Category Archives: Poetry

Haiku Round-up #3

Posted on May 24, 2019 by Mandolin

Time for another round-up of my recent haiku! (Here is an explanation about why I’ve been writing and posting haiku.) A day for walking, but I sit and try to work. My thoughts are so slow. Cats watch the birds … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Patreon Content for April!

Posted on May 2, 2019 by Mandolin

Patreon content went up this week! There’s a poem for all patrons: “To the Person Leaving,” which I wrote for my grandmother’s funeral. For $2 patrons, there’s a chapter from an unfinished novel “Haloes of Limelight.” And for $5 and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Patreon, Poetry | Leave a comment  

Trains, Brains, and Computers

Posted on April 1, 2019 by Mandolin

When I teach my speculative fiction class (there’s a section this weekend, by the way!), I like to talk to the students about the most popular varieties of speculative poetry. A lot of speculative poetry is narrative, or works with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in brains, Essays, metaphior, Poetry, Rachel Swirsky's poetry, science, SFF, Verses of Sky & Stars, Writing | Leave a comment  

Haiku Round-up #1

Posted on November 20, 2018 by Mandolin

Lately I have been posting haiku to my Patreon. While I was having trouble writing fiction, a friend of mine showed me a haiku they’d been working on. I couldn’t manage something like a whole story, but writing seventeen syllables … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Relearning The Value of Patience in Assembling a Book of Poems

Posted on August 17, 2018 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

It’s the middle of August, which means summer is almost over and I have to start preparing in earnest to go back into the classroom. This is the first summer in many years–at least fifteen, I think–that I’ve been off … Continue reading →

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How Long Does It Take To Write a Poem? Also, “Inside Her Heart,” and a class!

Posted on June 6, 2018 by Mandolin

I’m teaching an online class on writing science fiction and fantasy poetry on June 30 at 9:30-11:30 PDT. It’s a fun class because it draws people from many different backgrounds with many different goals. Some are dedicated poets, looking to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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A Video of the First US Launch Reading for Veils, Halos & Shackles

Posted on April 24, 2016 by Richard Jeffrey Newman

Note: the poems in this video deal with sexual violence. This reading, which took place at the Long Island Writers House on April 17th, was truly powerful. It was a privilege to be the first reader among such fine poets. I hope you’ll take a … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Rape Culture, Rape, intimate violence, & related issues, sexual assault, Writing | Comments Off  

Poem: A Season with the Geese

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Mandolin

This poem originally appeared in Abyss & Apex Magazine.   A Season with the Geese by Rachel Swirsky Once when we were young, we flew to Europe with the geese. Twined neck to neck we sailed the Seine chasing ripples and water bugs, lost … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Sometimes it’s time for nonsense.

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Mandolin

Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll   ’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves       Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves,       And the mome raths outgrabe. “Beware the Jabberwock, my son!       The jaws that bite, the claws that … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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