THREE POEMS BY KEITH MOUL: "CROWN OF THE OBTUSE", "FLATTOP", "LOVERS"

Keith Moul's poems and photos are widely published.  Finishing Line Press will release his latest poetry chap, The Future as a Picnic Lunch, September 2015

THREE POEMS BY M. SAKRAN: "UPON THE GROUND", "BEHIND THE KEY PAD", "THE DOG"

M. Sakran has had forty eight items published before.  They include a collection of poetry (First Try, eLectio Publishing, 2014), individual poems, short stories, articles, blog posts, essays, and other items.

Additionally, a poetry related blog can be found at msakran.wordpress.com and a website that can be found at msakran.com.

TWO POEMS BY LISA ZOU: "PROLOGUE OF EULOGY", "NAMES FORGOTTEN THIS SUMMER"

Lisa Zou is a Mesa Community College student interested in creative writing. She has previously been published in the Paha Review. 

CNF/ESSAY BY CALEB WARD: "7 AWKWARD THINGS"

Caleb Ward is a senior majoring in Spanish at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. He likes to write and has taken several creative writing courses at his school. He has volunteered on a service learning trip to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Ukiah, California. Caleb has also taken a Spanish language intensive course in Salamanca, Spain.

FICTION BY TIM BEMIS: "OLD RACCOON EYES"

 

Tim Bemis has a BA in creative writing from New England College, and an MFA in fiction from Southern New Hampshire University's low-residency MFA program. His work has appeared in the Henniker Review, Tacenda literary magazine, Lost on Route 66: Tales From the Mother Road, Black Heart Magazine, and Wilderness House Literary Review. He lives in New Hampshire.

FICTION BY JOCELYN CULLITY: "THE SHAWS"

 

Jocelyn Cullity's work has most recently been published in the award-winning Everywhere Stories: Short Fiction from a Small Planet  (Press 53), TWJ Magazine, The Writer’s Chronicle, and Blackbird. She teaches Creative Writing in the BFA program at Truman State University in Missouri.

FICTION BY MATT GILLICK: "GODSPELL JESUS"

Matt Gillick is from Reston, Virginia. He is a graduate of Providence College with a degree in English. In spring 2015 he was named the head editor of the Wish Dish.com. His writings have appeared in Aaduna Magazine, The Wish Dish.com, the Alembic, and inconnu magazine. 

FLASH FICTION BY JOAN LEOTTA: "A GLIMPSE OF GLORY"

Joan Leotta has been playing with words on page and stage since childhood. In addition to her work as an award-winning journalist, short story writer, author, poet and essayist, Joan performs folklore and one-woman shows on historic figures, including the Aunt of Civil War spy, Belle Boyd. She can be reached at [email protected] for performance bookings or appearances on writing.

Her four books of historical fiction (Legacy of Honor series) are available from Desert Breeze Publishing and on Amazon.com along with her newly released collection of short stories, Simply a Smile. Her first picture book, Whoosh! (about a father and young daughter's day out sledding), released  August 2015, can be ordered from theaqpublishing.com . After a lifetime in snowier climes, Joan now lives in Calabash, NC where she walks the beach with husband Joe. She collects shells, pressed pennies and memories. www.joanleotta.wordpress.com and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joan-Leotta-Author-and-Story-Performer/188479350973

FLASH FICTION BY DONAL MAHONEY: "GOOSE EGGS"

Nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize, Donal Mahoney has had work published in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. Some of his earliest work can be found at http://booksonblog12.blogspot.com/.

FICTION BY JERRY MULLINS: "THE BRIDE"

 

“Jerry Mullins grew up in central West Virginia, and has lived in the Washington, DC suburbs in recent years. His work has recently been published in or is forthcoming from Columbia University Journal-Catch and Release, Wilderness House Literary Review, The Broadkill Review, Tower Journal, Indiana Voice Journal, Newfound Journal, Literary Yard, Foliate Oak, Homestead Review, Literary Nest, and internationally in Nazar-Look (Romania) and Southern Cross Review (Argentina).” 

FICTION BY JOHN RICHMOND: "THE FUTURE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES"

John Richmond has “wandered” parts of North America for a good portion of his life.
            These “wanderings” have taken him from a city on the Great Lakes to a small fishing village (population 400) and then on to a bigger city on the Great Lakes- Chicago- then, eventually, New York City.
            Since then, John Richmond has made his way to a small upstate New York town and has sequestered himself in his office where he divides his time between writing and discussing the state of the world with his coonhound buddy- Roma.
            Recently, he has appeared in the The Corner Club Press, The Tower Journal, Stone Path Review, Meat for Tea: The Valley Review, Rogue Particles Magazine, From the Depths, Flash Frontier (N. Z.), The Birmingham Arts Journal, Riverbabble (2), The Writing Disorder, Lalitamba, Poetic Diversity, Marco Polo Arts Magazine, Embodied Effigies, ken*again, Black & White, SNReview, The Round, The Potomac, Syndic Literary Journal, Ygdrasil (Canada), Slow Trains, Forge Journal, and is forthcoming in The Corner Club Press, and The Greensilk Journal.

FICTION BY ROBERT WEXELBLATT: "BEEN EVERYWHERE"

 Robert Wexelblatt is professor of humanities at Boston University’s College of General Studies. He has published the story collections Life in the Temperate Zone and The Decline of Our Neighborhood; a book of essays, Professors at Play; two short novels, Losses and The Derangement of Jules Torquemal, and essays, stories, and poems in a variety of journals. His novel Zublinka Among Women won the Indie Book Awards first-place prize for fiction. His most recent book is The Artist Wears Rough Clothing.  Another, Heiberg’s Twitch, is forthcoming.
 http://www.bu.edu/cgs/faculty/humanities-faculty/wexelblatt/

INDIANA VOICE JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 "THE NATURE ISSUE" #13

"Friends of Mother Nature" © Jim Warren

Welcome to our Nature Issue! I am deeply grateful to all the talented folks who've poured their art, wisdom, words, and wonder into this special themed edition of IVJ.  A warm thank you to the legendary artist Jim Warren for gracing our cover page with his beautiful painting "Friends of Mother Nature", and to the multi-talented editor Stacy Savage for honoring us with an interview and a poetry contest for a really great cause.

Indiana author Gene Stratton Porter once said, "Nature can be trusted to work her own miracle in the heart of any man whose daily task keeps him alone among her sights, sounds and silences." I believe that's true. Enjoy the wonder, and thank you to everyone who supports Indiana Voice Journal in one way or another. ~Janine Pickett

IN THIS ISSUE

ABOUT COVER ARTIST JIM WARREN

INTERVIEW

POETRY,  A CONVERSATION, AND A CONTEST WITH POETRY EDITOR STACY SAVAGE 

POETRY

ELIZABETH BROOKS: "INDESCRIBABLE PLEASURE", "QUICK DIP", "THE LURE OF THE MOON"

PIJUSH KANTI DEB: "A RURAL LOVE STORY", "BITING ON ASS", "AN ENCHANTING PAMPAS"

MICHAEL ENEVOLDSEN: "SHADOWS OF MOUNTAINS", "WINTER’S SLEEPY EYE" 

CINDY BOUSQUET HARRIS: "SERENGETI TANGENT", "FLAMINGOS OF GRUISSAN"

STEVE KLEPETAR: "LI BO'S GARDEN", "MINNESOTA", "ENTERING THE OLD WOOD" 

JOAN LEOTTA: "RED HAWK"

HAMEETA KAUR MALHOTRA: "CONFINED PARAKEET", "LONESOME TREE", "AND A POET WAS BORN"

DIKE OKORO: "CONFIRMATION", "DON'T FORGET", "LAGOS, NIGHT" 

SCOTT THOMAS OUTLAR: "RUSH HOUR", "YAWNING STARS", "FILL IN THE BLANKS"

SUNIL KUMAR POUDYAL: "EARTHQUAKE"

CECILIA SOPRANO: "OLD STRUCTURES", "ON THE MOUNTAIN"

VISUAL ART 

JEFFREY Z ROTHSTEIN: VISUAL ART "CORNFIELD" AND "ENCHANTED KINGDOM"

CREATIVE NONFICTION/ESSAY

FAITH BRITT: "SECRETS OF A MOREL HUNTER"

JENISE ERICKSON: "GETTING WET WITH BIRDERS" ESSAY AND PHOTOGRAPHY

RAYMOND GREINER: "A PLACE TO LOVE"

K.R. RIORDAN: "WHERE IS THE THICKET? WHERE IS THE EAGLE?"

FICTION

TIMOTHY A. CLEMENTS: "PETTY IS DEAD"

JEFF FLEISCHER: "DOVE"

BELINDA HUBERT: "WONDER"

JOSHUA STEELE: "THE CLEARING"

A TRIBUTE TO "CECIL THE LION" 

ABOUT COVER ARTIST JIM WARREN

Signed Limited-Edition

 JIM'S STORY

Jim Warren began painting and selling his art in high school over 40 years ago. Now considered a “Living Legend of the Art World”, Jim continues to create his unique style of art seen the world over.

His talents won him a first place award at his first art show in 1975. Soon after Jim began painting illustrations for books, movies and record album covers, most notably the Grammy Award winning cover for Bob Seger’s “Against the Wind” in 1981.

POETRY, A CONVERSATION, AND A CONTEST WITH POETRY EDITOR STACY SAVAGE

Available on Amazon

Mrs. Stacy Savage is a poet from Anderson, Indiana. She has published eight poetry books, seven of which the royalties benefited charities. Her work has also appeared in Birds and Blooms magazine, Ideals magazine, Asian Geographic magazine, The Heron’s Nest haiku journal, and various publications. In May 2010, she won second place in Spring Mill State Park’s nature poetry contest for her poem, “In Southern Indiana“.  Her poem, “Whispers of Poets Past”, was published on board 20 to 30 city buses in Lafayette as part of an arts project called Words on the Go. Last October, one of her poems was published in a wildlife calendar in Africa. She was a judge twice for the Best Books of Indiana competition in the poetry category.  Recently, she read some of her work on "The Smiley Morning Show" on WZPL radio. Most of Savage's work has been published under her former name of Smith. Stacy agreed to talk with IVJ about her charity work.

ELIZABETH BROOKS: "INDESCRIBABLE PLEASURE", "QUICK DIP", "THE LURE OF THE MOON"

Elizabeth Brooks Manatee River

Elizabeth Brooks resides in Tampa, Florida. She is originally from Trinidad and Tobago.  A lover of life, family, friends, a good book,  lots of laughter and continues to grow and accept many challenges.  She is a librarian by profession and a part-time reference librarian at Saint Leo University, St. Leo Florida. 

PIJUSH KANTI DEB: "A RURAL LOVE STORY", "BITING ON ASS", "AN ENCHANTING PAMPAS"

Pijush Kanti Deb is a new Indian poet with more than 234 published or accepted poems and haiku in more than 75 national and international magazines and journals,[print and online] including Down in the dirt, Tajmahal Review, Pennine Ink, Hollow Publishing, Creativica Magazine, Muse India, Teeth Dream Magazine, Hermes Poetry Journal, Madusa’s Kitchen,Grey Borders, Dead Snakes, Dagda Publishing, Blognostic and many more.
His best achievement so far is the publication of his first poetry collection,’’Beneath The Shadow Of A White Pigeon’’ published by Hollow Publishing. It is available on AMAZON and BARNES AND NOBLE.

MICHAEL ENEVOLDSEN: "SHADOWS OF MOUNTAINS", "WINTER’S SLEEPY EYE"

Michael Enevoldsen is a poet and photographer, who lives in Denmark, just outside the capital of Copenhagen. He has education as both a gardener and preschool teacher. The latter he finished at the University College of the city of Roskilde in 2015. His interests include literature, metaphysics, philosophy, meditation and nature - particularly bird watching and hiking. His poems have appeared in some international magazines, including Lummox Poetry Anthology 4 (USA)  Calliope: Literary and Visual Arts Magazine (USA) Yellow Chair Review (USA), The Commonline Journal (USA), Time of Singing, (USA), Aquillrelle Anthology (Belgium) and Section 8 Magazine (one micropoem combined with two of his photos) (USA). Also he has works in the forthcoming issue of  Madison's Lake Anthology.

CINDY BOUSQUET HARRIS: "SERENGETI TANGENT", "FLAMINGOS OF GRUISSAN"

Cindy Bousquet Harris is a poet and a licensed marriage and family therapist. Her poetry has appeared online and in print journals including The San Diego Poetry Annual, In the Mist, and Spectrum Magazine. Born and raised in the Midwest, she now lives in southern California with her husband and their children.  <[email protected]

STEVE KLEPETAR: "LI BO'S GARDEN", "MINNESOTA", "ENTERING THE OLD WOOD"

Steve Klepetar’s work has appeared in nine countries, in such journals as Boston Literary Magazine, Deep Water, Antiphon, Red River Review, Snakeskin, Ygdrasil, and many others.  Several of his poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.  Recent collections include Speaking to the Field Mice (Sweatshoppe Publications, 2013), My Son Writes a Report on the Warsaw Ghetto (Flutter Press, 2013) and Return of the Bride of Frankenstein (Kind of a Hurricane Press).