Written over an eight-year period, the poems in State of Grace: The Joshua Elegies chronicle the death of Alexis Rhone Fancher’s only child, Joshua Dorian Rhone, at the age of 26, and its aftermath of devastation, grief, and reflection. Because she was a divorced parent since her son was three, the bond between mother and child was particularly strong, making Joshua’s early death especially wrenching. But Fancher, an award-winning poet known for her frank, image-filled poetry, has created a work of hope, joy, and lasting beauty—which poet Jack Grapes calls “a magnificent testament to the resilience of the human spirit”—where she indeed finds solace and a “state of grace.” Poet Cynthia Atkins calls Fancher’s collection of elegies “the ultimate tribute to her beloved son.” “Fancher’s heart is large, refuses to shut down to sorrow and loss, but instead, allows her brave and resilient voice to shine the light, to move us all forward into a state of grace.” Two of the poems in the chapbook have been nominated for the 2015 Best of the Net Anthology: “The Competition” (KYSO Flash) and “when her son is dead seven years” (Blotterature). Since 2013, Fancher’s work has been nominated for four Pushcart Prizes and four Best of the Net awards. She is also the author of How I Lost My Virginity to Michael Cohen: and other heart-stab poems (Sybaritic Press, 2014). Her poems have been published in numerous literary journals and magazines, as well as in 25 American and international anthologies, and her photographs have been published worldwide. Fancher is photography editor of Fine Linen, and poetry editor of Cultural Weekly, where she also publishes The Poet’s Eye, a monthly photo essay about her ongoing love affair with Los Angeles. She lives in downtown L.A. with her husband and co-creator James Fancher in their eighth-floor loft/studio.

State of Grace: The Joshua Elegies

Literature & Fiction

Fancher, Alexis Rhone

Poetry

KYSO Flash

An international collection of 25 poetic hybrid works by 14 authors (plus images by three artists). Works were judged by Roberta Beary, award-winning poet and haibun editor of Modern Haiku, for the first annual KYSO Flash "Best Of" contest. Cash prizes were awarded to seven artists for First, Second, and Third Place, and Honorable Mentions. The judge also selected 19 finalists to appear in this anthology. Contents (in alpha order by author's last name): Roberta Beary: "Judge's Commentaries and List of Prize Winners" Marjorie Buettner: "May Day" Marjorie Buettner: "The Anniversary" Peter Butler: "Under Cover" Pamelyn Casto: "The Feeding" Alison Cobb: "White Cone" and "Camel in Clay" [photographs] David Cobb: "Fearing" [with photographs by Alison Cobb] David Cobb: "Knowing Mouse" David Cobb: "Scan" Kika Dorsey: "The Strindberg Tree" Deborah Guzzi: "Jizo's Children" Deborah Guzzi: "Prickly Heat" Charles Hansmann: "Author Commentary" Charles Hansmann: "Camouflage" Charles Hansmann: "Decoy" Ryan Jessup: "The Argument" Bob Lucky: "Finding My Way in Kichijoji" Bob Lucky: "Not Quite the Music of the Spheres" Bob Lucky: "Rule Change" Bob Lucky: "The Current Situation" Clare MacQueen: "Introduction" Frances Melis: "Olive Tree in Fall Foliage" [cover image of oil painting] Stella Pierides: "Loving" Stella Pierides: "Time" Stella Pierides: "Wet Behind the Ears" Lynne Rees: "Hurricane" Lynne Rees: "Stories" Cath Sample: [Photograph: Honey bees &amp; Rock Rose blossom] Sheila Sondik: "Flash Flood" Charles D. Tarlton: "Native American Flora" Harriot West: "In Another Country"

KYSO Flash Anthology of Haibun and Tanka Forms 2015

MacQueen, Clare

Literary

An international collection of literature and art: 100 works by 63 contributors, creating in a dozen forms: CNF, digital art, essays, flash fiction, haibun, lineated poetry, memoir, micro-fiction, pen-and-ink, photography, prose poetry, and tanka prose. Written works are no more than 1,000 words long. Selections are reprinted from more than 300 works published online in Issues 2, 3, and 4 of KYSO Flash Literary Journal; and include nominees for the Pushcart Prize and for the Best Small Fictions and Best of the Net Awards.

KYSO Flash Anthology: Volume 2

Unknown, Author

The latest collection of poems by award-winning author and photographer Alexis Rhone Fancher. “Lust, longing, urban noir, and the emotional ravages and physical heat that colliding souls can’t help making, are all artfully packed into these lyrical narratives by a poet who refuses to hold back” (Michelle Bitting, poet and author of The Couple Who Fell to Earth).
“Mixing heartbreak and hilarity, these poems deliver an emotional wallop with the ease of a woman rolling down her nylons” (Pam Ward, author of Want Some Get Some and Bad Girls Burn Slow).
“Alexis Rhone Fancher is not merely a detailed chronicler of our socio-physical interactions—she is by far the most exciting, articulate, and convincing storyteller in contemporary verse” (Gerald Locklin, poet and fiction author of 100+ books).
“Any self-styled critic who characterizes Alexis Rhone Fancher’s written work as only sexy stanzas would be making an egregious mistake. Far more accurate to portray her poetry as grainy, gritty, noir images by a female version of Henry Miller’s bitter observation of the dirty word ‘relationships,’ or Georges Bataille’s eccentric business of the creative woman at times catering to the psycho-sado fantasies of her lover, or Stephen Schneck’s nightmare world of sensual dreams, but with an added dose of infectious humor” (Michael C. Ford, music journalist, playwright, Grammy-nominated spoken-word artist, and Pulitzer Prize-nominated poet).
“I write about women like me, women who own their sexuality and take responsibility for their choices. It may seem I’m writing about sex, but really, I’m writing about power. Who has it. How to get it. How to wield it. How to keep it” (from “Featured Fem” Alexis Rhone Fancher, interviewed by The Fem literary magazine, 17 June 2016).

Enter Here: poems

Rhone Fancher, Alexis

The latest collection of small gems (poetry, memoir, fiction) by master story-teller Dan Gilmore, an award-winning fiction writer and poet whose books include the novel A Howl for Mayflower and five other collections of poems and stories.

My Dharma Box: New and Selected Writings

Gilmore, Dan

A unique collection of more than 50 hybrid prose/poetry works created in response to fine artworks. Also includes essays on theory, an interview with the author, and a publisher's brief intro. These prosimetra take full advantage of the ekphrasis form's opportunities: didactic exposition, personal anecdote, poetic musing, and, of course, great art.
Tarlton's first writing-love was poetry, which he had little time for during his decades of scholarly writing as a university professor of political theory. After retiring in 2006, he returned to creating poems and also began writing fiction. He and the abstract painter Ann Knickerbocker have been married thirty years, so it's no surprise that Tarlton frequently ruminates on the nature of art and the creative process, and on the nature of reality and illusion. And, in TOUCHING FIRE, he gives us his discoveries in erudite and clever poems that range from playful to deeply philosophical, often in the same piece. They reveal more with repeated readings, each becoming like a treasured pocket guide to the artwork.
--Clare MacQueen, founding editor of KYSO Flash

Touching Fire: New and Selected Ekphrastic Prosimetra

Arts & Photography

Tarlton, Charles D.

History & Criticism

The stunning sequel to State of Grace: The Joshua Elegies. Both collections speak of devastating loss, and love that endures beyond death. The Dead Kid Poems chronicles as well a bittersweet journey of complex familial relationships, and offers solace for those whose hearts are pierced by grief, personal and/or collective.
"The blunt force of loss takes your breath away in The Dead Kid Poems. Gratitude to the poet for the small mercy of making plain the connection between sexual abuse and addiction. Read this book and breathe if you can."
—Marsha de la O, co-editor of Spillway and author of Antidote for Night and Black Hope

The Dead Kid Poems

*The War Still Within* is the poet's sixth book, and contains 36 poems, 25 of which are reprinted from a range of literary venues, This collection also includes "Comfort Woman," her well researched and vividly imagined sequence of six poems based on the experiences of the Korean "comfort women" who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.Ellen Bass, distinguished and widely published poet, essayist, and editor, writes this about "Comfort Woman": "Tanya Ko Hong captures in these spare, elegant poems, a world of cruelty, suffering, and survival. Here is beauty juxtaposed with pain so deep it's almost impossible to put into words. And yet this fine poet does just that. She breaks our hearts with the truth and astonishes us with her compassion."

The War Still Within

Hong (Hyonhye), Tanya Ko

A collection of 130 tanka prose poems and stories, featuring the characters Carmody and Blight, created by the author of *Get Up and Dance* (ekphrastic tanka prose poems inspired by dance-works) and *Touching Fire* (more than 50 hybrid prose/poetry works created in response to fine artworks).

Carmody & Blight: The Dialogues: New and Selected Poetry and Prose

A tribute to the author's beloved late wife, Lenora Lapidus (former Director of the Women's Rights Project, ACLU), who passed away 5 May 2019 after a long battle with cancer. This collection contains narrative poems that are "intensely personal and yet their greatness lies in the universal truths they reveal. About love. About grief. About longing and anger and desire and passion.... [Each poem is] a clarion call-reminding us to count our blessings and hold fast to the now" (Dora Rose, Deputy Director, League of Women Voters of California).

Always Say Goodnight: Elegies for Lenora

Bialer, Matt

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the KYSO Flash publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by KYSO Flash