Michael Janairo

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Tag: speculative poetry

  • 2020 Rhysling Award Winners

    The Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association, of which I am a member, has just announced the winners of the 42nd annual Rhysling Awards for best speculative poems of the year.

    The winners were selected in two categories, Long Form and Short
    Form Poems, which were nominated by the members of the organization. From 67 publications. 77 poems in the Short Form category and 49 poems in the Long Form category were reviewed for almost 16 weeks by the membership, which includes award-winning educators, scholars, and poets from a diverse range of literary traditions and specializations. This year, the membership selected the following winners (links to the poems included where possible):

    SHORT

    First Place
    “Taking, Keeping” • Jessica J. Horowitz • Apparition Lit 5

    Second Place
    “when my father reprograms my mother {” • Caroline Mao • Strange Horizons, Fund Drive

    Third Place (tie)
    “Creation: Dark Matter Dating App” • , Sandra J. Lindow • Asimov’s SF, July/August, and 
    “The Day the Animals Turned to Sand” • Tyler Hagemann • Amazing Stories, Spring 2019

    LONG

    First Place
    “Heliobacterium daphnephilum” • Rebecca Buchanan • Star*Line 42.3

    Second Place
    “The Cinder Girl Burns Brightly” • Theodora Goss • Uncanny 28

    Third Place
    “Ode to the Artistic Temperament” • Michael H. Payne • Silver Blade 42
    and 
    “The Macabre Modern” • Kyla Lee Ward • The Macabre Modern and Other Morbidities (P’rea Press)

    (more…)

  • Publication: ‘The Tahamaling’ in Mirror Dance

    My poem “The Tahamaling” has just been published in Mirror Dance, edited by Megan Arkenberg.

    Check it out here.

  • Now reading: Life on Mars

    Best lines so far, from “My God, It’s Full of Stars”:

    We saw to the edge of all there is—

    So brutal and alive it seemed to comprehend us back.

  • SFPA announces 2018 Rhysling Awards

    Congratulations to the 2018 Rhysling Award winners!

    These are the best speculative poems of 2017, as voted on by members of the Science Fiction Poetry Association (I am a voting member). This was my first time voting for the awards (and my first time being nominated, for the long poem “Instructions for Astronauts.” I enjoyed all these winning poems, and think it’s great that Mary Soon Lee won in both categories, including for a poem published in the same new journal I was published in, Mithila Review.but I still think Brandon O’Brien’s “Birth, Place” from Uncanny Magazine 18 deserves more recognition. You can read it here.

    It is especially poignant that the Sara Cleto’s poem was published in the long-time fan favorite journal Mythic Delirium which, after twenty years, closed up shop with its April 2018 issue. The win is a testament to Mike Allen’s vision and talent and hard work.

    Out of 83 short poems, and 63 long poems, only three won in each category. Click on the titles for links to the poems to read them. Enjoy!

    Short Poem Category

    First Place
    “Advice to a Six-Year-Old”
    Mary Soon Lee • Star*Line 40.2

    Second Place
    “How to Grieve: A Primer for Witches”
    Sara Cleto • Mythic Delirium, May

    Third Place
    “Gramarye”
    F. J. Bergmann • Polu Texni 12/26/17

    Long Poem Category

    First Place
    “The Mushroom Hunters”
    Neil Gaiman • Brainpickings 4/26/17

    Second Place
    “For Preserves”
    Cassandra Rose Clarke • Star*Line 40.4

    Third Place
    “Alternate Genders”
    Mary Soon Lee • Mithila Review 9

  • 2018 Rhysling Awards eligibility

    I had two poems published in 2017 that are eligible for the 2018 Rhysling Awards, which are awards for speculative poetry. These awards must be nominated by a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association (I’m a member, but people can’t nominated their own poems).

    Eligible in long-poem category:

    Eligible in short-poem category:

    Thanks for checking them out!

     

     

  • 2017 in Review in Publishing

    Thank you goes out to all the readers out there who’ve read my stuff, and to the editors and publisher who put my poetry and fiction out there for the world to read. (more…)

  • Watch: My poem ‘Instructions for Astronauts’ now a video

    You can also read the poem at Mithila Review.

  • Thank you, Mithila Review!

    My new speculative poem, Instructions for Astronauts, appears in the new edition of The Mithila Review!

    It has also been made into a video. Check it out:

     

    Ajapa Sharma, one of the co-founding editors of the journal, writes in the introduction:

    When we read Michael Janairo’s submission “Instructions for Astronauts” for this issue, it resonated with some of the themes of our favorite space-based films and series. SyFy’s series based on James S.A. Corey’s Hugo award winning books, The Expanse has been our staple since season 2 of the series started airing in February. Against all criticisms, we’ve also thoroughly enjoyed Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and are eagerly waiting to watch Alien: Covenant later this year. Janairo’s poem captured elements that have traditionally been a part of science fiction’s visual corpus and his stellar voice quality made it all the more adaptable for a film. Working with Michael’s poetry, it became evident that good visual material can only come from excellent writing. The visual, after all, is an innovative translation of a textual script. The hope is that the video will become a medium through which Janairo’s poetry can travel far and wide.

    Excerpt From: Salik Shah, Editor. “Mithila Review – Issue 8.”