Press Release: ATPO 5 Published, New Website Unveiled, Special Features Coming Soon

PRESS RELEASE - Please share with all appropriate venues

ATLAS POETICA 5 : A JOURNAL OF POETRY OF PLACE IN CONTEMPORARY TANKA PUBLISHED - NEW WEBSITE UNVEILED - SPECIAL FEATURES COMING SOON

15 March 2010 - Perryville, Maryland, USA

Keibooks is pleased to announce the publication of Atlas Poetica : A Journal of Contemporary Tanka, issue 5 (Spring, 2010) and the unveiling of its new website, AtlasPoetica.org. Atlas Poetica, edited by M. Kei, is published in print and digital formats, both available through the new website, . ATPO contains 72 pages of poetic content in a large, 8.5 x 11 inch format to accommodate individual tanka, tanka prose, tanka sequences, book reviews, articles, and international resources. Print ISSN is 1939-6465 and the digital ISSN is 1945-8908.

ATPO is the only tanka journal devoted exclusively to tanka poetry of place. It brings multiple language offerings from poets around the world together in each issue. It is also the only tanka journal that devotes itself to tanka literature in all its forms, including individual tanka, tanka sequences, tanka prose, shaped tanka, book reviews, articles, and international resources. ATPO seeks to publish all forms of tanka tradition and innovation from well-known and emerging poets and authors around the world. For full submission information, please visit the new website at: http://AtlasPoetica.org.

The Atlas Poetica website has been updated to facilitate the reading and buying of the journal and providing submission information for authors and poets, and also includes a Special Features section. This free to read section will showcase tanka from different communities around the world. The upcoming Special Features are ‘25 Romanian Tanka Poets, One Poem Each’ in English and Romanian edited by Magdalena Dale and Vasile Moldovan and ‘25 Canadian Tanka Poets in English and French’ edited by Aurora Antonovic. To receive announcements about the Special Features, readers should subscribe to Keibooks-Announce (at) googlegroups (dot) com.

ATPO is in the process of revamping its support for multiple languages on the website and updating its list of international resources. In addition, ATPO 7 will be a special issue dedicated to tanka in translation, information, and resources from around the world. Volunteer translators who would like to assist with the effort should contact Editor (at) AtlasPoetica (dot) org. Individuals and organizations who would like to be listed or to update their listing with ATPO should do contact the same address. Book notes of up to 200 words in any language will be published on a space available basis.

Keibooks-Announce (at) googlegroups (dot) com is an announcement-only email list maintained by Keibooks to provide information about Keibooks and its publisher, M. Kei. It post 0 - 4 announcements each month and does not forward from other sources. To join, visit: http://groups.google.com/group/Keibooks-Announce. Permission is granted to repost and/or forward Press Releases from Keibooks to all appropriate venues.

Atlas Poetica : A Journal of Poetry of Place in Contemporary Tanka is published by Keibooks (USA).

Keibooks
M. Kei, editor
P O Box 1118
Elkton, MD, 21922-1118
Keibooks (at) gmail (dot) com

Atlas Poetica web site: http://AtlasPoetica.org
Purchase Atlas Poetica at: http://Lulu.com/Keibooks

Montserrat Review Honors Atlas Poetica 3

September 1, 2009 Perryville, MD

Montserrat Review, one of the most prestigious literary journals in America, published 'Best Reading' each spring and fall in which the Book Review Editor Grace Cavalieri presents her recommends for the best reading in a variety of categories. With fifty thousand literary journals publishing in North America, it is no small task to cull the best reading. The Best Reading for Fall 2009 honors six journals, including Atlas Poetica : A Journal of Poetry of Place in Modern English Tanka 3. ATPO is edited by M. Kei and features tanka, tanka prose, tanka sequences, and related non-fiction, such as international resources and book reviews.

Atlas Poetica is edited by M. Kei and beginning in 2010 is moving to a three times a year publication from its original twice a year schedule. 8.5" x 11" with full color covers drawn from the "Earth as Art" series sponsored by NASA and USGS, it publishes tanka poetry from around the world in English and other languages.

Grace Cavalieri is the host of the 'Poem and Poet' program at the Library of Congress, as well as having published fourteen books of poetry of her own. She has been honored with the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting Silver Medal, and many others.

To read the complete recommendations, visit the web page at

For further information about ATPO, visit the web site at . For interviews with M. Kei, contact AtlasPoetica (at) gmail (dot) com.

Atlas Poetica 3 - Reminder for Submissions

Atlas Poetica : A Journal of Poetry of Place is in the middle of its window for reviewing submissions for issue 3. The submission period is September 1 through 30 November. Any tanka, waka, kyoka, or related poems of place, including sequences, prose, non-fiction, announcements, international resources, and other materials are welcome. While there are no limits on the types or styles that may be submitted, the there is a preference for the sorts of works that are not often seen in other tanka journals. However, all submissions must be poetry of place, poetry that addresses the natural and human places we inhabit. (For further information, see the editorials at AtlasPoetica.com.)

In addition to being open to tanka poetry of place, the journal also seeks topical tanka. The current topics include 'Summer' and 'urban/suburban/the built environment,' and 'war and peace.' Summer is of course the usual seasonal poetry that is a staple of tanka literature, but the more specific the better. Urban/etc tanka are intended to counteract the usual trend to pastoralism in tanka by presenting tanka that directly engage the places in which most poets and readers live, work, and move. Tanka that address the issues of modern life, whether it be rush hour traffic, cell phones, or the upstairs neighbor, are welcome. Tanka of war and peace may present any viewpoint, whether it be an elegy for a fallen soldier, a protest against the war in Iraq, political satire, or any other treatment. ATPO does not censor, but it does require the works to be poetry, not mere polemics. No matter how passionate or sincere the sentiment, literature, by definition, lifts expression out of the ordinary.

As always we welcome international submissions. We present tanka in languages other than English accompanied by an English translation (and will consider multi-lingual translations on a space available basis.) We value tanka that express minority and indigenous experiences and which grapple with the difficult topics that human beings face and will continue to face as they move through the places of a highly varied world.

Starting with issue 3, Atlas Poetica will publish in print, e-book, and web forms. Our goal is to make the journal as widely available as is financially viable. Your submission indicates that you agree to these terms. To read the full terms and submission guidelines, please visit our web site at: AtlasPoetica.com.

Send all submissions to: submissions@AtlasPoetica.com

Thank you for the many kind responses we have received from our readers! We hope you continue to enjoy Atlas Poetica for many years to come.

~K~

M. Kei
Editor, Atlas Poetica

Atlas Poetica 2 now on sale

Dear Friends and Poets:

Atlas Poetica 2 is finally complete and on sale! We had major technical challenges with this issue between the changes at the printer and the death of my computer, but we persevered and overcame them all.

The cover is especially beautiful this issue. It features the Dasht-e Kevir, or 'valley of desert', the largest desert in Iran, as photographed from space. It, like all the covers for Atlas Poetica, is drawn from the 'Earth as Art' collection, courtesy of the United States Geological Service (USGS) and the NASA Landsat Project Science Office. Issue 1 featured the Anti-Atlas Mountains in Morocco, and the cover of issue 3 will feature Gosses Bluff in Australia. Many thanks to Denis Garrison, our editor-in-chief, for the covers and other technical assistance.

Issue 2 features tanka sequences, tanka prose, and individual tanka in a variety of forms and formats. Poets take us to twenty-three countries as they search for their past, present, and future, seeking their own sense of place in a very large world. Whether confronting the ancestral church or the closed gates of prison, searching the family farm, temples, subways, or seas, our poets find themselves with a world of strangeness on their doorsteps, and a world of familiarity half way around the globe. The poets of ATPO 2 ask what it means to be who they are, what place is their home, and why it matters. The ragged lines of war and tragedy cross their personal histories, but beauty and memory persevere.

Blurb for the issue:

"We believe that tanka’s accessibility is directly related to the conversational way in which it was classically used, and that now more than ever, human beings need to speak to one another—not with the rants and shrills that are the usual public discourse, but with eloquence and grace. By speaking about their experiences of place, the poets of Atlas Poetica have touched on many deeper issues: the value of the natural environment, the importance of our communities, the travails of the modern world, and the everlasting love of beauty that may be the only true definition of civilization. The appreciation of beauty is not a luxury and not a fascination with superficial features, but the ability to peer into the details of existence and find joy. Nowhere is this more important than when burdened with the devastations that humans wreak on each other and the environment."

This issue also includes poet biographies for the first two issues, as well as announcements and international resources. Remember to send your announcements well in advance; the editorial staff at Atlas Poetica plans ahead so that difficulties can be surmounted while still bringing the journal out on time. Some of the announcements sent to us were not included because they would have been over by the time the journal hit the stands. Remember that the journal goes on sale on March 1 and September 1 every year. Only announcements that address the journal's interest in tanka poetry of place will be published. (Haiku-only announcements will not be published. There are plenty of venues already for haiku news.)

Atlas Poetica 2 can be purchased online either through Lulu.com or Modern English Tanka Press.

http://www.lulu.com/content/2940354

http://www.modernenglishtankapress.com/catalog/ATPO/atlaspoetica2.html

Now that ATPO 2 has finally been put to bed, we will be working on revamping the website and submission guidelines. But first, I am taking a bit of a breather to work on the skipjack Martha Lewis, the old wooden sailboat I crew aboard. Martha still dredges for oysters in the winter months, making her one of the last vessels in North America to fish commercially under sail. Between the demands of work, changes in my personal life, and the difficulties of the journal, I have not had much time to spend with Martha. You will see the promised changes starting in September.

The reading window for Atlas Poetica 3 is September 1 - December 31, 2008. ATPO 3 will be on sale on 1 March 2009. Planned topics for the topical section include the urban/suburban/built environment, and summer.

Thank you for your support,

~K~

M. Kei
Editor, Atlas Poetica
A Journal of Poetry of Place in Modern English Tanka
Published by Modern English Tanka Press, Baltimore, MD

AtlasPoetica.com
ModernEnglishTankaPress.com
AtlasPoetica.blogspot.com

To keep abreast of developments, please subscribe to Keibooks-Announce list at or via sending email to: Keibooks-Announce-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

Changes at Modern English Tanka Press

Galleyproofs for ATPO 2 were promised for June, but due to significant changes at our sister publication, Modern English Tanka, we are delayed. You can read more about the changes for MET at: . The major news is that Modern English Tanka will be available as an ebook. This will be much less expensive than the print version, and will make it easier and more affordable for poets and readers around the world to get the journal.

As might be expected, Atlas Poetica will also be going through some changes to keep ourselves in sync with our sister publication, and those will take a little time to finalize. An announcement will be made later, but readers and poets can expect a more accessible journal as a result.

Thank you for your patience as Modern English Tanka Press and its journals grow to serve you better.

~K~

M. Kei
Editor, Atlas Poetica