floating bridge press blog

Chapbook Competition: Deadline Extension and Email Submissions

2012-02-08T13:52:00.000-08:00

We are extending the 2012 Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Competition deadline from February 15 to March 1, 2012. This is in order to accommodate new email submissions. That's right, we are finally ready to accept email submissions!

In order to submit by email, please observe the following rules.

1. Use the PayPal Account on our webpage to pay your entry fee. If you do not pay the entry fee, we cannot consider your manuscript.
2. Follow our chapbook entry guidelines with the following adjustments:
3. Make sure your name does not appear anywhere in your manuscript. Your name should only appear in your email, along with your contact information including email and street address, phone number, and manuscript title.
4. Send your manuscript (as a Word or PDF file) to floatingbridgepress@yahoo.com.

Please pass the word along.

Don't Miss The Cupboard Artist!

2012-01-26T23:11:00.000-08:00

Molly Tenenbaum gave a terrific reading on Tuesday night at our favorite book store, Open Books: A Poem Emporium. Thanks to Holly Hughes for the photos:

Just to Tempt You--

2012-01-22T23:24:00.000-08:00

Hope you can make Molly Tenenbaum's reading at 7:30 on Tuesday night, January 26, 2012 at Open Books: A Poem Emporium.

Nobody writes quite like Molly. She is entirely herself and completely indispensable. A master of the sensual.

Ode to the Ugly Colors

Hairball beige, rust that spots
every single snapdragon,
mustard of 70s telephones, she swore
she never would wear these, and why
grownups did, who could guess, when they could put on
all the pink they wanted.
At ten, she claimed brown
her favorite color, but only
("brown's not a color") to shock little yellows and reds—

or maybe she'd seen maroon velvet, even then, felt the blush of cocoa powder.

Iris, iridescent, you were lovely, color the crescent moon
might flash if she fluttered a wing,
glimpse of her aunt Eva's silk sheath, shadow
the black-haired girls
caked on in the junior high bathroom
and came out looking, the principal said,
like sluts, but she loved
their necklines of peacock acrylic, their idea
of brushing blue anywhere.

Sings to you now, blotchy green, underside
of a sunflower leaf that will be completely dead tomorrow.
Sings to you, burnt buttermilk, tabletop clotted with cup-rings.
Sings to you, gray, porous linoleum tracked with wet weather.
And to you, white glare, all a cataract sees.

She wears green of cow-dung, tan of an old dry gourd.

Color of mildew, of grated potatoes.
Color of grunt, harrumph, and husk.
The old lips of yogurt, the lost cottage cheese.
Scrape and caw, a dinged aluminum pot.
The granite color of collar bands.
The chicken-fat color of sleep-scum.
Mud of her eyes.

Ugly colors, she sings, you have
the most beautiful names.
Dove-gray, olive, dusky rose.
Murrey, claret, bloodstain, myrtle.
Mauve, russet, mahogany, buff.
Sallow, ginger, pockmarked nacre.
Birchbark, mica, sandstone, moss.

You are soft as the cotton sheet in the mending basket.

You are the damp cloth
fever heats through every five minutes.

When you wrap around a person, when she pulls
you tighter, heavy weight of wool in winter,
she feels a tug

in her heart—
cuticle detaching, claw caught in a sweater.
Unsealing of a leaf before it falls.

Floating Bridge Press publishes Molly Tenenbaum's new collection, The Cupboard Artist

2012-01-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

The editors of Floating Bridge Press are delighted to announce the publication of Molly Tenenbaum's third full-length collection of poems, The Cupboard Artist.

Molly will be giving her inaugural reading at Seattle's favorite (and the west's only) poetry bookstore, Open Books: A Poem Emporium on Tuesday, January 24 at 7:30 pm.

In Molly Tenenbaum’s The Cupboard Artist we get mauve and jet and puce and garnet, bronze gold thread, and flame. We get caterpillar yarn, chocolate suede, clotted malt, and firefall velvet dresses and blue aromas of pine. We get braids of burlap and rose brown grass and wedges and spindles and trusses and tweezers and peppercorn cheese. In short, we get every color, texture, taste and almost-fingertip-touched longing, in this keenly noticed collision of the inner and outer life, this erotic, musical, painterly, reflective and seriously joyous book. I love every page of it.
--Christopher Howell

These densely imagistic poems are no stream of consciousness, but instead a stream of conflicting desires. Molly Tenenbaum presents us with food and flesh and the hunger that comes from wanting them even as you hold them in your hands—in such a richly populated world of things, she gives us true longing. While the possibilities are endless—say this, say that, "Say he never came back. Would you still / love to be alone?"—the woman, that held-at-a-distance "her," that these poems turn their gaze on can't decide how to embrace the incompletion of desire. And so we join her in the pleasures of hunger, like the bees, “confused, so much air / between them and the flowers."
--Keetje Kuipers

email submissions!

2011-12-01T09:47:00.000-08:00

We want to remind you that Floating Bridge Press is open for poetry chapbook submissions until February 15, 2012.

We will be accepting email submissions this year! But not until our new website is up and running, which will be before the end of 2011. You have waited long and patiently. Thanks for hanging in there with us!

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

2011-12-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

Floating Bridge Press seeks poetry submissions for our upcoming publication Floating Bridge Review #5 on the theme of “Do Tell” — works that touch on gay life (including lesbian, bi, trans, two-spirit, questioning, and any other non-straight orientations). We are seeking work that is inspired, surprising, humorous, intriguing, and/or just plain excellent writing. There are no restrictions on form or subject matter. Prose poems and flash fiction will also be considered. Poets of all persuasions are welcome and encouraged to submit.

Entries are by e-mail only: Send up to 5 poems as a single Microsoft Word document or single PDF file by February 15, 2012 to floatingbridgepress@yahoo.com. Please put FBR5 SUBMISSION in the Subject line of your e-mail.

Two Big Readings!

2011-09-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

We are very excited to announce a date for the annual Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Award Reading. Please join us at the Richard Hugo House on Wednesday, October 5 at 7:00 pm to hear Casey Fuller read from his prize-winning collection, Fort Made of Doors. A book signing will follow. Finalist Meghan McClure of Auburn will also read. We are sorry finalist Ann Gerike will not be able to join us as she has moved to Maryland.

We hope you will join us and help us inaugurate this wonderful book. It is youthful and wise, funny and moving. Here is a sample poem by Casey Fuller:

Blue Hoodie

You have made it through many things I did not want to do
and many things that have made me very happy, and as a thanks

I keep wearing and washing you, putting you over wools and cottons,
and I am finally content to let you unravel at your sleeves

so you can keep revising where you end. I have wiped my nose on you
and you have spent much time in a canvas bag folded up with fruit

and you have brushed forklifts and bicycles and almost everything
I have written over the last seven years. I have lost you and found you

and used you for a pillow and when the police pepper-sprayed
the kids protesting on the corner you were the first thing I reached for

to cover my face. Strangers have worn you and my mother has sewn you
and I have scissored holes into your seams so you could be gloves.

I have gone to sleep in you and used you for a blanket and I have
woken up to find the person I most love wearing only you

while they made scrambled eggs for breakfast. You have touched me
more than anyone and known my habits as well as anything

and you have hovered around me like a blue kind of halo as I walk through
each of the buildings and out onto the thin decks that always have the best views of the city.

We are also excited to announce a joint reading with Casey Fuller of Portland and our 2010 chapbook winner, Laura Read of Spokane at Open Books on Tuesday, November 1 at 7:30 pm. Both of our readers are coming from out of town and this is a terrific opportunity to hear two emerging poets that you will be hearing more about in the months ahead. Mark your calendar!

The Floating Bridge Review 2011 Gala!

2011-07-23T20:09:00.001-07:00

We are very excited about the lineup for our 2011 Gala Reading, featuring 34 of our authors reading one poem each. Please join us on Friday, July 29 at 7:00 at the Jack Straw Studios in Seattle's University District. Not only will you get a chance to hear some terrific poetry, you're invited to stay for an informal reception. All welcome--this is a free event.

Our readers:

Helen Puciloski
Sierra Nelson
Michael Schein
Melinda Mueller
Connie Walle
Linda Strever
Ed Harkness
George Such
Bill Freeberg
Bethany Reid
Jed Myers
Patrick Forgette
Alice Derry
Kent Chadwick
Denise Calvetti
Esther Helfgott
Ronda Broatch
Michael Spence
Anne Pitkin
Sibyl James
Jim Bertolino
Teresa Wiley
Eileen Duncan
Craig Kenworthy
Terry Persun
Axel Shoes
Diane Walker
Ted Lord
Elizabeth Myhr
Koon Woon
Kristin Henry
Judith Roche
Judith Borenin
Jodie Marion

Congratulations Jack Straw Foundation!

2011-06-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

We just wanted to give a shout out to Jack Straw Foundation for being singled out by the Mayor of Seattle for their extraordinary contribution to the Arts Community. They are the more-than-worthy recipients of a 2011 Mayor's Arts Award.

Jack Straw has been a great friend to Floating Bridge Press. They give us office space and subsidize our rent, offer us a venue for our readings and record them, and they help us get the word out about our events through their webpage and emails. And Jack Straw takes wonderful care of the writers in Western Washington through the Jack Straw Writers Program. If you have not applied, we think you should! Look for their applications in the fall.

Hats off, Jack Straw! You really bring the arts community together.

Laura Read wins AWP Prize

2011-06-16T14:27:00.000-07:00

Our 2010 Floating Bridge Chapbook Award winner, Laura Read of Spokane, has just won the 2011 Donald Hall Prize in Poetry, judged this year by Dorianne Laux. Read more about the prize here.

We're pretty sure you want to purchase her winning chapbook, The Chewbacca on Hollywood Boulevard Reminds Me of You, so you can begin to understand Laura Read's talent.

Congratulations, Laura!

Here's a list of just a few of our chapbook authors with national recognition: Nance Van Winckel, Molly Tenenbaum, Timothy Kelly, Nancy Pagh, Kelli Russell Agodon, Chris Forhan.

We are excited to announce too that Annette Spaulding-Convy, author of In the Convent We Become Clouds, was a finalist for the Miller Williams Poetry Prize this spring, and her book, In Broken Latin, will be published by University of Arkansas Press in 2012.

What a spring our poets are having!
Check out our book list here.

Announcing Our 2011 Winner!

2011-05-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

CHAPBOOK WINNER

We are delighted to announce that our 2011 winner of the Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Award is Casey Fuller of Olympia, Washington, for his manuscript, A Fort Made of Doors. We will be publishing A Fort Made of Doors in September. Congratulations, Casey!

Our finalists are Ann Gerike, formerly of Coupeville, Washington, for her manuscript, About Face: World War I Facial Injury and Reconstruction, and Meghan McClure of Auburn, Washington, for her manuscript, The Language of Variables.

We had well over one hundred submissions this year and narrowed the field to sixteen semifinalists before selecting our winner and finalists. The manuscripts were of very high quality, which made our decisions difficult. We want to thank all who submitted chapbook manuscripts. We know from our reading that poetry is alive and healthy in Washington State.

PONTOON 2011

Each year we select individual poems from our chapbook submissions to publish in our annual publication, Floating Bridge Review. We call this section "Pontoon," and we're very proud of the wide range of poets that we feature in this celebration of Washington State poetry. We have completed selection of poems for 2011, and anticipate our annual magazine will be published by the end of June. You can expect a gala reading by our contributors coming up in July.

THE PAULA JONES GARDINER MEMORIAL AWARD

Our winner this year is Jodie Marion of Vancouver, Washington, for her poem, "Dawn." Judges Kelli Russell Agodon and Sheila Bender select one poem from our annual issue to receive this $150 prize in the memory of the beloved Seattle-area teacher and poet.

Congratulations to all our poets!

Jeremy Halinen and CAConrad Readings and Workshop

2011-04-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

Veteran Pontoon poet Jeremy Halinen is celebrating the publication of his first book, What Other Choice, Exquisite Disarray's first winner, along with poet CAConrad, whose collection, The Book of Frank, is out with Wave Books. We are happy to announce their local readings, along with a workshop by CAConrad.

7:30 pm Saturday, 4/30/11, at Open Books: 2414 N 45th St., Seattle, WA 98103

5:00 pm Sunday, 5/1/11, at King's Books: 218 Saint Helens Avenue; Tacoma, WA 98402

7:30 pm Sunday, 5/1/11 at SPLAB: 3651 South Edmunds, Seattle, WA 98118 [NOTE: Parking is available on-site and SPLAB is three blocks from the Columbia City stop on the Link light rail.]

8:30 pm Monday, 5/2/11, at Poetrynight: The Amadeus Project; 1209 Cornwall Avenue; Bellingham, WA 98225

CAConrad's workshop is at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, 4/30/11, at SPLAB. It is sure to be a memorable one.

Call for Poems by Seattle Area Poets: The Pacific Poetry Project

2011-04-19T13:28:00.001-07:00

CALL FOR POEMS:
The Pacific Poetry Project

A new anthology collecting work from Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver B.C. poets, published by the exciting Portland State University publishing project, Ooligan Press.
Anticipated release date: April 2013

Seattle regional editors: Kathleen Flenniken, David Horowitz, and Cody Walker.

Kathleen Flenniken invites poets active in the Seattle area to submit up to five poems for consideration.
Submission deadline: June 1, 2011.

1. Poets need not be residents of Seattle, but they should be actively engaged in the Seattle poetry community.
2. Poems may be unpublished or previously published, but the poet must have rights and/or waive any fees for republication.
3. Submissions may be up to five poems. Please mail as a single attachment.
4. Include a 50 – 75 word bio.
5. In the body of your letter, briefly outline your involvement with poetry in Seattle: publication, editorial work, readings (organizing or participating), teaching, or ?
6. Submit work to mail@kathleenflenniken.com.
7. Please pass this call for poems to other Seattle-area poets.

More information about The Pacific Poetry Project
More information about Ooligan Press

Poetry Reading April 2 at Fremont Public Library

2011-03-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

We wanted to let our readers know about an excellent reading in April, featuring two of our past chapbook finalists, Dennis Caswell and Joan Swift, along with one of our founding editors, advisory board member Peter Pereira.

This is yet another terrific reading in a series curated by Don Kentop, and will be held on Saturday, April 2 at 2:00, in the sunny basement of the venerable and charming Fremont Library.

Just to whet your appetite for these very talented poets, we would like to feature a poem by each.

Please do not miss Peter Pereira's gorgeous poem, "Magnolia Blossom," featured this month in Verse Daily.

From Floating Bridge Review 3, here is a poem by Joan Swift:

Sand, Rose Petals, Bones
Joan Swift

I stand with my feet in the sand
beside the river, knowing the drought
has brought the two shores closer,

looking between my toes for withered
rose petals, for the white talcum
of your ashes so heavy I saw them drift and sink

like a scarf pulled down in a strong wind.
It was your wish,
this very river, this kind of strewing..

The fracture line between air and water
is only a furrow, always changing,
the plow of separation pulled by a single animal.

-----

We featured a booklength collection of poems in Floating Bridge Review 3 by Dennis Caswell and Sharon Cumberland. Here is one of Dennis's poems from that amazing collaboration:

The Heroes
Dennis Caswell

When word got out about Superman, especially the part
about how smartly Lois fills out a sweater, they began
showing up
from every planet in cosmic tarnation:

the Man of Water, who can take any shape,
the Man of Smoke, who floats like hot snakes,
the Man of Rubber, rebounding off walls,
the Man of Stained Glass, reverent and lustrous,
the Man of Feathers, hopeful, always hopeful.

Whatever their powers, they all have the same need to use them,
to wait for the moment of utmost helplessness
before revealing themselves to be

the Man of Pudding, gooey and sweet, or
the Man of Leather, who smells good and wears well, or
the Man of Oatmeal, who’s bland but helps you to purge, or
the Man of Bamboo, who you can’t get rid of, or
the Man of Chalcedony, who has the power to intimidate
those who don’t know what chalcedony is.

They’ve come to our planet in search of some evil to thwart,
some goodness to rescue, a place where their powers
are rare enough to be valuable.

There’s probably one where you work, sitting through meetings
in silence, head down over the copier, disguised
as a Man of Earthly Concerns.

They’re always disguised, these heroes. The one thing they fear
is the loss of their secret identities, so they’ve studied our habits
and learned to live among us.

You see them in grocery stores, pretending to toy with a melon,
when really they’re maintaining vigilance:
ever alert for the cry of distress

that will send them bursting, chest first, through their drab
outerwear
to stand in spandex splendor and show the astonished earthlings
what heroes are made of.

Writing, Printing, and Binding Class

2011-03-14T17:36:00.000-07:00

Join beloved local poet J.W. (John) Marshall of Open Books and legendary letterpress printer Jules Remedios Faye (artist behind most of Floating Bridge Press's chapbook covers over the years) for an inspirational writing, printing, and book binding class in the School of Visual Concepts’ letterpress studio. John will lead students through the creative writing process, focusing on use of the image in short poetry or prose pieces appropriately sized for in-class letter press printing. Jules will instruct students in the magic of printing and hand-binding. The end result will be a collaborative limited-edition hand-printed, hand-bound book which includes a piece by each student.

6:30 PM–9:30 PM Monday, 4/4/11–6/13/11 $495

Thank You, 4Culture

2011-03-06T10:23:00.000-08:00

We would like to publicly thank one of our generous funders, 4Culture, for their sustained support of our work at Floating Bridge Press. This year our support from 4Culture has actually been increased slightly, though 4Culture has suffered a 10% reduction in funding. In their award, Executive Director Jim Kelly recognized Floating Bridge Press as an organization of "outstanding artistic merit" and "a leader in the arts community." That is what we strive to be--and with help from 4Culture, our other funders, donations from the public, and our poets and readers, we are invigorated and motivated to keep getting better.

chapbook entry fee

2011-01-29T16:20:00.000-08:00

It's true that Floating Bridge Press asks our chapbook entrants to pay a $12 fee. But don't forget, the price of entering our competition includes a free copy of the winning chapbook, mailed to your home address, which is worth more than $12. And your entry fees help us underwrite the publication of that winning book.

We're still open for poetry chapbook entries, and will be until February 16. This is your chance to print out your poems, spread them across your floor, look for threads that connect one to another, and find out what you've been about lately. Perhaps the best part of all is putting your mind to the perfect title.

Looking forward to reading your poems.

Poets on the Coast Writing Retreat for Women

2011-01-29T13:40:00.000-08:00

Floating Bridge author Kelli Russell Agodon and board member Susan Rich are hosting the first annual "Poets on the Coast Writing Retreat for Women" at the Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport, Oregon, on September 9-11th, 2011.

This is a chance to "connect, inspire each other, learn and write new poems together." All writing levels are welcome from very beginner to published poet. The weekend will focus on classes & gatherings to help inspire your writing, talk about publication, as well as one-on-one mentoring time.
Poets on the Coast

Submit your manuscript!

2011-01-12T11:10:00.000-08:00

The 16th Annual Floating Bridge Press Poetry Chapbook Competition is open for submissions until February 16, 2011. If you are a current resident of Washington State, you may submit a chapbook manuscript of up to 24 pages of poetry with a $12 entry fee. The winner receives $500, a Seattle reading in September, and 15 copies of the prize-winning chapbook. Our books are beautiful, archival-quality, perfect-bound, and collectable.

Previous winners include Joannie Kervran Stangeland, Nance Van Winckel, Donna Waidtlow, Molly Tenenbaum, Bart Baxter, Chris Forhan, Joseph Green, Kelli Russell Agodon, Michael Bonacci, Timothy Kelly, Annette Spaulding-Convy, Holly J. Hughes, Nancy Pagh, Katharine Whitcomb, and Laura Read.

Floating Bridge Press considers all individual poems for inclusion in our annual journal, Floating Bridge Review.

For complete guidelines and a look at our titles, please visit our web site.

Submission Are Open!

2010-11-26T12:12:00.001-08:00

Just to gently remind you that Floating Bridge Press is open for submissions and looking forward to reading your chapbook manuscript.

We publish one chapbook each year, the winner of our annual chapbook competition (this year's winner is The Chewbacca on Hollywood Boulevard Reminds Me of You by Laura Read of Spokane). In addition to our chapbook, we publish one issue of Floating Bridge Review. which includes some of our favorite individual poems from the chapbook competition. So you have two opportunities for publication!

Please refer to our guidelines and note that we only accept submissions from Washington State.

Reprint!

2010-11-26T11:49:00.001-08:00

Our first edition of Elizabeth Austen's chapbook, The Girl Who Goes Alone, has completely sold out! Quite a remarkable feat in just seven months. So we've reprinted this marvelous collection, just this once, so a few more discerning readers can discover Elizabeth Austen's wry and soulful take on what it is to be human, and what it is to be female, in this second decade of the twenty-first century.
Order Here

Don't forget that "On Punctuation" was featured on The Writers Almanac with Garrison Keillor on October 15: Writer's Almanac

We're very proud of The Girl Who Goes Alone, and want to announce that Elizabeth Austen's first full-length collection will appear in Spring 2011 with Blue Begonia Press.

Floating Bridge Review Gala Friday

2010-07-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

We're very excited about the Floating Bridge Review Gala Friday night at Jack Straw. Our list of readers:

Ann Gerike
Marjorie Manwaring
Carrie Purcell
Scott Provence
Bethany Reid
Cal Kinnear
Joannie Stangeland
Dennis Caswell
Sharon Cumberland
Constance McCollum
Rachel Mehl
Josie Turner
Sue Erickson
Laura Gamache
Jeanine Walker
Jill McCabe Johnson
Richard Well
Jennifer Bullis
Joan Swift
Carl Palmer
Diana Brement
Rebecca Morton
Michael Magee

It's free and open to the public! Friday, July 9, 2010 at 7:00 at Jack Straw Productions.

The Floating Bridge Review Gala Reading
Friday, July 9, 7:00 pm
At Jack Straw Studios
4261 Roosevelt Way NESeattle, WA 98105-6999(mapquest)

Please join us!

Elizabeth Austen Book Launch!

2010-06-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

Please join us at Seattle's RichardHugo House on Tuesday, June 29, at 7:00 pm, when Elizabeth Austen reads from her Floating Bridge Press chapbook, The Girl Who Goes Alone.

http://www.hugohouse.org/content/elizabeth-austens-book-release-party

Hear one of Seattle's best readers present her own intelligent and soulful poems. You will be hearing about this event after it's over. Why not be there and help spread the word?

Floating Bridge Review Gala Rescheduled to July 9, 2010

2010-06-07T19:47:00.000-07:00

We just sent Floating Bridge Review 3 off to the printer today, which is definitely something to celebrate. We got a little behind schedule, however, and since we want to have the Review in our hands when we hold the gala reading, we’re going to push back the gala to Friday, July 9.

Jack Straw has kindly offered us the use of the large studio for our event, which will begin at 7:00 pm. We hope as many contributors as possible can come read.

The Floating Bridge Review Gala Reading
Friday, July 9, 7:00 pm
At Jack Straw Studios
4261 Roosevelt Way NE
Seattle, WA 98105-6999

The event is free and open to the public. We hope you will join us!

Just to get you in the mood, here are poems by Sharon Cumberland and Dennis Caswell, whose poems are featured in Part 1 of Floating Bridge Review 3.

Lipstick
by Sharon Cumberland

When I’m old, and my breasts
hang against my chest
like empty pockets;
when my irises have turned milky,
and the creases in my face
look like a drawstring bag—
then I’ll wear the reddest lipstick
I can get, the scarlet kind you
find at Woolworth’s for 99 cents.
I’ll be one of those old ladies
whose smeary red lips stand like a tent-pole
in the middle of my face,
holding up the center no matter how
the rest flags in folds around.
I will fly this red banner as if to say:
Look at me! You, too, will die
by the inch
from the outside in:
but if you ever had a night with a man
who really, really likes women,
your memories live in the lips!
They grin long past the time
your joints could hold them up.
These memories live in the mouth,
the old, red mouth,
just like that young one,
just like that hidden one,
when the body was glorious!

Day Is Done
by Dennis Caswell
Good night, high-energy physics;
sleep tight, professional pest control;
sweet dreams low earth orbit, adjustable breast implants,
Chinese peasants hand-painting blue eyes
on millions of Caucasian baby dolls.
We’ve walked the red carpet and gorged at the banquet,
and no one found out how we kept our trim figure,
so rest, ecological stewardship; dream deep,
free shipping with orders of $25 or more;
sleep well, art collection, garbage collection,
1960’s lunch-box collection, new fall collection.
I wish we could do it all one more time,
but it’s late, so night-night, inky tannins, smoky backnote;
rock-a-bye, latte silk charmeuse knotted gown;
close your eyes, passionate, disruptive syntax,
rich colors and textural subtleties
perceptible only in the original.
Today was just great; we’ll never forget it.
Now sleep.
Tomorrow, we’re all going home.

Two New Books and a Chapbook Winner

2010-05-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

OUR CHAPBOOK WINNER

We are very proud to announce that Laura Read of Spokane is the winner of the 2010 Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Award for her manuscript, The Chewbacca on Hollywood Boulevard Reminds Me of You. Our finalists are Ann Gerike of Coupeville and Kimalisa Kaczinski of Cheney. Please join us on September 13 at the Hugo House in Seattle when Laura reads from her new book, along with our excellent finalists.

It was a very strong field of submissions. Reading chapbook manuscripts is our reason to be. We note that poetry is alive and well in Washington State if this many accomplished poets can submit rich chapbook collections. We only wish we could publish more.

And in our small way we are trying. Please be looking for Floating Bridge Revew 3 in June, which includes in its front section a braided book by Dennis Caswell of Woodinville and Sharon Cumberland of Seattle. Dennis and Sharon were our finalists last year, and though they didn't know each other, we asked them to work together to produce a single collection of intermingled poems. We are thrilled with the result and can't wait to release this amazing collaboration. Floating Bridge Review 3 also includes Pontoon, our annual anthology of Washington State poets made up of selections from our 2010 chapbook competition. Contributors include chapbook winner Laura Read, Finalists Ann Gerike and Kimalisa Kaczinski, along with our 2010 Paula Jones Gardiner Award winner, Christine Hemp, and many others.

GREEN CAMMIE

Early this year we released a posthumous collection of poems by Crysta Casey called Green Cammie.

Floating Bridge Press has been a fan of Crysta’s poetry for years, and published several of her poems in various issues of Pontoon. We included “The Sane and the Insane” in our ten-year retrospective in Pontoon Ten.

It seemed natural to our board that Floating Bridge Press publish a chapbook of Crysta’s poems. This was not sentimentality. We’re a poetry press: we can’t afford to be sentimental. We believed in Crysta’s work and we knew she has an audience and deserves a larger one. And a book by Crysta Casey would be consistent with our mission to publish the best poetry we can.

We're very proud of Green Cammie, right down to the cover, a self portrait by Crysta called, appropriately, "Green Cammie."

We hope you will check out Crysta's amazing website where you can read poems and look at artwork by Crysta:

http://crystacasey.artmonster.org/

And you can order Green Cammie on our website: http://www.scn.org/floatingbridge/green_main.html

THE GIRL WHO GOES ALONE

We are delighted to announce the publication of poems by an important Seattle poet and community builder, Elizabeth Austen. The Girl Who Goes Alone is a very strong debut and presents poems in the voices of women in various states of unease, self aware and not, struggling with matters of faith, identity, love. Soul, humor, intelligence--it's all here. Elizabeth is a longtime Pontoon contributor and we are very proud to publish this wonderful collection.

Learn more about Elizabeth at her website:

http://elizabethausten.wordpress.com/

And be sure to listen to her excellent poetry segments on KUOW every week:

http://www.kuow.org/search.php?page=1&chSummaries=1&txtKeyWordSearch=Elizabeth+Austen&sa.x=29&sa.y=10

And order Elizabeth's book on our website.

http://www.scn.org/floatingbridge/tgwga_main.html

That's all for now. (Isn't that enough?)

The Editors

Friday, November 13th on NPR's Writer's Almanac

2009-11-09T22:49:00.000-08:00

Former Floating Bridge Editor and award-winning poet Ted McMahon will have his poem "Grapefruit" featured on Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac program on National Public Radio this coming Friday.

Congratulations Ted! The poem is from his collection The Uses of Imperfection.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

2009-08-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

The GREAT ART PARTY Needs YOU!

THE GREAT ART PARTY is our FUN annual fundraising event. We have 100 artworks and sell 100 tickets for as little as $100 each. When the doors close we will draw numbers and each person gets to take the artwork they want most. We will also have a short performance by poet Karen Finnyfrock and music by DJ Luscious Leopard Lips.

We need volunteers to help out with the fun on September 12th!

During the day: Art Unloaders/Unpackers & Decorator Assistants: 10:00 AM-1:00 PM

Art Hangers: 1:00 PM-4:00 PM.

During the evening: Art Guards, Art Handlers, Art Packers, Greeters,

Raffle Ticket Sellers, Registrars, and Take Down Crew,

5:30 PM-9:30 PM.

Most positions are only a 3 to 4-hour commitment. The event is Saturday, September 12th at 6:30 PM in downtown Seattle’s Renaissance Hotel Madison Ballroom (515 Madison St., Seattle, WA 98104). Volunteers will need to work under their team leader.

How to Volunteer:

E-mail Volunteer Coordinator Steve Krupka at steve.krupka@gmail.com with your contact information and availability. More information is at: http://www.fbpevents.com/.

Please tell your friends!

Thank you!

OUR CHAPBOOK WINNER

2009-06-09T19:12:00.000-07:00

We are delighted to announce the 2009 winner of the Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Award, Katharine Whitcomb of Ellensburg, Washington, for her manuscript, Lamp of Letters. Finalists were Sharon Cumberland of Seattle for her collection, Unreasonable Woman, and Dennis Caswell ofWoodinville for No, You're Still Dead.

We had 135 entries this year, and it was the editorial board's opinion that these were the strongest group of submissions we have ever read. Thank you to all who entered.

Lamp of Letters will be published in early Fall, 2008.

We Will Accept Entries Postmarked February 17

2009-02-10T14:12:00.000-08:00

Ordinarily we accept manuscripts postmarked no later than February 15, but this year the 15th falls on a Sunday and the following day is a post office holiday. So this year we will accept submissions postmarked Tuesday, February 17.

We look forward to your manuscripts.

We are Accepting Submissions for our 2009 Chapbook Award

2009-01-25T09:38:00.000-08:00

We invite submissions of chapbook manuscripts until February 15, 2009 from all Washington State Poets.

The winner receives $500 and 15 copies of the winning book, published in Fall 2009, along with a Seattle reading. Finalists receive $50 and a reading. All entrants receive a copy of the winning chapbook.

In addition, individual poems will be considered for inclusion in the next issue of Floating Bridge Review, to be published in Summer 2009.

Our guidelines are not complicated, but they are specific. Please review them at our website, http://www.scn.org/floatingbridge/submit.html. The entry fee is $12.

Former winners include Nancy Pagh, Holly Hughes, Annette Spaulding-Convy, Timothy Kelly, Michael Bonacci, Kelli Russell Agodon, Joseph Green, Chris Forhan, Molly Tenenbaum, Nance Van Winckel, Bart Baxter, Donna Waidtlow, Joannie Kervran.

We look forward to reading your work.
The Editors

Dale Chihuly Glass - $300

2008-08-11T13:55:00.001-07:00

Where can you get a signed Dale Chihuly glass float for $300?

Only at The Great Art Party!
An outrageous art opportunity. 150 tickets. 150 Artworks. 150 people go home with art.

Premium tickets are $100, available now at www.fbpevents.com.

A limited number of $300 Sapphire tickets will be sold allowing you to choose from the high-end Sapphire Section artworks valued from $600 to $2,200.

Represented artists include Dale Chihuly, Steve Jensen, Eva Isaksen, Jenny Pohlman & Sabrina Knowles, and many more. See pictures of the artwork at http://fbpevents.com/Gallery.htm

Our 2nd annual fundraiser will also feature mini-performances from local talent, music by DJ Luscious Leopard Lips, a no-host bar, nibbles and a raffle for fabulous artwork.

Last year’s event sold out by word-of-mouth alone!

It all happens on the Friday, Sept. 5th (the Friday after Labor Day.) at Seattle’s South Lake Union Armory Building.

Don’t miss out!

Call for Volunteers

2008-07-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

THE GREAT ART PARTY
needs you!

Please help us! THE GREAT ART PARTY is a fundraising event for Floating Bridge Press, a non-profit supporting poets and poetry in Washington since 1994. We will have 150 artworks and sell 150 tickets for as little as $100 each. When the doors close we will draw numbers and each person gets to take the artwork they want most. We will also have mini-performances by local talent such as Girl Trouble Burlesque and music by DJ Luscious Leopard Lips!

We need volunteers to help out with the fun!

The Night of the Party (Sept 5th):

Positions include: Art Guards, Art Handlers, Art Packers, Decorators, Food Peparers & Servers, Greeters, Raffle & Drink Ticket Sellers, Registrars, Set Up Crew, and Take Down Crew.

Most positions are only a 3 to 4-hour commitment. The event is Friday, September 5th in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood. Volunteers will need to come to one group meeting and work under their team leader.

Pre-event Work Party dates:

Come join the fun as we get ready for the big event. Even if you can stop by for just one hour, it will be a great help, and refreshments will be provided. Prep parties will be:

Dates: July 13 & August 10
Time: 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Place: Jeff Crandall’s house, 5929 25th Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98108-3141 (206-766-8007)

How to Volunteer:

Call or email Volunteer Coordinator Michael Brooks at greatartparty@gmail.com 206-579-1442 with your contact information and availability on July 13, August 10 and September 5, 2008. More information is at: http://www.fbpevents.com/.

Thank you!

In Memory of Crysta Casey, 1952-2008

2008-06-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

The Sane and the Insane

My thoughts are more exciting
when I'm not on meds.
On medication, I think
of vacuuming the carpet
to get rid of any bugs
Bonnie may have left
when she curled into a fetal position
on the rug last Sunday.

At three a.m. she lit
three cigarettes at the same time,
put them in the ashtray
and watched them burn.
Said, "Kaw, globble,"
so I called 911. The medics were nice
when they took her to the hospital.
She put on her boots
without socks, did not lace them--
I had to give a poetry reading
the next night. "Don't rock,"
I reminded myself, "that's a dead giveaway."
I think it was Robert Graves who wrote
in The White Godess, "The difference
between the insane and poets
is that poets write it down."

Crysta Casey
Pontoon 10

Crysta, we will miss you.

Two Readings in June

2008-06-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the publication of Floating Bridge Review, we are hosting an inaugural reading on Tuesday, June 24, 7:00 pm at Richard Hugo House, 1634 Eleventh Ave., Seattle, Wash. 98122

The reading will include contributors:
Timothy Kelly
Molly Tenenbaum
Nancy Pagh
Cody Walker
Marjorie Manwaring
Allen Braden

Please join us for an evening of poetry, refreshments, and conversation. It promises to be an excellent celebration.

Then, Wednesday, June 25 at 7:00, join us for a gala reading to celebrate Pontoon 10 at Jack Straw Studios, 4261 Roosevelt Way NE Seattle, WA 98105
with contributors:
Felicia Gonzalez
Rosanne Olson
David Rea
Anita Feng
Erin Malone
Meremy Halinen
Marjorie Manwaring
Gabrielle Dean
Laurie Blauner
Holly Hughes
Cora Goss-Grubbs
Bethany Reid
Natasha Moni
Holly Thomas
Ann Spiers
Jeremy Voigt
John Sangster
Patrick Forgette
Elizabeth Myhr

We hope you can come--this will be an excellent sampling of Washington State poetry.

Both readings are free.

Our New Literary Annual--Floating Bridge Review

2008-06-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

Floating Bridge Press is delighted to announce publication of the inaugural issue of a new annual magazine, Floating Bridge Review.

Floating Bridge Review will include Pontoon, our annual review of Washington State poets, as well as a new and changing feature section. This year, we are presenting work by six important Washington State poets with books recently published or forthcoming: Allen Braden, Timothy Kelly, Marjorie Manwaring, Molly Tenenbaum, Nance Van Winckel, and Cody Walker. All six poets are former winners or finalists of the Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Award. All six are presented in depth.

Part Two includes poems by a variety of new and emerging poets who were part of our chapbook competition this year. Contributors include winner Nancy Pagh, Mark Halperin, Joan Fiset, Katharine Whitcomb, and many others.

ANNOUNCING OUR 2008 CHAPBOOK WINNER

2008-04-27T22:42:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Nancy Pagh of Bellingham, Washington, who is the winner of the 2008 Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Competition! Nancy's chapbook, After, will be published in Fall 2008.

The finalists are Lana Hechtman Ayers, Joan Fiset, Steven Quig, and Derek Sheffield.

We are excited by Nancy's ambitious, smart, and soulful collection. "After" refers to the aftermath of a failed relationship, but it also cleverly signals that these poems play tribute to other poets, including poems by Emily Dickinson, Sharon Olds, Marge Piercy, and many others.

Nancy's first full length collection, No Sweeter Fat, was winner of the Autumn House Poetry Prize and published by Autumn House in 2007. She teaches at Western Washington.

Thanks to everyone who submitted their work to us this year. We rely on your submissions to uphold our reputation and remind us why we keep going. Ah yes, poetry.

Tim Kelly Reading at Open Books

2008-04-06T21:41:00.001-07:00

We're happy to pass on word that Timothy Kelly, author of Toccata & Fugue (Floating Bridge, 2005), will be reading from his brand new full-length collection from Oberlin Press, The Extremities, on Thursday, April 24 at 7:30 pm at Open Books. A reception will follow.

“The Extremities rescues from the drab columns of textbooks the clinical language of tendons and bones, unlocking an enormous previously unguessed range of metaphor and reference. The poems are unique. Their brilliant engagement with the concrete and objective brings the inner life to light with a crystalline concision for which I had not known I hungered. This is a wonderful book,something truly new.” —Christopher Howell

from Pontoon 10

2008-03-16T17:23:00.000-07:00

now Available from Floating Bridge Press, Pontoon 10. The following poem is by John Glowney, one of our chapbook finalists for 2007.

MY FATHER GOES SWIMMING IN THE AFTER-LIFE

This is how I see him now,
wading
into that pinkish beach of clouds
covered with angel footprints,

as I remember the one and only time
he went swimming with us

Mom somehow dragging him out of the ﬁelds

and away from his prized
herd of milk cows
for a hot Sunday afternoon in early August
at Moore’s gravel pit,

and he waded in,
his thick farmer’s torso stripped down
to an old pair of swimming trunks
dug out of the bottom of the dresser,

burned red at the neck and wrists
where the plaid shirt-sleeves stopped,
red and worn where weather

and baling twine and busted combines,
rusted bolts and dry spells
and lost calves, smashed him up,

he shufﬂed
into the spin and slop of sun
spread across silted water
like butter gone bad
where kids shouted and played—

and how we stared, amazed
at his great glossy bulk,
soft, spoiled white of banker’s hands,
the sickly white of the larva of ﬂies
—white, white, white—

a purity we had never suspected.

Pontoon 10 is Here!

2008-03-06T14:32:00.000-08:00

...and it's beautiful.

You will not find a better record of poetry in the northwest corner of the US, no better document of the diversity of poetic talent here.

Our Pontoon 10 contributors include:

Sally Albiso, Emily Benson, Laurie Blauner, Allen Braden, Ronda Broatch, Donna Mae Brown, Jennifer Bullis, Gabrielle Dean, Anita Feng, Patrick Forgette, Kent Fortin, Anne Fraser, Arthur Ginsberg, John Glowney, Felicia Gonzalez, Carol Gordon, Cora Goss-Grubbs, Thomas Gribble, Iris Gribble-Neal, Jeremy Halinen, Kayt Hoch, Holly J. Hughes, Cal Kinnear, Janet Norman Knox, Jeanne Lohmann, Joanne Barrie Lynn, Erin Malone, Marjorie Manwaring, Natasha Kochicheril Moni, Elizabeth Myhr, Rosanne Olson, Leonard Orr, Thomas Pfau, Dave Rea, Bethany Reid, John Sangster, Amy Schrader, Judith Skillman, Ann Spiers, Holly Thomas, Jeremy Voigt

Under the same beautiful cover, our retrospective section includes:

Kelli Russell Agodon, Sally Albiso, Jeannette Allée, Thomas Aslin, Greg Bachar, Bart E. Baxter, James Bertolino, Lillias Bever, Laurie Blauner, Michael Bonacci, Ronda Broatch, Crysta Casey, L. A. Christiansen, Martha Clarkson, Kevin Coyne, Kevin Craft, Larry Crist, John Davis, Dana Elkun, Jon Fischer, Chris Forhan, Laura Gamache, Pesha Gerler, John Glowney, Chris Gompert, David Gravender, Joseph Green, Iris Gribble-Neal, James Gurley, Mark Halperin, Justin Hart, Esther Altshul Helfgott, Michael G. Hickey, Gregory Hischak, Johnny Horton, Holly Hughes, Kathryn Hunt, Paul Hunter, Rob Jacques, Sybil James, Timothy Kelly, Joannie Kervran-Stangeland, Janet Norman Knox, Sigrun Susan Lane, Erin Malone, Blas Manuel De Luna, Marjorie Manwaring, Martin Marriott, Carlos Martinez, Maureen McQuerry, Lenae Nofziger, Eva M. Olson, Leonard Orr, Nancy Pagh, THomas Pfau, Geoff Pope, Bethan Reid, Mark Reimer, Eli Richardson, Lisa Roullard, John Sangster, Derek Sheffield, Martha Silano, Mark Simpson, Annette Spaulding-Convy, Molly Tenenbaum, Gerald E. Tiffany, Donna Waidtlow, Cody Walker, Kary Wayson, Karl Weyrauch, Josua Marie-Wilkinson, Shari D. Willadson, John Willson, John L. Wright

We will be sending copies of Pontoon to subscribers and contributors over the next weeks. And we are very happy to take orders from interested readers via our website order form and paypal!

Our New Home

2008-02-18T16:26:00.000-08:00

Our Move
Friday night our editorial committee met for an important event. We broke our temporary camp at Kathleen's house, picked up, and moved to our new home in the University District of Seattle, above Jack Straw Foundation. Joan Rabinowitz, our new landlord, gave us a friendly welcome at the door. We are still in boxes and the brand new carpet gives off waves of volatile organics, but it feels good to have a warm place to set up our computer and filing cabinet. We even have a bank of windows!

Many, many thanks to Joan and the rest of the Jack Straw board for bending over backwards to make a place for us and our new roommates, Raven Chronicles and Thomas Hubbard. We have room for one more! If you are in the Seattle area, an individual or organization that wants to be part of the literary community, let us know.

Chapbook Competition submissions are now Closed
February 15 has passed and we have begun reading our submissions. If you have submitted a manuscript but have not yet received your self-addressed postcard, don't worry. We're a little less efficient than some years, but you'll hear from us soon. We will be announcing our winner by the end of April.

Pontoon Ten!
We are expecting several boxes of Pontoon Ten, our Anniversary Issue, to arrive by truck any day now. We are very excited about this double issue which combines highlights of last year's chapbook competition along with a retrospective of the first nine issues of Pontoon. More soon...

Looking for fellow writers/publishers to share office

2007-11-18T20:09:00.000-08:00

After five years at Hugo House in Seattle, Floating Bridge Press has been displaced and is currently homeless. We have a lead on an excellent space above wonderful Jack Straw Studios in the university district. We are looking for fellow renters to share the space.

With four renters, the monthly fee would be about $167 and would include janitorial services, bathrooms down the hall, 24 hour building access in a secure building, southern exposure, new carpet and paint, and a very friendly environment including Jack Straw Sudios downstairs. The space is over 500 sq ft, and with four sharing space there would still be room for a conference table and copier, etc.

Please pass this on to anyone you think might be interested in sharing a space for writing or publishing? And if you have any questions or would like to see the space (in the Warren Building, 4261 Roosevelt Way NE Seattle, WA 98105-6999), let us know: floatingbridgepress@yahoo.com

In the meantime, have no fear, Floating Bridge Press continues forward, our chapbook competition is in full swing and we are accepting manuscripts. Please note, though: all snail mail correspondence should be addressed to our PO address:

Floating Bridge Press
PO Box 18814
Seattle, WA 98118

Kathleen

The Great Art Party featured in Seattle Metropolitan

2007-11-13T20:25:00.000-08:00

Run -- do not walk! -- to the nearest magazine rack and open the November issue of Seattle Metropolitan magazine to page 49. Their "Snapshots" section features the Great Art Party taking up half the page. Looks like Floating Bridge Press is now a significant force in the Seattle social scene!

News Hour with Jim Lehrer Segment Airs TONIGHT

2007-10-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

We got the call today that the segment on Seattle small presses airs tonight. In Seattle it will be on Channel 9, 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. The small presses segment is 8 minutes long about 45 minutes into the show. If you miss it, you can also view it after October 23rd on their website: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/newshour_index.html

FBP & The News Hour with Jim Lehrer

2007-10-07T11:54:00.000-07:00

After the awesome, exhausting spectacle of producing The Great Art Party, I was looking forward to a quiet week recuperating in the wreck of my home. The final 80-hour weeks of Art Party push left me with towers of unwashed dishes, clothes wilting in corners, papers scattered everywhere, and rooms dumped with misc. signage, tubs of orange decorations, easels, plinths, receipts, whatnot and hoo-ha waiting for sorting.

You can imagine my reaction when I learned that a film crew from the PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer was doing a feature on the plight of small poetry presses and planned to arrive at my house in two days to interview me. Aaagh! No rest for the weary -- I called up a friend and we spent two manic days putting my house together. Right on time the crew arrived: producer Mary Jo Brooks, light & sound guy, cameraman, and my interviewer, senior correspondent Jeffrey Brown.

For a small local press like Floating Bridge to get national exposure is a rare and vital opportunity. But am I a dynamic, focused media spokesperson? Not even on a good day. Luckily, our Editorial Board helped coach me on what to say, how to react or not to react, what sound bites to be sure to include, etc. Unfortunately, I was an exhausted, nervous mess. Okay, roll the camera!

Jeffrey Brown: So, you started a poetry press!

Jeff Crandall: Yes (pause). Poetry is . . . good.

I expect most of me will end up on the cutting room floor.

In spite of my zombie-like demeanor, they were impressed that we were an all-volunteer organization, that we had started the press with only $300 and that we are still going strong.

Thanks to funding from The Poetry Foundation, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer is doing regular features on poetry from around the country. For this segment they also interviewed people at Copper Canyon, Open Books, Wood Works Press, and Raven Chronicles, and filmed FBP Chapbook winner Nance Van Winckel's reading at Open Books.

Check out the impressive Lehrer poetry webpage: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/entertainment/poetry/about.html

and their feature on Paul Hunter: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/indepth_coverage/entertainment/poetry/profiles/poet_hunter.html

and here's an article about their interview with Copper Canyon: http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=10&SubSectionID=10&ArticleID=18795&TM=1217.5

The next day after the interview, I met up with the crew at Hugo House where they took some film of me working in our tiny office and I was able to snap their photo posted here. There's no word yet when this segment will air. We'll keep you posted.

-- Jeff Crandall

What a Success!

2007-09-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

Our first fund raising event -- The Great Art Party -- was a smashing success! We sold 109 Premium tickets (9 over our goal of 100), had amazing performances of tango dancing by Sarah Thompson, Butoh by Khadija Anderson of Tanden Butoh, and a bawdy tease by Girl Trouble Burlesque. The room rose to a frenzy as each person's number was drawn and they had one minute to grab the piece of art they wanted most! Check out more photos at www.fbpevents.com and also look for coverage photos in Seattle Metropolitan Magazine.

A BIG thanks to our donating artists, performers and volunteers who made this event a beautiful and smooth success.

Thanks also to those who gave generous donations of cash and in-kind materials! Our sponsors include: Events & Adventures, Shirts of Bamboo, Acquisitions Event Management, Barefoot Wineries, DJ Luscious Leopard Lips, The Red Balloon Company, Redhook Ale Brewery, Samis Properties, Stolichnaya Ohranj vodka, Studio 403, and Soundview Insurance.

SAVE THE DATE for next year's event: Friday, September 5, 2008. We're going to have twice as much fun -- don't miss it!

A Call for Volunteers - The Great Art Party Needs YOU!

2007-07-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

THE GREAT ART PARTY needs volunteers to help make our first-ever fund raising event a smashing success.

We need volunteers & Team Leaders. Positions include:

Art Guards
Art Handlers
Art Packers
Decorators
Food Peparers & Servers
Greeters
Raffle & Drink Ticket Sellers
Registrars
Set Up Crew
and a late-night Take Down Crew.

Most positions are only a 3 to 4-hour commitment. The event is Friday, September 7th. Volunteers will need to come to one group meeting and work under their team leader.

Please contact Jeff Crandall at 206-353-9148 if you can help out. More information is at: www.fbpevents.com. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD.

Thank you!

THE GREAT ART PARTY!

2007-07-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

Floating Bridge Press proudly announces its first-ever fund raising event: THE GREAT ART PARTY -- an outrageous art opportunity!

We will have 100 artworks. We are selling 100 tickets for $100 each. When the party starts we will draw numbers. When your number is called you simply go up to the displays and TAKE the piece you want. No bidding, lots of fun and everyone goes home with art! We also have short performance art pieces, a no-host bar and music by DJ Luscious Leopard Lips making for one fantastic evening.

This all happens: Friday, September 7th, 2007
at the South Lake Union Armory Building
(860 Terry Ave North Seattle, WA 98109)
Doors open at 6:30. The art starts at 7:30.
Premium tickets are $100.
Guest tickets (non-art-bearing) are only $25.

For tickets contact Jeff Crandall at 206-353-9148 or see our website www.fbpevents.com.

We will have artwork from the following artists: Jill Arnow, Bill Baber, Susan Balshor, Linda Beaumont , Jennifer Bloom, Cathy Chase, David Chatt, Genevieve Church, Michael Church, Shelly Corbett, Jeff Crandall, Paul Dahlquist, Garth Edwards, Rudy Gillespie, Richard Glenn, Karen Guzak, Jana Broecking, Intiman Theater Tickets, Eva Isaksen, Steve Jensen, Fay Jones, Franz Jones, David Kleiner, Bruce Klepinger, Paul Larned, Marge Levy, Little Red Studio, Linnea Lundmark, Bryan Lynch, Christa Malay, Eric Mead, Carol Milne, Merrilee Moore, Tony Morgan, Bonnie G. Morrow, Mark Mueller, Marc Mullin, Andrea Murphy, Cheri O'Brien, Tim O'Niell, Seattle Opera Tickets, Chris Overly, Jenny Pohlman & Sabrina Knowles, Michael Prendergast, Mark Rediske, Michael Roco, Mark Rudis, Nori Sato, Bernadette Scheller, Erin Shafkind, Lisabeth Sterling, Phil Stoiber, Cappy Thompson, Veruska Vagen, Laura Ward, Melinda Wellstandt, Vicki Wilbur, and MORE!

Don’t miss it!

Poetry: The Algae of the Arts Funding Food Chain

2007-06-27T11:10:00.000-07:00

All of us at Floating Bridge Press take pride in the fact that during our 12+ years of poetic hard work and fun we’ve always stayed in the black financially. Unlike many non-profits, we have never had an operating deficit. Not once. What we’ve lacked in dynamic marketing skills we’ve made up for in dynamic grant writing skills. Our success is even more amazing when one notes that very few corporations or foundations fund the arts, and those that do nearly always exclude “publications.” Try asking someone to fund poetry and you’ll likely get the response, “What kind of 'tree?' ”

Still, we persevere. We are incredibly thankful for our handful of private donors and subscribers. (Do you have your Floating Bridge Press coffee mug? No? Donate!) But honestly, we would not be here if it weren’t for the incredible vision and generosity of our government. Yes, that’s right, our government. Money from the Seattle Arts Commission (now officially called the City of Seattle Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs), the King County Arts Commission (now called 4Culture) and the Washington State Arts Commission (blessedly un-renamed) have kept Floating Bridge afloat.

But our solvency has come at a price. Our reliance grant funds means that we MUST create programs within certain timelines, certain guidelines, and covering certain areas. While we are extremely grateful for the opportunity to exist, we have not had the freedom to change our readings and publications, to dream beyond the boundaries of our funding, nor to think long-term.

Now we’re changing all that. In a leap of brilliance, the FBP Board has voted to ensure the future of the press forever by creating an Endowment Fund. Our five-year goal is to raise $100,000, the annual interest from which will entirely support our yearly programs. The fund will be owned and managed by The Seattle Foundation; FBP will only own the income stream generated by the fund. This secures the principle from being spent by any future well-meaning FBP Board.

Poetry is truly “the algae of the arts funding food chain.” The amount of money we are trying to raise in five years, many organizations will raise in one hour (just attend any charity art auction — you will be amazed). If you’re putting on an opera, play, concert or other performance, teaching art to children, providing arts facilities, bringing lecturers or movies to the public, the funding possibilities are enormous. But if you want to publish a poem — forget it! So, how are we going to raise this poetically unfathomable, unattainably enormous sum? Stay tuned . . .

A Taste of Boxing the Compass

2007-05-28T21:48:00.000-07:00

A taste of what's to come from Holly Hughes when we publish her winning chapbook, Boxing the Compass, in June. "Working on Deck" was originally published in Pontoon Six and the Hedgebrook Journal.

WORKING ON DECK

Coil the line down against the sun
the old timers said,
clockwise on deck,
and ten years later
my arms still breaststroke
the familiar movement
loop upon loop
rolling the line a quarter turn
against kinks,
feeling the resistance
give way in my hands,
stiff ﬁbers yielding:
the line knows how to lay
if you let it.

Now all the old loops come back
and my hands swim
down the line by heart
and the line remembers
all its lives,
the past ﬁrm
in its ﬁbers,
how they intertwine
coil upon coil
circling emptiness,
all to make way for the next.

Here are words of praise from Stan Sanvel Rubin, author of Hidden Sequel, winner of the Barrow Street Prize, and Peggy Shumaker, author of the forthcoming Just Breathe Normally, and Blaze:

~~~ Boxing the Compass
How do we find our way--on the open ocean, in love, in life?

For a navigator, philosophical questions have vital consequences. What is true? How do we find out where we’re going when as soon as we plot where we are, we’ve moved on? In these deft lyrics, Holly Hughes charts a course based in mystery, in the uncertainty of human attempts to know the earth and to comprehend this life. "How will she learn to ride the swell, let the earth curve her?" This poet’s Zen question opens us to possibilities as vast as the ocean.

~Peggy Shumaker

These smart, sensuous poems achieve a rare balance of knowledge, imagination, and memory, moving with a navigator’s skill through realms at once indelible and transient. Boxing the Compass offers a poet’s wisdom culled from vivid experience. Holly Hughes sails along the edge of worlds, alive to How we always fetch up/ somewhere other than we plan, and takes us with her, true to the magnetic pole of her own shifting heart.

--Stan Sanvel Rubin

You are invited to hear Holly Hughes read from her new book, along with finalists Marjorie Manwaring and John Glowney, on Tuesday, June 26 at 7:00 pm at Hugo House, 1634 Eleventh Ave on Seattle's Capital Hill. Free and open to the public. We will be in a celebratory mood!

2007 Chapbook Award Winner!

2007-05-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

After difficult deliberation, the editors of Floating Bridge Press have selected Holly J. Hughes of Indianola, Washington as the winner of our 2007 chapbook competition for her poetry collection, Boxing the Compass.

Our finalists are:

John Glowney of Seattle, Boys in a Speeding Car
Erin Malone of Seattle, What Sound Does it Make?
Marjorie Manwaring of Seattle, Magic Word

We look forward to publishing Boxing the Compass in June, and invite you to attend our Chapbook Award Reading on Tuesday, June 26, at 7:00 pm at Hugo House, 1634 Eleventh Ave in Seattle's Capital Hill neighborhood. The event will be free. Winner and finalists will read and a reception and book signing will follow.

Congratulations to Holly and our finalists! And thank you to everyone who submitted manuscripts this year--it is a pleasure to rediscover the breadth and talent of our Washington State poetry community.

--The Editors

double dactyls for your delectation

2007-03-22T15:54:00.000-07:00

from "Nero's Apology" by Johnny Horton
and included in PONTOON NINE:

GABRIEL

Hickory Dickory,
Archangel Gabriel--
Luckiest heavenly
Creature by far--

Visited virginal
Mary of Galilee--
Amorous messenger,
Came like a star.

JESUS OF NAZARETH

Hillory, pillory
Jesus of Nazareth,
Walked over Galilee,
Thrilling his friends.

Shirking authority--
Anti-society--
Wasn't a savior who
Followed the trends.

BENITO MUSSOLINI

Hippity, hoppity
Duce the ditator
Spewed forth his rhetoric
All over town.

Now there's a statue of
Ronald McDonald there.
WHich is the dictator?
Which is the clown?

A Poem from Pontoon 9 by Claire Gearen

2007-02-23T09:01:00.000-08:00

In honor of spring, and the fact that Floating Bridge Press editors believe strongly in showcasing the work of Washington State poets, we've decided to showcase one of our poets from the most recent Pontoon 9, available from our website.

To Sophomores Reading Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself"

Yes. He writes long lines. And they don't rhyme.
The poem is fifty pages long. That's true.
At one point, he calls the scent of B.O. — Ew! —
his own B.O. — finer than prayer. I'm
aware of this. And I know about his
strange capacity to love everyone:
woman, child, men. In bathing, splashing fun
twenty-eight hold his eyes a long time. Quiz:

who else has given you permission
to be your whole self, unhindered
by school, by work, by tradition, by din
of people eager to rein you in the heard?

He says, "Unscrew the locks from their doors. Unscrew
the doors themselves from their jambs," about you.

Claire Gearen teaches, writes, and paddles canoes around Lake Union. With students from Kenya, Sudan, Taiwan, and Burma as well as Laurelhurst and Beacon Hill, she enjoys traveling the world in the classrooms of Seattle Public Schools.

A Ten Year Journey—Michael Bonacci

2007-02-16T11:33:00.000-08:00

Reading each of the entries by previous winners of the Floating Bridge Press Chapbook contest, I felt at home in their stories. So often, those of us who write poetry can get immersed in the cyclical nature of rewriting, resubmitting and having our work rejected to the exclusion of trying to find something new to say. As Annette Spaulding-Convy wrote about her revisions to her poems about convent life (In the Convent We Become Clouds), I, too, made a conscious effort to reinvent my past, or at least the order of it.

I am a great fan of quantum physics, though I barely comprehend any of its principles. The Möbius strip has become emblematic of my poetic vision, if I have one. Time doesn’t have to be limited to a linear retelling, and when I realized the inherent freedom in that act of rebellion, earlier versions of my poems finally lent themselves to being manipulated to fit into the narrative as I wanted it to unfold, rather than the way things literally happened.

I really don’t believe this is an act of deception towards one’s audience either. At least for me, while rewriting the poems that eventually were published in my chapbook The Former St. Christopher, all the events in the poems actually occurred over a ten-year period of my life. But it was important to me that the ideas I had several years later, or realizations that came to me after the events, could be reflected in the current conflict of the particular poem. My “future self” reaches back to my current self to assist me in becoming aware of, but not always understanding or comprehending, the events unfolding in my life or the lives of those around me.

One editor (not at Floating Bridge Press!) once said my poems were relentless in dealing with my partner’s death and my decision to leave the Roman Catholic faith. I eventually came to agree with his opinion. I’m fortunate that the editors at Floating Bridge saw a glimmer in each submission to the chapbook contest that the future version of the manuscript would be more universal in its scope. It was my hope that a reader could be the “you” remembering what it was like to care for a loved one as he or she was dying, or would be able to understand, as I did, that sometimes you have to leave your faith behind, and even stop believing, in order to be receptive to new experiences and new relationships.

It took the painful process of being repeatedly rejected, or being a finalist at Floating Bridge and several other small presses, to scrutinize my collection of poems to the point of completely altering not only their order, but also their viewpoint. You can read similar stories under Kelli Russell Agodon’s entry about her chapbook Geography as well as Tim Kelly’s comments about his decision to focus on “clinically-themed” poems in his collection Toccata and Fugue.

It’s a gift to be in the company of such incredibly talented editors and fellow poets. And each chapbook is a work of art in itself—Jules Remedios Faye is an incredible letterpress artist and lends her vision to each manuscript. I remain deeply grateful, and humbled, to have had my manuscript selected and published by Floating Bridge Press.

The Story of My Chapbook—by Tim Kelly

2007-02-09T23:28:00.000-08:00

I was wandering in the wilderness of the poetry world with a sheaf of poems I thought made a perfectly lovely booklength manuscript; the problem was that publishers didn’t seem to see it that way. Individual poems had gotten warm receptions at various journals, but the feedback I was getting from the publishers was that some of the poems were too “clinical,” and didn’t mesh with the non-clinical ones.

I should explain that I’m a physical therapist. I write about bodies, and many of my poems are set in hospitals or clinics where I work. I love the work, and it has, not too surprisingly, become my primary source for my poetry. And yes, that means many of the poems contain “clinical” details and “specialized” language/jargon which is out of the ordinary. I hasten to add that I try to keep the strange words and jargon to a minimum, and my intent is always to include the reader in what I’m seeing/describing, rather than excluding him/her; I don’t do it to show off, but to be precise, and because there’s a beauty in the precision.

Then I found out about the Floating Bridge Chapbook contest, and went back and read Michael’s winner from the year before. It was a beautiful book beautifully produced. I looked at the work of some of the Floating Bridge poets, and, dang, that was very fine too. It quickly became clear to me that I wanted to give it a try, and the deadline was looming.

What I did was go to my collection of poems and selected the ones which were the MOST “clinical.” I thought that, for a chapbook, it would be smarter to have a clearly identifiable theme which all the poems could orbit around. I excluded poems which were about my family life, my dog, birds, shoes, politics or pop music, all of which feed my writing, on occasion, too. Having a big chunk of material to sort through really helped me in retrospect, because I was able to select only the poems which were water-tight. Oddly, I also began to see some wisdom in the publishers’ earlier feedback, too; it helped me to focus, to see things as an editor rather than a writer.

I submitted the poems and forgot about it; when I received the phone call from the FBP board in the spring, I was astonished and delighted. I was more astonished that the book appeared in a few short months, beautifully done; my experience with publishers previously was that it took a year or two to move from an acceptance to appearance in the physical world. This was more like the blink of an eye.

Is it possible that the most common strong emotion we, as humans, feel is ambivalence? I straddle the world of poetry and the workaday world of physical therapy; I don’t teach poetry, and consequently I spend much more time at the latter than the former. I’m jealous of poets who seem at ease with all of the levers of self-promotion, poets with great connections and great headshots. At the same time, I try to keep in mind my real-life blessings. I love poetry; it does something to me that no other artform can do; its power can still, on a midwinter Tuesday, leave me awestruck. I love the feeling of writing something I think is really good, even if I change my mind a day later (which I usually do.)

Life is good. I feel lucky to be able to work on people’s bodies for a living. I can’t imagine a richer source of stories, astonishment, pathos, hilarity. I’m resigned to the fact that I’m never going to get rich or famous doing either of my types of work, but they both feel very much like my personal “right livelihood.” The chapbook appeared! I’m just grateful that I’ve been able to persevere, to write, to read, to be read.

Always a Bridesmaid Never a Bride: Breaking the Curse of the Finalist

2007-02-07T17:29:00.000-08:00

In May of 2004, I learned that Floating Bridge Press had chosen my chapbook as a finalist in their yearly competition. One of my poet friends informed me, finalists never go on to win the award, they simply disappear. At the Hugo House reading in June, I met Michael Bonacci, whose chapbook, The Former Saint Christopher, had won the 2004 Floating Bridge award. He shared with me that his collection had been a Floating Bridge finalist several years before and after he spent considerable time revising it, his chapbook was chosen for publication. After our conversation, I was determined not to disappear and I was inspired to revise.

The 2004 version of my chapbook, In the Convent We Become Clouds, was loosely unified by the themes of women and water. It contained poems about various women in my family, a result of genealogical research, and some poems based on my experience in the convent. In beginning the process of revision, I decided to focus on just one theme—the convent. I pulled the family poems and from July to February, I wrote solely about the convent I realized that I enjoyed this self-imposed structure, focusing on a single theme, challenging myself to create something fresh as I moved from bible to medieval saints to my current life as poet, mother, wife. I was pleased with the revised collection and with enthusiasm, entered the chapbook in the 2005 Floating Bridge competition.

In mid May I received a letter saying, once again, my chapbook was a finalist. Of course, I was excited and looked forward to the reading, but I was also perplexed as to how I could revise the collection to make it stronger, how I could identify the places where it fell short. At this point, instead of looking at the collection as simply a group of convent poems tightly related by theme, I began to view the chapbook as telling a cohesive story about a woman who entered the convent, struggled with her vocation, made the decision to leave, and what it was like for her to re-enter society. I rearranged the 2005 version and, in the process, discovered that there were holes in the story, areas I needed to work on so that the narrative had smoother transitions and a consistent voice. And here, I had to give myself permission to be creative with my own story. I have always struggled with the idea of integrity in writing poems, that I must be true to my experience as it exactly happened, but I finally realized that I am neither a non-fiction writer nor a creative non-fiction writer—poetry does not have such restrictions. I decided to play with my personal story, to take a risk. What would my mother think when she read a poem in which I disrobe in the confessional, seduce a priest? I think loosening up my attitude about staying precisely true to the facts led to a dynamic tension in the collection. The poems flirted with the sacred boundary of religious disrespect. It became clear that mingling sex and God in a single poem either brings out laughter or indignant anger in the reader and both delight me.

In February of 2006 I sent this new version of my chapbook to the Floating Bridge competition and in April, I received news from Susan Rich that my chapbook had won. Yes! In the following weeks, I worked closely with Ted McMahon in the editing process before the manuscript was sent to the printer. I appreciate the amount of input I had, not only in catching errors in the final draft, but also in being consulted when any changes were considered and even being asked about the color of ink. By this time, my chapbook had become like a child to me, and I was delighted to be allowed to hold its hand as it grew into a real book. Now that the collection is published, I have found the Floating Bridge editors to be extremely helpful in setting up readings for me and in getting the word out that the chapbook is available for purchase. And lastly, I am simply grateful to Floating Bridge for publishing a book about an ex-nun! I had several editors from other presses return my manuscript with little notes indicating my collection was too “pious” or too “offensive.”

Thank you, Floating Bridge!

Annette Spaulding-Convy
Author of In the Convent We Become Clouds
Winner of the 2006 Floating Bridge Chapbook Award

The Editors — Who We Are

2007-01-30T13:39:00.000-08:00

The editorial board of Floating Bridge Press waved goodbye to three stalwart and stellar editors this past year: Peter Pereira, Jeff Crandall, and Ted McMahon. Peter and Jeff were founding editors and Ted came on not long after. Peter and Ted have shifted to the Advisory Board and Jeff has become our first Executive Director in charge of creating a Floating Bridge Foundation that, once achieved, will allow us to operate with security into the long future.

We are delighted to announce two new editors have joined our board—Tatyana Mishel and Devon Musgrave. Their new enthusiam and energy and excellent ideas for our future are very welcome.

Here is a brief introduction to our new Editorial Board:

Kathleen Flenniken’s first poetry collection, Famous, won the Prairie Schooner Prize and was named an ALA Notable Book for 2007. Her poems have appeared most recently in Poetry Daily, The Iowa Review, High Desert Journal, and Prairie Schooner, and she is the recipient of fellowships from the NEA and Artist Trust.

Tatyana Mishel coaches writers through Write Now!, peddling the principles of high-adrenaline writing, risk and surprise. Her poems have been published in numerous publications including two Pontoon issues. Along with her literary life a second passion is doing sports. For more info: www.tatyanamishel.com

Devon Musgrave is an editor who has lived in Seattle since 1992. He was schooled in Los Angeles, upstate New York, and every other place he’s had the pleasure of visiting. His next editing job is the installation of a composting toilet in a log outhouse in the eastern Cascades.

John Pierce is a freelance writer and editor living in Seattle. He has worked in the publishing industry for more than twenty years, including time at Marquand Books, a Seattle-based book-packager; Microsoft Press; and SmallChanges, a distributor of magazines and other periodicals.

Susan Rich is the author of two books, Cures Include Travel and The Cartographer’s Tongue Poems of the World which won the PEN USA Award and the Peace Corps Award. A recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship and an Artist Trust Fellowship, her poems appear in Alaska Quarterly Review, Quarterly West, and Witness. For more info: www.susanrich.org

Ron Starr does technical writing for money and other writing for pleasure. He is sometimes confused and writes programs instead of poems, but not infrequently something interesting happens. His work has appeared recently in LOCUSPOINT and Drunken Boat. Ravenna Press published his Oulipian-inspired book, A Map by a Dim Lamp, this fall.

Third Time's a Charm: The Secret Life of a Chapbook

2007-01-29T21:19:00.000-08:00

Many times when we see a book in print, we don’t think about how long it took to write that book or how many times it was submitted before it was accepted. Many times we just see the success—a book that’s made it to publication—and we return to our own writing and submitting feeling discouraged because we’ve sent our manuscripts out a couple times and no one has published it…

My chapbook Geography was not accepted by Floating Bridge Press the first time I submitted it, but the third time—five years after I wrote the first poem in 1998. In between the first poem and the acceptance, Geography went through many versions. Mostly, time and revision are what helped change my okay chapbook to a much stronger one.

The first time I submitted my chapbook to Floating Bridge Press, I was excited—too excited. The chapbook wasn’t complete, but I was the mother of new poems and off my children went without their raincoats or galoshes. Two poems were selected for the Washington State Poets Anthology,Pontoon, but the chapbook was not a finalist. I was thrilled to be part of Pontoon, but realized there was more work to be done.

The next year, I had improved the chapbook greatly through lengthy revisions. It had come a long way—the children were dressed for the weather—but still it wasn’t ready to be published. I submitted it anyway knowing it was a stronger manuscript than the year before—that year it was not only rejected, but none of my poems were accepted for Pontoon. I was discouraged, especially because I knew it had improved. Still, I felt in my heart it was a good manuscript and I wasn’t ready to abandon it yet.

In 2000, I had received Artist Trust GAP grant for some of the individual poems included in the chapbook, which gave me hope to keep trying. I enrolled in a chapbook class with Ann Spiers where we looked at various chapbooks, discussed the history of chapbooks, and talked about what a chapbook was. We discussed how a chapbook focused on a very specific theme or story and she reminded us to only use poems in the chapbook that stick with that theme.

I felt I was beginning to understand my chapbook more. I could see what poems weren’t strong enough to be included in it. I knew what I had to remove from my manuscript, but still, the chapbook didn’t feel complete and I wasn’t sure what I needed to do to improve it. Ann said something during the class that changed the way I viewed the making of my chapbook, she said, “Look at your chapbook and figure out what poems need to be written.”

It was the advice I needed. Instead of always taking away from my chapbook, starting with thirty poems and pulling out the weakest poems until I ended up with a number between eighteen and twenty-four pages, Ann had suggested the opposite. I was to look at my poems—my strongest poems—and decide what poems needed to be written to make the chapbook complete. For me, this was the suggestion I needed to hear. I realized that I needed to decide what poems were missing from the story I was trying to tell and to write them.

In early 2003, I was awarded a residency at Soapstone Writers Retreat in Oregon, where I focused solely on my chapbook for a week. I remember in the middle of a rainforest reading each poem again and again until I knew if it was right for the chapbook. I walked in the forest and in my mind went through every poem in the chapbook. When I returned home, I submitted my chapbook into the 2003 competition telling myself I’d give it try one last try. (Note: Knowing what I know now, I realize most poets submit their manuscripts many more times than just three before it’s accepted, so this was a bit of naiveté on my part.)

On a quiet afternoon, a Thursday I believe, I received a call from one of the editors at Floating Bridge Press telling me that my chapbook had been selected for publication. Five years after writing the first poem in the series, I would see a finished product. I was thrilled, thankful, and a little overwhelmed!

If I have any advice for other poets working on a chapbook, my mind returns to my class with Ann Spiers:

1) Focus on a strict theme or telling a story
2) Look at your chapbook and instead of taking poems out to make it stronger, start with your strongest poems and write the ones that are missing.
3) Write, Revise, Repeat.

Let the story or theme emerge in your chapbook then focus on it completely. Decide what needs to be written and when it comes to poems you’re not sure are strong enough I follow this advice—when in doubt, leave it out.

Good luck and good writing.

Best,
Kelli

Kelli Russell Agodon
Author of Geography, Winner of the 2003 Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Prize

Inside the Competition - Part Two

2007-01-28T18:49:00.000-08:00

As the deadline for our chapbook award creeps steadily closer — February 15th is just three weeks away — we will be bringing you a series of postings on the nuts and bolts of our competition. Watch this space for our editors insights as well as stories from former chapbook winners.

This week we invite Kelli Russell Agodon to share her ideas on the chapbook process, production, and product. Kelli's book, Geography, won the Floating Bridge Chapbook Award in 2003. She has since gone on to publish a book length collection, Small Knots, with Word Press, 2004 as well as accruing many other honors.

We've asked Kelli to offer her personal insights into the publishing process. One thing you may be interested to learn is that Geography traveled the rounds of several contests before it found a home with Floating Bridge and, in fact, the editors here saw the manuscript more than once as well - but let's let her tell the tale in her own words . . .

Susan Rich
Editor, Floating Bridge Press

Inside the Competition

2007-01-14T16:10:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while the editors will be posting a few comments about Floating Bridge Press's annual poetry chapbook competition. You might even call these suggestions.

I thought I'd start things off with a couple of minor points that make a difference to those of us who read many manuscripts.

1. Please pay close attention to all competition guidelines. It is very tedious to accomodate manuscripts that are not three-hole punched or labeled with title on each page, etc. Manuscripts that arrive straight-jacketed in fancy binders and sleeves must be "disrobed" and that just means more work for us. Keep things simple and follow directions. Don't you want to start with your best foot forward?

2. You might not realize that extra-fancy bond paper or an unusual, eye-catching font actually detracts from your work. Our idea of a beautiful manuscript is one that is full of beautiful poems.

Here's one a little more substantive.

3. During my years as a co-editor and co-judge, I have often poured over the acknowledgments sections of our submissions after the competition is concluded and done some Monday-morning quarterbacking.

I've noticed that the quality of the chapbook manuscript is not correlated to the number of previously published poems it contains. It is much more important that the manuscript be cohesive, either because of a strong (and consistent) voice, sensibility, or theme. A chapbook is different animal than a full-length book. It needs to establish its "reason to be" within the first handful of poems.

If poem A was published in Poetry but doesn't fit the theme, and poem B is unpublished but compliments the poems around it, choose poem B. Not only will B make your manuscript stronger, there's a good bet the manuscript will make poem B shine.

More chapbook ideas in the coming weeks.

Kathleen Flenniken, Editor

New Year, New (Digital) Home

2007-01-01T23:45:00.000-08:00

Or a new road to our home on the web. You can now get to the press website using http://www.floatingbridgepress.org, thanks to an editor who secured the domain name.

The old URL still works—but this one will always get you to the press. We're looking for a new hosting service so that we can provide better, more flexible information, and have better email service amongst the board. Suggestions welcome.

Reading in Port Townsend

In the meanwhile, if you're in Port Townsend on January 11, stop by the Northwind Gallery to hear Pontoon readers Ronda Broatch, Patrick Loafman, Michael Schein, and Annette Spaulding-Convy.

Our Pushcart Nominations for 2006

2006-12-21T08:55:00.000-08:00

Floating Bridge is very pleased to announce our nominations for the 2006 Pushcart Prizes:

Annette Spaulding-Convy for her chapbook, In the Convent We Become Clouds
Marjorie Manwaring for her poem, "Magician's Assistant"
Erin Malone for her poem, "This & Thus Far"
John Glowney for his poem, "Spotlight"
Joseph Powell for his poem, "Pecking Order"
John Whalen for his poem, "Separation"

Wishing you very Happy Holidays and a year of excellent poems--
The Editors

Poetry on Wheels: The Poetry on Buses Takes Off Thanks to Your Participation

2006-12-17T14:45:00.000-08:00

We had a fabulous time last Sunday --- and we hope you did, too!

Over one hundred and twenty poetry lovers and friends of poetry lovers came out to help us launch our newest publication, POETRY ON WHEELS: An Anthology of King County's Poetry On Buses Program 1997-2005. Chris Higashi of the Washington Center for the Book supplied us with a superb space and Floating Bridge and 4 Culture supplied the poets. We hope this is only the first of many programs that we can collaborate on in the future.

What made the event so successful? I'd say it was the spirit of community that infused the afternoon. Several people told me it was their first time at a poetry reading, but it would not be their last. Other folks shared ideas on other collaborative projects they'd like to work on with Floating Bridge -- and we're excited to do more community programs.

Finally a note to our contributors: for a discount price on the anthologies please, send a check to Floating Bridge Press c/o Richard Hugo House -- or if you are happy to order two or more anthologies, use our PayPal option and then email us that you are one of the contributors. We will send you two copies of the anthologies for the regular $10 price. Questions? Simply email us at FloatingBridgePress@yahoo.com and we will do our best to help.

We can still get you these beautiful blue books by Christmas.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Floating Bridge Press -

Seattle Weekly blurb on Bus Anthology

2006-12-08T01:15:00.000-08:00

Check us out! We're in the latest Seattle Weekly.

www.seattleweekly.com in the Arts section:

Since 1992, the Poetry on Buses program, a joint project of 4Culture and Metro Transit, has filled buses with poetic musings from 8-year-olds, creative-writing grad students, and many bards in between. According to 4Culture's Heather Dwyer, the organization wasn't able to finance the program in 2006, but a 2007 revival is in the works, with a call for entries to hit buses this winter. Meanwhile, Seattle's Floating Bridge Press has published Poetry on Wheels: An Anthology of King County's Poetry on Buses Program 1997–2005, with work by more than 100 local bus poets. Several dozen of them will gather Sunday to read their brief works (none exceeds 50 words) and bathe in their newfound fame. In her introduction to the anthology, Floating Bridge's Kissley Leonor mentions a poet especially dear to the Weekly: Bryson Good, whose haikuesque "Ice Cream" ("I lost a soft ice cream cone out a window/It maybe flew in the dirt/And I am still waiting for summer") won him recognition in our 2003 Best of Seattle issue. No guarantees, but we hope he'll show on Sunday. Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., 386-4636. Free. 2 p.m. NEAL SCHINDLER

Poetry on Wheels: Poetry On the Buses Anthology

2006-11-19T12:08:00.001-08:00

Say "Poetry On the Buses" to someone and watch their eyes brighten.

Who doesn't prefer poetry placards to advertisements for "How You Can Be Kidney Stone Free"? Okay, so I set the bar pretty low, but I believe poems placed in public spaces and chosen for themes such as "lost and found" and "self portrait" do elevate our everyday lives, or at least mine. It seems over a hundred poets in our new anthology Poetry on Wheels: An Anthology of King County's Poetry On Buses Program 1997-2005 might just agree.

2:00 PM, Sunday, December 10th at the Seattle Central Library we are launching this new anthology that will feature bus poets Madeline DeFrees, Kelli Russell Agodon, Dana Elkin, Paul Hunter, Joan Swift, Martha Silano and many others who will be on hand to read their work. The anthology is arriving just in time for (what we hope) is your holiday pleasure. For a mere $10 it can be your gift to Aunt Elsie or Uncle Bob. We hope you'll get on the bus and come join us.

On another note: manuscripts for our chapbook award are beginning to arrive in the office. We're looking forward to another year of good reading. Thank you for being part of the Floating Bridge Family. We're proud to have you at the table.

Mulch Time

2006-11-11T12:09:00.000-08:00

Let's

arrange our cups
and plates on the floor
in the shape
of a clock. Watch
time stand still.

-- Christine Hemp, Pontoon 7

As we approach the end of our physical and fiscal year, FBP is tidying up. Final reports for our grants are being written, printed, folded, stamped and mailed; copies of Pontoon 9 are being sent out to our contributors, distributors, bookstores, libraries and reviewers; and old files are being mulched back into the recycle bin.

Also, we are planting the seeds for next year. Our guidelines for the 2007 Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Award have been mailed out and posted, we're looking over our "To-Do" lists, creating new physical and cyber file folders, and stocking up on herbal tea. Let the fall rains come, we say! We're ready.

Floating Bridge Press Blog

2006-10-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our new blog!

Floating Bridge Press is a 501(c)(3) non-profit literary arts organization, founded in 1994. Our mission is to recognize and promote the work of Washington State poets, through an annual Poetry Chapbook Award; the production of archival-quality chapbooks, anthologies, and broadsides; as well as community poetry readings.
We are a volunteer-run, community-supported arts organization; contributions are welcome, and tax-deductible.
We have also been supported, in part, by grants from the Allen Foundation for the Arts, Allied Arts Foundation, the 4Culture (formerly Cultural Development Authority of King County), the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, SAFECO Corporation, the Breneman Jaech Foundation, and the Washington State Arts Commission.

For more information, write to us at Floating Bridge Press, c/o Richard Hugo House, 1634 Eleventh Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122; or send email.

See our website too: http://www.scn.org/floatingbridge/about.html
We will be working to couple our website and blog to make both more accessible and communal.

Gala Pontoon 9 Reading

While we're making announcements, let's announce our Pontoon Nine Gala reading, Sunday, October 15, 1:00 pm, which will feature a number of our contributors each reading for five minutes. The wine and snack b ar will be open and the editors look forward to catching up with old and new favorite poets.

1:00 pm Sunday, October 15, 2006
The Richard Hugo House
http://www.scn.org/floatingbridge/about.html

Readers include:
Terri Cohlene, Laura Snyder, CR Manley, Esther Helfgott, Joseph Powell, Kathy Whitcomb, Katy McKinney, Tatyana Mishel, Michael Schein, Nina Bayer, Susan Landgraf, Michael Spence, Annette Spaulding-Convy, Ronda Broatch, Joan Swift, Marjorie Manwaring, Crysta Casey, and maybe more!

We hope you can stop by, listen, visit, have a glass of wine, and purchase a copy of Pontoon Nine!