Announcing the Editors of The Poetry Marathon Anthology

Hello everyone! We are thankful for the many wonderful and qualified individuals who applied for the editor positions this year.

We are very grateful to announce the editors of The 2022 Poetry Marathon Anthology! They are both excellent writers and editors, and long term members of the Poetry Marathon community.

This year’s Full Marathon Editor Ofuma Agali is a 44 years old writer and editor based in Lagos, Nigeria. His works have appeared in Nigerian publications – Post Express Literary Supplement, The Guardian, The Vanguard, and National Mirror – as well as in publications in other climes – Sentinel Literary Quarterly, Praxis Journal of Gender & Cultural Critiques, The Kalahari Review, and The Purposeful Mayonnaise. In his early years of creative writing, his poem, Sunset at Midnight, received a Special Commendation at the 2001 Poetry Competition of the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON) Festival. To date, five of his poems have been published in poetry anthologies, including two Poetry Marathon anthologies. He has also written a full-length published collection of poems, If We Are Willing The Earth Will Listen (2017). A revised version of this is ready for publication later this year. He has also written two full-length unpublished collections of short fiction. His current works in progress include a collection of short fiction, a collection of poems, a novella, and a novel.  Besides creative writing, he is also a journalist, a marketing communication practitioner, and when he has the time, he likes to assume the work of a healthy living advocate. He holds a first degree in physics from the University of Uyo and a post-graduate diploma in marketing management from the Lagos State University. He is a father of three high-spirited boys, and that often feels like a full-time job.

This year’s Half Marathon Editor Cristy Watson is an award-winning author of eight novels for MG and YA readers. She loves entering writing contests and was thrilled to receive Editor’s Choice in the CV2, 2-Day Poem Contest in 2013. She also regularly participates in the Poetry Marathon in June, and she has a poem in an important and timely new anthology, ‘Worth More Standing’ (Caitlin Press; Christine Lowther, editor). She also volunteers at the Surrey International Writer’s Conference and was recently Committee Chair for Wise Words through the BC Federation of Writers. She completed a manuscript evaluation for an author through The Writers Union of Canada, as well as helping to previously judge their short fiction contest, and in the past few years, she has assisted writers of fiction, non-fiction, memoir and poetry. You can find her here: cristywatsonauthor.wordpress.com

Editor Applications and Art Submissions Now Open

Editing Position

For the first time this year we are going to have two editors  – although we are still planning on publishing only one anthology. One editor will be in charge of the half marathon section of the anthology. The other editor will be in charge of the full marathon section of the anthology. You can see what last year’s looked like here.

We’re able to pay each editor of the anthology $350 USD. It is still a lot of work for the payment, and we want editors to approach the position with that in mind.

The Poetry Marathon Anthology is many writers’ first publication, and others’ hundredth, but it is always a clear representation of the range of people who participate in the event. The editor is expected to choose one poem out of two that participants can submit, to publish in the anthology. They’re also expected to organize them in an order they feel is engaging, and to keep track of participant information, and write a brief one to two page introduction. Optionally they can organize the anthology with subheadings.

The goal this year is for editors to respond to all submitters by September 1st, although the anthologies need not be organized by that point. The anthology itself is usually published in early December.

If you are interested in applying to be one of the editors of this year’s anthology, send an email to poets@thepoetrymarathon.com, with a link to your poetry marathon profile/blog, and a paragraph or two explaining your previous experiences. CVs are not needed. Please make it clear if you are applying to be the full marathon editor or the half marathon editor.  Applicants for the full marathon should have completed the full marathon before, the same goes for the half marathon position. If you have not participated in the marathon at all before, please do not apply. Previous editors of the anthology should also not apply. We want to feature new editors every year.

We close to submissions on May 26th. We will respond to applicants by the first of June

Artwork Submissions

We are also open to artwork submissions from anyone, previous marathoner or otherwise. If your art has been on the cover before, do not submit again. We want to feature new artists every year.

Work must belong to you and you must be comfortable with us turning it into a book cover (digitally of course).

You can submit something that already exists or link to your previous art work examples and offer something new. No more than five pieces of artwork can be submitted per person. Any medium is allowed, as long as it can be turned into a print book cover. High quality resolution images are a must, though your initial submissions can be lower resolution.

We tend to chose images that either have space for the title and editor’s name built into the image or an image that can be interrupted by the title or editors name. We have never chosen an image featuring winter or specific holidays/overtly religious, but other that we are open to most images.

We will respond to applicants that we are not interested in by the end of June, but may make our final selection between a few artists in July or August, once the anthology nears completion.

We close to art work submissions on June 20th. Please send work to poets@thepoetrymarathon.com.

If you have any question about either position please send us an email at poets@thepoetrymarathon.com.

The 2022 Poetry Marathon Schedule of Events

 

The Poetry Marathon and Half Marathon will take place June 25th this year. The full marathon will start at 9 AM ET on the 25th and go to 9 AM ET on the 26th of June. There are two half marathons. One starting at 9 AM ET on the 25th and ending at 9 PM ET, and the other starting at 9 PM ET on the 25th and going to 9 AM ET on the 26th.

Registration for all participants will be open from June 1st through the 19th.

If you are interested in contributing art or being an editor for this years anthologies, details will go live on May 16th, and submissions will be open from then through the 26th of May.

The Poetry Marathon Anthology Update

The Poetry Marathon Anthology have closed to submissions for the year. July 25th was the last chance to submit.

If you have any questions about the status of your submission, please email poets@thepoetrymarathon.com, and Caitlin will double check.

We are very grateful for all the wonderful submissions we received this year. Acceptances have started to go out. All authors should hear back from Editor Cynthia Hernandez, within two weeks of submitting. We are very grateful for her hard work.

A Cloud of Witness

Her storefront was pregnant with army

Of buyers

Of suicide bombers

On alert, her heart beat faster

Her fear spread quicker

Like a needle, it pierced her soul

Bombers would kill

Thieves would steal

And a cloud of witness?

 

 

My thoughts are getting slower

My eyelids are closing lower

My brain is loosing it’s ability to think

I feel like I just might sleep if I so much as blink

 

Lying on a warm bed while writing this was a mistake

But a risk I was willing to take

Now I’m not sure if I’m filled with regret

My drowsiness has make me forget

 

It’s so weird because all the other nights I was able to stay awake

Now all I want to do is close my eyes and take a break

But I know that if I do that I’ll fall into a deep sleep

So my eyes open I shall keep (I hope)

 

Is my words even making sense

If it’s not, I’m sorry, my minds dense

See, I don’t even understand what I just wrote

I’m struggling to stay afloat

 

The idea of drifting off into  a deep, peaceful sleep is so appealing

How do I get rid of this tiredness I’m feeling

Plus it’s not even yet 12

And I’m already feeling sorry for myself

 

Anyway, I’m going to have to be awake for a couple more hours

So let’s hope I don’t *word that rhymes with hour abn makes sense*

Melancholy

Well, my fellow marathoners, we are coming to the end of a rather short but educational and worthwhile journey. Several of us have already submitted our poems for the anthology. When that is done, it is time to take a little rest from our labors. Then the melancholy sets in. That twisting blue note which accompanies me at the end of every event in my life, whether it has gone well or not. I would say that the marathon has gone well. My melancholy includes a grateful warmth to Caitlin and Jacob for putting this event together. They have done a fantastic job. I was also very happy to work with Sangita and Vidya to prepare our poems for the anthology. I hope I will see them again. These are the good memories that create the melancholy. The better the time. all the more   bittersweet the ending. And so after I submit my poems this evening for the anthology, I need to go and give myself over to the sweetly painful melancholy that is beginning to wash over me. But before I go, I want to wish you all well and the best of luck in all of your future endeavors, whether they be in writing fiction or nonfiction, novels, essays, poetry or flash fiction. Every piece has a place. It only needs to find its home.

Once upon a time

Once upon a time book.Collection of adventure story.

Buy it on amazon:

Read instantly: https://notionpress.com/read-instantly/1343101