Literary Revelations

The Splendid Poetry and Art of Canadian Artist Vasile Trif

Literary Revelations is thrilled to announce that in 2027, we will publish an exceptional poetry collection authored by Canadian artist Vasile Trif and entitled The Dialysis of Light.

Poems from the Dialysis of Light – Vasile Trif

Morning

Your tender foot
blessed at dawn
by the cool clay
is wounded by the very tender mirrors of the waters
your heel, now pierced by the twilight
bleeds the Milky Way

Haiku

Anchored in my own body
sailing ship in a harbor

The wall of the amphora

How to go beyond the pane of the amphora
which kisses and heals the drought
}to pierce the fabric
to leave my straitjacket
screaming mad, I am
seeing
and saying
what is
what I am

Vasile Trif – Bio

VASILE TRIF was born in 1975, in Baia Mare, Maramureș, Romania and currently lives in Canada. He is an Orthodox priest at the “Saint Great Martyr Pantelimon” Church in Saint-Eustache, Quebec. He holds a degree in theology and philosophy. He also holds a master’s degree in theology from Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca. In 2007, he enrolled in the Faculty of Social Work at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Having a degree in this field, he also works in the Canadian health system.

In 2002, he debuted with the poetry volume The Prodigal Son at Risoprint Publishing House in Cluj-Napoca. His second collection of poetry, a bilingual (Romanian-French) collection entitled Pescuirea minunată/The Miraculous Catch, was published in 2024. His poems are accompanied by his artwork

Published in several literary magazines in Romania and abroad. He is present in various anthologies: An Anthology of Maramures Poetry: From Popular Poetry to Contemporary Poetry(2009), by the poet Nicolae Pauna Scheianu, Ethnologica Publishing House (2010); Anthology of Contemporary Literature, Globart Universum Publishing House, Montreal (2020); three American anthologies: Hidden in Childhood: A Poetry Anthology, Literary Revelations Publishing House – Gabriela Marie Milton (2023); Petals of Haiku: An Anthology, Literary Revelations Publishing House – Gabriela Marie Milton(2024); Tranquility: An Anthology of haiku, Literary Revelations Publishing House – Gabriela Marie Milton (2025).

Vasile has been attending the Atelier d’Arts Anciens Valuarda School of Fine Arts since 2012, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He presented icons on glass in 2015, as part of the collective exhibition À la rencontre de l’Invisible, organized in collaboration with Le Musée des métiers d’art in Quebec (MUMAQ). He participated with works and in 2019, within the L’amitié spirituelle Exhibition.

On November 19, 2019, he has his first solo exhibition, entitled Immersion, with 50 works made in mixed media at the Queens of the Arts Gallery in Montreal.

In 2022, he participates in 44 Art Events – Rassemblement des Arts de Montréal, with works in mixed media!. He exhibits, that same year, in a group exhibition, at the Boa-Bob Oré Gallery. The curator of the exhibition is art critic André Seleanu.

On the occasion of the Montreal International Jazz Festival, in July 2023, he participates with works in a group and solo exhibition at the Gesù Center at the Jesuit Cathedral, the curator of the exhibition being Professor Dr. Norman Cornett.

Since 2024, he has been exhibiting on the galleries of the Maël Galerie Gallery in Montreal.

In October 2024: participation in the group exhibition: Exile – BOA Gallery, Montreal. Exhibition curator: Monique Brunet-Weimann

In Octobre 2024: participation in group show: ANTISYMMETRIC – Romanian-Canadian Perspectives in Contemporary Art, The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, USA.

Accolades

Alexandre Loeboef – Writer, essayist and professor of philosophy :

“Vasile Trif infuses his poetry with a philosophical power worthy of those ancient initiatory rituals which, far from asserting static and dull truths, unveil universes in motion, kaleidoscopic and complex, where light becomes color and wonder, where the curious human being discovers themselves as an enigma bathed in the tumult of a sea of mysteries. In short, Trif’s poetry, as lucid as it is dreamy, as immanent as it is transcendent, both gentle and tragic, will offer each reader the salutary opportunity for genuine reflection. Banquet or sacrifice, winter or spring, day or night, life or death: this work is a labyrinthine tapestry where the path to meaning is unique to each individual.”

Cătălin Domniteanu – visual artist:

“Vasile Trif’s art embarks on a profound odyssey, charting the spaces between material and spiritual realms. His work delves into interference, traversing boundaries between inner and outer worlds. With profound spirituality, Trif’s art initiates a journey of self-discovery, retrieving fragments of the divine.(…) His art is a testament to creativity’s transformative power, illuminating the path to beauty, meaning, and deeper understanding.”

Cătălin Domniteanu, ANTISYMMETRIC – Romanian-Canadian Perspectives in Contemporary Art, The Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, USA, 202

Vasile Trif – The Artist

Jon us in admiring his beautiful poetry and art.

Gabriela Marie Milton
Author, Founder, and Editor in Chief of Literary Revelations

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Submissions to Haiku for Soulmates are now closed

Submissions to Haiku for Soulmates are now closed. Heartfelt thanks to each of you for sharing your beautiful haiku and your creative spirit with us. Literary Revelations is deeply grateful for your participation. In mid-March, we will send out letters of acceptance or gentle rejections. We will do our best to honor as many voices as possible. Our tentative publication date is the end of March or the beginning of April, and we can’t wait to share this collection with you.

Gabriela Marie Milton
Author, founder, editor in chief

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The Artist Brain Structure by Gabriela Marie Milton

The Artist Brain Structure

Neurological studies using MRI scans have shown that individuals with high artistic ability often have distinct structural differences in their brains.

• Grey Matter Density: Research published in NeuroImage found that artists tend to have more grey matter in the cerebellum and the supplementary motor area. These regions are responsible for fine motor control and procedural memory (the “how-to” of drawing).

• The Precuneus: This area of the parietal lobe, involved in visual imagery and combining sensory input, is often more developed in artists. It allows them to “see” a finished work in their mind before the brush touches the canvas.

2. Visual Perception: “The Artist’s Eye”

A major part of artistic “talent” is actually a cognitive trick. Most people suffer from “constancy scaling”—the brain’s tendency to see what it expects to see rather than what is actually there (e.g., drawing an eye as a symbol rather than the specific shapes of light and shadow).

• Bottom-Up Processing: Scientific tests show that talented artists are better at “de-contexualizing” objects. They can ignore the meaning of an object and focus purely on its geometric properties, edges, and shadows.

• Gaze Stability: Eye-tracking studies reveal that trained artists shift their gaze between the subject and their paper more frequently but with more stability than novices, allowing for more accurate information transfer.

3. The Genetic Component of Creativity
While specific “drawing genes” haven’t been isolated, the personality traits that drive artistic talent are highly heritable.

• Openness to Experience: This is one of the “Big Five” personality traits and has a strong genetic link. It is the single best predictor of creative achievement.

• Dopamine Pathways: Creativity is often linked to how the brain processes dopamine. Some researchers suggest that artists have fewer D2 receptors in the thalamus, which may allow for less “filtering” of information—leading to the unconventional associations we call “originality.”

Is talent genetically given?

Science generally agrees that what we call “talent” is a cocktail of genetics and environment. While you can’t point to a single “NBA Player Gene” or “Grammy Winner Gene,” researchers have identified specific ways our DNA sets the stage for high-level performance.

Here is how the science breaks down the “nature vs. nurture” debate.

1. Heritability Estimates
Scientists use heritability coefficients to measure how much of the variation in a trait within a population is due to genetics.
• General Intelligence (IQ): Studies on twins suggests that IQ has a heritability of about 50% to 80%. This influences how quickly someone can process information or recognize patterns—key components of many “talents.”

• Physical Traits: In athletics, genetics play a massive role. Traits like height, lung capacity, and muscle fiber composition (fast-twitch vs. slow-twitch) are highly heritable.

• Musicality: Research indicates that “pitch production” and rhythm perception have significant genetic roots, often estimated around 50%.

2. Specific Genetic Markers
We have moved past guesswork and can now see specific genes that correlate with high performance:

• ACTN3 (The “Sprint Gene”): This gene codes for a protein in fast-twitch muscle fibers. Almost every Olympic-level power athlete has a specific functional version of this gene.

• COMT Gene: This affects how the brain processes dopamine. Some variants help people stay calm under extreme pressure (the “warrior” vs. “worrier” genotypes), which is a massive component of competitive talent.

3. The “Gene-Environment Interaction”
This is the most crucial part: Genes are not a blueprint; they are a potential.

A person might have the genetic predisposition for incredible spatial reasoning (a “talent” for architecture or chess), but if they never see a chessboard or a drafting table, that talent remains dormant. This is known as epigenetics, where the environment essentially “flips the switch” on certain genes.

Gabriela Marie Milton,
Founder and Editor-in-Chief.

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An Exceptional Poem by Maria Carvalho – Our Writer in Residence

BIO

Maria Carvalho’s love for words has always been as fervent as her fear of math. Her multi-genre short fiction has appeared in a smorgasbord of anthologies and literary magazines—most recently, Roi Fainéant, MetaStellar, Free Flash Fiction, and 101 Words—and her latest poetry can be found in several #1 best-selling books published by Literary Revelations, where she is the writer in residence. Her popular children’s book Hamster in Space! was praised by Kirkus Reviews for its “sharp understanding of kids’ wacky sense of humor”—a testament to the fact that she’s still a kid at heart.

A 2025 Pushcart Prize nominee, Maria lives in Connecticut, where she enjoys the outdoors, photography, reading, and subjecting her family to her puns. Find her on Twitter and Bluesky: @immcarvalho.

The Search for Starlight

The lonely Earth drifts helplessly on a vast cosmic sea.
There is no one to remember its azure skies and verdant lands;
All traces of the past are buried far beneath the bitter ice,
And in the perpetual darkness, time itself is frozen.

Long ago, mankind fought desperately to save their dying star—
But they could not escape the numbing certainty of their fate.The merciless cold grew stronger as the meager light ebbed away,
And in the end, humanity yielded to the crystalline night.

Now, the bereft planet mourns the ashen sun that let it go.
Sailing through sable heavens, it yearns for a beacon of starlight—
A sign that it will be held in a warm embrace once more;
A glittering hope that life will one day rise from Earth again.

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HAIKU FOR SOULMATES – LAST CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

We do not publish books. We create legacies.

HAIKU FOR SOULMATES – LAST CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

My dearest subscribers and followers,

Thank you to everyone who submitted to Haiku for Soulmates. I am deeply grateful for the beautiful haiku I received.

This is the last call for submissions. The submission period closes on February 26.

Guidelines for submission:

We invite you to keep submitting to Literary Revelations’ upcoming anthology, Haiku for Soulmates. We hope this collection will also find its place in esteemed museums, as any collection of haiku we have published.

To participate, please submit five haiku to literaryrevelations@pm.me with the email subject clearly labeled as “Haiku for Soulmates.” Please be aware that unlabeled submissions may be misplaced and not read. The deadline for submissions is February 26. Kindly note that your five haiku will be reviewed as a set and accepted or rejected as a whole.

Thank you for your continued support and inspiration. 🙏

Gabriela Marie Milton

Our Awards

Best Publisher in the USA (Best of Best Review)

Best Poetry Publisher in the US (Evergreen Award)

Best Publisher for Artistic Excellence (BizWeekly)

OUR BOOKS – PICK ONE TODAY

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Petals of Haiku, Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku, Haiku and Tanka: Lull, Harmony and Power in Japanese Art; Full Moon Confessions – books published by Literary Revelations, officially accepted in the Museum of Contemporary Japanese Poetry, Tanka and Haiku (Japan)

We do not publish books. We create legacies.

Petals of Haiku, Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku, Haiku and Tanka: Lull, Harmony and Power in Japanese Art; Full Moon Confessions – books published by Literary Revelations, officially accepted in the Museum of Contemporary Japanese Poetry, Tanka and Haiku (Japan)

My Dearest Subscribers and Followers,

I am thrilled to share some exciting news: Literary Revelations Anthologies of Haiku and Tanka have officially been included in the prestigious Museum of Contemporary Japanese Poetry, Tanka and Haiku, which boasts one of the world’s most remarkable poetry collections.

The following are now part of this prestigious museum.

Petals of Haiku: An Anthology
Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku

Haiku and Tanka: Lull, Harmony, and Power in Japanese Art By Hikari and Gabriela Marie Milton
Full Moon Confessions by Tracey Anne

We are honored that these volumes, including the moving Full Moon Confessions by Tracey Anne, will be showcased among such prestigious literary treasures.

Hikari, our fabulous Artist in Residence send us from Japan the following message:

“I am absolutely thrilled to share that I had the honor of meeting Director of the museum Mr. Mutsuo Takano (高野ムツオ氏) in person today.

Meeting such a master of the Haiku world was an unforgettable and deeply moving experience for me.

Regarding your publisher’s poetry books, the museum has officially accepted them into their permanent collection.

Mr. Takano and Deputy Director Toyoizumi shared some very profound words with me that I would like to pass on to you:

”Since poetry books are often published in limited numbers, they are at high risk of being forgotten over time if not properly preserved. However, by being housed here in this museum, your books will be preserved and will remain for generations to come.

Please give our best regards to Ms Gabriela Marie Milton and haiku poets from around the world”.

Mr. Takano said, “It is especially gratifying to see haiku spreading overseas.

I sincerely hope all of you will continue to share haiku with the world.”

As he leafed through “Petals of Haiku: An Anthology” and “Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku”—both collections featuring contributions from more than two hundred writers—he seemed genuinely moved by the growing presence of haiku abroad.

He was also surprised to learn that “Full Moon Confessions”(by Tracey Anne) had become a bestseller in Japan.

In particular, he showed a strong interest in “Lull, Harmony, and Power in Japanese Art.”

“It is truly fascinating,” he remarked, “to see an attempt to create a collaboration between tanka and haiku inspired by a single painting. I very much hope that, through such cooperative efforts, more haiku, tanka, and poetry will be created. I wholeheartedly support all those overseas who are dedicated to this kind of work.”

Knowing that the books we created together will now live on forever in the “holy place” of Japanese poetry is the greatest reward I could imagine.

Thank you so much for giving me this wonderful opportunity.

Hikari

※Introduction of Mr Takano Mutsuo-高野ムツオ氏-

Takano Mutsuo (born 1947 in Miyagi Prefecture) is one of the leading voices in contemporary Japanese haiku.

Today, Mr.Takano serves as President of the Modern Haiku Association and Director of “the Museum of Contemporary Japanese Poetry, Tanka and Haiku”.

His work is widely regarded for its emotional depth, imagistic intensity, and its ability to transform personal and regional experience into universal poetic expression.

After experiencing the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake firsthand, Mr Takano composed a series of powerful “disaster haiku” that confronted loss, trauma, and resilience with unflinching clarity.

These poems were collected in his acclaimed volume “Yorozu no Hane -萬の翅-“(Ten Thousand Wings), which received major literary honors including the Yomiuri Prize for Literature and the Dakotsu Prize-蛇笏賞-.

—————

All the photographs I am sending have been approved for posting on your website by the museum director.

Hikari

Mr. Takano is looking through our books.

Mr. Takano and Hikari.

Please remember that Petals of Haiku and Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku are also included in the Museum of Haiku Literature in Tokyo.

Literary Revelations promised you that we would create legacies. We are doing it.

Thank you to our fabulous Artist in Residence Hikari!

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Please continue to submit to Haiku for Soulmates

We invite you to keep submitting to Literary Revelations’ upcoming anthology, Haiku for Soulmates. We hope this collection will also find its place in esteemed museums.

Thank you for your continued support and inspiration. 🙏

Gabriela Marie Milton
Author, Founder, and Editor-in -Chief at Literary Revelations

Our Awards

Best Publisher in the USA (Best of Best Review)

Best Poetry Publisher in the US (Evergreen Award)

Best Publisher for Artistic Excellence (BizWeekly)

OUR BOOKS – PICK ONE TODAY

Please Subscribe

Flash Fiction by Neil Weiner

We do not publish books. We create legacies.

BIO

Dr. Weiner has over 40 years’ experience as a clinical psychologist who
specializes in trauma recovery and anxiety disorders. He enjoys using stories
to help readers harness their resilience to aid them on their healing journey.
He has been published in a variety of professional journals and literary
fiction in over thirty magazines. His psychology books include Shattered
Innocence and the Curio Shop. Non-psychology publications are Across the
Borderline and The Art of Fine Whining. He has a monthly advice column in a
Portland Newspaper, Ask Dr.Neil. nweiner@usa.net

The Chicken Summit

I know tonight is going to be a disaster the moment we step onto the porch and hear our parents arguing through the kitchen window. Their voices rise and fall like two angry geese in a windstorm. This time the fight is about the roast chicken.

When we walk in, Tina, my mother, is slicing the chicken. My other mother, Roberta, is hovering behind her, opening and slamming cupboards like she’s sending Morse code distress signals.

We sit. Dinner begins in that familiar uneasy silence. Ryan and Sommer exchange the same weary glances I’ve been trading with them since childhood. Here we go again.

The sparks comes fast.

“It’s dry,” Tina announces.

“It’s perfectly fine,” Roberta snickers back.

Tina shoots her a glare sharp enough to debone the chicken without touching it. Roberta twirls her fork like she’s contemplating plunging it into Tina, then abruptly stabs a carrot as if to demonstrate restraint.

The meal rolls on like that, tiny barbs and utensils clattering with the force of a small earthquake. It’s the slow drip of water torture.

By the time dinner ends, I feel ten years older.

We’re clearing plates when they slip right into their usual loop. Tina wipes the counter. Roberta wipes it again.

“You don’t need to redo everything I do.”

“I’m not redoing it.”

“It’s clean.”

“A matter of opinion.”

A wooden spoon slams on the counter All three of us jump like someone fired a starter pistol.

“That’s it.” I stand. “We’re going.”

Both parents speak in unison. “Going where, Brittany?”

“Home,” Ryan says. “Or… anywhere else.”

Sommer grabs her coat. “We love you. But this—” she gestures between them—“is impossible to be around.”

Roberta looks offended. “We’re just talking.”

“No, You’re bickering about everything.”

Tina’s face tightens. “We don’t mean anything by it.”

We stand there, exhausted.

“Wait,” Tina says. “Stay. We—we can stop.”

Roberta nods like a bobble head. “We can. Right, Tina?”

“Yes. We can.”

The tension loosens for a second

“We were thinking of a movie tonight,” Tina offers.

“I’d like to go bowling,” Roberta counters.

“Bowling will be crowded with leagues.”

“You never want to go to the movies.”

There it is. An instant replay of their worst hits. My stomach drops.

“I’m done!”

Ryan stands. “Me too.”

Sommer grabs her keys. “We’re leaving. While we still have functioning nervous systems.”

Roberta sputters, “We didn’t even argue!”

Tina insists, “We’re trying! That was affectionate!”

I turn back. “We love you. But you two can weaponize any activity. Bowling, movies, chicken, anything. We can’t keep doing this.”

Ryan nods. “We’re taking a month off. Minimum. Text us only if someone is physically on fire.”

We walk out.

Through the window I hear Roberta. “Well. That went well.”

“This is what happens when children are raised without proper discipline.”

“Oh, now that’s my fault?”

As we walk to our cars, a sudden downpour hits. We huddle in the rain, drenched.

News about Literary Revelations‘ anthologies

I am genuinely moved by the beauty of your haiku submitted to Haiku for Soulmates. Your creativity and passion shine through your words, and I encourage you to continue sharing your work. 🙏

Both Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku and Petals of Haiku, published by Literary Revelations (@lr_publisher), are now part of the Museum of Haiku Literature in Japan, thanks to our talented artist in residence, Hikari (@hikari2162554).

The Museum of Haiku Literature is distinguished as the world’s only library solely dedicated to collecting and preserving haiku works for the enrichment of future generations. Literary Revelations promised to create legacies. We are doing it.

We invite you to keep submitting to Literary Revelations’ upcoming anthology, Haiku for Soulmates. We hope this collection will also find its place in esteemed museums.

Thank you for your continued support and inspiration. 🙏

Gabriela Marie Milton
Founder and Editor-in-Chief

Our Awards

Best Publisher in the USA (Best of Best Review)

Best Poetry Publisher in the US (Evergreen Award)

Best Publisher for Artistic Excellence (BizWeekly)

OUR BOOKS – PICK ONE TODAY

Please Subscribe

Haiku for Soulmates – Front Cover Reveal

We do not publish books. We create legacies.

Dear Followers and Subscribers,

Happy February from Literary Revelations. May this month bring you happiness and success. Stay safe!

Haiku for Soulmates – Front Cover Reveal

Literary Revelations is thrilled to reveal the front cover of Haiku for Soulmates. I hope you like it. Please let us know.

The art on the cover belongs to our Artist-in-Residence, the Japanese painter Hikari.
Cover design: Iuliana Irimia.

Meantime please continue to submit. The deadline for Submission is February 25. Send 5 haiku to literaryrevelations@pm.me. Please make sure you label your submission Haiku for Soulmates. We will have an answer for you around March 1. If you have any questions, please let us know.

Gabriela Marie Milton
Editor in Chief

Our Awards

Best Publisher in the USA (Best of Best Review)

Best Poetry Publisher in the US (Evergreen Award)

Best Publisher for Artistic Excellence (BizWeekly)

OUR BOOKS – PICK ONE TODAY

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Haiku and Tanka: Lull, Harmony and Power in Japanese Art goes back to #1Bestseller in Japan

We do not publish books. We create legacies.

Literary Revelations is thrilled to let you know that Haiku and Tanka: Lull, Harmony and Power in Japanese art by Hikari and Gabriela Marie Milton has gone back to #1 Amazon bestseller in Japan. We are elated, and we thank everyone who bought the book.

You can get the book here:

A painting by Hikari from the book:

Reminder:

Please do not forget to submit to our upcoming anthology, Haiku for Soulmates. 5 Haiku by February 26.

Email: literaryrevelations@pm.me

Please label your email: Haiku for Soulmates.

Our first two anthologies, Petals of Haiku and Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku, were both included in the Museum of Haiku Literature in Tokyo, the most prestigious institution in the world for haiku. We hope we will make it this time, too.

Thank you!

Gabriela Marie Milton
Founder and Editor in Chief

Our Awards

Best Publisher in the USA (Best of Best Review)

Best Poetry Publisher in the US (Evergreen Award)

Best Publisher for Artistic Excellence (BizWeekly)

OUR BOOKS – PICK ONE TODAY

Please Subscribe

The Portrait of a Poet: PS Conway

We do not publish books. We create legacies.

Literary Revelations is thrilled bring you today “The Portrait of a Poet: PS Conway

My cherished followers and subscribers, we are thrilled to showcase PS Conway, a poet of profound depth and immeasurable worth, whose extraordinary contributions to Literary Revelations are nothing short of inspiring!

To those of you who are under snow please stay warm and safe.

Bio:

PS Conway is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee and the author of two books, Echoes Lost in Stars (2024) and Life Sucks (2025). Over the last five years, his work has appeared in The Belfast Review, Spectral Realms, and more than twenty-five other journals and anthologies, several of which were Amazon best sellers. PS recently finished serving two years as the 2024-25 Poet-in-Residence for the online literary journal, The Fictional Café.

He lives in Upstate New York with his best friend and wife, Susan, dodging snowflakes with their curmudgeonly dog, Mr. Hairold “Hairy” Kerry. PS finds fascination in language birthed from emotionally charged, literate spaces where beauty and darkness coexist. In his free time, he fancies himself a rockstar, jamming on his drum kit; and a wannabe sommelier, savoring succulent reds with his wife and (adult) daughters.

Link to books:

Echoes Lost in Stars (poetry): https://a.co/d/0TiaKKO

Life Sucks (satire): https://a.co/d/39alNmV

Social Media:

Twitter/X: @PoetrybyPS

Instagram: @ps.conway

Bluesky: @psconway.bsky.social

Substack: substack.com/@psconway

Facebook: facebook.com/PSConwayPoet

Websites: PoetrybyPS.com

PSConway.com

I asked PS several questions to which he graciously replied

What inspires you?

I’m deeply inspired by language, be it pretty or ribald. How words play off one another. The spaces intentionally held silent. All of it as an amalgam of noise and meaning. When it comes together, and a reader tells me how it moved them emotionally or touched their heart or even offended them? I am in nirvana.

Why poetry?

Poetry is not a choice for me. It’s a compulsion. I cannot NOT write poetry, hehe. There are plenty of times I tell myself, today is the day you start on the great American novel. But that day has yet to arrive. You see, in 2021 I freed my Muses from 25 years of captivity, trapped in a subconscious walk-in closet of skeletons and repressed creativity. I had not written in so many years that, when the door was finally unlocked, my Muses tore it off the hinges, never to be sealed again. And they have A LOT to say. Constantly.

Future Writing Plans?

In the immortal words of Timbuk 3, “The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.” Writing is my second full-time job. Let’s go from small to big picture.

Every day I write poetry and post on social media. Not even because I necessarily want to, I have to. Remember those Muses I referenced? They are loud and persistent, and (for now) in the driver’s seat. Each weekend, I submit poetry to one or two lit journals, reminding myself, “remember thou art mortal.” What a humbling experience to think you’re such a great poet and to keep getting rejected so often…a walking definition of masochism. Call me Elpis.

I also have two distinct books in development and several others in ideation.

Views from the Bottom of a Pool is a novel-in-verse under development. It wrestles with the drowning of my high school best friend, the fallout in the years that followed, and the existential coincidence of my youngest daughter being born on the exact date he died.

Where the White Moths Swarm is a growing collection of poems rejected by the pinky-up literati through 2025-26. This collection of written and yet-to-be-written poems explores our never ending compulsion with being seen (guilty as charged) and finding meaning in a world gone mad.

Favorite poets and/or novelists?

In terms of poets, I adore the Romantics, especially Keats and the Shelleys. Yeats has been a lifelong companion. In contemporary poetry, I’m drawn to writers who carry emotional and existential weight. Louise Glück, Seamus Heaney, Christian Wiman, and Mark Strand are all familiars who haunt my heart and soul.

My list of favorite novelists is too long, but I can name a few. JRR Tolkien for being the first to deeply engage my imagination. James Joyce for being the first to truly make me think deeply and embrace the art in language. William Faulkner for his deep sense of culture, time, and place. Toni Morrison for her mythic treatment of race.

Gabriela Marie Milton – Thank you, PS, for your wonderful insights into your poetry world

Gabriela Marie Milton
Founder and Editor in Chief

Our Awards

Best Publisher in the USA (Best of Best Review)

Best Poetry Publisher in the US (Evergreen Award)

Best Publisher for Artistic Excellence (BizWeekly)