Tuesday 1 April 2008

The Hecale Anthology

In September/October 2008, Hecale will be stepping into the world of print with the anthology. We're looking for original verse, prose and artwork to fill its pages. Interested in submitting? Guidelines now up on the site. Deadline for entries Monday June 30th and not a second after midnight.


New Writing on Hecale

More verse and prose, images and imagery added to the Words Directory. Myths, moons, addictions, a frustrated ventriloquist... Two prolific poets with chapbooks out, William Taylor Jr. and Michael D. Grover and a third with one imminent if Lester Allen can stop going to watch the horses. Flash fiction from Michael Frissore, short stories by Deb McGovern, John Darling and Eric D. Lehman, along with collage pieces by Jenny Stewart.

Have a gander if the inclination takes you. Who knows, you might even enjoy it!

Thanks for reading.

Monday 25 February 2008

Lady in Spring

Hecale rouses from winter hibernation this month to find change is in the air. Most obviously the spangly new banners and logos decorating the site in 2008, courtesy of the good folk over at 2Faced Design. We're very pleased with them! The astute will also notice alteration to and multiplication of emails, editor@hecale.com, poetry@hecale.com and so on. The old email address whilst still operational will be phased out, so do update your books. Over the past months, the directory listings have continued to swell, so with little more ado, here's the latest biographies of featured authors, culled from the Words Directory.


Poetry

Sascha Akhtar was born and educated in Pakistan. She is a poet, journalist, dancer, photographer and filmmaker, a graduate of Bennington College. She is the author of a chapbook Golum and The Grimoire of Grimalkin available from SALT publishing. An exhibition of her works is upcoming at The Commune in Karachi. She is the co-producer of the La Langoustine Est Morte reading series in London.

George Anderson grew up in Montreal and now lives in Wollongong, Australia. He has published widely in mainstream and alternative magazines over the last five years. In early 2008 you will find more of his stuff on My Favorite Bullet, Lit Chaos, Yellow Mama, Red Fez, Literary Tonic, Lost Beat Poetry, Bolts of Silk and many others. He edits the student poetry journal Ephemeral now in its fifth print edition.

Aya Ibrahim Bassiouny has been writing poetry and short stories for almost half her life. Her work has been published or forthcoming in Word Riot, Istanbul Literature Review, Foliate Oak, the Binnacle and other literary publications. She lives in Cairo and is currently doing an M.A. in Middle Eastern History.

Sandy Benitez's poetry has appeared in over sixty print and electronic journals. She was nominated for Best of the Net, 2006. Her first book of poetry, Ever Violet, was released in April 2007 and is available for purchase at DN Publishing. She goes by the pen name, Sandy Hiss.

Having completed 2 of the standard 4 years on the post-secondary highway to success, Judy Blank snuck out a keyhole and spends her time working, writing, and doing everything she didn't get to do in the classroom. Filling her space in Northeast Ohio with traintracks, teahouses, baking and words, she tempers her wanderlust with travel plans, some of which actually materialize.

Sean C. Bowen sometimes writes under the pen name "yesk". He started submitting for the first time in mid-november 2007 and since then has had poems published in/by Senseless Offerings Zine, Gloom Cupboard, Madswirl, Yellow Mama Press, Inaugural Issue of AGUA Magazine - Scintillating Publications & more.

Mercedes Dawson is a 26 year old who lives and breathes in Manchester, working hard to play hard. She spends her free time painting, performing with her Sax, writing and making sure she takes full advantage of all that Manchester has to offer. Mercedes wants randomness and spontaneity in her life, travelling the world when she can and meeting as many people as possible. Her future is a blurry scene. She is very close to her family and surrounds herself with diverse friends as often as she can.

An Australian born poet, playwright, musician, John Grey's latest book, “What Else Is There” is available from Main Street Rag. Recent work has appeared in The English Journal, The Pedestal, Pearl and the Journal Of The American Medical Association.

John Greiner is a poet and playwright living in New York City. His poetry has most recently appeared in Sein und Werden, nthposition, Audience, Zygote in my Coffee, The Beat, Tryst, Psychopoetica, The Blue House, All Rights Reserved, The Argotist Online, Moria, Ascent Aspirations, The Green Muse and Inscribed. His theatrical pieces have enjoyed successful runs in New York, Chicago and in Massachusetts.

Matthew Hinton calls North-Eastern PA his stompin' ground, though he now lives in Greenville, South Carolina. There, he is the manager of one most unique record stores in all of the rebel states: Horizon Records. When not fighting local marauders, he writes plays, poetry, and sing-a-longs about VD. He is currently a student of the Wilkes University MA Program in Creative Writing. He dreams in analog.

More than six hundred poems and stories by Kristine Ong Muslim have been published or are forthcoming in over two hundred journals and magazines worldwide. Her work has appeared in Noneuclidean Café, Otoliths, The Pedestal Magazine, Poetry Midwest, PoetryRepairShop, Right Hand Pointing, Slow Trains, Slurve Magazine, Thieves Jargon, Turnrow, and Void Magazine.

Elo-Mall Toomet was born and is currently living and raising her child in the beautiful old town of Tartu, Estonia. Influenced by landscapes, seasonal changes and close human relations, she is dedicated to exploration of the inner worlds, finding ways in dark places and creating maps to be able to return. Her main fields of expression are illustrating fairy-tale books and writing poetry, some of which has been published in Estonian.

Nicolette Westfall wrote poetry while living on an isolated Northern Canadian First Nation Rez. She's been published in 63 Channels and Word Riot. Her poetry is in the upcoming Just Like A Girl: A Manifesta! anthology.



Stories and Micro-Fiction



'Ash' is Ashley Callender, who hails from Launceston, Tasmania. Ash has a weakness for highbrow literature and lowbrow film noir. One day he hopes to write a novel. You can find a collection of his very short stories entitled 'Short Man Syndrome' at Lulu.

Alan Orr is a young fictionist with a BA in Creative Writing from the Colorado College. His stories have appeared in "The Leviathan," a college literary magazine. He plans on making it big, kicking @$$ and taking names. Currently he is depressed and anxious in his new home city, Portland, Oreg

Paul Corman-Roberts has enjoyed a successful career of running opium dens for speed addicts and blackmailing shuttered up business fronts. His first collection of fiction and poems "Coming WorldGone World" is available from Howling Dog Press at Amazon or at PCR's own website. He also edits poetry for Cherry Bleeds.

Sean Ruane is a shuffle footed basket of slurs. He likes coffee, beer, and Boolean algebra. He lives in Baltimore. He has a masters degree in experimental psychology and is working on masters degrees in computer science and creative writing at Johns Hopkins University. He has been published or has work forthcoming (mostly forthcoming) in Juked, Word Riot, Edifice Wrecked, Thieves Jargon, Monkeybicycle, Sein und Werden, 3AM Magazine, the Flask Review, Clockwise Cat and more.

Alex Stephens is an aspiring writer and photographer currently residing in Salt Lake City, Utah. He attended the University of Utah where he studied film and creative writing. He is currently compiling short stories for a collection and is always looking to pursue other avenues of artistic express

Keith Wood successfully escaped from Philadelphia, lived in Austin, Texas for a while, but now is back home in Mississippi. He has been published in a few little magazines and wrote for Woopsy magazine for a while. He sends most of his stories and poems to Underground Voices and Cherry Bleeds, and hopes that his mom isn’t reading any of them.


Phew! Plenty there to keep the most voracious amongst you occupied. Resource links and news updates to come!

Tuesday 6 November 2007

Autumn Collection

Autumn brings a fresh look to Hecale's Words Directory and a considerable number of additions to the fold. Also quite a few new 'zine listings to explore and one or two visual treats in the gallery.



Words Directory

'the former Miss Holly Straightedge', 'Stillwell Ave.' & 'quicksand jesus' - three poems from Jim Warner, Wilkes-Barre resident and host of Manuscript Radio.

Delaware-based poet and painter Henry Long offers three poems from his latest chapbook 'Goat Love'. Visit his profile to read 'Love balances Chaos', 'Perfume of Resistance' and 'Pudendum Continuum'.

Born Spanish in one of those little hippie regimes in Southern California, Meredith Ebel packed up and moved to the most non-diverse place she could think of: Pennsylvania. Read her poem 'On First Love'.

Hailing from New York City, Hollace M. Metzger is a poet, architect, painter, and photographer educated in the United States, London and Venice. From her recent release, 'Observing the Labyrinth from Heaven', Hecale is pleased to present 'comatose' & 'my world exists'.

Joseph Verroneau runs Scintillating Publications, a chapbook publishing press and has graciously provided us with three of his own poems, 'Dirt', 'Forsaken' and 'The Science at Hand'.

Mike Marcellino began writing just before and during the Vietnam War, where he was an Army war correspondent and you can find two of his recent poems in the directory - 'Casey was at bat when the mercenaries descended' & 'Taipei Subway'.

'Stuffed Token', 'Black and White Static' and 'The Crank Painter' - three works by our poet on the Oregon coast, Ray Succre.

Sailor, fossicker, cancer survivor... she writes poems too. Diane Andrews offers Hecale's hungry audience, 'ROAD TO NOWHERE' and 'FIVE-ACT PLAY'.

Pushcart Prize contender, the poet Spiel, is a tight-wired maverick painting naked word portraits of humankind. And we have a trio for your delectation, 'making pictures without mouths', 'they hold you down ' and 'righteous rock'.

Serena Spinello is 26 years old, lives in New York and claims she will eat anything that is covered in peanut butter. She's also a published poet. Visit her profile to read 'Ruination'.

Adelle Stripe is the editor of the definitive Brutalist weblog Straight From The Fridge, which promotes new and undiscovered writing talent and alongside Tony O'Neill and Ben Myers, makes up one third of The Brutalists. Hecale is delighted to host her poem 'Veronica'.

Sarah Layden teaches writing, writes novels, poems and non-fiction articles, and aspires to grow more than two tomatoes per summer in a measly backyard garden. You can read her short fiction 'Job Query' in the directory.

'Chocolate-Colored Eyes' - flash fiction by T. J. Forrester, a long distance hiker who has backpacked the trails that compose the Hiking Triple Crown.

Cicily Janus is a writer living in Colorado Springs with her family, rats and cats. From her oeuvre, we have the short fiction 'One' and an extract from her novel 'The Reluctance of the Ruling'.

Teri Davis Rouvelas lives in Rhode Island, which isn't really an island, with a bunch of animals and occasionally has contact with humans. Venture to her Hecale profile and indulge in her flash fiction 'Backgammon'.

MK Chavez writes about strippers, the beauty that can be found in ugliness, the mystery of feeling bad about feeling good, little birds, big consequences. Read two poems from her chapbook "Virgin Eyes" in the Words Directory and the previously unpublished 'Freedom at Heart'.

Hailing from New York and referred to as the 'Rimbaud of SoHo' by peers, Julian Stockdale swings aboard Hecale with 'Advent for Petrus'.

'A Late Bloom' - flash fiction from another New York son, though now resident of Maine, William de Rham.


Magazines & E-zines

SmokeLong Quarterly is dedicated to bringing the best flash fiction to the web on a quarterly basis, whether written by widely published authors, or those new to the craft. The term "smoke-long" comes from the Chinese, who noted that reading a piece of flash takes about the same length of time as smoking a cigarette. All the work we publish is precisely that—about a smoke long.

Chick Flicks, an ezine that fills a void in publishing. We're looking for well-written stories and essays that are moody, dark, real, gritty. Stories about internal conflict juxtaposed against external demands, about real life people coming to terms--good or bad--with themselves and their choices.

Chantarelle's Notebook - We accept all formats, but will only publish the best of what we receive. No greeting card styled verse, religious outpourings or infantile rants. Read our journal to see the styles of poems in which we are interested.

Flask and Pen accepts submissions for essays, stories, poetry, social comments. We are not looking to become a political forum, but if that’s what moves you, we would consider some political commentary.

63 Channels - We've made it our goal to showcase the newest art and writing, the hottest talent and the overlooked underground artists. As such, we prefer only original work is submitted to the site. So if it's all over the web already, hold onto it and send us something new. We probably wouldn't find out, but you're not doing yourself or our readers any favors. thanks....

The Centrifugal Eye - I look for strong imagery, metaphor and poems with a bias for introspection. This doesn't mean that all poems submitted should be written in 1st-person point-of-view, just that they be thoughtful and content rich. I want to see fresh subjects, layered meanings, sophisticated themes, juicy language. Any POV welcome. Rhyming & formal poems must be polished and natural -- free verse has a better chance for acceptance, unless your traditional lyric forms show great maturity of craft.

Locust Magazine is an electronic bazaar for all those who are instinctively adverse to:

Personal phlegm & heartburn
Appalling regionalism (both green and grey)
Political porridge
Social tweet! tweet!
Stammering experimentalism...BEAM! BIN!!
Street Poetry or Beggar's Poetry (i.e.: just putting an F-word here & there will help destroy vs change...or perhaps be more natural...)

Scarecrow continues to bang the drum for the unheard, the unconventional, the eccentric, the revolutionary and the radical and long may it continue. Scarecrow has also evolved into a showcase for published and unpublished writers of short fiction and poetry and receives submissions from all corners of the globe each week - some make its pages most don't. Scarecrow's Editor is particularly proud of its diverse and growing mix of style and attitude.

Quick Fiction is a literary journal featuring stories and narrative prose poems under 500 words. It was founded in 2001 by Adam Pieroni, Publisher, and Jennifer Pieroni, Editor in Chief. The journal is published twice per year, with issues appearing each spring and fall.

Mississippi Crow - We especially want material on writing and the writing life, but also like food & garden articles, outdoors, travel, leisure activities. SHORT STORIES can be on virtually any subject. We like unusual stories (even odd or quirky) with a twist at the end and we LOVE flash fiction. Surprise us! POETRY: We prefer free verse that is unique and fresh, alliteration is good, powerful and edgy is good - but if it's full of cliches, preachy and predictable we will be less interested.

The Savage Kick is a literary magazine, but it isn't Reader's Digest or any of the "we accept anything" online drivel you see knocking around. We only accept a few stories per issue, and the results are something distinctive... We wouldn't do it otherwise. We don't want half-assed stuff, we don't want musings or ruminations or anything that doesn't make the reader sit up and take notice. Misery, joy, psychosis, hope, isolation, disgust... If it's a brutally honest feeling or story that you feel you have to share, then it will normally translate into something we'll like.

Inkwell is dedicated to providing a forum for emerging writers and to publishing high quality poems and short stories in a literary journal that also features non-fiction, artwork, essays and interviews on writing by established figures, and yearly competitions in poetry and fiction.

Alors, et Toi? - We are an artistic journal. Our aim is to be a showcase for creative talent. We are particularly (though not exclusively) interested in the yet to be discovered-writer, artist, and music makers, who excel in what they do. We are not looking for the cookie-cut representations flooding the tabloids today. We'll consistently scout for new talent to feature in our magazine. Therefore, please do not send us unsolicited submissions. If you send us an email consisting of a link to your work, we'll gladly visit your site, blog or writers page to assess what you are about. If impressed, you’ll be contacted by a member of our staff personally, and asked for a contribution or interview.

Tuesday; An Art Project - I wanted to make a thing we could hold. I think that pages — poems — books — they are resting places for what we have to say. For what we see. It was a reaction to all of the (necessary and often fabulous) on-line work that is out there. Work should be enjoyed tactilely. Poems should be kept, when loved. Passed on. Sent out.


Image Gallery

Dreams of gold, space girls, Parisian laundromats and scary men with beards - New contributions to the gallery courtesy of Tara McPherson, Caitriona Penny, Hollace M. Metzger & Richard Lloyd Cederberg.


The Hearth

More blogs, more bands & message board to post events and publications.

Enjoy!


Friday 14 September 2007

Poetry Bites Back

Words Directory

Seven new additions since our last update and poets all. From London to New York, from the coasts of Scotland to mid-west USA, Hecale is proud to present in no particular order.. Gregory Vincent St. Thomasino, Suchoon Mo, Ryan Collins, Rachel Fox, Chistian Ward, Kyle Hemmings & Hannah Silva. So grab yourself your favourite tipple, kick back and have a read (and in some cases listen).

Magazines & E-zines

On the magazine front we'd like to draw attention to pretty new banners and listings for Spinning Jenny, ill-it-er-ate, Cause & Effect and Stop Sharpening Your Knives. Keeping all things in harmonious balance, four equally worthy electronic additions to mention in E-Ratio, Feathertale, Brink and Insolent Rudder. Just click the banners for a free pass to their sites.


Image Gallery

Yes, there's actually a few things hanging now and disguising the peeling paintwork in the background. Illustrations by Nina Smart, Ykha Almez, Maria de la Cruz, the Erics - Wallis & Osgood, a delightful painting by Jaymee Dever and sample photography from David Poole and Kaya.


Writing Resources

Farfalla Press - Brooklyn based poetry press with interesting titles well worth checking out. Seem to have plenty of events going on for those in the area.

Litscene - Database of sites of interest to writers, quite a few interesting sites to be found with some searching. One called Hecale looked particularly good.


The Hearth

Expect a few more band listings over the weekend but to tide you over in the meantime, try the blogs by authors Amy Guth and Zinta Aistars or check out Lola Nation's blog radio Write the Future.


Expect a return from now to regular Friday updates to kickstart your literary weekend. Take care all and stay safe - ish... depending on what you're doing.

Hecale




Friday 17 August 2007

Tales from the Hearth

Words Directory

It's been a busy week at Hecale. Individual author pages have been given a fresh crisper look and plenty of new faces added to the mix. You'll find poetry by Alan Britt, Doug Draime, Leslie Joseph, Paul Holman, Ananda Osel and the beginnings of a flash fiction fightback courtesy of Mike Hood, Karen Jones and Jamie Lin.



Magazines & E-zines

A couple of additions to mention this week.

NOÖ Journal - We are a free literary and political print/online journal distributed all over and based out of California. Our mission is to encourage mainstream readers to reconnect with literature and diverse critical thinking.

neo lampshadian outpost - i'll take poems, the really experimental stuff you can't quite classify, and, on the rarer occasions, extra-short fiction. your fiction should never exceed 450 words if you're sending it towards me, though. seriously.

SUB-LIT - We want inventive, exciting work. SUB-LIT's editors are frustrated by the lack of diversity in many mainstream literary journals, particularly those that seem afraid to publish writing that is daring in subject matter, form, or tone.

Zafusy - Started in 2004 and edited by Jody Porter, zafusy is an online space for contemporary poetry and visual art. Although based near London, zafusy has published the work of writers and artists from across the world.



Small Press Listings

Rural Messengers Press - Rural Messengers Press is/has been/can be/will dream/might say it, then change its mind about some of, then none of the following: DIY. writing. publishing. reading. pamphlets. leaflets. chapbooks. mail art. mistakes. the infinite number of possibilites that creates. zines. silly string. HAPPY HAPPY



General News


The Image Gallery is now open for submissions - illustration, painting & photography welcome & Hecale's forum (fully licensed & smoker friendly), accessed via the Hearth is operational for posting comments, news, ideas... whatever floats your boat. Pop by and pay a visit.

Tuesday 7 August 2007

Kenneth Pobo

Words Directory

Biography - My favorite fun thing is my weekly radio show called "Obscure Oldies" on Saturdays at WDNR.com from 6-8pm EST. You can hear a rare Micky Dolenz single from 72 or a Jon & Robin unreleased track. I've been writing poetry since I was 15 and I'm now... well, whatever, 52 I guess. I garden like Bette Davis wiping Lesley Howard's kiss off her face in Of Human Bondage. Today I executed two dozen beetles. I am for capital punishment for beetles, not for people (though I can think of many politicians who test my belief).

D. Garcia-Wahl

Words Directory

Biography - D. Garcia-Wahl is the author of ALL THAT DOES COME OF MADDEN’D DAYS and ASHES OF MID AUTUMN. He is putting the finishing touches on three more novels, another collection of poetry, and a collection of short stories. He was recently interviewed for a new HBO documentary. He divides his time between America and Paris.