About the Editors
Editor
Sari Krosinsky lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her partner and two cats.
She received a B.A. in religious studies and a M.A. in creative writing from the University of New Mexico. Her poems have appeared in Poesia, Pebble Lake Review, The American Poetry Journal, Arsenic Lobster, Verse Daily, and others.
Fiction Editor
Leslie Fox lived in Central America during her formative years and in New Mexico since the mid-70s – before it was cool.
She writes novels, short stories, plays, screenplays and creative nonfiction. Some of her short fiction has appeared in The Medical Muse, red. a journal of arts, Earth’s Daughters and Earthships: A New Mecca Poetry Collection. She has a M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of New Mexico.
Fickle Muses Blog
I came across this wonderful Web site called Mythweb, the companion site for the educational adventure game, Wrath of the Gods. It’s a game for kids, marketed as a teaching tool for educators wishing to integrate Greek mythology into their curriculum. The Web site (you don’t have to buy the game to check it out, but you may want to after seeing it) offers an accurate encyclopedia of Greek characters written by Joel Skidmore and many delightful animated illustrations created by Mark Fiore, in addition to a painting of the Olympian gods by Mark Dean.
Although the game is for kids, I found the Web site charming, not to mention a fun way to brush up on some of the lesser-known mythological players (monsters, heroes and gods—oh my!). Skidmore gives both a detailed version the Odyssey, or, my favorite thing on the site, an amusing, yet accurate, abbreviated version. The site offers learning products, teacher resources, and myth related-writing contests for kids. You might also want to check out sister sites: Mesoweb and Cultures.
—Leslie
April 22, 2008
Crocodiles have been skimming the surface of my consciousness lately, showing up in dreams and other unlikely places. When I have a recurring theme in dreams (or waking life), as many of us do, I start thinking about symbols and archetypes, wondering what it all means. Among the many possible interpretations, the one I like most is that crocodiles (or alligators) may symbolize a creative and powerful emotion in need of expression. The ancient Egyptian god Sobek, depicted as a crocodile, was the god of fertility and creative power. I’ve just come out of a rich writing jag that began by researching crocodiles and their many associations. In my search, I came across a website highlighting legends from Timor, http://www1.ci.uc.pt/timor/lendas.htm, starting with “The Crocodile that became Timor.” The tales are from Fernando Sylvan's anthology of traditional Maubere tales and myths, Cantolenda Maubere - the legends of the Mauberes. Fanciful art by Antûnio P. Domingues is displayed along with traditional Timorese designs.
—Leslie
April 13, 2008
On June 29, FM contributor Margarita Engle will receive the Pura Belpre Medal for "The Poet Slave of Cuba" at the American Library Association conference in Anaheim. On June 30, she will be one of the poets at that conference in the Poetry Blast, reading from both "The Poet Slave of Cuba" and "The Surrender Tree," both published by Henry Holt & Co.
March 30, 2008
It seems I accidentally left a week off of the publishing calendar. To avoid messing up the rest of the upcoming schedule, I'll leave things as they are for this week, and resume the regular weekly schedule next Sunday. Sorry for the muck up!
—Sari
March 8, 2008
Check out At-Large Magazine, a new literary journal produced by graduate students at Sarah Lawrence, including FM contributor Angela Williams (4.22.2007).
From the Web site:
"At-Large Magazine is about collecting the reams of brilliance that tend to go unnoticed by the myriad of Harper's Bazaar knock-offs out there. We're looking for people who love being frivolous, crass, write their lines with razor-sharp wit and aren't afraid to explore the ugly, awkward and tawdry parts of human nature. Writers we're keen of include Banana Yoshimoto, Aimee Bender, George Saunders, Chuck Palahniuk, Junot D’az, Bret Easton Ellis, Kim Addonizio, David Sedaris and Louise Glück. Some of us are also fond of Lypsinka."
—Sari
February 17, 2008
La Llorona: The weeping woman. The folk-tale has many versions across the Southwest but it’s the one you heard as a child that stays with you on dark windy nights. I remember older kids talking about La Llorona when I was in grade school. The name filled me with dread. They said she wandered the arroyo at night crying for her children and sometimes she would come into town, looking for children because she could not find her own. If you left your window open, she would climb in and take you away. I think the open-window version was unique to the small New Mexico town I lived in and possibly, just to my neighborhood, but it kept me awake and terrified, for many years.
Sandra Cisneros alludes to La Llorona in Woman Hollering Creek. In So Far From God, one of Ana Castillo’s characters is on a first name basis with a benign Llorona, visiting her regularly down by the creek. In some accounts, she was a wealthy woman, betrayed by her husband, in others she was a poor woman, spurned by her wealthy lover (a married man). In all of them, she drowns her own children, usually out of revenge—a Medea figure of sorts. She wanders the river (or creek, or arroyo) bank crying for her dead children. Today she appears cartoonishly on billboards around Albuquerque as the “Ditch Witch,” in an attempt to scare children away from playing in the ubiquitous arroyos.
The legend stayed with me into adulthood and my short story, “A Wall Between,” published in red. the Nepantla Issue (yes, this is a shameless plug), weaves the folktale into a larger framework, a story of burgeoning sexuality, race and class tension, and mother/daughter angst, to a point that the protagonist—a twelve year old tomboy—sees the ghostly figure of La Llorona as the mirror image of her own mother.
I recently found out about a film called The Cry by Bernadine Santistevan, a sister New Mexican. The film’s Web site offers a timeline of the legend’s origin and a whole lot more. This isn’t exactly a call for submissions but I realized recently that I haven’t received a single story based on La Llorona or La Malinche (if you know the legend you’ll know the name). Okay, maybe it is a call for submissions.
—Leslie
January 26, 2008
Here's a myth-related call for submissions from Poetry Superhighway & Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center:
A Poets' Seder
Saturday, April 26th, 2008, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, Venice CA
This is an open call for submissions for "A Poets' Haggadah" to be produced and released as part of the "Poets' Seder" event at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center in Venice, California on April 26th, 2008. The book will be compiled, designed and edited by Poetry Super Highway's Rick Lupert.
The Haggadah is the book read during the Jewish Passover Seder which tells the story of Passover as well as guides participants through the ritual components of the seder.
The idea is to fill this unique book with reinterpretations of the themes and original text of Passover, written through the lenses of poets.
Submission Guidelines:
1) Send no more than three pieces of any style or length which specifically relate to one of the themes of Passover, with one of the 15 components of the Passover Seder in mind.
Some of the general themes of Passover and the seder are: Freedom, Slavery, We used to be slaves and now we're free, Bitterness, Memory, History as memory, Telling a story, Plagues, Giving Thanks, Drinking Wine, Celebration, Praise, Festive Meal.
The 15 components of the Passover Seder and a brief explanation of each can be found here:
http://www.shalomatlanta.org/page.html?ArticleID=36809
2) Please indicate which of the 15 components of the Haggadah you have in mind with each piece you send.
3) Previously published material is ok but we're eagerly looking for pieces which specifically relate to the themes of Passover and one of the components of the seder. (If previously published, please indicate where and when so we can properly credit.)
4) Please include a maximum 100 word bio.
5) Work may only be submitted by e-mail to submit@poetseder.com (PDF, .doc or text pasted into e-mail)
6) The deadline to submit your work is Monday, March 3rd, 2008.
7) If your work is accepted, you will receive one copy of the published book and free admission to the Poets' Seder event at Beyond Baroque on April 26th, 2008.
8) Submission does not guarantee publication.
9) You will be notified by March 31st whether or not your work was accepted.
10) Some contributers will also be asked to participate in the Poets' Seder event though acceptance into the book does not guarantee an invitation to read in the event. (This will mainly depend on our desire to have one piece presented for each of the 15 components of the seder as well as a desire to present varied material and the author's ability to be at Beyond Baroque in Venice, CA on April 26th, 2008)
Need more info or clarification? Send an e-mail to info@poetseder.com
January 6, 2008
Happy new year, and welcome to the second year of Fickle Muses!
You'll see some changes in the current volume, some in response to reader feedback, some just 'cause I felt like it.
Readers were pretty much split down the middle on how often FM should come out, with slightly more than half preferring the weekly format, the rest preferring monthly or quarterly. To accomodate both tastes, FM will continue publishing weekly, and will also offer a quarterly, printable pdf edition beginning in April (i.e., including all work published January-March).
To receive notice of weekly updates, email editor@ficklemuses.com with the subject line "Subscribe." To receive notice only when quarterly editions are released, use the subject line "Subscribe Quarterly." (Current subscribers who want to continue receiving weekly notices, do nothing.)
We've also switched to relative text sizes. If your browser is set to view text size at "medium," text should appear roughly the same is in volume 1; to get larger or smaller text, adjust the size on your browser.
That's about it for house keeping. As always, send comments to editor@ficklemuses.com. Hope you all have a happy & creative year!
– Sari
September-December 2007 entries
July & August 2007 entries
June 2007 entries
May 2007 entries
April 2007 entries
March 2007 entries
February 2007 entries
January 2007 entries
Current Feature:
"From Gods’ Mouths to My Ears"
a poem
by Michele Madigan Somerville