Author: press

Dichotomy cover

Dichotomy by Mikhayla Robinson

Dichotomy
by Mikhayla Robinson

Publication Date: 24 March 2020
Nightingale & Sparrow Press

Genre: Poetry

Dichotomy is a poetic recollection of my memories, favorite, moments, thoughts, and queries as young Black woman. They are about confidence, hurt, pain, sorrow, relationships, and surround every aspect of my life. As a marginalized individual, I grew up reading books that painted Black women as the side characters, or static individuals who had no substance. We were just playing supporting roles to the system around us. In Dichotomy, I deconstruct the notion that we are not allowed to dream, to want, to desire, to contest wrongdoings, and to express our feelings of hurt and pain.

Print | Kindle | Digital PDF

About the Author

Mikhayla Robinson is a nineteen-year-old Augusta, Georgia native. She was born to her parents Janet and Vincent Robinson, and has two siblings: Sara and Olivia Robinson. Mikhayla has been writing for all of her life. She attends The University of Georgia, where she studies Journalism and Mass Communications, and plans on minoring in art. Mikhayla loves to write poetry, short stories, and prose. She also plays the piano, cello, and the guitar. Additionally, she is an advocate for Black mental health, an activist, and part of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Dichotomy is Mikhayla’s first published book of poetry.

press

“And so, The Black Girl Sings in a Whisper,” an excerpt from Dichotomy by Mikhayla Robinson

And so, The Black Girl Sings in a Whisper

I might be too loud for this one,
Maybe a little off-key.

My life has been an echo-chamber of complaints,
Of things I will never be allowed to do.

One day I’ll skip down the street
Running straight through traffic,
Afro and all.

I’ll look at everyone who uttered an order,
And I’ll break every rule.

Most importantly,
I’ll love myself more than anyone else did

from Dichotomy

press

An Interview with Mikhayla Robinson

First and foremost, what inspired you to write Dichotomy?

Dichotomy started off as a way for me to express myself to myself. They were poems that I had written over the years that I felt may connect to others that see the world from a similar perspective.

You designed the cover for this chapbook yourself—can you tell us more about that design and process?

I felt that the symbolism of differing types of flowers with the distinctive black and white color scheme provided a way to see into the book without ever opening the cover, giving the reader a chance to absorb the meaning of the chapbook itself.

Did you have the idea of this being a manuscript from the start or did this start out as individual poems?

I feel that it started off as individual poems, but through the course of writing and rereading them I realized that the messages connected into a theme.

Do you have a favourite piece from this collection?

I put a lot of thought into each work, and I view each one almost how a mother isn’t “supposed” to have a favorite, but, if I had to choose, I’d have to say Save Yourself is something that I connected with at that time.

Were there any sections you decided not to include in the final version? Or pieces you added later in the process?

No there wasn’t. At the time that Dichotomy was picked up, it was virtually a finished work.

Who would you most recommend Dichotomy to?

I feel like everyone can read Dichotomy and get something from it whether it be a sense of acceptance, understanding, or perspective, however, growing up as a black woman, it was written with that in mind.

What have been your favourite and least favourite parts of the publication process?

I would say my own ignorance in a sense is both. I despise the fact that I don’t understand the entirety of the process but experiencing it and learning has been an enjoyment.

Do you have any advice for those who might want to follow in your footsteps?

I wouldn’t call myself some kind of expert on the process but I would say that if you are going to write and express yourself in this format, you have to be true to what you believe in and write that.

What project(s) are you working on going forward?

I have another collection of poetry that I am working on that has yet to be named, but it is similar in content.

Besides the amazing work you’ve created here, what’s your favourite piece you’ve ever created? How about your favourite by someone else?

My favorite book is Their Eyes Are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and I don’t really have a favorite piece by myself as of yet.

Dichotomy will be available 24 March

press
A letter from your sheets cover

A letter from your sheets// if your sheets could speak. by Elizabeth Kemball

A letter from your sheets// if your sheets could speak.
by Elizabeth Kemball

Publication Date: 10 March 2020
Nightingale & Sparrow Press
10 Pages

Genre: Poetry

This microchapbook explores the idea of giving a voice to the inanimate, through imagining a letter written from a person’s bed sheets. When I started writing this piece, I was looking at writing a poem distanced from the ‘I’ which I find myself writing most often; I wanted to instead write from the perspective of something that does not have a voice of its own. Sheets are witness to a huge portion of humans’ lives: sleep, sorrow, romance, sex, death, and more. By using this voice I delved into a voyeuristic but gentle observation of a place in which humans are often at their most vulnerable.

Our sheets are primarily places of comfort and solace, but also isolation. I was intrigued by the concept of what people are like when they think nothing is watching – when they are allowed to be their barest self. It may read like a confession or a love letter, and I think to each person it will vary depending on their own relationship with sheets and sleep – one of the few activities all humans partake in. This book is a fragmented narrative, of flashes of actions and images that give us an insight into the person’s life through the moments that they spend in their bed.

This tiny book contains one full-length poem and measures approximately 2.125 x 2.75 inches. Each book is handmade and numbered, representing its place in the limited 100-copy run.

Each copy is uniquely hand-crafted/folded; because of this, some uneven edges do occur. We think it gives them more character!

Print | Kindle | Digital PDF

Author Statement
Editor’s Note
Interview
Excerpt

About the Author

Elizabeth-Kemball

Elizabeth Kemball is an English writer and illustrator whose work has featured in journals including Black Bough, Ink Sweat & Tears, Nightingale & Sparrow, and Iceberg Tales. Her writing often focuses on bodies, myth, and nature. In July 2018 she graduated with a first class degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Warwick. She is an Editor & Designer for the online literary arts zine Re-Side and is currently being mentored by Mari Ellis Dunning.

Website | Twitter | Instagram

press

An Interview with Elizabeth Kemball

First and foremost, what inspired you to write A letter from your sheets // if your sheets could speak.?

It was actually in a university seminar in my final year; we were dicussing perspectives in poetry and tasked with writing a poem from the perspective of something which wasn’t human. I went through a few different ideas in my head but something about sheets just felt so right.

What drew you to the idea of sheets specifically?

I was thinking about how I could make something inanimate also feel intimate and universal, which drew me to the idea of beds – I like that humans all sleep, and whilst we sleep we’re so vulnerable, and sheets also are physically close to our bodies. Perfect poetry fodder. Two images especially drew me to sheets: the idea of someone tucking all of their body inside of a blanket so that they become nearly invisible, and also the weird marks from the fabric that are left on our skin when we’ve slept in the same position for too long.

The cover image is, of course, absolutely stunning—what led you to choose that imagery?

I wanted to depict something that encompassed the relationship between sheets and humans, a sort of codependecy and desperation, but also simplicity. I like that the image of a hand grabbing sheets could be interpreted in so many ways as well, is it passion, anger, sadness, stretching… it adds another part for the reader to unravel in their own way.

Did you have the idea of this being a micro-manuscript from the start or did this start out as “just” a poem?

It actually started as a performance piece – I wanted to write something longer which would sound good when performed with varied moods and tones throughout and words that felt juicy as they were spoken. It was only when I started splitting the poem into stanzas for the page that I realised this could transform into something very different than a performance piece, a more fragmented manuscript, with more space around each page for the words to breathe.

Do you have a favourite line or stanza from this collection?

My favourite little section is:

‘it’s abstract verbal calligraphy,
too twisted in on itself
for me to decipher.’

Were there any sections you decided not to include in the final version? Or pieces you added later in the process?

There were definitely cuts and changes, but the piece as a whole didn’t change that much throughout the process, it was more the layout and formatting that took a while to perfect.

Who would you most recommend A letter from your sheets to?

Lonely people. I wrote this poem when I was in a phase of life where, no matter how many people were around, I couldn’t help but feel very alone. I think you can feel that when you read it. We all feel lonely sometimes, it’s a good poem for that mood.

What have been your favourite and least favourite parts of the publication process?

My least favourite part is easy: clicking submit. That’s the scariest bit; the gnawing feeling in your gut that you should’ve changed something or you haven’t filled the submission in right or you didn’t proofread it properly. After I click submit I generally submit myself (no pun intended) to the ‘what will be, will be’ mindset. The favourite part was a little after acceptance, when I got to sign the publishing contract – it felt like a huge step in my writing career.

Do you have any advice for those who might want to follow in your footsteps?

Make sure your manuscript is one you’re confident in before you submit. Before this manuscript was accepted I’d been sending around a chapbook which received a few rejections (it was even longlisted by Nightingale & Sparrow) – I was very much just wanting to get a body of my work published and now looking back at it, it’s not right. I can’t explain really how it’s not right because the manuscript is full of poems I believe in, but I need to go back and rework it, change the order, add and remove and so on. This microchapbook felt right as soon as I put it together; from the cover art to the way I split up the poem onto the pages, I just knew that this is something I wouldn’t change before submitting again if I needed to, it was cohesive. I hear a lot of advice saying ‘just send things out, go for it’ and so forth but I think before that, you need to really believe that what you’re sending out deserves to be published and that it will have an impact on other people.

What project(s) are you working on going forward?

I’m currently working on that chapbook I mentioned before, I don’t think it’s a chapbook anymore – it’s a full length collection that needs more of my poems and reordering. It’s going to be centred around sections of ‘light’. I’m also working on a novel! A constant project that, I guess, won’t go away until I finish it.

Besides the amazing work you’ve created here, what’s your favourite piece you’ve ever created? How about your favourite by someone else?

I have always been proud of a poem I wrote called ‘Styx and Stones’, it was the first poem I wrote that really made me feel like a writer – it felt original, it had a voice, my voice. I’ve still not found the right home for it yet, it’s quite hard to let go of. It’s hard to pick a favourite by someone else, for poetry I’d probably say (at the moment, though it changes with mood) the poem ‘Bird’ by Liz Berry.

press

Editor’s Note: A letter from your sheets // if your sheets could speak. by Elizabeth Kemball

When reading through microchapbook submissions this winter, A letter from your sheets // if your sheets could speak. was one of the first to catch my eye.  I never could have imagined a conversation with my sheets. I wash the sheets each week and battle the cat to re-make the bed afterwards—I never thought to ask how they might feel about that.

Elizabeth Kemball’s microchapbook considers the sheets’ thoughts and feelings.  Her poetry personifies something so seemingly insignificant—bed linens, of all things—and makes them into the star of the show.

Have you ever stopped to thank your sheets? After reading this book, you might want to. In Kemball’s interpretation, they are silent protectors, quiet comforters, a different kind of lover holding you close.  Your sheets watch you through your most intimate moments, think of you when you’re gone from them, and long to call out to you.  Their affections may be unrequited, but still, you return to your bed–to your sheets–and yearn for the solace they bring.

I couldn’t ask for a better title to launch our 2020-2021 microchapbook series than this beautiful little book.  A letter from your sheets // if your sheets could speak. will be available in print, Kindle, and PDF editions next week. Be sure to stay tuned for more information on our other upcoming releases as well!

press

Author Statement: If your sheets could speak // a letter from your sheets. by Elizabeth Kemball

Have you ever felt like something was watching when you were all alone? Or wish that something was? Laid down at night to find yourself straining to hear anything other than your own breath and heartbeat in the pitch black? Have you dreamt of someone, something, and woken to find only air between your fingers?

A letter from your sheets // if your sheets could speak. gives a voice to that feeling; it explores the idea of vocalising to the inanimate, through imagining a letter written from a person’s bed sheets. When I started writing this piece, I was looking at writing a poem distanced from the ‘I’ which I find myself writing most often; I wanted to instead write from the perspective of something that does not have a voice of its own. Sheets are witness to a huge portion of humans’ lives: sleep, sorrow, romance, sex, death and more. This book is a voyeuristic but gentle observation of a place in which humans are often at their most vulnerable; it is a fragmented narrative, of flashes of actions and images that gives us an insight into the person’s life through the moments that they spend in their bed.

Our sheets are primarily places of comfort and solace, but also isolation. Loneliness is something we all feel – something I certainly have felt, especially when staring at the ceiling lying in bed in the darkness. I was intrigued by what people are like when they think nothing is watching – when they are allowed to be their barest self. It may read like a confession or a love letter, and I think to each person it will vary depending on their own relationship with sheets and sleep (one of the few activities all humans partake in). For some, these sheets may not be sheets at all; sometimes we find our own voices, or others, in the most mundane objects.

Thank you to everyone who reads this book; I hope that, perhaps, this will make you feel more connected to the world. Not everything can speak, but everything says something.

press

2020 Microchapbook Shortlist

Despite being open for just two weeks, we were absolutely blown away by the interest in our microchapbook submissions for 2020-2021 publication. We were worried that the formatting might be too restrictive for many prospective submitters (and it certainly did trip up a few along the way), but we were thrilled to have plenty to read.  In total, we received 70 manuscripts, with nearly 750 pages of material!  From this, we selected 24 manuscripts for our longlist and, from that, have selected the below shortlist, from which we’ll select our final choices for publication.

We are so grateful to each and every author who sent in their work—each stage of this process becomes more difficult as we select pieces from a phenomenal group of chapbooks.

From the following manuscripts, we’ll choose our final selections, which will be published by Nightingale & Sparrow Press between March 2020 and January 2021.

The Shortlist

A letter from your sheets // if your sheets could speak – Elizabeth Kemball

Bouquet of Fears – Noa Covo

echoes – Heather Parker

ephemeral – Samantha Rose

My Friend, Grief – Cat Woodbury

Natalie – Keana Aguila Labra

Night-Split Dreams & the Green-Eyed Fly – W. E. Pasquini

Queer Girl Falls – Lannie Stabile

She Flocks Away – Leona Wilde

the time when I – Tia Haynes

The Book of Likes – Heather Sweeney

Tryst – Eileen Farrelly

press

2020 Microchapbook Longlist

Despite being open for just two weeks, we were absolutely blown away by the interest in our microchapbook submissions for 2020-2021 publication. We were worried that the formatting might be too restrictive for many prospective submitters (and it certainly did trip up a few along the way), but we were thrilled to have plenty to read.  In total, we received 70 manuscripts, with nearly 750 pages of material!

We are so grateful to each and every author who sent in their work—compiling this list was made incredibly difficult by the quality of each and every manuscript.

Manuscripts were reviewed without identifying information, so it was especially exciting to find that a few of our former contributors were the authors behind these works—and even more so to discover several names that are entirely new to us here at N&S!

From the following manuscripts, we’ll create our shortlist of 12 microchapbooks before choosing our final selections, which will be published by Nightingale & Sparrow Press between March 2020 and January 2021.

The Longlist

A letter from your sheets // if your sheets could speak – Elizabeth Kemball

Bouquet of Fears – Noa Covo

Cold Feet Scars – Rene Mullen

dizzy – Grace Sullivan

echoes – Heather Parker

ephemeral – Samantha Rose

Flickering Light Post – Nicky Gutierrez

Let Fall, Like Dreams Beloved – M. Shayne Bell

Love – Jaundré van Breda

My Friend, Grief – Cat Woodbury

Mythweaver – Madison Zehmer

Natalie – Keana Aguila Labra

Night-Split Dreams & the Green-Eyed Fly – W. E. Pasquini

Oddbody – May Chong

Queer Girl Falls – Lannie Stabile

Re-WILDing – Eliot North

She Flocks Away – Leona Wilde

the time when I – Tia Haynes

The Book of Likes – Heather Sweeney

The Other Side of the Fence – Hibah Shabkhez

Tripping Up the Stairs – Richard-Yves Sitoski

Tryst – Eileen Farrelly

Vincent – Paul Brookes

Winterlunes – Rachel B. Baxter

press