The Unrorean
Farmington, ME USA 04938
http://www.facebook.com/unrorean
For over a decade the Unrorean has been home to newer poets
as well as the most recognized poets in the small press.
If you are submitting solely to the Unrorean,
we now welcome submissions by e-mail.
Please do not submit to the Aurorean by e-mail.
Winter/Spring 2012
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(50% off price of paperback/mailed format)
Twice-yearly broadside*, the Aurorean’s alter ego.
Published continuously since June, 2001
with Summer/Fall and Winter/Spring editions.
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With all of the hullabaloo surrounding 2012 as the beginning to the end of times the Winter/Spring 2012 issue of the Unrorean might serve as the apocalyptic survival guide you can’t be without. Poems like Alan Catlin’s "Little pink houses" with its “dead/blackbirds floating on flaccid/wings, outstretched as if to fend/off garbage…” certainly paint an apocalyptic visual of perhaps humankind’s own self inflicted punishment. Manolis’s beautiful poem "Colors" leads the reader back to a realm of serenity.
Oftentimes we experience our own sort of personal apocalypse; a moment in time when the veil is lifted and we can see things for what they really are within our lives, the large truths we’ve hidden from ourselves. The results of confronting these truths can be positive or negative, but the experience often sets us on a new trajectory. If these personal apocalypses don’t mark personal ends of time for us they pave the way for new beginnings. Take this issue’s editor's pick "Jetsam" by Dave Reddall. Billy, the subject of the poem after his “fall from grace” changes his opinion on the importance of success, and instead embraces the idea of freedom. When he is found later living roughshod in the woods it’s hard to feel overly sorry for him; he seems content, almost happy even in his “hellborn scene that Brueghel could have drawn” and yes, free like the wolves and coyotes “subject to naught but their bellies,/the weather,/the onerous surcharge of time.”
Sometimes the scene in front of us does seem to lie bleak and foreboding as in John T. Hitchner’s poem "Clinical Fall," and while contemplating the new horizons we find ourselves clinging to the memories of better times. Michael Meinhoff’s poem "Awake Just Before Dawn" asks us to see without horizons and begin each day anew like a god. Martha Christina’s "Those Days" reminds us of how little sustenance might be needed to survive in troubled times. Dawn Potter’s poem "Letter to Will" echoes the same sentiment when just the very thought of being loved is enough so that “we stumble on and on/I hope you do as well.”
Maybe that’s all enough to fortify oneself for the end of times, but just in case it isn’t, look to this issue for laugh or two as well. Bruce Herman’s “Kitchen Poem” and Mark Wisniewski’s “Big Purses” won’t fail to elicit a chuckle, while Tim Napier’s poem “The Red iPhone” provides a glaring humorous satire on present day modern culture. Of course that’s still not all—other gems sprinkle this issue as well, all patiently awaiting your searching eyes. I hope they find you. Happy New Year friends!
Editor, Devin McGuire
click here to reserve a copy of the next issue (Summer/Fall 2012)
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MORE ABOUT THE UNROREAN
Begun as an answer to Aurorean editor Cynthia Brackett-Vincent’s frequent quandary, “I wish this fit the Aurorean!”, the Unrorean publishes poems that are too long, too dark or too experimental for the Aurorean’s format. Its tagline: “$2 each U.S. (less than a cup of gourmet coffee & more satisfying). One-year subscription {2 issues} $4 U.S. (much more satisfying than just one issue!). There are no formal guidelines or deadlines, & we do not send proofs. Work sent solely to the Unrorean is not acknowledged (but we promise to take good care of your poems)."
Its format: 11x17; laser-printed; folded into 5 1/2 x 8 1/2. Various colors. 2-4 11x17 pages.
Although there are no formal guidelines for the Unrorean, material submitted from approximately January-June is considered for the Summer/Fall issue and material submitted from approximately July-December is considered for the Winter/Spring issue. It follows that generally, the longest we will hold your work is six months. When you submit by postal mail, include a SASE for our return/reply to your submission.
Although our subject matter is generally more wide-open for the Unrorean than the Aurorean, we will not consider material that is hateful or pornographic.
We notify contributors prior to acceptance, and send one contributor’s copy per poem published.
Submit now! Submit often! Join the fun! Be an Uncontributor!
*Work submitted to the Aurorean will be considered for the Unrorean as well unless cover letter specifically asks not to be considered for the Unrorean. You may submit separately to either publication.
