Don't Muzzle the Ghazal

September Songs

The September issue of The Ghazal Page is now online. I hope that you will not only read it, but enjoy at least some of the six poems presented. There's a stronger thematic thread than sometimes: loss, aging, time, and dancing as a way of transcending these things.

If you have responses to any of the poems or about the issue as a whole (or the Editor's Comments), and you'd like to share your responses, please submit them as a comment to this post.

If you are writing ghazals, don't overlook the sugar radif challenge. Keep my bowl full and my cubes stacked high!

"Fresh Takes on the Moon"

The second radif challenge is over; the results are to be found on the Moon Radif Challenge pages.  There are 20 poems here by 15 poets, each poem demonstrating a "fresh take" on the moon. One of the contributors, Susan J. Erickson, commented on the isse, "these ghazals demonstrate that there are still fresh takes on the moon." These ghazals all use "moon" as the radif; some also use qafiya and other features of the traditional Persian ghazal. What I hope is that a reading of these poems will impress you with the range and variety of "takes on the moon."

The first two radif challenges went very well, so I have decided to make the radif challenge a standard part of The Ghazal Page. The next challenge is given on The Ghazal Page's main page. Entries are welcome, but please read the rules before sending a poem. Submissions should be in the body of an email.  As always, I prefer plain text emails. Email with special formatting can pose a real problem for interpreting the poet's intention. Plain text doesn't allow formatting of styles, but you can mark *bold* text by putting it between asterisks and /italicized/ text by putting it between front slashes (virgules).

Because of the limits of my time and energy, I've decided not to publish editor's comments along with these poems. I do invite your comments and responses to this post, however. Your thoughtful comments on the poems in the moon challenge issue will add a good dimension to this issue.

Belated Announcment

I posted the special summer issue of The Ghazal Page last weekend. It has three pages in it, equating to the issues for May, June, and July that didn't get published. There is a total of fifteen ghazals by seven poets. Some of the poets have appeared on The Ghazal Page before; others are new.

I hope you'll visit and read these poems. If you have comments or responses, send them as comments to this post.

Here's an announcement of something to come: The moon radif challenge is over; I'm putting the special issue together and expect to publish it sometime next week. There are 20 good ghazals there, all with "moon" as the radif. When the issue is published, I'll put a note here.

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.

Radif Challenge: "Moon"

On the index to The Ghazal Page, I announce a second radif challenge, using "moon" this time. I've received several ghazals in response but would definitely like to see more.

The original announcement had two different closing dates, June 1 and June 30. I've corrected that. The "real" date is June 30.

Through the hospital window, reflections of the moon
Hospital gown gapes—expressions of the moon.

Follow Up to Format for Submitting Ghazals

When I wrote the post below about the format for submitting ghazals, I was in a cranky mood. (I'm sure you noticed that!) It is frustrating sometimes to have to clean up a file that has been formatted, to reformat so that it will display well in HTML. However, if I insisted on strict plain text for submissions, I would have fewer.

Here's a non-cranky qualification: I much prefer true plain text submissions; I will probably return submissions already marked up for HTML and submissions that are heavily formatted and ask that they be resubmitted without the formatting if I'm interested in publishing them.

Please do not be discouraged from submitting ghazals. Do so in plain text if at all possible; if it isn't, use a minimum of formatting and tell me separately how you'd like it to appear.

The Ghazal Page has grown over the last nine years; I hope to see it continue to grow and to publish good ghazals and encourage the adaptation of the ghazal as a form for poems in English.

And the Clouds & Rain Just Kept Comin' . . .

In the course of the clouds and rain radif challenge, several poets sent ghazals that got lost somehow. They were good ghazals, too. When I announced that the issue was up, I got several emails: What happened to my ghazal?

Fortunately, the poets sent the ghazals again, and they are now in the Clouds and Rain Special Issue: Ahmed Masud, Tree Riesener, R. W. Watkins, Bill Batcher, and Margaret Bell.

Another brief note: You may find The Ghazal Page not working right for awhile this evening. I'm changing it to a different host. That change should've been seamless, but I'm not familiar with the procedure. It should return to normal in a few hours. (It's 7:30 PM CDT, USA, March 14, 2008 as I write this post.)

The clouds and rain issue really is wonderful, with a wide variety of themes and styles. I'm really tickled with it and am looking forward to the results of the "moon radif challenge." There are 18 poems by 16 poets in the clouds and rain issue. Give me a real challenge and double that for the moon challenge.

Format for Submitting Ghazals

Here're a few comments on submitting poems to The Ghazal Page. If you follow these points carefully, there will be fewer problems.

• Submit ghazals in the body of a plain text email. Why? Plain text isn't formatted; if you send poems that are formatted, I have to remove all the formatting marks and add the ones I need to use.
• If you must send an attachment, save it in text-only format. Why? Same reason as first point.
• Please do not try to help by tagging your ghazal for HTML. I'm moving toward complete compliance with XHTML standards, including CSS. Inevitably, I would need to make changes. Using HTML editors will not help.
• Indicate what special formatting you want. You may enclose text that /you want to appear in italics/ in front slashes and text that *you want in bold* in asterisks. (These are ancient conventions in email.)
• I always post proof copies of an issue before publishing it. You can see what your ghazal looks like formatted. I'm willing to work with you to get it as close to the way you want it as XHTML will allow.

Please know that, if I open a submission and find it is heavily formatted (script font, colored text, and less noticeable things), I will return it.

Having said that, I look forward to an increasing flow of increasingly good ghazals.

"Clouds & Rain" Online

The clouds and rain radif challenge has reached its goal: a special issue of The Ghazal Page, presenting 13 excellent ghazals using the phrase "clouds and rain" as the radif. I'm very pleased with the results. Please have a look: I hope you'll be pleased as well.

The second radif challenge will be to use the radif "moon"; poets may add an adjective — full moon, autumn moon, hunter's moon, and so on, but the same adjective should be used consistently throughout.

The deadline is 2008 June 30. Please use "moon" in the subject line of an email submitting your ghazal(s) (up to three). Also, please send entries in the body of a plain text email, not as attachments or in formatted email.

Meanwhile, I plan to publish monthly issues; the next one will be about April 1.

Clouds & Rain in March

Two exciting items are coming up on The Ghazal Page.

The March issue should go online next weekend, perhaps Friday evening. The issue has six ghazals by three quite different poets. C W Hawes and Sukhdarshan Dhaliwal have appeared before; Bernard Gieske is new to The Ghazal Page, with a couple of very strong ghazals.

The other exciting item is the special Clouds and Rain issue. I've begun compiling it and hope to publish it within two weeks. Some of the poets are new to The Ghazal Page, and others have appeared here before.

The results of the radif challenge were very satisfying. I plan to announce another soon. Different poets using the same radif leads to some exciting contrasts. When the special issue is online, I will post a notice here.