Third issue of Curio now live

Attention Curio readers! The third issue has now been released, with work by eleven poets: Bob Brill, Michael Brownstein, Phillip Christopher, Nancy Flynn, H. Edgar Hix, John Mannone, Corey Mesler, Esther Murer, Ben Nardolilli, Bruce Niedt, and Nate Senge. Please go give them a read and share with your friends around the blogosphere. It’s been a crazy busy new year for us, and so the changes we threatened alluded to last time have yet to come to fruition. But fret not: they will be here soon, as the year has eased up a bit and we need to grow into a more developed magazine. Issue Four submissions have also been coming in, and we are starting to get to those… lots of exciting business happening around these parts.

Enjoy your wintry weekend with some poetry, and stop by again soon for more!

Curio Issue #2 Here!

Four weeks after the initial release of Curio, here we are with another issue for your perusal. There are fourteen(!) poets in this sophomore venture: Gary Anderson, Danny P. Barbare, William Doreski, Joanne Faries, Richard Fein, Nancy Flynn, Howie Good, Kyle Hemmings, M.J. Iuppa, Kenneth Pobo, Aaron Poller, Patricia Ranzoni, Pamela Sayers, and Thomas Zimmerman. Fine work by fine poets, so please go have a read and give your support!

There might be some changes coming down the road in the near future (such as options regarding submission format, the introduction of art into the magazine, a mailing list, etc.) We also have to pin old issues to the menu so they can still be accessed, although you can still get to Issue One via this link. Please stay tuned and keep an eye out as we continue to grow and develop the zine. And submissions for Issue Three have already been coming in…

Ten Days In…

So far, things have been successful, and we hope they stay that way. Some fun facts about Curio thus far…

– In the first ten days since Curio’s official launch, we have gotten over 1600 views, which I think is far beyond what was expected. The support of our readers has been amazing, and we hope that word continues to spread. I’d like to thank Margo Roby especially for her kind words and helping to advertise the site to her followers repeatedly. Tell a friend about Curio: help us showcase the work of the fine poets herein and find more to display!

– We officially have a listing at Duotrope now, which makes things official. (Or somewhat, at least. I guess there’s only a certain degree of official-ness an e-publication can reach.) I’m not entirely sure how the Duotrope system works, but I imagine that the more submissions we get, the faster we respond, and the more regularly we put together issues, the more well-known the journal will become. I suppose that’s how it goes? Anyway, you can find us there now as a proud “fledgling” publication.

– Submissions have been pouring in. At this point, if you submit anything, probably it will be considered for Issue #3, as I think we’ll fill our quota for the second one. (Tessa and I still have to go through them with a fine-toothed comb, though. We may also be looking for additional readers to help out in the near future.) There’s a lot of excellent stuff cramming the inbox these days…most likely it will be a busy holiday weekend.

None of this would have been possible without your support, so once again, thank you all very much! You can continue to help us out by spreading the word about the magazine, submitting pieces, or just stopping by and reading. The first issue is always the hardest; if we can get a second out there (maybe in early January?), I think we’ll have a fighting chance.

– Joseph

Curio Issue #1 Now Live!

Finally! At long last! The debut issue of Curio is now available for reading. Click on the “Current Issue” link above to read some fine work by Vivienne Blake, James Brush, Ron. Lavalette, Annette Mickelson, Deb Scott, and Barbara Young. We are happy that they could participate in our first issue; we hope you are inspired by their work and will consider being part of the upcoming issues.

Now that we’ve gotten off the ground, we hope that there will be more activity here. These journals are always toughest when they first start off, but hopefully Curio will gather steam a bit. We look forward to your feedback, suggestions, contributions, and approval. Thanks so much!

– The Editors

Famous Poem #4; and An Update

First, we’d just like to apologize for the slight delay in acceptances; a few submissions were received at the end of October, just before we both had some life circumstances that needed attending to. So, honest reviewing couldn’t happen until November 15th; but we have now sent responses to those who submitted. And we are still looking for submissions, so if you have anything to send in, please do! Now that those life circumstances are over with, there is much more time to immediately review whatever rolls in.

Another poem today that may give you some ideas… this is by Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet.

The Cucumber
(Nazim Hikmet)

The snow is knee-deep in the courtyard
and still coming down hard:
it hasn’t let up all morning.
We’re in the kitchen.
On the table, on the oilcloth, spring–
on the table there’s a very tender young cucumber,
                              pebbly and fresh as a daisy.
We’re sitting around the table staring at it,
amazed
          thoughtful
                    optimistic.
We’re as if in a dream.
On the table, on the oilcloth, hope–
on the table, beautiful days,
a cloud seeded with a green sun,
an emerald crowd impatient and on its way,
loves blooming openly–
on the table, there on the oilcloth, a very tender young cucumber,
                              pebbly and fresh as a daisy.
The snow is knee-deep in the courtyard
and coming down hard.
It hasn’t let up all morning.

Famous Poem #3

One more that I came across today that is an excellent piece by a slightly less well-known poet, Peter Streckfus. (As always: no copyright infringement is intended.) There have been a few submissions sent in already, and they look very promising; to those who did send in, you shall have answers soon! Meanwhile, we are trying to figure out how best to present the works that are accepted; whether all at once, or daily, or what. Stay tuned, and spread the word…!

Purgatorio
(Peter Streckfus)

Come to the surface of the screen with your piscine light
and oxygen holes and press for moments
against the page—as if seeking to pass through it.

Make with the trunk of your body the third letter—
in a motion move the ends of your face and caudal fin
each to your right, toward each other — C.

Toward the third hour on your axis—
and in the same motion sweep your trunk back,
tail beat pushing through the ninth hour, moving you

headfirst in the new direction and off the screen—
this movement follow with movement of more bodies,
simultaneous, unselfconscious, aggregate—

choral, co-created, a gathering
of you in the mind—oscillate behind the screen like a wheel
of bodies, a promenade—it we you he she—

move through the water column, skins of bodies,
similar, discreet—company, crowd, collection,
shoal and plural movement of consciousness.

Setting and set by the turbid water in motion,
the new law of movement. Dissolution
and coming into being. Appear as lights

and images on the screen, your voices faded
to an inaudible and drawn-out O!
meaning here is the place we asked for!

Famous Poem #2

Another poem that may be helpful for showing the feel we’re looking for. Once again: no copyright infringement intended. (I feel like this statement maybe is not necessary to write every single time, but better to have it than not.)

Song of the Builders
(Mary Oliver)

On a summer morning
I sat down
on a hillside
to think about God –

a worthy pastime.
Near me, I saw
a single cricket;
it was moving the grains of the hillside

this way and that way.
How great was its energy,
how humble its effort.
Let us hope

it will always be like this,
each of us going on
in our inexplicable ways
building the universe.

Famous Poem #1

Thought it might be sensible to give an example of a poem that shows the kind of thing we’re looking for here at Curio. We’ve received a couple of submissions already, and will be starting to review them this weekend; but here is something to get the creative juices simmering a bit more. (No copyright infringement intended, etc.)

Hay for the Horses
(Gary Snyder)

He had driven half the night
From far down San Joaquin
Through Mariposa, up the
Dangerous Mountain roads,
And pulled in at eight a.m.
With his big truckload of hay
behind the barn.
With winch and ropes and hooks
We stacked the bales up clean
To splintery redwood rafters
High in the dark, flecks of alfalfa
Whirling through shingle-cracks of light,
Itch of haydust in the
sweaty shirt and shoes.
At lunchtime under Black oak
Out in the hot corral,
—The old mare nosing lunchpails,
Grasshoppers crackling in the weeds—
“I’m sixty-eight” he said,
“I first bucked hay when I was seventeen.
I thought, that day I started,
I sure would hate to do this all my life.
And dammit, that’s just what
I’ve gone and done.”

Curio Poetry now open for submissions

Welcome to Curio! Please excuse the no-frills approach as we still determine all the nitty-gritty details about getting the blog going and whatnot. Until we’re actually ready to gather some poems together (which is, of course, dependent on submissions), this space will have the idle post now and then to keep things a bit fresh. In the meantime, we welcome any questions, comments, suggestions, or other contribution you might have! Please explore the “About” and “Submissions” pages above for more information.

These things are harder to get off the ground than they seem. So bear with us, and thanks!