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Storystorm
Magnetic Irony
23 February 2018 on Blog, Poetry, StorystormFuture generations may define our period style by its pervasive sincerity. Irony is what's missing from much contemporary poetry. For example, the popular political poems are earnest, if angry, and...
Storystorm
What do we look for in fiction submissions?
09 February 2018 on Fiction, StorystormBarnstorm’s fiction readers have varied reading tastes and interests, but they share a common passion for stories. Recently, they weighed in on what they look for as they read fiction...
Poetry
“Return No. 2” by Laurel Milburn
02 February 2018 on Blog, PoetryWe step outside an axis where the magnets scrape to a dry thinning spark. Things to do: Things to do to turn a nocturne to a waltz. Today is red....
The Writer's Hot Seat
The Writer’s Hot Seat: Mira Ptacin
02 February 2018 on Blog, The Writer's Hot SeatMira Ptacin reports on women in trouble—in trouble with the law, with the economy, with their bodies, with ghosts. Her memoir, Poor My Soul, has been called “a funny and...
The Writer's Hot Seat
The Writer’s Hot Seat: Fred Marchant
15 December 2017 on Blog, Poetry, The Writer's Hot SeatBarnstorm reader Katie Brunero recently talked with poet Fred Marchant about his new collection of poetry, Said Not Said, guidance for new poets, technique versus craft, and the best revision advice he's...
Poetry
“To be Kissed” by Aran Donovan
01 December 2017 on Blog, PoetryThese arable lands To go quizzing about them in hoop skirt To melt humble in an avid sahara To piss, comrades in relief abandon Truly waffle, like a primary in...
Storystorm
The Landscape of Memory, or, My Characters Keep Getting Lost in The Desert
01 December 2017 on Blog, Fiction, Storystorm“[E]very pilgrimage to the desert is a pilgrimage to the self. There is no place to hide and so we are found.” -Terry Tempest Williams, Refuge I close my eyes...
Storystorm
12 Ways to Write Unique Description
17 November 2017 on Blog, StorystormWe’ve all heard the adages. “Kill the cliché.” “Make it new.” “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.” But how does one do this? There are several...
The Writer's Hot Seat
The Writer’s Hot Seat: Lisa Olstein
10 November 2017 on Blog, Poetry, The Writer's Hot SeatLisa Olstein is the author of four poetry collections: Late Empire; Radio Crackling, Radio Gone, winner of the Hayden Carruth Award; Lost Alphabet, a Library Journal best book of the year selection; and Little Stranger, named a top...
Poetry
“For C. D. Wright” by John Sibley Williams
27 October 2017 on Blog, PoetryJohn Sibley Williams is the editor of two Northwest poetry anthologies and the author of nine collections,...
Storystorm
Forest, Meet Trees
27 October 2017 on Blog, StorystormAs a writer, I feel like I am constantly working on multiple levels. I am deeply involved on a language level, working to create music, working to string together words...
Blog
Find Your Onion
13 October 2017 on BlogSometimes I will sit down with a great story in mind, a prefect conglomerate and arrangement of words to express an idea that’s been nagging at me. Sometimes I have...
