A River Of Milk – The poetry E-zine from women for women about womanhood, pregnancy, birth, miscarriage, adoption and (grand)motherhood.

artwork by Waltraud Süss

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First Voice:
Can nothingness be so prodigal?
Here is my son.
His wide eye is that general, flat blue.
He is turning to me like a little, blind, bright plant.
One cry. It is the hook I hang on.
And I am a river of milk.
I am a warm hill.
Sylvia Plath – Three Woman

‘A River Of Milk’ is a new E-zine, named after a sentence in one of Sylvia Plath’s poems about pregnancy and birth from the poem for three voices, ‘Three Women’.
Three Women is one of Plath's least-known - if not completely forgotten - pieces of writing. Originally written as a radio verse drama for three voices, it was broadcast in 1962 on the BBC Third Programme and later included in Winter Trees, a poetry collection first published in 1971 - eight years after Plath had killed herself, at the age of 30. With its themes of pregnancy, birth, miscarriage and adoption, it perfectly encapsulates the experience of becoming - or not becoming - a mother, including all the ecstasy and terror of childbirth

Now, Spring 2016, I start with ‘A River Of Milk’. It is because this year I will turn thirty and give birth to my third child,  that the e-zine will appear as an ode to Plath and as a general celebration of femininity expressed in poetry. As a writer, doula and mother I want to offer a platform for high quality poetry that dares to be explicitly feminine. After finishing my graduation for art-academy on Theatre-writing I got told by a (male) poet that my work was to feminine to touch people and that I could not get published like this ever again. It was a shock to find out that the world of poetry is still so much dominated by male views on what good literature is.

‘A River Of Milk’ will illustrate that feminine literary interesting poetry is blossoming.
This is my call to all poetry writing goddesses out there to supply the 'milk' for this wonderful poetry-river... 

Submission-guidelines

- Before the 21^st of June 2016, send me up to five poems written around the mentioned subjects in the body of the e-mail. Include a short biography written in third person and your contact details to laurademelzabosma@gmail.com Write in the subject ‘A river of milk submission’ and your name, please.
- I am looking for raw, sensual poetry with a vivid and original use of imagery. The poetry might have a spiritual aspect to it but above all finds an interesting balance between drama and beauty, dark and light, yin and yang.
- The subject of your poem does not have to be about one of the mentioned subjects in a literal kind of sense. Not always a baby has to come out when we write from the uterus, so to speak.
- Forcefully rhyming poetry is not very likely to catch my attention, unless it is done exceptionally well. (In this case it won't appear as being forceful though..)
- For this edition, poetry that relates to Sylvia Plath in any kind of way would be wonderful.

You hear before the end of July if your work will appear in the first ‘A River Of Milk’ or not.
This first edition will appear by the end of August.

I am looking forward to read your work!
Warmly,
Laura Demelza Bosma
'A River Of Milk' editor
Mothergoddess Poetry
Doulaura – Birthing moon