Symbolon

Last Call

2010-05-21T17:37:00.000-07:00

We're weeks away from our next newsletter -- If you're interested in having your recently published or written works featured in the June or August issues of Symbolon, please share your poetry and prose with us via symbolon.poetry@gmail.com.

April Issue

2010-04-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

Happy National Poetry Month!

Many thanks to our fine contributors (Daniel Crocker, Lesley Dame, Julie Enszer, Marci Rae Johnson, Larry Levy, Raymond Luczak, Christina Pacosz, John Palen and Nancy Rampson) for making this issue of Symbolon the largest one yet!

If you're currently living in Michigan, be sure to check out the great upcoming happenings in the Great Lakes Bay Region (page 6).

Getting Reviewed

2010-04-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

Symbolon will now accept recently published books, chapbooks, and literary journals from independent publishers for review. We are particularly interested in works of poetry and flash fiction, which feature the work of Michigan writers. We review only recently published titles – that is, titles published within the last 12 months.

To submit a title for consideration, please send a copy to our mailing address below. Publishers interested in having their current catalog featured in an upcoming newsletter should send all their new and noteworthy publications in one package for consideration. This will help our reviewers craft an accurate overview of your literary preferences and available publications.

All materials for consideration should be sent directly to our editor, Adrienne Lewis, at 2775 Courtland Pl. Saginaw, Michigan 48603. No one other than the editor is authorized to request materials or distribute them to our reviewers.

Wanna Go Halfies?

2010-04-04T11:18:00.000-07:00

Fitting creative people together is what this newsletter is all about; its mission is to help distinguish the writing of contemporary poets living in or connected to Michigan so that through a familiarity we may be better situated to support their work. With this in mind, we’re ready to make the metaphorical connection more literal.

A new project, Halfsies, is currently accepting submissions of poetry and flash fiction. Contributors agree to be “fit together” with another writer, at the publisher/editor’s discretion, and split the publication format equally; the work of each one will published on one side of an 8.5 x 14 broadside.

Like all Symbolon projects, there are no reading fees or publication costs associated with Halfsies. Each contributing writer will receive fifty copies of the chaplet to distribute, sell, etc. however they desire. These limited edition publications, which can be signed by the author, aim to increase awareness of the writer’s work as well as add value to its printed form.

Submissions will be considered on an on-going basis and can be sent to the same contact address as our newsletter (with the understanding that all work may be considered for both projects).

February 2010 Newsletter

2010-02-08T10:08:00.000-08:00

Our first newsletter, featuring the work of some amazing Michigan writers, including Sarah Wangler, Marc Beaudin, Matthew Falk, John Palen, Joy Gaines-Friedler, Andrew Christ and Bethany Lynne, is now live!

Click on the Symbolon image to the right to read more about the fantastic Michigan writers featured in our inaugural publication. If you would like to receive a print copy of the newsletter via snail mail, please send your address to symbolon.poetry@gmail.com.

We are currently reading work for the April issue of the newsletter. Please share your good publication fortune and unpublished work with us and we'll help spread the word about it!

Our Mission & Submission Guidelines

2009-12-27T10:20:00.000-08:00

In ancient Greece, a ‘symbolon’ (from Greek symbállein—to put together) was a means for persons to recognize each other. An object, such as a piece of parchment, was cut in half and only if the two halves fit together were letters delivered or messages given to unknown recipients.

German philosopher Martin Heidegger, along with others, also wrote of this term in regard to poetry. When writing to Stager about Morike’s poem “Auf eine Lampe,” he called attention to the way in which the lamp within the poem united the sense of radiance and the poem's overall manifestness of an Idea. The true essence of the work was hence able to be revealed through the poetic symbolon.

The newsletter Symbolon does not possess the lofty aspirations of somehow more fully illuminating the Ideals of the works found within it; however, if reading any poem in it does help someone become better informed about it or its poet, all the better.

The mission of Symbolon is to help better distinguish the writing of those contemporary poets living in or connected to Michigan so that through a familiarity we may be better situated to support their work.

A bi-monthly newsletter, Symbolon will be published and distributed via a email to all those interested in receiving it. An archive of each issue will be housed on this corresponding weblog. Contributors will be automatically added to our emailing list and receive five print copies of the issues in which their work appears. For those subscribers who prefer print, a hard copy mailing list will be established as well.

This unique distribution system will allow us to keep the production costs of Symbolon low while still advancing our ability to connect (to fit together) poets from and associated with Michigan.

Anyone seeking more information about Symbolon may email us at symbolon.poetry@gmail.com. We welcome submission of new and previously published poetry (provided information about its original publication is included) on an on-going basis. Please send no more than five poems per email and no more than one email per submission cycle:

February Issue
Submit work December - January

April Issue
Submit work February - March

June Issue
Submit work April - May

August Issue
Submit work June - July

October Issue
Submit work August - September

December Issue
Submit work October - November