Search Results

Index Previous Next Winner of the 2013 New South Writing Contest Amber Alert A white Ford, black gate, Georgia plate, squeezes into our lane. In the back, a Whitetail – tagged and slashed from her chest to hind legs – looks back at us. Her eyes a dark glass. Opening day for deer hunting. Cars pass and pass. In a field, lightning bugs darted and flashed in your hand. Half-girl, half-doe, you started and stopped, palms cupped. Someone carried you off and we cheered for the boy in the clay, his heel on home plate. It was a beautiful steal. Did he thank the deer for her head when he knelt above her? When he opened her middle to empty inedible parts? When, for a clean job, he severed her windpipe and – hunter’s nectar – he saved her heart? . Copyright © 2013 M. B. McLatchey All rights reserved. Winner of the 2013 New South Writing Contest. Published in new south : Georgia State University's Journal of Art & Literature , Summer 2013. Judge's Review

The Lame God Foreword by Edward Field Let me warn the reader: It takes courage to read this book. This heartbreaking sequence of poems on the abduction of a daughter hit me like a ton of bricks, and I had to put it aside several times. But what courage it took to write it! Though there are many poems on grief, and even on crime—websites are devoted to them—I have never come across a book of poetry like this before. I hesitate to mention a popular genre like “true crime” in relation to the high art of poetry, but The Lame God like that genre speaks with such power, because its subject matter is so unspeakable. While M.B. McLatchey’s lyricism here seems indifferent to narrative, and this collection recoils from the piecemeal reportage of the crime novel, each poem in the sequence draws us closer to the scene of the crime. What we are not told only enlarges the horror – and the pathos. With its controlled language and emotional restraint, I’m reminded of my acting teacher who used to say, “Actor weeps, audience sleeps. Actor withholds tears, audience weeps.” This book proves it. Striking about the style is its dead seriousness. The tragedy explored here has grounded the author in such a profound, such a justified, seriousness that there is no room for anything else—no playfulness, no witticism—no relief, except in the cathartic release of poetry. In fact, it seems a heroic act—an act of survival—that she has sculpted these poems so austerely, and so appropriately like a Classical urn. I was surprised to find Classical references in poetry again, after they had disappeared for the past half-century, but they work! For in the violence of the ancient Greek myths, McLatchey finds an appropriate landscape of metaphor. May Swenson, in her poem “Snow in New York”, spoke of the power and magic of words. Dealing with my own sorrows and terrors, I have always felt poetry to be a healing art, and it has helped me through my worst times. Indeed, the Inuit taught that the right words actually make things happen (in spite of W.H. Auden’s dictum that they don’t). Like a survivor of other horrors, one can never be reconciled to such a monstrous event as this book reveals. Nor does religion help much. Yet, in exploring such a grief through the language of poetry, McLatchey makes things happen—she gives a voice to those too grief-stricken to speak, and she refuses to allow us to suffer in silence. It is a hard fact that, to the artist, everything is material. We grit our teeth and use even the most personal catastrophes—our own and those of others—to make art. This is what the Classical authors did, and this is what M.B. McLatchey has done with her great subject in this book. The effect is powerful, and ultimately, The Lame God proves that if our traumatic experiences don’t destroy us, they can produce masterful works, in which human nature rises to its heights. Edward Field 2013 Preface by M.B. McLatchey In his Preface to the Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth insists that the poet’s subject need not come from personal experience, but it must become personal experience. In committing to a regimen of repeated witness in the world, the poet’s very impulses and habits of mind are transformed until, over time, the poet’s work becomes the poet’s life. When parents lose a child to an abduction and murder and then descend into a well of grief, the poet writes as a way to call to them until it becomes clear that she must descend into the well herself—to know the water level there, the damp walls, the underbelly of this abomination. The poems in this collection are “well poems”—conceived and drafted in a pit of loss and rage, with its shadowy promise of redemption. The story that this book tells is true. No names have been changed to protect the innocent—the innocent have already seen the face of evil, smelled its breath, learned its customs. This book is offered in memory of Molly Bish and in homage to her mother, Maggie Bish, who encouraged me to “keep talking about this; keep writing.” It is also for Adam Walsh, Amber Hagerman, Levi Frady, Maile Gilbert, and Morgan Chauntel Nick. It is for the roughly 2,000 Mollys and Adams and Ambers and Levis and Morgans that are reported missing daily to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; it is for Deb Cucanich and for the tireless case-workers at the Department of Children and Families. This book is for three girls held captive and abused for a decade in a house in an American city—but it is especially for the child who has not yet pried open a bolted door, borrowed a neighbor’s phone, and announced to a 911 operator, “I’ve been kidnapped and I’ve been missing . . . and I’m here.” M.B. McLatchey 2013

OLDER NEWS (2022 - 2006) Dec. 2022 - M.B. is honored to announce that her poem “Rate My Professor: A Rebuttal" has been accepted to appear in Issue #23 (Winter 2023) of Sky Island Journal , to be published on January 21, 2023. A warm and heartfelt thank you to Editors Jeff and Jason. Dec. 2022 - Join M.B. In Miami to attend a SWWIM poetry reading with poets Traci Brimhall and Silvia Curbelo at The Betsy-South Beach Library. Wednesday, Dec. 14th, 7:30 PM EST. Dec. 2022 - M.B.'s poem "Inventory " has been published in the Fall issue of Southern Poetry Review . Begun in 1958 by Guy Owen and now based in Savannah, Georgia, SPR is the second oldest poetry journal in the Southeast. Thank you to Editor James Smith and Associate Editor Tony Morris. Nov. 2022 - Atlantic Center for the Arts has announced dates for their annual poetry workshops for poetry month next April (2023) at ACA Harris House in New Smyrna Beach. M.B. will host four workshops over the month with the theme "Freeing our poetic voices the formal way". Explore how writing in poetic forms – chants, odes, haikus, epistolary poems, and more – can unleash our most authentic voices. Admission is free, but seating is limited. Sign up on ACA's website . Oct. 2022 - The Florida State Poets Association held their Annual Fall Convention this week in Daytona Beach, joining old friends with new, and sharing the stage this year with several nationally acclaimed SLAM Poetry legends. M.B. hosted a panel of SLAM poets to help introduce the audience to SLAM poetry. The panel included SLAM greats Bob Holman, Kevin Campbell, Ed Mabrey, and Shawn Welcome. Events concluded with the Blackberry Peach National Poetry Slam competition. Oct. 2022 - Chancellor, Florida State Poets Association. It is with great honor, appreciation, and respect that M.B. accepts FSPA’s recognition and lifetime appointment as FSPA Chancellor. She will be joining a distinguished group of poets and writers living in Florida that are recognized by FSPA "to be among the finest poets in the nation". Previously appointed Chancellors include Lee Bennett Hopkins, member of the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, Peter Meinke, Poet Laureate of the State of Florida, Lola Haskins, Carol Frost, Silvia Curbelo, Denise Duhamel, Virgil Suárez, and David Kirby. All are longtime residents of Florida. More about them here . Sep. 2022 - M.B.'s poem "Calendar Plans " has been published in the 2022 edition of Relief : a journal of art and faith dedicated to human flourishing through literature. Thank you to poetry Editor Julie L. Moore and Editor in Chief Daniel Bowman, Jr. Sep. 2022 - The Healing Power of Mindfulness: Breast Cancer Awareness and Prevention . Sponsored by AdventHealth and Atlantic Center for the Arts, the free event will feature physicians practicing mindfulness activities through meditation, expressive writing (with M.B.), and a healthy dinner and refreshments. Open to the public. Details here. Sep. 2022 - Thank you to the Wheaton Writing Academy and its members for a delightful poetry workshop this month. M.B. and the attendees had a fun and productive time online while unleashing poetic voces, making new friends, and even completing new poems. Plans for M.B. to host another session with the Academy are forthcoming. Stay tuned! Aug. 2022 - Register now! Florida State Poets Association (FSPA ) is partnering with the National Federation of State Poetry Societies for this year’s fall convention in Daytona. The event this year will include the Blackberry Peach National Slam Poetry Competition. M.B. will moderate a panel of Slam Poetry enthusiasts as well as announce some exciting news. The three-day conference is October 21-23 at the Marriott Residence Inn Daytona Beach Shores. Details here. July 2022 - M.B. is honored to serve once again as Grand Prize Judge for the annual poetry contest hosted by California's Ina Coolbrith Circle . ICC is the oldest continuously-running poetry group in the nation, founded by California's first poet laureate, Ina Coolbrith . Results will be announced in December. July 2022 - Results of the InterBoard Poetry Competition for May have been released, along with commentary from M.B. as Guest Judge. Congratulations once again to the winners. June 2022 - M.B. is delighted to announce that her poems "The Shadow Maker " and "War in Eurasia " have been published in Issue 32 of Sequestrum . Be sure to check out M.B.'s responses to Q&A on the Contributor Spotlight page. Many thanks to Managing Editor, R. M. Cooper, and the team. May 2022 - Results of the InterBoard Poetry Competition for April have been released, along with commentary from M.B. as Guest Judge. Congratulations to the winners. Apr. 2022 - M.B. will serve as Guest Judge for the InterBoard Poetry Competition this summer. The mission of IBPC is "to provide assistance, incentive, and an environment which is conducive to the continual growth, in both quality and popularity, of poetry on the Internet." Apr. 2022 - Celebrate National Poetry Month this April with Atlantic Center for the Arts. M.B. is hosting poetry workshops every Wednesday from 3:00 to 4:30 pm at ACA's Harris House in New Smyrna Beach. More info here. Mar. 2022 - M.B. has accepted an invitation from nationally-recognized Wheaton Writing Academy to host a three-hour online poetry workshop next fall. Beginners to advanced-level poets will all be welcome. See date and time details in the Events section. Mar. 2022 - M.B. is pleased to announce that her poem "Calendar Plans " has been accepted for publication in the Spring 2022 edition of Relief : a journal of art and faith dedicated to human flourishing through literature. Thank you to poetry editor Julie L. Moore and editor in chief Daniel Bowman, Jr. Feb. 2022 - M.B.'s poems, "The Shadow Maker " and "War in Eurasia " will be featured in an upcoming issue of Sequestrum . In their words, "We publish concise, evocative writing that couldn’t exist in any other form, yet reminds us of the breadth and scope of longer works... We believe good writing deserves recognition and are a paying market for new and literary-heavyweights alike." Thank you to Sequestrum editor Ralph Cooper. Feb. 2022 - M.B. is delighted to announce that she has been invited to join the staff at SWWIM (Supporting Women Writers in Miami) as poetry reader. SWWIM continues to be the Southeast's premier online poetry journal as well as host of the very popular poetry reading series at The Betsy Hotel on Miami's South Beach. M.B. looks forward to working with editors Jen, Catherine, Caridad, and Alexandra. Feb. 2022 - M.B. is pleased to announce that her poem "Inventory " has been accepted for publication in Southern Poetry Review . Begun in 1958, "SPR publishes poems from all over the country as well as from abroad and maintains a worldwide readership." Thank you to editor James Smith. Jan. 2022 - M.B.’s poem, “ The Wisdom of the Cave ," has been published in South Florida's favorite online journal -- SWWIM (Supporting Women Writers in Miami). A warm thank you to their editors Jen, Catherine, and Caridad. Be sure to check out SWWIM's list of upcoming events and readings at The Betsy Hotel in South Beach, Miami. Dec. 2021 - M.B.'s poem "Ctrl+Z " has been published in the fall issue of The Florida Review , a publication of the University of Central Florida. The issue includes "our editors’ picks of the very best of our general submissions. No contest, no theme—just the best of the best." Thank you to editors Jake Wolff and Kenneth Hart for their support. Nov. 2021 - Atlantic Center for the Arts has announced dates for their annual poetry month workshop series next April (2022) at ACA Harris House in New Smyrna Beach . M.B. will host four workshops over the month with the theme "Unleashing our poetic voices". Discover how writing in traditional forms such as the ode, sonnet, and even self-invented forms can free us to let our unconscious play a role in our art. Admission is free, but seating is limited. Sign up on ACA's website , or reach out by email to M.B. if you have questions. Nov. 2021 - M.B.'s article "Innovating Educational Innovation: Introducing Beginner’s Mind into the Classroom " is now viewable on the HundrED Organization's website. The article speaks to the impact of introducing beginner's mind into the classroom. Nov. 2021 - M.B.’s poem, “The Wisdom of the Cave ," will be featured this coming January in South Florida's coolest online journal -- SWWIM (Supporting Women Writers in Miami). You can join the SWWIM team and guest poets for hosted readings at The Betsy Hotel in South Beach, Miami on select Wednesdays at 7pm. The next readings are November 10th and December 15th. c u there. Oct. 2021 - The 10th Annual Winter Park Paint Out International Poetry Competition has closed and the winners have been selected . From M.B. -- As Guest Judge for the for 2021 Poetry Competition, I have been inspired and uplifted by the verses submitted to this year’s contest. To leave you with Dylan Thomas: The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it . For 2022, the contest will return to its usual schedule in April. Oct. 2021 - Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) gives tribute to one of its own, highlighting some of M.B.'s recent accomplishments. Many thanks to Ginger Pinholster, Assistant Vice President of News/Research Communications and to Steven Master, associate professor and interim chair of the Humanities and Communication Department. Oct. 2021 - M.B.'s poem "Ode for My Department Chair Who Left a Face Shield on My Desk " has been published in the fall issue of English Journal , a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English. The journal is NCTE’s award-winning collection of ideas for English language arts teachers in junior and senior high schools and middle schools. Oct. 2021 - M.B. is excited and honored to have been chosen as guest judge for the 10th Annual Winter Park Paint Out International Poetry Competition . The autumn event is hosted by The Kerouac Project and the Albin Polasek Museum & Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park, Florida. Poetry competition is organized by poet Mark Andrew J Terry , Director Emeritus for the museum and Vice President of the Florida State Poets Association. The competition begins on October 11. Details here. Sep. 2021 - The FSPA Zoomies presentation featuring Beginner's Mind originally scheduled for 9/14 has been rescheduled to 9/28 at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom. M.B. will read from her new book and speak to the topic of "poets writing prose". Details here . Aug. 2021 - Check out the latest release of Avatar Review Issue 23 which contains M.B.'s poem "Another Inevitable Romance at Olduvai Gorge ". The poem was originally accepted for publication by Science magazine in 1985 (that's over 35 years ago!) but, sadly, never made it to print. A huge thank you to the editors at Avatar for honoring this ancient gem. Aug. 2021 - M.B. is thrilled to announce that Sky Island Journal has nominated her poem "Smiling at the Executioner " for the 2021 Best of the Net award. The poem appeared in their Summer 2020 journal and was also nominated for the Pushcart Prize. A warm thank you to its editors, Jeff and Jason, for the beautiful work they do. Aug. 2021 - Join M.B. and the FSPA Zoomies via Zoom on Tuesday, September 14, 2021 at 7pm to discuss "poets writing prose" and to hear excerpts from M.B.'s new book, Beginner's Mind. Details of the Zoom session are listed on the EVENTS page. July 2021 - Exciting news! M.B. has been appointed as U.S. Ambassador to the International Organization of Education Innovators called HundrED . The organization is a global non profit with a mission to improve education through impactful innovations. "Everything we do starts with a child in mind and is based on our manifesto. We work with innovators, educators and funders in all continents." July 2021 - Education in Literature Podcast . You can listen to M.B. (Beginner's Mind ) and author Kevin McIntosh (Class Dismissed ) discuss the philosophical underpinnings of their new education-themed books with Regal House Publishing's Jaynie Royal and Pam Van Dyk. Jaynie and Pam do a spectacular job of getting to the story behind the stories while also eliciting foundational commentary from these seasoned pros on the challenges and rewards of teaching in today's age. June 2021 - M.B.'s poem "The End of Knowing " has been published in The Criterion , a peer-reviewed international journal that publishes theoretical and research articles in English Literature and Language, Humanities and Social Sciences. The e-journal is produced by Rajaram College in India. June 2021 - M.B. will be featured as an guest reader for the Midsummer Night's Pensive Reading on June 9th, hosted on Zoom by Northeastern University's Center for Spirituality, Dialogue, and Service (CSDS) and the New England Poetry Club. Readings start at 7pm. RSVP preferred. May 2021 - The Authors Guild has featured M.B. and her latest book, Beginner's Mind , in their Member Spotlight section . Check out her interview with this great resource for writers and learn more about why and how writer's write. M.B.'s advice: "Know everything you can know about the rules of writing so that you can comfortably and creatively break the rules." May 2021 - IT'S A BOOK - 12.6 OUNCES! Beginner's Mind was just released today and is available from Regal House Publishing as well as your favorite book outlets. A long, but much needed journey that takes a fresh look at how we educate our children. "Thank you beyond measure to my publisher, my fellow writers, my two boys, my extended family, to so many new friends, and especially to my husband for supporting this dream every step of the way." - M.B May 2021 - For a behind the scenes look at M.B.'s upcoming book, Beginner's Mind , be sure to check out her interview in the May/June issue of Florida's premier poetry magazine, Of Poets & Poetry . Heartfelt thanks to its wonderful editor Mark Andrew James Terry, brilliant interviewer Al Rocheleau, and all at the Florida State Poets Association that make this publication possible. Apr. 2021 - Welcome to M.B.'s new and improved website. The transfer of all of her data from the old 2005 Yahoo website to this modern and mobile-device-friendly platform will take several months to complete, but, the core work is done. Please excuse any broken links while the work is completed. Apr. 2021 - Enjoy Poetry Month by watching M.B.'s two latest installments of her Fresh Perspectives in Poetry video series produced by the Atlantic Center for the Arts. The April 7th release can be viewed here , and the April 14th release featuring poet Seamus Heaney can be viewed here . Thank you all for the wonderful and encouraging feedback, and requests for more. Apr. 2021 - Just in time for April's Poetry Month, three new poems from M.B. have been published in literary journals: "Aftercare " in The Raintown Review , "On Forgetting Ash Wednesday " in Iris Literary Journal, and "Invocation " in Cider Press Review. Thank you to the editors for their recognition and support. Mar. 2021 - M.B.'s poem "Ctrl+Z " has been accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of The Florida Review . The University of Central Florida journal publishes "exciting new work from around the world from writers both emerging and well known." Thank you to poetry editor Kenneth Hart. Mar. 2021 - Thank you to Readers' Favorite for its Five-Star award to Beginner's Mind ! Mar. 2021 - Exciting news!! Regal House Publishing's upcoming release of M.B.'s latest book, Beginner's Mind - From Shipyard to Harvard Yard: Embracing Endless Possibilities, is now only 2 months away! Get a preview of the book that parents and teachers have been longing for by checking out the very cool video trailer here . Available now for preorder . Feb. 2021 - M.B.'s poem, "Another Inevitable Romance at Olduvai Gorge", previously accepted for publication by Science magazine in 1985, will reappear this summer in Avatar Review. Jan. 2021 - M.B.'s poem "Ode for My Department Chair Who Left a Face Shield on My Desk " has been accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of the English Journal, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English. English Journal is NCTE’s award-winning journal of ideas for English language arts teachers in junior and senior high schools and middle schools. Jan. 2021 - M.B.'s poem "Before the Common Era " has been published in the Australian journal Quadrant. Thank you to their literary editor, Barry Spurr. Dec. 2020 - "Ode to the Heart ", a poem in memory of fallen ERAU student-pilot Zachary Capra, has been published in The Florida State Poets Association's Of Poets & Poetry. Dec. 2020 - M.B.'s poem "Cues " has been published in The National Poetry Review. A warm thank you to their editor-in-chief, Angela Vogel, and to Gina for her loving inspiration. Dec 2020 - M.B.'s poem "Afterlives " has been published in the inaugural issue of Pensive: A Global Journal of Spirituality and the Arts. The annual publication is produced by The Center for Spirituality, Dialogue, and Service at Northeastern University in Boston. Our best wishes for the continued success of their new endeavor. Nov. 2020 - M.B. is thrilled to announce that Sky Island Journal has nominated M.B.'s poem "Smiling at the Executioner " for the 2020 Pushcart Prize. The poem appeared earlier this year in their Summer 2020 journal. Thank you to its amazing editors - Jeff and Jason. Oct. 2020 - The premier release of the second part of M.B.'s Fresh Perspectives in Poetry video series was off to a great start again, but ran into some technical glitches this time with FaceBook preventing some participants from seeing the entire presentation. If you missed it, or were one of those that ran into issues viewing it, you can view it in its entirety here . We look forward to seeing you again in the spring for more sessions. Oct. 2020 - The Atlantic Center for the Art's premier release of M.B.'s Fresh Perspectives in Poetry video series got off to a fantastic start on 10/14 with a record turnout of nearly two-hundred poets, writers, and art lovers. If you missed it, you can still view session 1 here . Session 2 will be premiered on 10/21. Sep. 2020 - M.B. and co-author Edite Cunha are delighted to announce that their English translation of Portuguese poet Maria Teresa Horta's poem "The Condition of the Verses" has been published by the University of California, San Diego's Alchemy, a journal "committed to publishing quality, contemporary translations of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction creative writing." Thank you to Nolan Dannels and the editors of Alchemy and, as always, to Maria for her generous support of the authors. Sep. 2020 - M.B. and co-author Edite Cunha are thrilled to announce that their English translation of "Verses" by Portuguese poet Maria Teresa Horta has been featured this month in SWWIM (Supporting Women Writers in Miami). A very warm thank you to SWWIM editors Jen, Catherine, and Caridad, and to Maria for her generous support of the authors. Aug. 2020 - The dates for ACA's online video series "Fresh Perspectives in Poetry" have been set for October 14 and 21; two more are planned for next April. Join M.B. on a journey of learning from the most notable masters of poetry, from Homer to modern, from sonnet to ode to free-verse, and from America to the world. Details here . Jul. 2020 - The Blue Room Collective's much anticipated anthology, Grabbed, which contains M.B.'s poem “Bingo Night for Missing and Exploited Children ”, has just been released by Beacon Press. Selected for inclusion earlier this year by poet Richard Blanco, the collection of prose and poetry gives voice to those who have been abducted and exploited. Jul. 2020 - Sky Island Journal has published M.B.'s poem "Smiling at the Executioner " in their Summer 2020 journal of poetry, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction. Check out their beautiful website. Jun. 2020 - The Florida Humanities Council has awarded M.B., in partnership with Eve Payor and the Atlantic Center for the Arts, a generous grant to produce a video series of poetry discussions and online workshops. Look for more details this fall. Jun. 2020 - Thank you to Robert D. Denham [McFarland & Co. Publishers] for recognizing several of M.B.s ekphrastic poems in their edition of Poets on Paintings. M.B. has published several poems that respond to visual art, and often incorporates this technique into her poetry workshops. "Washday ", named after the Grandma Moses painting, is a fine example. Jun. 2020 - M.B.s poem "Invocation " has been accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of Cider Press Review. Founded in 1999 by Co-Publisher/Editors Caron Andregg and Robert Wynne, CPR has been publishing the best of contemporary poetry for over two decades. May 2020 - M.B.'s poem "On Forgetting Ash Wednesday " has been accepted for the Fall issue of Iris Literary Journal. May 2020 - M.B.'s poem "Afterlives " has been accepted for publication in the upcoming inaugural issue of Pensive: A Global Journal of Spirituality and the Arts. The annual publication is produced by The Center for Spirituality, Dialogue, and Service at Northeastern University in Boston. The journal accepts works on spiritual topics, with a special interest in work that deepens the inward life and promotes a more peaceful and sustainable world. Apr. 2020 - Sky Island Journal has accepted M.B.'s poem “Smiling at the Executioner” for publication in their Summer 2020 issue. They describe the poem as “the epitome of what we consider powerful poetry to be. Vivid, palpable imagery saturates the perfect pacing of this svelte, knife-like piece”. Check out their beautiful site. Apr. 2020 - M.B. is delighted to report that her poem “Aftercare” has been accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of The Raintown Review . The poem is dedicated to her husband. Mar. 2020 - ACA POETRY WORKSHOPS CANCELLED. So sad, but stay tuned for a new date, hopefully by early summer. As soon as we confirm a new time and location, an email with the details will be sent to all that signed up and to past attendees. Please stay safe and maybe find some extra time now to write. Mar. 2020 - SWWIM (Supporting Women Writers in Miami) has announced that M.B.'s poem “Bad Apology” will be featured next Tuesday, March 10, as part of its #Tbt series. A very delighted thank you to SWWIM editors Jen, Catherine, and Caridad. Feb. 2020 - M.B.'s poem “Before the Common Era” has been accepted for publication by the Australian-based magazine, Quadrant . In the words of their editors, this intellectual magazine publishes “well-written and thoughtful articles that fit within its general profile of a journal of ideas, essays, literature, poetry and historical and political debate.” Feb. 2020 - M.B.'s poem “Cues” has been accepted for publication in the Fall 2020 issue of The National Poetry Review . A very warm thank you to their editor-in-chief, Angela Vogel. Feb. 2020 - Take a peek at M.B.'s presentation last Fall to Embry-Riddle's Industry Advisory Board regarding her upcoming book, Beginner's Mind, and how it speaks to the need of keeping the Liberal Arts and Humanities in our curriculum. Feb. 2020 - The Sunshine State Teaching and Learning Conference has posted the papers presented at last month's conference. M.B.'s paper on Homer's Odyssey can be found here . Jan. 2020 - M.B.'s poem "Prometheus's Regret" has been published in The Halcyone , a new literary review published quarterly by Black Mountain Press in Western North Carolina. Their goal: we strive to publish the best poetry, short stories and art being produced worldwide, each issue. Thank you Black Mountain Press. Jan. 2020 - The 2019 Fall issue of Smith College's Metamorphoses journal is now available for purchase. The issue contains several translations by M.B. and co-author Edite Cunha of the Portuguese poet Maria Teresa Horta. View their translations here and consider subscribing to future publications of this internationally inspired journal. Jan. 2020 - M.B.'s poem “Ode for an Absent Student” is now available in the Winter/Spring issue of Naugatuck River Review . We encourage everyone to purchase a copy of this beautiful journal and support the wonderful work done by its publisher, Lori Desrosiers. Jan. 2020 - The FSPA Winter issue of Of Poets & Poetry is out and available for order. Check out the glowing review by FSPA president Al Rocheleau of M.B.'s keynote speech at last October's conference where she reflected on her mentorship under Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet Seamus Heaney. Jan. 2020 - M.B.'s paper “Shifting Definitions of Justice: A Study of Student Veteran Responses to Homer’s Odyssey ” has been accepted for presentation at this year's Sunshine State Teaching and Learning Conference on January 29 - 31 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Co-hosted by USF and UCF, the three-day event brings together higher education scholars, practitioners, and policy makers to “raise awareness of emerging challenges, offer overviews of best practices, highlight research findings, and promote strategies for improving student and faculty success.” Dec. 2019 - M.B. will conduct a poetry workshop at the Daytona Beach Veteran’s Center on Tuesday, Dec 10th, from 4:30 to 5:30. For eligibility requirements, contact the Daytona Beach Vet Center at (386) 366-6600. Dec. 2019 - M.B. and co-author Edite Cunha had several of their English translations of Portuguese poet Maria Teresa Horta accepted for publication in two highly-acclaimed literary translation journals. Smith College's Metamorphoses journal and Princeton University's Inventory journal will feature several of their works this Spring. Thank you once again to Maria for her generous support of the authors. Dec. 2019 - The Atlantic Center for the Arts has invited M.B. to once again host weekly poetry workshops at their NSB location during Poetry Month next April. The sessions are free and open to all, but, seating is limited -- s ign up here . Testimonials from previous workshop attendees can be found here . Nov. 2019 - M.B.'s poem “Ode for an Absent Student ” has been accepted for publication in the Winter/Spring 2020 issue of Naugatuck River Review . A very fond thank you to their wonderful publisher, Lori Desrosiers. Nov. 2019 - M.B. and Edite Cunh ã have expanded their translations of contemporary Portuguese poet Maria Teresa Horta into English. Four new poems from Maria's Poesis collection are featured in the latest online issue of Springhouse . Thank you to Maria and the wonderful team at Springhouse for their generous recognition and support.. Oct. 2019 - M.B., Lola Haskins , Carol Frost and a vibrant state-wide group of poets and poetry-lovers met at the Plaza Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach for the Florida State Poets Association 's annual poetry conference. As keynote speaker, M.B. reflected on her years of mentorship under Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet Seamus Heaney . Oct. 2019 - The Blue Room Collective's forthcoming anthology, Grabbed, which contains M.B.'s poem “Bingo Night for Missing and Exploited Children ”, has been accepted for publication by Beacon Press . Selected for inclusion earlier this year by poet Richard Blanco , the collection of prose and poetry gives voice to those who have been abducted and exploited. Following in the footsteps of such luminary poets as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou, Richard Blanco was selected by President Barack Obama in 2012 to serve as only the fifth presidential inaugural poet in U.S. history. Professor Anita Hill and writer Joyce Maynard have written the afterword and foreword to the anthology. Profits from the book will be donated to charities to be named. Publication is expected in 2020. Oct. 2019 - October gave a party...The Florida State Poets Association will be hosting a poetry contest for all 2019 convention attendees at their Daytona Beach event this Fall. The subject: Why I Write Poetry. Submission deadline is noon Saturday, October 26th; contest judge: M.B. McLatchey. Prizes will be awarded!!! Sep. 2019 - M.B.’s poem, “Where Winter Spends the Summer ," has been featured as the Poem of the Day in Miami's online journal, SWWIM (Supporting Women Writers in Miami). Thank you to its amazing editors, Jen Karetnick and Catherine Esposito Prescott. Sep. 2019 - M.B..’s new poem, “Where Winter Spends the Summer ," will be featured this month in one of the coolest online journals in the South -- SWWIM (Supporting Women Writers in Miami). Join the SWWIM team, and poets Ashley M. Jones and Donna Aza Weir-Soley for their SWWIM hosted readings at The Betsy Hotel on South Beach, Miami this Wednesday (9/11) at 7pm. Sep 2019 - Beginner's Mind is now a book!!! "In a time when our schools are dogged by institutionalized goals for our children, Beginner’s Mind gives us a classroom where personal growth and innovative thinking happens in unimaginable ways." A huge and endless thank you to Regal House Publishing for ushering this precious work into the world and to the mentors and friends of M.B. who helped her bring the loving stories of Ms. D. to life. Through the watchful eyes of a ten-year-old, M.B. examines the question, "How do we want teachers to educate our children?" Release date is scheduled for 2021. Aug 2019 - M.B. will serve this Fall as Grand Prize judge in the 2019 annual poetry competition for the Ina Coolbrith Circle (ICC). ICC is the oldest continuously running poetry circle in the nation, founded by California's first poet laureate, Ina Coolbrith . July 2019 - M.B. will be leading a poetry workshop series in ekphrasis – writing about art – at the Daytona Beach Veteran’s Center this Fall, 4:30 – 5:30 PM, on the 2nd Tuesday of each month, beginning September 10th. Contact the Daytona Beach Vet Center for eligibility requirements needed to participate. (386) 366-6600. July 2019 - The Atlantic Center for the Arts has asked M.B. to host their poetry workshop sessions again next Spring during April Poetry Month. Looking forward to seeing lots of familiar and new faces. Stay tuned for details and dates. June 2019 - M.B.'s paper "Odysseus’ Wounded Healer: New Insights on the Therapeutic Value of Veteran Responses to Homer’s Odyssey " was published in the Journal of Veterans Studies . The peer-reviewed journal is considered the premier journal in the world covering the interdisciplinary field of veterans studies. June 2019 - M.B. and other writer/poets from all over the world met to work with Portuguese writers and poets at the 2019 Disquiet International Literary Program in the heart of Lisbon. May 2019 - M.B. and long-time friend, artist and writer Edite Cunha have collaborated on a collection of translations to English of the contemporary Portuguese poet Maria Teresa Horta. Selected poems highlighting Maria's poetic and political passion are featured in the Spring 2019 issue of Ezra , an online journal of translations from Roger Williams University. Thank you to Maria for her generous support in granting permission to the authors for these publications. May 2019 - M.B. will have the distinct privilege of delivering the keynote session for the 2019 Florida State Poets Association conference next October. She will reflect on her years of mentorship under Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney. Join other poets and poetry-lovers on Oct. 25-26 at the Plaza Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach, FL. May 2019 - M.B.'s poem "Ode for an Ode on a Grecian Urn " is now available for purchase in the Volume 34 issue of FOLIO , a production of American University in Washington, DC. First place winner of the 2019 Folio Editor's Prize for poetry, the poem is a response to Keats' ode in which he mourns the passing of life and the fact that he will soon die of TB. Keats died at the age of 25. Apr 2019 - M.B.'s poem "Ode for an Ode on a Grecian Urn " is the 2019 recipient of FOLIO's Editor's Prize for Poetry . It will appear in their upcoming issue later this Spring. FOLIO is a production of American University in Washington, DC. Apr 2019 - I just loved your class!! That response pretty much sums it up for all of the amazing poets and wonderful new friends that attended M.B.'s National Poetry Month workshops this year at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Stay tuned next Fall for more of what some are calling "The best poetry course in Florida!" Apr. 2019 - Beginning April 1, 2019, veterans from around Volusia County will have the opportunity to discover how the arts can strengthen the spirit, encourage mental stimulation, socialization, and manage chronic pain. Atlantic Center for the Arts ambassadors M.B. McLatchey, Bethany Bennett, and Eve Payor will volunteer at the Daytona Beach Vet Center to lead veterans in creative activities, including writing, painting, and music. Creative Expressions meets from 9:30 - 11:30 AM on the 1st & 3rd Monday of each month. Contact the Daytona Beach Vet Center for eligibility requirements to participate. (386) 366-6600. Mar. 2019 - M.B and other writers read their newly published ekphrasis works responding to vintage Florida postcards at the Saw Palm Issue 13 Release Party in Tampa. M.B. read "We leave the beaches for the tourists, mostly ". The well attended event was hosted by the University of South Florida Department of English at Southern Brewing and Winemaking . Feb. 2019 - In celebration of National Poetry Month this Spring, M.B. will be conducting poetry workshops on the first two Wednesdays of April at Atlantic Center for the Art s Harris House in New Smyrna Beach. Admission is free and open to everyone. Sign up now! Feb 2019 - M.B.'s poem "Ode for an Ode on a Grecian Urn " has been accepted for publication in the upcoming issue of FOLIO , a production of American University in Washington, DC. The poem is a response to Keats' ode in which he mourns the passing of life and the fact that he will soon die of TB. Keats died at the age of 25. Feb. 2019 - In her role as Atlantic Center for the Arts Ambassador, M.B. will be joining other artists at the Daytona Beach Vets Center to conduct introductory workshops in music, writing and visual art. More information on the February 6th event can be found here . Free and open to everyone. Jan 2019 - M.B.'s poem “Bingo Night for Missing and Exploited Children ” has been selected by poet Richard Blanco for inclusion in The Blue Room Collective's forthcoming anthology, Grabbed – a collection of prose and poetry that gives voice to those who have been abducted and exploited. Following in the footsteps of such luminary poets as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou, Richard Blanco was selected by President Barack Obama in 2012 to serve as only the fifth presidential inaugural poet in U.S. history. Jan 2019 - Daytona's Museum of Arts and Sciences has featured an article in their Winter 2019 magazine highlighting the ekphrastic poetry workshops conducted last Fall by M.B. Ekphrastic poetry is poetry that responds to another work of art. The article and several poems by local poets responding to the 100 Faces of War exhibit can be found on page 34 . Jan 2019 - M.B.'s poem "Ode for Amy " is featured in Arts&Sciences , a MOAS publication in association with the Smithsonian Institution , Winter 2019. Nov 2018 - M.B.'s paper "Odysseus Enrolled: Roadmaps in Homer's Odyssey for Veterans and for Non-Veterans " has been accepted for presentation at next year's Sunshine State Teaching and Learning Conference . Hosted next January in Daytona Florida, the event brings together higher education scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers to "raise awareness of emerging challenges, offer overviews of best practices, highlight research findings, and promote strategies for improving student and faculty success." Nov 2018 - M.B.’s creative non-fiction piece, “A Good and Simple Meal ”, has been published in Tulip Tree's 2018 Anthology: Stories That Need to be Told. The piece was awarded first place in the "Love" category. Available now on Amazon . Oct 2018 - Binghamton University's Harpur Palate has featured three of M.B.'s poems in their October 2018 Fall issue, Vol. 18.1. The poems include “Trigger Warning ,” “On Folding a Fitted Sheet ,” and “Anthem ”. Oct 2018 - Due to last week's Hurricane Michael, Daytona's Museum of Arts and Sciences poetry workshop series was rescheduled to this Wednesday,10/17, 4-6pm. Free and open to the public as well as all levels of writers. RSVP by calling the Museum at 386-255-0285 to attend. The second workshop in this series is tentatively scheduled for the first or second Wednesday in November. Stay tuned for details. Oct 2018 - MB and a large audience of poets met this past weekend at the Florida State Poets Association's 2018 Annual Conference. M.B. moderated a session titled: Can Poetry Matter? with a distinguished panel of poets that included Lola Haskins, Michelle Lee, Joseph Cavanaugh and Kyra Brokoph. Oct 2018 - Tulip Tree Publishing has just announced that M.B.'s creative non-fiction piece "A Good and Simple Meal " has won first place in their "Love" category of its Stories That N eed to be Told contest. The piece is part of M.B.'s upcoming book Beginner's Mind. Oct 2018 - M.B.'s poem "We leave the beaches for the tourists, mostly " has been accepted for publication in the University of South Florida's next issue of Saw Palm: Florida L iterature and Art. Sep 2018 - M.B.'s poem “Learning the Scriptures ” has been published in Naugatuck R iver Review : A Journal of Narrative Poetry That Sings, Summer/Fall 2018 – Issue 20. Sep 2018 - M.B. and Denise Duhamel presented their work to a warm audience of South Florida poetry lovers at the Betsy South Beach Hotel in Miami. The event was generously sponsored by SWWIM. A reception for M.B. , who was honored as Artist in Residence, was hosted by hotel owner and arts lover Jonathan Plutzik. Aug 2018 - Update - the "Beginner's Mind" poetry workshop series hosted by Atlantic Center for the Arts this Fall is currently full. Please check the ACA website for waitlist options. Aug 2018 - Art Therapy Panel Discussion . In conjunction with 100 Faces of War, a traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution, M.B. will join other panelists to discuss the growing field of Art Therapy on September 22nd at Daytona's Museum of Arts & Sciences. Jul 2018 - M.B. has been honored as a 2018 Artist in Residence at the Writer's Room at t he Betsy in South Beach, Miami. At 7 PM on Wed, 9/12, join M.B. and local Miami poet Denise Duhamel for an evening of poetry generously sponsored by SWWIM. Details h ere . And then on Thursday, 9/13, at 5 PM, come meet M. B. and Stacey Lynn Browne at a wine & cheese Meet the Artist reception hosted by Betsy hotel owner, Jonathan Plutzik. Jul 2018 - Upcoming Summer Workshops in August! M.B. will host two poetry workshops on Aug 22 and 29 (7 - 9pm) that explore the link between faith and poetry. Our values and our beliefs define us, but, how willing are we to embrace these in our writing? Participants will explore this while trying their hands at various forms of poetry. Open to the public. All levels of poets are welcome, from non-writers to advanced. To register, contact: Jeannie Hansen at (386) 253-4201, Unity of Daytona, 908 Ridgewood Avenue, Daytona Beach, FL 32117. Jul 2018 - Upcoming Workshops this September, hosted by ACA . Every Wednesday 4-6 PM throughout September, 2018. Topic: BEGINNER’S MIND - Chasing the Censors Away When We Write Poems. M.B. will host this 4-part series sponsored by the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Admission is free. Come try your hand at methods for writing poems that take risks and tell truths. All levels of poets are welcome, from new to advanced. Limited to 15. Reserve your spot now! Location: ACA Harris House, New Smyrna Beach, FL. Register at 386-402-1753 or email community@atlanticcenterforthearts.org . Note: no class on 9/12. Jul 2018 - Upcoming Poetry conference in Daytona Beach on Saturday, October 13 at 1:30 PM. M.B. will moderate the Florida State Poets Association panel: CAN POETRY MATTER? Location: Plaza Resort & Spa. Join M.B. and a distinguished panel of poets, critics, translators, and teachers to discus how poetry sigs and why that singing serves us in today's cultural climate. For information: email Florida State Poets Assn. President, Mary-Ann Westbrook at 1poetry.3@gmail.com . Jun 2018 - Harpur Palate of Binghamton University will feature three of M.B.'s poems in their upcoming Fall 2018 issue. The poems include “Trigger Warning,” “On Folding a Fitted Sheet,” and “Anthem”. Jun 2018 - MOAS Poetry Workshops announced - WRITING TO CONNECT at Daytona's Museum of Arts & Sciences. In partnering with the MOAS exhibit, “100 Faces of War,” M.B. will lead a workshop series on October 10 (Wed) and October 17 (Wed) from 4-6 PM. Open to the public, all ages & all levels of writers – with a special invitation to veterans and family & friends of veterans. Participants will explore how written expression can generate positive and creative directions in our lives. Limited to 15 participants. Reserve your spot now! To register, call Ruth Grim, museum curator, at 386-256-3546 or email: ruth@moas.org Jun 2018 - M.B.'s poem “Learning the Scriptures” has been accepted for publication in the Summer/Fall 2018 issue of Naugatuck River Review . May 2018 - In her newly appointed role as ACA Arts & Wellness ambassador for the renowned Atlantic Center for the Arts, M.B. led a poetry workshop for an enthusiastic audience of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs members and regional directors from counties throughout the state. Apr 2018 - As National Poetry Month comes to a close, so do M.B.'s weekly poetry w orkshops at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Turnout and participation each week was more than wonderful, and the quality of work was outstanding. Apr 2018 - The 2018 New Orleans Poetry Fesitval and Small Press Fair was a wonderful success, with incredible performances and readings all weekend as well as moving tributes to Marthe Reed. M.B. and panel spoke to a packed house about how poetry can give witness to the coastal changes that confront us. We still have time. Hope to see you there next year. Apr 2018 - The Daytona State Writer's Festival , hosted at Daytona's Museum of Arts & Sciences on April 7th was a huge success. Over 80 participants were in attendance for an afternoon of writing sessions led by local faculty and authors. Mar 2018 - Join M.B. and several other faculty and writers on April 7 at the Daytona S tate Writers' Festival . M.B. will moderate a panel discussion titled, "What is Poetry Anyway?" and will also lead a workshop on Ekphrasis poetry. Come join the fun and express yourself. Mar 2018 - M.B. joined over 12,000 attendees at the AWP Conference & Bookfair in Tampa this month and read from her recent works at off-site events hosted by Naugatuck River Review and by SWWIM. Lots of incredible work presented; lots of wonderful new friends. Feb. 2018 - M.B. has been invited to read from her recent works at an event hosted by SWWIM Come check out The Attic Cafe ! More details here . Jan 2018 - The 10th Anniversary Poetry Reading of Naugatuck River Review at AWP this year will feature Destiny Birdsong, M.B. McLatchey, Robbie Gamble, Terry Blackhawk and NRR editors Lori Desrosiers and Michael Mercurio on Thursday, March 8 at 3pm. Details h ere. Jan. 2018 - M.B. will be joining other writers, poets and publishers this coming April at the 2018 New Orleans Poetry Festival and Small Press Fair . She will co- present a panel entitled Coastal Poetics: Crafting Erosion and Absence. Dec. 2017 - M.B..’s poem, “Bad Apology ," is featured in one of the newest and coolest online journals in the South -- SWWIM (Supporting Women Writers in Miami). Nov. 2017 - Upcoming Poetry Workshop series. Discover how to craft poems that listen and respond to the world around us during National Poetry Month next April. M.B. will be conducting poetry workshops each Wednesday at the Atlantic Center for the Arts . Sign up now for Pictures Worth a Thousand Words: Poetry Workshop for National Poetry Month . Admission is Free! Veterans and families welcome. Oct, 2017 - M.B.'s upcoming book, Beginner's Mind, came in as semi-finalist in the 2017 Creative Nonfiction Book Award contest by Zone 3 Press . Oct. 2017 - M.B. joined other poets, writers, editors, agents, publishers and book sellers at the annual Other W o rds literary c onference held this year at the University of Tampa in Florida. Jen Karetnick, Catherine Esposito Prescott, Neil H. Spirtas and M.B. led a panel titled “Writing What We Eat: Crafting the Culinary in Our Writing". Aug. 2017 - Florida writer Malcolm R. Campbell comments on M.B.'s recent reflections on how to teach writing that were captured in AWP's In the Spotlight article last month. You can read his blog article here . Jul. 2017 - M.B. is featured in the July issue of AWP's In the Spotlight in the article "Can Writing Be Taught? Read an Interview with M.B. McLatchey". Here's a clip from AWP Monthly Member Updates : Our July #AWPSPOTLIGHT member M.B. McLatchey on whether writing can be taught: "I have no doubt that writing can be taught—but here the burden of responsibility falls mostly on the teacher, not the writer. By this I mean that writing must be taught in a way that emphasizes discovery and growth of the student-writer’s voice, rather than emphasizing adaptation of a writer’s voice to a history of literature or to current trends in literature.” Learn more about poet and Classics professor M.B. McLatchey at In the Spotlight today! Jun. 2017 - M.B. will join other poets and writers this fall to lead a literary panel at the Other Words literary conference in Tampa. Stay tuned for details. Apr. 2017 - Thanks to a Luso-American FLAD Scholarship, M.B. will be attending the 2017 Disquiet International Literary Program in Lisbon, Portugal this summer. M.B. will be joining poets Erica Dawson and Denise Duhamel at this premier event that brings together writers and poets from all over the world to work with Portuguese writers in the heart of Lisbon. Mar. 2017 - M.B., along with Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry and poet Dr. David Axelrod, participated in a panel discussion at the 2017 First Amendment Seminar "Speak Freely, Write Boldly" in Daytona Beach, Florida. The event was a huge success for local artists, poets and writers. About 75 people as well as local media were in attendance. Feb. 2017 - Much gratitude to Rosalie Gartner, Archivist and Records Coordinator at Emerson College, for tracking down a long lost high school friend, "On Rewinding ", which appeared in the 1975 edition of The Emerson Review. And a belated thank you to contest judge Charles Simic for his memorable affirmation... "Good job kid." Jan. 2017 - The Huffington Post features M.B. in the article "To Be Published Or Not To Be Published? Today’s Climate for Poet’s Works". Dec. 2016 - Lori Desrosiers, editor of Naugatuck River Review , has asked M.B. to read her poetry at the 2017 AWP Bookfair on Feb. 9. Nov. 2016 - M.B. attended the 2016 Other Words Literary Conference in St. Augustine, Florida, and, along with Neil Spirtas, co-presented the session: Crying So Hard We're Laughing: When Humor Works in Our Writing. Hosted by the Florida Literary Arts Coalition. Oct. 2016 - "Fallen Angels ", a chapter from M.B.'s upcoming book, Beginner's Mind, has been published in the Summer 2016 issue of Apeiron Review . Sep. 2016 - "Cultures Crossing", a chapter from M.B.'s upcoming book, Beginner's Mind, will be featured in an upcoming issue of Broad Street . Aug 2016 - M.B. will join others at the 2016 Other Words Literary Conference in St. Augustine, Florida this November 4th to focus on humor in writing. Hosted by the Florida Literary Arts Coalition. July 2016 - "The Good Thief", a chapter from M.B.'s upcoming book, Beginner's Mind, was published in the Summer 2016 issue of Carolina Quarterly (page 110). July 2016 - M.B. attended the 2016 DISQUIET International literary conference in Lisbon, Portugal. M.B. also spent several weeks in Greece and Italy. June 2016 - "Ex-Patriots", a chapter from M.B.'s upcoming book, Beginner's Mind, was published in the June, 2016 issue of Chautauqua . May 2016 - M.B.'s poem "Urban Helicon " will be featured in an upcoming issue of Cold Mountain Review . May 2016 - M.B.'s poem "Ocracoke " was published in the Spring 2016 issue of The Briar Cliff Review. Apr 2016 - M.B.'s poem "Parousia " was published in the Spring 2016 issue of Tar River Poetry. Mar 2016 - M.B.'s poem "Sugaring ", a semi-finalist in the 7th Annual Narrative Poetry Contest, was published in the Winter/Spring 2016 issue of Naugatuck River Review. Feb 2016 - M.B. will be reading at an AWP event hosted by Naugatuck River Review on April 1st, 2:30pm at the Triple 8 Chinese restaurant near the Los Angeles Convention Center. More details to follow. Jan 2016 - "A Purple Heart", a chapter from M.B.'s upcoming memoir was published in the online issue of Slippery Elm . Jan 2016 - M.B. will serve as the 2016 Grand Prize judge of the 90th Poets' Dinner Contest for the Ina Coolbrith Circle (ICC). The ICC is the oldest continuously running poetry circle in the nation, founded by California's first poet laureate. Submission details can be found here . Dec 2015 - "A Purple Heart", a chapter from M.B.'s upcoming memoir, Beginner's Mind, will be featured in a 2016 online issue of Slippery Elm . Dec 2015 - M.B.'s poem "Sugaring " will be featured in the Winter/Spring 2016 issue of Naugatuck River Review . Dec 2015 – M.B. and Bob Calabrese read from their writings at the Dan Pels Poetry Show at Wine-Me in Daytona Beach. Dec 2015 - M.B.'s poem "Ocracoke " will be featured in the Spring 2016 issue of The Briar Cliff Review . Dec 2015 - "The Good Thief", a chapter from M.B.'s upcoming memoir, Beginner's Mind, will be featured in a 2016 issue of Carolina Quarterly . Nov 2015 - "Ex-patriots", a chapter from M.B.'s upcoming memoir, Beginner's Mind, will be featured in the June, 2016 issue of Chautauqua . Nov 2015 – 2015 Ina Coolbrith Poetry Contest Grand Prize awarded by M.B for Joyce Odam's poem "White Elephan t". Nov 2015 – . M.B. presented the session Training Our Ears: Poetic Devices That Render Free Verse Not So Free After All at the 2015 Other Words Conference , St. Augustine, FL, hosted by the Florida Literary Arts Coalition Oct 2015 - M.B. and David Axelrod sat down with Rick de Yampert of the Daytona Beach News Journal to discuss their new roles as Volusia County's first poets laureate. The article and video can be found here . Sept 2015 - See Kickstand Poetry's interview of M.B. on the writing process behind The Lame God . Sept 2015 - M.B.'s poem "Parousia" will be featured in a 2016 issue of Tar River Poetry . Aug 2015 - M.B. selected as the 2015 Volusia County Poet Laureate, sharing the position with David Axelrod of Daytona Beach. Aug 2015 - M.B.'s chapbook Advantages of Believing was published by Finishing Line Press . Aug 2015 - M.B. will serve this Fall as Grand Prize judge in the 96th annual poetry competition for the Ina Coolbrith Circle (ICC). The ICC is the oldest continuously running poetry circle in the nation, founded by California's first poet laureate. July 201 5 - M.B.'s poem "Empirical God" will be featured in the December 2015 issue of Ruminate Magazine . June 2015 – M.B.'s poem "The Breakfast Piece" will be featured in an upcoming issue of The Drunken Boat . May 2015 - M.B. is announced as a 2015 Volusia County Poet Laureate nominee. Apr 2015 – Find M.B.’s recently published review of Rebecca Foust’s award-winning poetry collection, Paradise Drive, in The Collagist . Apr 2015 – As featured Poet, M.B. conducted a poetry workshop and poetry reading at Mt. Dora’s Annual Poetry Under the Oaks celebration in Central Florida. Apr 2015 - M.B. and several Corvid Writers attended the 2015 AWP Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota this Spring. M.B. read her poetry at an off-site event hosted by Naugatuck River Revie w on Friday, April 10, at the Rare Steak and Sushi restaurant. And, it was standing room only at the GAMUT GALLERY in Minneapolis for the Wine and Words poetry reading by Utah State Press. May Swenson Award winners M.B. McLatchey, Luisa Igloria, Travis Mossotti, and Dan Rzicznek were featured. Mar 2015 - M.B. is thrilled to announce that she has joined hands with agent Christopher Rhodes for her recently-completed manuscript, Beginner's Mind, an educational memoir about a revolutionary teacher in the 1960's. Feb 2015 - M.B. is announced as a 2015 Florida Poet Laureate nominee. Jan 2015 - M.B. was awarded the 2014 FLP Chapbook Prize by Finishing Line Press for her poetry collection Advantages of Believing. Publication forthcoming in 2015. Nov 2014 - M. B., Catherine Prescott and M.L Williams, presented the panel session Is This Poem About You? The Counterfeit Voice in Poetry at the 2014 Other Words Conference , sponsored by The Florida Literary Arts Coalition at Flagler College, St. Augustine, Florida. Nov 2014 - M. B.'s poem "The Bath" won Semi-Finalist in the Naugatuck River Review' 6th Annual Narrative Poetry Contest, and will be published in the forthcoming 2015 Winter issue of Naugatuck River Review . Jan 2014 - Hear M.B.'s interview with Tom Williams on Utah Public Radio's Wednesday's Access Utah show. UPR is a member of National Public Radio (NPR). Oct/Nov 2013 - M.B. read from her new book, The Lame God , at the Utah Humanities Book Festival. Venues included Utah State University and Brigham Young University. A video of her BYU reading can be found here . June 2013 - M. B.'s poem "Bingo Night " won first place in the 2012 Adirondack Review's 46er Prize for Poetry. Her poem has been published in the 2013 Summer issue of The Adirondack Review . May 2013 - M. B.'s poem "Amber Alert" won first place in the 2013 New South Writing Contest. Her poem is forthcoming in the 2013 Summer issue of new south : Georgia State University's Journal of Art & Literature . Apr 2013 - M. B.'s debut poetry collection The Lame God was awarded the 16th Annual May Swenson Poetry Award by Utah State University Press. Judge for the annual award was Edward Field. Jan 2012 - M. B. McLatchey was awarded the 2011 American Poet Prize by The American Poetry Journal for her poem "1-800-THE-LOST". Her poem will be featured in the 2012 Spring issue of The American Poetry Journal. Dec 2011 - M. B.'s poem "Catharsis" won Finalist in the Erskine J. Poetry Prize contest and will be published in the forthcoming 2012 Spring issue of Smartish Pace. Spring 2011 - M.B.'s article "Spiritual Redemption in a World of Crime: Carolina Garcia-Aguilera and Barbara Parker " was published in The Majorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal of Florida Literature . Feb 2008 - M. B. McLatchey's poems “The Lame God” and “Melville’s Reader” will be featured in the Summer 2008 issue of The Spoon River Poetry Review. Jan 2008 - M. B. McLatchey's poem "Oaths, Curses, Blessings" will be featured in the Spring 2008 edition of the Georgetown Review. Nov 2007 - Two poems by M.B. McLatchey, "Arcadia" and "Snow Globe", will be featured in the next issue of Cider Press Review, Volume 9, Spring 2008. Sep 2007 - M. B. read her award-winning piece ISMS for the 2007 National Literary Awards Reading on September 24 at the Shirley Recital Hall on the campus of Salem College, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Sep 2007 - Three poems by M. B. McLatchey were recently awarded the distinction of Special Merit and will be featured in the January 2008 issue of The Comstock Review. July 2007 - M. B. McLatchey has been awarded the 2007 Spoon River Poetry Review Editors’ Prize for her poem "The Rape of Chryssipus ". Her poem will be featured in the Fall 2007 edition of The Spoon River Poetry Review. Apr 2007 - M. B. McLatchey has been named the winner of The 2007 Penelope Niven Creative Nonfiction Award by the Salem College Center for Women Writers . Dec 2006 - It may have been frigid outside, but the reception and mood inside was warm. M. B. McLatchey, Dawn Paul, and Elizabeth Rollins read selections from their new and published works at The Center for New Words in Cambridge, Massachusetts. M. B., featured reader for the evening, read from her new poetry collection, The Immortals, and excerpts from her recently completed memoir, Fire Starter. Sep 2006 - M. B. McLatchey's poem "Odalisque " was chosen this month as a finalist for The Muriel Craft Bailey Memorial Award 2006. Her poem will appear in an upcoming issue of The Comstock Review. Oxford, England 2001 Mt. Dora Poetry Workshop 2015 The Corvid Writers grew out of an MFA program in 2002 at Goddard College, where its eight founding members met as graduate students. The desire to write and to nurture the art of others brought them together in the mountains of Vermont and has kept them together ever since. Like the Corvids they use as their symbol, they strive to be fierce, intelligent and bold! Canaveral National Seashore 2003 Hershey, PA ACA Harris House 2006 New Smyrna Beach, FL 2008 Atlantic Center for the Arts Corvids

Index Previous Next 2012 Robert Frost Award - First Runner Up The Arrangement I. Because we were getting old enough our instructor took us to look at (not to touch) some pictures grown men drew. We tripped like new recruits through orderly rooms. Some were sternly directed to carry their shoes as we made our hushed advance. In the dim hall we could hear a classmate whimpering as she would whenever she felt too far from home. Her tears a kind of prelude to the work itself: Flowers in a Vase - more paint than flowers whose stems arched away, whose poppies bleated and sprayed yellow tears on our starched uniforms, on the perfect walls. All the way home, the yellow hung on our clothes. The bus took us sluggishly along, and we felt the road under its beefy wheels change to a luminous river of paint and the trees gave up their souls in Autumn's clay glow. II. I knew what it meant but not really. So I took the stairs two by two for you, like any other day. In my pocket, paintings on postcards, a stick of gum. In the kitchen below, Dad had grown small beside the cakes the ladies brought. He would not eat, he would not speak to relatives in the hall, and the relatives awkwardly leaning on end-tables like faded photos of themselves. Mother was proud to find me at my prayers and honoring the adults who were clearly "spent". When she pressed her head to mine, I felt her hair like fingers on my brow: a gesture she'd learned from you, mother to mother, and was teaching me now. And, this was "hard" and "each of us will have his own lament." It took all I had to steady my temple to hers - to keep my sorrow apart - as we planned the next few hours: where the aunts would sleep and who would order the flowers. . Copyright © 2006 M. B. McLatchey All rights reserved. 2012 Robert Frost Award - First Runner Up, Robert Frost Foundation . Judge's Review

ANTICIPATION

Award Winning Poetry - 2012 Rita Dove Poetry Award - Semi Finalist At the Grieving Parents Meeting In the parish hall of Saint Anthony’s Catholic Church, pictures of murdered children in our hands, we huddle in a sphere of folding chairs and a flickering fluorescent light. Some lean near the coffee and coffee cake that, each week, has the same floury smell of sympathy and each week, the same sour taste. By the tissues, a painted soapstone statuette – our patron saint. O, the watches and keys and gloves that appeared at your feet! A ruse that my mother relied on to make me believe that our smallest petitions are heard, that events, with the proper appeals, can be reversed, that almost anything lost can be retrieved. As a girl I chanted your name while I followed the trail: pockets, under the bed, under the sofa cushions, pockets again. Something's lost and can't be found. Please, St. Anthony, look around. When it didn’t turn up, I brought you coiled vines – like the petals I bring to my daughter’s room as if to stir up stale air – and the search would resume. Look at the priestess of talismans I have become: her saint card from First Communion in my purse; lodestones for paperweights at work. For good luck, a horseshoe-shaped necklace under my shirt: the crescent shape of the sacred moon goddess in Peru or the bow of the Blessed Mother’s cradling arm, arch like the threshold of her sacred vulva, twine like the helix of lovers. Look at the virtuoso that was finally birthed, who would use this ring of linked hands not for fellowship or grace, not to make my peace on earth, not to lay my gifts at your feet and give up the search, but to summon the face she petitioned and conjure a curse. Copyright © 2011 M. B. McLatchey. All rights reserved. Published in River Styx 87, Spring 2012. Previous Next

Index Previous Next A Drink of Water A tactic for keeping us near, not for staying awake. Still we’d call, Go to sleep! – joke that the well was dry. We don’t see our mistakes right away. I sent his father pushing his whole self: sleep-walker, his father's father, laggard pilgrim. From across the hall, we heard a small boy drink as if he meant to teach us how it’s done: exaggerated gulps, or blessing of the throat, or baptism; the sinking thrill of water filling his bony frame, or drowning him. And then the playful gasp between each self-immersion. The antics of the unconverted. Had he said his prayers? His sadness at the question, his sour objection. One more. One more dog-weary tour and prayer was this encounter of his thirst with ours. . Copyright © 2019 M. B. McLatchey. All rights reserved. Published in The Banyan Review , Fall 2023.

Index Previous Next Where Winter Spends the Summer On a beach towel print of a bosomy mermaid that reads I ♥ Miami. In an everglade’s wild plan marked with grilles and canopies. Between concrete, leaning towers and a tide meant for healing. In a daze, dreaming, gazing at Odysseus’ wine-dark sea. In the unclothed body’s prescient haze. On the front of a postcard – a postcard painter’s dream – in dabs of yellow and green, intended, as postcard painters will, to make a symphony of bathers between brush marks; map out, in palm-tree fences, a new world – an answer to the sirens call, when all the bathers want is no world at all. . Copyright © 2019 M. B. McLatchey. All rights reserved. Published in SWWIM , September 19, 2019.

Index Previous Next NRR's 11th Narrative Poetry Contest - Semi Finalist Ode for an Absent Student So many dramas have played themselves out: a girl who saw through us, our Scout’s-honor truths; a girl scribbling her own proofs on the walls of a cell; a girl singing Fado in a tilted café, her star-rise a perfect – a textbook – chandelle; or, a girl whose shrill call feathers the walls of a well. Well of knowledge, coins, half-lives; mortar and water, a god’s paring knife. For his warrior mettle, Aristotle made Alexander recite – not the songs of Ajax – but the chant of his mother’s midwife. How she crooned at the sight of his scalp. Quick breaths, short beats like a cuckoo’s heart in flight; later, a conqueror’s lullaby; an air in clipped verse for his trek across the east, for his rise and fall, for the sound of his troops’ flat feet. Airs like anthems we hear in our sleep; bright conquests or the dull retreat. This morning marks three weeks. Your peers – all of us – proceed because there is a map to walk, countries to Hellenize – or not. Seas, you and Alexander must have known, cannot be crossed with brute force, missiles and stone. There is the compass that is another rower’s heartache for his home; the crow’s nest call that it will not be long. Things you forgot when you set out alone. . Copyright © 2019 M. B. McLatchey. All rights reserved. Naugatuck River Review's 11th Narrative Poetry Contest - Semi Finalist Published in the Winter/Spring 2020 issue of Naugatuck River Review .

Award Winning Poetry - 2011 Winner of the 2011 American Poet Prize 1-800-THE-LOST The weight of the receiver in my hand: the down bird in my palm first lifting you. The counselor’s words: rehearsed, a burlesque bland. The shift in time, the shift to looking through her lens: today you are just one of two hundred lost. My eyes fix on our bright fence. I say your name, but you are no one new – caught in an ancient book that she’ll condense. I want her to discuss you in the present tense. I want the gods to stop pretending love calls the departed home. We called you with our various loves, had hope, hovered over still fields; made wind like the gods do before they come unhinged, let their rage loose on an unresponsive yield. Fields gone deaf and dumb; unshaken, fruitless ground, unmoved by a neighborhood of mothers who left their own to find you – tables, like mine, set. I want the gods to swallow their prayers whole. Choke up my child like the Olympians – a girl, unbruised by her journey down their throats. I want her at my table: fruit, alms that the gods, I see, can give or take – balm for the irritations I caused, or they caused; gifts between us or perhaps among themselves – a girl that they’ll barter away. I’m here. And I’m willing to talk, or trade. Copyright © 2011 M. B. McLatchey All rights reserved. Winner of the American Poet Prize for 2011 Published in The American Poetry Journal , Spring 2012. Previous Next

Index Previous Next War in Eurasia We shall squeeze you empty, and then we shall fill you with ourselves. - Orwell, 1984 We sleep like guard dogs, one eye open, groomed to unlock from one another’s folds. Older, a cooler grey than our adult years. Your breast, like a forbidden prayer or scent or thought, presses against my arm. The war in Eurasia rages on. The dull flicker of the TV; the news anchor’s lips tattooed a deep party red mouthing vowels: A and E, and O – not I or U. Everything in black and white, or streams of sepia. We hardly remember the difference between the news and truer truths; the sum of two plus two. Harvest seasons pass. Dictionaries yield a sulphury marsh gas. Winters sprout days of halcyon, golden wheat. We yearn for myths that lean on goddesses of crops, a mother’s loss and rage, a revenge drought. Love is the warrior’s call. We knew it in the womb, first breath, when we were made to choose: a dying art, or this waking death. . Copyright © 2022 M. B. McLatchey. All rights reserved. Published in Sequestrum , Issue 32, June 2022.

Index Previous Next We leave the beaches for the tourists, mostly and the history of tourism, a history of our shadow selves: wing-prints of fallen angels in shimmering sand, flapping, flapping – the soul’s earth mapping or a mating dance. Mouths, an upturned string of shells opening to a vast and mythical sky. These are the things they leave behind. A paddleball court etched in the muddy flats where a ruddy turnstone makes his nest’s scrapes, space for a female’s eggs; and seagulls dive for nacho chips and funnel cake; and the sanderling’s shrill song is the echo of a mother’s plea to her children out too deep. These are the calls we hear in our sleep. Or, the black-bellied plover’s plaintive call as he circles the shore for a sandworm or a crab – or for something, something to eat – and absently darts toward a sand castle made from plastic-cup molds and a child’s empty pail, pink or lime green or gold. And a wave with a biblical thrust catches them off guard: a torrent of coconut oil and ocean spray, a sandal, a drugstore romance – then the bright, shallow meadows and plank. Kitsch in a tide’s eternal crawl and roll and spray. Song and refrain. . Copyright © 2018 M. B. McLatchey. All rights reserved. Published in Saw Palm: Florida L iterature and Art , Issue 13.