“From The Ashes” Poetry for Bushfire Relief: Call for Submissions


The 2019-2020 bushfire season has seen unprecedented destruction, as well as an unprecedented national and worldwide response.

To contribute to that effort, Maximum Felix Media is accepting poetry and short prose pieces that confront and reflect our shared experience of nature and humanity, in conflict and in unity.

All proceeds will go to supporting animal rescue and care. The vast destruction to bushland means countless animals will be without the habitat they rely on for shelter and sustenance for months, if not years, to come, until the bush has recovered.

“From The Ashes” will be edited by C S Hughes, and published by MFM Press in February/March of this year.

Submissions may be sent by email, to palmereldritch@maximumfelixmedia.com
Attachments in doc, docx, rtf and PDF formats are preferred, though poetry typed directly in the body of your email is also acceptable.

A maximum of three poems or short prose pieces may be submitted, up to forty lines per poem or 500 words for prose. We are happy to accept previously published works as long as they meet the broad requirements of our theme. Please indicate where they were previously published so we can provide proper acknowledgement.

We would also like to include a brief biographical note about yourself, that in some way touches on your relationship with our often harsh but always beautiful environment.

All submissions are due by midnight (AEST), Friday, 31st January.

The Book Of Whimsies

By C S Hughes

The Book Of Whimsies is a collection of gossamer thin poems in which you will find summer days and winter nights, dragonflies and storm borne kites, buttered scones and rusting tin, lost ships and weary hearts, green hills and untied shoes, cups of tea and sleepless nights, and floating above it all a benign and melancholy moon. The poems are mysterious as whispers, sometimes sad, sometimes high, but nearly always told with the poignancy of loss, the echoes of love, and with the knowledge that a whim may just as easily lead to dark and unexpected consequences.

What readers have said about this book

His words dance in an abounding radiance…

James Walton

A lovely book and a pleasure to read.

Teri Fitzgerald 

C S Hughes weaves a reed boat with words, and then sends the reader off onto a moonlit sea of imagery.

Marie Blake

This is a book of the unexpected. Many poems are observations of the familiar from a perspective that draws curtains from windows to reveal new appreciation. Some are koan-like, not so much in structure but in their effect. I have been writing and publishing poetry for decades and am delighted with this introduction of a poet new-to-me.

Kevin Taylor

Where to purchase

The Book Of Whimsies is available on Amazon via the link below, you can also find it on Book Depository, or contact the author directly.

The Poetry Of John Ashdown-Hill

A remarkable insight

Dr. John Ashdown-Hill is best known as an eminent historian, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the author of twelve history books and numerous historical research articles. His work for the Looking for Richard Project was instrumental in the rediscovery of Richard III’s burial place in 2012, for which he was awarded an MBE in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

In 2016 Dr. Ashdown-Hill was diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease, and this collection of his lifelong and private poetry, was his final project. Through its gentle humour, its thoughtful and passionate exploration of classical themes and exotic travels, its poignant and sometimes pointed look at significant events closer to home, we gain a rare insight into the elusive soul behind the well known historian. All proceeds from the sale of The Poetry Of John Ashdown-Hill will be donated to John’s chosen charity.

Available from

Amazon

Amazon Australia