Two Sylvias Press Summer/Autumn Newsletter, 2024
Two Sylvias Press Summer/Autumn Newsletter, 2024
Join us for classes with Carolyn Forché, Dorianne Laux, & Danusha Laméris
Hello Friends,
As summer comes to a close, we hope you've found time to recharge and relax—especially in your creative pursuits. Now, with September on the horizon, it's the perfect time to dive back into your writing routine, submit your poems, and participate in a reading or workshop. We’re here to spark your autumn inspiration and help you make the most of the season ahead!
In this edition of our newsletter, you’ll find upcoming events for our paid Weekly Muse Subscribers, details on our Fall Online Poetry Retreat, info on our annual Wilder Poetry Prize, our latest book release, and a writing prompt to ignite your next poem!
Inspiring News from the Weekly Muse
Take your writing to the next level by becoming a paid subscriber to our bestselling resource for poets, The Weekly Muse. Receive weekly poetry prompts and submission opportunities, and join our FREE Zoom classes/discussions with:
Danusha Laméris (October 24th)
Upcoming: Carolyn Forché and Dorianne Laux
We are also offering monthly classes for our subscribers with Lena Khalaf Tuffaha (Sept. 12th!), Kelli Russell Agodon & Melissa Studdard, Susan Rich, Ruben Quesada, Elena Karina Byrne, Lana Hechtman Ayers, Gloria J. Burgess, Jane Wong, and Luisa A. Igloria.
Become a paid subscriber by October 1st to participate in our lineup of inspiring classes and discussions on Zoom!
Our Muse Subscriber Community is growing! We have hundreds of subscribers who are motivated by and benefitting from the inspiring material offered in each week’s issue of the Muse.
What is the Two Sylvias Weekly Muse?
Each Sunday morning in your inbox you will receive:
Insider Info on Navigating the Publishing World
Where to Submit Your Work—a list of reputable journals and book/chapbook prizes that are currently open for submissions
FREE Zoom Classes and Exclusive Discussions with Notable Poets and Writers
A Poetry/Creativity Exercise and a Poetry Prompt
Ask the Editors Column and Exclusive Interviews with Well-Known Poets
Inspiration and Helpful Tips on Living Life as a Creative Person—the latest information and studies on creativity, art, and writing
An Optional Facebook Group providing Community Support
The Weekly Muse has become an integral part of my writing routine. I can't emphasize enough the benefits of committing for the year. The consistent support, resources, and community have been invaluable. If you really care about your poetry, get the yearly subscription. ~ Fatima Z., Poet and Weekly Muse Subscriber
We invite you to read a recent issue of the Weekly Muse (Issue 123: Sept. 1, 2024) free of charge. We hope you enjoy it! Please click below to read the Muse:
https://twosylviaspress.substack.com/p/two-sylvias-weekly-muse-september-dff
Sign up for the Weekly Muse and join us for our FREE classes and discussions! Give yourself the gift of inspiration!
Join Us for the Two Sylvias Annual Online Fall Poetry Retreat
It’s back for the 9th year! Our annual (and popular!) Fall Poetry Retreat is open for sign-ups: https://twosylviaspress.com/online-poetry-retreat.html
We send you poetry exercises and prompts, example poems, and inspirational artist profiles—ALL VIA EMAIL. At the end of the retreat, have one of your poems critiqued by the editors of Two Sylvias Press: Kelli and Annette.
Dates:
October 7 - November 3 (October Session)
*Please Note: The material for the Fall Retreat is the same as that of the Summer (July and August) Retreats.
Join us for a month of writing new poems! Space is limited! Please visit our website to register: https://twosylviaspress.com/online-poetry-retreat.html
Publication News from Two Sylvias Press
Available in October from Two Sylvias Press: Letters, Unwritten by Andrew Robin, Winner of last year’s Two Sylvias Press Chapbook Prize!
Contest Judge Eduardo C. Corral writes:
These short epistolary poems are dazzling, rich with surprising language. (To be honest, I wish I’d written some of these lines.) Here, surprise is a prism; it refracts loneliness, grief, humor, and forgiveness. The recipient of these letters is unknown—it doesn’t matter. What matters more is the linguistic pleasures leaping off each page, the way language not addressed to us can sometimes resonate like intimacy.
Andrew Robin lives with his wife Sarah on Sx’wálech (Lopez Island) in the unceded ancestral waterways of the Coast Salish peoples, where he works as a registered nurse. He is the author of something has to happen next from University of Iowa Press, good beast from Burnside Review Books, and Stray Birds from Kelson Books. His work is anthologized in An Introduction to the Prose Poem and Field Guide to Prose Poetry. Andrew is the recipient of a distinguished teaching award in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
You can pre-order Letters, Unwritten by visiting our Two Sylvias Press Bookstore by clicking here.
The Two Sylvias Press Wilder Poetry Book Prize
WE ARE NOW OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS!
Enter the Two Sylvias Press WILDER PRIZE: a poetry book contest for women over 50. The Wilder Series Book Prize is open to women poets over 50 (established or emerging poets) and includes a $1000 prize and publication by Two Sylvias Press.
Women submitting manuscripts may be poets with one or more previously published chapbooks/books or poets without any prior chapbook/book publications.
Previous winners of the Wilder Prize: Carmen Gillespie, Adrian Blevins, Dana Roeser, Erica Bodwell, Gail Martin, Michelle Bitting, Gail Griffin, Tiffany Midge, and Eve Alexandra.
Submission Dates: Sept. 1, 2024 – Dec. 31, 2024
Please view the complete guidelines here: https://twosylviaspress.com/wilder-series-poetry-book-prize.html
We look forward to reading your manuscript!
Poetry Prompt!
IS THERE ANYONE IN THE ECHO-VERSE….VERSE…..VERSE?
For this Two Sylvias’ prompt, you will write a poem in which the first syllable of each line “echoes” the ending syllable of the previous line. Here is an example:
It’s not what I predicted—
teddy bear posters on the wall,
wallaby magnets on your fridge…
Write an “echo poem” that consists of at least ten lines. If you would like some direction for a theme, consider writing your poem about a story that is currently in the news or perhaps write about a humorous mishap or situation involving food and/or a meal. If you would like, check a breaking news website right now, choosing a story that interests you….you….you. Or write about potato chips and carrots….carrots….carrots.
Thank you so much for your support of our small press!
Please visit our Two Sylvias website: https://twosylviaspress.com/index.html
Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/twosylviaspress/
Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twosylviaspress/
Contact: twosylviaspress@gmail.com
Happy Writing!
Kelli & Annette
Kelli Russell Agodon & Annette Spaulding-Convy
Cofounders & Coeditors of Two Sylvias Press