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My new book, Only Flying, is a collection of surreal free verse and prose poetry that celebrates transformation and paradox, exploring both the silence of the seeker and the outrageous wilderness of the imagination. Thematic threads like rebellion, enlightenment, risk, courage, love, loss, and triumph dance to life with pictures that swing from dark to light, surreal to whimsical, and strange to familiar. There are intimate goddesses here, black widows, buddhas, alley cats, a kangaroo, and magic pants—blacklight-blue Hendrix flares that hang from a fire escape, just waiting for the right person to jump up and steal them. That person is you.
Only Flying was released in November 2021 from Unsolicited Press. Order your copy today: Order Only Flying! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m so proud to have two surreal pieces published in the new issue of Lamplit Underground Magazine! One, “Just a Story” is the true story of a dream I had last year that I would die by gunshot; the other, “It Takes More Sparrows,” is a poem that imagines ten thousand sparrows flying with strings on their necks, carrying a piano closer to home. I didn’t think of either of them as protest pieces, but in this collection, at this moment, they feel that way. Read them here: Lamplit Underground Vol. 7: Burial at Sea
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Monkeybicycle is a magazine with a unique challenge for authors: compare your book to weird things. My creation was published HERE.
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My haiku, “When the Pen Is Still,” was inspired by the true story of a widower swan. It was recently named a runner-up in Loud Coffee Press’s 3rd annual haiku contest. Read it and all the runners-up HERE.
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I was honored to be invited to speak on the local poets’ panel at the Pikes Peak Poetry Summit, which included performances from Pikes Peak Poet Laureate Ashley Cornelius, Colorado state Poet Laureate Bobby LeFebre, and others. I spoke on the difference between conscious and mystical poetic inspiration, being an author and a mom, poetry communities, and the intersection of poetry and activism. My commentary was published HERE.
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Stoked to learn Only Flying was selected as a staff pick in The Independent!
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My drabble (100-word prose poem), “Exodus with Red Delicious,” was published in The Dribble Drabble Review, a literary magazine that won the 2022 Communicator Award and was recognized in the 2021 Webby Awards. I will also be a featured poet with four pieces in the forthcoming fall issue of the journal.
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Special Black Friday event! Come help me celebrate the release of my new poetry collection, Only Flying. Live poetry reading, Q & A, and book signing at Creations @ the Edge downtown. Masks required.
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Excited to announce that my poem, “Ember Opens the Door,” and my painting, “Timberline,” are live in the beautiful Aromatica Poetica: https://www.aromaticapoetica.com/2021/10/21/ember-opens-the-door-poetry-brook-bhagat/
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My new flash piece/ prose poem, “The Moment in My Pocket,” has been published on A Story in 100 Words: http://entropy2.com/blogs/100words/2021/11/12/the-moment-in-my-pocket/
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Stoked to find out I tied for first place in Loud Coffee Press’s summer microfiction contest! https://www.loudcoffeepress.com/post/loud-coffee-press-summer-issue-is-here
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Thanks to Alien Buddha Press for inspiring me to write something quite different than my usual stuff with their call for submissions to a pop lit anthology! And an even bigger thanks for accepting my (very) non-traditional haiku odes to Creed and Phyllis from the TV show The Office for publication in it 🙂 https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Buddha-Goes-Pop-Black/dp/B09DMW9K8R
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Stoked to learn my weird new flash piece, “Exodus with Red Delicious,” has been accepted at The Dribble Drabble Review. It won’t appear until Spring, but for this cool little ezine, recently named an International Webby Award Honoree, it will be worth the wait!
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I was thrilled to receive two gorgeous copies of Soundings East volume 43, the annual literary magazine of Salem University, in the mail today. My creative nonfiction piece, “Cracking Collarbone Jones,” my true love story, is nestled inside–the first CNF I’ve written in a long, long time.
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My poem, “The Courier,” was published today on Prometheus Dreaming: The Courier
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January humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: January 2021
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December humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: December 2020
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November humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: November 2020
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October humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: October 2020
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September humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: September 2020
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My new prose poem/flash fiction piece “Inkling of Jackals,” has been published on A Story in 100 Words
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August humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: August 2020
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Shiny new member profile at AWP: Member profile
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July humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: July 2020
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Thrilled to share that I have won a contest for nature writing! Thank you, Doc, and A Story in 100 Words! The Homes of Birds
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June humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: June 2020
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My Sunflower sprouted on Flash Flood Journal! The Sunflower
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May humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: May 2020
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I have been featured in The Nature Readings from A View from this Wilderness, the blog of author and speaker Bob Kunzinger. It’s a gorgeous collection of videos of authors reading their work celebrating nature. What a cool project!
me reading my poem, “The Homes of Birds”
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April humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal:
April 2020 Special Edition: Silver Linings of the Lockdown
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March humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal:
March 2020 Special Edition: Coronavirus Pandemic Rainy Day Activities
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A prose poem/flash fiction piece I’ve been working on for a long time, “The Sunflower,” has been published on A Story in 100 Words
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February humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: February 2020
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My new Goodreads author page is live!
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19830263.Brook_Bhagat?ref_=pe_7171740_406825320
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Special 2020 New Year edition humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: January 2020
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My new Amazon author page is live!
https://www.amazon.com/author/brook-bhagat.com
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December humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: December 2019
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My poem, “The Homes of Birds,” is featured in this lovely new anthology, A Walk with Nature: Poetic Encounters that Nourish the Soul.
As one reviewer said, “While facts and figures are important for our understanding the natural world, poetry is the key that unlocks the gate and allows us to step into the living landscape of frogs, trees, stones and creeks. If language is our way of describing the world, poetry gives it life. I applaud those who conceived and compiled this book of poetry. It is another fresh breath offered to sustain this beautiful, breathing world.”
Betsy Perluss, PhD, Wilderness Guide, School of Lost Borders
Learn more about this book here: University Professors Press
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November humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: November 2019
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The new issue of Lotus Eater is live! Check out my flash piece, “Once Upon a Time I Died,” on page 31 of Issue 10 here: Lotus-eater Magazine Issue 10
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October humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: October 2019
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Found a home for my flash piece, “Once Upon a Time I Died,” in the forthcoming issue of the darkly delicious Lotus-eater Magazine, based in Rome.
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September humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: September 2019
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Good news from the gorgeous Lamplit Underground Magazine! My odd poems, “The Lady Scarecrow” and “My Nothing Burned Down to the Center of the Earth” are in Sanguine Moon (Vol. 2): Lamplit Underground
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August humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: August 2019
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Dan Morey’s uniquely whimsical and historical travel narrative about a day in Florence, Italy with his mother on Blue Planet Journal: Dwarves and Medici in Florence
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July humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: July 2019
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A flash fiction excerpt of my new story, “The Goddess Becomes,” just got published in A Story in 100 Words
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June humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: June 2019
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May humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: May 2019
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April humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: April 2019
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March humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: March 2019
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So excited to see my tiny flash piece up on Monkeybicycle!
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February humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: February 2019
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Thanks to Pandora’s Box Gazette and author Beth Boldman for featuring my micropoem, “Good Dream Bad Dream,” in her article about poetry on Twitter: Pandora’s Box Gazette
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January humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: January 2019
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My weird poems, “She Comes in on a Peahen” and “Downwelling,” are out today in the winter issue of Harbinger Asylum: Winter 2018
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December humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: December 2018
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Woohoo! Just got an acceptance for two of my oddest, tenderest poems to appear in the winter issue of Harbinger Asylum. Thank you Transcendent Zero Press!
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November humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: November 2018
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My flash piece, “The Goblin King Slips an Empty String,” just got published in A Story in 100 Words
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October humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: October 2018
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Whoopdie whoop! I’m so happy to see my “Jump (Magic Pants)” flashing in the gorgeous new issue of MoonParkReview, and especially honored by the illustration below, created for it by Lesley C. Weston (Pen and Gouache). Check it out if you love jumping, Dumpsters, pants, and/or the mother of bad words. MoonPark Review
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September humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: September 2018
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My poem, Open Letter to an Unborn Daughter (Fist Girl),” looks gorgeous in the Almagre Review’s issue five on race, class, and gender. Check it out: The Almagre Review
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My flash piece, “The Mammoth,” got a close-but-no-cigar shout out in the Flash Beast contest at The Molotov Cocktail
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August humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: August 2018
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My flash piece, “The Golden Thread Part Two,” just got published in A Story in 100 Words
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July humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: July 2018
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My poem, “Open Letter to an Unborn Daughter (Fist Girl),” is forthcoming in the summer issue of The Almagre Review. This piece, for my grandmother, is one I’ve held close to my heart for a long time. I’m so glad to find it such a beautiful home!
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June humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: June 2018
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My flash piece, “The Golden Thread Part One,” just got published in A Story in 100 Words
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May humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: May 2018
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My flash piece, “Jump (Magic Pants),” is forthcoming in MoonPark Review’s issue five in September. Whoop whoop magic pants!
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April humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: April 2018
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My flash piece, “The Way the World Ends,” just got published in A Story in 100 Words
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March humorscope up on Blue Planet Journal: March 2018
Brook Bhagat 