Poetry Consulting Services
If you are experiencing any of the following problems in getting your poetry in reputable journals:
- rejection letters
- near misses
- complaints with no direction
- returned poems wrapping dead fish
- editors leaving no forwarding address
- workshops with no vacancies
- offers to publish for a fee
or
- simply a desire to write stronger poems
Consider using the Consulting Services offered by the Comstock Writers Group, Inc. While the above is done with humor, it is no laughing matter when you send out your favorites and no one wants them. It is not funny when you put your heart and soul into your writing and it is not appreciated.
It is possible that you are failing to meet your potential because of small errors in grammar, mistakes in form or simply one clanging line or phrase or word that rings untrue to the reader. It is also possible that you should write only for your own pleasure... actually that isn't such a bad thing, you know!
Whatever the problem, you can be better directed. An experienced editor will read up to five of your poems (maximum 40 lines each) and critique your work offering suggestions for improvement and guiding you toward becoming a more accomplished writer. You will receive a written analysis of overall appeal to the editor as well as notes on each poem. Currently, John M. Bellinger, Managing Editor, and Georgia Popoff, Associate Editor are assigned to the consultation service. Bios are printed after the address.
Send your poems in the same format (include SASE with enough postage for return of poems and critique) that you would to the editor of a journal. You may include both a cover letter and a bio. Those will be critiqued as well. $25 will cover all critiquing fees. There is usually an 8-10 week turnaround time with Ms. Popoff's consultations due to her reading/workshop/travel schedule.
CWG Consulting Services
c/o The Comstock Review
4956 St. John Drive
Syracuse, NY 13215
John M. Bellinger is the current Managing Editor of The Comstock Review, a job he took over in 2006 in the second half of the 20th anniversary year. The same year, he became a member of the Board of Comstock Writers' Group, Inc. He is a lifetime resident of Syracuse and has been writing poetry for 30 plus years. He was member of the Comstock poets' workshops for several years and had poems picked for awards in Comstock Review before joining the Editorial Staff in 2004. He has also been published in Small Pond Magazine and in the e-zine BloodrootZ. For sample poems from this site, click here.
Georgia A. Popoff, of Syracuse, NY, is "community poet," as well as a performance poet, educator, editor, and spoken word producer. As a performance poet, she has toured both the west coast and east coast extensively, coupling these efforts with opportunities to teach in schools and offer peer workshops in communities where she performs. Among her past projects, she coordinated the monthly reading series, "Third Thursday Poetry at Pastabilities" in Syracuse for 2 years; "Poetry at the End," at Happy Endings Cake & Coffeehouse, and was the Syracuse Poetry Slam Master for 2 years. In fall/winter 2000, she coordinated a series, "Sunday Kind of Words," to present featured poets who offered both an afternoon workshop and evening reading to the Central New York writing community. In 2001 – 2002, she coordinated a weekly reading series, "Poetry Paradiso," which continues in collaboration with the Downtown Writers Center and the Community Folk Art Gallery in Syracuse. Georgia has also produced local events in conjunction with two international poetry reading programs, Poets for Peace International and the United Nation’s sponsored Dialogue Among Civilizations Through Poetry.
Georgia is a senior editor for The Comstock Review (and a member of the Board of CWG, Inc.) and was poetry editor for Central New York Environment for 5 years. She competed in the 1994 and 1995 National Poetry Slams; poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Asheville Poetry Review, Midwest Poetry Review, Poetpourri, Red Brick Review, Salt Hill Journal, as well as the anthologies The Waist is a Terrible Thing to Mind: A Wake Up Call (Breakthrough Press, 2000); Poetry Slam: The Competitive Art of Performance Poetry (Manic D Press, 2000); 2001 Di-Verse_City: Poets of the Austin International Poetry Festival; and the Syracuse Cultural Workers’ nationally noted Women Artists Datebook in 1998, 2000, and 2003.
Her first collection of poetry, Coaxing Nectar from Longing, was published by Hale Mary Press in 1997. She is currently in the final editing stages of a new collection, An Insanity of Roses.
Web-based publications include poets4peace, MAP of Austin Poetry, The Poet’s Porch, The Writers’ Hood, as well as moderating an ongoing on-line poetry workshop with participants from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Australia. As a teaching artist, she has presented workshops at poetry festivals, in schools, after-school programs, adult education centers, community centers, women’s shelters, day camps, juvenile detention facilities, museums, and teachers’ in-services. Georgia has been a coach for the NAACP ACT-SO program for African American teens since 1994. In June 2001, she facilitated a week-long workshop for poets in Tuscany. Georgia is also as a member of the teaching staff for the Downtown Writers= Center, the Syracuse chapter of the YMCA Writers Voice program, and coordinator of a summer expressive arts program for the YMCA Camp Iroquois day camp serving nearly 1,200 children annually.
The three strongest elements of what Georgia feels her poetry represents are heart, truth, and community, the community of common experience of the human condition. Poetry is her joy, her passion, and her mission.
For more information, please visit Georgia Popoff’s Web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~angel_light or here: The Downtown Writer's Center. Look for information "About our Programs" and "Meet our Staff."
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