Enter Joe Goosey

"Hey Matt. Funks occur. Three hangovers in four days ain't bad. I had a massive one last week that set me back about a full business week. Katie had to come find me on the side of a main road eating an omelet with my hands."

Happy to announce Joseph Goosey is coming on as poetry editor for Thieves Jargon. I've been a big fan of his work for a while now (city-kid imagery mixed with self-awareness and longing), and I think he's only going to get better moving forward. If he can identify poetry that's somewhere in the same neighborhood of interesting as the poetry he writes, we should be in good shape.

Viva le Goose!

Million Writers Award

Million Writers Award is underway again, always one of the coolest times of the year for this tiny sector of the world. I'm happy to say that Andrew S. Taylor's vagina dream That Which Dreams Does Not Sleep picked up a notable story mention and will be representing Thieves Jargon. We'll find out in a month or so if it makes the cut to the top ten. In the meantime, there were a ton of other Friends of the Jargon who got nods as well, including:

Mel Bosworth
Kevin Wilson
Kevin Spaide
Fortunato Salazar
Crispin Best
Richard Grayson
Tai Dong Huai
Greg Ames
Matt Bell
Zdravka Evtimova
Mather Schneider

Congratulations everybody!

Thieves Jargon 198

First off, huge thanks to --Ed. Dan Scannell, who undertook the site redesign project. We've been talking about this since before he came on board, and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Paramount for me was changing the font from that tiny Arial to something bigger and easier to read. Everything else was more or less his idea. I like the new organization of the authors and artists and links. The horizontal layout is a nice touch. We'll see if we get any traction on the ads. Like the new color scheme. Something for Dan to be proud of accomplishing.

But everybody knows that looks aren't everything, so I'm happy to know there's some substance underneath that pretty head of hair as well. Personal favorites from issue 198 include Renaldo's All-Night Shave, Having a Heart Attack, and Brown I. If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time in a long time that we've had an issue made up entirely of first-timers.

And dig that innocently innapropriate cover art. Promise mommy you won't sit on Uncle BJ's lap.

Issue 200 is coming soon. Any special plans?

Thieves Jargon 197

Dan Scannel made it made it worth the wait. Adam Rothstein has a bone infection. Quentin Collier has something different growing on the inside. We also have Joe Goosey, who I think is one of the more interesting poets in current operation. If you like his poem, I recommend you check out his chapbook A Comfortable Place with Regular Sunshine. In adddition, Drew Jackson's short short Sisyphus of Anacostia ends on a rare high note. And Sean Jackson's Not Even Jail take the bold move (for the online writers) of actually covering a large amount of ground.

I do hope you'll enjoy. And when you're done here, there's always Madore's Lit Dispatch, which just dropped Issue 19.

And how about a little trip through the archives, because Madore dragged me out to Amherst to hang out with Mike Young, editor of Noo Journal, where we drank beers with Mel Bosworth, and these two fellows:

Ben Kopel, whose Poem strapped to the radiator for making too much racket is one of my absolute favortes.

Gabe Durham, whose Eight Times in the Everywhere set the stage for my late-summer, 2008.

Madore left a hat in my car, which I've been wearing around. I'd like to tip that hat to Andy Riverbed, whose blog I'd be happy to shamelessly rip off any old day. Hope you make it up to Boston, even though the winters would destroy you.

In the meantime, Joel Van Noord's book "Surf Music Travel Sex" should secure agency representation in the next few months, and Kenneth Mulvey's new poetry manuscriupt is sitting on my desk as well. Plenty to do, plenty to get done...

Thieves Jargon 196

Issue 196 went live sometime over Christmas weekend, and it's a good one. Love the expat and the Russian girl in Tanya's Bare Legs, and the JS Khan's demon monoglogue. Caroline Kepnes always brings her fastball, and Carl Miller Daniels is as gay as ever.

Dig it.

Why you cryin'?

Holly jolly, y'all.

Poetry editor needed

I'm sad to see Spencer Troxell moving on, he brought a thoughtfulness and perspective to the position that I really enjoyed. But co-editors are made to go on to other things, and I don't really mind that.

Poetry editors work in conjunction with --Ed. Dan Scannell to read, evaluate, send rejection letters, and accept an occasional piece of work for Thieves Jargon. You'll correspond with lots of nice writers and a few disgruntled ones. You'll read enough work that yours will only get better.

We're looking for somebody that's been published in Thieves Jargon before, and therefore knows what we like to publish. You need to have an appreciation for street-level writing, MFA-grade craft, and an eye for that one unique line.

Interested candidates, please send an email to thejargon at gmail dot gom, listing a few of your favorite poems, either from our archives or links to other journals.