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Writing poetry is like singing. And I am full of music right now. It’s the melody that follows phrase after phrase, carrying us from dreams to even nightmares. I am without words to express the happiness I have to be the editor for the upcoming Poetry Showcase, as well as Showcase XII; and to work alongside some of the finest poets in horror as judges for this year’s Showcase.

This year’s judges will include L.E. Daniels, Sumiko Saulson, Pedro Iniguez, and Ngô Bình Anh Khoa.

We have some exciting things in store for this year’s volume including INCREASED PAY for poets and the incredible Lynne Hansen has signed on to design the cover.

Sharpen your quills poets, and check out the guidelines below:

Full Submission Guidelines and Submittable Information for Poetry Showcase Volume XI

The HWA is proud to announce that it will call for submissions from its members for the HWA Poetry Showcase Volume XI beginning April 1st, 2024.

Only HWA members (of any status) may submit. Non-members may also submit, but if their poem is accepted, they must become members of the HWA (of any status) prior to publication. The reason for this can be found in the word “Showcase.” The HWA is very proud of the tradition of poetry in the horror genre and of the HWA’s support for poetry. This volume is limited to members of the HWA in order to showcase their talents in dark poetry. We will verify membership and if a non-member submits, they must obtain some level of membership prior to the final cut for the volume to be considered.

The rules for this year’s volume will be similar to previous years:

  1. No more than 35 lines. Each author or group of collaborators on a single poem may only submit one (1) poem. Speculative and dark verse is welcome but it should have a “horror” slant.
  2. No fancy formatting, dual columns, lining of poems in the center of the page, poems that require strange configurations to look like an image and similar formatting. This is difficult to translate to a single page for publishing. Poems should be submitted in .rtf, .txt, or Word formats.
  3. Any form – free verse, metered, rhyming, haiku, Tanka etc. – is acceptable. But, if you do use a more traditional form, please remember that poor writing, overly heavy reliance on cliché and imitation will significantly reduce any chances of acceptance. We need good poetry. For example: George (Lord Byron) Gordon already owns the phrase “She walks in beauty, like the night.” Evangeline Walton and many others have overused the phrase “She Walks in Darkness.” Stay away from these types of archetypal clichés.
  4. English only, please.
  5. No previously published works or simultaneous submissions.
  6. Rights will revert on publication with the HWA retaining the right to use the poem in relation to promote the volume.
  7. PAYMENT: The HWA will pay contributors a flat rate of $35.00 (thirty-five USD). Contributors will also receive a paperback copy of the volume.
  8. HWA will also provide accepted authors with an e-copy of the volume.

Submissions will open April 1st to celebrate National Poetry Month.

Submissions will close May 1st at 11:59PM Pacific.

This is a great opportunity to help the HWA celebrate and promote the contribution of poetry to the genre. We look forward to reading your work,

SUBMIT HERE

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I am over the moon (still) to announce that my NSFW cosmic horror poetry book, Bleeding Rainbows and Other Broken Spectrums has been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievent in a Poetry Collection. This collection was a difficult emotional slog and each poem carries such a heavy tone and color.

I am grateful to Hex Publishers for giving this book a home, and to my colleagues who blurbed it.

Generous blurbs provided by Vince Liaguno, Lee Murray, Stephanie Wytovich, John Lawson, Gregory Maguire, Lindy Ryan, Sumiko Saulson.

I also have to thank Angela Yuriko Smith for always being my constant source of support and whose introduction still brings tears to my eyes every time I read it.

Books can be ordered directly from the publisher or from Amazon.

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2023 has been quite the year and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to continue to publish an put my work out there for those to enjoy.

For Consideration:

Poetry Collections:

Bleeding Rainbows and Other Broken Spectrums, Hex Publishers (June, 2023).

anOther Mythology: Poems, Interstellar Flight Press (September, 2023).

Poetry:

My prose poem Behold! The Manifest Age appeared in ‘Along Harrowed Trails from Timber Ghost Press, LLC. 2023.

My long narrative prose poem Ex Oblivione: Nothing Out of the End was printed in the February (#32) issue of Cosmic Horror Monthly (2023).

A second narrative prose poem When I Swallowed the Sun, I Kissed the Night was printed in the October (#40) issue of Cosmic Horror Monthly (2023).

I penned my first sonnet, I Demand the City of Flesh which appeared in James Aquilone’s ‘Shakespeare Unleashed’ anthology (2023).

My prose poem Paragraph 175 was printed in ‘Unspeakable Horrors 3: Dark Rainbow Rising’ ed. Vince Liaguno (2023).

My poem Blurred Omnipotence appeared in ‘Back 2 OmniPark’ ed. Alicia Hilton and Ben Thomas (2023).

My prose poem, To Curse What the Moon Brings a continuation of to H.P. Lovecraft’s famous prose poem What the Moon Brings was published in the anthology ‘For the Outsider: Poems Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’ from Hippocampus Press (2023).

My prose poem Where Stars Go was printed in the Spring Issue of the Door is a Jar Magazine.

My eponymous prose poem Ordo ob Chao: Towards That Endlessness was printed in the anthology ‘Azathoth: Ordo ob Chao ed. Aaron J. French from Journalstone (2023).

My prose poem And So It Goes, The End That Cometh Sweetly was published in the anthology ‘Shadows Over Mainstreet Vol. 3 ed. Doug Murano and D. Alexander Ward (2023).

My prose poem Common Sense, No More appeared in the follow up anthology ‘Qualia Nous Vol. 2 ed. Michael Bailey (2023).

My weird cosmic horror poem The Great Cosmic Itch appeared in ‘The Cozy Cosmic’ ed. Francis Ippolito and Mark Teppo (2023).

The Hallows Eve Star (prose poem) appeared in Weird Fiction Quarterly Halloween Edition. (2023).

Stingy Old Jack (prose poem) appeared in Weird Fiction Quarterly Halloween Edition. (2023).

Poetry from Spectral Realms and Penumbra:

Brain Funk (prose poem) appeared in Spectral Realms No. 18 from Hippocampus Press (2023).

There’s a Hole in the Sky (prose poem) appeared in Spectral Realms No. 18 from Hippocampus Press (2023).

The Myth of Nothing (prose poem) appeared in Spectral Realms No. 19 from Hippocampus Press (2023).

They’re Coming (prose poem) appeared in Spectral Realms No. 19 from Hippocampus Press (2023).

The Towers (prose poem) appeared in Spectral Realms No. 19 from Hippocampus Press (2023).

Ancient Teeth (prose poem) appeared in Penumbra No. 4 from Hippocampus Press (2023).

Short Fiction

My short story My Cin appeared in The LGBTQ Horror Collection from KJK Publishing (2023).