'The Nature of Signs' in mgv2_en

One of my poems, The Nature of Signs is in mgv2_en's inaugural issue. mgv2.0 is a magazine that was originally published from 1996-2000, then published online from 2002 onwards. However, it has previously accepted only French works, or work translated into French. This is the first issue it has accepted English poetry.

[Link to my poem]

'Vanity Fair' in Thanal Online

Thanal Online, a bilingual online magazine which publishes both Malayan and English poetry, has published my poem, Vanity Fair.

[Link to the poem]

Six Poems & Bio in "Other Voices International Project"

I now have a page in the Other Voices International Project, which I am truly honoured and happy to be a part of. If there's one place that has a culmination of world-class poetry online, it's that site.

I'm in Volume 32, alongside other wonderful poets. Roger Humes, the director of Other Voices called the collection Behind the Ebony of Our Destruction, which is a line from one of my poems, As They Do. The poems included are One Man, As They Do, Regard Me Sadly, The Painters and I, Just This Moment and Loneliness: A Mental Indisposition.

[Link to my page]
Note: the bio can be read by clicking on my name and the poems by clicking on the titles on the left-hand side.

Update on Soul to Soul

I now have two pages at Soul to Soul. My new page, where updates will be, and my second page, where the older poems are.

The page is update with three poems, My Friend, And They Say, Hope and A Verse of Disquiet.

A Verse of Disquiet

We are the angry
generation, slamming
doors and breaking
hearts, living off
the last lie we told
as we scrape our legs
climbing out our windows,
looking right and left
trying to make sure
we remain unseen.

We are the Jimmys,
and all the Cliffs
are in hiding, underneath
their shame at sharing
this world with us,
or perhaps they're starting
to become extinct.

We fight for the right
to be separate; unique,
so colour me this:
a portrait of the sky
in orange, the stars like
glitter even in daylight
and our hearts on fire.

We are the generation
of no gaps, we wink
at each other cunningly
and yet; there are no secrets.

This is our world
that we claim is filled
with disquiet and yet
with every verbose patter
we ejaculate,
we dig ourselves deeper
into white noise.

Poem in All Things Girl and Featured at Soul to Soul

One of my newer poems, Red Carpets, is in All Things Girl's current issue, Sacrifice.

Ruby Youth is this week's featured poem at Soul to Soul.


[Link to Red Carpets]


Ruby Youth

You walked around
with a lipstick stain
hovering near your lip,
just missing the curve
of your cheeks,
the dip in your lips.

You smoked
your last cigarette,
your eyes red,
your cheek tainted
with a lipstick mouth.

You shave, nicking
yourself in that gap between
the lips of that lipstick smile,
decaying, eroding your skin.

Wipe that lipstick off,
melt into the wave,
disappear and be found.

Pictures & Package from Clemson Arts Center

I got sent the photos from the Clemson exhibit. The place looked really wonderful; I still can't quite believe my poem was the center of it all! I've posted some photos here, but follow the link below for the full album.

I also got a package today from Deborah. It had the exhibit handouts, some of the white cards (the kids did a great job, they're really cute), a card shaped like Van Gogh from her, the staff and artists of the Art Centre. Also, most amazingly -- the painting Lisa Marie did (fourth one down). I love it! Lisa also included a card. It was just a wonderful package to get.

All in all, I'm very honoured and flattered to have been selected for this.

[Link to full album].

PoemsAbout and Clemson Arts Centre

I was surfing earlier and I apparently have six pages in PoemsAbout that I didn't know about. The site chose what they call Best Poems from Laala Kashef Alghata, which is a collection of 22 poems.

Also, the Clemson Arts Centre updated their site with a section about the Poetry in Motion exhibit, which is now offically over.

[Link to PoemsAbout]
[Link to PDF of I Want to Feel Van Gogh's Night]

'As They Do' in All Things Girl

One of my more recent poems (which are few and far in between) is published on All Things Girl. I originally wrote the poem with three separate parts, and when published in a collection they will all be under the heading As They Do, with parts i, ii and iii. The poem currently on All Things Girl is part ii.

[Link]

Launch of Deborah Rey's Rachel Sarai's Vineyard.

Deborah Rey's debut novel is looking to be a truly interesting read. For more information about the book, as well as how to buy it, visit her publishers at: http://bluechromeblog.blogspot.com/

Issue 3 of 'Write Me a Metaphor'

I have finally managed to update Write Me a Metaphor. Between school, travel and my hard drive crashing, I have been busy.

This issue of Write Me a Metaphor features award-winning Greek poet Dimitris Kraniotis, Pushcart-winning poet G. David Schwartz, poet and PhD student Ernest Williamson III, teacher and accomplished writer Karen Pape, prolific poet Ray Succre, productive Canadian writer Suzanne Aubin and talented poet Zoë Migicovsky.

Please head over there and take a moment to read.

'Ashes to Ashes' and 'My Friend' in The Blotter

I just recieved in the mail my five contributor copies of The Blotter.
Two of my poems, Ashes to Ashes and My Friend appear in this month's issue.

[Link]
(note: it's a PDF)

"I Want to Feel Van Gogh's Night" in Clemson Arts Centre

I can pretty much die happy, now. Yesterday morning, I got an email. After I read it, I was trying not to shriek. It said:

Hello,

The City of Clemson, South Caronlina is working on a public arts initiative where poems will be displayed at buildings and landmarks throughout the city. The Clemson Art Center would like to display your poem, "I Want to Feel Van Gogh's Night", in their building. Do you know who I should contact about acquiring permission to display this poem?

Andy
Program Manager

Of course, I wrote back giving full permission for the poem to be used. Then, last night, I got another email. It made me absolutely estastic. It read as follows:

Hi Laala,

My name is Deborah and I am the Director for the Arts Center in Clemson, SC. I just received an email from Andy stating that you have given us permission to use your poem. Thank you so much! We had sifted through many, many poems and yours was just perfect for our needs!

Let me explain a little bit about how the center will be displaying your poem: We will be painting "I Want to Feel Van Gogh's Night" on the walls of our gallery and asking up to 25 artists to interpret your poem in any medium on an 8"x8" canvas to be hung with your poem. We are asking anyone that visits the gallery to write a poem, draw a picture or interpret your poem on white cards that we will then hang from the gallery ceiling. This will be an interactive exhibit centered around your poem.

We would like to extend a personal invitation for you to join our closing reception and if you're not able to attend we would be happy to take photos of the event and exhibit for you.

Thank you again, Laala!

Deborah
Arts & Education Director

I am just unbelievably happy to be recognized in such a huge way. I hope I make it there, but SC quite a distance away. Either way, I'm thrilled with it all. Possibly best piece of news I've ever heard. :)

Review in "Time Out"

Behind the Mask: A Folded Heart
Laala Kashef Alghata

Prolific author Laala Kashef Alghata releases her second book, the follow-up to successful novel Friendship in Knots. The Bahraini writer opts for a poetry and prose collection this time, delving into her vast pool of material to put together Behind the Mask. It's a remarkable collection, crammed with a mixture of upbeat, introspective, sombre and celebratory poems about life, love, work and everything in the middle. Each piece feels painstakingly crafted, distilled down to its purest essence. Emotions range from the contemplative - 'Welcome to Limbo. We're all dead in this city' - in City of Limbo to the optimistic - 'Live, breathe, and forget how to curse, for a mere moment' in Just This Moment. Of course, it is not possible to scratch the surface of the variety and depth of this collection in just two extracts, by far the best way to convey such a message is to urge you to track down a copy of the collection for yourself. Each word feels like it has been tried and tested, selected only because it expresses the exact message of the author. Such attention to detail results in a truly remarkable collection, doubly impressive given Laala was 16 when it was published. Her work belies her youth and reveals a maturity of language that is a pleasure to experience.

It's a great review, I'm really happy with it.

"Loneliness: A Mental Indisposition" in Pens on Fire

Two poems of mine, Loneliness: A Mental Indisposition and Together are in Feburary's issue of Pens on Fire.
[Link]


I am now also one of the Poets in Spotlight at Asian American Poetry. Link to profile below.
[Link]