Toni Artuso

As I noted in my last post (from August 2023), I'd had a good summer that year. The fall of 2023 turned out to be even better for getting my work published.  I was thrilled to see my poem, "To Meriwether Lewis," appear in issue 9 of Molecule: A Tiny Lit Mag.  You can read it by going to the link below and scrolling down to Issue 9 (which is free to download as a PDF). You'll find my poem on page 41. As an added bonus, I read this poem as part of the Salem Lit Fest in Fall 2024.  Molecule – a tiny lit mag Hard on the heels of that publication, my golden shovel poem, "A Cross-Dresser Marries," made its debut in the Summer/Fall issue of Nixes Mate Review . While that magazine doesn't publish work online, you can pick up a copy of that excellent issue at the link below: Issue 28/29 Summer/Fall 2023 | Nixes Mate Review In November 2023, I had a double header. Two of my poems, "Snapshot" and "Tiny Sliver of Nevada," appeared in Issue VIII o...

The lazy days of summer have arrived here in New England, with hazy, hot, and humid weather, and, happily, my publication schedule has heated up as well! Last month, I was delighted to receive in the mail not one but two publications with my poems in them.  One was Salamander , an excellent long-running literary magazine published out of Suffolk University nearby me in Boston. In issue #56 of this fine publication, my poem, "Give and You Shall Receive" appeared. To check out the ToC (that's "table of contents" for you not familiar with publishing lingo), visit their website here: Issue 56 – Salamander Magazine The other was The Cackling Kettle . This one-of-a-kind publication is put together lovingly by Nora Boyle. I met Nora at an arts and crafts fair here in Salem last year. I was delighted when she accepted five of my poems:  “Medusa Dreams of Being Bald,” “Lies,” “Someday, My Princess Will Come,” “Love Language,” and “Generation Trans.” It took her a bit to ...

I'm delighted to report that s everal of my poems were published at the end of last year in various venues.  I got a science fiction poem, "When I listen to a shell," published in issue 45.4 of  Star*Line , the journal of Science Fiction Poetry Association. Even though they're a science fiction market, their journal isn't online, but if you want to purchase issue 45.4 in hard copy, here's the link to their Web site: Science Fiction Poetry Association (sfpoetry.com) I also got a sonnet, "Conjuring Kate: For K.J.," published in  The Lyric . Unfortunately, their journal isn't online, either, though, given the fact that  The Lyric  publishes verse in traditional forms, it's not surprising they don't publish online. Again, if you'd like to purchase a hard copy, here's their link as well:  The Lyric Magazine – The Oldest Magazine in North America Devoted to Traditional Poetry I also recently got a pair of poems published in an animal-or...

I'm very pleased to announce that my flash piece of speculative fiction just appeared in Issue #4 of The Pine Cone Review . This story has an interesting (and very long) backstory. I actually wrote it back when I was in college. That would be the '80's. While I saved a copy of the story, I lost track on it until only recently. About two years ago, I moved to my new condo in Salem, MA, and, while I was unpacking and re-filing my creative writing, I ran across this piece, which is entitled "Aubade." I re-read it, and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. So, I scanned it into a Word file and, with very few revisions, started sending it off. I was delighted when I got it accepted recently. If you'd like to read it, please visit the link below: https://thepineconereview.com/toni-artuso-aubade-issue-4/

Over the last 90 days, like so many people, I’ve been appalled by the wholesale slaughter of innocent civilians at the hands of the Russians as part of their self-styled “special military operation” in— and alleged “denazification” of—Ukraine, especially the tragic deaths of young children in the indiscriminate fusillades of artillery, bombs, and missiles hurled at Odessa and other cities. Why do Putin and his generals think that toddlers are vicious neo-Nazis worthy of extermination? However, lest I fool myself into thinking that such horrific brutality and callousness to human life is only “over there,” the recent racist-inspired mass shooting in Buffalo is bloody testimony that the Russians are not the only haters in this troubled world—and, in fact, mass murderers cut bloody swaths throughout the United States, though, technically, our country is not at war. And now comes the tragic news that still another mass murderer has butchered more children—this time 19 elementary school...

Spring is off to a refreshing start for me with my writing. I've had two more stories appear in publications recently.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was excited to learn that my queer speculative fiction piece, "A Little Justice," was accepted by Mollyhouse . It recently appeared in their issue number 4. If you'd like to read the story, see the following link:  Smashwords – Mollyhouse: Issue Four – a book by Raymond Luczak Earlier this month, another of my queer spec fic pieces, "Workshop Without End, Amen," appeared in Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine . You can read the story in HTML format at this link:  Penumbric April 2k22, Workshop Without End, Amen Or, if you'd prefer the PDF version, please follow this link: Issue_April2k22.pdf (penumbric.com) I hope you enjoy my pieces and have a good spring!