Acceptance: Scythe Literary Journal

Scythe Literary Journal

Owl Who Laughs in Scythe


I’m absolutely ecstatic that Editors Joe and Chenelle Milford of Scythe have chosen my poems “Small” and “Commute Home” for the next issue. This is a powerhouse of a lit zine, focusing solely on poetry. Contributors include Bob Hicok and Arlene Ang, two of my very favorite poets of all time. Pablo Neruda is still a little bit above them, but the gap is shrinking.

Through a diligence that surely entails total dedication, the Milfords have produced a relatively young journal that already showcases some the best of writers on a bold scale. Volume III, for example, presents forty poets. What makes this so astounding is the fusion of great quantity with superb quality. This is an almost impossible feat, achieved perhaps by only one other zine I know of, The Drunken Boat.

Why is Scythe attracting so many fine writers so close to its inception? The answer is most certainly The Joe Milford Poetry Show, broadcast at 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays, eastern time. The archives of this online radio show would stagger the minds of greenhorns and veterans alike. Great names--I mean really really great names--have graced this stage with their brilliance. Paragons and geniuses like Robert Pinksy, Amy Gerstler, Tony Hoagland and Didi Menendez.

In addition, plenty of poets I don’t know have been interviewed. This is not an elitist outlet but rather a cartography of every nook and corner of the lands of the bards. My eyes crossed while counting, but I estimate that over 260 writers have been interviewed.

Wow!

What a thrill for me to be included in Scythe, a journal wisely described as a “natural and logical next step” after the great success of The Joe Milford Poetry Show.

A huge THANK YOU to both Milfords for creating Scythe, a sizeable advance in their already generous gift to all of us.

And a special congratulations to Joe Milford on his first book of poetry, Cracked Altim eter (2010), published by BlazeVox Press. The cover of the book alone will draw you into the deepest conundrums of your Id.

A very grateful OWL, logging out.


PS: To see the cover of Cracked Altim eter, and to read more about Joe Milford, go here:

Joe Milford

To read more about the equally energetic Chenelle Milford, use the companion link:

Chenelle Milford