No pretence - hand on heart: I'm thrilled to have my Fibonacci poem nominated for The Pushcart Prize.

I'm thrilled this week to be told that I've been nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize by American publisher Musepie Press who have been publishing my poetry in two of their journals, Shot Glass Journal and The Fib Review since 2009.

The nominated poem, Visitation, is published with three of my other new Fibonacci poems in the new issue of The Fib Review which has now published 57 of my Fibs, short poems written to a syllable count according to the Hindu-Arabic numerical system introduced to the West by the Medieval mathematician Leonardo Bonacci (c.1170 - c.1250), known as Fibonacci.

Fibonacci's statue in Pisa.

The Fibonacci Sequence finds a pattern in numbers - one that is repeated in nature but which can also be an exacting but satisfying master for short form poetry. It has been my personal passion for some years now discovering how varied the possibilities are in writing within such a tight set of criteria.

My Pushcart nominated poem, Visitation can be found by following this link:

http://www.musepiepress.com/fibreview/colin_bell1.html

So thank you Musepie Press, on behalf of all Fibonacci poets,  for nominating my poem.

Here is some information about the Pushcart Prize:
'The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses series, published every year since 1976, is the most honored literary project in America.

Since 1976, hundreds of presses and thousands of writers of short stories, poetry and essays have been represented in our annual collections. Each year most of the writers and many of the presses are new to the series. Every volume contains an index of past selections, plus lists of outstanding presses with addresses.

The Pushcart Prize has been a labor of love and independent spirits since its founding. It is one of the last surviving literary co-ops from the 60's and 70's. Our legacy is assured by donations to our Fellowships endowment.'

Here's the link to the Pushcart Prize website:

http://pushcartprize.com/index.html

My one-eyed neighbour makes it into one of my newly published Fibonacci poems.

I'm often under scrutiny in my small Lewes urban garden but I'm getting used to it. I live next door to a one-eyed Siamese cat and, without actually being on speaking terms, we have a pleasant enough relationship which I have now recorded in one of my new Fibonacci poems published today in Issue 22 of  The Fib Review.

Sometimes it's good to have a solid but silent relationship with someone who likes my garden as much as I do.

If you want to read my new poem along with the other three poems in The Fib Review, here's a link:

http://www.musepiepress.com/fibreview/index.html

Don't just read it for my work though - there's a lot in this excellent journal and i'm proud to be included there again for the eighteenth consecutive time.

A new poetry anthology includes one of my poems among the first fruits of Autumn.

I got my copy of a new anthology today, The Four Seasons published by Kind of a Hurricane Press in Florida, USA.  I'm happy that they wanted to publish my short poem, Gardening Tips, in this collection of season-themed poetry.  The poem's main theme is the impulse to plant daffodil bulbs in the cold days of Autumn so it was a pleasant coincidence that the book arrived around the same time that I took delivery of next spring's daffodil and tulip bulbs for my small Lewes town garden.

I have put the box in my garden shed where it will sit until mid-November when I shall plant them in the cold earth. Why do I do this every Autumn? There's a clue in the photograph below.

If you want to buy a copy of the paperback, here are some links to Amazon:

In the USA:

http://www.amazon.com/Four-Seasons-Various-Authors/dp/1517431840/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1446045164&sr=8-6&keywords=A.J.+Huffman+poetry

 In the UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Four-Seasons-Various-Authors/dp/1517431840/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1446045164&sr=8-6&keywords=A.J.+Huffman+poetry