CHIRPS FROM THE SPARROW
Editor Diane Smith
POETRY
Our National Treasure in Poetry, Hugh Fox
Wishing, Afraid, Thirty Years Later
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Visconti (2,)Robert Lietz
Three Poems, David Labounty
Blackout, Dan Brenner
The Cat Skinner, Bill Frank Robinson
Always a Musical, After, Grandmother at Ninety-One, John Ballard
Meditation 80, Meditation 81, Anne Brooke
Flowering, Relocation, Returning, Renee Emerson
Solid Sounds, Blend, Joanne Faries
Everything’s Connected, Many Different Positions, Timothy Gager
After Putting Down the Dog, A Return to Normal, A Small Fault, Howie Good
Cul de Sac, The Clincher, KJ
To Eat One More Bouquet of Ethereal Flowers, Doggerel’s Flophouse, K.J. Hannah Greenberg
True Colors, The Untitled She, Glimpse, Still, Mitra
Draft, Stephen Moore
Days Fulfilled, Ben Nardollili
Captivated by Myself and Other Foes, Anne Moore Odell
Dindi Jusst Outside J.C. Penney’s, Dindi Checking Her Tires, Dindi at the Sink, Kenneth Pobo
How it Appears, Dusting, Not to Complicate, Meg Pokrass
Part of a Day, A Land Called America, Joseph Reich
Metacogniphor, Sunday Morning, Crossword, Mimi Vaquer
Dustbowl, She Haunts, Lesley Weston
Mary’s Devotion, Lightening Strike, The Girl Scouts take a Nature Walk, Combustible, Ann Walters
SHORT STORIES
The Valley Assasin, Bill Frank Robinson
On the Waves, Cooper Renner
Mozart and I, Alex Braverman
FLASH FICTION
Chips, Hugh Fox
Five Micros: excerpts from Easter Rabbit, Joseph Young
Logic and Star, Cezarija Abartis
Passion’s Path, Vickie Clasby
Bait, Elizabeth Creith
The Elephant in the Coffee Shop, Frank Dahai
Know I’m Talking Alot, Highly Susceptible to Internal Suggestion, Krissy Domm
The Dead, If Its All the Same to You, Iris Macor
Neuroplasticine, Terry Pearce
Golden Wheat, Michelle Reale
PHOTOGRAPHY
Shannon Taggart
CONTRIBUTORS
Grey Sparrow’s National Treasure, Hugh Fox
Hugh Fox, writer, poet, editor and archeologist, has been described as ‘the Paul Bunyan of American Letters, part myth, part monster and, myself-as subject, a magnificent non-stop story-teller’ (Bill Ryan, The Unborn Book). Born in Chicago in 1932, he has written an astonishing 105 books, 85 of which have been published. While an undergraduate, he dropped out of medical school to concentrate on the humanities and gained a PhD in American Literature from the University of Illinois. Amongst many distinguished posts, he has held that of Fulbright Professor of American Studies and Literature at the universities of Hermosillo (Mexico), Caracas(Peru) and Florianopolis (Brazil). Hugh has edited a number of respected journals, including the International
Quarterly of Experimental Poetry, the Western World Review and the North American Review. His recent publications include Defiance (Higganum press 2007), Finalemente/Finally (Solo press 2007), Rediscovering America (World Audience 2008), The Collected Poems (World Audience 2008), Ice House, and The Thirteen Keys to Talmud (Crossing Chaos 2009).
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Cezarija Abartis’ Nice Girls and Other Stories was published by New Rivers Press. Her stories have appeared in Manoa, Tales of the Unanticipated, Twilight Zone Magazine, and New York Tyrant (which also gave her story The Lidano Fiction Award). “Penelope and David” is forthcoming from Story Quarterly. Recently she completed a novel; a thriller. She teaches at St. Cloud State University.
Jon Ballard is the author of three chapbooks, with a fourth, entitled Such Small Rain forthcoming (Pudding House). His work has appeared or will appear in Flint Hills Review, Two Review, Forge Journal, Oklahoma Review, and Blue Earth Review, among many others. He currently lives in North Carolina.
Nick Bakshi served as an associate poetry editor and was born in the US but moved, soon thereafter, to India, where he lived for two years. His father, a native of that country, raised him on internationalism, stressing the importance of world travel and open mindedness.
Alex Braverman is a scientist/ mathematician turned writer/ photographer/poet. Born and brought up in Lithuania, he immigrated to Israel at the age of 18 and then to South Africa, where he learned English. Ten years later he moved to America, where he still lives in Fort Worth, Texas. Although an award winning photographer, he is also an acclaimed writer and poet.
Tim J. Brennan writes from southeastern Minnesota. His poetry has been published in Whispering Shade, Shampoo, Main Channel Voices, River Walk Journal, and other nice places. Tim’s poem “Hewn” will be featured in this fall’s Talking Stick as a first place winner. His short plays have been widely produced, most recently in NYC.
Don Brenner grew up in Buffalo, New York. He is currently a junior at the University of Fredonia studying for degrees in English and Economics. He hopes to continue writing throughout graduate school in some sort of MFA program.
Anne Brooke has fiction that’s been shortlisted for the Harry Bowling Novel Award, the Royal Literary Fund Awards and the Asham Award for Women Writers. She has also twice been the winner of the DSJT Charitable Trust Open Poetry Competition. Her latest poetry collection is A Stranger’s Table, and her latest novel is Maloney’s Law. Ms. Brooke has a secret passion for bird watching. More information can be found at annebrooke.com.
Vickie Clasby taught Freshmen Composition for what seemed like years, after the completion of her BA in English, but was in fact only months. Realizing she was not well suited for academic life, she worked at various jobs before returning to school and beginning a career which does not embarrass her family, and hoped she’d get this writing thing out of her system. Vickie resides in suburban splendor with her husband and three children, and writes fiction and poetry.
Elizabeth Creith has written flash fiction for the last five years. Her 55-word flash “Companion Animal” placed twelfth in the 2008 Writers’ Union of Canada Postcard Fiction Contest and served as the seed of a novel currently in progress. For ten years she wrote humour for CBC radio, both regional and national. Her flash has appeared in The Linnet’s Wings, Flash Fiction Online, The Lorelei Signal, Maple Tree Review, New Myths and Tuesday Shorts. She currently pays the bills by working part-time with her Australian shepherd, Sky, at the pet store she and her husband own in Sault Ste Marie. Elizabeth lives, writes and commits art in Wharncliffe, Northern Ontario.
Frank Dahai’s works have surfaced online at SmokeLong Quarterly, Flashquake, Pequin, Monkeybicycle and other places. He writes in Bucharest, Romania.
Krissy Domm is a writer from Minneapolis, MN. She has written stories and satire for the majority of her life, and started her own (now defunct) humor zine at 12 years old. Krissy focuses mostly on writing short fiction and flash fiction. She has a BA in Creative Writing from Metropolitan State University.
Renee Emerson was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. Before moving to Boston last year, she had never lived outside her home state. Now she is completing her M.F.A. from Boston University, and her work has appeared in Tar River Poetry, The Blue Earth Review, The American Literary Review and various others. Recently she was the recipient of the Academy of American Poets prize from Boston University. She currently works as a poetry editor for The Basilica Review (readbasilica.com) and as a part-time secretary, writing poetry in her little rented house she shares with her husband.
Joanne Faries, originally from the Philadelphia area, lives in Texas with her husband Ray. Published in Doorknobs & Bodypaint, Off the Coast, OrangeRoom Review, and Salome magazine, she also has stories in Shine magazine, A Long Story Short, and Bartleby-Snopes. Joanne is the film critic for the Little Paper of San Saba. She is a member of Trinity Writers’ Workshop in Bedford, Texas.
Timothy Gager is the author of seven books of poetry and fiction. He has shared the stage with three Pulitzer Prize winners and has been nominated for many awards. He has won nothing. Timothy lives on timothygager.com
Howie Good is a journalism professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz, is the author of eight poetry chapbooks, including Tomorrowland (2008) from Achilles Chapbooks and Love Is a UFO (2009) from Pudding House. He has been nominated three times for a Pushcart Prize and twice for the Best of the Net anthology. His full-length book of poetry, Lovesick, is due from Press Americana this summer. You can drop in on him at apocalypsemambo.blogspot.com/
KJ lives in Orange County with a dog named Mr. Bear. He has work forthcoming in decomp, Yellow Mama, and Oysters and Chocolate. Find his blog that wants followers here: illegalfunk.blogspot.com. Today, KJ wondered why all of the gun stores are sold out of bullets…
K.J. Hannah Greenberg is a former National Endowment for the Humanities awardee. K.J. tramps across literary themes and genres. She devotes her eclectic writing to lovers of slipstream fiction and to oboe players who never got past the second orchestral chair. Some recent homes for her work include: Joyful!, Ken*Again, Language and Culture Magazine, Literary Mama, Poetica Magazine, Poetry Super Highway,The Externalist, The Jerusalem Post,The New Vilna Review, The Shine Journal, Tuesday Shorts, Type-A Mom, and Unfettered Verse.
Kyle Hemmings served as associate poetry editor at Grey Sparrowfor the summer and fall issue, 2009. He was born in the US and holds an MFA in creative writing from National University, California. His stories and poems have been published in various online venues. Kyle’s work gravitates towards the experimental and edgy. Kyle confides his biggest aspiration is to draw like R. Crumb and loves the work of Lynda Barry as well.
David LaBounty’s prose and poetry has appeared in Night Train, the New Plains Review, Word Riot, Pank and other journals. His third novel, Affluenza, has just been released. Affluenza is a tale of debt, consumerism, sexual addiction and pyromania told through the financial rise and fall of an insurance executive who lives beyond his means. David LaBounty lives in Michigan.
Robert Lietz has over 600 publications internationally. He is our 2009 Pushcart nominee for the poem Visconti (2).
Iris Macor lives in North Carolina where she mucks stalls by day and studies Shakespeare by night. She does neither well. Her work has been featured in or is forthcoming from All Things Girl and Yellow Mama.
Mitra is a Malaysian born poet who looks for beauty in the mundane and believes in a constant effort to learn and improve the inner self. Previously published works include “Orderly Women” in Nerve House and “Chant Undone” & “Crossing Borders” in 34th Parallel. She is currently attempting to write better stories starting with short ones.
Stephen Moore grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. After spending 2007 in the desert and most of 2008 back in the Bay, he moved to the Northwest. Some publications over the years have accepted both his poetry and prose. He is currently working on a chapbook comprised of work from 2001 to 2008, which he is calling No Need To Focus.
Ben Nardolilli is a twenty-three year old writer currently living in New York City. His work has appeared in Houston Literary Review, Perigee Magazine, Canopic Jar, and Lachryma: Modern Songs of Lament, Baker’s Dozen, Thieves Jargon, Farmhouse Magazine, Elimae, Poems Niederngasse, The Delmarva Review, Underground Voices Magazine, SoMa Literary Review, Heroin Love Songs, Shakespeare’s Monkey Revue, Literary Fever, and Perspectives Magazine. In addition he was the poetry editor for West 10th Magazine at NYU and maintains a blog at mirrorsponge.blogspot.com.
Anne Moore Odell is a freelance financial journalist, who lives in Vermont with her husband and two sons. Her poetry and fiction has appeared or will appear in Articulate, Broken Bridges, KNOCK, and Cause & Effect.
James S. Oppenheim was born in Washington, D.C., raised in Montgomery County, Maryland, schooled in Oxford, Ohio and resident in half a dozen Maryland towns (and, for a summer, Jacksonville, Florida). Jim has published in Equus, The North American Review, The Washington Post and Firehouse Magazine. He worked as managing editor of the University of Maryland graduate literary magazine, Ethos. He has also had a life in music, producing one album and playing venues from cabin porches in West Virginia to bars in Florida. Today finds him in Hagerstown, Maryland as a photographer, singer/songwriter, and the editor of a blog: Oppenheim Arts & Letters devoted to the understanding of political conflicts and small wars, also art, culture, and language.
Terry Pearce says he is better at writing fiction than bios. If you want to know about him, find out from his characters, who are paragons of his virtues. If you see anything in them you don’t like, the inspiration for it was drawn from colleagues, family and friends. He’s tired of neither London–where he works as a writer of educational materials–nor life, which he visits occasionally, notebook in hand. His work has been published in The Legendary (downdirtyword.com/), and he is a moderator, regular participant and occasional winner in a weekly flash fiction competition at showmeyourlits.com.
Kenneth Pobo had a new book out in 2008 from WordTech Press called Glass Garden. This year, Peshekee River Press is bringing out a new chapbook of his poetry called Tea on Burning Glass. Catch his radio show, “Obscure Oldies,” on Saturdays from 6-8pm EST at WDNR.com.
Meg Pokrass lives in San Francisco. Originally an actress, her flash fiction stories and poetry have appeared or are forthcoming in 3AM, The Pedestal, Toronto Quarterly, Mud Luscious, Juked, Pindeldyboz, Smokelong Quarterly’s Fifth Anniversary Issue,Wigleaf, Elimae, Keyhole, Frigg, Wordriot, The Rose and Thorn, Thieves Jargon, Eclectica, Kitty Snacks, Rumble, and various upcoming anthologies of flash, including Dogs: Wet and Dry. Meg serves as a staffeditor for SmokeLong Quarterly, and will be mentoring with Dzanc’s Creative Writing Sessions. Her blog, with prompts and writing exercises can be foundon: megpokrass.com
Michelle Reale is an academic librarian working in a university library in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Her fiction has been published in Verbsap, elimae, Dogzplot, Laura Hird, Word Riot, Dogmatika, Robot Melon, Ken*Again, Pequin, Apt, Gloom upboard, Blood Orange Review, JMWW, Monkeybicycle, Up the Staircase, and others.
Joseph Reich is still chugging along and sometimes likes to wonder aloud why people don’t appreciate and have forgotten people (& places) like good old Neal Young when you used to make tapes from your friends that would turn all warped and weather-worn and listen to them inside out and upside-down through the mad blistering wasted steamy summers. He’s also been published in a variety of literary journals here and abroad and recently developed a hankering for pure purposes of escape abroad.
Cooper Renner’s fiction has recently appeared in or is forthcoming from New York Tyrant, Keyhole, The Anemone Sidecar, Sleeping Fish and Unscroll. Dr. Polidori’s Sketchbook, his chapbook of text and art, will appear in 2010 from Mud Luscious Press. He is the translator of Chinese Checkers: Three Fictions by Mario Bellatin (Ravenna Press)
Bill Frank Robinson claims to be ‘an old desert rat living near the California Nevada border.’ He doesn’t deny his hermit-like habits, either. A Paiute man once tracked Bill down to tell him that some tourists had seen him waking in the middle of the desert and wanted to know who he was and where he was going. The Paiute man told them it was only Bill and he wasn’t going anywhere. Bill’s work has been published or is forthcoming in a range of online and print journals and anthologies.
Shannon Taggart is a freelance photographer based in Brooklyn, NY. She received her BFA in Applied Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including Blind Spot, TIME and Newsweek. Her photographs have been shown at Photoworks in Brighton, England, The Photographic Resource Center in Boston, Redux Pictures in New York and the Stephen Cohen Gallery in Los Angeles. Her work has been recognized by the Inge Morath Foundation, Photo District News, American Photography and the Alexia Foundation for World Peace, among others.
Mimi Vaquer was born in Savannah, GA, She is currently an 8th grade Language Arts teacher with a passion for all things related to the spoken and written word. Her recent and upcoming publications include Willard and Maple, Foliate Oak, and Steam Ticket Journal.
Ann Walters lives in the Pacific Northwest. Her poems have appeared in Poet Lore, Poetry International, Cider Press Review, Fifth Wednesday Journal, The Pedestal Magazine, and many others. She has poems included in the forthcoming anthologies Eating Her Wedding Dress and In the Telling.
Lesley Weston lives and writes in New York City.
Joseph Young lives in Baltimore. Most recently, his work appeared in Lamination Colony and FRiGG and is forthcoming in Caketrain. A collection of his microfiction will be released by Publishing Genius Press in late 2009. Currently, he is helping to paint a mural with a local artist to which his words will be added. Visit his blog at verysmalldogs.blogspot.com Joseph Young is our 2009 Pushcart Nomineefor excerpts from Easter Rabbit, Five Micros, Issue II.
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