changming: a new collection Landscaping is due out soon via Flutter Press

today seems to be a great day for me:

although not as many individual poem acceptances so far this month (as, say, in april when i had 16 acceptances), i submitted 25 poems group-titled 'landscaping' to Flutter Press on 11 may, and this morning fount it accepted as a poetry collection. hopefully everything will be worked out smoothly in july, when it is supposed to be out. this will be my first 'chapbook' or second poetry book.

also, Poetry Pacific was formally listed on Duotrope today, as already in most other popular listing sites, such as New Pages, Adromeda, Poets & Writers, MUTT, Every Writer's Resource, Lannan and Selby's List.

i have not been actively seeking book publishers since the appearance of my first poetry collection Chansons of a Chinaman (Leaf Garden Press, 2009). there are 2 major concerns: on the one hand, it's too hard to find a book publisher willing enough to commit itself to putting out my poetic work in the book form; on the other, even if i have a collections published, i am afraid few readers would be interested enough in reading it as a whole, let alone to buy it. nor have i participated in any poetry/literary contests, with the only exception of cbc poetry prize, which i consider to be a literary lottery. my reason is simple: i am never a lucky person - no matter what i do or achieve eventually, it's always through hard labor and persistent effort. from today, i may try to approach book publishers, half-heartedly, from time to time, but my plan is to have my poetry published in more than 1,000 different literary outlets and then shift my publishing focus on my own book publishing as well as the publishing of Poetry Pacific. it may take another 3 to 5 years to do so.

i will keep paddling my little canoe...

Allen's May 5th Update

Hello all,

Recently I just spent my 18th birthday with my friends. We watched the highly anticipated "Iron Man 3", starring one of my favourite actors, Robert Downey Jr. Marvel movies have always been my favourite since I was like 12 so it was only fitting. My friends all pitched in and got me some very nice shoes. We also ate out at our usual burger place in down town. Overall, I felt like we strengthened our bonds as friends. But the main point of the blog post isn't about the party or my age.

It's about transitioning into adulthood.

It doesn't feel any different at first but then you begin to think about a lot of things. Becoming a young adult, what parts of your life should reach closure? Your interests? Your habits?

None. I think the only thing we should end is our dream-like reality. As teenagers, we are always thinking about the future. Now, things are different. We make decisions for ourselves that are constantly affecting the next step of our lives. So instead of thinking that the future is faraway, we should remember that the repercussions and results are all much closer than they seem.

Being able to love is a gift, so don't waste that love on anything that doesn't deserve it. Our friends and family deserve our love and attention because they deserve it and they do the same for us. If anything, I should be grateful. Our hobbies, our passions are all a part of our pursuit of happiness.

One of the main lessons in Iron Man 3 is that "we create our own demons". It's the introduction of new things that we have to keep mind. For example: responsibility. No one is more liable for our actions other than ourselves. I hope in retrospect, I will be able to look back and say this blog post was a perfect representation of my fundamental morals at the time.

Never rest in peace until you become a legend; even then, you will be much more alive than those who are living.

Live free,
Allen Yuan

PS Thank you.