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“Free Hugs: Selected and New Poems”
By Jefferson Carter (Coyote Arts). 95 pp. $14.95.
Reading Jefferson Carter’s poems is like having a performance in your head. His voice does perform — or “preform,” as he quips. A poem might start with an observation — “To a narcissist, all/the world’s a mirror” — elaborate for a few lines, and then throw in a goat. You can feel a wry peek at the audience. The back cover calls Carter’s work “direct, clear, accessible, often wise, and always funny.” Couldn’t be righter.
“Free Hugs,” retired Pima College writing instructor Carter’s 13th book, includes poems from four previous volumes and 23 new ones. They’re familial (“She ain’t heavy. She’s my wife”), sometimes absurd (“I love my soft palate”), conflicted (“I swore I’d stop writing about liberal guilt”), aging-aware (“Sometimes I feel/like a Family Dollar store/in a dying strip mall”), political (“I’m wondering/ what our cat, will encounter/after the thermonuclear flash-bang”).
All in all, these poems are engaging reflections of an irreverent, expansive, convention-free mind.
— Christine Wald-Hopkins
By Jefferson Carter (Coyote Arts). 95 pp. $14.95.
Reading Jefferson Carter’s poems is like having a performance in your head. His voice does perform — or “preform,” as he quips. A poem might start with an observation — “To a narcissist, all/the world’s a mirror” — elaborate for a few lines, and then throw in a goat. You can feel a wry peek at the audience. The back cover calls Carter’s work “direct, clear, accessible, often wise, and always funny.” Couldn’t be righter.
“Free Hugs,” retired Pima College writing instructor Carter’s 13th book, includes poems from four previous volumes and 23 new ones. They’re familial (“She ain’t heavy. She’s my wife”), sometimes absurd (“I love my soft palate”), conflicted (“I swore I’d stop writing about liberal guilt”), aging-aware (“Sometimes I feel/like a Family Dollar store/in a dying strip mall”), political (“I’m wondering/ what our cat, will encounter/after the thermonuclear flash-bang”).
All in all, these poems are engaging reflections of an irreverent, expansive, convention-free mind.
— Christine Wald-Hopkins
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THE NEXT GENERATION INDIE BOOK AWARDS
Gold medal WINNER ($100 PRIZE):
ILLUSTRATIONS
Conversations with Psyche: A Dreamer's Guide to Soul-Stirring Creativity, by Victoria Rabinowe (Bright Shadow Press)
Contemplative and pensive. The abstract black and white images reflect the dreams, hopes, and desires of the subconscious. The illustrations are spiritually uplifting and soul-embracing. Their minimalism provides maximum affect.
Marcie Tennen, Next Generation Indie Book Awards Judge
Gold medal WINNER ($100 PRIZE):
MIND, BODY, SPIRIT
Conversations with Psyche: A Dreamer's Guide to Soul-Stirring Creativity, by Victoria Rabinowe (Bright Shadow Press)
This is not a typical how-to dream book. Having found that dream work opened the sources of her own blocked creativity, she has produced an elegant book, utilizing her own black ink illustrations, that is designed to help the reader expand their personal insight and creativity. She presents a range of suggestions and approaches from the familiar use of a dream journal to creative suggestions for approaching disturbing dreams or disturbing themes in dreams, while she is careful throughout to guide the dream worker along a safe pathway.
Richard Cook, Next Generation Indie Book Awards Judge
Silver medal winner
BEST OVERALL DESIGN
BEST BOOK AWARDS
Finalist: BEST INTERIOR DESIGN
Finalist: NEW AGE - NONFICTION
Gold medal WINNER ($100 PRIZE):
ILLUSTRATIONS
Conversations with Psyche: A Dreamer's Guide to Soul-Stirring Creativity, by Victoria Rabinowe (Bright Shadow Press)
Contemplative and pensive. The abstract black and white images reflect the dreams, hopes, and desires of the subconscious. The illustrations are spiritually uplifting and soul-embracing. Their minimalism provides maximum affect.
Marcie Tennen, Next Generation Indie Book Awards Judge
Gold medal WINNER ($100 PRIZE):
MIND, BODY, SPIRIT
Conversations with Psyche: A Dreamer's Guide to Soul-Stirring Creativity, by Victoria Rabinowe (Bright Shadow Press)
This is not a typical how-to dream book. Having found that dream work opened the sources of her own blocked creativity, she has produced an elegant book, utilizing her own black ink illustrations, that is designed to help the reader expand their personal insight and creativity. She presents a range of suggestions and approaches from the familiar use of a dream journal to creative suggestions for approaching disturbing dreams or disturbing themes in dreams, while she is careful throughout to guide the dream worker along a safe pathway.
Richard Cook, Next Generation Indie Book Awards Judge
Silver medal winner
BEST OVERALL DESIGN
BEST BOOK AWARDS
Finalist: BEST INTERIOR DESIGN
Finalist: NEW AGE - NONFICTION
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HALF A CENTURY LATER PHOTO – While digging in the garage over Memorial Day 2025, looking for a family photo, I came upon this one. It shows some fellow staffers at The News (Boston University) late one night in 1975. It’s a photo that I took as a deadline was looming for the next edition. I was completing a photojournalism assignment for a group photo. Just about everyone else on staff had the same homework, and the group had already been assembled over and over again as the week went on. I think I was about the last person to implore folks to get together so I could complete the assignment. They were tired, fed up with posing yet again, and wanting to get it over with and go home. But they let me click the shutter and record their exasperation for posterity.
A HALF CENTURY LATER – From the Sandia foothills of New Mexico, I send greetings to all, and a brief message about the art and craft of reporting. I’m a graduate of Boston University’s 1975 journalism program at what is now the College of Communication (COM). I’m still standing. Still writing. Still passionate. Still reporting on the Beauty Way paths integral to our land and our lives.
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Invitation to submit
Four Winds Journal invites you to share your thoughts and experiences with our readers. Full information here: Letters to the Editor and Submission Information
Winds of Change Press invites you to send us your delicious recipes and the memories that accompany them for Figs in Winter, a cookbook and memoir honoring family, friends, and food. Please read our Submission Guidelines.
Extended Submission Deadline August 31, 2025
Four Winds Journal invites you to share your thoughts and experiences with our readers. Full information here: Letters to the Editor and Submission Information
Winds of Change Press invites you to send us your delicious recipes and the memories that accompany them for Figs in Winter, a cookbook and memoir honoring family, friends, and food. Please read our Submission Guidelines.
Extended Submission Deadline August 31, 2025
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Verse and Vision
A Summer Poetry Workshop with Darryl Lorenzo Wellington
Read, analyze, write, and share poetry in this four-part poetry workshop series with award-winning writer Darryl Lorenzo Wellington.
Thursday evenings this July!
Sessions will meet on 7/3; 7/10; 7/17; 7/24; and 7/31.
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
La Farge Library
1730 Llano St, Santa Fe, NM 87505
Registration is required.
Please register for each session you will be attending.
Darryl Lorenzo Wellington was the 2021-23 Poet Laureate of Santa Fe, New Mexico. An uprooted Southerner who is now a New Mexican, he has been a professional journalist for the over 20 years. His articles, fiction and poetry appear in The Nation, The Atlantic, Dissent, The Washington Post, Boston Review, Yemassee magazine, Drum Voices, Matter Monthly, Pedestalmagazine, ABZ magazine, Santa Fe Literary Review, Radius magazine, Blood Tree Literature magazine, and other places. His writing is anthologized in MFA vs. NYC (FSG, 2014) and Santa Fe Noir (Akashic Books, 2020). He is also a performance artist. His previous chapbook, Life's Prisoners, received the 2017 Turtle Island Quarterly poetry prize. His most recent book is: Legible Walls: Poems for Santa Fe Murals.
A Summer Poetry Workshop with Darryl Lorenzo Wellington
Read, analyze, write, and share poetry in this four-part poetry workshop series with award-winning writer Darryl Lorenzo Wellington.
Thursday evenings this July!
Sessions will meet on 7/3; 7/10; 7/17; 7/24; and 7/31.
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
La Farge Library
1730 Llano St, Santa Fe, NM 87505
Registration is required.
Please register for each session you will be attending.
Darryl Lorenzo Wellington was the 2021-23 Poet Laureate of Santa Fe, New Mexico. An uprooted Southerner who is now a New Mexican, he has been a professional journalist for the over 20 years. His articles, fiction and poetry appear in The Nation, The Atlantic, Dissent, The Washington Post, Boston Review, Yemassee magazine, Drum Voices, Matter Monthly, Pedestalmagazine, ABZ magazine, Santa Fe Literary Review, Radius magazine, Blood Tree Literature magazine, and other places. His writing is anthologized in MFA vs. NYC (FSG, 2014) and Santa Fe Noir (Akashic Books, 2020). He is also a performance artist. His previous chapbook, Life's Prisoners, received the 2017 Turtle Island Quarterly poetry prize. His most recent book is: Legible Walls: Poems for Santa Fe Murals.
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Dear Publishers,
The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction is writing to share that submissions are now open for its 2026 Prize. The Prize celebrates excellence in literary fiction by women and non-binary writers in the U.S. and Canada.
The winning author will receive $150,000 USD, while each of the four shortlisted authors will be awarded $12,500 USD.
Submission Deadlines:
Submission Guidelines (Updated for 2026):
For questions regarding eligibility or the submission process, publishers may reply to this email or contact Emily Kellogg, Program and Operations Manager, at emily@carolshieldsprizeforfiction.com.
The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction looks forward to receiving submissions.
—The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction
The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction is writing to share that submissions are now open for its 2026 Prize. The Prize celebrates excellence in literary fiction by women and non-binary writers in the U.S. and Canada.
The winning author will receive $150,000 USD, while each of the four shortlisted authors will be awarded $12,500 USD.
Submission Deadlines:
- For books published between January 1, 2025, and July 31, 2025, submissions must be received by Thursday, August 7, 2025, at 11:59 PM PST.
- For books published between August 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025, submissions must be received by Wednesday, October 15, 2025, at 11:59 PM PST.
Submission Guidelines (Updated for 2026):
- Eligible works include novels, short story collections, and graphic novels (written and illustrated by the same person).
- Works in translation are eligible, provided both the original author and translator are women and/or non-binary individuals.
- Submissions must be from women or non-binary writers who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada and/or the U.S., writing for an adult audience.
- Publishers may submit only two titles per imprint, per publishing house.
- Longlist Announcement: March 2026
- Shortlist Announcement (5 books): April 2026
- Award Ceremony: May or early June 2026 in Toronto, Canada
For questions regarding eligibility or the submission process, publishers may reply to this email or contact Emily Kellogg, Program and Operations Manager, at emily@carolshieldsprizeforfiction.com.
The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction looks forward to receiving submissions.
—The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction
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A Year of New Mexico Poetry Anthology, edited by Zach Hively and Amaris Ketcham, is now accepting submissions until July 31, 2025. The collection will contain 365 poems, one for each day of the year, and hopes to incorporate work that shows an affinity for New Mexico. The poems will represent the state as a whole as well as writers from a variety of different backgrounds. Writers whose work has been accepted will receive a free copy of the anthology.
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Join LaNysha Adams in a dedicated space for writers to show up with ideas and just write! Sign up for the monthly meetup for writers to write, share, connect, and then write again.
Where: Santa Fe Community College in the Student Wellness Center (West Wing)
When: Friday, July 25, 2025 from 4:00 to 5:15 PM (Last Friday of Every Month)
Where: Santa Fe Community College in the Student Wellness Center (West Wing)
When: Friday, July 25, 2025 from 4:00 to 5:15 PM (Last Friday of Every Month)
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- Published on
Finishing Line Press has opened pre-publication sales for Benjamin Green's His Only Merit, a chapbook of poems. Benjamin is a resident of Jemez Springs.
More information at: finishinglinepress.com
More information at: finishinglinepress.com