Cleaver magazine premiers its first issue

A few weeks ago, Karen Rile and company launched issue 1 of Cleaver magazine. My post about it didn’t upload for some reason, and I just caught that little blunder now. Better late than never, right? This past Friday, I had the good fortune of meeting Karen and her daughter Lauren, both of them editors at Cleaver. They read at Poetdelphia, the quarterly salon I hold in Center City, Philadelphia with fellow writers Valerie Fox and Dawn Manning (You can find Poetdelphia on FB).

Check Cleaver out and submit work for their upcoming issues. http://www.cleavermagazine.com/

Issue one features my poem “Jam” as well as work from a recent Pushcart prize winner and other fine writers.

Review of Bridgford’s Bully Pulpit

My review of Kim Bridgford’s _Bully Pulpit_ appears in the Sunday, April 7th edition of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Here’s the link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20130407_Poems_to_the_bullied_and_the_bully.html

Excerpt:

Picking up a poetry volume titled Bully Pulpit, you might expect a fair amount of sermonizing, given the book’s focus on victimization. Kim Bridgford’s collection rails with anticipated gusto; it provides balm to the injured and lashes back at the guilty, stopping just short of marching them behind the barn to cut their own switch…

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Reviewed by Kelly McQuain

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A big thank you to the Postcard Press!

The Postcard Press is a really cool take on the literary journal. Each month, subscribers get copies of postcards featuring a poem of ten lines or less based on themes published on the website. The hard work is the result of Founder, Managing Editor, and Big Cheese Caitlin O’Sullivan as well as Designer and Creative Genius David Johnson. In February 2013, right around my birthday, I got 15 copies of my poem “Necromancy”, which won their call for poems on the theme of magic.

Find out more at:
http://the-postcard-press.com/2013/02/01/necromancy-by-kelly-mcquain/

They also sell these cool back issue bundles from time to time. Photo courtesy of their Facebook page.

New publications…

Some new print publications featuring my work have made my mailbox very happy these last couple weeks, thanks to Pinch Journal, The Postcard Press, BLOOM Literary Journal, and Paper Nautilus.

“New Baby” in Painted Bride Quarterly

Editor extraordinaire Kathleen Volk Miller and her delightful midwives at Painted Bride Quarterly gave me a nice surprise on my recent birthday when my curmudgeonly persona poem “New Baby at the Office” finally appeared. http://pbq.drexel.edu/pbq/archives/3464

“Alien Boy” appears in Bloom literary journal

We may have the first winter snow on the ground here in Philadelphia, but at least one thing is in Bloom. A big shout out to Charles Flowers and Aaron Smith, and all the other Bloomers who make it happen! “Alien Boy” was inspired by a sad story a friend shared, one that stayed with me a long time and wouldn’t let go. I knew I needed to write about it. I’m grateful to know people who inspire, help shape, and/or print my work.

The Efficient Officiant

My essay about officiating at my friends’ wedding this past fall appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer this past week. It was definitely one of the highlights of my year. Here’s the online link. It seems fitting to appear this week since the Supreme Court agreed a little over a week ago to hear cases about gay marriage (Prop 8, DOMA). I’m grateful for The Philadelphia Inquirer for giving me the opportunity to write these periodic essays about city life today. http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20121209_Officiate_at_your_wedding__Uh__sure.html