Author: Delaney Rose

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AWP 2023 Recap

The Madville Publishing booth at AWP23.

We had a wonderful time at AWP 2023 in Seattle

Poet Rick Campbell reads at the Offsite Reading at The Chieftain Irish Pub: Madville Publishing, Iris Press, and Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Poet Rick Campbell reads at the Offsite Reading at The Chieftain Irish Pub: Madville Publishing, Iris Press, and Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum reads at the Offsite Reading at The Chieftain Irish Pub: Madville Publishing, Iris Press, and Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Andrew McFadyen-Ketchum reads at the Offsite Reading at The Chieftain Irish Pub: Madville Publishing, Iris Press, and Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis reads at the Offsite Reading at The Chieftain Irish Pub: Madville Publishing, Iris Press, and Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis reads at the Offsite Reading at The Chieftain Irish Pub: Madville Publishing, Iris Press, and Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Queen Dolly regally awaits selfies with fans at the Book Fair! Photo by Lee Zacharias. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Queen Dolly regally awaits selfies with fans at the Book Fair! Photo by Lee Zacharias. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Wondra Chang reads from her Sonju during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Wondra Chang reads from her Sonju during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Jenny Molberg reads during the Madvillans Read Event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Jenny Molberg reads during the Madvillans Read Event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author and photographer Lee Zacharias takes a photo with authour Michael Gills. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author and photographer Lee Zacharias takes a photo with authour Michael Gills. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Mike Hilbig reads at the Offsite Reading at The Chieftain Irish Pub: Madville Publishing, Iris Press, and Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Mike Hilbig reads at the Offsite Reading at The Chieftain Irish Pub: Madville Publishing, Iris Press, and Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Anna Sandy-Elrod reads during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Anna Sandy-Elrod reads during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Michael Gills reads from The Green Mage during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Michael Gills reads from The Green Mage during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis reads during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis reads during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Maurice Carlos Ruffin and Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis take a photo with Dolly at the Book Fair. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Maurice Carlos Ruffin and Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis take a photo with Dolly at the Book Fair. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Poet Rick Campbell reads from his collection Gunshot, Peakcock, Dog at Madvillans Read. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Poet Rick Campbell reads from his collection Gunshot, Peakcock, Dog at Madvillans Read. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Kari Gunter-Seymour reads during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Kari Gunter-Seymour reads during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Writer Cherise Pollard reads during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Writer Cherise Pollard reads during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Former Texas Poet laureate Karla K. Morton reads from her collection, Turbulence and Fluids, during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Former Texas Poet laureate Karla K. Morton reads from her collection, Turbulence and Fluids, during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Writer Troy E. Wilderson reads during the The Urban and Rural: Writing about Poverty panel. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Writer Troy E. Wilderson reads during the The Urban and Rural: Writing about Poverty panel. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Bruce Overby reads from The Cyclone Release at the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Bruce Overby reads from The Cyclone Release at the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Ulrick Casimir reads at the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Ulrick Casimir reads at the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Lisa Lanser Rose reads at the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Lisa Lanser Rose reads at the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Mike Hilbig reads during the Madvillains Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Mike Hilbig reads during the Madvillains Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Jodi Angel speaks during the The Urban and Rural: Writing about Poverty panel. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Jodi Angel speaks during the The Urban and Rural: Writing about Poverty panel. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Poet Raye Hendrix reads during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Poet Raye Hendrix reads during the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Former Texas Poet laureate Karla K. Morton reads from her collection, Turbulence and Fluids, at the Offsite Reading at The Chieftain Irish Pub: Madville Publishing, Iris Press, and Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Former Texas Poet laureate Karla K. Morton reads from her collection, Turbulence and Fluids, at the Offsite Reading at The Chieftain Irish Pub: Madville Publishing, Iris Press, and Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Lisa Lanser Rose reads at the Madvillans Read event.
Author Lisa Lanser Rose reads at the Madvillans Read event.
Michael Gills reads from The Green Mage during the Madvillans Read event.
Michael Gills reads from The Green Mage during the Madvillans Read event.
Former Texas Poet laureate Karla K. Morton reads from her collection, Turbulence and Fluids, during the Madvillans Read event.
Former Texas Poet Laureate Karla K. Morton reads from her collection, Turbulence and Fluids, during the Madvillans Read event.
Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis, author Lisa Lanser Rose, unknown, and writer Cherise Pollard take a group photo.
Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis, author Lisa Lanser Rose, unknown, and writer Cherise Pollard take a group photo before setting up the Book Fair booth.
Author Kari Gunter-Seymour reads during the Madvillans Read event.
Author Kari Gunter-Seymour reads during the Madvillans Read event.
All the books ready to go to the Book Fair!
All the books ready to go to the Book Fair!
Author Jenny Molberg reads during the Madvillans Read Event.
Author Jenny Molberg reads during the Madvillans Read Event.
Author Anna Sandy-Elrod reads during the Madvillans Read event.
Author Anna Sandy-Elrod reads during the Madvillans Read event.
The view from the conference hotel in Seattle.
The view from the conference hotel in Seattle.
Writer Cherise Pollard reads during the Madvillans Read event.
Writer Cherise Pollard reads during the Madvillans Read event.
Our beautiful booth, stocked with books for AWP 2023!
Our beautiful booth, stocked with books for AWP 2023!
Bill Davis sightseeing in Seattle before AWP 2023.
Bill Davis sightseeing in Seattle before AWP 2023.
Author Stephanie Powell Watts during the Urban and Rural: Writing about Poverty panel.
Author Stephanie Powell Watts during the Urban and Rural: Writing about Poverty panel.
Michael Gills speaks during the Urban and Rural: Writing about Poverty panel.
Michael Gills speaks during the Urban and Rural: Writing about Poverty panel.
Sightseeing in Seattle before AWP 2023.
Sightseeing in Seattle before AWP 2023.
Poet Raye Hendrix reads during the Madvillans Read event.
Poet Raye Hendrix reads during the Madvillans Read event.
Sightseeing in Seattle before AWP 2023.
Sightseeing in Seattle before AWP 2023.
Cat Smith and Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis pose in front of the Madville Publishing booth poster at AWP 2023.
Cat Smith and Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis pose in front of the Madville Publishing booth poster at AWP 2023.
Author Bruce Overby reads from The Cyclone Release at the Madvillans Read event.
Author Bruce Overby reads from The Cyclone Release at the Madvillans Read event.
Francine Rodriguez laughs as Jodi Angel speaks during the The Urban and Rural: Writing about Poverty panel.
Francine Rodriguez laughs as Jodi Angel speaks during the The Urban and Rural: Writing about Poverty panel.
Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis reads at the Offsite Reading at The Chieftain Irish Pub: Madville Publishing, Iris Press, and Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis reads at the Offsite Reading at The Chieftain Irish Pub: Madville Publishing, Iris Press, and Stephen F. Austin State University Press. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Jodi Angel reads at the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Author Jodi Angel reads at the Madvillans Read event. Photo by Lee Zacharias.
Cat Smith and author Francine Rodriguez eat dinner at Ristorante Barolo Ristorante.
Cat Smith and author Francine Rodriguez eat dinner at Ristorante Barolo Ristorante.
Former Texas Poet Laureate Karla K. Morton and Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis pose in front of the Dolly poster. Karla is holding a stack of copies of her poetry collection, Turbulence and Fluids.
Former Texas Poet Laureate Karla K. Morton and Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis pose in front of the Dolly poster. Karla is holding a stack of copies of her poetry collection, Turbulence and Fluids.
Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis and author Stephen Powers take a photo in front of the Dolly poster.
Madville Publishing founder Kim Davis and author Stephen Powers take a photo in front of the Dolly poster.
Lana K. W. Austin, author of Like Light, Like Music, reads at the Offsite Reading at The Chieftain Irish Pub: Madville Publishing, Iris Press, and Stephen F. Austin State University Press.
Lana K. W. Austin, author of Like Light, Like Music, reads at the Offsite Reading at The Chieftain Irish Pub: Madville Publishing, Iris Press, and Stephen F. Austin State University Press.
Author Susan O’Dell Underwood reads at the Madvillans Read event.
Author Susan O’Dell Underwood reads at the Madvillans Read event.
Author Mike Hilbig reads during the Madvillains Read event.
Author Mike Hilbig reads during the Madvillains Read event.
Author Francine Rodriguez gets a photo with the Dolly poster at the AWP Book Fair.
Author Francine Rodriguez gets a photo with the Dolly poster at the AWP Book Fair.
Francine Rodriguez reads from A Woman's Story during the Urban and Rural: Writing about Poverty panel.
Francine Rodriguez reads from A Woman’s Story during the Urban and Rural: Writing about Poverty panel.
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2022 Arthur Smith Poetry Prize Winners

A photo of poet Linda Ravenswood.

Madville is pleased to announce that linda ravenswood‘s poetry collection, a poem is a house, is the winner of our 2022 Arthur Smith Poetry Prize, judged by Charlotte Pence!

Yiskah Rosenfeld was the first runner-up with her collection Tasting Flight.

We received 52 total submissions. The first round was read by Candance Reaves and Catherine Pritchard Childress, and winners were chosen from a shortlist of amazing work by 

a poem is a house

by linda ravenswood

Winner of The 2022 Arthur Smith Poetry Prize
Upcoming publication date Spring 2024

A photo of poet Linda Ravenswood.

“a poem is a house pushes against the borders of poetry to emphasize how all borders are a construct: geopolitical, literary, and personal. Each poem in this outstanding collection reinvents itself, employing a range of forms, such as visual poems and broken poetry cycles, to recreate vivid details of the speaker’s experiences as someone who grew up in California with Mexican ancestry.

Throughout this book, readers experience a state of bardo, a sense of existing between states: between different cultures, between safety and violence, and perhaps most of all, between past and present. Like memory itself, these poems thrive on elision, repetition, and reversal. Take for example an evocative poem placed early in the book: ‘To live at the scene of an accident.’ The two-line poem simple states: ‘To go on living / at the scene of the crime.’ Such sparsity emphasizes the stark reality of the situation and faces it directly without adorned language that could distract from the fact’s horror. What’s more, the book presents readers with four variations of this poem, emphasizing how trauma is not only situated in the past, but something that interrupts the present—and never leaves the body.

One poem tells readers that ‘this is not really a lullaby for the end of the world this is a map to the beginning of the body.’ Such a statement is not a dichotomy, but simply a reality wherein grief and celebration share spaces. a poem is a house is a dazzling accomplishment that presents a new and unique poetic vision.”

—Charlotte Pence, final judge for the 2022 Arthur Smith Poetry Prize, and author of Code

linda ravenswood is a poet and performance artist from Los Angeles and the founder and editor-in-chief of The Los Angeles Press. Her previous books include Cantadora — Letters from California, The Stan Poems, Tlacuilx, X LA Poets, and Hymnal.

Tasting Flight

by Yiskah Rosenfeld

Finalist for The 2022 Arthur Smith Poetry Prize
Upcoming publication date Spring 2024

“A yearning dominates the vibrant poems in Tasting Flight, specifically the desire to be enough. Of course, though, one is always enough. The observant, insightful, and confident speaker in these poems knows this truth intellectually, but searches to internalize such knowledge as in this breathtaking poem ‘Bird Call Koan with Glossary’:

Across the hall I lay in the dark contemplating this, the infinitely expanding universe of what I don’t know. Stars exploding and being born. Moons in our own solar system still uncounted. And yet some things I think I know with certainty: I’m not pretty. I don’t deserve to be loved. 

If I trill my mating call, who will answer me? 

I forget the moon is always whole.

These lines are representative of the well-crafted poetry readers will find in this book, each poem creating scenes with such vivid details, readers feel as if they are with the speaker, perhaps as an adult gazing at the stars or as a child hiding behind the Life cereal box.  Not only are the details engaging, but the form of each poem closely aligns with its subject, be it in the form of a question mark or the dwindling lines in ‘Submission Guidelines.’ All of the poems are deeply rooted in the lyrical tradition, following the switchbacks and curves of a mind always in motion, perhaps contemplating the beauty of moths at night or the intricacies of raising a child. Whatever the subject, Tasting Flight is a book that sings back to the exploding stars.

Yiskah Rosenfeld balances solo parenting with freelance teaching in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her poetry has appeared in The Seattle Review, The Bitter Oleander, Lilith Magazine, Rattle, Cottonwood, Full: An Anthology of Moon Poems, and The Ravens Perch.

The longlist included:

     

      • Only the Finest Track Stars Smoke Newports by Susan Leary

    The shortlist included:

       

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      Pulpwood Queens 2023 Recap

      We had a great time spreading madness at the 23rd annual INTERNATIONAL PULPWOOD QUEENS AND TIMBER GUYS BOOK CLUB READING NATION CONVENTION!

      We were proud to represent the following incredible past and current Pulpwood Queens authors:

      See some of our favorite mad moments below!

      • Author Antonina Duridanova (New Beginnings: From Behind the Iron Curtain to America) dances during the "Hair Ball."
        Author Antonina Duridanova
      • Keynote author J. Lawrence Matthews (One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes), author Ruthie Landis (Acting Lessons for Living: Guided Journal), author Kathy Ramsperger (The Shores Of Our Souls), author T.K. Thorne (Behind the Magic Curtain), [Unknown]. [Unknown], [Unknown], author Lara Bernhardt (Red Rain), and author Beth M. Howard (Making Piece) pose for a group photo during the Author Meet and Greet and Book Launch for Anju Gattani's "Dynasties" event.
        J. Lawrence Matthews, Ruthie Landis, Kathy Ramsperger, T.K. Thorne, [pending]. [pending], [pending], Lara Bernhardt, and author Beth M. Howard
      • Author Robert Gwaltney (The Cicada Tree) hugs author Laura (Recent book name here) while keynote speaker and author J. Lawrence Matthews (One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes)
        Author Robert Gwaltney (The Cicada Tree) hugs author Laura (Recent book name here) while Tracy Carnes (The Darlings of Sundance: A Novel) and keynote speaker and author J. Lawrence Matthews (One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes) share a chuckle during the “Hair Ball.”
      • Madville founder Kim Davis and author Robert Gwaltney (The Cicada Tree) pose together for a photograph during the Author Meet and Greet event. Photo by author and photographer Lee Zacharias (What a Wonderful World This Could Be).
        Madville founder Kim Davis and author Robert Gwaltney (The Cicada Tree) pose together for a photograph during the Author Meet and Greet event.
      • Authors Cassandra King Conroy (Tell Me a Story) and Wondra Chang (Sonju) chat during the Author Meet & Greet event.
        Authors Cassandra King Conroy (Tell Me a Story) and Wondra Chang (Sonju) chat during the Author Meet and Greet and Book Launch for Anju Gattani’s Dynasties event.
      • Keynote Author J. Lawrence Matthews discusses his latest book, One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes.
        Keynote Author J. Lawrence Matthews discusses his latest book, One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes.
      • Author Antonina Duridanova (New Beginnings: From Behind the Iron Curtain to America) laughs during the "Hair Ball," and is photobombed by Liz Davis' hand.
        Madville’s own Lee Zacharias
      • Author Eileen Sanches (Freedom Lessons: A Novel) dances during the "Hair Ball."
        Author Eileen Sanches (Freedom Lessons: A Novel) dances during the “Hair Ball.”
      • Madville founder Kim Davis laughs as a patron browses the Madville books available at our table.
        Madville founder Kim Davis laughs as a patron browses the Madville books available at our table.
      • Keynote author J. Lawrence Matthews, (One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes), and Pulpwood Queens founder Kathy L. Murphy, (The Pulpwood Queens’ Tiara Wearing, Keynote author J. Lawrence Matthews, (One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes), and Pulpwood Queens founder Kathy L. Murphy, (The Pulpwood Queens’ Tiara Wearing, Book Sharing Guide to Life), are photographed laughing together during the Author Meet and Greet and Book Launch for Anju Gattani's "Dynasties" event.
        Keynote author J. Lawrence Matthews, (One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes), and Pulpwood Queens founder Kathy L. Murphy, (The Pulpwood Queens’ Tiara Wearing, Book Sharing Guide to Life), are photographed laughing together during the Author Meet and Greet and Book Launch for Anju Gattani’s “Dynasties” event.
      • Pulpwood Queen's founder Kathy L. Murphy's son-in-law dresses up in a hat, scarf, and glasses and salutes with author Tracy Lea Carnes (The Darlings of Sundance) and a painting of her book cover. Book cover art by Pulpwood Queens founder Kathy L. Murphy.
        Pulpwood Queen’s founder Kathy L. Murphy’s son-in-law dresses up in a hat, scarf, and glasses and salutes with author Tracy Lea Carnes (The Darlings of Sundance) and a painting of her book cover. Book cover art by Pulpwood Queens founder Kathy L. Murphy.
      • Three Pulpwood Queens atendees take a moment to check in with the outside world and scroll on their phone.
        Three Pulpwood Queens atendees take a moment to check in with the outside world and scroll on their phone.
      • Madville Founder Kim Davis wears a sari during the Author Meet and Greet and Book Launch for Anju Gattani's "Dynasties" event.
        Madville Founder Kim Davis wears a sari during the Author Meet and Greet and Book Launch for Anju Gattani’s “Dynasties” event.
      • Author Carol Van De Hende shows off her novel, Orchid Blooming.
        Author Carol Van De Hende shows off her novel, Orchid Blooming.
      • Film crew members author Mark Green, Drew, and R.J. smile for the camera as they watch the convention chaos.
        Film crew members author Mark Green, Drew, and R.J. smile for the camera as they watch the convention chaos.
      • Authors Robert Gwaltney of (The Cicada Tree) keynote speaker and author J. Lawrence Matthews (One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes) pose with Kim Davis' daughter, Liz Davis, during the "Hair Ball."
        Authors Robert Gwaltney of (The Cicada Tree) keynote speaker and author J. Lawrence Matthews (One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes) pose with Kim Davis’ daughter, Liz Davis, during the “Hair Ball.”
      • Authors Zoe Disigny (The Art of Traveling Strangers), keynote speaker J. Lawrence Matthews (One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes), Carol Van Den Hende (Orchid Blooming), and keynote author Ann Hood (Fly Girl: A Memoir) take a selfie at the Over the Moon” “Hair Ball.”
        Authors Zoe Disigny (The Art of Traveling Strangers), keynote speaker J. Lawrence Matthews (One Must Tell the Bees: Abraham Lincoln and the Final Education of Sherlock Holmes), Carol Van Den Hende (Orchid Blooming), and keynote author Ann Hood (Fly Girl: A Memoir) take a selfie at the Over the Moon” “Hair Ball.”
      • Author Robert Gwaltney (The Cicada Tree) moderates the Book & Film panel with Author/Screenwriter, Tracy Carnes of (The Darlings of Sundance: A Novel) and Pulpwood Queens founder Kathy L. Murphy, who created the cover art for Tracy’s book.
        Author Robert Gwaltney (The Cicada Tree) moderates the Book & Film panel with Author/Screenwriter, Tracy Carnes of (The Darlings of Sundance: A Novel) and Pulpwood Queens founder Kathy L. Murphy, who created the cover art for Tracy’s book.
      • Madville founder Kim Davis and her daughter Liz Davis pose with author Anju Gattani and her new book, Dynasties, at the Author Meet and Greet/Launch Party for Dynasties.
        Madville founder Kim Davis and her daughter Liz Davis pose with author Anju Gattani and her new book, Dynasties, at the Author Meet and Greet and Book Launch Party for Anju Gattani’s “Dynasties” event.
      • Author Anju Gattani (Dynasties) dances during the "Hair Ball."
        Author Anju Gattani (Dynasties) dances during the “Hair Ball.”
      • Anju Gattani (Dynasties) poses with a bookclub member dressed as a cow during the "Hair Ball."
        Anju Gattani (Dynasties) poses with a bookclub member dressed as a cow during the “Hair Ball.”
      • Alice C. Early and [pending]

      We hope you’ll come get MAD with us at Pulpwood Queens next year!

      Find out more and register for 2024’s Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys convention today!

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      Rita Quillen’s Poetry a 2023 Pulpwood Queens Selection

      Front cover of Some Notes You Hold: Poems by Rita Simms Quillen. Cover art "Layers (Blue Wings) by Suzanne Stryk shows blue bird wings layered over newspaper clippings and dry leaves. Two awards are on the cover, a silver one and a pink one

      Madville Publishing is excited for one of our favorite authors, Rita Quillen. Her poetry collection, Some Notes You Hold, has been selected as an International Pulpwood Queens & Timberwood Guys Book Club bonus pick for 2023!

      Front cover of Some Notes You Hold: Poems by Rita Simms Quillen. Cover art "Layers (Blue Wings) by Suzanne Stryk shows blue bird wings layered over newspaper clippings and dry leaves. Two awards are on the cover, a silver one and a pink one

      The selection of Some Notes You Hold, Rita Quillen’s beautiful, introspective poetry collection published by Madville in October, 2020, was announced at the International Pulpwood Queen and Timber Guy Girlfriend’s Weekend Book Club Convention on Amelia Island. We are particularly proud of this selection as it is unusual for a poetry book to catch the attention of a book club. In this case, the Pulpwood Queens knew Rita Sims Quillen already, as last year, they read her novel, Wayland.

      A little about the book:

      Some Notes You Hold: Poems is about surviving what life throws at us as we age. The so-called “golden years” are so named because of the high admission price—the tremendous losses, disappointments, illnesses, and failures we all experience if we live long enough. The first part of the book, called “Letting Go,” focuses on surviving deep grief. The middle section is a musical interlude, exploring the tremendous power of music to heal us mentally, physically, and spiritually and to reorder our thinking and our emotions. The last section, “Holding On,” explores the roads leading to survival: prayer and meditation, communion with the natural world, and writing. The price paid for those “golden years” leads to the prize: insight, joy, and a kind of peace we were incapable of when we were young. read more…

      The Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Weekend 2023 on Amelia Island in Florida. Shows a sepia-toned woman on a moon with a brown background.

      In addition to this surprise bonus pick, Madville Publishing is also proud to represent these current and past Pulpwood Queen authors at this convention: