Nightingale & Sparrow

Tag: Microchapbooks – 2020

Nightingale & Sparrow Micropoets: The Top Ten – 2020
Nightingale & Sparrow Micropoets: The Top Ten – 2020
Publication Date: 29 December 2020
Nightingale & Sparrow Press
14 Pages

In the leadup to each issue of Nightingale & Sparrow Literary Magazine, the N&S editorial staff selects a series of micropoems to feature on social media in the days leading up to each issue’s launch. While these pieces aren’t published in the magazine issue, they’re posted to the N&S site alongside the issue’s web archive.
To further give back to our micropoem contributors, we’ve decided to publish yet another microchapbook of micropoems. Featuring the “top ten” N&S micropoets of 2020, we’re thrilled to share the 2020 edition of Nightingale & Sparrow Micropoets!
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Contributors
The top ten micropoets of 2020 were chosen by the N&S staff.
- His smile – Carl Alexandersson
- And So We Dive – Claire Loader
- Vs. – Amanda Crum
- Finding Love in Coffee – Amanda N. Butler
- Eternal Carvings – Timothy Kelly
- Groove – Tanasha Martin
- morendo – Maggie Wang
- Miss, What If They Call It Gay Club? – Liz Chadwick Pywell
- first grade mural – Matthew E. Henry
- Forest of Us – Carolyn Agee
View all of our micropoems by issue here.
December 29, 2020
ephemeral by Samantha Rose
ephemeral
by Samantha Rose
Publication Date: 10 November 2020
Nightingale & Sparrow Press
10 Pages
Genre: Poetry
Have you ever longed for something you could never touch? Have you ever touched something you knew you’d never hold?
Sometimes it can feel as though being in the world consists of nothing more than passively watching people pass through from behind a glass wall, coming and going too quickly for us to fully realize the gravity of their presence. Life can also be described as a seemingly infinite series of moments woven together by the dizzying hand of time, and getting stuck in the details is somehow always easier than seeing the big picture. Seeing the big picture almost never occurs unless through the 20/20 vision that is hindsight.
And in those moments when you did manage to hold onto something, is the time we have with that thing, that dream, that person, ever enough?
I wrote this book on the premise that the answer to that last question is always “no.” The tragedy of existence is that the time we have in this lifetime will never be enough. Time is fleeting, and so are love and loss. Ephemeral is my attempt to explore themes of love, longing, loneliness, and endings, while a the same time, memorializing them. Everything is ephemeral – even this book – and we must remember not to miss the love in front of us, while also coming to terms with the fact that nothing – the good or the bad – lasts forever.
This tiny book contains ten short poems and measures approximately 2.125 x 2.75 inches. Each book is handmade and numbered, representing its place in the limited 100-copy run.
Each copy is uniquely hand-crafted/folded; because of this, some uneven edges do occur. We think it gives them more character!
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About the Author
Samantha Rose has a BA in sociology and philosophy from George Fox University and resides in Portland, OR with her cat, Tuna. Unsurprisingly, she often writes about topics surrounding existence and meaning, sociopolitical criticisms, and the beautiful complexity of human relationships. Her work has been featured in journals such as Feminine Collective, Quail Bell, and Mojave He[art] Review. She enjoys art of all forms, and you can often find her painting with coffee when she’s not drinking it with her nose in a book
Blog | Twitter
November 10, 2020
Queer Girl Falls by Lannie Stabile
Queer Girl Falls
by Lannie Stabile
Publication Date: 22 September 2020
Nightingale & Sparrow Press
10 Pages
Genre: Poetry
Queer Girl Falls is a brief but vivid story about a young girl discovering hunger. It starts with a scramble to name the pangs in her maturing body and ends in the confident swallow of a personal truth.
This tiny book contains ten short poems and measures approximately 2.125 x 2.75 inches. Each book is handmade and numbered, representing its place in the limited 100-copy run.
Each copy is uniquely hand-crafted/folded; because of this, some uneven edges do occur. We think it gives them more character!
Print | PDF | Kindle
About the Author
Lannie Stabile (she/her), a queer Detroiter, often says while some write like a turtleneck sweater, she writes like a Hawaiian shirt. A finalist for the 2019/2020 Glass Chapbook Series and semifinalist for the Button Poetry 2018 Chapbook Contest, Lannie’s first published collection, Little Masticated Darlings is now out with Wild Pressed Books. Individual works are published/forthcoming in Entropy, Pidgeonholes, Glass Poetry, Okay Donkey, and more. Lannie currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Barren Magazine and is a member of the MMPR Collective. She is a Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominee.
Website | Twitter
September 22, 2020
Bouquet of Fears by Noa Covo
Bouquet of Fears
by Noa Covo
Publication Date: 28 July 2020
Nightingale & Sparrow Press
9 Pages
Genre: Fiction

This microchapbook bridges between nature and personal fears, creating a story in which the natural world is intricately tied with the emotional. It is composed of three small fiction pieces: Ocean, Bouquet of Fears, and There Used to be a Sea Here. Each piece contains nature, whether it is inside me, beside me, or around me, and explores fear, worry, and insecurity through the lenses of a force far more significant than myself.
The consistency of nature is the backbone of this microchapbook, but it is not a work of stagnation, but rather one of human development. It is a work of slow, never ending personal growth, constant, and yet always improving, entwined with the tides, the seasonal blooms, and the slow formation of mountains.
This tiny book contains three fiction pieces and measures approximately 2.125 x 2.75 inches. Each book is handmade and numbered, representing its place in the limited 100-copy run.
Each copy is uniquely hand-crafted/folded; because of this, some uneven edges do occur. We think it gives them more character!
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About the Author
Noa Covo is a teenage writer and high school student. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming from Reckoning, a journal of environmental justice, Newfound’s Virtual Realities issue, and Rune Bear. She lives in Tel Aviv, Israel with her parents, two siblings, and a fat cat.
Twitter
July 28, 2020
Natalie by Keana Aguila Labra
Natalie
by Keana Aguila Labra
Publication Date: 26 May 2020
Nightingale & Sparrow Press
12 Pages
Genre: Poetry
Natalie is reflection & introspection after sudden loss. While this loss is sudden to the speaker, in reality, the subject, Natalie, has been dead for two years. Grappling with grief & the bitterness of not knowing, Natalie is overall an ode of love dedicated to a young, bright woman taken from the world way before her time.
A portion of all profits from the sale of this microchapbook will be donated to Trans Lifeline.
This tiny book contains several poems and measures approximately 2.125 x 2.75 inches. Each book is handmade and numbered, representing its place in the limited 100-copy run.
Each copy is uniquely hand-crafted/folded; because of this, some uneven edges do occur. We think it gives them more character!
Print (Sold Out) | Kindle | PDF
About the Author
Keana Aguila Labra (she/her) is a review writer, poet, essayist, & columnist residing in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of the online literary magazine, Marías at Sampaguitas. She examines literature & media through a feminist lens & cultural awareness. Knowing the importance of representation, her work is evidence that Filipinx Americans are present in the literary world. She may be found reading, watching anime, or writing in her journal. Her favorite genres are thrillers, science fiction, mysteries, & Westerns.
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May 26, 2020
A letter from your sheets// if your sheets could speak. by Elizabeth Kemball
A letter from your sheets// if your sheets could speak.
by Elizabeth Kemball
Publication Date: 10 March 2020
Nightingale & Sparrow Press
10 Pages
Genre: Poetry
This microchapbook explores the idea of giving a voice to the inanimate, through imagining a letter written from a person’s bed sheets. When I started writing this piece, I was looking at writing a poem distanced from the ‘I’ which I find myself writing most often; I wanted to instead write from the perspective of something that does not have a voice of its own. Sheets are witness to a huge portion of humans’ lives: sleep, sorrow, romance, sex, death, and more. By using this voice I delved into a voyeuristic but gentle observation of a place in which humans are often at their most vulnerable.

Our sheets are primarily places of comfort and solace, but also isolation. I was intrigued by the concept of what people are like when they think nothing is watching – when they are allowed to be their barest self. It may read like a confession or a love letter, and I think to each person it will vary depending on their own relationship with sheets and sleep – one of the few activities all humans partake in. This book is a fragmented narrative, of flashes of actions and images that give us an insight into the person’s life through the moments that they spend in their bed.
This tiny book contains one full-length poem and measures approximately 2.125 x 2.75 inches. Each book is handmade and numbered, representing its place in the limited 100-copy run.
Each copy is uniquely hand-crafted/folded; because of this, some uneven edges do occur. We think it gives them more character!
Print | Kindle | Digital PDF
Author Statement
Editor’s Note
Interview
Excerpt
About the Author
Elizabeth Kemball is an English writer and illustrator whose work has featured in journals including Black Bough, Ink Sweat & Tears, Nightingale & Sparrow, and Iceberg Tales. Her writing often focuses on bodies, myth, and nature. In July 2018 she graduated with a first class degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Warwick. She is an Editor & Designer for the online literary arts zine Re-Side and is currently being mentored by Mari Ellis Dunning.
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March 10, 2020