ISSUE 18

Brave New Word ISSUE 18 

AKA The Magnificent Return

Editor's note:

Hello there! It's been a while. The last time I did a new issue of Brave New Word - the world wasn't falling apart that blatantly. We live in some tough times, and it is hard to make plans for the near future, not to mention anything long term.

I think it is ironic that the last time I did the introduction, I mentioned having one of the lowest points in my life. Guess what? The best was yet to come. It is was a different kind of bad, but bad nevertheless.

I didn’t intend to make such a long pause in-between issues. I intended to start soliciting submissions from the get-go, but then the lockdown happened, and things started falling apart. I've lost my job, spent like three months freelancing non-stop, got numerous job offers that fell through because "y`know its crysis, bro, can't be sure noh moh,” my book of visual poems fell through because of that, an exhibition became a non-starter, and to top things - landlord raised the rent. In this atmosphere - doing another issue of BNW wasn't at the top of my list of priorities. These were some crazy months. Down with whining.

This issue has a different approach than the rest. I wasn't posting calls for submissions and actively inviting to send something (apart from a couple of instances when I was finishing the issue). But the submissions were going regardless. I guess there is enough interest. It's been five months since the last issue and no announcements whatsoever, but I still got 42 submissions - more than enough to choose from - the meme of Brave New Word lives on.

Ok, enjoy the issue.

Without further ado - Brave New Word, Issue 18.

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Issue Line-up:

1. John Guzlowski - Five poems
2. Paul Ilechko - One and an Other (the Dialogs)
3. Dave Read - Six Asemic Pieces
4. Andriy Antonovskiy - Transhumanism 
5. Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad - Visual Works
6. Mark Young - Five Poems
7. Serse Luigetti - Three Visual Poems
8. Jeff Bagato - Three Poems
9. Tom Jenks - Letter Frequency Visualizations
10. David Matthews - Three Work-in-progress poems from the book "Max Nix"
11. Jim Leftwich - trashpo photos 02.11.2020
12. AG Davis - Five poems
13. Steven J Fowler - 3 Crayon Poems
14. Rőczei György - Trios 1 2 3
15. Andrew Brenza - mirror & mirage

Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad - Visual Works

Oormila Vijayakrishnan Prahlad is a Sydney artist, poet, and improv pianist. She holds a Masters degree in English. Oormila has been painting and exhibiting for the past twenty years. Her recent poems have been published in The Ekphrastic Review, Poets Resist, Eunoia Review, Neologism Poetry, The Maier Museum of Arts Journal of Ekphrastic Poetry, and several other literary journals in the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK. She was a finalist in the Waverley Woollahra 9X5 Landscape Prize 2018. Oormila works out of a studio space in her home. She regularly performs her poetry and exhibits her paintings in Sydney.

Oormila's instagram : www.instagram.com/oormila_paintings

David Matthews - Three Work-in-progress poems from the book "Max Nix"

David E. Matthews lives in the Hill Country of Texas. He is saddened by the direction of events, but more perplexed that things are not worse than, or better than, they actually are, if what people believe is true. He has become suspicious - not to say paranoid - of people who seem positive of what is real, and true. The reverberations and resonances of literature is all that sustains him.

Serse Luigetti - Three Visual Poems

Serse Luigetti (born on August 3, 1949 in Castiglion del Lago (PG) Italy). Mail Art extraordinaire since late seventies. Also interested to visual poetry, his works can be seen on various zines, reviews, catalogues, books, chapbooks, cds, tapes, records, cd roms assembling magazines, web sites all over the world.

Andrew Brenza - mirror & mirage

Andrew Brenza’s recent chapbooks include Poems in C (Viktlösheten Press), Bitter Almonds & Mown Grass (Shirt Pocket Press), Waterlight (Simulacrum Press), and Excerpt from Alphabeticon (No Press). He is also the author of three full-length collections of visual poetry, Automatic Souls (Timglaset), Gossamer Lid (Trembling Pillow Press) and Album, in Concrete (Alien Buddha Press).

Andriy Antonovskiy - Transhumanism

Andriy Antonovskiy is a poet from Ukraine who currently lives in Barcelona. He is a strong proponent for Catalan Independence and he considers his primary mission to be building a cultural bridge between Ukraine and Catalonia.

Photo by Zhenia Perutska.

AG Davis - Five poems

AG Davis is a sound poet & extreme performer, author of the hypermodernist poetry books
Bathory and Glass, both published by Abstract Editions in 2016 and 2018, respectively.
Another book of poetry is due out later this year.

Rőczei György - Trios 1 2 3

Rőczei György (1956. Budapest) – Graphic artist, artist book publisher, teacher. His works are in collections of Hungarian and other countries.

Paul Ilechko - One and an Other (the Dialogs)

Paul Ilechko is the author of the chapbooks “Bartok in Winter” (Flutter Press) and “Graph of Life” (Finishing Line Press). His work has appeared in a variety of journals, including Juxtaprose, As It Ought To Be, Cathexis Northwest Press, Inklette and Pithead Chapel. He lives with his partner in Lambertville, NJ.

Steven J Fowler - 3 Crayon Poems

SJ Fowler is a poet and artist. He works in the modernist and avant-garde traditions, across poetry, fiction, theatre, sonic art, visual art, installation and performance.  He is the poetry editor of 3am magazine, Lecturer at Kingston University, teaches at Tate Modern and is the curator of the Enemies project.

Tom Jenks - Letter Frequency Visualizations

Tom Jenks' most recent book is A Long and Hard Night Troubled by Visions (if p then q, 2018). He edits the small press zimzalla, specialising in literary objects. More at https://www.zshboo.org/ 

Jeff Bagato - Three Poems

Jeff Bagato produces poetry and prose as well as electronic music and glitch video. He has published nineteen books, all available in the usual online markets, including And the Trillions (poetry) and The Toothpick Fairy (fiction). A blog about his writing and publishing efforts can be found at http://jeffbagato.com.

Jim Leftwich - trashpo photos 02.11.2020

Jim Leftwich is a poet and essayist who lives in Roanoke, VA, USA. He is the author of Six Months Aint No Sentence Books 1 -187 (Differx Hosting@Box, 2011 - 2016), three volumes of essays entitled Rascible & Kempt Vols. 1 - 3 (Luna Bisonte Prods, 2016-2017), and i reMEmber petrOLeum (Luna Bisonte Prods, 2019).

Mark Young - Five Poems

Mark Young's most recent books are a collection of visual pieces, The Comedians, from Stale Objects de Press, & turning to drones, from Concrete Mist Press. Due out within the next few months are turpentine from Luna Bisonte Prods, & from, from Ma Press of Finland.

John Guzlowski - Five poems

John Guzlowski's poetry appears in North American Review, Rattle, Ontario Review, Salon.Com, and many other journals. His poems and personal essays about his Polish parents’ experiences as slave laborers in Nazi Germany and refugees making a life for themselves in Chicago appear in his memoir Echoes of Tattered Tongues. He is also a columnist for the Dziennik Zwiazkowy (the oldest Polish language newspaper in America) and the author of Suitcase Charlie and Little Altar Boy, noir mysteries set in Chicago. His most recent book of poems is the autobiographical True Confessions.

Dave Read - Six Asemic Pieces

Dave Read is a Canadian poet living in Calgary.  His short form poetry and asemic writing has appeared in many journals.  His work can be found at davereadpoetry.blogspot.ca.