An online lit journal published once a month at http://kawsmouth.com/
Dedicated to publishing interesting + intelligent + offbeat writing and artwork from the Midwest and beyond
Dusting off the cobwebbed socials to celebrate and broadcast that Kawsmouth has published some vivid and wonderful new poems this past year from Steph French, Sheri Purpose Hall, Barbara Varanka, Cameron Morse, Elizabeth Barnett, and Julia Smith, some of Kansas City's finest poets. Looking forward to sharing more work soon, online and in print.
www.kawsmouth.com
Very excited about this wonderful poetry event Thursday evening at 7, hosted by Midwest Poets Series and featuring Bridget Lowe, free to the public. Both Bridget and the director of the series, Elizabeth Barnett, are good friends of Kawsmouth and have published poetry both very early on and more recently in this site's capricious existence. Love to you all and hope to see you soon, maybe tomorrow.
https://www.rockhurst.edu/events/12-03-2020/midwest-poets-series-featuring-kansas-city-poet-bridget-lowe
Bridget Lowe will read a short selection of poems from her book My Second Work (Carnegie Mellon University Press) Her poems have appeared widely in publications including The New Yorker, Poetry, American Poetry Review, and Best American Poetry and elsewhere.
You have a right to be confused. The wedding of the word “Kansas” and “City” is problematic, if not downright suspicious. I read some place or heard that “Kansas” is one of those words like “Jesus,” “Elvis,” or “Coca-Cola.” It’s a word that resonates, suggests, connotes, or denotes: it means something. If you are from New York or from Mississippi, Kansas means in many cases, the thing that is not you. Kansas is the Other.
— excerpt from "Just Call it Kansas City," Matthew Brent Jackson's dynamic and fascinating essay about the origins of this place and how to make sense of it. At a moment when Kansas City is in the spotlight, the question of its home state debated on the national stage, and the debts we owe to Native Peoples giving even lifelong Chiefs fans pause, this piece is truly something whose time has come.
https://kawsmouth.com/2020/02/04/just-call-it-kansas-city/
by Matthew Brent Jackson You have a right to be confused. The wedding of the word “Kansas” and “City” is problematic, if not downright suspicious. I read some place or heard that “Kansas” is one of…
New year = new material coming soon
Sometimes you are rounding a corner on your bicycle to find the road has ended, eroded and abruptly swallowed up by a rogue tributary of the Kansas River. You can see that the road resumes somewher…
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Regional writing, visual essays and progressive ideas all culminate at www.kawsmouth.com. Check out our "Welcome Back" post, where to submit, and how to sign-up for our newsletter at the link below.
writing | images | ideas
This short story by Colin James Torre is a great read for a winter day http://kawsmouth.com/2016/01/20/from-now-on-the-signs-are-no-longer-in-the-sky/
by Colin James Torre I We had turned from the highway in the direction of a clearing which, if I remember correctly, we'd been able to see from the road. It was February, the middle of the week, th...
Don't miss "The Talk," a powerful poem from Vincente Perez about being a parent to non-white sons in America. Vincente described it as one of the most personal things he's ever written, and we're honored that he shared it with us. http://kawsmouth.com/2015/09/23/the-talk/
Last week our friend Mollie Duvall dropped by the Kawsmouth studio to record some of her writing, including "City," a sprawling, rambling, lyrical tour through Kansas City neighborhoods, questions and states of mind. http://kawsmouth.com/2015/09/15/city-and-nonsense-the-words-and-voice-of-laurel-lazarus/?preview_id=3374
Mollie Duvall doesn't own a computer. Something about her presence messes up electronic devices, she says. But she does do a lot of writing, some of it composed at precarious speeds. Lyrical, imagi...
The most ambitious piece published yet on Kawsmouth? It certainly contains the most voices in one place. http://kawsmouth.com/2015/08/25/free-buses-that-go-everywhere-and-run-all-night/
What kinds of responses would you get if you set up a typewriter station presenting city dwellers with unexpected, deeply personal questions?
Awesome new comic from our pal Amos Leager http://kawsmouth.com/2015/05/26/no-job/
by Amos Leager
"Storm clouds chug across clear blue sky.
We pick our way through the riverbed
across muddy rocks as big as china platters
searching for a trail to higher ground."
— excerpt from "Cloudburst," a (timely) new poem by Lee Chilcote http://kawsmouth.com/2015/05/23/cloudburst/
by Lee Chilcote
"These towns will all be ghost towns now or later.
The madams in the houses down the strip
in Newton, Strong City or Bazaar avoid
the daylight as the days go by. The boys
die early or move on down the line."
— excerpt from "Outlaw," one of three new poems by Sarah Winter. Read the rest of them here: http://kawsmouth.com/2015/03/02/winter-poems/
"Outlaw," "Lesson" and "Thirst," by Sarah Winter
http://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/awards/annual/winners/2015/award_4/
Congratulations to Bridget Lowe for being honored with this year's Emily Dickinson Award from the Poetry Society of America. Bridget is a dear friend who also contributed to Kawsmouth issue #1.
In the lamplight afforded us by a generous donor who wished to remain anonymous, we sat in the front row, eager to see the hand come down and hover over the infant flesh, squeeze the doughy knees. Please, we asked, press the palm lightly against the forehead, in a promise that all the future wounds…
Check out our interview with Robert Bingaman about his short travel film, "Israel" http://kawsmouth.com/2015/02/03/israel/
A short film and conversation with Robert Bingaman Did you set out to make a video of your trip to Israel in 2014, or did you just find yourself filming once you got there? I didn’t do a lot of pla...
Hi friends. We've redesigned the site and are starting to add new material. Check it out when you get a chance. http://kawsmouth.com/
It's our sweet 16 http://kawsmouth.com/issues/issue-16-estivation
Clark and Bruce Fictional excerpt by Matthew Brent Jackson 12 on 12th Site-specific character studies by Lucas Wetzel Paintings Visual text by Will Meier Novelist and Dust to Dust A short film by Ayah Abdul-Rauf and a story about a boy with Pica Disorder Three Poems Poetry by Mark Jackley (cover ph…
Kawsmouth issue #15 is up now, featuring new work by Eric Dodson, Annie Raab, Richard Luftig, Peter Mann, Neal Dazey, Colin Torre and Jeff Bransted. Hope you enjoy.
kawsmouth.com/issues/issue-15-all-these-things-at-once
Issue #15: All These Things At Once
Kawsmouth returns with a new issue loaded with delightful material. A glimpse into Syria on the brink of conflict, a drunken exploration of KCI, and a wild-eyed fiction piece about Dennis Hopper, to name a few. Check it out! http://kawsmouth.com/issues/issue-13-eternal-return/
Kawsmouth is an old nickname for the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, and the symbolic homeland of this website, which aims to present a unique selection of writing and artwork from the Midwest and beyond.
Here's a sneak pre(post?)view of Dave Coates' exhibit at the Calico Beard and Mercantile Exchange, where his post-it note art and larger prints are viewable all month. http://kawsmouth.com/2013/05/30/post-it-note-art-ii-the-return-of-post-it-art/
This month, we continue with our ongoing gallery of original Post-It Note art by Dave Coates. The following creations will be on display alongside dozens and dozens of others next Friday, June 7th ...
So far we haven't had any takers on our recently announced arts grant program. You people are leaving money on the table! Be sure to share with your friends + fellow artists
http://kawsmouth.com/2013/05/30/our-kinda-weird/
Issue #12: Leaving Your Mark is now up. Includes short fiction by Kate Lorenz, a narrative about mule rides by Marguerite Sloan, the conclusion of Matthew Brent Jackson's Hillbilly Creation Myth, a gallery of Swope Park photos by Jennifer Wetzel, a post-it note bestiary by Dave Coates, and an extra special new grant program. Check it out here: kawsmouth.com/issues/issue-12-leaving-your-mark/
(by kawsmouth)
Friends, we're putting together issue #12, which will probably be the last in this current format. If you'd like to get in on this final edition of Kawsmouth phase I, drop us a line at kawsmouth(at)gmail.com. Essay, short fiction, poetry are all welcome.
"It's here finally come spring, and tonight it was a lot of thunderstorms"
(writing tip #408: If you're ever looking for poetic passages but are having trouble generating them organically, reverse google translate never lets you down)
"all love and beautiful greetings from Kansas,"
KSMTH
Issue #11, Identity, is up now. Features the second installment of Matthew Brent Jackson's "Hillbilly Creation Myth" along with other excellent artwork + writing http://kawsmouth.com/issues/issue-11-identity/
(by kawsmouth)
http://kawsmouth.com/2013/02/28/nature-prevails/ In spite of the decay, this scene captured by Grace Pritchett is almost idyllic, especially in contrast to this seemingly unending winter. See more of Grace's work here: http://gracep-photos.blogspot.com/
Photo by Grace Pritchett On the outskirts of Kansas City, Missouri, nature grows over a demolished house and the surrounding area
Wanted to out for a midnight walk, but it's a wee bit brisk. Instead we'll stay in and read this poem by John Moessner
by John Moessner And my eyes to still windows move, Clutching, white knuckled, the edges Of silhouettes, but drawn in Despite protest. I move with the Light on treaded paths, My feet too heavy for,...
As the Kansas City Plein Air Coterie heads into year #2, a bit of history about its rules, regs. and origins
by KC PAC Hello, KC PAC*, I thoroughly enjoy following your doings, and even included your exhibition in the upcoming "should go see" section of (local publication). My silly point is to ask about...
In the waning hours of February, a new issue comes to life kawsmouth.com/issues/issue-10-adrift/
(by kawsmouth)
Wonderful light and movement in this poem by Eric Dodson. http://kawsmouth.com/2013/01/31/bad-news-traffic/
by Eric Dodson Sideways golden light, lawn lines, tree shadows, scattered leaves, almost dewy, lines of traffic from roadway bad luck, strong need to urinate, Random tree limbs, rolls of hay, perky...
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