Issue #33 of Chantarelle’s Notebook is now up! It’s full of good stuff (I especially liked the poems by Azar Blanca and Mark Mitchell). The issue includes two of my poems, ‘Ninety-Eight’ and ‘City of Stones’. I wrote a little bit about the two poems in this post where I announced the publication. I’m especially […]
Sara Norja
Writing for small children
I had my first experience in writing a story for a small child this January. A dear friend’s child had his third birthday, and I decided to make him a picture book as a present, as evidenced by the pic on the left. Little did I know what I was in for! I mean, I […]
Sunday recs: My favourites from Interfictions #2
So, there was a lot of awesome stuff in Issue #2 of Interfictions (my Orthography: A Personal History is in some great company!). Here are three pieces that especially struck me: My Language, My Voice by Alexandra Seidel really resonates with me. Lovely so have such a bilingual exploration in Interfictions. My own piece had […]
My writing in 2013 – and my hopes for 2014
In a moment I’m going to get down to some actual writing – there has to be proper writing on the first day of a new year! But first, a round-up of 2013 and some writing goals/wishes for 2014. I thought I’d do a list of the writing I’ve done this year. It’s difficult to […]
Poem for the year’s end
Soon off to celebrate the approaching new year. So here’s my last post of 2013, in the form of a just-written poem. Here’s to a good new writing year in 2014! * Year’s-end, year’s-beginning What words to wrap the year in? How to sing in the new? Should I end and begin with ringing bells […]
Poetry sale: Two poems in Chantarelle’s Notebook
My poems ‘Ninety-Eight’ and ‘City of Stones’ will be appearing in Issue #33 of Chantarelle’s Notebook – yay! ‘Ninety-Eight’ is a companion piece of sorts to ‘Microhistory’. It’s about family history too, specifically my late grandfather (on my dad’s side). ‘City of Stones’ is one of several poems inspired by my walks in my local […]
Poetry publication: Two poems in Snakeskin
Two of my poems are now online in the December issue of Snakeskin: ‘Microhistory’ and ‘Rain-washed’. Both of these were written last summer. ‘Rain-washed’ happened after a glorious thunderstorm. I always have to rush out to get drenched at least once a summer – there’s something wonderful about getting completely wet when the air is […]
Sunday recs: Poetry for a frosty evening
I’m drinking rooibos tea, all cosied up in a self-knitted shawl and wrist warmers. Mmm, knitted things. I discovered some poem links I’ve been meaning to share for ages, so here’s a few brilliant poems to brighten your Sunday evening: Foam, Braided with Teeth by Michele Bannister over at Stone Telling. I love Bannister’s poems […]
Nanowrimo: Failure
What a discouraging title! But it’s true. I set out with the goal of starting the second draft of Dim Vanities. Then, as November started shitting on me, I thought I’d at least get the 33 chapters read through and commented on. Well. That totally didn’t happen. I’ll admit it: there were more days in […]
Poetry sale: Wild Violet Magazine
I’m happy to announce that my poem ‘Helsinki Love Song’ has been accepted for publication in Wild Violet. I’ll post a link when the poem is published! It was great to get some good poetry news, because I’ve been bogged down with work and an insidious stress that chooses, at inopportune moments, to make everything […]