Benjamin C. Krause

Ekphrasis of the Boob Tube

Benjamin — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 23:40:46 +0000

Joel Allegretti is one of the best poets I’ve had the privilege of publishing (twice, in Liebamour), so when he solicited my work for an invitation-only anthology of poems about television, I was honored. I find the concept behind this anthology to be very post-modern, and I can’t wait to read it. Joel accepted an untitled poem of mine.

Anthologies of Interest

Benjamin — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:23:14 +0000

Sonnet Mondal has to be the hardest-working poet of his age. The 21-year-old Bengali poet, writing almost exclusively in English, has already invented his own 21-line form of the caudate sonnet,which he calls the fusion sonnet:

A fusion sonnet is a 21-line caudate sonnet form invented by Sonnet Mondal, and introduced in his book 21 Lines Fusion Sonnets of 21st Century, published by Sparrow Publication in India in 2010. Unlike the more common 14-line format, these sonnets comprise 21 lines, with new rhyming variations. In each of these sonnets a 14-line sonnet with new variations is followed by a seven-line half sonnet…The volta or change in tone comes gradually through the ninth, tenth and eleventh… [and] twentieth [lines]… a fusion between contemporary and traditional styles, these sonnets deal more with social themes in contrast to other sonnets which are mostly written as lyric poetry.

In addition to writing poetry, Sonnet is the Managing Editor of The Enchanting Verses Literary Review, an engineering student, and is editing an upcoming anthology of sonnets. I was included in his journal previously, and to edit an upcoming anthology of poems from The Enchanting Verses, he selected none other than the brilliant Howie Good, whom I had published previously with the chapbook Love in a Time of Paranoia. An excellent interview with Howie about the book can be found here.

Howie is a tough critic, so I’m honored to have been told by him personally that I made it through his rigorous chipping-away at the poems in several volumes of The Enchanting Verses Literary Review. I’ll be appearing in an as-yet-unnamed print anthology of The Enchanting Verses Literary Review, with my poem “Behind the Glass.”

Speaking of Howie Good, I’m happy to pass on this piece of news about his upcoming chapbook from Right Hand Pointing, all of the proceeds from which benefit a cause very dear to me:

From Right Hand Pointing: A new collection of poems by Howie Good. All proceeds from the sale of this book benefit the Crisis Center. The Crisis Center is a non-profit agency in Birmingham, Alabama offering suicide prevention, services to victims of sexual assault, day treatment for the indigent mentally ill, and other services. Dreaming in Red by Howie Good.

OK, this has been a little more upbeat than usual–I guess I’m in a good mood! ‘Tis the season, so make sure you support those less fortunate–and enjoy some great poetry–by getting a copy of Howie’s book. And I’ll let you know when I hear something concrete on the Enchanting Verses anthology.

Enchanting Red Verse-Fezzes

Benjamin — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 14:28:35 +0000

That’s right. New poems up at the one-two combo of Red Fez and The Enchanting Verses Literary Review, two excellent online magazines.

You’ll notice the poem at Red Fez is Web 2.0-enabled. I’m in great company with tags like these. Snazzy guys. Nonetheless it’s a great issue–make sure to read the other contributors! (Update)

The Enchanting Verses Literary Review is a wonderful shindig out of Bharat (you had to Google that, didn’t you?). They’re serious about literature–if you ever wanted to read 9 chapters on Rabindath Tragore–my friend, you are in luck. You should want to, by the way.

In addition to their research series on godlike poets (and for some reason also Sylvia Plath), they managed to find time to publish my silly little verse–think The Dream Songs meets Moby Dick, and the encounter is very awkward. I’m grateful to them for thinking of me. I’m on page 32 and the issue is here.

Ether and Giant Gargoyles

Benjamin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:38:05 +0000

Gargoyle #57 is finally out, with symbolic and crushingly nostalgic cover art by Marilyn Stablein. It’s nearly as heavy as the Plena Ilustrita Vortaro (unabridged Esperanto dictionary; like the OED)–so given their <5% acceptance ratio on Duotrope as of last Summer, I can only conclude at least half the world tried to get into this mammoth of a magazine. That my wacky poem, “Jasper Owen Interview,” managed to make it in, is a huge ego boost, so I’ll have to go submit to PANK (which for some reason never accepts my writing) just to deflate it.

In other news, my planned second chapbook has grown to a full-length, and I’ve given up forcing an artificial theme on it. I never write a similar poem twice, so why bother? I just pull poems out of the ether… and they end up being good or bad. Which is why the new working title of my first full-length is “Ether-Inspired Poetry.” I’m lobbying Fabio Sassi hard to do the cover. He’d be absolutely perfect.

Meanwhile, Benjameno’s new website is gradually being assembled. There’s still some missing sections… let’s see if I can pull them out of the ether before getting to work on the more pressing matters I’ve been avoiding.