Tag Archives: Literary Writing

A wonderful task for an editor. . . Pushcart Prize nominations!

03 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by in Inspiration, The Delmarva Review, Uncategorized, Writing

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DR-6-Pushcart

 

The Delmarva Review nominated the writing of six authors for The Pushcart Prize. It’s one of the greatest pleasures an editor can experience, recognizing the writers among the best, all in contention with other selected authors around the nation, their work competing for the coveted Pushcart Prize.

Being nominated for a prestigious literary prize gives authors more than recognition.  It propels their work to another level of discovery.  It’s a powerful incentive for writers to seek the best in literary writing, one of the primary purposes of the Review.

Personally, this caps a long year of hard work.  A gifted team of editors, all skilled volunteers, can appreciate our selection of poetry and prose, all over again.  We’ve gone through the difficult task of reading hundreds of submissions, making tough choices, accepting and rejecting the words that so many authors have labored over, sometimes for years.

The selection process was followed by the careful eyes of our copy editor, proofreaders, and designer.  All of us felt an obligation to print a quality journal that respected the words of our authors.  This often goes unnoticed, but a fine literary review is not just glued together and haphazardly sent to readers or posted online.  It takes time, and a creative, caring hand.

The pleasure we feel today is from knowing that our authors appreciate their opportunity. It’s now up to another set of editors to make their choices. We’ll know next year.

The Delmarva Review nominations include:

–       “Writing My Way Home,” a personal essay by combat veteran Ron Capps

–       “Melissa,” a poem by William Peak

–       “Immigrant,” a poem by Holly Karapetkova

–       “November Morning,” a prose poem by Devon Miller-Duggan

–       “Dioscuri,” a poem by Paul Otremba

–       “Flowers Scarcely Withered,” a short story by Nancy Ford Dugan

Thank you to Pushcart Press for its continued support of literary work published in the small presses.  And, thank you to a gifted team at The Delmarva Review…and to our sponsor, the Eastern Shore Writers Association.   For more about the Review, copies, and submission guidelines, please see the website: www.delmarvareview.com.

 

 

The Delmarva Review’s sixth edition honored by a reading at The Writer’s Center

11 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by in Maryland, The Delmarva Review, Writing

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The Delmarva Review, Volume 6 - print and digital editions

The Delmarva Review, Volume 6, 2013 in print and digital editions – Cover photograph by Christopher Woods   click on image for larger view

There wasn’t an empty chair as five authors took to the podium and read their writing from the new edition of The Delmarva Review, a journal publishing compelling literary prose and poetry. The venue was perfect. The Writer’s Center, in Bethesda, Maryland, is known as a special “home” to many writers. As one of the premier writers’ centers in the country, it welcomes and supports literary work (www.writer.org).

The authors had never read together before, but their performances were so complementary that, taken together, one might think they were choreographed.  They read to an attentive, responsive audience that packed the house.  It was a memorable literary event.

As executive editor, I am thankful for our five reading authors: fiction author Margaret Adams, of Baltimore, poet Judith Bowles, of Chevy Chase, MD, fiction author Ru Freeman, of the Philadelphia area, poet E. Laura Golberg, of Washington, DC, and essayist Ron Capps, Of Washington, DC.

There is something magical to all of us as editors when we experience a reading. The words jump off the page as we hear the author’s unique voice…live.  It often reveals a new dimension of the author’s deepest intentions.

The event was Sunday, the day before Veteran’s Day.  Appropriate to the occasion, the last presenter was Ron Capps, a soldier, Foreign Service officer, and a combat veteran of five recent wars. He founded the Veterans Writing Project (http://veteranswriting.org).  Mr. Capps delivered his stirring personal essay, “Writing My Way Home.”

The Delmarva Review, Vol. 6, is published by the Eastern Shore Writers Association to encourage and inspire literary writing.  Print issues can be ordered through the website: www.delmarvareview.com.  A digital edition for download to popular electronic reading devices is available at www.Amazon.com.

The submissions period for Volume 7 is open until February 28, 2014.  All writers, please see the Guideline page on the website.

Ron Capps, founder of the Veterans Writing Project, reading his essay in The Delmarva Review

Ron Capps reading his personal essay, “Writing My Way Home”                                    – photos by Wilson Wyatt

Fiction author Margaret Adams reading "Undertow"

Fiction author Margaret Adams reading “Undertow”

Fiction author Ru Freeman reading "Departure"

Fiction author Ru Freeman reading “Departure”

Poet E. Laura Golberg reading "The Solitary Farmer"

Poet E. Laura Golberg reading “The Solitary Farmer” and “Lockport Caves for Vita”

Poet Judith Bowles, who read "The Instrument" and "My Parkinson's and I attend my 50th Reunion"

Poet Judith Bowles, who read “The Instrument” and “My Parkinson’s and I attend my 50th Reunion”

The Value of a Literary Review…along the road to good writing

07 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by in The Delmarva Review, Writing

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The Delmarva Review, vol.5 – 27 authors, nine states, D.C., and three other countries

The Delmarva Review published its fifth annual edition of prose and poetry this week, rising competently at the far end of the writing spectrum, known to discerning readers as literary writing.  I say the “far end” of the spectrum, because it is the place reserved for literature as an art.  This is the place where art and craft combine in the writer’s quest for excellence…aspired to by many, but attained by few.

That sounds intimidating, and perhaps it is to some writers.  But to others it is a rewarding journey.  A literary journal like The Delmarva Review attracts hundreds and hundreds of submissions for the few that are finally published.  Of course, there are space limitations.  For the aspiring and persevering writer, publication in the review is a well-deserved achievement.  Even the best writers receive rejections, but selection for publication is always an occasion to be celebrated.

The Delmarva Review is one of some 3,300 literary reviews around the world.  That sounds like a lot.  But, when you consider there are over 200,000 commercial magazines in production, literary reviews are, indeed, at the small end of the spectrum. It’s interesting that they are growing in numbers, not diminishing.

For those who would like to know more about literary reviews, their purpose and history, I recommend an excellent article by an experienced editor-writer, Paul Soderberg, “The Secret World of Literary Journals,” available to read online at: http://thefeatheredflounder.com/2012/05/the-secret-world-of-literary-journals/

Today, as I and my talented editorial associates stuff envelopes with copies of  The Delmarva Review, to be on their way to readers, this concludes a year of difficult work. “Difficult” because it has been a year of choosing the final stories, essays, and poetry to publish in our fifth edition.  However, like for the authors, it is an occasion to celebrate.  The reward is treating our writers with the respect they deserve and producing a literary journal of quality for readers with high expectations.

We will now wait…and wait…for the comments…for our own critical review.  For you see, even the editors can face rejection.

Of interest to writers, the submission period for the sixth issue of the Review is from November 1, 2012 to February 28, 2013. We publish a print edition as well as a downloadable digital edition, available at Amazon.com. You can see the website for copies, guidelines and a submission link: www.delmarvareview.com

As executive editor of The Delmarva Review, I am thankful for the remarkable talent and generous spirit of all the people who worked on this edition.  All contributed as volunteers.  They include fiction editors Margot Miller and Harold Wilson, nonfiction editor George Merrill, poetry editors Amanda Newell and the late John Elsberg, managing editor Mala Burt, designer Laura Ambler,  copyeditor Jeanne Pinault, and our prose readers, who help to discover the best work. Thank you, as well, to our publisher, the Eastern Shore Writers Association, a nonprofit organization that supports and believes in the literary arts.

Back and front cover – The Delmarva Review, vol. 5  (Click on image to enlarge)