Wednesday, December 27, 2023

December News and 2023 Roundup

NOMINATION 

I am pleased to share that my poem, “Knowing You,” was nominated for a Pushcart by Gnashing Teeth Publishing. Thank you to Karen Cline-Tardiff for this honor. Not a bad way to close out the year!

 

2023 ROUNDUP

This year, 38 of my pieces appeared in 18 publications, including short stories and poems. (A few of the covers are included in the above collage.) I was a featured storyteller for the May 2023 Truth in Comedy event in Kansas City, MO. Additionally, I published four books, including:

I had work nominated for two Best of the Nets, a Pushcart, and a Rhysling Award. I continue to serve as an editor at Gleam, and wrote blurbs for each imaginary arrow (Scott Ferry) and The Very Special Dead (Christian Livermore). If you haven't read those books, I can't recommend them enough. 

I’ve had years where I’ve had more publications, but then, this is the first time I’ve published four books in a year, so sometimes success is kinda hard to quantify. Publishing four books meant a pretty hard marketing push for readings, podcasts, and events. 
Otherwise, 2023 was a soft hiatus for me. For the first time in recent memory, I did not write every day. In fact, I barely wrote at all. Besides health problems, my husband and I purchased a house, which has needed a lot of time and attention. But most of all, I was burned out. Submitting and publishing can be an absolute grind, and I was just all out of spoons and all out fucks. I’m just now trying to get back into a writing routine, and trying to find a better work-life balance. To all who have supported me, this year and every other, you have my sincerest gratitude.

 

OTHER NEWS

I am now on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/laurenscharhag.bsky.social

I just got the invite code on December 22, so I still haven't really figured it out yet, but I hope to get proficient soon, and get off the sinking ship that is the platform formerly known as Twitter. 


Hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season, and wishing you all the best for '24!






Wednesday, November 29, 2023

November News

To all who celebrate, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I don't have a lot of news to share for November. 



I was one of the featured readers on SpoFest on November 14, along with Hayley Mitchell Haugen and Madeline Artenburg. If you are unable to attend, the event was recorded. Many thanks to hosts James Bryant and Rick Christiansen. 

I haven't done a lot of writing this past year-- only a handful of poems, really, and I only have one or two publications tentatively lined up. I still have a lot of health issues I'm contending with. But I am currently reading submissions for Gleam, and in the next few weeks, I will be reading for the Jack Grapes Poetry Prize. So, in my own small way, I am still contributing to the literary community.

Thank you, as always, to my supportive readers. Prayers, good vibes, healing thoughts, positivity-- whatever you've got, please send 'em my way. As we head into December, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season ahead of you.






Monday, October 30, 2023

October News

AWARD NOMINATION


I have received a second Best of the Net nomination this year. Marrow Magazine nominated “Electronic Voice Phenomenon.” This poem was very personal and dear to me, so this truly means a lot. My deepest thanks to editor Caitlin Woolley.

 
APPEARANCE

 
The SpoFest show that was cancelled in September due to illness is back on – I’ll be one of the featured poets on Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 6 pm CT, on Zoom. Includes open mic and raffle. Hope to see some of you there!

 
SUBMISSION CALLS


I am pleased to share that I will be one of the readers for the 2023 Jack Grapes Poetry Prize. I look forward to reading everyone’s work. Submissions are open till Nov. 30.

 
Gleam Journal is also open for submissions till Nov. 30, so get those cadralore in!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 


Wednesday, September 27, 2023

September News

AWARD NOMINATION



I am thrilled to share that my poem, “Hallway,” has been nominated for Best of the Net by Five Fleas Poetry. Many thanks to editor Roberta Beach Jacobson, and congrats to my fellow nominees. Here is the link to the original publication.
 

PUBLICATION


The Border Beats: Writing Across Boundaries anthology is now available for purchase. It includes my poem, “Confiscated.” Thank you to editor Belinda Subraman.
 

APPEARANCES


I was one of the featured readers at the September Speakeasy event at Swordfish Tom’s in Kansas City. Thank you to everyone who attended, to fellow feature Iris Appelquist, to host Brandon Whitehead and to the excellent people at Swordfish Tom's for providing such a great venue to poets.
 
The September SpoFest event was canceled due to one of the hosts being ill. We are planning to reschedule – I will keep everyone posted when we have a new date set.

This Saturday, September 30, is the Poetry Jam event in Independence, MO. There will be open mics in the evening. I will be attending, so looking forward to connecting with regional writers! 

 
 
 


Monday, August 28, 2023

August News

NEW RELEASE


Points of Light: Poems to Express Gratitude for Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic is now available on Amazon. I am an editor as well as a contributor to this collection. Proceeds benefit the KU School of Nursing. Since the book went live at the end of July, we have raised $95. Help us raise more! It makes an excellent gift for the nurse in your life.


PUBLICATION


My poem, “Skinny Dipping," is up at the Rye Whiskey Review. Thank you to John and Scott.


REVIEWS

I have received 5-star reviews and positive feedback on my collection, Moonlight and Monsters. (Available on Amazon and Gnashing Teeth Publishing). Thank you so much to these readers for their kind words.


 

 

 

APPEARANCES

The Speakeasy, Swordfish Tom's, Kansas City, MO, Sunday, September 3, 7 pm CT (in person); fellow feature is Iris Appelquist.

SpoFest Featured Reader, Tuesday, September 5, 6 pm CT (virtual); fellow features are Hayley Mitchell Haugen and Madeline Artenberg. Open mic and book raffle included. Take a look at the preview we recorded for this event. **THIS EVENT WAS CANCELLED DUE ILLNESS. IT WILL BE RESCHEDULED. 

Kansas City Poetry Jam, Sept. 30, 11 am-5 pm, CT (in person); Englewood Arts Center, 10901 East Winner Road, Independence, MO 64052; open mics 7:30-9:30 pm 

Hope to see some of you there!





Friday, July 28, 2023

New Release: Points of Light


I am pleased to share that Points of Light: Poems to Express Gratitude for Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic, is now available to purchase from Amazon.

Proceeds from this book will benefit the KU School of Nursing, whose mission is to educate nursing students for diverse and changing roles in dynamic careers as researchers, leaders, and educators. 


SYNOPSIS
In September 2021, when the Delta variant was surging, the KU School of Nursing staff decided we wanted to do something for the nurses at the University of Kansas Health System to thank them for their essential service. We were and are sincerely grateful to them for all they do to preserve life and wellness. To express our appreciation, we put out a call on social media, asking poets to contribute poems or messages. The post was up only a few days, yet we received work from 37 contributors across the US, as well as work from 12 other countries.

We shared these poems with our health system nursing colleagues, and now, we would like to share them with nurses everywhere, as well as the world at large. Not only do they express our shared respect for the nursing profession, they capture an historical event, the repercussions of which will continue to be felt for years to come.


ADVANCE PRAISE
“Poetry is so much more than a form of expression. Nursing is so much more than a series of well-organized tasks, embedded in a plan of care. These poets from around the world and across the span of emotion, give clarity and gratitude to those who provide the art and science of the profession of nursing. This publication is a treasure.”

-Barbara Gill MacArthur, RN, MN, FAAN
Volunteer Faculty, University of Kansas School of Nursing


“This collection of prose and poems is a tremendous reminder of why nurses do what we do. Our work is never for naught but for anyone who needs us.”

-Kevin Floyd, RN, BSN, CCRN
Travel Covid Nurse 2020-2023
Critical Care Float Pool Nurse
Oregon Health and Science University
Portland, OR


“This series of thoughtful and heartfelt poems reinforces the profound impact nurses have on caring for people. Two of the most important ‘acts of medical care’ are touch and the human interaction of a nurse. Those transcend borders and cultures.”

-Fred Neis, MS, RN, CEN, FACHE, FAEN
Vice President, Lumeris Inc.
2023 President, KU School of Nursing Alumni Board


SAMPLE POEMS

The Distant Constellation of Beauty

Like motherhood, nursing means long hours, thankless work, an outpouring of self
in the interest of others,
often with no apparent end in sight.
But be sure you understand this clearly:
your work and the love you do it with
is appreciated and necessary,
now more than ever,
and you are all points of light
in our dark times.

-Jim Landwehr


To all those strong enough to lift us
from our beds and help us walk,
but gentle enough to bathe and soothe,

strong enough to lift us
from our pain and into wellness,
but gentle enough to handle
the frailest of old bones and
the tiniest of micro preemies;

strong enough to carry on
in the face of terrible odds,
but gentle enough to cry with us,
not allowing us to shoulder
even that burden alone.

We have all known you.
We have all been touched by you.
We have all followed your light
out of the valley of the shadow.

Now we stand by you
as you have stood by us.
I carry no lamp, only this poem.
I hope it’s enough to help you
keep to the path.

-Lauren Scharhag

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

July News

NEW RELEASE


My latest poetry collection, Moonlight and Monsters, is now available from Gnashing Teeth Press and on Amazon. If you'd like a signed copy from me, email me. It's $15 on Venmo or PayPal. I've already sent out the first batch of signed copies-- copies are going coast to coast in the US from Delaware to Washington, and to Canada and Australia! 


APPEARANCES


Earlier this month, Gnashing Teeth hosted a virtual book launch for Moonlight and Monsters. Scott Ferry and Lillian Necakov also appeared as guest readers. If you were unable to attend, the video is now available to watch on YouTube. It was a darn good reading, if I do say so myself, so don't miss it!


UPCOMING APPEARANCES


A Reading and Conversation with Lindsey Royce and Lauren Scharhag, hosted by Press 53, Thursday, August 10, 6:30 pm CT. Please register to attend. (virtual)

The Speakeasy, Swordfish Tom's, Kansas City, MO, Sunday, September 3, 7 pm CT (in person)

SpoFest Featured Reader, Tuesday, September 5, 6 pm CT (virtual) 


Saturday, July 8, 2023

New Release: Moonlight and Monsters


I’m thrilled to share that Moonlight and Monsters is now available for purchase from Gnashing Teeth Publishing and from Amazon

Description: In Moonlight and Monsters, the poems move between wonder and fairy-tale, earth and sky, fire and things that go bump in the night. Scharhag has given birth to wondrous monsters and dances with fearful delight in the moonlight. These poems entrance and wrap you up. Open the pages and enter a world of Lauren’s creation. You will want to stay awhile.  

Hope you grab a copy and enjoy!

The book launch reading, which included guest readings from Scott Ferry and Lillian Necakov, was recorded. It’s available for viewing on Facebook and on YouTube

Thank you so much to everyone who attended the book launch this afternoon, and thank you to my poetry family Scott Ferry and Lillian Necakov for reading with me! I am deeply touched by everyone’s kind words and support. Thank you, also, to Karen Tardiff at Gnashing Teeth Press for believing in my work and getting it out in the world. I appreciate you all. Shout-out, also, to artist Sara Dell for the glorious cover art. 

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

June News

BOOK LAUNCH


Moonlight and Monsters will be dropping any day now! On Saturday, July 8, 2-4 pm CT, Gnashing Teeth Press is hosting a virtual book launch. My poetry siblings Scott Ferry and Lillian Necakov will be joining us as guest readers. Hope to see some of you there! To attend, there is a Facebook event with Zoom info.

I’m pleased to share the gorgeous cover art with a painting by Sara Dell (above). 


AWARD


My poem, “Interdimensional Border Town,” is one of the 25 finalists for the 2023 Rhysling Awards. The poem was published last year by Unlikely Stories. Many thanks to the Rhysling judges and congrats to my fellow nominees.


BOOK REVIEW


Thank you to Richard Wayne for his kind review of Midnight Glossolalia on Goodreads and Amazon.  


PUBLICATION


The Moon Issue of Aji Magazine is out. It has my villanelle, “Raspberries and Rum,” on page 74. Many thanks to EiC Erin O'Neill Armendarez.


UPCOMING APPEARANCES

 
A Reading and Conversation with Lindsey Royce and Lauren Scharhag, hosted by Press 53, Thursday, August 10, 6:30 pm CT. Please register to attend.


SpoFest Featured Reader, Tuesday, September 5, 6 pm CT


OTHER NEWS

I am honored to say that I have been asked to serve as a judge for a new poetry contest – I will share more details as they come available.


Issue 6 of Gleam: A Journal of the Cadralor is now live. I hope you get a chance to swing by and read these excellent poets.










Tuesday, May 30, 2023

May News

BOOK REVIEW


We received our first review on Midnight Glossolalia. Poet Jerome Berglund writes, “…it’s absolutely one of the most interesting, provocative, entertaining works of poetry (and collaboration) I’ve had the enormous privilege and good luck of discovering.” Thank you so much, Jerome! Read his full review on Amazon or Goodreads.


FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS
Moonlight and Monsters, my latest poetry collection, will be releasing in June from Gnashing Teeth Press.

Screaming Intensifies, a collection of short horror stories, will be releasing later this year from Whiskey City Press – date TBD. I will keep you all posted.


PUBLICATIONS


Morels was released earlier this month from Voice Lux Press as part of their chapbook series. Download a copy for $3 on their website.


My prose-poem, “Below the Bible Belt,” appeared in Thanatos. Thank you to editors Rebecca Kilroy and Arden Delphine Young. This piece is also in my latest collection, Midnight Glossolalia (co-authored with Scott Ferry and Lillian Necakov).



Little Brown Changeling” appeared in the May issue of Aphelion. It’s a poem about our dearly departed Otter, who we miss so much. Thank you to editor Dan Hollifield and the rest of the Aphelion team.




Mimesis,” is up at the Rye Whiskey Review. Thank you, as always, to editor John Patrick Robbins.


APPEARANCES
On May 13, I attended the Dark and Stormy Night open mic at Darkwood House Gallery in Independence, MO. Darkwood House Gallery is a fabulous venue for dark art and events, as well as an oddities and curiosities shop, and a fashion boutique for designer Ezra October. If you’re ever in Independence and love strange/occult stuff, stop in! I look forward to visiting again.

My portrait by Beth Barnett and me! My portrait depicts me with a nightingale, to symbolize my voice as a poet 


The three portraits by Beth Barnett - Kyra Wiggins (left), mine (center) and Jennifer White (right) 


On May 20, I was one of the featured storytellers for Truth in Comedy. The event was held at the Bunker Center for the Arts. Thank you to everyone who came out and supported us—it was a fantastic evening! My fellow storytellers, Kyra Wiggins and Jennifer White, were compelling, the comedians were hilarious, and featured artist Beth Barnett painted three amazing pieces. Thank you especially to Byron Stamps for organizing the event. Truth in Comedy regularly does shows in KC, Topeka, Lawrence, and Dallas. If you ever get a chance to attend, I highly recommend it!


UPCOMING APPEARANCES

Moonlight and Monsters Book Release, hosted by Gnashing Teeth Press, Saturday, July 8, 2 pm CT; Scott Ferry will be joining us emcee and reader!

A Reading and Conversation with Lindsey Royce and Lauren Scharhag, hosted by Press 53, Thursday, August 10, 6:30 pm CT

SpoFest Featured Reader, Tuesday, September 5, 6 pm CT


OTHER NEWS


Some of my books are now available for purchase at the Darkwood House Gallery, 10918 E Winner Road, Lower Level, Independence, MO 64052. Thank you to Darren Hineslety for agreeing to peddle my wares! I think I’ve found my people at Darkwood House.

















Monday, May 1, 2023

New Release: Morels

 

I'm pleased to share that Morels, a chapbook of nature and environmentalist poems, is now available as an e-book from Voice Lux Press, $3. 

Many thanks to John Compton, Joe Nasta and Tommy Sheffield at Voice Lux Press. They were a joy to work with. Thank you also to Katriina Purra, who did the beautiful cover art. 

To promote this work, I have some upcoming readings scheduled. Please keep an eye on my social media channels for details. 


Thursday, April 27, 2023

April News

FORTHCOMING  

Big news! I have two more books that will be released this year!



Morels, a poetry chapbook, will be released in May by Voice Lux Press. How gorgeous is this cover art by Katriina Purru.



Screaming Intensifies, a collection of horror stories, will be released from Whiskey City Press – date TBD. I will keep you all posted!


PUBLICATIONS


“When the Honeymoon is Over,” appeared in Aphelion: The Webzine of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Many thanks to publisher Dan Hollifield and the rest of the Aphelion team.



“Skinwalker,” appeared in Anvil Tongue Books. (It was previously published at Mitchell Pluto’s Artzine.) Many thanks to editor Daniel Cyran.



“Another Poem About the Moon,” is up at the Rye Whiskey. I am so grateful to John Patrick Robbins for his continuous support of my work.


 
“The Ledger” and “Jack and Lucy” appear in The Dead Pets Poetry Anthology (Transcendent Zero Press). It is available to purchase on Amazon. Proceeds from this book go to the ASPCA. Many thanks to editors Damian Ward Hey and Rick C. Christiansen.


APPEARANCES

I was the featured reader at the Spoken Word Club on April 25. Thank you to Robbi Nester for hosting.


 
Saturday, May 20, 8 pm, I will be one of the storytellers at Truth in Comedy at the Bunker Center for the Arts, 1014 E 19th Street, KCMO 64108. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Please visit www.truthincomedy.com for more details. **Update - tickets available for purchase at Prekindle


I am also planning a poetry reading in late May with poet Lindsey Royce – watch my social media channels for details.







Thursday, April 6, 2023

Poetry Review: The Book of John by Lindsey Royce


I’m having trouble coming up with descriptors for Lindsey Royce’s poetry collection, The Book of John. “Searing” and “devastating” are the words that come immediately to mind, but they feel inadequate in the face of such a clear and comprehensive catalog of grief. I also want to call this collection “raw,” “unflinching,” and “courageous,” but those words, too, seem to fall short of what Royce has accomplished here.  

I don’t think I’ve ever read a collection of poetry that made me cry before, but this one did. As someone who has been a caregiver to a terminally ill spouse, as someone who had to confront mortality in such a way, this book struck a deep, painful chord in me. In my case, my husband went into renal failure at age 29 and was on dialysis for three years. He received a transplant and is doing fine now—it’s an odd status to be terminal and then not-terminal; to venture so far into the Valley of Death and then come back out again. People don’t often connect dialysis with life support, but that’s what it is. Without dialysis, renal failure will kill you in about eight days.  

John was not so lucky; his life was claimed by cancer at age 56. The opening poem feels like an old invocation of the muse—or, in this case, like a necromancer’s spell conjuring back the spirit of the departed. It’s the most abstract piece in the collection. Otherwise, these poems are relatively straightforward narratives. Through them, Royce takes us along with her on a breathtakingly intimate journey through memory. She admits us into John’s final, agonizing days, and her subsequent bereavement.  

These pieces don’t engage in any poetic flourishes or sleight-of-hand. They are stripped naked and bare as only death can make us. Here, there can be no pretending. Royce does not idealize a dead man nor their relationship as she mentions their personality clashes, (the outdoorsman and the city girl, the right-leaning marine and the left-leaning academic, etc.), their disagreements, their squabbles over the last cookie. But she also shares with us, very generously, all the things that made John a warm, magnetic personality; a glimpse of their tender moments—their lovemaking, John’s cooking, their shared love of animals. For a subject that could so easily slip into the maudlin, Royce keeps it solidly unsentimental. She speaks in concrete images: mushrooms, snow, deer, trout, olive oil, strings of Christmas lights. Even the spiritual poems speak of tangible things, like altars and locks of hair. She does not shy away from broaching unpleasant subjects, like leaking feeding tubes and the way illness turns skin into crepe.

Rage is one of the key themes. Anger gets mentioned as one of the five stages of grief, but it always seems to get glossed over. Here, we get lines like, “I am the hellion banshee of keening.” It is a rational response to being robbed of years. The unfairness of it all, watching someone succumb, someone so young, someone who was once so strong and is now unable to open a yogurt container. To watch John, a chef, die of stomach cancer. It’s all simply infuriating.

Royce describes ways in which she tries to cope with these feelings, turning to substances to escape for a while, to spirituality, and even to the supernatural-- consulting psychics as a way to reconnect. Royce writes, "My grief has grown to feel like schtick." There comes a point when the grieving becomes your personality. This is who you are now: the widow. Grief is a lonely territory. No one can carry it for you. No one can experience it quite the way you do. Also, you want to let go of all the pain, but you don’t want to forget the person whose passing is the source of it.

In “Never Mine,” Royce writes, “He never belonged to me, and I should drop/my make-believe grasp of his hand…” No, he didn’t belong to you, but both of you belonged to something, together. A country of Lindsey and John, from which you've now been exiled. To speak of our lost loves is to speak a dead language. We should all be so lucky to have someone like Lindsey Royce at our side when it's our time.

I didn't know John, but through these poems, Royce summons him, a presence so real I expected to see him when I looked up from the book. So, in a sense, she has brought him back. They say that as long as we remember a person, they aren’t really gone. Anyone who reads this book is unlikely to forget John. In the end, Royce doesn’t give us a portrait of her healed—that hasn’t happened yet, and it probably never will. But she gives us the hope that one day, she will be able to carry her grief a little more easily. If she can, maybe we can too.

The Book of John is available for purchase from Press 53








Tuesday, March 28, 2023

March News

MIDNIGHT GLOSSOLALIA COPIES AVAILABLE!


I still have copies of Midnight Glossolalia. If you'd like a copy, it's $17. Please email or message me, and I'll be happy to send you one! It's also available on Amazon and Meat for Tea


PUBLICATIONS




Skinwalker” appeared in the Mitchell Pluto Artzine. Thank you to Mitchell for publishing this piece.
 


“Light Studies,” “Heaven Spelled Backwards,” and “The Pottery Shard Graveyard” are in Issue 4 of The Black Shamrock. My deepest gratitude, as always, to editor John Patrick Robbins.



“Curandera,” “Overlook” and “Lambent” appeared in Setu Magazine’s annual Western Voices Edition. Thank you to guest editor Thomas Scott Outlar and to EiC Anurag Sharma.



Medusa Browses the Beauty Aisle,” is up at Ice Floe Press as part of their Cassandra/Chorale Mythology Project. Many thanks to editor Robert Frede Kenter. The poem is paired with art by Robert, “Display Case – Medusa Goes Shopping.” This poem will appear in my poetry collection, Moonlight and Monsters, forthcoming from Gnashing Teeth Press.



“Medusa Browses the Beauty Aisle,” “The Ghost Forest,” “Curse of the Spider Woman,” “Snakes and Boxes” and “Root” appear in Lothlorien Journal, Vol. 20: Masks of Many Colours, which is now available to purchase on Lulu. You can also read these poems for free at Lothlorien online. Many thanks to editor Strider Marcus Jones.


APPEARANCES

My brilliant co-authors, Scott Ferry and Lillian Necakov, and I did two more readings this month to promote our new release, Midnight Glossolalia (Meat for Tea Press). They’re both available to watch on video.

 
The first was at SpoFest. Thank you to fabulous hosts, James Bryant and Rick Christiansen.



The second was hosted by Tina Marie Johnson of Blue Mountain Creative Consulting. To access, input passcode &uN2d&7C.


OTHER NEWS


The Queer Weird West Tales Anthology has been shortlisted for a 2022 Aurealis Award. Congrats to editor Julie Bozza and to my fellow contributors. Copies are available on Amazon, Smashwords, and other retailers. 



Gleam is now open for submissions through April 30! Get those cadralore in!