Poetry and Poetics

n. 1. The acts or processes of editing or revising writings; preparations for publication. 2. Edited works; new editions or revisions. 3. A journal of poetry and poetics that is published every nine months and that welcomes: poems; poetry book reviews; translations; manifestos; essays concerning poetry, poetics, poetry movements, or a specific poet or a group of poets; and anything dealing with poetry.


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In 1913, when Jacob Epstein created “Rock Drill,” which appears on the cover, he was attempting to show the benefits of a technologically-infused humanity. So he joined a sculpture of this robot-like humanoid on top of an actual machine. It was one of the first times, if not the first time, art was combined with a manufactured product. Epstein showed the sculpture, as it appears on the cover, only once. Many critics and audience members were hostile towards the sculpture. In fact, Epstein even received many vicious anti-Semitic remarks.

During World War I, on the battlefields of Northern France, Epstein’s hopes of a humanity enhanced by technology were completely shattered. Soon Epstein became a disillusioned soul and destroyed the sculpture, except for the torso, which he bronzed. It is now at the Tate Gallery in England.

The point of using “Rock Drill” on the cover is to create a parallel with the fusion of poetry and prose, which I think can live harmoniously in the prose poem. I do not anticipate any drastic undoings, like the initial hostilities that befell Simic when he won the Pulitizer Prize with a collection of prose poems. Christopher Buckley get into these initial negative reactions to Simic’s book later in this issue.

There is also some lineated poetry in this issue as well as reviews and other poetics. In our upcoming issue, we hope to explore the disappearance of the lyric poem from contemporary American poetry. That is, “What happened to the lyrical poem in contemporary American poetry? Why is it disappearing? How has the lyric lost its prominence?” Please email us your 200-500 word thoughts and/or some lyric poems. Guidelines are in back.

Issue 11 is dedicated to Maan R Al-Ubaidi – may he rest in peace.

Tom Holmes
Editor



Nota Bene
At last. At last. For all of you in waiting, Poetry Assignments: The Book will be released in April from Sage Hill Press. To pre-order or order, contact sagehillpress@yahoo.com.




Active Supporters RedActive Supporters
Adrienne & Wayne Cayea Liz & Donald Robbins
Mike Steele William Heyen
Stan Rubin Roy & Pat Holmes
Jessica Lindberg Paul Holmes & Peggy Jennings
Delisa Mulkey Stan Coe
Tricia Asklar Donna Marbach
Chris, Eric, & Sam Winslow
Maan R Al-Ubaidi (RIP)





To become an Active sponsor of Redactions is easy, just donate $20 - $99.99. You will receive a free issue of Redactions for your support. RedActive sponsors need donate only $100 or more, and you will receive a two-year subscription. And both sponsors receive our gratitude and a magnetic car ribbon. We also thank our contributors for the opportunity to publish their wonderful work in this double issue of Redactions: Poetry & Poetics. (If you wish to be a sponsor, please make out checks to "Tom Holmes" and send to 58 South Main Street, Third Floor, Brockport, NY 14420.)

The Editor Tom




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REDACTIONS NEWS

•Support Poetry — Buy a Magnetic Car Ribbon





•3-12-09

Editor Tom Holmes' Henri, Sophie, & The Hieratic Head of Ezra Pound: Poems Blasted from the Vortex accepted for publication from BlazeVOX Books. Due out in Fall 2009 or Spring 2010.





•2-1-09

A Question of Aesthetics for Issue 12 (Fall 2009)

Redactions Poetry & Poetics newest question of aesthetics is concerned with the lyric. We are looking for responses to one or all of the following questions:

• What happened to the lyrical poem in contemporary American poetry?
• Why is it disappearing?
• How has the lyric lost its prominence?

Please send a 200-500 word response to redactionspoetry(at)yahoo.com (replace "(at)" with "@"). Please send as a Word attachment, .rtf attachment, or paste in the body of the email.

Please share this question with those who you think it might interest.

You can also send 3-5 lyric and/or non-lyric poems as well.

Deadline May 2009.




• Happy 95th birthday to Vortcism.

Vorticism was a defining moment in Modernism. It heavily influenced art, sculpting, writing, and even photography. The main ring leaders were Wyndham Lewis, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, and Ezra Pound.

It is on December 19, 1913, when Ezra Pound first uses the word "Vortex" to describe the artistic energies in London. He used it in a letter to W. C. Williams: "You may get something slogging away by yourself that you would miss in The Vortext" that is going on in London. Six-and-a-half months later the "great MAGENTA cover'd opusculus" BLAST would appear.

Ezra Pound first conceived of Vorticism in the rotary plow when he was child leaving Hailey, Idaho, in the Blizzard of '87. His first use of the word "Vortex" was in the poem "Plotinus" in 1908. But to describe the powerful artisitc movement, it was 95 years ago today--December 19, 1913.

(12-19-08).



• Tom Holmes' poem "For Her Waking" appaears on Verse Daily.
(8-16-08)



• Editor Tom Holmes' Pre-Dew Poems has been released from FootHills Publishing.




• Editor Tom Holmes' Negative Time has been released from Pudding House.
(6-24-07)



• Mike Dockins' poem "Dead Critics Society" has been chosen by Heather McHugh for inclusion in The Best American Poetry 2007. "Dead Critics Society" first appeared in the Atlanta Review. It also appeared on Verse Daily on April 10, 2006.
(1-8-07)



• New email address: redactionspoetry @ yahoo.com
(11-14-06)



• Mike Dockins book Slouching in the Path of a Comet has been accepted for publication. Due out in early 2007 from Sage Hill Press. Preorder at sagehillpress@yahoo.com.
(9-1-06).



• Poetry Assignments: The Book by Tom Holmes, with Mike Dockins & Michelle Bonczek. Due out in early 2007 from Sage Hill Press. Tentatively priced at $20. Reserve a copy now, and receive a 40% discount. Contact Sage Hill Press at: sagehillpress@yahoo.com. Offer expires during the AWP conference.
(9-1-06).

• Redactions is currently seeking submissions for Gemaldegedicht — a poem inspired by or based on a painting. Submissions for this will end in October 2006.
(4-19-06).

• We are no longer accepting mythic poem submissions for the mythic issue. But we are still and always reading and accepting submissions of poems, essays, books, interviews, etc.
(1-7-06).

• Congratualtions to the Redctions poets whose poems appeared on Verse Daily (www.versedaily.org).

John Whalen, December 21st, 2005: with his poem "Fiber Optics".

Susan Denning, December 25th, 2005: with her poem "Prayer".

Linda Cooper, December 26th, 2005: with her poem "Ponderous Borer".

Michael Robins, December 29th, 2005: with his poem "Gray Gone Missing".


• Congratulations to co-editor Mike Dockins and his poem "Letter to Claus from Walnut Creek" which has been nominated for a Pushcart prize by West Branch.
(11-15-05).


• Redactions is currently seeking submissions of mythy poems for its next issue. We are looking for myths created by the poet, a retelling of old myths, or poems with a mythic feel about them. Science poems might also fit into this category. For more information see submission guidelines, or e-mail us at: poetry@redactions.com.