Blue Heron Review

It was a thrill just to be included in one of the James Crews anthologies this year. I’m so excited to share the news that Hachette Book Group is releasing a special boxed set called, A BOXFUL OF POETRY, of all 3 anthologies, including The Wonder of Small Things, in which my poem, “Breathing Peace,” appears. This boxed set collection is due to be released on Sept. 24, 2024, but pre-orders are now available (see link below). This beautiful, life-affirming collection of poems is currently 20% off. What a great gift to squirrel away for the holidays! I’m just one of many contributors. Honored to have my work published alongside so many poets whom I admire.

FROM THE PUBLISHER:
“These are the poems our world needs now. Together, the three books include over 300 poems by a diverse selection of leading and emerging contemporary poets, including Amanda Gorman, Ross Gay, Ada Limón, Jane Hirshfield, Tracy K. Smith, Julia Alvarez, Ellen Bass, Danusha Laméris, Li-Young Lee, Naomi Shihab Nye, Joy Harjo, Joseph Bruchac, Nikita Gill, Linda Hogan, Mark Nepo, Alberto Ríos, and others. Special bonus feature: four frameable prints of poems by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Kimberly Blaeser, Paula Gordon Lepp, and a new poem by James Crews.”

A Boxful of Poetry James Crews's three anthologies of contemporary poems celebrating hope, wonder, kindness, and connection packaged in a beautiful gift box set with the additi...

Immensely proud of my sister-in-law, Wisconsin artist, Anne Slatinsky Raskopf! She was interviewed for a special arts feature for the Milwaukee PBS station. You learn so much about her inspiration and motivation as an artist. She talks about her 30-Paintings-in-30-Days series, as well as the Pewaukee Area Arts Council (PAAC).

Anne was the cover artist for our second issue of Blue Heron Review!

The Arts Page | Segment | Lake Country artist, Anne Raskopf, paints happiness and hope Like the great landscape artists of our time, think Chagall or Gauguin, Anne Raskopf blends together the patterns and colors of nature and the modern world t...

Shout out to my Blue Heron Review contributors for being amazing human beings. Blue Heron is not just a magazine, it’s a place of connection. It’s a space where writers find kindred spirit, heart-centered folks to chat with. It’s about more than just being published. It’s about sharing one’s humanity with readers and fellow poets. In October, we’ll be celebrating 11 years of existence, and that feels good. 11 years ago, I had the dream to create a magazine venue for writers who had messages of hope, inspiration, compassion, and healing. Even if it feels like you’re just shining a flashlight in the vast, night sky, it still shines. It’s still light. 💙

(*Artist credit: Linus Sandvide on Unsplash)

For those who may have missed our announcements when the special TRANSFORMATION & CHANGE issue of Blue Heron Review came out at the end of May, I hope you will settle in with a tall glass of iced tea (sit outside, if you can) and savor these poems over the next days and weeks. We have such a moving collection of offerings. There is beauty, growth, sorrow, healing, change, and nature’s wisdom about transformation, too, in this issue. Enjoy!

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Here is an excerpt from the poem, “The Sixth Type: A Prescription,” by Karen Elizabeth Sharpe:

What do I know of treating pain?
I know it’s better to recall the wonder

of a long ago freewheeling embrace
to conjure a dream of a lover’s reckless delight

than to cover the rift of heartbreak in gauze.

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Here are the first few lines from the poem, “Change Agents” by Jo Taylor:

When the world is frenzied and cold and
seems ruled by hate, turn to things that warm
you—worn and faded animal-print sneakers,
vegetable soup with beans you snapped
last summer, simmering on the freshly-scrubbed
kitchen stove, eyes sparkling, innards burned
clean of yesterday’s dribbles and spills.

*To read/view our full collection of poetry and fine art photography for the spring issue of BHR, visit the BHR18 page of our website HERE:

BHR Issue 18 Spring 2024 TRANSFORMATION & CHANGE CONTRIBUTORS: Poets: Carolyn Chilton Casas * Emily Tee * Diana Woodcock * Susan Scheid * Karen Elizabeth Sharpe * Ann Bodling * Jill Michelle * Judy Lorenzen * Melissa H…

Just in case you missed our announcement this week, the spring issue of Blue Heron Review (BHR 18 / “Transformation & Change”) is NOW AVAILABLE to read and enjoy! To view our full issue of poetry and artwork, please visit the BHR 18 page of our website. Poets were invited to reflect on the many different ways in which transformation can impact our lives. It is a stunning issue for its beauty and also a necessary salve for the soul.

BHR Issue 18 Spring 2024 TRANSFORMATION & CHANGE CONTRIBUTORS: Poets: Carolyn Chilton Casas * Emily Tee * Diana Woodcock * Susan Scheid * Karen Elizabeth Sharpe * Ann Bodling * Jill Michelle * Judy Lorenzen * Melissa H…

Welcome to the spring issue of Blue Heron Review (BHR 18 / “Transformation & Change”). To read and enjoy our full issue of poetry and artwork, please visit the BHR 18 page of our website. Poets were invited to reflect on the many different ways in which transformation can impact our lives, whether it be in our relationships with others, with ourselves, the environment, or society as a whole. I hope that you can take some time over the coming days and weeks to sip and savor these heart-centered poems, and perhaps think about the significance of change in your own life. Thank you for being a BHR reader!

Cristina M. R. Norcross, Editor
Blue Heron Review
(*founded 2013)

https://blueheronreview.com/bhr-issue-18-spring-2024/

CONTRIBUTORS:

Poets:
Carolyn Chilton Casas * Emily Tee * Diana Woodcock * Susan Scheid * Karen Elizabeth Sharpe * Ann Bodling * Jill Michelle * Judy Lorenzen * Melissa Huff * Jo Taylor * Helen Patrice * Cynthia Knorr * Katrina Serwe * Tova Kranz * Jocelyn Boor * Dianna Mackinnon Henning * Patricia Nelson * Lynne Burnett * Stacy Ooi * Kathleen Deyer Bolduc * Jeannie E Roberts * Karen Paul Holmes * Lynne Carol Austin * Kirstin Eventyr * Cheryl Keeler * Sharon Fabriz * Angela Hoffman * Katherine H Maynard * Kathy Whitham * Suzanna C de Baca * Thomas John Hurley * Bobbie Lee Lovell * James P Roberts * Alison Hurwitz * Andrea Potos * Kristen Baum DeBeasi

Artists:
Fiona Capuano (cover artist) * Karen A VandenBos * Kris Gould * Scott Ferry * Kimberly Blaeser

Our BHR 18 spring issue of Blue Heron Review (Transformation & Change) is COMING SOON, by the end of May! Thank you for your patience. We have a truly beautiful and touching collection of poetry and visual art to share. Here is a sneak peek of the cover, with photography by BHR contributor, Fiona Capuano.

Congratulations to Blue Heron Review contributor, Kai Coggin, on the publication of her latest, beautiful collection, Mother of Other Kingdoms (Small Harbor Publishing, 2024). My copy just arrived, and I can’t wait to savor these important, necessary, and tender poems. Kai was our featured BHR poet in September 2016 and has been a regular contributor over the years.

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Kai Coggin’s gleaming collection of poems, Mother of Other Kingdoms, is a testament to the power of language to sing our hearts open “despite the world breaking at every line.” Wide-ranging in its subject matter, this book explores urgent topical issues like race, ancestral trauma, and body image and also dives deeply into longing, nature, and love. More than anything, Coggin has written an ode to living this life, a life that is flawed the way a diamond is flawed, its inclusions unable to dim its bright beauty. In poem after poem, wild with love, she zooms in on our world and “consecrate[s] / the mundane / into / the sublime.” —Francesca Bell, author of What Small Sound

Link to order this book from Small Harbor Publishing:
https://www.smallharborpublishing.com/books/mother-of-other-kingdoms

Link to order a signed copy from Kai Coggin’s author website:
https://www.kaicoggin.com/product-page

Congratulations to Blue Heron Review contributor, Mary McCarthy, on the publication of her recent collection, How to Become Invisible (Kelsay Books, 2023). My copy just arrived this week, and I look forward to reading this brave, tender new collection by an insightful poet. Even from reading the first few poems, I know that this is a courageous book. When we share our hardest moments, we give permission to others to be their most authentic, vulnerable selves. Our awareness of our interconnectedness allows us to feel less alone, and this is a true gift.

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“Come to me / when you have wrestled / with the angel / no one else can see…” Has there ever been a more welcoming invitation to a book? I soon gave up trying to mark favorite and most powerful phrases. Mary McCarthy knows that every line, like every life experience, is essential to the whole.

I’ve admired McCarthy as an ekphrastic poet for years, so I’m delighted to find she’s just as eloquent (and bravely vulnerable) in sharing her struggles through depression. How to Become Invisible is more than good reading. It can be life changing for those wanting to become visible again.

—Alarie Tennille, author of Three A.M. at the Museum and Running Counterclockwise

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To order copies, visit Kelsay Books online:

https://kelsaybooks.com/products/how-to-become-invisible?_pos=1&_sid=2b0f4486f&_ss=r

Also available on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/How-Become-Invisible-Mary-McCarthy/dp/1639804773

Congratulations to Blue Heron Review contributor, Angela Hoffman, on the publication of her latest poetry collection, Hold the Contraries (Kelsay Books, 2024). I always enjoy Angela’s thoughtful, insightful work, and I’m looking forward to reading this new offering!

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In Hold the Contraries, Angela Hoffman explores the paradoxes that life presents. Here are poems of emotional complexity, rapturous imagery, and surprising juxtapositions: “I cut the last of the pink hydrangeas. I cut off intimacy.” They acknowledge pain, doubt, “driving in fog, snow, rain, ice,” reveal “evening primrose, night phlox / all dancing in their nightgowns.” Amid suffering, Hoffman struggles to find peace: “sit in the stillness, / feel earth’s tender breath, just like the moth.” Both spiritual and deeply human, these poems were “composted in my garden, / turned over and over into wisdom.” I savored them; so will you.

—Peggy Turnbull, author of The Joy of Their Holiness

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Find out more about Angela Hoffman on her Facebook author page:
https://www.facebook.com/angelahoffmanpoet/

To order copies, visit Kelsay Books online:
https://kelsaybooks.com/products/hold-the-contraries?_pos=1&_sid=eed38f043&_ss=r

Congratulations to Blue Heron Review contributor, Scott Ferry (https://ferrypoetry.com), and his co-author, Daniel McGinn, on the recent release of their collaborative poetry book, Fill Me with Birds (Meat For Tea Press, 2024). My copy arrived in the mail, and I’m so looking forward to reading this meaningful and unique collection!

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The collaborative collection Fill Me With Birds lilts and tilts as Scott Ferry and Daniel McGinn call and respond. “When an image keeps coming back to mind / there’s no escaping”—they volley images and themes between poems, circling and returning and building. Jesus, family, a father who talks in his sleep, a mother rocking her child in “her milk-wet / arms” weave together on Ferry and McGinn’s pages turning us all to “light and strata.” You won’t want to miss how each word “hums and dances.”

—Allison Blevins, author of Cataloguing Pain

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Ordering Links:

MFT Press:
https://meatfortea.com/chapbooks.htm

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Fill-Me-Birds-Scott-Ferry/dp/B0CSWNRGB3

Congratulations to Blue Heron Review contributor, Jim Landwehr, on his latest poetry collection, Tea in the Pacific Northwest (Kelsay Books, 2024). Looking forward to dipping into my copy and enjoying these poems!

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Jim Landwehr is a master of metaphor and the poems in Tea in the Pacific Northwest speak eloquently of old cars, old loves, old dogs, and travels to places real and imagined. There is subtle humor mixed with profound melancholy in these poems. The poet gives us memories of youth, pandemic musings, and predictions for the future, all reminding us in more ways than one that “life ain’t nothin’/but a house party.”

—Lisa Vihos, author of Fan Mail from Some Flounder and poet laureate of Sheboygan

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For signed copies, visit the author’s website here: www.jimlandwehr.com

Ordering link for publisher:
https://kelsaybooks.com/products/tea-in-the-pacific-northwest?_pos=2&_sid=ea98b2e3e&_ss=r

After corresponding with poets during our recent submission period, I am reminded now more than ever that curating Blue Heron Review is about more than just providing space for others and publishing their work, it is about nurturing hope, connecting with others, hearing their stories, and having the privilege of learning about their lives and their reflections on the human experience. It is an honor to know and exchange ideas with this village of writers and thinkers. I am humbled that I get to do this.

(*Photo by Robert Thiemann on Unsplash)

P.S. Happy National Poetry Month!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to send their thoughtful and engaging poems to Blue Heron Review for consideration for our spring issue (BHR 18). I was genuinely in awe of the high quality of work submitted. If you did not receive a “yes” letter this time, please know that you are in very good company. Only about 11% of the total number of poems received were accepted. This means that I had to turn down many poems that I truly admired, some of which were from past contributors. Having to make our issues smaller and less frequent is not an easy decision, but the workload was becoming unmanageable.

Our next open call will not be until winter 2025. New dates will be posted closer to that time for the next submission period.

Our spring issue (“The Power of Transformation and Change”) will be published in May (the end of May, or perhaps sooner). Curating and publishing Blue Heron Review for the past 11 years has been a labor of love. I hope to continue to bring you heart-centered, meditative poetry from some of the finest contemporary poets writing today. I hope you enjoy our new issue when it comes out in May!

All kind thoughts,
Cristina M. R. Norcross, Founding Editor
Blue Heron Review (founded 2013)
www.blueheronreview.com

(*BHR logo by artist Daniel Adams)

Submissions for Blue Heron Review are now temporarily closed until the next reading period.

Our forthcoming BHR issue #18 on the theme of TRANSFORMATION & CHANGE will be published in late spring 2024 (date TBD). Thank you to everyone who submitted work for this issue. All submissions will be read with great care. Responses will be sent out approximately 8-10 weeks after receiving a submission.

Submissions for Blue Heron Review Now Temporarily Closed Until Our Next Reading Period Our forthcoming BHR issue #18 on the theme of TRANSFORMATION AND CHANGE will be published in late spring 2024 (date TBD). Thank you to everyone who submitted work for this issue. All submissions wi…

UPDATED: TODAY / Tuesday, Jan. 30th is the last day to submit to Blue Heron Review for our spring 2024 issue. All subs due by 11:59pm Central.

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS for our spring 2024 issue of Blue Heron Review (BHR #18) is January 15th–30th, 2024.

THEME: THE POWER OF TRANSFORMATION AND CHANGE

Feel free to interpret this theme in any way that speaks to you. This could be about personal transformation and inner change, transforming your local community, transforming your relationships with loved ones, or making a positive change in our world today. See where this theme takes you, and then send us your best poems.

Submission Guidelines SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN for our spring 2024 issue of Blue Heron Review: January 15th–30th, 2024 (until 11:59pm) THEME: THE POWER OF TRANSFORMATION & CHANGE Feel free to interpret this theme i…

BLUE HERON REVIEW CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
for our spring 2024 issue (BHR #18)

JANUARY 15th—30th, 2024 (until 11:59pm)

THEME: THE POWER OF TRANSFORMATION AND CHANGE

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES (*please read carefully):
https://blueheronreview.com/submission-guidelines/

(*Artist credit: Photo by Andra C Taylor Jr on Unsplash)

Our next open call for submissions for our spring 2024 issue of BLUE HERON REVIEW (BHR #18) is January 15th–30th, 2024.

THEME: THE POWER OF TRANSFORMATION AND CHANGE

Feel free to interpret this theme in any way that speaks to you. This could be about personal transformation and inner change, transforming your local community, transforming your relationships with loved ones, or making a positive change in our world today. See where this theme takes you, and then send us your best poems.

*NOTE: Please see our updated guidelines page. There have been some changes. Please do not send submissions before January 15th, 2024.

Submission Guidelines:
https://blueheronreview.com/submission-guidelines/

Cristina M. R. Norcross, Founding Editor
Blue Heron Review

(*Artist credit: Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash)

Our next open call for submissions for our spring 2024 issue of Blue Heron Review (BHR #18) will be January 15th–30th, 2024.

THEME: THE POWER OF TRANSFORMATION AND CHANGE

Feel free to interpret this theme in any way that speaks to you. This could be about personal transformation and inner change, transforming your local community, transforming your relationships with loved ones, or making a positive change in our world today. See where this theme takes you, and then send us your best poems.

*NOTE: Please see our updated guidelines page. There have been some changes. Please do not send submissions before January 15th, 2024. A recent change in the work flow of BHR will be that only 20-25 poems will be selected for each issue. We have grown tremendously over the past 10 years, and our issues have become too large to curate and edit. This change will enable Blue Heron to continue to exist without exhausting our inner resources. This means that the selection process will become more competitive, and we won’t be able to accept as many poems as we would like. Please keep this in mind when submitting.

I look forward to reading your poems! Sharpen your pencils and limber up. It’s time to transform our lives through the written word.

Cristina M. R. Norcross
Founding Editor, BHR

(*Artist credit: Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash)

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
https://blueheronreview.com/submission-guidelines/

It is an honor to curate Blue Heron Review and bring you a wonderful selection of thoughtful, meditative poetry. I am proud of each and every one of our talented contributors. We had close to 100 poems to consider for a Pushcart Prize nomination. It was very difficult to choose just 6. Please join me in celebrating the work of these fine writers. The following poets nominated appear in either BHR 16 or BHR 17.

(*Simply scroll down to find the work of each author within the issue.)

From: BHR 16 Spring 2023 / Sanctuaries & Places of Peace
1. Patricia Nelson / “The Women of Paradise”
2. Jenna Wysong Filbrun / “Mirrors”

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From BHR 17 Fall 2023 / Heart Source & Haven
1. Susan Martell Huebner / “Tracking Progress at the YMCA”
2. Terry Jude Miller / “cicada meditation”
3. John Grey / “Deer Island”
4. Joanne Clarkson / “The Library on Market Street”

2023 Pushcart Prize Nominations for Blue Heron Review It is an honor to curate Blue Heron Review and bring you a wonderful selection of thoughtful, meditative poetry. I am proud of each and every one of our talented contributors. We had close to 100 p…

Congratulations to Blue Heron Review contributor, Elizabeth McCarthy, on her upcoming poetry collection, HARD FEELINGS, due to be published by Finishing Line Press on March 1, 2024. It was a true pleasure to write one of the back cover blurbs for Elizabeth’s new book.

In Elizabeth McCarthy’s beautiful, new collection, Hard Feelings, we enter a world of sandhill cranes, field crickets, spring peepers, odd cats, and cleansing rain. Present and thankful for ordinary moments, McCarthy shares her deep connection to nature and the whispered wisdom she receives. She speaks to us of her preferred world, “where understanding / is the sunrise.” Reverently hanging items of laundry in the summer sun, McCarthy writes about, “pinning them in silent prayer,” and we experience the day through her appreciative eyes. These are poems that offer solace, even when processing grief. Above all else, these are poems of hope, “for those who / believe in destiny / delivered in the night / of each new month.”
—Cristina M. R. Norcross, Founding Editor of Blue Heron Review; author of The Sound of a Collective Pulse and other titles


A special, discounted pre-order sale is happening right now at the FLP site! Follow this link for more ordering details:

https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/hard-feelings-by-elizabeth-r-mccarthy/

Our next open call for submissions for our spring 2024 issue of Blue Heron Review (BHR #18) will be January 15th–30th, 2024.

THEME: THE POWER OF TRANSFORMATION AND CHANGE

Feel free to interpret this theme in any way that speaks to you. This could be about personal transformation and inner change, transforming your local community, transforming your relationships with loved ones, or making a positive change in our world today. See where this theme takes you, and then send us your best poems.

*NOTE: Please see our updated guidelines page. There have been some changes. Please do not send submissions before January 15th, 2024. A recent change in the work flow of BHR will be that only 20-25 poems will be selected for each issue. We have grown tremendously over the past 10 years, and our issues have become too large to curate and edit. This change will enable Blue Heron to continue to exist without exhausting our inner resources. This means that the selection process will become more challenging, and we won’t be able to accept as many poems as we would like. Please keep this in mind when submitting. Managing a literary journal is a huge undertaking. It is a labor of love that does not come with a salary. Editors are writers, too, who have careers and families.

I truly look forward to reading your poems in January! Sharpen your pencils and limber up. It’s time to transform our lives through the written word.

All kind thoughts,
Cristina M. R. Norcross, Founding Editor
Blue Heron Review
(*Founded 2013)

(*Artist credit: Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash)

https://blueheronreview.com/2023/11/11/january-15th-30th-2024-next-open-call-for-submissions-blue-heron-review/

Just in case you missed the big announcement on Monday night, the fall issue of Blue Heron Review is now online! Our special issue, "Heart Source & Haven," has had over 1000 readers in just 2 1/2 days. That's quite extraordinary. Sip and savor these beautiful poems, and enjoy the gorgeous artwork/photography.

CONTRIBUTORS

Poets:
Cynthia Pratt * Catherine Gonick * Cathy Thwing * Sue Ann Gleason * Terry Jude Miller * Jim Landwehr * Jacqueline Kudler * Pat Phillips West * Jill McGrath * Janet Ruth * Sarah Sadie * Sarah Dickenson Snyder * Judith Sornberger * Ellen Austin-Li * Bonnie Demerjian * Susan Martell Huebner * Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca * Strider Marcus Jones * Nancy Jean Larson * Mary Fitzpatrick * John Grey * Paula Schulz * Mary Trafford * Luanne Castle * Thomas A Thrun * Nancy Austin * Anne Kundtz * Joanne Clarkson * Gary Grossman * Stephen Anderson * Emily Tee * Laura Foley * Scott Ferry * Carol Tahir * Kathrine Yets * Karen A VandenBos * Julie A Dickson * Mary Ray Goehring * Gary Thomas * Jackie Langetieg * Diane Vogel Ferri * Margaret DeRitter * Lisa Ashley * Gail Tirone * Martha Jackson Kaplan * Marsha Owens * Sara Sarna * Paulette Laufer

Artists:
Richard Havenga (cover artist) * Donna Hilbert (featured artist) * Janet Ruth * Paula Lietz * Jeannie E Roberts * Mary Ray Goehring

BHR Issue 17 Fall 2023 HEART SOURCE & HAVEN CONTRIBUTORS Poets: Cynthia Pratt * Catherine Gonick * Cathy Thwing * Sue Ann Gleason * Terry Jude Miller * Jim Landwehr * Jacqueline Kudler * Pat Phillips West * Jill McGr…

Welcome to the fall issue of Blue Heron Review (BHR 17 / “Heart Source & Haven”). To read and enjoy our full issue of poetry and artwork, please visit the BHR 17 page of our website. I hope that this collection of poetry and artwork provides a welcome space of quiet calm, at a time when our world is in need of repair and peace. In small and gentle ways, may these offerings comfort the heart and mind. —Cristina M. R. Norcross, Editor / Blue Heron Review

CONTRIBUTORS

Poets:
Cynthia Pratt * Catherine Gonick * Cathy Thwing * Sue Ann Gleason * Terry Jude Miller * Jim Landwehr * Jacqueline Kudler * Pat Phillips West * Jill McGrath * Janet Ruth * Sarah Sadie * Sarah Dickenson Snyder * Judith Sornberger * Ellen Austin-Li * Bonnie Demerjian * Susan Martell Huebner * Kavita Ezekiel Mendonca * Strider Marcus Jones * Nancy Jean Larson * Mary Fitzpatrick * John Grey * Paula Schulz * Mary Trafford * Luanne Castle * Thomas A Thrun * Nancy Austin * Anne Kundtz * Joanne Clarkson * Gary Grossman * Stephen Anderson * Emily Tee * Laura Foley * Scott Ferry * Carol Tahir * Kathrine Yets * Karen A VandenBos * Julie A Dickson * Mary Ray Goehring * Gary Thomas * Jackie Langetieg * Diane Vogel Ferri * Margaret DeRitter * Lisa Ashley * Gail Tirone * Martha Jackson Kaplan * Marsha Owens * Sara Sarna * Paulette Laufer

Artists:
Richard Havenga (cover artist) * Donna Hilbert (featured artist) * Janet Ruth * Paula Lietz * Jeannie E Roberts * Mary Ray Goehring

BHR Issue 17 Fall 2023 HEART SOURCE & HAVEN CONTRIBUTORS Poets: Cynthia Pratt * Catherine Gonick * Cathy Thwing * Sue Ann Gleason * Terry Jude Miller * Jim Landwehr * Jacqueline Kudler * Pat Phillips West * Jill McGr…

Something special happens when I am preparing an issue of Blue Heron Review for publication (next one is due out at the end of October). In addition to feeling completely spent and exhausted by the hours of work involved (that's just the physical), something sacred emerges and takes shape. I am truly thankful to the poets and artists who have graciously shared their work with me. Prepare yourself for time to reflect, for your shoulders to soften with peace. These are beautiful, vulnerable, open-hearted poems.

Coming soon ... BHR 17 Fall 2023 / "Heart Source & Haven"

Best of the Net Nominations 2023 / Blue Heron Review

It is an honor to curate Blue Heron Review and bring you a wonderful selection of thoughtful, meditative poetry. I am proud of each and every one of our talented contributors. I wish I could have nominated more than just 6 authors for the Best of the Net awards. This year, it was especially difficult to choose, as we had close to 80 poems to consider. Please join me in celebrating the work of these fine writers. The following poets nominated appear in either BHR Issue 15 Fall 2022 or BHR Issue 16 Spring 2023.

Visit the BHR 15 and BHR 16 pages of our site to read all of these beautiful poems. Simply scroll down to find the work of each author within the issue.

Nominations from BHR Issue 15 Fall 2022

Laura Goldin / “Another Place”

Diane Vogel Ferri / “For You”

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Nominations from BHR Issue 16 Spring 2023

Patricia Nelson / “The Women of Paradise”

Ginny Lowe Conners / “Home”

Chrissy Stegman / “A Pilgrim’s Pace”

Jenna Wysong Fulbrun / “Mirrors”

Best of the Net Nominations 2023 / Blue Heron Review It is an honor to curate Blue Heron Review and bring you a wonderful selection of thoughtful, meditative poetry. I am proud of each and every one of our talented contributors. I wish I could have n…

Our upcoming fall 2023 issue of Blue Heron Review (BHR #17) is due to be published online at the end of October. We have a gorgeous collection of poetry and photography/art. I can’t wait to share it with you all! Our next open call for submissions will not be until January 2024 (this will be for our spring issue). Details, deadlines, and our new theme will be announced in the coming months.

BLUE HERON REVIEW UPDATES Our upcoming fall 2023 issue of Blue Heron Review (BHR #17) is due to be published online at the end of October. We have a gorgeous collection of poetry and photography/art. I can’t wait to share i…

*BLUE HERON REVIEW UPDATES (9.24.23)*

Our upcoming fall 2023 issue of Blue Heron Review (BHR #17) is due to be published online at the end of October. We have a gorgeous collection of poetry and photography/art. I can’t wait to share it with you all!

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Our next open call for submissions will not be until January 2024 (this will be for our spring issue). Details, deadlines, and our new theme will be announced in the coming months.

To learn more about Blue Heron Review and to read past issues (see ARCHIVES page), visit the BHR website:

https://blueheronreview.com

(*artist credit: Robert Lee Haycock)

Read “The Genie Speaks” by Nathan Spoon on the Academy of American Poets site today. There is something otherworldly and encouraging about this poem. Perhaps there is a honeyed world waiting for us, if we pay attention.

“Our other earth opens a secret hand …” —Nathan Spoon

The Genie Speaks I will start again tomorrow, after waking under

Welcome to our BHR 16 Spring 2023 issue of Blue Heron Review! We hope you enjoy this themed selection of poems — Sanctuaries & Places of Peace. To read the full selection of poems and view the beautiful, fine art photography included, please go to the BHR 16 page of our website. Take your time, allow yourself to leisurely sip and savor this issue. These poems will surround you with the energy of peaceful afternoons in the forest, time spent with loved ones, and the deep well of calm that exists within. Breathe, read, reflect, repeat. Thank you for joining us for this very special issue!

CONTRIBUTORS:

Poets:
M J Iuppa * John Davis * James Crews * Mary Alice Williams * Michael S Glaser * Kai Coggin * Javi Maria Cain * John M Bellinger * Tad Phippen Wente * Gloria Heffernan * B L Bruce * Beate Sigriddaughter * Jo Taylor * Patricia Nelson * Lisa Romano Licht * Andrea Potos * Kristen Baum DeBeasi * Abha Das Sarma * j lewis * Elizabeth McCarthy * Angela Hoffman * Jeannie E Roberts * Jenna Wysong Filbrun * Kathie Giorgio * Jennifer Dodge * Susan Glassmeyer * Mary Anna Scenga Kruch * Steve Bucher * Ginny Lowe Connors * Kathleen Deyer Bolduc * Helen Bournas-Ney * Penny Harter * Chrissy Stegman * Colleen Keating * Daniel Lanzdorf * Gwyneth Wynn-Davies * Ronnie Hess * Lynne Burnett * Carol Alena Aronoff * Diana Raab * Cheryl Byler Keeler * Patricia Carney * Jan Chronister * Joyce Ritchie * Joan Leotta * Michael Minassian

Artists:
Thomas A Thomas (cover artist) * j lewis (featured artist) * Fiona Capuano * Michael Jeske *

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EDITOR'S NOTE:

It is with great sadness that I must share the news that we have lost a dear member of our Blue Heron Review family. Poet M J Iuppa passed away last month. M J was a regular contributor to Blue Heron, and she was our featured poet for the month of March 2015. She will be greatly missed by the writing community. In honor of M J’s memory, her poem, “Drink This In,” appears as the first poem in our issue.

Send goodness and light out into our world. This will be our saving grace for tomorrow.

Peace,
Cristina M. R. Norcross, Founding Editor
Blue Heron Review

Blue Heron Review Issue 16 / Spring 2023 Now Online! Welcome to our BHR 16 Spring 2023 issue of Blue Heron Review! We hope you enjoy this themed selection of poems — Sanctuaries & Places of Peace. To read the full selection of poems and view the …