You stare at yourself in the mirror Your eyes red, your hair distressed, You’re not smiling, You’re fatigued. You’re in the middle of a another lockdown, another surge, another day of teleconferences, one after the other over and over ad nauseam. another day of fretting over politics, another day of mourning over murders, another day of hearing talking heads, another day of strident division, another day of children —fatigued too, at home all day, all night, all week.
“This is exhausting,” you mutter to yourself. You just want to remove your face mask and sit in a room crowded with a thousand mask-less people and declare your freedom. But your common sense appears and annoys you. You realize you are in a tsunami. You realize you must stand down from errant and misguided notions. You realize you must let this tsunami pass, and deal with the aftermath and the ruin and the wreckage for a while and a while and a while.
You sweat from the strain of your rumination, you sit down, you point the remote at the tube once again, the news is on and you hear breaking news: Vaccination is ninety-five percent effective. Sunlight streams through the vent your curtains. You lift your sorrow drenched head. Grateful.
Since nearly, every publisher, on earth, states in their guidelines: NO PANDEMIC POEMS, PLEASE (ouch, those caps are loud), I am posting my pandemic binge on my blog and my personal pages (Twitter, FB, IG). After the new year, I plan to submit new work to publishers.
Oh, for those who frowned at my “on earth” reference, I did submit some poems to Neptune but so far I got no response.
Plus open mic. 3 minute time limit. The host will be taking open mic signups during the event.
Hosted by Jerry T. Johnson
21+
POET BIOs
A.i. Firefly was born in 1979 in a crazy little town called Staten Island, NY. Poet, musician, educator, wife & mama, she has been featured in print and on the web by publications such as NYSAI, Having A Whiskey Coke with You, great weather for MEDIA, and is active in the expansive international poetry scene on Instagram as @a.i.firefly. Photo by Kristopher Johnson, Deep Tanks Studio
A 2016 Pushcart nominee, Mike Jurkovic’s poetry and musical criticism has appeared in Main Street Rag, Conclave, Comstock Review, North Dakota Quarterly, California Quarterly, Chronogram, Wisconsin Review, etc., with little reportable income. His full-length collections are AmericanMental (Luchador Press 2020), Blue Fan Whirring (Nirala Press, 2018), smitten by harpies & shiny banjo catfish (Lion Autumn Press, 2016), and Eve’s Venom (Post Traumatic Press, 2014). Anthology credits include Calling All Poets 20th Anniversary Anthology, Reflecting Pool: Poets & the Creative Process (Codhill Press, 2018), and Like Light: 25 Years of Poetry & Prose (Bright Hill Press, 2018). He is the President of “Calling All Poets” (New Paltz /Beacon, NY.) He loves Emily most of all.
Plus open mic. 3 minute time limit. The host will be taking open mic signups during the event.
Hosted by Jerry T. Johnson
21+
POET BIOs
A.i. Firefly was born in 1979 in a crazy little town called Staten Island, NY. Poet, musician, educator, wife & mama, she has been featured in print and on the web by publications such as NYSAI, Having A Whiskey Coke with You, great weather for MEDIA, and is active in the expansive international poetry scene on Instagram as @a.i.firefly. Photo by Kristopher Johnson, Deep Tanks Studio
A 2016 Pushcart nominee, Mike Jurkovic’s poetry and musical criticism has appeared in Main Street Rag, Conclave, Comstock Review, North Dakota Quarterly, California Quarterly, Chronogram, Wisconsin Review, etc., with little reportable income. His full-length collections are AmericanMental (Luchador Press 2020), Blue Fan Whirring (Nirala Press, 2018), smitten by harpies & shiny banjo catfish (Lion Autumn Press, 2016), and Eve’s Venom (Post Traumatic Press, 2014). Anthology credits include Calling All Poets 20th Anniversary Anthology, Reflecting Pool: Poets & the Creative Process (Codhill Press, 2018), and Like Light: 25 Years of Poetry & Prose (Bright Hill Press, 2018). He is the President of “Calling All Poets” (New Paltz /Beacon, NY.) He loves Emily most of all.
First & Foremost! The November 22nd gwfM Spoken Word Sunday Event is all about our outstanding features and the open mic’ers!
Secondly and last – November 22nd is my 65th birthday! And I am celebrating it by hosting an outstanding event with outstanding features! And I do plan to open up the program with a Bang with the opening poem! (Or if my bang turns into flop, we will move right along with the program)
So come on out and enjoy the program with me (and slip me a little happy birthday greeting in the process) !!!
Program Details listed below:
A. i. Firefly & Mike Jurkovic Rock great weather for Media’s Spoken Word Sunday’s
great weather for Media is bringing you another great poetry event with 2 amazing features:
Mike Jurkovic, Poet – Walkill, New York -and- Ai. Firefly, Poet – Staten Island, New York!
When: Sunday, November 22nd – 4pm-6pm EDT
Where: ONLINE ZOOM
YOU MUST PREREGISTER FOR ZOOM ADMITTANCE: click link to register via Eventbrite:
Plus open mic. 3 minute time limit. The host will be taking open mic signups during the event.
Hosted by Jerry T. Johnson
21+
POET BIOs
A.i. Firefly was born in 1979 in a crazy little town called Staten Island, NY. Poet, musician, educator, wife & mama, she has been featured in print and on the web by publications such as NYSAI, Having A Whiskey Coke with You, great weather for MEDIA, and is active in the expansive international poetry scene on Instagram as @a.i.firefly. Photo by Kristopher Johnson, Deep Tanks Studio
A 2016 Pushcart nominee, Mike Jurkovic’s poetry and musical criticism has appeared in Main Street Rag, Conclave, Comstock Review, North Dakota Quarterly, California Quarterly, Chronogram, Wisconsin Review, etc., with little reportable income. His full-length collections are AmericanMental (Luchador Press 2020), Blue Fan Whirring (Nirala Press, 2018), smitten by harpies & shiny banjo catfish (Lion Autumn Press, 2016), and Eve’s Venom (Post Traumatic Press, 2014). Anthology credits include Calling All Poets 20th Anniversary Anthology, Reflecting Pool: Poets & the Creative Process (Codhill Press, 2018), and Like Light: 25 Years of Poetry & Prose (Bright Hill Press, 2018). He is the President of “Calling All Poets” (New Paltz /Beacon, NY.) He loves Emily most of all.
Plus open mic. 3 minute time limit. The host will be taking open mic signups during the event.
Hosted by Jerry T. Johnson
21+
POET BIOs
A.i. Firefly was born in 1979 in a crazy little town called Staten Island, NY. Poet, musician, educator, wife & mama, she has been featured in print and on the web by publications such as NYSAI, Having A Whiskey Coke with You, great weather for MEDIA, and is active in the expansive international poetry scene on Instagram as @a.i.firefly. Photo by Kristopher Johnson, Deep Tanks Studio
A 2016 Pushcart nominee, Mike Jurkovic’s poetry and musical criticism has appeared in Main Street Rag, Conclave, Comstock Review, North Dakota Quarterly, California Quarterly, Chronogram, Wisconsin Review, etc., with little reportable income. His full-length collections are AmericanMental (Luchador Press 2020), Blue Fan Whirring (Nirala Press, 2018), smitten by harpies & shiny banjo catfish (Lion Autumn Press, 2016), and Eve’s Venom (Post Traumatic Press, 2014). Anthology credits include Calling All Poets 20th Anniversary Anthology, Reflecting Pool: Poets & the Creative Process (Codhill Press, 2018), and Like Light: 25 Years of Poetry & Prose (Bright Hill Press, 2018). He is the President of “Calling All Poets” (New Paltz /Beacon, NY.) He loves Emily most of all.
Jerry, where do you find your publishers? This is the question that I have been asked several times.
I search for publishers through a variety of publication resources that I have come to know over the past seven years. I also have my go-to resources that I search all the time. Before I talk about my favorite Go-To’s (forgive me for breaking punctuation rules) I would like to write about how I found those Go-To’s in the first place.
1. Google It. As much as I hate, hearing people equate googling it to Research and Compiling Empirical Data, googling “poetry publishing” is a quick way to display a list of potential publishers. That is how I started seven years ago —by googling it.
2. Get yourself a copy of Writer’s Market. “But Jerry,” you say, “Writer’s Market has been sold and the online version isn’t available. Further. Publishers are selling it a it $30 a pop.” I hear you. My first copy of Writer’s Market cost me $1. I picked it up from a used books section at a bookstore. When the pandemic lessens, mask up, glove up and browse used books at Goodwill stores, Flea Markets, Local Library sales, etc —wherever used books are sold. You may find a copy. Don’t sweat it if the edition is a year or two old. Mine was two years old but 80% of the information was quite useful.
3. Go to Open Mics and listen up for announcements about publication opportunities. If the organization who sponsored the open mic has a mailing list, think about getting your name on the list. You can always kindly unsubscribe later.
4. Search for workshops. Google writing workshops in your area. Workshops were very beneficial to me. The feedback was valuable and the networking helped me find publishers that I could submit to.
5. Search the internet for online writing journals or online writing magazines. Search for small literary presses (large ones too).
6. Maintain a list of publishers and publishing resources that you find. I keep a list and I track the length of their average response time.
I could go on but I will transition to some of my favorite publishing sources:
I subscribe to Authors Publish Magazine. Authors Publish Magazine has been a great source for finding publishers that I can submit my work to. I receive weekly email updates from Authors Publish Magazine. These updates contain valuable information. For instance, this past Monday, I received an email with a link to “20 Poetry Markets Open for Submissions.”
Occasionally, Authors Publish Magazine contains great articles about writing and publishing, such as “How to Evaluate A Publisher For Your Book”, “The Problem With Mass Submissions”, (one of my favorites) and many other informative and thought provoking pieces. Authors Publish Magazine also informs readers of writing workshops.
Authors Publish Magazine is one of my top Go-To’s when I am looking for publishing information. You can find them at:
There are many other sources one can refer to. Poets & Writers Magazine is another source that I use often. I also subscribe to them (and I am listed in their directory of 11,000+ writers, poets & spoken word artists, etc).
Browse through their “Publish Your Writing” menu for literary magazines and small presses that you can send your work to. You can access Poets & Writers Magazine at:
There are many other writing resources available, the two that I mentioned just happen to be my favorites. I’m sure you will find your favorites as well, but if you want a head start, go ahead and start with mine.
Plus open mic. 3 minute time limit. The host will be taking open mic signups during the event.
Hosted by Jerry T. Johnson
21+
POET BIOs
A.i. Firefly was born in 1979 in a crazy little town called Staten Island, NY. Poet, musician, educator, wife & mama, she has been featured in print and on the web by publications such as NYSAI, Having A Whiskey Coke with You, great weather for MEDIA, and is active in the expansive international poetry scene on Instagram as @a.i.firefly. Photo by Kristopher Johnson, Deep Tanks Studio
A 2016 Pushcart nominee, Mike Jurkovic’s poetry and musical criticism has appeared in Main Street Rag, Conclave, Comstock Review, North Dakota Quarterly, California Quarterly, Chronogram, Wisconsin Review, etc., with little reportable income. His full-length collections are AmericanMental (Luchador Press 2020), Blue Fan Whirring (Nirala Press, 2018), smitten by harpies & shiny banjo catfish (Lion Autumn Press, 2016), and Eve’s Venom (Post Traumatic Press, 2014). Anthology credits include Calling All Poets 20th Anniversary Anthology, Reflecting Pool: Poets & the Creative Process (Codhill Press, 2018), and Like Light: 25 Years of Poetry & Prose (Bright Hill Press, 2018). He is the President of “Calling All Poets” (New Paltz /Beacon, NY.) He loves Emily most of all.
Jerry T. Johnson, Poet 