Don't Muzzle the Ghazal

The Next Issue of The Ghazal Page

Having spent some time assembling a June issue of The Ghazal Page, I have decided to due a summer issue for the months of May, June, and July. I hope to publish it by July 1. I have a number of good ghazals to use in this and future issues.

Speaking of future issues, I've been getting some excellent entries in the moon radif challenge. If you haven't sent anything yet, submissions are welcome until June 30.

Take a look at Lucy Kempton's attractive blog, box elder. She is a photographer as well as a poet.

Ghazal + Villanelle = Guzzanelle

Steffen Horstmann sent me the link for a guzzanelle. What, you ask, is a guzzanelle? Click on the link, read the fine poem by Thomas Rodes, and you'll see. (If you'd like a refresher on the villanelle, Conrad Geller provides a very well-illustrated explanation.)

Given that both the ghazal and the villanelle require extensive repetition, the two forms meld nicely.

The journal publishing this guzzanelle, Umbrella, is new to me. It is nicely designed and well-edited. You'll find some ghazals by Chris Mooney-Singh here. (Chris has several poems in The Ghazal Page.) Another poet who has appeared in The Ghazal Page, Mary Cresswell, also has work in Umbrella.

If you want to submit poems to Umbrella, it has a detailed mission statement that is essential reading for readers and writers.

While I have your attention, there're still two weeks to submit ghazals for the "moon" radif challenge. I have several good ghazals already, but there's room for more.

The next issue should be online by early next week (around June 17, I hope).