Siel Ju

Category: Poetry

  • I’m reading at the Poetry Circus

    I’m reading at the Poetry Circus

    If you’d like to hang out with me in person this summer, come to The Poetry Circus #6: Circus Noir next Saturday.

    Organized by Nicelle Davis whom I’ve been reading with a lot lately, The Poetry Circus is an interactive art event series described as “part workshop, community outreach, performance, ride, dance, and creation.” There’ll be poets, the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, face painting, light refreshments, and circus acts! Here’s the schedule:

    When: Sat., July 13, 2019, 5 pm-10 pm
    Where: The Griffith Park Merry-go-round
    Cost: Free, but if you’re into it, The Poetry Circus has a gofundme campaign going on.

    I’ll be reading in round 3, at 8:20 pm, though I’ve been already warned by previous attendees that the schedule usually gets behind due to the tendency of poets to go on way past their time limit (Poets — quit doing that, seriously!).

    See you soon —

  • I’m reading at Poetry Palooza 5/2

    I’m reading at Poetry Palooza 5/2

    Though I mostly write fiction now, I did go to grad school for poetry — and have published two poetry chapbooks I rarely get to read from. But I’ll be doing that in a couple days at Poetry Palooza!

    Poetry Palooza is an annual event organized by the Northridge Creative Writing Circle, a student group at Cal State Northridge. This year, it happens Thu., May 2. I’ll read at 5 pm in Jerome Richfield Hall, room 201 (driving directions here).

    Looking forward to getting to read with Nicelle Davis again — and to meeting Sophia Apodaca. Thank you to Sam Bowers and other Cal State Northridge students for organizing this event.

  • I’m reading at the Southern California Poetry Festival in Long Beach 9/10

    I’m reading at the Southern California Poetry Festival in Long Beach 9/10

    Southern California Poery FestivalThe first ever Southern California Poetry Festival happens next month in Long Beach. Organized by Sonia Greenfield and Donna Hilbert in partnership with The Poetry Foundation, the weekend affair going to be two days filled with readings, panels, and keynotes — topped off with cocktail hours at The Brass Lamp Book Bar!

    Hear luminaries like Amy Gerstler and Henri Cole, discover a dozen or so local literary journals, and find out about local bookish nonprofits. There’ll even be a panel moderated by former book critic of the Los Angeles Times David Ulin, with the provocative title, “Does SoCal Have a Voice?” I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the panelists — Marilyn Chin, Suzanne Lummis, Luis Rodriguez, Ralph Angel — are probably going to say yes.

    I’ll be reading with the Los Angeles Review crew on Saturday, Sep. 10 from 2 pm to 3 pm, along with Charles Harper Webb (Amplified Dog), Jessica Piazza (Interrobang), and Kim Dower (Slice of Moon). Here’s the full schedule lineup for both days.

    Reserve a FREE ticket for the festival here — though I must warn you that all 175 tickets for Saturday are already taken! That said, if you’re a reader of this blog and would like to come on Saturday, just leave a comment ASAP and I’ll contact the organizers to get a ticket reserved for you.

    Hope to see you there!

    Southern California Poetry Festival. Saturday, Sep. 10 – Sunday, Sep. 11, 2016. Aquarium of the Pacific, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach.

  • 8 tiny pieces in New Flash Fiction Review

    8 tiny pieces in New Flash Fiction Review

    NewFlashAre they micropoems or microstories? I’m not sure — but eight of my tiny little prose works are now up in the latest issue of New Flash Fiction Review! Here’s one to whet your appetite:

    The Good Day

    I braced hard but what I feared did not happen.
    For that I am grateful.

    Each one’s about ten words long, so they’ll be a quick read. Hope you enjoy them! Let me know what you think —

    Thank you to Nin Andrews, guest editor for this prose poetry issue. I’ve been a huge fan of Nin’s work since I read Why They Grow Wings back in grad school, so to have her read and take my work was a real treat.

    Image from New Flash Fiction Review

  • Two poems in Gargoyle

    gar62My copy of Gargoyle #62 finally arrived in my mailbox — after a little detour to my former apartment. Thanks to the postal service for sending it on!

    The 394-page thick issue has within its covers two poems of mine: “A Reading” and “A Drinking Solo.” Here are three lines from a poem:

    Water under the ridge, I say. It’s a day
    when the news fills with familiar
    terrors: suicide, parricide, coincide.

    The issue — edited by Richard Peabody — also contains work by Nin Andrews, Thaisa Frank, and many many others. Pick up a copy at Gargoyle for about $20.

  • Feelings Are Chemicals in Transit

    Siel Ju Feelings Are Chemicals in Transit chapbookMy second chapbook, Feelings Are Chemicals in Transit, came out late last year from Dancing Girl Press!

    You can read a sampling of the poems at Hobart, The Missouri Review, Pank, and other journals, where some of the poems in the chapbooks were originally published.

    Based in Chicago, Dancing Girl Press publishes a chapbook series “to publish and promote the work of women writers and artists.” Other L.A.-based Dancing Girl poets include Lauren Eggert-Crowe (In the Songbird Laboratory) and Lisa Cheby (Love Lessons From Buffy the Vampire Slayer). The three of us plan to do a Dancing Girl reading in 2015 — so look out for us!

    Get Feelings from Dancing Girl Press for $7.