Write a zombie haiku. Send it this way. Be awesome. Win a copy of Buck Downs' Pontiac Fever. Simple enough? Some definition:

Zombie Haiku: Short poem about, involving, or from the point of view of zombie or zombies. Need not be all out 5-7-5 style (syllables, I mean). If you need further definition of 'zombie,' please leave now.

Send it to: submit at rockheals dot com
(as in submit to the zombie fury)

Send it by: Howzabout June 30, 2006 -- that should give you plenty of time.

You could win: a copy of Pontiac Fever from Buck Downs (one winner selected by the official Rock Heals Committee on Zombie Literature)

Announcing Enhanced Gravity: More Fiction by Washington Area Women.

The 18th publication by Paycock Press (begun in 1976 and named for Irish playwright Sean O’Casey’s play Juno and the Paycock) is Enhanced Gravity, the second volume in a trilogy of  anthologies that in the end will gather works by 115+ women from the area and total a massive 1000+ pages.   

Are there really that many women writing fiction in this town?  Here’s the proof.  What are they writing about?  Sex, death, love, hate, birth, murder, children, parents, revenge, the endless war, grim choices in an even grimmer world.

“What do women write?  These stories shout, Everything, from as many points of view.  Think potluck of pungent diversity.  Think rough-edged visions, as opposed to neatly hemmed samplers from Culture, Inc.  Enhanced Gravity surprises and entertains; it horrifies and hurts.  And it enlightens, by modeling a rich, inclusive world.” writes Mollie Best Tinsely, author of Throwing Knives.

TORONTO – June 1, 2006 – Kamau Brathwaite and Sylvia Legris are the International and Canadian winners of the 6th annual Griffin Poetry Prize. The C$100,000 Griffin Poetry Prize, the richest prize in the world for a single volume of poetry, is divided between the two winners. The prize is for first edition books of poetry, including translations, published in English in 2005, and submitted from anywhere in the world.

The awards event was hosted by Scott Griffin, founder of the prize. Simon Armitage, renowned poet, author and playwright assumed the role of Master of Ceremonies. Judges Lisa Robertson and Eliot Weinberger announced the International and Canadian winners for 2006.

More than 400 guests celebrated the awards, including former Governor-General, the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, acclaimed Canadian actors Albert Schultz and Sarah Polley, Senator Jerry Grafstein and his wife Carol, among others. In addition, poets, publishers and other literary luminaries attended the celebration.

The evening's theme was Shangri-La and featured a silk route marketplace replete with banners of fuschia, purple and gold. Hundreds of pigmy orchids and butterflies in a dizzying array of colours adorned the room. The event, which took place at The Stone Distillery in Toronto, offered up a menu of decidedly Asian fusion cuisine. Appetizers included mango and Thai basil sushi rolls, deep-fried plantain, sweet corn tamales, crab cakes on a bed of remoulade, and a sweet potato and jicama salad. The main course featured seared strip loin of beef with a mini risotto wild rice pancake and for dessert, a chocolate fountain with assorted sweets.

To celebrate Golden Handcuffs' 7th issue, there will be readings June 22, 2006 at Spoonbill and Sugartown in Williamsburg, and June 29, 2006 at Cafe Dodo, at Peck Slip and South Street in New York City (this one a party too, with band and drinks, food).

For more information, contact info, and directions to the readings ar Spoonbill, click here.

Source: Golden Handcuffs

Just a reminder to check out some fantastic small presses at the upcoming fair in Toronto! The Spring 2006 Toronto Small Press Book Fair will take place this Saturday 3 June 2006 from 11am-5pm at Trinity-St Paul's Centre. A list of participating presses can be found on their website here.

And after, of course, the readings hosted by Nathaniel Moore! Saturday 3 June 2006 from 6–9pm at The Victory Café (upstairs at 581 Markham Street in Mirvish Village). Emily Schultz, Corrado Paina, John Terpstra, Gary Michael Dault, Jim Nason.

For more information and directions on the fair, click here.

For more information and directions to the reading, click here.