PLACATING THE GORGON: Inner Workings of the Kitchen

—Public Domain Painting



WORK WITH MEDUSA: 
Send your poetry all over the world!
 


Here's how Medusa's Kitchen is laid out: 

At the very top of MK, you'll find a list of inner links (known as "pages"); click on them for information about writing, publishing and publications (such as CALLIOPE'S CLOSET for inspiration and MEDUSA MULLS for what that cranky old battle-ax has up her sleeve), plus other poet-phernalia.

The Daily Diary is the cream-colored box on the left side of the HOME page. This is cream because of its color (!), and because every day we feature the Cream of the Crop—all those wonderful poems and visuals that are sent to us by creators from Northern California and beyond ('way-beyond!), together with announcements and Today's LittleNip (food for the poetic soul). Send us your eager work and we shall broadcast it to the world.

The Bulletin Board (skinny green and blue boxes on the right side of the blog): the green box has our "housekeeping" announcements and our weekly departments such as the Seed of the Week. The blue box under it has more general info, such as local publications.
 
•••Find previous poets that have been posted on MK by going to the yellow search bar, tip-top upper left of the HOME page, and type in the name of who you want to find. 
 
•••Find previous posts (beyond the first seven in the Diary) by clicking "Older Posts" at the bottom of each day's (cream-colored) post, or click on any of the archived posts (called "Medusa's Rap Sheet") below the Hot Links in the blue box at the right.
 
•••SMARTPHONES: Can't vouch for how MK will come across on your screen. At some point, I'll try to deal with that. (At some point...)  While we're on the subject, MK seems to come across differently according to your browser. Or your computer. Or the wind... I'm sorry I don't have more control over that. Turning them all to stone probably won't help, I suppose.

•••SOW: Check on Tuesdays for our Seed of the Week (SOW). Of course, your poems don't have to be based on the SOW; the "seeds" are just there to get you going if you feel stuck. What triggers a poem in you? A stray word, a shocking scene, something that evokes a memory? Our SOWs are intended to, hopefully, inspire a poem in you the way something in "real" life does. Come up with poems, photos and art (loosely, very loosely) based on our SOWs and send 'em to kathykieth@hotmail.com/. No deadlines; save those seeds for later if you want, when your Muse gets ornery and hides under the bed. (There's a huge list of past SOWs in the Calliope's Closet link.)

•••FORM FIDDLERS' FRIDAY is the day when, with the help of NorCal Poet Taylor Graham's weekly post, we explore forms, posting those from poets who send us examples they've written. FFF concludes each week with an Ekphrastic Challenge (writing about a photo), and the Triple-F Challenge, which presents a zippy form or two for you to wrassle.

•••And yes, you will see the occasional poetry form in the Kitchen, offered as a feast for the eye and the ear. We're among those "form-geeks" who believe that such challenges can be good for the poet, even if you never intend to publish them or even tell anybody you've practiced them. (We won't squeal on ya, we promise!) For more about this, go to the FORMS! OMG! page above.

Our Medusa lives to serve the poetry community; think of it as a group effort. We all have so much to share—jump into the fray!




Here's how to send stuff to MK:


•••NO COVER letter needed, though it's nice to have a couple of words of chitchat and where you're from; email kathykieth@hotmail.com. (If you email, it's probably best to put "poetry" and/or "submission" in the letter heading.) All poets are welcome from any locale, but we do like to list where people are located, so please include that. If you absolutely have to send poems by snail, write to me and ask for an address. 

•••ANY NUMBER of poems is okay; no need to stick to the usual 3-5. The snakes of Medusa are always hungry! (A daily blog is relentless...) 

•••POETRY is what we do here, not short stories, even though the dividing line between prose poetry and short shorties is pretty slim. Use your own discretion about the difference. But remember that, even though we have almost infinite room on the blog, we prefer to stick with poetry.

•••SEND VISUALS: photos, art. These can be intended to illustrate your poems or not, and they can be your own photos or from public domain. It's best if you can send them as separate attachments, rather than in the manuscript itself, but I'll make it work either way.

•••SEND NEWS: events/announcements/links/journal news. Poet-phernalia, in other words.

•••TURN-AROUND TIME is very, very short. I usually respond within a day or two (if I don't, please write and ask if I got it!). Almost all styles and content are welcome; we are an equal-opportunity publisher. Watch out for poems that are too long, though, like pages and pages and pages, or political or religious rants, or stuff that's too racy... (Medusa does like her juice, so to speak, but we don't want to get linked to too many porno sites.) NOTE: When/if I accept your work, I'll let you know the exact day it will appear. I will not notify you after it appears; I'll trust you to keep your own calendar.

•••REVISIONS: Be sure that whatever you send Medusa is in its final form. We post the first version you send; we can't be keeping track of revisions, fer criminy's sake.

•••RIGHTS remain with the poets. A word about COPYRIGHT: Unless you have written to the Library of Congress and obtained the copyright of your work, it isn't official—and that includes the old myth about mailing it to yourself. And writing on the paper that it's copyrighted by you won't cut it, either.

•••PREVIOUSLY-PUBLISHED POEMS are okay for MK, as long as you own the rights. If it's worth publishing once, it's worth seeing again, yes?

•••SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: We'd prefer NOT to receive simultaneous submissions. It messes with the rights, and most publishers hate it. I think I do. It just seems wrong on so many levels.

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In sum, Medusa encourages poets of all ilk and ages to send their POETRY, PHOTOS and ART, as well as announcements of Northern California poetry events (or those accessible by Zoom from other areas) to kathykieth@hotmail.com for posting on this daily Snake blog. Rights remain with the poets. Previously-published poems are okay for Medusa’s Kitchen, as long as you own the rights. (Please cite publication.) We'd prefer not to receive simultaneous submissions, though (it messes with the rights, and most publishers hate it.) Also—Medusa cannot vouch for the moral fiber of other publications, contests, etc. that she lists, so submit to them at your own risk.   

 

CARPE VIPERIDAE—Seize the Snake!

 

—Public Domain Illustration
 
 
LittleSnake says
read!
write!
submit!