Koss Works

Writing | Poetry | Art

Publications

Asemic Art by Koss | MER Literary Feature

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black crow with asemic writing and asemic text over a wuthering heights page carrying a baby sack. cobalt background. collaged.
Asemic Crow Artwork from MER Literary

Pleased to first have this cobalt blue iteration of my asemic crow in the MER Lit spring print issue. It is collaged over a page from Wuthering Heights and mounted on plywood. They included it in an online selections feature along with another piece of art, plus poetry. Check it out here (you can also buy the issue). They are lovely editors to work with. I’ve been published with them a couple of times. One of the poems they published was about abandonment and will be in my forthcoming book from Diode Editions. There have been several different versions of this previously published in Up the Staircase Quarterly and Anvil Tongue.

Lannie Stabile – When the Forest Finds You | Poems

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Lannie Stabile’s awesome new book, When the Forest Finds You is available for pre-order! I was honored to design the cover for it. Published by Variant Lit, the chapbook follows several of Lannie’s other books including Good Morning to Everyone Except Men Who Name Their Dog Zeus. This book is a unique hybrid of poetry, horror, and trauma. It’s definitely an interesting read. Pre-order at Variant Lit.




screenshot of lannie stabile's book, When the Forest Finds You, watercolor with green trees and mysterious figure. Includes blurb text from Variant Lit website.
Screenshot from Variant Lit of Lannie Stabile’s poetry book book, When the Forest Finds You

Self-Publishing is Publishing Too

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pink and green square asemic piece with wavy striations and asemic writing in purplish and green tones

It has been a very busy month, so I thought I’d do a quick post with some links to things. But along with these publications, I want to share that I’ll be doing more self publishing, along with producing some prints, and further off, some broadsides. Please keep me in mind if you have a broadside project. I’d love to work together.

I have self published in some form since I was very young from the third-grade comic books, to punk art xerox books made in college and after. But in recent years, I got on the hamster wheel of publishing in journals, and as you probably know, it can be EXHAUSTING!

I’m not knocking it. I appreciate all the labor that goes into publishing, and am super-grateful for my publications. It is nice to see your work in print, online, and to get the recognition and approval that comes with it–and, of course, benefit from the readership a journal has built. I will still publish in zines. I’m not quitting. Just considering other ways to get work seen.

Mythic Picnic, a Twitter Zine (see my publication link below) also got me to thinking about alternative ways to publish work. I think publishing on social is really fabulous and empowering. You should check their account and see what they’re up to (and maybe even send them something. They consider previously published too.

A couple of writers reminded me of what is great about DIY print publishing. Those writers are Jimmy Broccoli and Angel Rosen. Both publish their own poetry books, and Jimmy also publishes anthologies of writers he likes.

Services like Lulu have made it really easy to self publish–and no I’m not endorsing them as a service. But some of these services even allow publishing from Word. No InDesign skills necessary.

I’m getting a little ahead of myself. I do not have a book I’m publishing yet (I do have a book Diode is publishing in the fall), but I will most likely be publishing an asemic art book–plus I have some prints in the works, which will be listed here on my website once the details are ironed out. Plus, I’ll be offering packages with my Diode book coming out this fall.

So my less ambitious self publishing project is just that I’m going to be publishing more visual work online, both here and on social. I created an additional Insta account. This one, for now, is public. Please follow it here if you need some visual pleasure in your mornings (perusing art on Insta is one of my favorite activities). Koss Visual Poetry should be interpreted in the broadest sense. Consider I’m a hybrid writer with blurry boundaries, although I like to think my real-life ones are fairly intact. All of the works will have a visual element, even if they are concrete poems… Think erasure poems, collage, my crossword puzzle poems, and asemic art.

The coolest thing about online publishing for art is that artists get to show their work without it having to be legitimized by dealers. And there is potential to reach much bigger audiences, and not share fifty-percent with dealers.

Also, did you know that you can self nominate for Best of the Net when you publish on a blog (writing and art)? Most journals don’t nominate for art, so there’s that. And Winning Writers hosts an annual contest, The North Street Book Prize, for self published books with multiple genre categories (I’m sure there are other contests out there also). I believe you can submit to some Lambda prizes too… Also, there is the Eric Hoffer Award, which is open to small presses and self-publishing authors. So maybe you don’t have to wait and hope for a nomination. It’s okay to be a bit proactive about your work.

Self publishing is personally empowering. No Submittable or fees. No waiting. No lost submissions. It’s immediate gratification with no anxiety, no rejection.

And now, the promised links to April pubs. Thank you lovely editors for the publications. And see you, readers, on social. Thanks for stopping by!

And don’t forget to follow my new Insta account. And if you have any thoughts about self publishing, feel free to share in the comments.

Literary Publications | 2024 First Quarter

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Like to a Dream, published in diode poetry

It has been a busy year so far, but I’m not complaining at all, as I’m happy to have so many works published. Many of these are re-publications. Since I’m not a famous person, I value re-publishing as it’s a great way to find new audiences for one’s work. It’s also great for getting print pubs online or vice versa. I love both.

Note, you will find some of these on my Unlinktree at the time of this writing (what’s new page), but here I provide more details (and the Unlinktree gets updated with deleted entries).

I just added some photos to my photo gallery here on this site. New photos are appended to the bottom and in no particular order. I’m trying to not impose rules because if it’s a drag, I won’t update it. Enjoy!

duets cover piano collage with multi-colored rainbow keys, duets anthology edited by Amy Marquez

In January, Duets, edited by Amy Marquez, was released, an interesting anthology of mostly flash and micro fiction by writers she has worked with. Each piece was paired with her artwork, and she also invited an accompanying story and thoughts about the intersection of her work with the art. Download a free copy or buy the print version here.

Other anthologies out include Milkweed Press’s Dead of Winter III, Fifth Wheel Press’s Secrets in the Garden, and Querencia Press’s Winter ’24 Anthology. I have work, much of it about suicide and grief, in these. All of the editors were lovely to work with.

I was happy to publish visual erasure poetry in Permafrost and in Sage Cigarettes (along with a landscape swamp sketch).

brown vignetted angel parchment image with quote text from a micro poem by koss in BULL

Bull published two micro fictions. Also see my previous publications with them. In February, Prelude published what I call a transformer poem, which was an embellished erasure from a section of The Waste land. Also see my previous publication with Prelude Magazine.

Action Spectacle, a new ‘zine by Adam Day published one of my “bad dating” poems in February. It was a huge issue full of really great writers. They are a very promising journal you should check out (as of this writing, they’re open for submissions).

San Pedro River Review published a poem I wrote about narcissism in their Shapes and Secrets Issue. It’s a wonderful issue and includes several poetry pals and writers I really admire.

Diode published an update on my forthcoming book in their Substack newsletter. Check it out here (you can also sign up for news about their other publications and happenings.

Winning Writers also included my recent and forthcoming publications in their newsletter, which was lovely. Note their Wergle Flomp Contest deadline is approaching at the end of March. Read about my 2021 win here.

black sprayed erasure poem with abstract skull over Wuthering Heights page

I had five poems re-published on Anvil Tongue, plus two early Wuthering Heights erasures and two photos (previously unpublished). Check them out along with some other experimental pieces on the site.

Two poems (re-published) are forthcoming from Chiron Review in the winter issue, which hopefully will be out in the fall as they are both sort of Thanksgiving pieces (from an anti-colonialist/indigenous perspective). One was previously published in Spoon River Poetry Review and one in Lumiere, so they may be new to you. Also due in March is a poem about loss in Ovation, an anthology edited by Jimmy Broccoli, and three poems in diode poetry’s 17th anniversary issue due out any day.

SugarSugarSalt Lit is publishing, or re-publishing a work called Affection on March 22. This work was first published by Variant Lit and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. I didn’t win, but the nomination was really an honor.

In April, I’ll have a personal craft piece published in Reckon Review. Other than a blog piece I wrote about list poems, this is the first of its kind. Bulb Culture Collective accepted a poem about one of my ancestors in their arbor issue, also out in April. Also, I have artwork in Mom Egg Review’s next print issue, due out in late April.

Also out in April, five new photographs in Anti-Heroin Chic. Find the photos here and the main issue here. This is a wonderful issue. I really admire Anti-Heroin Chic’s “heartful” mission and that they publish working-class writers (and writers of all persuasions).

cover of dead of winter III anthology with rib cage bones and red roses

I’ll be doing a reading with Milkweed Press to celebrate the release of Dead of Winter III on March 18. Sign up for the Zoom reading here. I’m looking for reading venues for fall/winter when my book is released. Please contact me on social if you think I might work for your venue.

Lastly, I have work forthcoming in Amethyst Review’s Thin Spaces & Sacred Places anthology in July, a flash in Midway Journal (in April), and work in Hyacinth Review in May and August, and a large suite of micros in Mythic Picnic in April. It’s a busy year, and my book will be released in the fall, but I don’t see any other publications in the winter (as I think I’m finished for now).

Thank you for stopping by. Keep writing, submitting, creating art, making it in whatever ways it takes, and reserve plenty of time for living. And happy spring (it will arrive any time).

*Update: There was a reading for the Dead of Winter anthology on March 18. It was recorded, so you can see it on YouTube.

ANVIL TONGUE PUBLICATIONS 2024

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Thrilled to have work in Anvil Tongue as a nice entry into March, and, hopefully, spring, but you never know where I live! Daniel Garraun has put together a nice issue with the following writers:

  • Will Davis
  • Estajoka
  • Barton Smock
  • Adam Stutz
  • Will Alexander & Justin Robinson
  • Joseph Delgado
  • Elisabeth Bletsoe
  • Lo Kwa Mei-en
  • Koss
  • Sherese Francis

I have several republished pieces in this issue (most were in print), some photos, and some of my earliest, experimental Wuthering Heights pieces (see one of them below, but use the link to read the entire issue):

  • Aldi, Simple Things (originally published in North Dakota Quarterly)
  • Skins (originally published in Chiron)
  • Five for (originally published in Feral)
  • Seven for (originally published in Eunoia Review)
  • What Max Did Before Climbing into her Spaceship (originally published in Feral)

The photos and erasure poems were not published, although some may have appeared on my social accounts or in an online gallery. For more Wuthering Heights erasures, check out the search bar because there are graphics and/or links to other publications.

black and white abstract sprayed Wuthering Heights erasure poem, experimental art
Wuthering Heights Erasure Art, Handmade and Digital

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