Hello and Good Morning, Folks:
Full details to submit can be found here.
Note: I will be editing this year’s anthology alongside
judges Gwendolyn Kiste and Carina Bissett. All types of poetry are welcome and
encouraged, as well as all types of horror, although poems that elicit themes
of child abuse/pedophilia, racism, homophobia, or transphobia will be
immediately dismissed.
So let’s meet the judges and have a little chat!
WYTOVICH: When did you first get
into poetry? If you remember the first poem/author you read, feel free to
include it here.
KISTE: The first poem I remember
is definitely my dad reciting “The Raven” to me when I was very young. He
actually started reading me Poe while my mom was still pregnant with me. That
means there’s never been a time when poems like “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee”
weren’t part of my life, so without a doubt, I can trace my love of both poetry
and horror directly back to Edgar Allan Poe and my dad.
Other than Poe, another spooky
favorite is “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes. My dad also recited that one to
me a lot, often on car trips. Because he has a huge number of poems memorized,
he could make any car ride infinitely more exciting by suddenly breaking out in
verse. Since I’ve always loved how my dad knew so much poetry by heart, I
memorized my first poem at around seven years old. It was “Ozymandias” by Percy
Shelley. The irony is that of course, now I’m a way bigger fan of Percy’s
lovely wife, Mary, but for what it’s worth, I still know that poem to this day.
It’s a beautiful piece and one worth seeking out if you’ve never read it.
BISSETT: I remember seeing The Outsiders when
it was released. Like Pony Boy, I was struck by the Robert Frost poem “Nothing
Gold Can Stay.” I wrote small poems as a young girl, but that movie marked the
moment when I realized the true power of poetry. However, it wasn’t until years
later that I was introduced to Anne Sexton’s Transformations, and
my pursuit of poetry became a more focused goal.
WYTOVICH: What are you hoping to
see this year from poetry submitted to the showcase?
KISTE: I’m so excited to see a
wide variety of horror subgenres—give me your fairy tale horror, your body
horror, your Gothic horror, truly any kind of horror there is! I love it all. I
very much hope to receive submissions from a diverse group of authors. Women,
authors of color, LGBTQ authors—we always need new voices in horror, so I
highly encourage everyone to consider submitting. Even if you’re more of a
fiction or nonfiction writer, but you’ve been curious about branching out into
horror poetry, please send something our way. That’s a conversation I’ve had
with authors in the past—that they feel like they might not “belong” because
they aren’t a published poet yet. Truly, though, everyone has to start
somewhere, so please don’t self-reject! I would love to read your work!
BISSETT: I’m always interested in poetry that
carries multiple layers of meaning. I’m currently immersed in reading work by
Ada Limón, Andrea Blythe, and Cate Marvin. I love poems with a fabulist bent,
and I’m especially interested in pieces that explore culture and community
through a feminist lens.
WYTOVICH: It’s no secret that
horror poetry—or poetry with a dark, speculative bent—is certainly getting more
popular. How do you interpret the rise in dark poetry over the year?
KISTE: Horror in general has been
having such an incredible resurgence lately. Now, for those of us who’ve always
loved the genre, we know that horror never really went away, but it is nice to
see the genre getting a more mainstream spotlight at the moment. I think the
popularity of horror poetry is definitely related to that. I’ve always believed
that shorter forms are uniquely suited to horror. Both short fiction and horror
poetry have the ability to pack such a powerful punch in a very small space.
Poetry can sometimes be the most potent form of all literature, and horror
might very well be the most potent genre of all, so put them together, and it’s
truly a dynamite combination.
BISSETT: Despite its form, I’ve always thought of poetry
as being similar to novel-length fiction. They are both platforms for “big”
ideas. Poetry offers a way “to see a World in a Grain of Sand” (William Blake).
Our world is a place where shadows have form and substance. I think dark poetry
gives readers and writers a way to explore those shadows.
Bio: Gwendolyn Kiste is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Rust Maidens, from Trepidatio
Publishing; And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe, from JournalStone; the dark fantasy novella, Pretty Marys All in a Row, from Broken Eye
Books; and the occult horror novelette, The Invention of Ghosts, from Nightscape Press. Her short fiction and nonfiction
have appeared in Nightmare Magazine, Vastarien, Black Static, Daily Science
Fiction, Unnerving, Interzone, and LampLight, among others. Originally from
Ohio, she now resides on an abandoned horse farm outside of Pittsburgh with her
husband, two cats, and not nearly enough ghosts. Find her online at gwendolynkiste.com
Bio: Carina Bissett is a writer, poet, and educator working primarily in the fields of dark fiction and interstitial art. Her short fiction and poetry have been published in multiple journals and anthologies including Arterial Bloom, Gorgon: Stories of Emergence, Hath No Fury, Mythic Delirium, NonBinary Review, and the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. V and VI. She teaches online workshops at The Storied Imaginarium, and she is a graduate of the Creative Writing MFA program at Stonecoast. Her work has been nominated for several awards including the Pushcart Prize and the Sundress Publications Best of the Net. Links to her work can be found at http://carinabissett.com.
Bio: Stephanie M. Wytovich is an American poet, novelist, and
essayist. Her work has been showcased in numerous venues such as Weird Tales,
Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, Fantastic Tales of Terror, Year's Best
Hardcore Horror: Volume 2, The Best Horror of the Year: Volume 8, as well as
many others.
Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University, Southern New Hampshire University, and Point Park University, and a mentor with Crystal Lake Publishing. She is a member of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, an active member of the Horror Writers Association, and a graduate of Seton Hill University’s MFA program for Writing Popular Fiction. Her Bram Stoker Award-winning poetry collection, Brothel, earned a home with Raw Dog Screaming Press alongside Hysteria: A Collection of Madness, Mourning Jewelry, An Exorcism of Angels, Sheet Music to My Acoustic Nightmare, and most recently, The Apocalyptic Mannequin. Her debut novel, The Eighth, is published with Dark Regions Press.
Follow Wytovich on her blog at http://stephaniewytovich.blogspot.com/ and on twitter @SWytovich.
Wytovich is the Poetry Editor for Raw Dog Screaming Press, an adjunct at Western Connecticut State University, Southern New Hampshire University, and Point Park University, and a mentor with Crystal Lake Publishing. She is a member of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, an active member of the Horror Writers Association, and a graduate of Seton Hill University’s MFA program for Writing Popular Fiction. Her Bram Stoker Award-winning poetry collection, Brothel, earned a home with Raw Dog Screaming Press alongside Hysteria: A Collection of Madness, Mourning Jewelry, An Exorcism of Angels, Sheet Music to My Acoustic Nightmare, and most recently, The Apocalyptic Mannequin. Her debut novel, The Eighth, is published with Dark Regions Press.
Follow Wytovich on her blog at http://stephaniewytovich.blogspot.com/ and on twitter @SWytovich.
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