Fantastique Unfettered

FU Weekly: Poetry News

2012-05-25T03:42:00.000-07:00

There are a few interesting things happening in the spec(ulative) poetry field at the moment. The Moment of Change, the first feminist speculative poetry anthology ever (and hopefully, not the last), has been released this month from Aqueduct Press. The editor, Rose Lemberg, posted the entire Table of Contents here, and the fabulous poets involved in this major project should make you want it right now. FU is especially happy to see Lisa M. Bradley's In Defiance of Sleek-Armed Androids there; we first published the piece in our 4th Issue. We will get back to this anthology in greater detail in the form of a review soon.

Secondly, Stone Bird Press (read a short interview with the press's founder, Rose Lemberg, here) has finally released its first publication: Here, We Cross, a collection of 22 queer poems from Stone Telling Issues 1-7. This is a wonderful celebration of diversity, and a small book assembled with great care, and again, we here at FU would like this to be the first in a long row of such releases. Perhaps this is a good time to remind writers that we are at the moment reading for Shakespeare Unfettered, guidelines above, and that we are very much looking forward to receiving LGBTQ work for this one.

As no poetry news can be complete without reviews, we would like to point our readers to Versification, a place for reviews of spec poetry only. You can find new reviews here pretty much every Thursday (or Verseday, as the poets call it).

One final piece of news comes from Mitchell Hart, who founded inkscrawl, a venue for minimalist spec poetry (we talked with the new editor Samantha Henderson here). Mitchell has founded yet another home for poems of the fantastic, Through the Gate, and we are quite excited to see what will happen there! At the moment, the new zine is still open to submissions, and the first issue will be released in August.

--AS

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us, please consider making a donation--however small--by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Weekly: Poetry Selection for Fantastique Unfettered #5 (Shifgrethor)

2012-05-11T17:52:00.001-07:00

This lovely Friday, we present to you the POETRY SELECTION for our fifth issue:

After The Mistress of the Copper Mountain by Rose Lemberg
Aristeia by Sonya Taaffe
Godfather Drosselmeyer by Sonya Taaffe
if stones could by Dan Campbell
Sylvan Screen by J.C. Runolfson
All Her Desire by J.C. Runolfson
Tam Lin, Civil Engineer by Michele Bannister
Water Child by Mari Ness
The Curious Soul by Mari Ness

Please also take a look at our FICTION SELECTION. Fantastique Unfettered #5 is coming to you in November in a fabulous double issue containing not just the fifth issue, but also our special sixth, aka Shakespeare Unfettered. I would mark that in my calendar if I were you.

--AS

FU Weekly: Fiction Selection for Fantastique Unfettered #5 (Shifgrethor)

2012-05-04T18:54:00.000-07:00

We are very excited to finally announce the FICTION SELECTION for Fantastique Unfettered #5 (aka Shifgrethor). So, without further ado:

The Forest Gods by Therese Arkenberg
The Beachcombers by Nicole M. Taylor
Falling, Falling: A Comparative Study by Sofia Samatar
The Bridge of Organic Mortar by Avery Oslo
Company Policy by J. Kelley Anderson
In Bloom by A.J. Fitzwater
Wonderkin by Stacy Sinclair

To all the writers who send us general fiction submissions, you should have heard from us by now, if not query immediately. For all who sent in Aether Age subs, Shakespeare Unfettered subs, or poetry, you will hear from us soon.

Of course we are very grateful for the many authors who sent us their work during this submission period. The choices were not always easy, but we have boiled this down to a strong issue: congratulations to our #5 fiction authors!

As always, a few numbers for those of you who find maths soothing:

Total number of submissions received: 126 (submissions sent to us outside of the designated submission period will not be considered here.)

by male authors: 77 (64.2%)
by female authors: 49 (38.8%)

submissions held for final considerations: 11 (8.7%) note: one of the accepted pieces was submitted during our last submission period and is not included here.

by male authors: 2 (18.2%)
by female authors: 9 (81.8%)

pieces accepted: 6 (4.8% of total subs)

by male authors: 1
by female authors: 5

Preference was given to authors with a strong voice who told engaging stories. That said, we would have very much liked to see more LGBTQ/queer themed pieces and/or pieces featuring POC. Diversity, people! Those who are considering sending us something for SU would do well to embrace this.

Next week, we shall have news from the lyrical slush pile for you. In the meantime, now is a good time to send in work for Shakespeare Unfettered.

--AS

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 30

2012-04-30T06:04:00.001-07:00

National Poetry Month is almost over. We hope you had a productive April, and perhaps the one or other of our prompts was helpful and/or inspiring.

Come Friday, we'll have our regular FU Weekly posts again, hope to see you then.

And now, this April's final prompt:

#30: endings & beginnings, alpha & omega, death & rebirth, old & new, rise and fall & rise again.

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 29

2012-04-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

#29: witching

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

Illustration from www.commons.wikimedia.org.

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 28

2012-04-28T09:35:00.002-07:00

#28: sonnets and superheroes

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 27

2012-04-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

#27: conundrum, co-nun-drum, noun; 1: a riddle whose answer is or involves a pun; 2 a: a question or problem having only a conjectural answer b: an intricate and difficult problem

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 26

2012-04-26T05:20:00.000-07:00

Today's prompt comes to you courtesy of Brandon H. Bell, esteemed founder and currently off-duty (he'll be back.) Enjoy.

#26: Bieber & Vodka

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 25

2012-04-25T06:24:00.002-07:00

#25: cravings//hunger

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 24

2012-04-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

#24: tasting Faerie fruit

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 23

2012-04-23T05:18:00.001-07:00

#23: the sound of space

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

Illustration from www.commons.wikimedia.org.

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 22

2012-04-22T04:47:00.000-07:00

#22: queer

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 21

2012-04-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

#21:

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

Illustration from www.commons.wikimedia.org.

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 20

2012-04-20T16:32:00.003-07:00

#20: My words fly up, my thoughts remain below,

Words without thoughts never to Heaven go. (The Bard)

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 19

2012-04-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

#19: rollercoaster & Ragnarok

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 18

2012-04-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

#18: gut the cliche

Today's prompt, "gut the cliche," invites you to go after everything that's been done too much in the spec genre--we're talking werewolves, vampires, the zombie apocalypse, and hey, why not the odd serial killer or parallel universe. Use your best satirical verse to make these suckers bleed (no pun intended)!

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 17

2012-04-17T06:39:00.001-07:00

#17:

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

Illustration from www.commons.wikimedia.org.

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 16

2012-04-16T06:27:00.001-07:00

#16: topsy-turvy

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 15

2012-04-15T06:23:00.001-07:00

Today we offer you a choice:

#15: E=mc² or Newton's Third Law (F=-F) or the Heisenberg uncertainty principle

If you feel like killing cats, there really isn't much we can do about that. If you want to take on all of the above, by all means, go for it.

In addition to the prompt, we would also like to repost some good news, in case anyone missed them:

NEWS 4/13: We are very excited to announce that Lynne Jamneck's short story "Azif" (FU #4) has made it onto the final ballot of the SJV Award! Keeping our fingers crossed here at FU Headquarters.

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 14

2012-04-14T04:53:00.003-07:00

A prompt and some good news:

#14: the face of thunder

NEWS 4/13: We are very excited to announce that Lynne Jamneck's short story "Azif" (FU #4) has made it onto the final ballot of the SJV Award! Keeping our fingers crossed here at FU Headquarters.

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 13

2012-04-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

NEWS: We are very excited to announce that Lynne Jamneck's short story "Azif" (FU #4) has made it onto the final ballot of the SJV Award! Keeping our fingers crossed here at FU Headquarters.

Back to the prompt:

#13: yearning to breathe free

Fantastique Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 12

2012-04-12T03:55:00.000-07:00

#12:

British 55th (West Lancashire) Division troops blinded by tear gas await treatment at an Advanced Dressing Station near Bethune during the Battle of Estaires, 10 April 1918, part of the German offensive in Flanders.

Fantastique
Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

Illustration from www.commons.wikimedia.org.

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 11

2012-04-11T06:47:00.002-07:00

#11: the box of P. [open me!]

Fantastique
Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 10

2012-04-09T23:22:00.002-07:00

#10: Dear Diary, Today the world is (really, really) gonna end.

Fantastique
Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!

FU Celebrates National Poetry Month: Day 9

2012-04-09T06:43:00.005-07:00

#9: ...just an illusion, a hallucination, a trick of the mind; don't be afraid, this isn't real...

Fantastique
Unfettered is an effort of love. We love bringing fiction, non-fiction
and poetry to our readers, and we love to pay our authors. To help us,
please consider making a donation by following the Donate button at the top right of this page.

Thank you!