Annette C. Boehm's Blog

The title says it all, – I’ve got a new piece (in German, with self-translation and audio recording) that’s up on Hayden’s Ferry Review’s website here: https://haydensferryreview.com/annette-c-boehm as well as in print issue 76 that just came out. I have to say the artwork in this issue, by Antionette Cauley, is just stunning. You can read free samples for issue 76 (with some artwork) here: https://haydensferryreview.com/issue-76

I’ve got a new poem collage out in the world, this time in Ouch! issue 4. You can read the full issue free right here: (At the top of the page, go to the ‘Publications’ tab to get to the digital issues of Ouch!)

https://www.ouchcollective.com

Ouch! 4 is “an international collaboration of over 75 queer, trans, and nonbinary visual artists and writers depicting surreal dreamscapes, genderfluid mythologies, and unbound queer love”. There’s lots of visual art as well as texts to explore.

My piece, Pencil Marks, is again taken from the Hearthstone / Shadowland project (see Oct 2024 post). Hope you enjoy!

Been sitting on this news for a bit, and now the issue is live online as well as physically available, so here goes: I have two poems – in German! – in the new issue of Poetry, along with self-translations of those poems into English. There are also audio recordings on the website.

This link will take you to the issue: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/issue/1614971/november-2024

and these links will take you directly to the poems:

I’m simply delighted to have my work included there, and it feels like a lovely way to end 2024 and look forward to 2025.

It’s October, aka decorative gourd season, and there’s news! I’ve been working on a new project for the past year or so, and you can see the first pieces from it in Petrichor issue 26, hot off the (virtual) press: https://petrichormag.com/petrichor-26/

The text in these poem collages is composed exclusively of words and phrases from an old, disintegrating, sellotaped paperback copy of Carson McCullers’ The Heart is a Lonely Hunter that I found in my local Free Little Library. The working title for the project is Hearthstone / Shadowlands, and it focuses on the neurodivergent experience, association and dissociation. A few more journals have picked up pieces from this manuscript, so there will be more soon if you like what you see in Petrichor.

I’m honored to have my poem “Iridology” featured as part of the New York School Diaspora series over on the Best American Poetry blog. Stop by to read the poem and Angela Ball’s commentary: https://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2024/03/the-new-york-school-diaspora-part-seventy-one-annette-boehm.html

So, after my poem “Credits: Dead Girl #3” appeared in the ghost-themed issue of Room, Rachel Thompson (who edited that issue) reached out to me about appearing on her writing podcast. We did a little interview last month, and it’s the second half of episode 81. The first half is a conversation between Rachel and Rezyl Grace, who also talked about her writing journey as well as about her non-fiction piece.

You can listen to the episode here: https://rachelthompson.co/podcast/81/ (there should also be a transcript available soon) Topics of discussion: how do you choose where to send your work? how do you practice self-care when it comes to writing that is deeply personal? why write / share in the first place? and etc.

Fret not! You don’t have to wait for Halloween to get your spook on! The new issue of Room magazine, which is being printed as I type this, is all about ghosts. You can pre-order your copy here: https://roommagazine.com/shop/ghosts/ Included in this issue is a new poem of mine, “Credits: Dead Girl #3”, as well as a bunch of other spooky / undead / ghostly poetry & fiction. The cover art (see below) is by Amy Friend, and I think it’s just gorgeous.

… so Gutter Magazine, out of Scotland, included me in a a blog spotlight, which you can read here: https://www.guttermag.co.uk/blog/spotlight-rc-thomas-augustijn-van-gaalen-annette-boehm

I’m also very pleased that there will be a new issue of Bone Bouquet sometime in the nearish future, and one of my poems will be in it – a short poem that is dear to me, and that I actually worried might not get picked up anywhere because it is so short. That poem is part of the mental health themed manuscript I’m working on (see previous post), as is the poem that appeared in Gutter.

Room (Canada), Crannog (Ireland) and the upcoming issue of West Branch all have new poems of mine, as does the upcoming issue of Pleiades.

I’ve also been busy working on some visual art / collages. Toying with the idea of a set of postcards or prints – I haven’t decided yet.

My second collection, The Apidictor Tapes, turns 1 this month! If you haven’t read it yet, but want to, why not request it at your local library, or order your own copy new (here: https://www.spdbooks.org/Products/9780898234060/the-apidictor-tapes.aspx ) or used (many places, such as here: bookfinder.com ).

As for brand new poetry, two new poems are live at the Red Ogre Review, complete with audio recordings. You can find them here: https://ogre.red/issues/2023-04/2023-04-boehm-annette-c/

A handful of my poems made it into Querencia Press‘s first women’s, queer, trans and nonbinary (enby) anthology, Not Ghosts, But Spirits – a fat volume with work by over 90 writers and artists. If that sounds like something you’d enjoy, you can pre-order the book here: https://bookshop.org/shop/querenciapress (or ask your local bookseller if they can get a hold of it for you). The book will be out mid-January, as far as I know. All proceeds from this anthology will be donated to the charity Saving our Sisters.

If you want to read some new, previously unpublished poems of mine, get a hold of the latest issue of Poetry South for a poem that is dear to my heart, “Small Animal Soft Tissue”. I’ve also got work forthcoming in Westbranch, Gutter Magazine, and – some self-translations, in German – in the Jan / Feb issue of Sinn & Form.

Tomorrow is the 21st of December, the shortest day of the year. As The Doctor says, “half-way out of the dark.” Here’s to a return of the light, and to a bright 2023.