Last week, on April 2nd, the second day of National Poetry Month, I received my contributor’s copy of Pudding Magazine. My poem, The Vernon Game, is published in there, this is the first time that poem is in print!

My poem in print!

It’s always exciting to get an acceptance letter – well, they’re usually emails but they are still exciting to get, but even better than the acceptance is seeing your writing in print! My poem is in issue #63, a special issue dedicated to the founder of Pudding Magazine, a woman named Jennifer Bosveld. She founded the magazine in the late 1970s and passed away in 2014. Issue #63 was dedicated to her; I am honored to be a part of this publication and part of the dedication to a woman who provided poetry to the masses.

Pudding Magazine #63

Their mission statement is pretty awesome: To promote the poet in all of us, to encourage revision of perception through the creative process, to elevate our poetic sensibilities through sharing language, and to provide a sociological looking glass through poetry to identify challenges and solutions at significant moments.

I hope you’ll buy a copy – subscriptions are $30 (4 issues over 2 years) or you can buy individual copies for $10. Here’s the link to buy a copy of the magazine. If you’d like me to sign your copy send me $12.50 via PayPal (send it as a GIFT to courtney(dot)birst(at)gmail(dot)com), along with your mailing address and I’ll send you a signed copy. If you want to bundle it with a copy of my poetry chapbook, Words Meant to be Spoken, send me $22 via PayPal and you’ll get a signed copy of both! I hope you’ll consider buying a copy or two and supporting the arts!