ON THIS DAY in 1993 the Sudanese poet, writer, and diplomate, Salah Ahmed Ibrahim, died. He was born in 1933. He was held to be the most important of Sudanese poets. He wrote in Arabic. He was also estimed for his social realist fiction. He was a graduate of the Kartoum University and an instructor at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana. As a diplomate he served as Sudan?s Ambassador to Algeria. In the poem that follows, you can see the? influence of Greece on the Sudan?s culture.
I wished , oh thee Maria
I am sitting atop the Olympus
Surrounded by the brides,
Sipping the pure wine of Baccus
And though when the ecstasy
Creeps through my veins
I fall and call: Oh, girls
Play the lute delicately,
And bring the songs on to Maria.
EXPLORE DIANNE?S BLOG (Pandamoniumcat?s Blog) and it quickly becomes apparent that her talents flow in many directions: writing, poetry, art, jewelry-making .... at least it becomes apparent when you can stop looking at her darling cat, whose face graces the homepage. The diversity of her interests are just as apparent in this interview:JAMIE: I see that you've been blogging for some time when it comes to your artwork and jewelry, but your poetry blog is relatively new. How's that going and what are you getting out of it that you didn't get out of your other blog?
DIANNE: My art and jewellery blog was my first shot at blogging and I really didn't have a set goal in mind for that one and that's why it's languishing at present. I do hope to get back to it with a little more vision.?As you are all no doubt aware I have this amazing little moggie (aussie slang for domestic cat) Panda,?who is quite an interactive kitty. I started writing poetry about her and I thought I would start a blog hence the name Pandamoniumcat. Suddenly the floodgates opened and now?I am writing almost everyday?after?quite a few years away from writing.?I really enjoy writing poetry and I love that others?enjoy?reading?the poems.?JAMIE: Has involvement with the Jingle poetry community helped you in any way? If so, how?
DIANNE: Yes. It is a very supportive community that encourages you and makes you feel welcome. It also gives me reason to write, every week I have a set goal. I think that is extremely important when writing. It is such a warm friendly community and I look forward to reading the poetry every week.?
JAMIE: When did you start writing and when did you start writing poetry?
DIANNE: I started writing when I was a child. I would write ghost stories with all my friends as characters. Very early on my main goal was to become a writer. Some of my teachers even kept stories I had written. I started writing poetry when in high school, as young girls have a want to do but it continued well into adulthood.?I was lucky enough to have had some publishing successes in earlier years, with some poetry and short stories but?life gets in the way as it does and my dreams of a writing career were shelved.
JAMIE: What moves you to write poetry? Do you see it meshing with your artwork? If so, how??
DIANNE: Everything and anything moves me to write poetry. If not Panda, then a movie, nature, life in general, whatever grabs me emotionally. Poetry most definately works with my art. At present I am working on my first solo exhibition which is a series about the environmental park where I live on Moreton Bay. It's so beautiful, with a rich indigenous history and it is so inspirational. I have been writing poetry to compliment the paintings and I am self publishing a book of the poetry as part of the exhibition.
JAMIE: It would seem that one way or another, your life is filled with self-expression through art. How do you manage it all? What are the rewards?
DIANNE: Boy, I don't know how I manage it...I just do, I have to, if I couldn't paint, create or write...I really don't know what I'd do. I love it. I feel it helps me connect to the world around me and for some reason that's really important to me. Everyone has their way of creating meaning in their lives and for me it's in art.
The rewards as we all know are rarely financial but when I see?children?get excited over a painting or a painting I've done makes someone smile, or if my poetry touches someone, or makes them laugh...you can't get much better than that really.
Thanks, Dianne, for sharing your thoughts and experiences. Much valued.?
BLUEBELL BOOKS IS IN THE JINGLE NEWS, or at least it seemed to me that it should be. We?re couple of weeks out from it?s official inauguration. I thought we should get an update and all the juicy details from Ji herself. Here we go ...JAMIE: Well, here we are just past the first week of this expansion on the Jingle community of blogs for poets and writers. Congratulations! ?It's already a busy site with a wealth of information. How can folks get more involved and where do they send their articles to be posted?
JI: Short Story Slam starts on May 12. Folks can start participating on this writing challenge and polish their creative writing skills, which is a great way to get involved with Bluebell Books. Officials from blogging world, half of them from Jingle Poetry Community and Thursday Poets Rally are there, providing their personal publishing and marketing experiences and professional writing samples via their host posts...Bluebell Books support all bloggers, including Jingle Poetry community bloggers. It is an opportunity for those who wish to serve the community, for those who have their books published to showcase their creative writing accomplishment via book reviews. Those who have their books listed or reviewed will be supporting the site via their comments,?appearance, and ?their books. Books are a treasure to us all.... We are not a publisher. We don't make books or sell books. We provide book information and buying links to support bloggers in our community. Any one who has books published can submit their book information, book cover image, blog link, and buying link to?bluebellbooks4u@gmail.com, making sure cc their information to Someone Is Special (SiS)....JAMIE: What made you think of "bluebell?" ?It's charming and cheerful and very, very "Ji."?
JI: My first thought was to call the site Writer's Wonderland, which is huge in concept. Later, as I try to solidify my?initiative, I realize that this is not a community featuring bloggers in general. Thus my idea freezes at books, which is more advanced then general blogging yet maybe interesting to those bloggers who are published or trying to get published.
Bluebell is a flower, everyone knows I love flowers, Bluebell Books simply fits perfectly to my vision/version and thus it is named.
JAMIE: What inspired you to develop this collaboration and what are the long-term goals?
JI: Everyone wants to get published. Bloggers including poets, all have long-term goal to get published. I wrote a novel eleven years ago and sent it out via mail to more than a dozen publishers, including publishers in New York City and other states around the United States. For many reason, my book was never published.? I stopped trying after I started graduate school in Fall, 2001.....
I stopped attending graduate school in August, 2009, after getting two master's degrees.........I applied for jobs, most of them are unsuitable involving an extended commute time and a full-time commitment. My family needs me to stay at home because often my hubby is out of country doing research with other professors . . . for two or three weeks. Finally I am settled and relaxed at home. I started blogging and writing poetry regularly...
After starting Thursday Poets Rally on January 14, 2010, Jingle Poetry on September 11, 2010, as you all know, I now have more than 600 poems published in my personal blogs...I wish to get published. However, I fear of going through the same experience I did eleven years ago. I decided to self-publish my poetry. It does not sell well, despite arrangements for purchase through retail distributors.
I don't depend on my poetry to make a living. However, I can imagine that maybe many poets who are self-published share the same experience I have and I wanted to help them. Bluebell Books was born out of my goal to support bloggers who are published, whether published by tradition publishing houses or self-published. Short Stories Slam will attract more bloggers to our site and make our efforts worthwhile.
Books listed at Bluebell will certainly increase the writers/bloggers's visibility; yet we can not promise that sales on their books will increase because of the listing. Bluebell Books unites published poets/writers and make our communities such as Jingle Poetry community look more inviting or attractive to people online.
In the future, we may encourage bloggers who have their books listed to do book exchanges: you buy a copy of your choice, the writer who is benefited buys a copy to return the favor, which shall be free willed and will increase book sales. Bluebell does not make or sell books directly. Bluebell does not charge bloggers who have their books listed. We create a community which supports writers and encourages writers to support each other based on their personal interests.
Officials at Bluebell Books are not paid, they are under No obligation to buy books. Everything shall be free and relaxed.
I encourage all of the poets who read this interview to submit your poetry/short stories to Bluebell Short Story Slam,??in the future, we may self-publish a collection of short stories, sell the book at a flat price. It is a way to promote creativity and nobody is paid.? If one's short story is selected, then it will be published as a collection along with other bloggers. We share our creativity and intelligence via the book. Bluebell does not earn profit via this, but the book itself is a symbol of our shared love for the siteAnd one last thing:?Whippoorwill (an online literary magazine) recently published two of my poems, I encourage poets to submit their work to this site, they take book reviews, fiction or short stories and poetry, Good Luck.Note:?f you would like to be a guest blogger for Whippoorwill, please send an email toMarissa@whippoorwilljournal.com?with your basic contact information, ideas for content or topics you?d like to write about, and a link to your blog or online writings. We look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks, Ji, this is a big help so that we can all catch-up and keep-up on this fine effort.
CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS
SINISTER WISDOM 83 & 84 ? OPEN ISSUES
Sinister Wisdom publishes work by Lesbians. They are particularly interested in work that reflects a diversity of experiences: as Lesbians of color, ethnic Lesbians, Jewish, Arab, old, young, working class, poverty class, disabled, fat. They welcome experimental work. Please contact them if you have a new theme you would like to see explored.?Sinister Wisdom will feature writing by Lesbians in Prison in an upcoming issue.
Send maximum of five poems, two short stories or essays, or one longer piece of up to 2500 words. Please send a short bio. We prefer that you send your work by email in Word to JulieREnszer@gmail.com. Or mail flat (not folded) with your name and address on each page to 6910 Wells Pkwy, University Park, MD 20782.RATTLE POETRY PRIZE
Deadline for $5000 poetry prize: ?August 1, 2011
Fifteen finalists will receive $100 each and will be published in the winter issue of Rattle.
Also Rattle is announcing upcoming themes for their next three issues:
Issue / Theme ? ? ?Deadlines
#36 - Buddhist Poets ??????????????????????Aug 1, 2011
#37 - Poets in Law Enforcement ????Feb 1, 2012
#38 - Science Fiction Poetry ??????????Aug 1, 2012
For details on their themed issues and the poetry prize, visit www.rattle.comTimothy Green, Editor, 12411 Ventura Blvd Studio City, CA 91604
HYPHEN AND THE ASIAN AMERICAN WRITERS? WORKSHOP FOR THE 2011 ASIAN AMERICAN SHORT STORY CONTEST
Deadline: ?May 16, 2011
Prize: $1000 and publication in Hyphen Magazine.
BOULEVARD MAGAZINE?S EMERGING POETS CONTEST
Deadline: June 1, 2011
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Boulevard is given annually for a group of poems by a poet who has not yet published a poetry collection with a nationally distributed press. Submit three poems of any length with a $15 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Boulevard.
INDIANA REVIEW?S ?1/2 K? PRIZE
Deadline: June 1, 2011
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Indiana Review is given annually for a single poem or a work of fiction under 500 words. All entries are considered for publication. Submit up to three poems or works of prose with a $15 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Indiana Review. Send an SASE, e-mail, or visit the Web site for complete guidelines:?indianareview.orgThanks to Victoria Cerretto-Slotto (liv2write2day) for sharing leads she obtained from a professional colleague. Visit Victoria for refined poetry, fiction writing coaching, fiction and poetry prompts and more.?JP is on Face book. Link to us?HERE.Link to Jingle Poetry on Twitter HERE.PLEASE JOIN IN
JINGLE POETRY POTLUCK, WEEK 35
STARTS TONIGHT AT 8 P.M. CENTRAL
EVERYONE IS INVITED?
INLINKZ WILL STAY OPEN FOR 72 HOURS.
OPEN ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 18.
Thank you!
Source: http://jinglepoetry.blogspot.com/2011/05/sunday-rally-dispatch-collection-of.html
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