The Maynard

Happy December! This twelfth month of 2021, The Maynard brings to a close the year’s publishing schedule and presents Inter- #13, an interview in the Views Series.

In the Inter-, two previous poetry contributors to The Maynard are invited to say what they most want to say in response to a juicy “sweet” of sixteen questions. The Maynard’s fifth bushel of questions span the practice, publication, and teaching of poetry—then beyond to oranges. The poets’ responses are published side by side.

Lucky Inter- #13 features previous two-time contributors to The Maynard: Laura Cesarco Eglin and Derek Thomas Dew.

Laura Cesarco Eglin contributed one poem to the Spring 2019 issue and two poems to the Fall 2021 issue of The Maynard. At junctions both meticulous and messy, anxious and fearless, concealing and revealing, Laura Cesarco Eglin’s poems investigate remembering and forgetting, illness and healing, secrets and recognition. From the Spring 2019 issue, and also appearing in her chapbook Life, One Not Attached to Conditionals (Thirty West Publishing House, 2020), read the prose poem “Hinges.” In the Fall 2021 issue, read and listen to the juicy and fruity “Say It Delicious” and “Berry-Picking.”

Derek Thomas Dew contributed three poems to the Spring 2018 issue and one poem to the Fall 2020 issue of The Maynard. In their consideration of the destruction of human and natural environments—sexual abuse of a boy and a small town ruined by a dam—Derek Thomas Dew’s poems play “liar’s dice” and “pickaxe nightpale music.” From the Spring 2018 issue, and also appearing in his debut collection Riddle Field (University of Nevada Press, 2020), read “He Ring,” “Liar’s Dice,” and “Confluence.” In the Fall 2020 issue, read “Turf’s Yield” and be called upon to consider the powers and confidence of balconies.

After reading these exciting poems, read Derek Thomas Dew’s and Laura Cesarco Eglin’s responses to The Maynard’s 16 Inter- questions. To entice you...

When asked: Is there something you now think you know about poetry that you wish you’d known a decade ago?

Derek Thomas Dew replied:
“I learned the brighter epiphany is usually the one prepared for, not foraged for,
and that just consistently showing up to throw darts is likely to result in excavating
a premier bullseye.”

When asked: Among the poets you most admire, who has influenced you the least? Why have you not been influenced by his/her/their work?

Laura Cesarco Eglin replied:
“It’s very hard to rank influences in this way. Everything I read influences me because reading helps me learn to find my voice, to try new things, to see what resonates with me more and what doesn’t. Reading others’ work opens possibilities of writing, or worlds.”

To read the poets’ responses in full, click here.

 

Happy August!

This eighth month of 2021 The Maynard continues the Views Series, presenting Inter- #12.

In the Inter-, two previous poetry contributors are invited to say what they most want to say in response to a juicy “sweet” of sixteen questions. The Maynard’s fifth bushel of questions span the practice, publishing, and teaching of poetry—and beyond to oranges.

Inter- #12 features previous contributors: Adam Day and Meredith Quartermain.

Adam Day has contributed six poems to The Maynard, two each to the Fall 2016, Fall 2018, and Spring 2021 issues. Take in Adam Day’s six poems of blazing color and echoing tones of honed attention: “Livingston,” “Cape Celyn,” “Ganapati Brume,” “Yuugen Gulf,” “No Fixed Thing,” and “Space Follows.”

Meredith Quartermain contributed two poems to the Fall 2019 issue of The Maynard, edited by Nick Hauck, Jami Macarty, and Ram Randhawa. Steep in this poet’s meticulous investigations of language’s semantic, associative, and aural potential. Read Meredith Quartermain’s: “Powered by English” and “ Y Pronounced EE.”

Then, read Adam Day’s and Meredith Quartermain’s responses to The Maynard’s 16 Inter- questions. To whet your appetite.

When asked: What characteristics does your ideal poem possess?

Adam Day replied: “In my twenties I seemed to place a lot of value on linearity, narrative, and revelation/catharsis, though from my early teens until that point I had not done so. I don’t think those characteristics are necessarily without value, but they don’t hold a unique place for me in the way that I write, read, think, or see.”

Meredith Quartermain replied: “I started writing in the decade of L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetry, and a lot of my earlier work involves densely patterned investigations of sound, syllable, rhythm, syntax, etc. Writers were expected to “critique” the language that they used... Lately, though, I’ve come to appreciate simpler language that connects the audience to the world of feeling.”

To read the poets’ exciting responses in full, click here.

Happy June!

This sixth month of 2021, The Maynard continues the Views Series, presenting Inter- #11.

In the Inter-, two previous poetry contributors are given open space and word count to say what they most want to say in response to sixteen questions, which the Editorial Board arrived at in 2016 via collaborative inquiry. The Maynard’s fifth bushel of questions span the practice, publishing, and teaching of poetry, and oranges. The poets’ responses are published side by side.

Inter- #11 features previous contributors: Heather Bourbeau and David Ly.

Oakland, CA-based communications strategist and poet Heather Bourbeau has contributed poems to both the Fall 2018 (edited by Nick Hauck, Ram Randhawa, and editorial interns) and the Spring 2021 (edited by Jami Macarty and Ram Randhawa) issues of The Maynard. Visit Bourbeau’s poems of deep devotion—“for safe passage from / this love”—to read them for yourself and to hear her read them to you: “Under the Arbor” from the Fall 2018 issue and “Dreilinden” from the Spring 2021 issue.

Vancouver, BC-based writer and poet David Ly contributed “Descension” to the Spring 2019 issue, edited by Nick Hauck, Jami Macarty, Ram Randhawa, and editorial interns. Read and listen to Ly’s “‘vibes’ in the stairwell of imagination and fantasy.”

Read their poems, then their responses to The Maynard’s questions. To whet your appetite:

When asked: What characteristics does your ideal poem possess?

Heather Bourbeau replied: “A mix of personal, political, and natural or scientific. A swift kick to the gut. Or maybe a lushness that almost overwhelms.”

David Ly replied: “It all boils down to imagery for me, so the ideal poem has the most detailed image ever described in the most minimalist way possible.”

To read the poets’ responses in full and to discover what each poet has to say about Shakespeare, click here.

 

Good February to you!

This second month of 2021, The Maynard continues the Views Series, presenting Inter- #10.

In the Inter-, two previous poetry contributors are given space and word count to say what they most want to say in response to sixteen questions, arrived at in 2016 via collaborative inquiry among the editors. Having responded to the equivalent of a fifth of a bushel of oranges on the practice, publishing, and teaching of poetry, the poets’ responses are published side by side.

Inter- #10 features previous contributors: Nathan Curnow and Otoniya Juliane Okot Bitek. Australian poet Nathan Curnow has contributed poems to both the Spring 2015 (edited by Raoul Fernandes, Mark Hoadley, and Ram Randhawa) and Spring 2018 (edited by Nicholas Hauck, Jami Macarty, and Ram Randhawa) issues of The Maynard. To get a sense of Nathan Curnow’s perspective on sight and aging, check out his four-line wonder, “The doctor asks the elderly poet to read the eyechart.” Curnow’s poems “Wet Parable,” “Duck,” and “Carver,” from the Spring 2018 issue, offer readers perspective on a personal savior who swims, a duck and creativity, and on reading Raymond Carver and a cat playing hard-to-get.

Read and listen to Kenyan-born Otoniya Juliane Okot Bitek’s poignant portrait of Joe, “the uncle, the lover, the friend, the husband, the son, the brother... the father of us all” in “We Could Have Called Him Joe, We Didn’t,” selected by editors Nicholas Hauck, Jami Macarty, and Ram Randhawa for the Spring 2017 issue.

To whet your appetite:

When asked: Is there something you now think you know about poetry that you wish you’d known a decade ago?

Nathan Curnow replied: “The do-or-die poems that have to be written usually speak with a reason and energy above those that come as good passengers along the way.”

Otoniya Juliane Okot Bitek replied: “I wish I knew that poetry was like the playground from our childhood days.”

We invite you to pull up your chair and listen to their considered responses here.

 

 

Happy August!

This eighth month of 2020, The Maynard continues the Views Series, presenting Inter- #9.

In the Inter-, two previous contributors are asked a double Ottava Rima, the equivalent of a fifth of a bushel of oranges, a “sweet” of sixteen questions, and their responses are published side by side.

Inter- #9 features previous contributors: Jordan Abel and Conyer Clayton. Engage with Abel’s “Indian (4)” and “Blood Quantum (8 - 9),” selected for the Fall 2016 issue by editors Nicholas Hauck, Mark Hoadley, Jami Macarty, and Ram Randhawa. Read Conyer Clayton’s “The Malice in My Footsteps,” selected by Nicholas Hauck, Jami Macarty, and Ram Randhawa for the Fall 2017 issue.

Abel and Clayton approach the Inter- questions from their whole, honest selves. To whet your appetite, when asked:

Among the poets you most admire, who has influenced you the least? Why have you not been influenced by his/her/their work?

Jordan Abel replied: “HA! I absolutely love Eden Robinson’s work but could never write like her. Perhaps that is a genre thing, though! I don’t think a narrative prose work is in the cards for me any time soon. Especially not one that involves any characters or dialogue.”

Conyer Clayton replied: “It is hard for me to quantify precise influence, or lack thereof, so I struggle to answer this question. I don’t think I could make the claim that something I’ve read and admired has not influenced me in some way.”

We invite you to pull up your chair and lean into their considered responses here.

 

 

Happy February!

The Maynard presents Inter- #8 in the Views Series.

In the Inter-, previous contributors are asked a double Ottava Rima, the equivalent of a fifth of a bushel of oranges, a “sweet” of sixteen questions.

Inter- #8 features previous contributors to the Fall 2015 issue: Eleanor Kedney and gary lundy. Read and listen to Kedney’s A Fire Hydrant on Camino de la Amapola and Good to See You. Then, take your ears and eyes to lundy’s what do you talk about when unoccupied, desire derives pleasure in the make believe, and aren’t we missing everything.

Then, read their Inter-!

To whet your appetite:

When asked How has publishing your poems changed your writing practice, process, and product?

Eleanor Kedney replied: “Acceptances and rejections have taught me to be more true to what I want to say and trust myself.”

gary lundy replied: “Early in my writing practice when a poem was published I gathered a great deal of affirmation, and, perhaps, too, a kind of permission to continue writing.”

Tune your fine attention to their considered responses here.

 

 

Happy August!

This month The Maynard continues the Views Series, presenting another Inter- View.

In the Inter-, previous contributors are asked a double Ottava Rima, the equivalent of a fifth of a bushel of oranges, a “sweet” of sixteen questions.

This seventh Inter- in the Views Series features previous contributors to the Fall 2017 issue: Dani Spinosa and James Cagney. Engage with Spinosa’s Rebelling, Unrest, and Errata and Cagney’s Ode to a Dessicated Olive and (Love is easier the headless way) which were selected by editors Nicholas Hauck, Jami Macarty, and Ram Randhawa. James Cagney also contributed If You See Something, Say Something to the Fall 2018 issue, which was selected by issue editors Nicholas Hauck and Ram Randhawa.

Spinosa and Cagney approach the Inter- questions from an awareness that comes from writers deeply involved and engaged with their practice. To whet your appetite:

When asked Is there something you once believed about poetry that you no longer hold true? What changed?

Dani Spinosa replied: “I used to be really interested in poetry that tried to eliminate the ego from the work, but the more I sit with that, the more I realize that removing the ego from the writing subject is only useful insofar as that ego is placed back into conversation with others.”

James Cagney replied: “That all poems have to rhyme or all poems are about nature. I assumed as much before I began really reading and writing and listening to poetry. Reading dead white men in my adolescence, I didn’t know you could use poems to talk about real things, like your life.”

Pull up your chair and lean into their considered responses here.

 

 

Happy February!

This month that hosts Chinese New Year—Happy Year of The Pig—and Valentine’s Day, The Maynard continues the Views Series, presenting another Inter- View.

Some play twenty questions. Others ask a baker’s dozen. Poets might ask a Sonnet or Villanelle of questions. The Maynard asks a double Ottava Rima, the equivalent of a fifth of a bushel of oranges, a “sweet” of sixteen questions.

This sixth Inter- in the Views Series features previous contributors and life partners Curtis LeBlanc, whose poems Idling on the North Saskatchewan and In American English were selected by editors Raoul Fernandes, Mark Hoadley, and Ram Randhawa for the Spring 2015 issue and Mallory Tater, whose poems Ottawa Hospital: Eating Disorder Ward and Fans Palms they selected for the Spring 2016 issue.

Leblanc and Tater approach the Inter- questions with straightforward, brass tacks poise. To whet your appetite:

When asked What do you do if you get stuck while writing a poem?

Mallory Tater replied: “I abandon that piece and put those unsuccessful images or lines into my poem scrap folder (on my computer) in case I want to patchwork them into something else another day.”

Curtis LeBlanc replied: “My cure for “the wall” has always been to take a quiet bath. I’ve solved most of my hardest writing problems in the tub.”

Bathe in the entirety of the poets’ responses here.

 

 

Happy August!

This month, The Maynard continues the Views Series, presenting another Inter-. For Interviews, our “sweet” of 16 questions—a double Ottava Rima, the equivalent of a fifth of a bushel of oranges—is answered by two past contributors to the journal and published side by side.

This fifth Inter- in the series features poets Ken Pobo, whose Normal in Our Normal Suburb was selected by issue editors Raoul Fernandes, Mark Hoadley, and Ram Randhawa for the Spring 2015 issue, and Elana Wolff, whose poem Thin Girl, selected by issue editors, Nicholas Hauck, Mark Hoadley, Jami Macarty, and Ram Randhawa was published in the Fall 2016 issue. Here’s a sample of the poets’ responses:

When asked What characteristics does your ideal poem possess?

Elana Wolff replied: “It has to work on my heart and head. It best be plangent, and magical. It should grip, lift, and take me in.”

Ken Pobo replied: “I want it to speak deeply to me, to show me a new view or perspective. Maybe to convict me. I want to be even a bit different after reading and thinking about it.”

Read the poets’ entire responses, resplendent with words “plangent, and magical” here.

 

 

Happy June!

This month, The Maynard continues the Views series, presenting another Inter-. For Interviews, our “sweet” of 16 questions—a double Ottava Rima, the equivalent of a fifth of a bushel of oranges—is answered by two past contributors to the journal and published side by side.

This fourth Inter- in the series features poets Ashley-Elizabeth Best, whose Algonquin was selected by issue editors Raoul Fernandes, Mark Hoadley, and Ram Randhawa for the Spring 2016 issue, and Peycho Kanev, whose two poems Alcohol and Fast-slow Continuum, selected by issue editors, Nicholas Hauck and Jami Macarty, were published in the Fall 2015 issue. Here’s a sample of the poets’ responses:

When asked What can/does poetry change? Ashley-Elizabeth Best replied: “I can only say what poetry does for me... Poetry’s a compulsion I don't fully understand, and to be honest I’m not sure I want to.”

When asked Is there something you once believed about poetry that you no longer hold true? Peycho Kanev replied: “I’m not a religious person, I have only my words to believe in.”

Read the poets’ entire responses chock full of “words to believe in” here.

 

 

 

 

Happy December!

This month, The Maynard continues the Views series, presenting to you, dear reader, another Inter-. For Interviews, our “sweet” of 16 questions—a double Ottava Rima, the equivalent of a fifth of a bushel of oranges—is answered by two past contributors to the journal and published side by side.

This third Inter- in the series features poets C.S. Fuqua, whose Puzzles was selected by issue editors Raoul Fernandes, Mark Hoadley, and Ram Randhawa for the Fall 2013 issue and Adrienne Gruber, whose Mr. Rowbotham, selected by issue editors, Nicholas Hauck and Jami Macarty, was published in the Fall 2016 issue. Of the interview process Adrienne Gruber wrote: “Thank you so much for including me in this project. I loved mulling over these questions.” C S Fuqua wrote: “It’s I who owe you thanks, so thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity.”

Click here to read their gift-responses.

 

 

 

 

This month, The Maynard continues its series: Views, presenting the second Inter-. The format's simple. For Interviews, the same set of questions is sent to two past contributors and we publish their responses side by side.

Some play twenty questions. Poets might ask a sonnet or villanelle of questions. The Maynard asks a double Ottava Rima, the equivalent of a fifth of a bushel of oranges (our mascot!), a “sweet” of sixteen questions.

The second Inter- features Laura Ritland, whose City Life: Citizen and City Life: Summer Parties were published in the Fall 2013 issue and Ace Bogess, whose Why And For What Purpose Is There All This Horror and Is There Something You Are Not Telling Me? were published in the Fall 2015 issue.

Of the interview process Laura Ritland said: “Thanks again so much for these questions—I really enjoyed answering them!” Ace Boggess said: “That was fun. It took me to a few places most interviews don’t.”

Click here to read their responses. You'll be glad you did, for they’ll inspire your thinking...

 

 

In 2016, The Maynard began a new feature Views: Re- and Inter-, to complement the spring and fall issues and dialogue with contemporary poetry. In June and in August, we published Re- 1 and 2. This month, we present the first Inter-. The format's simple. For Interviews, the same set of questions is sent to two past contributors and we publish their responses side by side.

How many questions, you ask? Thank you! Some play twenty questions. Others ask a baker’s dozen. Poets might ask a sonnet or villanelle of questions. The Maynard asks a double Ottava Rima, the equivalent of a fifth of a bushel of oranges, a “sweet” of sixteen questions.

The first Inter- features Parliamentary Poet Laureate George Elliot Clarke, whose “Victoria Summons Hall” was published in the Spring 2015 issue and Vancouver poet Surya Govender, whose “White Socks” was published in the Fall 2015 issue and nominated for the Best of The Net 2016. Click here to read their beautiful, thoughtful, and funny responses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Spring 2014 issue of The Maynard is here! Begin browsing our latest issue by clicking here.

Thanks to those who have submitted to our spring issue! The submissions for poetry are now closed, but we have decided to put out a call for cover art. Please click here for details.