Memory Sounds (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions), Madhouses in Heaven, Castles in Hell (Stories, Ekstasis Editions), and An Unauthorized Biography of Being (110 Short Fictions Hovering Between the Absurd and the Existential, Ekstasis Editions). His short stories and poems have appeared in numerous periodicals and anthologies internationally, and over fifty of his one-act plays and a handful of full-length plays have been performed in Canada and the United States. A new poetry collection, Absurdity, Woe Is Me, Glory Be, is forthcoming from Guernica Editions in fall 2017.
Mary Stone is the author of the poetry collections “One Last Cigarette” and “Mythology of Touch,” and a number of chapbooks, including “Honey and Bandages,” a collaborative chapbook written with Katie Longofono, and “The Dopamine Letters” (Hyacinth Girl Press). Her poetry and prose has appeared in Gargoyle, Arts & Letters, South Dakota Review, Stirring, and other journals. Currently, she lives, writes, and teaches in St. Joseph, MO, where she coordinates the First Thursday open mic reading series.
Naru Dames Sundar is a poet and writer of speculative sundries. His work has appeared in Liminality, Strange Horizons & Nature:futures among other places. His poem “Origami Crane / Light-Defying Spaceship” was nominated for the 2016 Rhysling Award for speculative poetry and a finalist for the Canadian Prix Aurora Award in the poetry category. Naru hails originally from Sri Lanka but after a passage of time in Canada, lives now amidst the redwoods of Northern California in the United States with his wife and son. You can find him online at http://www.shardofstar.info and on Twitter as @Naru_Sundar
Beth Cato is the author of THE CLOCKWORK DAGGER steampunk fantasy series from Harper Voyager. Her short fiction is in InterGalactic Medicine Show, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and Daily Science Fiction. She is the author of the Clockwork Dagger series from Harper Voyager, which includes her Nebula-nominated novella Wings of Sorrow and Bone. Her newest novel is Breath of Earth. She’s a Hanford, California native transplanted to the Arizona desert, where she lives with her husband, son, and requisite cat. Follow her at BethCato.com and on Twitter at @BethCato
David Livingstone Clink (also published as David Clink) is a poet, poker player, and punster. He was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, on June 20th, 1962. He has lived in Alberta, West Hartford (Connecticut), Toronto (Ontario), and he currently resides in Thornhill (Ontario). He has a degree in English from York University. He is the author of four books of poetry, and five poetry chapbooks. He has edited one anthology, and seven poetry chapbooks. He has been involved in running reading series in Toronto from 2002 – 2012, including the Art Bar Poetry Series and the Rowers Pub Reading Series. He is the webmaster of poetrymachine.com, a resource for poets. David and Myna Wallin are the co-publishers of believe your own press, which published 20 poetry chapbooks in 5 years (2002-2007), including WCDR Chapbook contest winner Resident Alien by Teresa Dunat Banks. David co-runs (along with Sandra Kasturi) a day long poetry workshop called “A Fistful of Poems.” David is the creator, host and organizer of the annual Dead Poets Society Night readings at the Art Bar Poetry Series, its tenth anniversary was held in December 2012. David’s poetry has appeared in over fifty journals, including Analog Science Fiction and Fact (5 times), Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine (3 times), Cicada, Existere (4 times), Grain Magazine, On Spec (twice), The Antigonish Review, The Dalhousie Review (6 times), The Fiddlehead, The Literary Review of Canada (6 times), The Nashwaak Review (twice), The Prairie Journal, and in over fifteen anthologies. Follow him at his website The Poetry Machine and on Twitter at @DavidClink13
