Oh, you thought I was being politically incorrect with that subject line above, didn't you?  Wrong!

I just sent in my vote for the second annual 'Dwarf Star' Awards-- which is a neat new contest run by (and voted by) active members of the Science Fiction Poetry Association.  The award is given to 'the top science fiction, fantasy, or horror poem first published in 2007 of ten lines or less.'

Yes:  ten lines or less!  Thus the name, 'Dwarf Star.'

Members of the SFPA get a free 'Dwarf Stars' anthology for their membership that collects these short-short poems nominated by members of the SFPA.  It's a great book in its own right, and I had a great time reading all the little weird gems it gathered together -- works I probably wouldn't have seen on my own, from diverse literary magazines and small press venues. 

For a quick sampler, here are links to two out of the three poems that got my vote (which luckily also appeared online elsewhere):

'Version 9: Breakfast' by Kristine Ong Muslim

&

'An October Day' by M. Kei

[My third vote went to Ann K. Schwader's "Still Falling" -- which first appeared in the esteemed sf poetry magazine Dreams & Nightmares (and which I also highly recommend!), but is not available online... though it is excerpted here in The Fix magazine]

Those of you who have read my 'Gorelets' poetry collection and poems in The Goreletter already know that I'm an aficianado of these imaginable little thought experiments (my own 'Gorelets' typically hit 11 lines for some inane reason, so they haven't qualified).  If you want to buy the Dwarf Star Anthology for this or any of the past three years, it is available for sale at the SFPA website (sfpoetry.com).  I think it's very high quality, packed with a ton of imagination in so many easily-digestible chunks that its imminently readable.

And if you're a horror poet, you shouldn't let the SF or Fantasy elements of the SFPA throw you off, and should consider joining the organization or buying it as a holiday gift for the poet in your life. Membership is very affordable ($21), and you get a subscription to a great poetry journal for your money.  They also run the longstanding 'Rhysling Awards' for genre poetry, and the winners of it and the Dwarf Star are usually reprinted in the annual Nebula Awards Anthology.  There are a lot of recognizable horror poets in this organization and I recommend it especially to writers who are looking to find new markets and to learn more about the poetry side of the genre.

More info is available at the Science Fiction Poetry Association (sfpoetry.com).  Even if you don't have interest, drop by their 'Online Halloween Readings' to hear a podcast of me reading some horror poetry at a live event this past October. 

I have been a member since...let me look it up...oh no...seriously?...1989!  Holy moly... that's twenty years!