Woodland Pattern Marathon

I've signed up for the 2009 Woodland Pattern Marathon. This is my first time participating in the marathon so I don't want to look too bad when I hand in my sponsorships list. What I'm saying is this: Sponsor me!
You can give any amount but 35 dollars gets you an all day pass to the event.
I'm in the late shift posse. I'm reading at 11pm but there are several people to see during the day. Just click on the title of the post to check it out.
-Keith

How far does a burdock travel?

So everyone knows you can take some of the poems out and put them in odd or cool places. Well to make that idea more interesting I'm asking anyone who has a copy of any past Burdocks to send me a picture of the poem in action and I'll post it on the blog.
Post a poem somewhere take a photo send it to burdockmagazine@gmail.com and I'll feature it on the blog here.
Past ideas have been bathroom stalls, in the pages of an anthology (to cover up lesser poems), and the bumper of the poetry bus. But NOBODY, myself included has done any of these, the bus was gone when I got back. If you're in the NY area I suggest also sticking Mike Begnal's poem on something Mets related, the picture would be worth it.
Thanks to Aisha and Charlie for the advice. I hope to see something interesting.

Illustrations by Jeremy Mericle

When I asked him to draw the cover for issue one all I told him was I needed something that would take up the whole cover and not leave too much white space. Not that I dislike voids but I just felt like having something big with a logo feel to it. Jeremy is a versatile illustrator. A graduate of MIAD (Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design) he came to the conclusion that most of the modern art coming from academic institutions relies less on anything put on canvass and more on what the artist puts on paper in mission statements. Illustrators have the luxury of allowing stories to dictate goals. As an illustrator his preference for narrative allows him to work with short fiction but his knack for picking out interesting images enables him to work with poetry as well, in fact, his thesis was drawing illustration for the poetry of Omar Khayyám. Another example of this is his work for Jonathan Lohr’s first chapbook Watertown’s Plank Road. The images Mericle chose from the short manuscript demonstrated his skill as an illustrator as well as the understanding and insight that is required to work with poetry in order to enunciate, but not overshadow, the written word. In addition to these contributions he also drew an excellent illustration for the story "Flying Saucer Nights" by Jim Hazard in Burdock the Two. He is currently at work on his own children's book.

Burdock 5 gets some press!

I'm so lazy with updates but luckily the Shepherd Express is on the ball. Click the blog title for the article. It's a nice write up. Thanks to Aisha for taking the time to do something I should have done! With any luck in a few days I should have some contributor info up.

Contributor information for Burdock 5

Here is the promised contributor info. Some of it is very brief but I had to make do with what was given to me.



Michael S. Begnal Lives in Raleigh N.C. where he is mastering a southern accent. He has written two collections of poetry Lakes of Coma (Six Gallery Press) and Ancestor Worship (Salmon) and a long poem Mercury the Dime (Six Gallery Press)




James Blessington Was a runner up for the Wisconsin Arts Board grant in 2006. He writes novels and short prose (when goaded) He is currently putting the finishing touches on a novel about Joe Delany.




Jim Chapson Lives in Milwaukee and works at UWM. He has a book coming out on Arlen House Press called Daphnis and Ratboy. He is also the author of several chapbooks such as The American Coot, Sentimental Journeys, and is a regular contributor to Burdock.




Tyler Farrell's first book Tethered to the Earth is available on Salmon press. He has poems in issues 3-5 of Burdock. In 2008 he was the featured poet at Milwaukee's Irish Fest which is the largest Irish festival not held in Ireland.




Jennifer Kraft, aside from Burdock 5, has been published in the Portland Review. She lives in Milwaukee and attends UWM.




Thomas Kovacich Lives in Milwaukee and is a member of Gallery 218. His primary mediums are painting and sculpture. His artwork appears inside the pages of Burdock 5.




Dolly Lemke is currently attending Grad school at Columbia in Chicago. She has work in Burdock 4 as well. She rides the train back to Milwaukee though whenever something interesting is happening up here.




Jonathan Lohr's First chapbook, Watertown's Plank Road, came out earlier this year on Teppichfresser Press. He is the editor of B-Squad and fan of Brewer's baseball. He also appears in Burdock 4.




James Liddy (1934-2008) James inspired many people to write their own poetry and to read the work of others with more passion and care. He wrote many books in life and two more are set to be released by Arlen House shortly. He was a regular contributor to Burdock and a great friend.




Kristin Ravel is going for a Master of Fine Arts degree at Columbia Chicago.




Joe Reipenhoff is from Milwaukee and is currently the editor of GreenGallery Press. He works in the legal field but has practiced as a photographer, film and videographer, music composer and producer, and most recently as a writer.




Andrew Terhune is originally from Memphis, Tennessee. He is currently in Chicago seeking his MFA at Columbia College and has previously been published in Columbia Poetry Review, Glass, Reconfigurations, and O Sweet Flowery Roses.




Nathan Theis is a film student at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.




Paul Vogel Published two collaborative books of poetry with James Liddy centered on Osip Mandlestam - Sophias and Death Row. He is currently a grad student at UWM.




Shannon Ward is an instructor of creative writing at North Carolina State University, and from 2005-2007, was assistant editor at Longleaf Press. She has work in The Fifteen Project and the forthcoming Spring 2009 issue of Tar River Poetry.





PS: If I got something wrong or you'd really like to know more about one of the contributors (i.e. address, favorite color, dress size, credit card info) let me know burdockmagazine@gmail.com .

Gabe Spangler, who has poetry in issues 1 and 4 of Burdock, filmed and directed this video for Ifihadahifi.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU5qx7VvbU4

Happy Halloween!

5 and 15

There are now enough submissions to fill Burdock 5 so the window is closed.
More info on the release reading will be forthcoming but thanks to all those who submitted.

In addition to this piece of news I have poems up on the 15 Project. Cast your eyes on yonder links section.