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Cyndi Macmillan
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Cyndi MacMillan lives in a small town in Ontario that is home to North America’s largest working waterwheel. Her writing has appeared in notable Canadian literary journals and local newspapers. 

A Cruel Light is her debut gothic mystery (4/4/2023). She has been a Jill-of-all-trades, but for as long as she can remember, she has dreamt of being a novelist.  Hard work and the wonderful team at Crooked Lane Books have made that dream a reality.  Please note that her husband and daughter kindly keep her coffee mug filled when she is wrestling with a suspenseful chapter.   During a pandemic lockdown, the family adopted a rescue cat who chirps. 

When not writing, Cyndi enjoys reading Gothics, scrapbooking, and losing horribly at board games.  Works-in-progress include the second (and third) Annora Garde Mystery, a Canadian noir series, and a standalone horror mystery, so more often than not, Cyndi is writing.  She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada.

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RESOURCE LINKS TO POETRY JOURNALS & EXCELLENT POETRY ARTICLES. HELP YOURSELF :)

Blog Posted by Cyndi Macmillan: 6/12/2017 5:27:00 PM

This is a blog filled with resource links for those who would like to explore free verse. 

I've included links to both journals and good articles on poetics.

 

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Here are some good journals that feature contemporary poetry written by living, breathing poets  (yes!  they exist beyond Poetrysoup!)

If we don’t want poetry to die, then as poets we need to read more than just dead poets (yeah, yeah, I know that Dead Poet’s Society was a great film... but if we are to keep poetry alive and well, we must read work written after Y2K, too (note I said TOO. We can read past works as well as current works!)

These are some of my faves, but they may not be yours... below this list is a link to the Poets & Writers cool database on literary journals.  The database has THOUSANDS of magazines.  I bet there is a journal out there that YOU would like :)

I’m not suggesting you read all of these.  I’m not even suggesting you read ANY of these.  I’m just supplying some cool links.

I will say this:  if you read just ONE recently published poem (or one article) a day, you will better understand free verse poetry, your skills will improve and you will gain insight and confidence. 

Okay... The Journals:

Rattle Magazine has an eclectic mix of poetry worth exploring

http://www.rattle.com/

 

Contemporary Verse 2 (CV2)

http://www.contemporaryverse2.ca/en/poetry

 

The Maynard

http://www.themaynard.org/index.php

 

Thrush Poetry Journal

 

http://www.thrushpoetryjournal.com/

 

The Adirondack Review

http://www.theadirondackreview.com/

 

The Brooklyn Quarterly, literary journal

http://brooklynquarterly.org/

 

Contrary Magazine

http://contrarymagazine.com/

 

The Puritan (Literary Journal)

http://puritan-magazine.com/

 

The Bluebonnet Review

http://www.bluebonnetreview.com/poetry/

 

The American Journal of Poetry

http://www.theamericanjournalofpoetry.com/

 

Assisi Journal

 

 http://www.sfc.edu/uploaded/documents/academics/AssisiInauguralIssue.pdf

 

Boxcar Poetry Review

http://www.boxcarpoetry.com/main_037.html

 

Cordite Poetry Review (Australia)

http://cordite.org.au/content/poetry/notheme6/

 

The Fieldstone Review

http://fieldstonereview.usask.ca/

 

The New Quarterly (Archived Issues!)

https://tnq.ca/story/lines-regret-written-alexander-macleod-short-funeral-visitation/

 

Euphony Magazine

https://euphonyjournal.org/current-issue/

 

Lunchticket Journal

http://lunchticket.org/summerfall-2017/

 

 

Meadow (the literary and arts journal of Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada.)

http://www.tmcc.edu/meadow/

 

Memorious Journal

http://www.memorious.org/?issue=27

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Here is a fantastic free resource to find more literary journals.  Something for everyone.  Some are even dedicated to FORMS ;)  If you don’t like any of the above, there are thousands to peruse through. 

Some are print and can cost $8.00 - $40

But there are many free online journals.

Remember, free journal=poets paid nothing. 

POETS & WRITERS LIST OF LITERARY MAGAZINES

https://www.pw.org/literary_magazines?field_genres_value=Poetry&taxonomy_vocabulary_20_tid=All&simsubs=All&items_per_page=25

 

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HERE ARE SOME LINKS TO POETRY DEVICES AND SOME OTHER GOOD ARTICLES ABOUT POETRY IN GENERAL. 

Poetic devices and attributes:

http://www.chaparralpoets.org/devices.pdf

https://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072405228/student_view0/poetic_glossary.html

 

On improving your writing

http://www.rosslaird.com/blog/steps-to-better-writing/

 

On Figurative language

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/great-figure-figurative-language

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/articles/detail/70215

 

On Evoking Emotion

http://thewritepractice.com/evoke-emotions/

 

On free verse line and stanza breaks

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/video-breaking-line-breaking-narrative

https://davehood59.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/writing-free-verse-poetry-stanza-line-break-style/

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/resources/learning/articles/detail/70144

 (with Sharon Olds!)

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/video-breaking-line-breaking-narrative

 

Types of Free Verse

https://davehood59.wordpress.com/tag/types-of-free-verse/

 

Editing/Revising -- How to improve your poetry

http://mariahewilsonpoet.tumblr.com/post/78618086875/three-simple-tips-to-improve-your-poetry

https://www.writing.ie/resources/advice-on-editing-poetry-by-grace-wells/

http://suture.deviantart.com/art/Tips-For-Editing-Poetry-24179464

https://magmapoetry.com/25-rules-for-editing-poems/

http://mahi-fish.deviantart.com/art/Poetry-Self-Edit-Checklist-251848581

 

On Comprehending Esoteric Poetry

http://web.uvic.ca/~englblog/closereading/



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Date: 5/13/2021 12:22:00 PM
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Date: 6/13/2017 11:13:00 AM
Thanks Cyndi--you know what's strange is that, since I was born in '48, most every poem I was exposed to was written in rhyme and meter and had committed many to memory like the first verse of Longfellow's Paul Revere's Ride which I still remember to this day, and others as well so you might think my oldest poems would be written that way, but almost all are written in free verse very similar to the poems you showed in your other blog. I never gave it much thought then, I just wrote my perceptions and it was easier for me to flow instead of being restricted by rhyme and meter though much later I found it fun to toss in some other elements if I thought myself and the reader might enjoy.
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Macmillan Avatar
Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 6/13/2017 1:02:00 PM
Shhhh... one of my favourite poems ;)www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/47546 Elizabeth Barrett Brown, Edna St Vincent Millay and our very own Elizabeth Wesley, Nette Onclaud and Chan Hurst are some of favourite rhymers. Rhyme can be deep and musical. xoxox
Date: 6/12/2017 5:47:00 PM
Wow !! thank you will check into them
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Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 6/12/2017 6:49:00 PM
:) Nice to see you, Eve. Cheers!

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