An incident as literary editor

Almost three decades ago as an editor of my own rag mag, I began to receive submissions from someone in a Southern prison. The submissions did not indicate that the writer, though graphic and powerful a writer as he was in that kind of setting, could think beyond his present situation or the circumstances that brought him to his predicament. At first, the stories about prison life opened a window for this editor. But then, the stories were all more or less the same, with the upshot that the writer had no insight into the cosmic scheme of things and was happy to not think about it. But mind you, the stories were scary. Luckily I had a lawyer friend who I lunched with and I asked him if that writer in question would put a "hit" on me if I refused to publish him. My lawyer friend took a short puff on his cigar and said tersely, "All con men ought to be locked up." We then had a delightful lunch at Tai Tung Restaurant in Seattle as we did every Sunday. To resolve the issue of the prisoner writer, I wrote to him that there are literally 3,000 markets clamoring for his work in Len Fulton's directory of magazines and presses, and unfortunately, our magazine failed to see the merits of his work.

George Held reviews Koon Woon's book, Water Chasing Water

We normally don't self-promote, but this is a wider concern than just the reviewer and the author. Please see George Held's review of Koon Woon's most recent book of poems Water Chasing Water
from Kaya Press, 2013 http://www.alscw.org/publications/literary-matters/ in the Spring 2014 issue.

SUBMISSIONS TO Five Willows Literary Review

Your submission, if not accepted, will be the least painful. We guarantee that no cyberspace lobotomy will be performed. We are not Procrustean either. You can come in any size or shape if you enjoy good literary health. Chances of being accepted are good, because we have a provisional mechanism for your tenure on the site. If your work tends toward the enduring end, we will host you longer; otherwise, you are here for a brief visit.

IN ANY CASE, WE ARE GLAD YOU ARE READING THIS AND PERHAPS THINK ABOUT TRYING YOUR WORK HERE. 

Your support is also needed to make this a first-rate site. 

WHO IS MR. FIVE WILLOWS?

Who is Mr. Five Willows? He likes wine and when he is half-filled, he is happy, and when he is thus happy, he talks in verse, and when he so speaks, he is neither disparaging of high or low, rich or poor, crafty or dull; he is merely a drinker of wine and a good fellow. For this reason, he is often invited to the houses of the lords and officials.

He tells them that life is full or empty, happy or sad, prosperous or needy, but if they but see that his own house is surrounded by five willow trees, in the destitute sector of town, and that for their company, he is content to be shielded from the striving of otherwise lesser men. For this he is thankful, and even as poor as he himself is, he gives half of his coins to the itinerary men. 

We are not important, but we will try to be good and responsive

The fire power of a conceited man is limited to his imagination only. We will not try to be "important" but we will try to be responsive to your needs and preferences in literary works. 

Only you can make this site good or better.

You can be a member. You don't have to. But it will help us to defray expenses and to plan for better things to bring you such as an annual print anthology.

This is trite to say --- but help us to serve you!

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All our labors are labor of love;
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For your support we can send you an official Chrysanthemum Literary
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We have other gifts for your donation: A collection of short fiction by Joe Musso, a poetry chapbook by Koon Woon, and a Chrysanthemum anthology:













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