qarrtsiluni news blog

UPDATE (Nov. 23): The offer has expired. Dave managed to scrounge up an additional five copies, so we’ll be sending review copies to 15 bloggers altogether. If you missed your chance and would still like to get a copy, remember that they’re only $5.95 and that if you order one through Amazon, you can bundle it into a larger order to qualify for free shipping. Thanks to everyone for their interest.

Are you a blogger? Do you like to get free books in the mail? If so, we’d love to send you a copy of the paper edition of Pamela Johnson Parker’s award-winning chapbook, A Walk Through the Memory Palace. Dave has just ten extra copies on hand, so send us your postal address right away if you’re interested. All we ask in exchange is that you write at least three original paragraphs about the book, aside from whatever poems you decide to quote (and note that the Creative Commons license on the website does permit unlimited quoting for noncommercial purposes).

We’re not asking you to write a favorable review if you decide you don’t like it — though we’re confident you will — and we don’t care if you can’t sling the lit-crit jargon. You don’t even have to be a book or poetry blogger. We’re looking for honest and thoughtful reactions, and any approach is welcome, at any kind of blog.

People who have already purchased copies of Memory Palace have gushed about what a beautiful book it is. Poet-blogger Rachel Barenblat called it “a physically lovely artifact,” and we think you’ll agree. Email your postal address to qarrtsiluni (at) gmail (dot) com, or use our Contact form. We’ll mail to anywhere in the world.

Oh, and if you don’t want to bother with writing a review, see the qarrtsiluni In Print page to order a copy. The holidays are approaching, and remember: chapbooks make great stocking stuffers!

Whilst updating our page of suggestions for how to make an audio recording for the thousandth time, Dave went to check up on blogtalkradio and noticed a link to an apparently newish, associated service called CinchCast, designed — as the name suggests — to make recording by telephone as easy and painless as possible. The sign-up form includes the option of using one’s Twitter or Facebook account, which gives some indication of the intended user base for this service. But it might also be a good option for qarrtsiluni authors who want to record themselves for our daily podcast. Of course, we are always happy to call authors and record them over the phone ourselves, but we realize that some writers suffer from shyness or phone-fear, have had bad experiences with guys named Dave, or can only read their work at 4:00 o’clock in the morning dressed as a timber wolf. If that’s you, please try CinchCast and let us know how it works.

Please help qarrtsiluni make our six selections for the Pushcart Prize — and make the nominations a bit more meaningful in the process.

Check out Nathan Moore’s interview with Pamela Johnson Parker — winner of qarrtsiluni’s first chapbook contest for A Walk Through the Memory Palace — at Read Write Poem. It’s part of a regular Member Spotlight series that also included Ingrid Steblea and qarrtsiluni contributor Rachel Barenblatt. We thought Pamela’s response to the last question, “Can poetry save the world,” was especially intriguing. Go visit. (And while you’re there, join the Read Write Poem social network, if you haven’t already. You could be the next spotlit member!)

We decided to have our next submissions period now, in November, to avoid the busy holiday season. The theme is Health, broadly defined, and the editors are Susan Elbe and Kelly Madigan Erlandson. Be sure to read the complete theme description and the slightly modified general guidelines before submitting.

(And what might those slight modifications be, you’re wondering? We’re slightly pushier now about authors being willing to make audio recordings. And we’ve caved on accepting submissions in MS Word, now that our operating systems know how to deal with those in .docx format. Plus we welcome submissions in Google documents — why not? Whatever works.)