“THE WORLD BEFORE US IS A POSTCARD, AND I IMAGINE THE STORY WE ARE WRITING ON IT.” ― MARY E. PEARSON
Featured Postcard
Emily Mosley's essays and poetry have been published in Just Place, Weasel Press, Lucky Jefferson, Georgia EMC Magazine, and the books Psychedelic Trips for the Mind by Paul Krassner and Anthology of Poetry 1999 Teacher’s Selection. She grew up in a small lakeside cabin in rural Georgia, but has spent the last six years in the gritty wonderland that is New Orleans. She can often be found sneaking into strangers’ yards to smell their flowers and pet their cats, and is mother to three surly but hilarious daughters."
About the featured postcard: “ This postcard is from the Krampus Dark Arts Market held by the Krewe of Krampus in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. It sheds glitter, which is very on-brand for New Orleans. I bought it for my mother, who taught me to love all things strange and creepy. She died suddenly before I could send it to her.”
About the featured postcard: “ This postcard is from the Krampus Dark Arts Market held by the Krewe of Krampus in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. It sheds glitter, which is very on-brand for New Orleans. I bought it for my mother, who taught me to love all things strange and creepy. She died suddenly before I could send it to her.”
Carolyn Adams’ poetry and art have appeared in Steam Ticket, Aji Magazine, Topology, Change Seven Magazine, and Beatnik Cowboy, among others. She has been nominated for a Pushcart prize, as well as for Best of the Net, and was a finalist for 2013 Poet Laureate of the city of Houston, Texas. She is currently a staff editor for Mojave River Review, and a poetry editor for VoiceCatcher. Having relocated from Houston, she lives in Beaverton, Oregon.
Carolyn writes,
For the 1st postcard, “The postcard is a collage of pictures of roses and other flowers surrounding a the head and shoulders view of a female figure that is looking upward to the left. The colors are predominately pinks and reds. I have sent the postcard from Beaverton, Oregon in the USA.” n
2nd postcard “ The postcard has a picture of a hand upheld with the palm showing, bearing a blue stylized star that has a treble clef in its center. Behind the hand picture are torn pages from books in other languages, including Braille. The cut out words "to learn" are in the upper right of the card.”
3rd postcard “ The postcard is a swirled blue, black, and white background in acrylic paint, with a picture of a pair of entwined brown tree limbs in the foreground, crossing from lower right to the top and upper left. Blue and purple circles cross the upper right corner of the image.”
4th postcard “ The postcard is predominately shades of purple, with a reclining female figure (seen from the back) on a purple couch. Flowers and other curved and swirling shapes surround the figure.”
Carolyn writes,
For the 1st postcard, “The postcard is a collage of pictures of roses and other flowers surrounding a the head and shoulders view of a female figure that is looking upward to the left. The colors are predominately pinks and reds. I have sent the postcard from Beaverton, Oregon in the USA.” n
2nd postcard “ The postcard has a picture of a hand upheld with the palm showing, bearing a blue stylized star that has a treble clef in its center. Behind the hand picture are torn pages from books in other languages, including Braille. The cut out words "to learn" are in the upper right of the card.”
3rd postcard “ The postcard is a swirled blue, black, and white background in acrylic paint, with a picture of a pair of entwined brown tree limbs in the foreground, crossing from lower right to the top and upper left. Blue and purple circles cross the upper right corner of the image.”
4th postcard “ The postcard is predominately shades of purple, with a reclining female figure (seen from the back) on a purple couch. Flowers and other curved and swirling shapes surround the figure.”
Emily Vieweg is a poet originally from St Louis, MO. Her full-length poetry collection "but the flames" is available thru Finishing Line Press. Her work has been published in Soundings Review, Indolent Books "What Rough Beast," Art Young's Good Morning, and more. She lives in Fargo, ND where she is a mother of two, office assistant, and cat parent.
About the postcard Emily writes, “ drawing - 2 women riding on a bicycle in front of a line-drawn bridge and village, white starburst in the background Coming from Fargo, ND first line - "No, I haven't kissed her”
About the postcard Emily writes, “ drawing - 2 women riding on a bicycle in front of a line-drawn bridge and village, white starburst in the background Coming from Fargo, ND first line - "No, I haven't kissed her”
Tameca L Coleman Tameca L Coleman is a singer, multi-genre writer, itinerant nerd and point and shoot art dabbler in Denver Colorado. Their work explores heartbreak and healing, finding the words for our experiences, familial estrangement, being ‘in-between’ things, finding beauty, even during times of strife, and movement towards reconciliation. Their writings have been published in *pulpmouth*, *Rigorous Magazine*, *Inverted Syntax*,* Full Stop Reviews*, *Heavy Feather*, *Lambda Literary Poetry Spotlight*, DARIA art magazine, *Denver Westword*, and *Colorado Independent. T*heir debut book, *an identity polyptych, *will be published this fall 2021 by The Elephants on the Salish Sea. Tameca's photography has been featured in literary magazines and local newspapers. For more information about Tameca's work, find them via their social media handle @sireneatspoetry.
Tameca writes, “ I've been working on a poetry postcard project for a long time. The postcards have become a way for me to create new work, repurpose old work, connect with people in a way that is valuable, and that is held a little longer than an email, or a click down someone's social media feed. This is also a way for me to get out of my head, to improvise, to keep moving, to keep practicing, to see what's possible as I move through old notebooks of journals and notes and old broken poems to see if I can create new poem snippets that match and/or are cultivated by some of the images I have been creating, mostly captured by my cell phone, and sometimes doodled.”
(Tameca's cards are also captioned. Click each for more)
Tameca writes, “ I've been working on a poetry postcard project for a long time. The postcards have become a way for me to create new work, repurpose old work, connect with people in a way that is valuable, and that is held a little longer than an email, or a click down someone's social media feed. This is also a way for me to get out of my head, to improvise, to keep moving, to keep practicing, to see what's possible as I move through old notebooks of journals and notes and old broken poems to see if I can create new poem snippets that match and/or are cultivated by some of the images I have been creating, mostly captured by my cell phone, and sometimes doodled.”
(Tameca's cards are also captioned. Click each for more)
Stephanie Johnson has recently finished an Associates Degree in English Literature at City College of San Francisco in California. She has spent most of her adult life living and working overseas. Now that she is home, she is trying to make sense of how both she and America have changed through the creative writing process.
Stephanie writes, “ Before Coronavirus was recognized as a Pandemic, my husband and I had to go to rural Australia to help my mother-in-law, who had been in and out of the hospital and needed help transitioning into assisted living. The US is suffering much more than Australia but we aren’t HOME. We are living in someone else’s house, trying to organize and remove her things, and she can’t help us because her nursing home is in lockdown. We’re doing the right thing, but every part of this feels awful. The postcard is coming from Australia and will have an image from Newcastle, NSW (New South Wales), on the front, but I am actually in Bathurst, NSW. Unfortunately, the only place to get postcards here is the visitor’s centre, and they are closed since everyone is supposed to be staying at home.”
Stephanie writes, “ Before Coronavirus was recognized as a Pandemic, my husband and I had to go to rural Australia to help my mother-in-law, who had been in and out of the hospital and needed help transitioning into assisted living. The US is suffering much more than Australia but we aren’t HOME. We are living in someone else’s house, trying to organize and remove her things, and she can’t help us because her nursing home is in lockdown. We’re doing the right thing, but every part of this feels awful. The postcard is coming from Australia and will have an image from Newcastle, NSW (New South Wales), on the front, but I am actually in Bathurst, NSW. Unfortunately, the only place to get postcards here is the visitor’s centre, and they are closed since everyone is supposed to be staying at home.”
Sarah Farmer (Ernestine) is a recent graduate of Valdosta State University’s English department. With several campus publications and editorial positions under her belt, they are now exploring new creative avenues before settling into a master’s program this fall.
Sarah writes, “ “To Those with Power” is a piece if typewriter poetry written on an antique postcard from Washington, D.C. I selected this poem for this postcard back in February, but in light of the current global circumstances, it seemed like a good choice for submission. The postcard features a dark painting of the capitol building in Washington, D.C. The back is sepia-toned with brown original text and a poem in black typography. My name, Sarah Farmer, is typed at the top of the postcard on the backside. The first lines read "I wait, locked in my youth". I purchased this postcard at an antique store in Boston, MA in July of 2019. The postcard itself does not have a date, but it is from Washington D.C. However, I typed the poem and am sending it in from my hometown, Valdosta, GA.”
For the 2nd postcard, Sarah writes, “ “As the Sun Fell” is a piece of creative nonfiction I wrote about a night I spent in Barcelona, Spain. I partnered this piece with this postcard because I felt the artwork mirrored the incandescent feeling I aimed to convey in the writing. The postcard itself was created by a friend of mine that creates stationary and postcards with her original digital art concepts.
The postcard is a standard 4x6 size. The front art piece contains a woman in a blue and teal gown, framed by the sun and a pair of moths. Scattered light dots the upper right-hand corner of the card. The back of the card contains a flash nonfiction piece I wrote as a snapshot piece to capture a moment spent in Barcelona, Spain. I used a typewriter to write the story, so there are several small ink-smudge marks around the edge of the card. My name, Sarah Farmer, is printed at the bottom. The artist's shop logo, Pastwinkle, is located on the bottom right under the address lines.”
Sarah writes, “ “To Those with Power” is a piece if typewriter poetry written on an antique postcard from Washington, D.C. I selected this poem for this postcard back in February, but in light of the current global circumstances, it seemed like a good choice for submission. The postcard features a dark painting of the capitol building in Washington, D.C. The back is sepia-toned with brown original text and a poem in black typography. My name, Sarah Farmer, is typed at the top of the postcard on the backside. The first lines read "I wait, locked in my youth". I purchased this postcard at an antique store in Boston, MA in July of 2019. The postcard itself does not have a date, but it is from Washington D.C. However, I typed the poem and am sending it in from my hometown, Valdosta, GA.”
For the 2nd postcard, Sarah writes, “ “As the Sun Fell” is a piece of creative nonfiction I wrote about a night I spent in Barcelona, Spain. I partnered this piece with this postcard because I felt the artwork mirrored the incandescent feeling I aimed to convey in the writing. The postcard itself was created by a friend of mine that creates stationary and postcards with her original digital art concepts.
The postcard is a standard 4x6 size. The front art piece contains a woman in a blue and teal gown, framed by the sun and a pair of moths. Scattered light dots the upper right-hand corner of the card. The back of the card contains a flash nonfiction piece I wrote as a snapshot piece to capture a moment spent in Barcelona, Spain. I used a typewriter to write the story, so there are several small ink-smudge marks around the edge of the card. My name, Sarah Farmer, is printed at the bottom. The artist's shop logo, Pastwinkle, is located on the bottom right under the address lines.”
Michelle Disler is from Michigan. The poems and photos are by Michelle
Julia Klatt Singer is a long-haired, sweater-wearing poet and thief. Her most recent chapbook of poems, Elemental, published by Prolific Press, is available now.
Pat McCulloch is a poet and actor living in San Francisco. Originally from Houston, he has published in Nerve Cowboy (Austin, Tx).
We've added some details about the photograph: The photographer is Eugène Atget (1857-1927). The postcard is titled, "Prostitute waiting for customers" also found online as "Prostitute waiting at her front door, 1921." "Atget wandered through Paris dressed in a large dark cloak, his camera and tripod in hand. He strolled, sauntered, until something triggered a response which he stopped to photograph."
Michigan-born Moira Walsh has lived on three continents and is currently based in Germany, where she writes and translates. She became a published poet in 2020, at age 41. Moira is the 2021 Anne-Marie Oomen Fellow at Poetry Forge and was a Thomas Lux Scholar at the 2021 Palm Beach Poetry Festival. You can read more of her work here.
Moira writes: “I made this poem today and picked a postcard that sorta matches. I miss my friend in Cologne, Germany. Cologne is NW of Stuttgart, where I live. The card has stylish black edges (which you'll only see if you look) and a black shape named 'Designerloch' (designer hole) by the artists Hauck & Bauer. Letterpress printed by Martin Z. Schröder of Berlin.”
Moira writes: “I made this poem today and picked a postcard that sorta matches. I miss my friend in Cologne, Germany. Cologne is NW of Stuttgart, where I live. The card has stylish black edges (which you'll only see if you look) and a black shape named 'Designerloch' (designer hole) by the artists Hauck & Bauer. Letterpress printed by Martin Z. Schröder of Berlin.”
Genevieve Rose Barr is an actor, writer and educator who has been living in Japan and China for the past ten years where she concentrated on writing. Barr has been published in Japan (including winning the Kyoto writing prize), India, England, the US and Canada. Genevieve has recently returned to Australia and has appeared in Welsh director Ray Thomas' stage interpretation of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milkwood, Lally Katz's Neighbourhood Watch and various poetry and playscript readings. Barr also reads as script assessor for the Short and Sweet Theatre Festivals.
Genevieve Rose writes for “ "Stay Awhile" I put together this postcard as a collage to distant love. For ex-pats and exiles, it is a common experience.
For "Post-war love" I found this postcard in an opportunity shop. The picture struck me; the joy of the homecoming suggests happy times ahead, yet the 'return home' is a long hard way ahead, once we have physically arrived. We live in hope.”
Genevieve Rose writes for “ "Stay Awhile" I put together this postcard as a collage to distant love. For ex-pats and exiles, it is a common experience.
For "Post-war love" I found this postcard in an opportunity shop. The picture struck me; the joy of the homecoming suggests happy times ahead, yet the 'return home' is a long hard way ahead, once we have physically arrived. We live in hope.”
Grace Desmarais self-publishes auto-bio and middle-grade comics. Grace enjoys exploring a variety of genres including memoir, historical narrative and fantasy with her playful style.
Grace's work has been featured in a variety of anthologies including the Votes for Women Anthology (to be published Fall 2020) and Why Faith Anthology (Spring 2019). Her editorial work has been featured in magazines, including Bright Lite Magazine and Hazel Magazine. Grace's in graphic medicine has also been recognized by the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities with a Pen 2 Paper Nomination in Graphic Literature.
Her goal is to be a published graphic novelist with a committed comics publisher where she hopes to make comics about life and witches.
You can also find Grace Desmarais in the Women Who Draw archive.
Grace writes, “ In 2017, my best friend and ex-boyfriend took his own life. In 2020, his father took his own life. I have been struggling personally with mental health my whole life. So this was a postcard about grief. The ephemeral quality of postcards offered an opportunity for me to feel safe sharing my grief with stranger in a way that I often struggle with my writing and illustration work. This postcard is a Vermeer Painting that I had been saving from a trip to Paris.The text on the front says "I'll never forget to say 'I love you' ever again." This postcard was sent from Brooklyn NY, USA.”
Grace's work has been featured in a variety of anthologies including the Votes for Women Anthology (to be published Fall 2020) and Why Faith Anthology (Spring 2019). Her editorial work has been featured in magazines, including Bright Lite Magazine and Hazel Magazine. Grace's in graphic medicine has also been recognized by the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities with a Pen 2 Paper Nomination in Graphic Literature.
Her goal is to be a published graphic novelist with a committed comics publisher where she hopes to make comics about life and witches.
You can also find Grace Desmarais in the Women Who Draw archive.
Grace writes, “ In 2017, my best friend and ex-boyfriend took his own life. In 2020, his father took his own life. I have been struggling personally with mental health my whole life. So this was a postcard about grief. The ephemeral quality of postcards offered an opportunity for me to feel safe sharing my grief with stranger in a way that I often struggle with my writing and illustration work. This postcard is a Vermeer Painting that I had been saving from a trip to Paris.The text on the front says "I'll never forget to say 'I love you' ever again." This postcard was sent from Brooklyn NY, USA.”
Bill Smith
Michael Thompson writes, “I am a Chicago-based artist who makes decorative kites for a living and who has been making and mailing fake postage stamps since 1991 in the hopes of having them returned with a cancellation. I sometimes attempt to combine my interest in collage with my philatelic activity and postcards offer the greatest opportunity to do that. I have made and mailed stamps from dozens of countries throughout the world and usually attempt to mask my activity by using blasé envelopes, but my favorite pieces are those that allow me create, what I consider, a genuine piece of mail art.” https://michaelthompsonart.com/home.html
(This is Michael's 2nd postcard to us mailed with his own created stamps that made it through USPS)
(This is Michael's 2nd postcard to us mailed with his own created stamps that made it through USPS)
Claire Lawrence is a storyteller and visual artist living in British Columbia, Canada. She has been published in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and India. Her work has been performed on BBC radio. Claire’s stories have appeared in numerous publications including: Geist, Litro, Ravensperch, Brilliant Flash Fiction. She has a number of prize winning stories, and was nominated for the 2016 Pushcart Prize. Claire’s artwork has appeared in Black Lion Journal, Esthetic Apostle, Haunted, Sunspot Literary, A3 Review and Fractured Nuance. Her goal is to write and publish in all genres, and not inhale too many fumes from alcohol ink.
Amy-Sarah Marshall, who graduated with an MFA in Poetry from George Mason University, has published poems in the Wisconsin Review, So to Speak, and other journals. She has worked as a web writer and editor, content strategist, and founding president of the Charlottesville Pride Community Network, an LGBTQ+ community nonprofit. A Los Angeles native, Amy-Sarah grew up in a religious theater cult and now lives in Charlottesville, Virginia with her wife, 2 children, 2 dogs, and 2 cats.
Amy-Sarah writes, “I drew an abstract pinkish design on the front (you can maybe see koi or aliens in it). The postcard is signed by Manny and comes from Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. It's a letter-poem that takes place in an autoshop and is meant to express the exposure one can feel when estranged and longing for someone who truly knows you.”
Amy-Sarah writes, “I drew an abstract pinkish design on the front (you can maybe see koi or aliens in it). The postcard is signed by Manny and comes from Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. It's a letter-poem that takes place in an autoshop and is meant to express the exposure one can feel when estranged and longing for someone who truly knows you.”
Jo Goren is a writer who has illustrated, raised two children, dairy goats, and honeybees. A nominee for Best of Net 2019 and Best Small Fiction 2019, her writing has appeared in Blink-Ink, Toasted Cheese, Literary Mama, and Inverted Syntax, 2nd Art of the Postcard. @drawing4dollars email: jmgoren@gmail.com.
Jo writes, “I've sent you four postcards this fall. Chairs have always been dear to me. I collect abandoned ones from lawns. The Stakmore chair with sharks around it in the ocean is from a nightmare. Dear Mom is my continued conversation from my novella in process.”
Jo writes, “I've sent you four postcards this fall. Chairs have always been dear to me. I collect abandoned ones from lawns. The Stakmore chair with sharks around it in the ocean is from a nightmare. Dear Mom is my continued conversation from my novella in process.”
Deborah LeFalle is a former college educator who started writing in her retirement. Besides writing she enjoys being involved in the arts and humanities, digging into her family's past, and spending time outdoors communing with nature. Poetry is the genre of writing she is drawn to most, with inspiration for her poems often stemming from personal experiences. Her work has appeared in various journals and magazines, and she has authored two chapbooks, Worthy (2017) and Little Suites (2019). Ms. LeFalle lives a simple, gratitude-filled life in California's Bay Area.
Deborah writes, “The postcard is a colorful print of a purple-striped tiger (artist unknown) that came as part of an art activity kit I purchased for my granddaughter years ago. Continuing the theme on the backside of the card, I wrote my greeting in purple ink.”
Deborah writes, “The postcard is a colorful print of a purple-striped tiger (artist unknown) that came as part of an art activity kit I purchased for my granddaughter years ago. Continuing the theme on the backside of the card, I wrote my greeting in purple ink.”
Charles J. March III is an asexual, neurodivergent Navy hospital corpsman veteran who is currently trying to live an eclectic life with an interesting array of recovering creatures in Orange County, CA. His various works have appeared in or are forthcoming from Evergreen Review, Atlas Obscura, Litro, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, Lalitamba, 3:AM Magazine, Ink Sweat & Tears, Fleas on the Dog, Dink Press/Problématique, Queen Mob’s Teahouse, The Recusant, Taco Bell Quarterly, Storm Cellar, Terror House Press, Horror Sleaze Trash, Harbinger Asylum, Young Mag, Madness Muse Press, Maudlin House, Misery Tourism, BlazeVOX, Blood Tree Literature (prize), The Babel Tower Notice Board, Bareknuckle Poet, Anti-Heroin Chic, Synchronized Chaos, The Beatnik Cowboy, Points in Case, Expat Press, Stinkwaves, Young Ravens Literary Review, The Writing Disorder, Literary Orphans, Centre for Experimental Ontology, Otoliths, Oddball Magazine, et al. Links to his pieces can be found on LinkedIn and SoundCloud.
Charles writes, “ This shark postcard should be coming from San Juan Capistrano, California, which is of course in the USA.
I’d been getting into mail art recently, and am myself a fan of the lost art of letter writing, so when I saw this postcard submission call, I knew I had to participate. I then almost immediately drove to the grocery store specifically to purchase a postcard.
Upon arriving, they weren’t where I’d normally seen them before, so I searched for about 20 minutes before finding them boxed up in the back along with other obscure, miscellaneous ephemera and such.
None of the postcards were catching my eye, until I saw the eye of the shark. Then once I read the dark humor caption on the front, I was hooked.
Pun intended.
I tried to match the “art” on the back with the spirit and colors of the front, and I thought the upside down tourists falling into the water was very fitting for a publication called Inverted Syntax.
And I kind of just went with some other sinister stream of consciousness embellishments to further the semi-humorous, cathartic man eating vibe.”
Charles writes, “ This shark postcard should be coming from San Juan Capistrano, California, which is of course in the USA.
I’d been getting into mail art recently, and am myself a fan of the lost art of letter writing, so when I saw this postcard submission call, I knew I had to participate. I then almost immediately drove to the grocery store specifically to purchase a postcard.
Upon arriving, they weren’t where I’d normally seen them before, so I searched for about 20 minutes before finding them boxed up in the back along with other obscure, miscellaneous ephemera and such.
None of the postcards were catching my eye, until I saw the eye of the shark. Then once I read the dark humor caption on the front, I was hooked.
Pun intended.
I tried to match the “art” on the back with the spirit and colors of the front, and I thought the upside down tourists falling into the water was very fitting for a publication called Inverted Syntax.
And I kind of just went with some other sinister stream of consciousness embellishments to further the semi-humorous, cathartic man eating vibe.”
Rikki Santer's work has appeared in various publications including Ms. Magazine, Poetry East, Slab, Slipstream, Crab Orchard Review, RHINO, Grimm, Hotel Amerika and The Main Street Rag. Santer's work has received many honors including five Pushcart and three Ohioana book award nominations as well as a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Her eighth collection, Drop Jaw, inspired by the art of ventriloquism, was published this spring by NightBallet Press.
Rikki writes, “ This card comes from the bakery of imagination where my Home Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker machine resides with me in Columbus, Ohio.”
Rikki writes, “ This card comes from the bakery of imagination where my Home Virtuoso Plus Breadmaker machine resides with me in Columbus, Ohio.”
Ailbhe Pascal is a writer based in occupied Coaquanock (“Philadelphia”). Their storytelling is in the tradition of queer witchcraft and political poetry. Find them writing about crip healing, cackling about their latest mistake-success, or sharing moon meals with friends.
Ailbhe writes about each postcard
“1. A postcard made in a fundraising series for the Standing Rock Sioux Water Defenders Camp back in 2018 now has my words of celebration as the Dakota Access Pipeline, resisted by the Standing Rock Camp, has finally been halted. Postcards used to be a way of getting out the news, and I like the idea of sharing good news in this time of struggle and plague.
2. A postcard from an independent bookshop I have actually never been to--what better way to address Stranger? I bring Stranger into relationship with me through a desperate request.
3. A postcard I made by hand as part of a local art exchange. We were encouraged to make stamps with household materials, so I used boiled beets and then mailed 20 versions out to neighbors. The writing here is in also a sample of what I sent out to these different strangers.”
Ailbhe writes about each postcard
“1. A postcard made in a fundraising series for the Standing Rock Sioux Water Defenders Camp back in 2018 now has my words of celebration as the Dakota Access Pipeline, resisted by the Standing Rock Camp, has finally been halted. Postcards used to be a way of getting out the news, and I like the idea of sharing good news in this time of struggle and plague.
2. A postcard from an independent bookshop I have actually never been to--what better way to address Stranger? I bring Stranger into relationship with me through a desperate request.
3. A postcard I made by hand as part of a local art exchange. We were encouraged to make stamps with household materials, so I used boiled beets and then mailed 20 versions out to neighbors. The writing here is in also a sample of what I sent out to these different strangers.”