September, 2018
“The Year of the Witch is a map, a record, a story: the Sun’s rise and fall; the Moon’s wax and wane; the seasons’ dance; the parade of stars across our arc of sky…”
I am thrilled to announce that my first full-length poetry collection
The Year of the Witch
has been released by Sycorax Press!
With a structure that mimics a New Age guide to the lunar ritual calendar of modern witches, The Year of the Witch offers an eclectic mix of personal, myth-inspired and speculative poetry, woven around a seasonal axis.
“Much of what Winward writes witnesses to the resilience of the female spirit and, in a deep sense, is often an unspoken prayer… Her latest collection, The Year of the Witch, is structured as a ritual or journey into Year or Life. And like Year or Life the book can be begun at any juncture…beginnings become endings and endings infer beginnings. And threading close to the surface of these poems is, as in all art that channels
memory and experience, a secret personal history…”
—John W. Sexton, author of Futures Pass and The Offspring of the Moon
Cover art by Franetta McMillian
Personalized copies of YEAR OF THE WITCH are now available from the author—sealed with a kiss & a spell. Also available through Amazon.
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In other news, this happened:
Michele Sharpe’s article”Outsiders on the Inside” (Poets & Writers, Sep/Oct 2018) visits seven successful writers who have forged their own literary paths from marginalized spaces. The article includes excerpts of an interview I did with Michele, in which I talk about being a bi- and pagan writer with disabilities working outside of academia.
Even though I knew it was coming, it’s still quite something to know your face is floating around in one of the industry’s top trade journals, on bookshelves across the universe. Many, many thanks to Michele for including me in this piece alongside important writers like Sandra Gail Lambert, Sarah Nichols, Majda Talal Gama, Jenna Lê, Shanon Lee, and Naomi Ortiz.
January, 2018
Shannon Connor Winward awarded
Delaware Division of the Arts
2018 Emerging Artist Fellowship in Fiction
Seventeen Delaware artists are being recognized by the Division for the high quality of their artwork. Work samples from 124 Delaware choreographers, composers, musicians, writers, folk and visual artists were reviewed by out-of-state arts professionals, considering demonstrated creativity and skill in their art form. The 17 selected fellows reside throughout Delaware including Lewes, Newark, Rehoboth Beach, and Wilmington.
Awards are given in three categories – $10,000 for the Masters Award, $6,000 for the Established Professional Award, and $3,000 for the Emerging Professional Award – and Fellows are required to offer at least one exhibit or performance during the upcoming year, providing an opportunity for the public to experience their work. The work of the Fellows will be featured in a group exhibition, Award Winners XVIII, at the Biggs Museum this summer.
November 2, 2017
Feed the Writers: Riddled with Arrows 2018
Crowdfund Campaign
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September 22, 2017
This week I tendered my resignation as Secretary for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association. I am beyond proud of what we’ve achieved over the two-ish years of my tenure, particularly updating our name, bylaws, and policies for the 21st century, creating a legacy of documentation to facilitate continuity (even as officers come and go) and planting seeds that will hopefully lead to the continued growth and evolution of the speculative poetry community. 
I am also honored to have worked with some of the most talented and dedicated speculative poets alive today, and consider myself blessed with these ongoing friendships.
The work involved with sustaining an international organization is (or should be) arduous and time-consuming. Over the past few months it’s become clear that my personal energy is flagging; thus I’ve decided to pass the torch and refocus/reinvest in my own projects, including Riddled with Arrows Literary Journal (which reopens to subs on Oct 1), and possibly a new line of found-object fashion head wear 
. However, I look forward to participating with the SFPA as a volunteer and vocal member-at-large as we move into our 40th Anniversary in 2018.
July, 2017
TO THE TOUCH Featured
in Embark: A Literary Journal
Embark is a new literary journal dedicated to novel beginnings–as in the opening chapters of (yet) unpublished novels. I was in love with this concept from the first, and thus I am especially honored that my novel TO THE TOUCH was selected as one of the first excerpts to be featured. You can read the prologue and first chapter here.
TO THE TOUCH is very close to my heart, both because it was my first (and, to date, only) finished book-length fiction, but also because it explores issues that cut to the bone–issues like grief, mental illness, and thriving after trauma. After so many years of talking about (and lamenting) The Book That Ate My 30s, I’m thrilled to be able to share part of it with the world.
Summer Solstice, 2017
Riddled with Arrows 1.2 is Live
“Here’s what I want you to do: take a few of the poems in this issue and eat them, raw. Right now. Savor them. Get sticky.”
Riddled with Arrows 1.2 has launched! Featuring poetry, prose, and artwork by Amanda Yskamp, Siham Karami, E. E. King, John C. Mannone, Lisa Lutwyche, Jennifer Stewart Miller, Ahmed A. Khan, Troy Farah, John Guzlowskii, Christa Pandey, F.J. Bergmann, Jenn Powers, Alan Perry, Deborah Davitt, Jim Zola, Charlotte Mandel, Akua Lezli Hope, Juleigh Howard-Hobson, Allen Braden, Karen Slikker, Jane Yolen, Sandra J. Lindow & Herb Kauderer
May, 2017
Witch’s Hour in F&SF
Ticking a major accomplishment off of my career bucket list, my novelette Witch’s Hour appears in the May/June 2017 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Read about the inspiration and process for this story and more here.
Spring Equinox, 2017
Riddled with Arrows Inaugural Issue is Live
What better way to LAUNCH into spring than with the launch of a new literary journal?? RIDDLED WITH ARROWS 1.1 is LIVE! Featuring stories, poems and visual art by F.J. Bergmann, Matt Dennison, D.G. Geis, Liam Hogan, C.L. Holland, Alexander James, Anastasia Kirke, Elizabeth Eve King, Kim Peter Kovac, Sandra J. Lindow, Ross McCleary, Michelle Muenzler, Gregory Norris, Toti O’Brien, Bethany Powell, Wendy Rathbone, Sarah Brown Weitzman, Terry Wright, Tyler Young, and Andrena Zawinski.
February, 2017
Riddled with Arrows Opens to Submissions
Riddled with Arrows Literary Journal, edited by Shannon Connor Winward and Ro Molina, opens to submissions February 2, 2017.
We seek (short) metafiction and metapoems, and writing that celebrates the process and product of writing as art.
Riddled with Arrows is paying market! Visit our website for submission guidelines, rates, and related info.
October, 2016
St Sebastian, martyred by Ribot, Auguste Theodule
Riddled with Arrows is a quarterly online literary journal dedicated to writing about writing. We seek (short) metafiction and metapoems, and writing that celebrates the process and product of writing as art.
Riddled with Arrows is currently CLOSED to submissions, but our website is LIVE, as is our INDIEGOGO Fundraising Campaign.
Riddled with Arrows will be a paying market because we believe writers should be compensated (“exposure” don’t buy groceries). BUT we don’t have a lot of funds to start with (we’re working writers and we need to eat, too)! Every dollar you contribute will help us pay a starving artist for their poem, flash fiction, or visual art. Feed the writers! Donate today!
Perks for RwA donors include:
Support Riddled with Arrows at the $5 level and receive a custom “Riddled with Arrows Patron” badge for your website or social media page.
September, 2016
UNDOING WINTER is the winner of the
2016 ELGIN AWARD
for Best Speculative Poetry Chapbook!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you
to the members of the Science Fiction Poetry Association.
Winter has officially melted. I feel warm and tingly in all kinds of places!
xoxo
July, 2016
Eye to the Telescope Issue #22
“Ghosts”
edited by Shannon Connor Winward
As guest editor for the Science Fiction Poetry Association’s online magazine, Eye to the Telescope, I chose a theme close to my heart (and fitting for the month of October).
For this issue I am looking for more than thumps in the attic and pretty dead girls on a moonlit road. I want the unexpected, the unmeasured—I want poems that belie the limits of life and afterlife and what we think a ghost story should be. Give me phantoms and poltergeists, yes, bean-sidhe and È Guǐ, pathos or parody, space ship specters or transmigrating alien souls—I want any and all of it, as long the poem has meat on its bones.
No restrictions on genre or form (though “speculative” is a must). Graphic violence or gore will be a hard sell. More than anything, I want to be moved.
Full guidelines here. Be sure to check out the current and back issues or visit SFPoetry.com to get a feel for what we mean by “speculative”.
Deadline for submissions is September 15, 2016.
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July, 2016
UNDOING WINTER
has been nominated nominated for the 2016 Elgin Award
for best speculative chapbook
Thank you, Science Fiction Poetry Association!
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February, 2016
Many thanks to the Science Fiction Poetry Association for welcoming me to their executive board. As Secretary I hope to use organizational and bookkeeping super powers for good, not evil. My topmost priorities include helping the SFPA to update and refine is constitutional documents and officially incorporate as a non-profit entity.
For more information on the SFPA, please visit our website SFPoetry.com, or visit us on Facebook.
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November, 2015
I’m please to announce that I have been invited to join Devilfish Review as a Poetry Editor. I’ll be working with a masthead of very talented (and so, so nice) women with a passion for speculative literature.
Devilfish pays competitive rates for poetry, and they’ve featured some amazing work from poets I admire. I’m super psyched to be a part of this.
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October, 2015
2015 Science Fiction Poetry Association’s
Halloween Poetry Reading
edited by Liz Bennefeld and Shannon Connor Winward
LOST FOREST by Liz Bennefeld
The Halloween Poetry Reading presents enjoyable speculative poetry to a broader audience, to increase awareness of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, its website, activities and membership benefits, and to promote the individual poets who take part. Each SFPA members is welcome to submit one audio file of one of their spooky, haunting, ghoulish, or humorous Halloween poems. See the 2014 poetry reading for examples. We also want Halloween-themed artwork for this page! Guidelines below.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
- Submissions are open to current SFPA members only.
- Send a 100-word bio with a brief explanation of your submission, and a 300-pixel-wide .jpg of your artwork and/or an mp3 of your poem to Liz at quietspaces@gmail.com.
- If you feel uncomfortable reading aloud or are unable to make the audio recording yourself, you may ask someone else to read your poem for you; if so, provide the name of the reader.
- Members may submit more than one image for consideration. Preference will be given to artwork submitted by poets to complement their poem.
- Participation is voluntary and unpaid. The SFPA acquires one-time rights only for audio and images. (Please note that for the purposes of Rhysling Award nominations, posting on the SFPA Halloween page counts as publication.)
- DEADLINE: Please send all material by October 26th, 2015. Accepted work will be added throughout the month of October.
- Please keep in mind that Halloween is a popular children’s holiday. If we feel that there is a problem with using a specific piece, because of content or the quality of the recording, one of us will contact the poet.
- QUESTIONS? Questions regarding submissions or the Halloween Poetry Reading should be directed to Shannon at ladytairngire@yahoo.com.
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January, 2015
Delaware Division of the Arts announces Individual Artist Fellowships 2015.
Shannon Connor Winward – Honorable Mention, Emerging Artist, Fiction Category
Congratulations to all the winners! Read the full announcement here
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July, 2014
I’m super excited to report that I have been selected as a poetry fellow at this year’s Cape Henlopen Poetry and Prose Writers Retreat, sponsored by Delaware Division of the Arts and the Delaware State Arts Council. I get to stick my husband with the kids and hang out at this place
with Delaware’s Poet Laureate and a handful of very talented poets and writers for a long weekend of relaxation, creation, and mutual support. How cool is that??
July, 2014
Finishing Line Press is proud to announce the publication of:
UNDOING WINTER
a poetry chapbook by
Shannon Connor Winward
PRAISE:
“Shannon Connor Winward’s Undoing Winter explores the isolated, and often very cold, landscape of motherhood. Though Winward’s words are like wintry whites and blues–sharp and haunting–her literary brushstrokes paint rather tender shades of sacrifice and heartache. A carefully crafted and evocative read. I will return to these poems again and again, and each time my breath will catch a little at Winward’s brilliance.”
~ Jessica Bell, co-publishing editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal, and author of Fabric, a semi-finalist in the Goodreads Readers’ Choice Awards 2012: Best Poetry.
“”I don’t know if it’s me casting the spell
or the spell casting me. . .” sings the poet-protagonist to her sons, lovers, therapist, reader, and self. Undoing Winter is about coming out of hibernation. About digging out versus getting dug up. Winward writes with the understanding that life’s meaning “is all in the unfolding.””
~ JoAnn Balingit, author of Words for House Story, Delaware Poet Laureate
ABOUT THE CHAPBOOK:
Undoing Winter is a debut collection by Shannon Connor Winward, featuring stories that are both biographical and mythologized. With subjects ranging from romantic love to motherhood, fantasy to history, and death to resurrection, Undoing Winter endeavors to traverse darkness into light.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Shannon Connor Winward is an author of literary and speculative fiction and poetry. Her work has appeared widely in venues such as Pedestal Magazine, Flash Fiction Online, Strange Horizons, Star*Line, Literary Mama, and PANK, and was awarded Honorable Mention by the Delaware Division of the Arts for an emerging artist fellowship in literature. A member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, the Science Fiction Poetry Association, and the Written Remains Writers Guild, Shannon lives and writes in Newark, Delaware. In between parenting and other madness, Shannon works to support local artists, and here and there has been intimate with a microphone.
Finishing Line Press is an award-winning small press publisher based in Georgetown, Kentucky, USA. For more information, including how to order Undoing Winter, visit www.finishinglinepress.com.
January, 2014
Delaware Division of the Arts announces Individual Artist Fellowships 2014.
Shannon Connor Winward – Honorable Mention, Emerging Artist, Fiction Category
Congratulations to all the winners! Read the full announcement here
November, 2013
SOMEONE 
WICKED, the love child of The Written Remains Writers Guild and Smart Rhino Publications, is now available in print and e-book editions at Amazon.com.
“Avaricious, cruel, depraved, envious, mean-spirited, vengeful—the wicked have been with us since the beginnings of humankind. You might recognize them and you might not. But make no mistake. When someone wicked crosses your path, your life will never be the same. Do you know someone wicked? You will.
The 21 stories in the Someone Wicked anthology were written by the members of the Written Remains Writers Guild and its friends, and was edited by JM Reinbold and Weldon Burge.”
September, 2013
“Seduction”
September 18, 2013
Hummingbird to Mars, Catherine Rooney’s, Trolley Square
I am very excited to announce my upcoming performance with POETRY WITH A POINT – an intimate poetry/performance salon held semi-annually at Hummingbird to Mars, in Trolley Square, Wilmington, Delaware.
With “Seduction” as the evening
‘s theme, I will be reading as celebrated Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, from her early work. Sometimes referred to as “the Muse of Keening” – and criticized by revolutionist Russia as “a nun and a whore” – Anna’s poetry often explored themes of passion, grief, and spiritual guilt. Her work is deeply moving, sensory… and slyly seductive.
“We’re all drunkards here. Harlots…. O my heart, how you yearn for your dying hour/
and that woman dancing there will eternally burn.” – A.A. from Rosary 1913
“Seduction”‘s lineup also includes local artists performing music, monologues, and poetry ranging from flirtatious to bawdy. Poets, drunkards, and harlots welcome, though space is limited.
Doors open 6:30, Curtain time 7:00 PM
Hummingbird to Mars is a speakeasy themed venue located atop Catherine Rooney’s in Trolley Square. Just stop in the back of Rooney’s on 16th Street and press the intercom to enter a time of elegance, relaxation, and seduction.
FIRST TUESDAY OF EVERY MONTH – Open Mic Poetry / Prose / Performance at Newark Arts Alliance
First Tuesdays | 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Beginning in March, the Newark Arts Alliance will host a monthly Open Mic night dedicated to Poetry, Prose, and Performance. Traditional poetry, spoken word, haiku, experimental verse–all are welcome! Short-shorts of fiction and memoir–tell us your stories! A performance piece? Go for it!
Join us at the mic, or just come to listen and support the arts. Check out our current exhibition while you’re here. Our emcee Maria Masington will keep the evening rolling. We provide the microphone (and free coffee)–our local artists provide the rest!
This event is free ($5 suggested donation) and open to the public.
Newark, Delaware 19711
Phone: 302-266-7266
E-mail: info@newarkartsalliance.org
Yea, Shannon!
Will send you info, as I did to Henry Long, re. Bay to Ocean Writers Conference. It was wonderful. You might consider putting in your bid to conduct a session. They’re great people.
Again, I’ll get that info to you.
Peace & Grace,
Boden
Hi Boden! I have heard good things about the conference. Next year maybe we can caravan!