H. M. Cotton

Mortar—Christopher Shipman — Brick Road Poetry Press Domestic Shipping: $4.00 plus $1.00 for each additional item International Shipping: $17.00 plus $2.00 for each additional item Publication Date: November 29, 2025 Publisher: Brick Road Poetry Pr...

www.brickroadpoetrypress.com/order-books/...

This stirring collection details the fragmentation of witness through prose & lyric poems as Shipman tackles his grandmother’s murder alongside the joy of raising his own daughter. Kerrin McCadden calls it: “a fearless book haunted by what it cannot release.” Hit the link below to order

The graphic features two photos in Polaroid frames. One is of the author, Christopher Shipman, looking at the camera in a black and white photograph. The other photo is of the book cover for “Mortar” which features a brick wall smeared in plaster. At the bottom of the graphic a swooping brick logo for brick road poetry press appears

NEW and OUT NOW! Brick Road Poetry Press is pleased to announce the release of the 2024 prize-winning collection “Mortar” by Christopher Shipman.

Correct and as a cap you’d figure I’d be all over that. But on the contrary—I’m more of a “let me use this as a junk draw to catch the achievements I will 100% forget about.” Which I also feel is a very cap way of going about it.

I have one. It is left untended and serves only as a repository for all the things I’ve done. I check it once or twice a year maybe if I remember it.

Girl for a second I thought you meant the state and larger existential crises and not a damn football game

Some of y’all need a lil more razzle dazzle in your life. Some whimsey if you will. Some chicanery and bafoonery. In short—y’all are not silly enough geese. In this economy?? You absolutely must latch on to your small joys. I expect to see some improvement from you soon.

One of my fav things as managing editor of @bham-poetry-review.bsky.social is assembling the cover. Check out this upcoming issue with cover art by Debora Greger. Also, a lil whale tail told me Victoria Change is the feature poet. BPR is open for subs today! Go hit our linktree for deets

Been thinking about what I want to do with my one and precious life & all the adventures I’d like to have. I’ve come to the decision that if an activity requires any sort of bottled air, it’s not for me. This takes the highest highs & the lowest lows off my list.

Turns out I’m a middle bits person

Smiling. Giggling. Kicking our feet. We live to make the poets laugh! 🥰😘 back atcha!

No submission fee or cover letter or anything like that. Just a good ol fashioned poems in an envelope with a SASE, because we still party like it’s 1987 (the year we were founded).

My phone ran out of storage, and I deleted this damn app. I am back now. What did I miss?

You know one thing you’ll never hear me slander? Wikipedia.

It’s been helping me answer my most pressing questions for decades. It’s dependable, consistent, convenient, and gives me just enough to start my deep-dive spirals.

It has hella value for being what it is.

open.substack.com/pub/thecahab...

@ship-on-the-line.bsky.social

A decorative image announcing Christopher Shipman as the winner of the 2024 Brick Road Poetry Press Contest. The swooping brick road logo of a brick road features at the bottom of the image. A photo of Christopher in black and white fills the center of the image.

Brick Road Poetry Press is thrilled to announce our 2024 contest winner as Christopher Shipman for his manuscript “Mortar” which will hit bookshelves this fall. Congratulations, Christopher!

Three Poems by H. M. Cotton Stranded These rocking chairs have gullied along their wooden grains. Sea-salt winds concave the softer rings, and when we stand our legs pull cypress prints like lithography. Beyond the back porch me...

Dropping poems on a Tuesday:

www.terrain.org/2025/poetry/...

Today has been a hobbit hole day. Groundhog day approaches.

Y’all, I’ve done about met my fill of this cold. You better hope the local possums have good things to say about the forecast.

Lord knows the groundhogs can’t get their sh!t together.

A black bucket with a solid block of ice in it. A gap has formed between the ice and the bucket. In this gap a tangled mass of spiderweb has formed.

A spider built a web between the ice and the bucket

Tonight’s sky on fire

Lol all the teachers who just turned in final grades and gotta slug through the slush they let fall by the wayside 😂

Today’s the daaaaaay! Come spend a lovely evening with us at @bham-poetry-review.bsky.social with a nice poetry reading. Trust me, you’ll have a delightful time.

Support Us - Sesame Workshop Individual donors and partners can have a major impact. Join Sesame Workshop’s Mission to Help Kids Everywhere Grow Smarter, Stronger, and Kinder.

HBO has declined to renew “Sesame Street” for new episodes. The series that’s been teaching generations of little kids since 1969 now has no studio.

Please consider donating to Sesame Workshop to ensure the residents of 123 Sesame Street are still around to teach kids of all needs and backgrounds.

Heyooo poetry fam! Come join @bham-poetry-review.bsky.social for our annual zoom reading Wed Dec 18th at 6pm central featuring Dr. Erica Dawson, Dr. Beth Gylys, Dr. J. Bruce Fuller, and Dr. Henry Hart. I look forward to this every year!

Register: uab.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

It’s the last week of classes and everyone has saved up their emails for all at once.

Y’all quit emailing me. You had all semester to do so 😭

Give us your poems!

Tis the season where I only want to do hand crafts 24/7. The only thing currently stopping me from picking up a new hobby (pine needle coiling) is all this grading I have to do. Consarn it all.

A picture of cattail plant stalks illuminated by a golden-hour sun against a backdrop of a clear blue sky, pine trees, and dry shrubbery.

Cattails for your Saturday

Brick Road Poetry Press Submission Manager Between August 1st and December 1st, we accept entries in our poetry book contest. The first place winner receives a publication contract with Brick Road Poetry Press and $1000 prize.Who do we publish...

You now have one day left to submit to the Brick Road Poetry Press contest. Subs close at midnight on December 1st. @miriamcalleja.bsky.social is judge, and I’ll be your fabulous book designer. We’re thirsty for the verse. Send it!

brickroadpoetrypress.submittable.com/submit