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And the years zip and zoom by, melting
in the swelter of summer before the next season arrives. Just this past April 28, we—the fans, the readers, the writers,
the staff of The Smoking Poet—gathered in our home town of Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA, to celebrate our fifth
year of publication. We gathered at The Wine Loft, and the place was packed, every seat taken, and listeners lining the walls.
A dozen writers read their work, and many more approached the open mic later in the evening. What a glorious evening it was!
Now what? Onward and upward! Another
issue presented to you here, brilliant with the art work of Brent Spink, rich with the fiction, nonfiction and poetry of our fine writers. Feature writers include Sherry Ackerman, talking to TSP about The Good Life: How to Create a Sustainable and Fulfilling Lifestyle,
and Daiva Markelis, sharing thoughts on her memoir of growing up Lithuanian in the United States, in White
Field, Black Sheep.
Yet nothing stays the same, no, not
even TSP. As we enter our sixth year, we take a moment to reflect on our past many pages. Our literary field of plenty will
surely only grow more lush. We so enjoy the work so many of you send us, from all corners of the world, and we will keep printing
here the very best. We plan to expand also on book reviews, music reviews, and social commentary such as A Good Cause. We will be making more room for what we do best—providing a stage for fine literature—and closing down the Cigar
Lounge after this issue. Our nod of gratitude to Mick Parsons, Cigar Lounge editor, for overseeing many smoky issues
of TSP.
Selfishly, we are also combining the
coming fall issue with winter. As much as I, TSP’s editor-in-chief, love this magazine, it has required a great many
hours to maintain and publish as a quarterly. In result, my own creative writing has had to smolder on the back burner. We
will temporarily go to biannual publication with the next issue—but expand the pages of these issues. Look for more:
more fiction, more nonfiction, more poetry, more art.
Keep up with our news on Facebook and on Twitter. We will keep you updated on deadlines, new themes, the occasional contest, and more fresh ideas for more years of a smokin’
literary magazine. We are here because you are.
With a good word,
Zinta Aistars
TSP Founder and Editor-in-Chief
The Blue
Note
Kontrabass by Andris Sīlis, translated by Zinta Aistars
... and many more reviews posted throughout the season.
Best viewed with Internet Explorer.
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| Milkweed, oil painting by Brent Spink |
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THE SMOKING POET is raising funds
to become an LLC, a limited liability company, so that we can begin taking in revenue from appropriate ads and, from that
revenue, to pay our hardworking editors and excellent writers. We are also raising funds to publish an anthology commemorating
our first five years, collecting in print the best of our best.
Thank you to all our writers, editors
and readers. You are helping us grow. You are helping us continue to develop a place where we can help your
art shine.
Please visit our Marketing, Advertising and Donations page to learn more.
We appreciate your gift.
The SMOKING
POET
Summer 2011
Issue #19
Contributors
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