Calling all poets! Submissions are now open. The prompt for Issue #4 is The Undictionary.
I’m a great admirer of clarity, but sometimes the words in the dictionary aren’t the ones you need to precisely describe a person, place, thing, or emotion. Families have Undictionary words, particularly innocuous oaths. My dad’s side of the family said “Ishillimay!” when declaring something was keenly full of nonsense. This was accompanied by both hands swatting at the air dismissively. My parents, brothers, and I used “pank.” We all knew what that was—you panked snow to make a snowball, and you panked the towels into the hall closet to make them fit on the shelf. It was a real word to us.
For the next issue of the journal, please include one or more words from your own (or your family's) Undictionary in your poems. No need to define them within the poem—the meaning should be clear (or not) within the context. Edward Gorey and Lewis Carroll never needed to explain their nonsense words, after all. If, however, you'd like to add a footnote as to the origin of your made-up word, that would be cool.
As with all prompts for Last Stanza PJ, poets do not have to utilize it. I want to read whatever you’d like to send. The deadline for submitting up to five poems is March 31st. Any form, any length, any topic. Please send them in a Word document or in the body of an email to jennykalahar@att.net. All royalties from the sale of LSPJ are used to purchase copies for libraries, so, unfortunately, there is no budget for author copies at this time.
I'm also seeking illustrators and photographers to feature in the next and future issues, so please spread the word to your visually creative friends. A special thank you to Lylanne Musselman, the illustrator of Issue #3. The illustrator for Issue #4 will be Christina Hollering.
