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A Rhysling Award Nomination

2/22/2017

22 Comments

 
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Don’t Call Me a Fairy
 
Don’t call me a fairy
though I may be fae.
Watch over your child
lest I take her away.
I want to trade places
and live in your world,
grow up dressed in satin,
be prettily pearled.
I’ll make the change quickly.
Don’t worry: your gain!
Your real child will flourish
in wind and in rain,
out in the woods
with the best faery folk.
No, I’m not kidding.
This isn’t a joke.
 
Don’t call me a faery;
a real child I’ll be.
We’ll see if you notice
when your child is me.


(c) B.J. Lee 2013

Yes! I have had a poem nominated for The Rhysling Award! No, this isn’t it. I didn’t want to post that poem until after the votes were in. This poem, “Don’t Call Me a Fairy,” was nominated for the same award in 2014. It didn't win. It's about the European (especially Irish) folklore tradition of "changelings"-- fairies exchanging one of their own for a human child, a properly fantastical speculative topic.

I wanted to share a little bit about speculative poetry since I have so much fun writing it and because not everyone may be familiar with it. I only learned about spec. poetry because my husband, poet Malcolm Deeley, used to write a lot of it before turning to novel writing (he's got five volumes on Amazon.) Speculative poetry comprises science fiction, fantasy and horror; obviously for children, that would be very mild horror.

Writing speculative poetry is a nice change from writing purely children’s poetry. While most spec. markets are for adult poetry, there are a number of markets for younger children, MG and YA - Spaceports and Spidersilk and Frostfire Worlds are two that come to mind. If you are interested, check here for additional markets and check out the SFPA (Science Fiction Poetry Association) site in general if you would like  more information and/or to view the various awards and contests the SFPA offers.

A big thank you to Karen for hosting Poetry Friday today. Happy Poetry Friday, everyone!


22 Comments
Brenda Harsham link
2/24/2017 05:40:31 am

Congrats!! I have never heard of these resources. I'll have to look into them. Thanks!

Reply
B. J. Lee
2/24/2017 08:58:02 am

Thanks Brenda! Yes, check it out! Speculative can be fun!

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Jane @ Raincity Librarian link
2/24/2017 09:36:43 am

Oooh, combining my love of poetry with my love of speculative fiction? Yes, please!

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B.J. Lee
2/24/2017 10:10:45 am

Yes! Spec poetry! Thanks, Jane!

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Tabatha link
2/24/2017 09:58:25 am

More spec fic poems, please! :-)

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B.J. Lee
2/24/2017 10:11:28 am

Thanks for stopping by, Tabatha! You write some too, ok?

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Violet N. link
2/24/2017 04:25:36 pm

Congratulations, B.J., on the nomination! May you have good news soon. I was not aware of this poetry genre so thanks for explaining about it.

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B.J. Lee
2/24/2017 04:41:43 pm

Thanks Violet!

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Linda Baie link
2/24/2017 07:48:06 pm

You've inspired me to take a look at this kind of poetry, B.J. Your poem's rhythm is spot on, with just a little bit of scary. I have a friend who grew up in Norway being told tales of dwarfs taking children. She shared she was still afraid of the dark. Thanks for the links, too, and congratulations for your poem being selected as a possible Rhysling award winner.

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B.J. Lee
2/24/2017 09:04:39 pm

Thanks Linda! Enjoy! I personally love writing and reading this type of poetry - it's something different!

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Michelle Kogan link
2/24/2017 09:51:43 pm

Your fairy has me wrapped around her spell, lovely poem! And a wonderful blog posting chock full of info, thanks for all B.J. Good luck!

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B.J.Lee
2/25/2017 12:45:46 am

Thank you Michelle! and your welcome I'd be thrilled to turn some folks on to spec poetry!

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KatApel link
2/25/2017 05:18:18 am

How exciting, BJ. Congratulations. I too have never heard of spec-poetry. Yours was a wonderful example!

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B.J. Lee
2/25/2017 12:26:53 pm

Thanks Kat!

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Kay Jernigan McGriff link
2/25/2017 07:35:13 am

Congratulations! I loved this poem and the whole idea of speculative poetry. It combines two of my favorite things! I may have to try some for myself. And I would love to read more!

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B.J. Lee
2/25/2017 12:27:42 pm

Thanks Kay! Yeah! Give it a try!

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Kiesha Shepard link
2/26/2017 09:14:10 am

Congrats, B.J.! I have never heard of this poetry genre before, but it sounds absolutely fantastical! Can't wait to hear your award winning poem!

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B.J. Lee
2/27/2017 08:05:31 pm

Thank you, Kiesha!

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Laura Shovan link
2/26/2017 04:05:38 pm

First, congratulations on the nomination, B.J.

Second, changelings -- they freak me out. I read a changeling story in one of the Cricket magazines when I was little. An older sister (like me) was in charge of the baby. Yikes. It was fun to read your poem from the fairy child's point of view.

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B.J. Lee
2/27/2017 08:06:50 pm

Thank you, Laura! Yes, changelings are pretty freaky!

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Matt Forrest Esenwine link
2/26/2017 06:31:57 pm

Congratulations on your nominations, BJ! I love your poem - and although I've written a little bit of speculative poetry, I have to admit it doesn't come easily for me. (which is odd, considering my love of science fiction and fantasy!)

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B.J. Lee
2/27/2017 08:08:24 pm

Thank you, Matt! Yay, I'm glad to find someone who writes spec! Yes, it is quite different. I have to be in a certain frame of mind (or have a good prompt!)

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    B. J. Lee is a children’s author and poet. Her picture book, There Was an Old Gator Who Swallowed a Moth, is launching with Pelican Publishing on February 15, 2019. She has poems in 25 poetry anthologies published by  Little, Brown, Wordsong, BloomsburyUK, National Geographic, Otter-Barry Books, Pomelo Books, and Chicken Soup for the Soul. She has worked with anthologists Lee Bennett Hopkins, J. Patrick Lewis and Kenn Nesbitt. She has written poems for such children’s magazines as Spider, Highlights and The School Magazine. Follow her on Twitter @bjlee_writer.

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