Ears wide open, gang! Harry will be the featured guest on the Joe Milford Poetry Show on Sunday, November 14th at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Sorry for the short notice … this was rescheduled from Saturday, November 6th. Joe Milford hosts amazing poets and poetry shows once a week–prepared to be astonished and amazed.

As we move into November, there is a lot going on, seemingly all of a sudden. But as someone wiser than me has said, sometimes “overnight success” is only accomplished by working hard at something for a long time. At any rate, here’s what’s up.

Much good news
As October turns the corner into November, here’s the good news on the Calhoun front.:

• Caper Literary Journal has nominated my poem “Fever Pitch” for the Sundress Best of the Net anthology.
• Boston Literary Magazine has nominated “Walking Something” for a Pushcart Prize!
• I am one of two featured poets on Rick Lupert’s Poetry Super Highway website the week of November 1 – November 7.
• I will be the guest on The Joe Milford Show on Blog Talk Radio this Saturday, November 6 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.
• My latest chapbook, Retreating Aggressively into the Dark, releases from Big Table Publishing this week.

Call for submissions of poems
I know that there are a number of poets on this mailing list. If I have encouraged you to submit, or if your work has already appeared in Pig in a Poke magazine, please take this as a reminder to send me your best work. Got a good short literary essay? I’ll take a look at that too.

Thanks as always for your interest in my “second career” in poetry and to those who asked to be added to this mailing list. If anybody doesn’t want to be along for this ride, please drop me a line and I will remove you from the list.

Thanks,

Harry

So many times over the past few years, as I’ve become more adventurous sending out my poems for publication, I’ve encountered a feeling of deja vu. That’s because there are certain poets out there who seem to be following each other around from magazine to magazine. I don’t think it’s premeditated, but I do see a trend.

Recently, I had a poem published in the magazine Scythe, and was amazed to see so many people I “knew.” I had published Jessie Carty, Paul Handley, Corey Mesler and Scott Owens in my Pig in a Poke magazine, and had read for Scott’s Poetry Hickory series. And I had been in the company of Howie Good numerous times in various magazines, and had published his work in the Pig too. I’ve come to see Howie as a good luck charm … if I see his work in a magazine, I’m pretty sure they’ll like mine too.

But William Doreski takes the cake. He has some poems in this issue of Scythe as well. He too has appeared in Pig in a Poke,, but there’s a story beyond that. I was doing some casual bedtime reading a while back, and there in a 1989 issue of Third Lung Review were poems by William Doreski and some guy named Harry Calhoun. So we’ve been following each other around for at least 21 years that I know of!

I went to the current issue of The Momo Reader and guess what I saw? My poems alongside those of Howie Good, William Doreski and Paul Handley. Please, guys, people are gonna start talkin’! In another odd coincidence, Tim Peeler, who edited the aforementioned Third Lung Review, was featured with me in a reading in Hickory, North Carolina this past April — and he has poems in the upcoming third issue of Pig in a Poke.

Gives new meaning to the old saying, “What comes around goes around.” I could certainly be hanging out in worse company!

Recent acceptances and publications:
One poem in the Howls and Pushycats blogspot
Three poems in The Experimental Review
One poem in Wild Goose Poetry Review

Thanks for reading … comments always welcome or at least tolerated.

Special offer for anyone interested: If you email me I can arrange to send you a signed copy for the same price. Only $6.00 and if you order from me, I’ll pick up the postage as well. Either way, I think you’ll like the poems.

Also I have a chapbook called Retreating aggressively into the dark scheduled for release in October 2010 from Big Table Publishing, the chapbook arm of Boston Literary Magazine. I’m really excited about that one, too. And oh, I have two poems in the summer issue, so check that out.

In other news:
Acceptances in Wild Goose Poetry Review and The Momo Reader (five poems).

Publications in Indigo Rising (print) and Orion Headless (two poems). Also, recent publications online at Rusty Truck, Deuce Coupe, The Camel Saloon, Howls and Pushycats, Red Fez and Horizon Review.

My poem “Johannesburg” and a feature article are appearing in an upcoming Concord, North Carolina Independent Tribune poetry column.

And you can listen to my talented wife Trina and I on Lynn Alexander’s always entertaining Blink Ink Fiction show on Blog Talk Radio … we were featured on the July 1st episode. Trina reads some of her great fiction and I manage to spit out one poem and ramble on about our magazine, Pig in a Poke.

Thanks to all for your support and interest!

Hi all,

It’s true … the star-studded second issue of Pig in a Poke is ready for human consumption. We’re probably the only kosher pig in the world — anyone can partake. We got a great response to the first issue, and thanks to all our readers for that. And, of course, thanks to all the great writers who made that response possible.

This issue, we have another stellar lineup for you. I think I found some great poems, and Trina did an incredible job of sorting gold nuggets from the corncobs. Although we have gotten very little shoddy writing … even what we’ve rejected has had its considerable merits. Here’s what this issue offers:

Poetry: Our featured poets are Hosho McCreesh, Christopher Cunningham and Justin Barrett, a talented trio who are attracting a lot of attention—and publication—in the poetry world. And you can’t go wrong with the rest of the crew: Louis McKee, Karla Huston, Robin Stratton, Lyn Lifshin, Corey Mesler, Karl Koweski, Michael L. Newell. Mark Jackley, C. P. Steward, Paul Handley, Scott Owens. Helen Losse and Jessie Carty.

Fiction: On the fiction side, Trina has picked a diverse and talented group of writers as well. The work this issue features short-shorts by Jane Banning and Justin Barrett and stories from Christamar Varicella, Michael C. Keith, Christina Hoag, Jo Janoski, Richard Godwin, T.R. Healy, Heather Clitheroe, Corey Cook and Jeffrey Carl Jefferis.

Essays: We feature some sterling nonfiction with essays by Anne Woodman, Peter Dabbene and Michael L. Newell. Quite a mixture of the thought provoking, fun and downright silly in this section.

Special event for our friends!
On a final note, you can listen to a replay of a show originally broadcast at 9 p.m on July 1st. You can hear Trina reading from several of her stories on a show on Blog Talk Radio called Blink Ink Fiction. Harry and Trina will also discuss Pig in a Poke on the show. Go to the Web site and find the July 1 show or simply call (646) 721-9314.

May you piggyback on our success,

Harry and Trina

New publications:
Orion headless (two poems)
Gutter Eloquence (two poems)
Boston Literary Magazine (two poems)

Anyway, recently someone posted a review of my book, The Black Dog and the Road, on his blog. I was and am appreciative. But again it always strikes me that reviewing, like poetry itself, can be quite subjective. For instance, I recently had an editor tell me that he really liked my stuff, but it wasn’t quite “weird” enough for his magazine. Hmmm. Usually, I’m considered sufficiently weird for anyone’s taste.

But that book review. It’s quite favorable, although the reviewer seems to have inordinate concern about (a) my personal habit of breaking the last line of the poem away from the rest, and (b) my use of sentence case instead of title case for my titles. I kinda wish he would have spent a little less time on those issues and more on the book, but it is what it is, as they say.

Our reviewer doesn’t seem to be aware that title case and sentence case — The Black Dog and the Road as opposed to The black dog and the road – are a matter of choice. At IBM, where I’ve worked for the past decade, sentence case is preferred, and I’ve gotten into the habit of using that. I really like title case just as well, and using sentence case is just a habit I’ve fallen into … much like my habit of dropping the last line off from the rest of the poem. In many cases, I do feel that it adds emphasis to the finale of the poem, but sometimes I just do it because, well, it’s what I do.

(I also overuse ellipses … because I feel it’s a gentler break than that harsh old dash and stronger than a comma.)

Anyway, I’m quibbling. A favorable review of my book. I’ll take that any day!

P.S. Don’t forget about us at Pig in a Poke magazine. Second issue coming out in less than a week!

This long weekend I also submitted to a few other magazines and worked with my magazine, Pig in a Poke. My wife and fiction editor Trina Allen and I are rounding up work for the second and third issues, and I’m pleased with the quality of the work we’ve accepted. Now that the Pig is active again, it’s interesting to see other people’s submissions too.

Getting back to David Greisman and Abbey: Because David and I have such a long history, my cover notes to him are usually more casual and friendly than those I write to other editors. But when I submit, I do try to get some of my personality into the cover letter. And I usually include my bio, unless the editor specifically prohibits it. I figure that any editor stuffy enough to get riled about these habits of mine probably puts out a stuffy magazine that I don’t belong in or want to be in anyway. I’m also naive enough to think that most editors won’t accept work because of a bio or friendly letter. Personally, if I recognize the name, I might give the writer’s poems more careful consideration, but I care too much for my magazine to accept mediocre work, regardless of the name.

So, submitting poems. “The poetry game.” I’ve been pretty lucky at it, as I realized when I sent my bio to David. My trade paperback, I knew Bukowski like you knew a rare leaf. The recently published The Black Dog and the Road and my chapbook, Something Real.

As if this wasn’t enough, I have another chapbook, Before daybreak, with a nod to Frost coming out from Alternating Current’s Propaganda Press, possibly released as soon as tomorrow. And Robin Stratton from Boston Literary Magazine‘s Big Table Publishing will be doing another chapbook in July or August. That one’s title is Retreating aggressively into the dark.

Speaking of Robin Stratton, let me end this post with a story. Recently, I submitted a group of poems to her at Boston Literary Magazine. As usual when I submit, I included a list of the poem titles that I sent. In this case, the list was:

Coming into summer
Why?
Walking something
The job and the day of escape
Rejecting Bukowski
Half human, half dog

The punch line? Robin wrote me a note and said that she thought the list of titles was a poem, before she realized what it was. But the ultimate punch line is: She accepted the list of titles and will be publishing it in her magazine!

You know you’re on a roll when someone accepts a list of titles …

Pig in a Poke magazine

My wife Trina Allen edits the fiction and has done a great job with the Web design. She and I worked together to develop the look we wanted … it allows you to spend time with the individual writers in their own intimate spaces. For my part, I choose the poetry and essays, and I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished.

It’s a tribute to the quality and staying power of our writers that I was publishing some of them back in the 1980s … as long ago as 1982, in fact. We also have some newer talent that I think is equally impressive. And by the way, any poets, fiction writers or essayists on this mailing list are more than welcome to submit for future issues.

I hope you’ll drop by, give a read, maybe donate to the cause, and let me know what you think.

http://www.piginpoke.com/currentissue.html

The lineup for this issue includes:

Poetry by:
Jim Daniels
Louis McKee
Lyn Lifshin
Howie Good
Christopher Cunningham
William Doreski
David Barker
Shirley Allard
Carol Lynn Grellas
Robin Stratton
Alan Catlin
Karla Huston
Corey Mesler
Donal Mahoney

Fiction by:
Burgess Needle
Sharmagne Leland-St. John
Daniel Davis
Marjorie Petesch
Anne Woodman
Ginny Swart
James Neenan

Essays by:
James Heller Levinson
Anne Woodman

Some well-knowns, some unknowns, but all, I assure you, quality stuff. Drop in and wallow a while in the Pig sty … it’s not a bad place to be! Thanks in advance for your support.

Harry

My brush with Bukowski came in 1985. I had started a magazine called Pig in a Poke in 1982 and put out two issues before it became too much a burden on my income as a bartender and freelance writer. So I scaled down the format and started putting out a smaller version of the magazine and calling it Pig in a Pamphlet. It was in this format that I published Bukowski’s work.

Even without the Internet, the small press flourished and correspondence between editor and writer — and between the editors themselves — was fast and furious. I don’t remember when or where I saw Bukowski’s work published in another little magazine, but by then he had been a legend to many of us for years. I remember wondering how this little magazine got Bukowski to send them some poems.

It turns out that Bukowski apparently felt warmly toward the small presses where he had gotten his start. In a move exemplary of the small press in those days — try anything — I contacted several editors that I knew and one of them gave me his address. I think it was Ron Androla, who put out a little mag called Northern Pleasure. So I sent Bukowski a letter asking if he would be interested in submitting some poems to my little magazine.

When Bukowski wrote back, he sent several poems with his letter. I liked the poems that he sent so much that I kept four of them. Today, the fact that I rejected some of his work still amazes me, but not even the legends get accepted all the time. And with his lifestyle, Bukowski was no stranger to rejection of all kinds. What was he like? Honestly, he seemed like a decent fellow, genuinely grateful that someone would want to publish his work. He had a good sense of humor and would frequently use it in his letters.

The pamphlet of Bukowski poems, titled then I gave up and started drinking heavily after a line from a poem in the collection, came out in 1985 and sold well by my modest standards. John Martin from Black Sparrow Press bought 200 — about half of the press run — at a discount and had Bukowski sign them. So the pamphlets that I sold him at less than 50 cents a copy are now bringing $200 and upwards each at rare booksellers now.

I had some trouble, by the way, with John Martin. I had mentioned to Bukowski that I wanted to do another pamphlet of his work, and Bukowski apparently told Martin. I got a nasty letter from Martin, telling me to back off and that he had the rights to Bukowski’s stuff. I wrote back assuring him that I had no bad intentions. When he replied he was much more pleasant than he had been before. He said he realized that I didn’t mean any harm but that he had to protect his turf. He called me “a decent and honest person” (I still have the letter). And he also enclosed a checklist of Black Sparrow Press books and told me to “check off everything you’d like for yourself and let me send you the books.” I took him up on that. I still have the books — by Paul Bowles, John Fante, Bukowski and others — to this day.

A final footnote to my relationship with Bukowski: I stopped publishing Pig in a Pamphlet around 1989 or 1990. In 1993 I left Pittsburgh for Key West, and somehow lost my signed copy. I wrote to Bukowski asking him if he would send another. Soon after, the signed copy showed up in my mailbox, but not the chatty letter that he usually sent. This was at the end of August, and a little over six months later he passed away. He must have been very sick when he got my letter but he still signed the copy and sent it back to me.

For more on the present day adventures of Pig in a Poke, go to http://piginpoke.com or see my next blog!

Poetry is measured in small increments. I think of religion saving one soul at a time or the sleazy designer in Key West who claimed to be “measuring the island six inches at a time.” In this case, it can be selling chapbooks two or three at a time or evangelizing 50 people in a room. It all counts, but sometimes it seems like a long uphill climb. But I believe the rewards are worth the seemingly small paybacks.

Harry Calhoun reading. Photo by Trina Allen.

On a scale of acorn to oak, this reading was a big old solid oak tree. I sold a few books at the reading and I got to hang out with some great people. Met Helen Losse, who has long edited The Dead Mule and featured my work. My wife Trina was there for moral support and took some great photos with our new digital camera. But the most wonderful thing is the reaction that I got to my poems. They laughed at the right places. They seemed moved at the right times. When I had two poems left to read and was concerned about running long, I asked Scott Owens if I should read one or two. He unhesitantly held up two fingers. (I wasn’t drunk, so I assume that he hadn’t put up one finger and I was seeing double.)

Anyway, the reaction to the poems is what all of us live for … not adulation, but simply knowing that we connect. Tim Peeler followed my performance with an incredible reading of his own powerful poetry from his new book, Checking Out, about his years as a hotel manager. It was an outstanding event and I’m proud to have been part of it.

Tim Peeler and Harry Calhoun. Photo by Trina Allen.

After the reading, we went back to the hotel. The one,. by the way, that Tim had written about in his collection, albeit thoroughly remodeled. Our beloved Alex the Labrador kept us up half the night barking as people came and went. I wondered why so many people were checking in. Then I woke up, pulled back the blind a little and saw a huge bus parked sideways in the parking lot. The bus had literally let out as we tried to sleep. Hmm, maybe I’ll pass on the story to Tim for his next collection: Checking Out II: Things that go Bark in the Night.

New acceptance:
“Rifle” in Gemini
“Pictures of Bukowski” in Orange Room Review

New publication:
Just got word this morning that my new chapbook, Near daybreak, with a nod to Frost, has been published by Propaganda Press and is now in the mail on its way to me.