Please join us in welcoming Kareem Groomes, Transient’s newest intern, to the team. Kareem is a student at the Community College of Philadelphia and will be assisting us on our upcoming Spring issue.

About Kareem: KAREEM GROOMES was born on May 21, 1993 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a boy he attended Greenfield Elementary, where he gained some knowledge of classical literature reading The Iliad and Shakespearian sonnets. He dabbled in theater since his grandmother, a teacher at the school and the theater director, often gave him lessons at home. In the eighth grade he moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, and in his junior years of high school he published a poem for the school literary magazine. Upon graduation in 2011 he was accepted to Old Dominion University but chose to move back to Philadelphia, as they had a larger writing community.

Kareem is currently enrolled at the Community College of Philadelphia; while he is still writing fiction, he has chosen to focus more on poetry because, “that’s just what happens when I write. Even if I wanted to write prose, it wouldn’t come out that way.” Most recently, Kareem’s work has been published in a University of Pennsylvania chapbook, released in October 2012.

We are pleased announce that Transient #2 is now live online! This issue highlights the poetry, prose, and fiction of nine different poets and authors from across the United States, as well as the photography of Eleanor Leonne Bennett from the United Kingdom. Works in this issue tackle everything from bullying and divorce to love and loss, and we hope you enjoy its depth and range of this. (To download Transient #2 click here.)

Additionally, we will be hosting a Reading and Release party for this issue in January 2013. Stay tuned for more details.

Now Accepting Submissions for our Spring 2013 Issue
We are now accepting submissions for the Spring edition of Transient. In order to be considered for our Spring issue, all submissions must be received by March 1, 2012. For more information about the submissions process, please visit our Submissions page.

Additionally, if you have already submitted for the Spring issue, we ask that you please bear with us. With Transient #2 now complete, we anticipate having decisions sent out to our October and November submitters’ over the next couple of weeks.

In other Transient news…
We are pleased to share that, after working closely with Jeffrey Markovitz (Director of the CCP Creative Writing Program and Transient contributor), we welcomed our first intern to Transient this issue. Marion Mitchell, a CCP Creative Writing student, assisted us over the last several months with everything from updating our event calendar to copyediting Transient #2. She was a pleasure to work with and, we hope, she learned as much from us as we all learned from her. Thanks again, Marion.

(Those interested in applying to be an intern for our Spring issue should contact Jeffrey Markovitz directly.)

For more information about Robin’s Bookstore, visit their website: http://robinsbookstore.com/.

Welcome aboard, Marion!

About Marion: MARION MITCHELL is a married mother of two and a native Philadelphian.  While working on a memoir that includes her family’s experiences of World War II, she studies creative writing at Community College of Philadelphia and writes poetry, essays, book reviews, and historical fiction.  Her work has appeared in a variety of publications including The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Front Porch, Story Circle Network’s Anthology of Life Writing, Six Sentences Anthology, and Limited Editions.  Marion’s book excerpt “Regret, 1939” earned a Judith Stark Fiction Award, and “Loyalty, March 1939” was a semi-finalist in the Hidden River Arts William Van Wert Fiction Award contest of 2008.  She currently is working on a photo-journalism project documenting little-known beautiful nooks in Philadelphia.

Poet and essayist Sheila Squillante compiled a fantastic list of contests, publishers, and presses that are currently accepting queries or book-length submissions of nonfiction work. If you are a memoir or essayist, be sure to check it out.

(Note: All of the publishers/presses listed accept queries without agent representation.)

Photos by Omar Ahmadein

Transient #1 Live Online/Print Copies for Sale

For those who have yet to see it, Transient #1 is now live online! This issue highlights the poetry, prose, and fiction of nine different poets and authors from the Philadelphia-area and is truly a diverse collection of the many voices of the city.

In addition to our online release, Transient #1 was also released as a limited-edition chapbook. Copies can be purchased for $7 each, and all order inquiries should be sent to editor@transientpublishing.com. (Please keep in mind that, due to stock limitations, all requests will be handled on a first-come, first-serve basis.)

Now Accepting Submissions for our Winter 2012 Issue
We are now accepting submissions for the Winter edition of Transient. In order to be considered for our Winter issue, all submissions must be received by October 7, 2012. For more information about the submissions process, please visit our Submissions page.

Upcoming Events

We are excited to announce the brand new Philadelphia poetry group, Poetdelphia. Poetdelphia is the self-described “brainchild” of Dawn Manning, Valerie Fox, and Transient contributor Kelly McQuain and seeks to “focus on all things poetic:” from reviews to readings to writing prompts. In order to commemorate the release of their website, Poetdelphia will be hosting an inaugural reading at Cups & Chairs Tea Café in Philadelphia on Friday, September 28.

September will also see the return of the annual Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe. The festival will run from September 7-22, 2012. For more information about specific performances during the Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe and other upcoming events, be sure to visit our Events page.

In other Transient news…
We are pleased to share that, after working closely with Jeffrey Markovitz (Director of the CCP Creative Writing Program and Transient contributor), we have begun aTransient internship program. CCP Creative Writing students interested in applying to be an intern for our Winter issue should contact Jeffrey Markovitz directly, as he will be conducting interviews at the beginning of the Fall 2012 term.

In addition to our CCP internship program, we are continuing to work with several other program directors and colleges in the Philadelphia-area and beyond in hopes of partnering with them to create similar programs, workshops, and readings. Though many of the details are still being ironed out, more information should be available soon.

In addition to our release party, there are a slew of other events taking place in the Philadelphia area over the next few months. Next week, Stripped Stories is taking over Union Transfer. The First Person Arts event will be hosted by Moth Grand Slam winners Margot Leitman and Giulia Rozzi and feature guest storytellers Elna Baker (The Moth, This American Life), Dave Hill (This American Life), and Dava Krause, plus musical guest Jessica Delfino. On Wednesday, July 11th Jennifer Weiner–author of eight no. 1 New York Times bestsellers, including Good in Bed, Certain Girls, and In Her Shoes–will be sharing her latest work, The Next Best Thing at the Free Library of Philadelphia. And the ongoing Erotic Literary Salon will continue to be held the third Tuesday of every month at IME Resturant. For more information about other upcoming events, be sure to visit our Events page.

In other Transient news…
We held our first event on Thursday, May 24th at Nodding Head Brewery. Since the creation of Transient has been nearly a year-long process, we thought it was time to step away from our computer screen and out into the Philadelphia lit scene. Several poets and authors who will be featured in our first issue were in attendance, including Jeffrey Markovitz, Don Rutberg, and Kelly McQuain, as were many students and other young professionals in fields ranging from English and journalism to graphic design, photography, and video production. (A special thanks to everyone who came out that evening.)

We would also like to welcome our newest member to the Transient team, Jon Loudon. Okay, truth be told Jon is not the newest member (he was instrumental in the design of our logo, business cards, and web banner) but he is new since we finally have his headshot and bio on our website. Be sure to check him out, as Jon will be responsible for laying out Transient both online and in print!

Transient is currently in the process of implementing an internship program. We have been working with several local program directors and colleges in the hopes of partnering with the them sometime this fall or early next year. Though many details are still being ironed out, we cannot wait to work with the fine students of Philadelphia, and more information is sure to be forthcoming.

Submissions
We are now accepting submissions for the fall edition of Transient. For more information about the submissions process, please visit our Submissions page.

Upcoming Events
With Spring finally upon us, we know many of you are ready to shed your winter wear and head outside, and we think we might just have some fantastic reasons for you. Here’s the best one: Transient will be holding its first event…EVER! Since we are still a few months away from launch, we couldn’t stand the idea of waiting to meet you, so we will be holding a Meet & Greet Event at Nodding Head on Thursday, May 23rd from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. With great company, a wide range of happy hour selections, and free appetizers (that’s right, free!) there is no better excuse to go and mingle with fellow writers, editors, copyeditors, and publishers. An open mic slam session is also in the works, so if you are interested in reading please contact Kimberly Zapata at editor@transientpublishing.com. (Be aware that spots are extremely limited.) We are also working on our inaugural issue release reading and party, so be sure to keep your eyes open.

One of the biggest ongoing events is the annual Spring Poets and Writers Festival at the Community College of Philadelphia. This festival is includes everything from readings to open mic nights to magazine launch parties, and as an alumni of the Community College of Philadelphia, it is very dear to me. All of the events are free and open to the public. (For more information about the remaining events for this year, please visit the Spring Poets and Writers Festival webpage.) Other upcoming events include the Certain Circuit’s Magazine Volume 2.1 Book Launch Party and Apiary Magazine’s Workshop & Performance with Three Authors at the Tyme Gallery. For more information about each of these events and more, please visit our Events page or follow on Facebook and/or Tumblr.

Writer’s Community
Unfortunately, our Writer’s Community remains a work in progress. We hope to have this section of the site fully enabled within the next few weeks but definitely plan to unroll it before our first issue is launched in July.

Submissions
We are still reviewing and accepting submissions for our inaugural issue, due out July 2012; however, the deadline is rapidly approaching: May 15th. For more information on the submissions process, please visit our Submission’s page.

Please note: If you have already submitted pieces for review and have yet to hear back from us, we apologize. You will receive a decision no later than May 15th.

If you have any suggestions for topics you would like covered in our Writer’s Community or simply have other questions or comments,  please email editor@transientpublishing.com.