Z Poetry: An Anthology of International Indie Poetry

By ZPublishingHouse

In Z Publishing’s first official anthology, fifty independent poets from sixteen countries come together to share their words on love, life, meaning, nature, and a broad range of other themes. With 150 poems in total (three from each poet), the anthology can appeal to all who appreciate poetry, and it may just introduce you to your next favorite writer!

• Language: English
• Publisher: ZPublishingHouse
• Release date: Aug 20, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370449750

ZPublishingHouse

After having begun as a blog in the fall of 2015, Z Publishing, LLC is currently transitioning into book publishing. This transition is in response to the problem plaguing the publishing world: For writers, finding new readers can be tremendously difficult, and for readers, finding new, talented authors with whom they identify is like finding a needle in a haystack. With Z Publishing, the idea is that no longer will anyone have to go about this process alone. By producing anthologies of multiple authors rather than single-author volumes, Z Publishing hopes to harbor a community of readers and writers, bringing all sides of the industry closer together.To sign up for the Z Publishing newsletter or to submit your own writing to a future anthology, visit www.zpublishing.net. To contact Founder Zach Zimmerman directly with your thoughts/questions or just to say hi, send a message to [e-mail] can also follow the evolution of Z Publishing on the following platforms:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zpublishingFacebook (Z Poetry): https://www.facebook.com/Z-Poetry-1675071066073247Twitter: https://twitter.com/z_publishingTumblr (Z Poetry): https://www.tumblr.com/blog/z-poetry

Book preview

As an author, I have come to know all too well the troubling catch-22 that exists in the world of publishing, that in order to be published—at least by any of the Big Six houses—you must already have been published. The logic works like this: Publishing houses want to sell books. What easier way to sell books than by publishing authors who already have amassed large followings of readers to whom they can sell? Inevitably, this cycle leaves the aspiring author with the pressing question of where to begin. Sure, the dramatic rise of self-publishing platforms has enabled everyone to put their writing out there, which is great, but it does come with its own set of problems. Namely, when everyone actually does put their writing out there, as has happened, the question becomes: Where are the readers to begin? With the oversaturation of the market, readers could spend entire lifetimes buying and reading self-published books and still not find that one author with whom they truly resonate. On Amazon alone, for instance, a new book is uploaded every five minutes, and that number is only set to rise as more and more people take advantage of the self-empowering platforms available to writers today.

The good news is that readers want to discover new talent. This I learned firsthand after I began Z Publishing in November of 2015. What started as a small Facebook group designed to bring independent writers together with the goal of building a shared platform of exposure soon transcended into a wave of newfound appreciation for independent writing. Within a few short months, Z Publishing had amassed tens of thousands of followers across social media. Once I knew the idea had struck a chord with a growing group of people, I took the next step and launched Z Publishing’s own website in March of 2016. Publishing articles from writers of a multitude of genres—including travel, fiction, politics, lifestyle, and, of course, poetry—the website garnished more support from readers and writers alike. Slowly but surely, our following continued to grow.

Though writers of several genres contributed greatly in the early months following Z Publishing’s launch, the tremendous support from the poets in particular convinced me that Z Publishing was an idea worth pursuing. I began to receive hundreds of submissions from poets across social media. Many of whom thanked me personally for the extra exposure. In fact, I should have been thanking them, the creators of the great content that had brought the readers to Z Publishing in the first place. Regardless, the poets displayed a level of support for Z Publishing that I never could have expected, and so when I decided it was time to take the next step in Z Publishing’s evolution and publish our first official book, I knew exactly who to turn to.

Even though I had high expectations, the result of Z Publishing’s first book publishing attempt was truly surprising: Fifty talented poets, from sixteen countries, all worked with enthusiasm to produce a volume of independent poetry that can appeal to all readers of poetry. To best streamline the unique styles and tones of the fifty contributors, the book has been divided into nine different genres—with a tenth simply titled ‘Words’ to house all those poems that can’t quite be confined to any one theme. The idea is that whatever mood you, the Reader, are in at a given time, you can always come back to the chapter of this book most applicable to your current situation. In addition, at the end of this book is a section marked Author Biographies, where you can find additional information about any particular writer, and in most cases find links to more of their work. So when you find a poem you enjoy simply visit the author index at the back of the book to learn more about the poet behind the words.

Now that you know a bit about how this book came to be, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to explore Z Publishing’s first anthology—my email is always open, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts regarding how, together, we can build the publishing house of the future. I’d also like to thank the many talented individuals who have helped bring this book about, including our proofreader Scott Alexander Jones, our cover designer Bojan from Pixel Studio, and our interior formatter, Aalishaa. Lastly I’d like to thank the fifty poets contributing to this book, who have made it a pleasure to publish this first—of hopefully many to come—Z Publishing anthology. I wish you all the best, and hope to work with you again someday soon.

Zach Zimmerman

Author

Founder, Z Publishing

([e-mail])

Life

In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.

Robert Frost

To the Lady Who Told Me Women Shouldn’t Run

Lee Schmidt

today, it took me

all twenty-two miles

of turning my body

into a multi-point pendulum

to be whole again.

today, i tore myself

to shreds and was reborn,

a phoenix out of sweat

instead of flame. salt tracks

on my cheeks instead of ash.

it sounds like running

scares you, like it’s dangerous.

everything kills you

slowly. i get that.

but i would much rather die

in a body that i

got to know intimately

than in one that was

only ever a mobile home,

an apartment

with dusty corners

and shelves and strange

dark places never illuminated.

today, charging into

the final half-mile,

i felt my throat tighten

as my muscles stretched,

overwhelmed with

the full volume

of existence. you

can’t know your heart

until it’s just you,

your legs, your lungs,

your body and the open road.

On Life and Storms

Savanah Hurm

What if life

Could be lived

Radically differently?

What if pain

Wasn’t nonexistent

But dwelling in misery?

You see, the rain is

Inevitable;

Storms were never promised

To cease.

But does that mean

That we are victims?

Does that mean

That we should hide?

No:

We don’t choose whether or not

Lightning cracks through the sky;

We don’t choose whether

Thunder shakes us deep in our bones.

But what if we could choose

To live life differently,

To not let the rain drown us

But allow us to grow?

What if we trusted

Something larger than ourselves,

Someone who embraces us

As we face the storm?

Romantic Poetry

Jasmina Kuenzli

You are poetic recollections in moments of tranquility,

Leaving me to discern the leaping phrases and twirling metaphors

My heart utters from being next to you.

As the poet wrote, so do I write.

And the longer I am away from you, the more words fail

The magnitude of experience that sings through my memory

Weaving every moment into sunlit threads of innocent fairytale

I think we’ve got a great story here

But you have to help me tell it; I’m only half of us.

Want to write together?

Our