Stephanie Ellis reads from POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Stephanie Ellis joins us today with a reading of her poem, "Revenant - The Ministrations of Lilith (an extract)" from Poetry Showcase IX. If you haven't purchased your copy yet, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. https://youtu.be/XUfERhOym6E Stephanie Ellis writes dark speculative prose and poetry and has been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. Her longer work includes the novel, The Five Turns of the Wheel and the novellas, Bottled and Paused. Her novels, Reborn and The Woodcutter, are due for release via Brigids Gate Press in…

Dan B. Fierce reads from POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Dan B. Fierce joins us today with a reading of his poem, "Strike A Match" from Poetry Showcase IX. If you haven't purchased your copy yet, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. https://youtu.be/sixYkBJlKiE Dan B. Fierce loves humor and horror alike, and many things in between. A long-time fan of authors like Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Edgar Alan Poe, he lets his darker side come out in the macabre “Revenge” demonstrates the tension caused by the corona virus with “Mistaken” and gives the reader a taste of dark…

Timothy P. Flynn reads from POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Timothy P. Flynn joins us today with a reading of his poem, "A Darker Dawn" from Poetry Showcase IX. If you haven't purchased your copy yet, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. https://youtu.be/FPa6lLDNOgo Timothy P. Flynn is a dark poet from Massachusetts. His previous poetry resides in Space and Time magazine, Anthocon’s book collections: Anthology Years 1-3, Wicked Tales, Wicked Creatures, Scifaikuest, haikuniverse, Haiku Journal and the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol 5 & Vol 6 His most recent work will appear in Wicked Sick in April 2023, and in…

Victoria Nations reads from POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Victoria Nations joins us today with a reading of her poem, "Reasons Why You Can’t Go Out to Play Alone" from Poetry Showcase IX. If you haven't purchased your copy yet, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. https://youtu.be/1gpE0n5GU6A Victoria Nations writes horror stories and poetry about creatures with emotional baggage. Her most recent work appears in IN SOMNIO: A Collection of Modern Gothic Horror, A Quaint and Curious Volume of Gothic Tales, the Magpie Messenger literary magazine, and the upcoming Mother: Tales of Love and Terror. Victoria is a…

Naomi Simone Borwein reads from POETRY SHOWCASE XI

Naomi Simone Borwein joins us today with a reading of her poem, "The Koiy Factory" from Poetry Showcase IX. If you haven't purchased your copy yet, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. https://youtu.be/aDsnx-_wps4 Naomi Simone Borwein holds a PhD in English literature from the University of Newcastle. She is a research associate at Western University and teaches at the University of Windsor. Naomi has published numerous chapters and articles on elements of h/Horror in literature, film, and culture. Her poetry appears or is forthcoming across a spectrum of presses:…

Sumiko Saulson Reads as a Showcase 7 Alumni

Sumiko Saulson joins us today with a reading of their poem, "Shades of Domesticity" as a Poetry Showcase Alumni. If you haven't purchased your copy yet of the newest Poetry Showcase, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. Sumiko Saulson is an award-winning author of Afrosurrealist and multicultural sci-fi and horror whose latest novel Happiness and Other Diseases is available on Mocha Memoirs Press. Winner of the HWA Scholarship from Hell (2016) BCC Voice "Reframing the Other" contest (2017), Mixy Award (2017), Afrosurrealist Writer Award (2018), HWA Diversity Grant (2020),…

Gary Robbe reads from Poetry Showcase IX

Gary Robbe joins us today with a reading of his poem, "Queen Rat in No Man's Land" from Poetry Showcase IX. If you haven't purchased your copy yet, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. https://youtu.be/8vXPfCLq7Ys Gary Robbe is an educator and writer currently living in Colorado. He has had numerous stories published in e-zines, magazines and anthologies. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association, the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and a founding member of the Denver Horror Collective. Gary is also an associate editor with Bewildering Stories.…

MHI: MY SCARY VALENTINE

Trigger Warning: This article addresses mental health. MY SCARY VALENTINE By Maria Alexander February 14, 2005 That was the day it first happened. I only remember it because it was Valentine’s Day. I wasn’t dating anyone. I hadn’t yet met the man who would someday become my husband, but I would in a week. I hadn’t yet even met the Frenchman I would date for three years who would take me to France for a year. That would happen in a couple of weeks. No, something far more hellish happened first. I was driving to work that morning from my…

DONNA K. FITCH READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Donna K. Fitch entertains with a reading of her poem, "Steps in a Cemetery" from Poetry Showcase IX. If you haven't purchased your copy yet, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. https://youtu.be/EXDSYNNXJ6E Donna K. Fitch is the author of Second Death, The Source of Lightning, and The Color of Darkness and Other Stories. She holds a B.A. in art, a master’s in library service, a master’s in instructional design and technology, and a master’s certificate in web design and technology. She is employed as a content editor on the…
RONI STINGER READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

RONI STINGER READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Roni Stinger reads her chilling poem "Hide and Seek in Haunted Spaces," one of the poems in HWA Showcase volume IX. If you haven't purchased your copy yet, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vodP5LvCUpg Roni Stinger lives in the Pacific Northwest, USA with her husband and two cats.. Her poetry has been published in Under Her Skin, Hypnos Magazine, and HWA Poetry Showcase Volume VII, among others. She’s a member of the HWA, SFWA, and SFPA. You can find her online at www.ronistinger.com and on Twitter @roni_stinger.
CASSONDRA WINDWALKER READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

CASSONDRA WINDWALKER READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Cassondra Windwalker reads a haunting poem "Conflagration," one of the featured poems in HWA Showcase volume IX. If you haven't purchased your copy yet, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCRTL-yza1E Cassondra Windwalker is the author of the gothic horror HOLD MY PLACE, as well as the upcoming work of dark magical realism LOVE LIKE A CEPHALOPOD. Presently writing full-time from the coast of southern Alaska, she pretends at the poetry of small things and the languages of birds, beasts, and things with roots. She enjoys connecting with generally…
M LOPES da SILVA READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

M LOPES da SILVA READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

M Lopes da Silva reads a frighteningly approriate poem "there’s a haunted pornographic magazine in the woods," one of the featured poems in HWA Showcase volume IX. If you haven't purchased your copy yet, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItTmiuF_OEw M Lopes da Silva (he/they/she) is a non-binary and bisexual author from Los Angeles. They write pulp and poetry, and sometimes the two get mixed up together. Their queer Californian horror fiction has been published or is forthcoming from In Somnio: A Collection of Modern Gothic Horror Fiction,…
MEGHAN ARCURI READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

MEGHAN ARCURI READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Meghan Arcuri reads her heartbreaking and poignant poem "How Do I Tell Her?," one of the featured poems in HWA Showcase volume IX. If you haven't purchased your copy yet, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmiHfbxWuOo Meghan Arcuri is a Bram Stoker Award®-nominated author. Her work can be found in various anthologies, including Borderlands 7 (Borderlands Press), Madhouse (Dark Regions Press), Chiral Mad, and Chiral Mad 3 (Written Backwards). She is currently the Vice President of the Horror Writers Association. Prior to writing, she taught high school math,…
TEEL JAMES GLENN READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

TEEL JAMES GLENN READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

A chilling reading of "Homebound" by Teel James Glenn from the recently released HWA Showcase volume IX. If you haven't purchased your copy yet, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. https://youtu.be/7MpD9nOg6Rw Teel James Glenn has killed hundreds and been killed more times--on stage and screen as he has traveled the world as a stuntman, swordmaster, storyteller, actor, and haunted house barker. His poetry and short stories have been printed in over two hundred publications including Weird Tales, Horror & Hope, A Woman Unbecoming, Space & Time, Mystery Weekly, Pulp…
GENEVE FLYNN READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

GENEVE FLYNN READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

Geneve Flynn gives a wonderful reading of her poem "spoon against bone," one of the featured poems in HWA Showcase volume IX. If you haven't purchased your copy yet, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. https://youtu.be/860m9ak8fOk Geneve Flynn is an award-winning speculative fiction editor, author, and poet. She is the co-editor of Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women (with Lee Murray). The anthology won the 2020 Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson Awards and shortlisted for the British Fantasy, Aurealis, and Australian Shadows Awards. Geneve was assistant editor for Relics,…
GORDON LINZNER READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

GORDON LINZNER READS FROM POETRY SHOWCASE IX

To kick of the HWA Poetry Showcase readings we have a genuine New Yorker! Gordon Linzner will be reading his series of haiku "Triptych of Terror." If you haven't purchased your copy yet, it's just one click away. Better yet, collect the whole series! Reviews and shares are always welcome. https://youtu.be/S2k_nVEitIM Gordon Linzner is founder and former editor of Space and Time Magazine, and author of three published novels and dozens of short stories in F&SF, Twilight Zone, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, and numerous other magazines and anthologies, including Baker Street Irregulars II, Release the Virgins!, Footprints in the Stars,…
POETRY SHOWCASE HISTORY FROM AN EARLY ADOPTER

POETRY SHOWCASE HISTORY FROM AN EARLY ADOPTER

by Angela Yuriko Smith Were it not for Peter Adam Salomon and the HWA Showcase series he started, I might not be still poeting today. Our community is particularly kind to dark poets. From founding National Dark Poetry Day to be celebrated every October 7th (also a gift from Salomon, by the way) to getting the latest Poetry Showcase up in lights on Times Square NYC (thanks to current president John Palisano), the HWA brings the love to our scribblers of verse. Over the next few weeks the poets of HWA will be sharing their work from the Showcase in…

STEPHANIE M. WYTOVICH ON POETRY IN THE DARK

by Angela Yuriko Smith Today I'd like to welcome Stephanie M. Wytovich to the HWA Poetry Blog with an interview about her own work and Writing Poetry in the Dark, just released from Raw Dog Screaming Press. Writing Poetry in the Dark "brings together some of the most successful contemporary genre poets to discuss topics related to creating dark and fantastical poetry." Compiled specifically for and about speculative poetry, some of the best poets join forces to offer advice and insight in this guide. It's a pleasure to share this interview from one of the most respected names in dark…

MHI: Why Mental Health representation in SFFH matters

Trigger Warning: This article addresses mental health. Why Mental Health representation in SFFH matters By Penny Jones Recently, I had the privilege of moderating the Fantasycon 2022 panel on mental health in SFFH with my panellists David Green and Tej Turner. And although I was both hung over and nervous as hell, my panellists at least were erudite and insightful, talking at length about both their personal and professional experiences of mental health in genre fiction. As always with these panels, an hour never seems long enough and I probably only managed to get through half of the questions I…

CELEBRATING DARK POETRY DAY

Edgar Allen Poe's ink ceased to flow 174 years ago today and dark poets everywhere honor his legacy on this National Day of Recognition. October 7, the day Edgar Allan Poe died, is National Dark Poetry Day. Originated in 2018 by HWA Poetry Showcase founder Peter Adam Salomon, himself an accomplished poet with three poetry collections and a Bram Stoker Award®-nominated novelist. Peter's work has been performed by The Radiophonic Workshop on BBC Radio 6. "Dark poetry has existed for centuries," said Peter Adam Salomon. "One of the oldest surviving works of literature is the Epic of Gilgamesh, which dates…