April 2017

“Siren Songs is a place where raw, honest explorations of the self are published. I am most interested in publishing work by those who are exploring trauma, pain, identity, gender, and sexuality – especially by those who identify as queer/trans/non-binary, women, and POC. My own poetry focuses on isolating bizarre and absurd moments in the mundane—and explores the unexplainable supernatural world while remaining colloquial. You could say a surreal yet blunt aesthetic is my jam.” –Joanna C. Valente, CCM Managing Editor and editor of CCM Siren Songs

Debuting as part of CCM’s Fall 2017 Catalogue, the first two titles forthcoming from CCM Siren Songs: In this Quiet Church of the Night, I Say Amen by Devin Kelly and DUMBHEART/STUPIDFACE by Cooper Wilhelm.

Available now from CCM Siren Songs, A Shadow Map: An Anthology by Survivors of Sexual Assault.

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ABOUT SIREN SONGS EDITOR

Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (The Operating System, 2017), Xenos (Agape Editions, 2016) and the editor of A Shadow Map: An Anthology by Survivors of Sexual Assault (CCM, 2017). Joanna received a MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College, and is also the founder of Yes, Poetry, a managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine and CCM, as well as an instructor at Brooklyn Poets. Some of Joanna’s writing has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Brooklyn Magazine, Prelude, Apogee, Spork, The Feminist Wire, BUST, and elsewhere.

We all could stand to read more poetry. I say this as a poet who is immersed in poetry daily. You can never have too much of it–and personally, I don’t understand why more people don’t read poetry more. It’s short, which means you can digest a poem (the first time) anywhere. It’s all very momentary. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t go back to the poem later, and reread it with new eyes.

This is why I’m rounding up 13 women-identifying poets whose work I admire. We can always cope with more poetry, am I right?

1. Abigail Welhouse – “Dawson Gets a Haircut” (Brooklyn Poets)
2. Camille Rankine – “History” (Poetry Foundation)
3. Patricia Spears Jones – “What Beauty Does” (Poetry Foundation)
4. Monica Ferrell – “Emma Bovary” (Poets.org)
5. Marisa Crawford – “Manic Panic” (Poets.org)
6. Rachel Eliza Griffiths – “Dear America” (Four Way Review)
7. Nikki Wallschlaeger – “Blue Tuesdays” (The Feminist Wire)
8. Emily Skillings – “Fort Not” (Hyperallergic)
9. Wendy Xu – “The Window Rehearses” (PEN America)
10. Samgen Chin – “After Have They Run Out of Provinces Yet?” (Yes Poetry)
11. Claire Donato – “Dead Meat” (Poor Claudia)
12. Elisabet Velasquez – “New Brooklyn” (Brooklyn Poets)
13. Hannah Lee Jones – “Insomniac Fugue” (Superstition Review)

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Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (2016, ELJ Publications), & Xenos (2016, Agape Editions) and the editor of “A Shadow Map: An Anthology by Survivors of Sexual Assault” (CCM, 2017). They received their MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College. Joanna is also the founder of Yes, Poetry, as well as the managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine and CCM. Some of their writing has appeared in Prelude, Apogee, Spork The Atlas Review, The Feminist Wire, BUST, The James Franco Review, and elsewhere. They also teach workshops at Brooklyn Poets.

#CopingWith is CCM’s interview series run by managing editor Joanna C. Valente

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Christine Stoddard is a contributor in our anthology “A Shadow Map,” which was released on February 22, 2017. Besides that, however, Stoddard is the editor and founder of Quail Bell Magazine.

Luckily, Stoddard talked to me about her favorite gif, meal, and apocalypse plans:

Describe your favorite meal. Really anything that combines spinach, cheese, and tomatoes, whether it’s spinach enchiladas or spinach lasagna. Call me Popeye.

What music do often you write to, if at all? Everything from No Doubt to Debussy.

What are three books that you’ve always identified with? The Velveteen Rabbit, Love in the Time of Cholera, and Anna Karenina.

Choose one painting that describes who you are. What is it? “The Chick” by Frida Kahlo. Some days, I am the chick. Other days, I am the spider.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choose a gif that encompasses mornings for you.

(I am such a night owl.)

What do you imagine the apocalypse is like? How would you want to die? There is no art and there is no cheese. I hope I die in my husband’s arms, apocalypse or no apocalypse.

If you could only watch three films for the rest of your life, what would they be? This would be tough for me because I have a voracious film appetite, but I guess I would pick “Amélie,” “The Virgin Suicides,” and “Moonstruck.” My answer might change tomorrow!

How would you describe your social media persona/role? It’s decisively fairy punk.

What’s your favorite animal and why? The quail because I run Quail Bell Magazine. It’s my darling and I can’t thrilled to see how it grows.

What do you carry with you at all times? Literally, a book. Figuratively, my imagination.

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Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York. She is the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (The Operating System, 2017), & Xenos (2016, Agape Editions). She received her MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She is also the founder of Yes, Poetry, as well as the managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine and CCM. Some of her writing has appeared in Prelude, The Atlas Review, The Feminist Wire, BUST, Pouch, and elsewhere. She also teaches workshops at Brooklyn Poets.

 

 

Christine Stoddard is a Brooklyn-based writer and visual storyteller who has created or contributed to books, films, museum exhibits, gallery shows, digital campaigns, and more. In 2014, Folio Magazine named her one of the media industry’s top 20 visionaries in their 20s for founding Quail Bell Magazine and Quail Bell Press & Productions.