semiwellversed.wordpress.com Open in urlscan Pro
192.0.78.13  Public Scan

Form analysis
2 forms found in the DOM

POST https://subscribe.wordpress.com

<form method="post" action="https://subscribe.wordpress.com" accept-charset="utf-8" style="display: none;">
  <div>
    <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Enter your email address" class="actnbr-email-field" aria-label="Enter your email address">
  </div>
  <input type="hidden" name="action" value="subscribe">
  <input type="hidden" name="blog_id" value="123452575">
  <input type="hidden" name="source" value="https://semiwellversed.wordpress.com/">
  <input type="hidden" name="sub-type" value="actionbar-follow">
  <input type="hidden" id="_wpnonce" name="_wpnonce" value="a2152103e7">
  <div class="actnbr-button-wrap">
    <button type="submit" value="Sign me up"> Sign me up </button>
  </div>
</form>

<form id="jp-carousel-comment-form">
  <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-comment-field" class="screen-reader-text">Write a Comment...</label>
  <textarea name="comment" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-textarea" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-comment-field" placeholder="Write a Comment..."></textarea>
  <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-submit-and-info-wrapper">
    <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-commenting-as">
      <fieldset>
        <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-email-field">Email (Required)</label>
        <input type="text" name="email" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-email-field">
      </fieldset>
      <fieldset>
        <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-author-field">Name (Required)</label>
        <input type="text" name="author" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-author-field">
      </fieldset>
      <fieldset>
        <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-url-field">Website</label>
        <input type="text" name="url" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-url-field">
      </fieldset>
    </div>
    <input type="submit" name="submit" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-button" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-button-submit" value="Post Comment">
  </div>
</form>

Text Content

Skip to content


JESSICA CHO

☰ Menu
 * Blog
 * Bibliography
 * About
 * Contact

 * Twitter


NEWS! UPDATES! SOMETHING!

September 22, 2023 JJLeave a comment

It’s been a minute! There’s been a lot going on since my last real update,
including several publications, a number of gorgeous contributor hard copies, a
couple of award nominations and one (1) entire WorldCon. And as things piled up
and I kept neglecting to update this space, it just grew into a bigger and
bigger Thing Looming in the Corner that I subconsciously ignored. So while I may
talk about the other stuff in a year end post, I’m going to start clean here.

I’m suuuuper excited to share that I’m going to have a poem in the upcoming
anthology The Crawling Moon: Queer Tales of Inescapable Dread, from Neon Hemlock
Press. I’ve always loved everything Neon Hemlock’s put out, so I was thrilled
when dave ring reached out and asked if I had any poems that would fit the theme
of “queer gothic depravity.”

Oh, friend, have you ever come to the right place

Publication is currently slated for February 2024, with pre-orders open now.
Link for both pre-orders and the amazing lineup of authors:
https://www.neonhemlock.com/the-crawling-moon


Tagged poetry, publication, writing


EPHEMERA POETRY READING

September 23, 2022 JJLeave a comment

Should I have probably posted about this before the live reading happened? Yes.

Has my resignation to the fact that I will probably never make a timely blog
post finally turned into acceptance? Also yes.

Last Wednesday, I was delighted to be part of an online reading series organised
by ephemera, hosted by KT Bryski and Jen Albert. I had met Jen this past
WorldCon in Chicago (one of many awesome and memorable meetings) and was later
invited as the poetry for September’s reading.

The theme of the event was “Vitality,” and I opted to focus on not only the
ideas of life and growth, but also the strength and power of continued survival.
I chose three poems that approach this theme in different ways: “A Message From
Her Feline Self, Unborn, to Her Cousin, Whose Ancestors Were Once Wolves,”
originally published in Fireside Fiction, “Water, to Grow a Garden,” originally
published in Anathema: Spec from the Margins and “After the End,” originally
published in Fantasy Magazine.

I also had the honour of reading in the company of three phenomenal writers who
read from their original short fiction: Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Natasha
Ramoutar and Maria Dong. If you missed the live event, the recording is
available on ephemera’s YouTube page, along with all their past recorded
readings.


Tagged ephemera, poetry, reading


POETRY DROP – FIRESIDE FICTION!

May 5, 2022 JJ

Once again, I’ve given up trying to be timely with my updates and just feel
accomplished that I remember to update at all. Last March I had a poem published
in Fireside Fiction, acquired by guest editor Aigner Loren Wilson, copyedited by
Chelle Parker. The full title is the longest one I’ve ever written at 15 words:
“A Message From Her Feline Self, Unborn, to Her Cousin, Whose Ancestors Were
Once Wolves” and is I think my favourite title to date. The poem itself contains
dreams and futures and a bit of blood and a lot of fury. I feel strongly about
almost everything I’ve published, but I am especially proud of this one.

Extra exciting, my poem was chosen to be the cover piece for the month’s issue,
which means associated cover art! Jessica McCottrell created this absolutely
gorgeous piece that captures so much of the poem’s essence and tone. I’m still
blown away every time I see it. Full image at the artist’s website here.

Art by Jessica McCottrell, http://www.j-jacks.com

It’s somewhat bittersweet though, as this will be the last time my work appears
in Fireside. I’ve been fortunate enough to have two poems published with them,
(previously: “Mother Tongue” in 2019) but after ten years of publishing, the
magazine will be closing in July of this year. Fireside has always been a force
of fair pay and diversity in publishing, and I’m glad to have been even a small
part of their legacy. They will be greatly missed.

Tagged art, fireside fiction, poetry, publication, writing


2021 ELIGIBILITY ROUNDUP

December 10, 2021December 10, 2021 JJ1 Comment

And that’s a wrap! On my 2021 publishing year, at least. I have a few things
lined up for next year, including a poem I’m very excited for, but for now, a
quick recap of my work published in 2021, two short stories and five poems:

Short Fiction:

 * “Her Mother’s Stories” – 2400 words, published in A Quiet Afternoon 2 from
   Grace & Victory Publications. A quiet piece about growing up with childhood
   stories and bringing their magic with us as we start lives of our own.
 * “Nine-Tailed Heart” – 3500 words, published in issue 1.3 of khōréō. A queer
   retelling/re-imagining of the gumiho story, in which a woman learns about the
   power of reshaping stories and taking control of her own when a nine tailed
   fox comes for her heart. Very much written from my own diaspora heart.

Poetry:

 * “Grandmother Spider” – 31 lines, published in the Spring issue of
   Kaleidotrope. A poem about heritage and family and stories in an
   ever-changing world. Content note: spiders.
 * “untitled senryu” and “untitled fibonacci” – published in the 18th
   anniversary issue of Scifaikuest.
 * “Pocket Change” – 18 lines, published in the Autumn issue of Kaledotrope. A
   poem about missed opportunities, split infinities and who picks up after all
   our choices.
 * “After the End” – 50 lines, published in issue 73 of Fantasy Magazine. My
   favourite poem of the year and honestly one of my favourites to date. A fairy
   tale poem about what happens after “The End” is written, but the
   protagonists’ stories continue on. About taking control of your own endings
   and creating your own joy.

Non-Fiction

 * “A Deeply Rooted Wonder” – 1200 words, published in the Wonder issue of
   Apparition Lit. My first published essay, delving into how I learned to
   approach my own diasporic identity with a sense of wonder, in all its myriad
   forms.

And that’s it! As always with these, I feel a bit odd framing these in an awards
eligibility sense, but I remind myself that I’m proud of these words and want to
share them with the world. I plan on doing another end of the year wrap-up post
with stats, but it’s been a pretty good year overall, and as mentioned, I have
some fun stuff lined up for 2022, which I hope to share soon.




NEW POEM AT FANTASY MAGAZINE

November 17, 2021December 10, 2021 JJ

New poetry days are my favourite days! This one in particular, as it’s in
Fantasy, a magazine that I love and admire, and also a one of my favourite poems
to date.

“After the End” (or, “After ‘The End'”, if you prefer), is a poem about the
aftermath of fairy tales and written from my feelings as both a child and an
adult about how so many of them end. I know that most of these were written in a
very different time and there are more than a few great breakdowns of how in
that context, a lot of these protagonists can be read as powerful, taking back
their own agency in a world that would deny them.

But sometimes, sometimes saving the beast, marrying the prince, moving to the
castle, returning home to family after everything you’ve seen, everything you’ve
been through– it isn’t right. It isn’t enough.

So I wrote this. About when it isn’t enough, when the story continues even after
the beast is dead and the book is closed, the lights turned off. When we find
others like us and make our own joy, on our own terms. And I would love it if
you gave it a read.

> After the End




POETRY DROP DAY – KALEIDOTROPE (ROUND 2)!

October 10, 2021December 10, 2021 JJ

New poetry day over at Kaleidotrope! This is the second of the two pending poems
that were accepted back in 2019. It’s interesting to see pieces I wrote two
years ago and how they compare to my work now, and I’m pleased to say that, like
“Grandmother Spider,” I still enjoy this poem and am happy to see it out in the
world.

Fun fact: this was the first poem I ever wrote that was based from the start on
puns/wordplay. I’m not sure whether to be impressed or disappointed in myself
that it took so long.

The poem can be read here in the Autumn issue of Kaleidotrope, along with an
absolutely stellar TOC:
https://kaleidotrope.net/autumn-2021/pocket-change-by-jessica-cho/




NOW AVAILABLE – A QUIET AFTERNOON 2

August 27, 2021November 25, 2021 JJ

It’s out, it’s out! A Quiet Afternoon 2 is now available in e-book or paperback!
Twenty seven cosy, low stakes stories, including my own short piece about
growing up and dumplings and maybe dragons, “Her Mother’s Stories.”

I’ve been reading through my contributor copy and these stories are an absolute
delight. You can find a list of places to pick up a copy here:
http://www.graceandvictory.ca/




POSTS NAVIGATION

Older posts
Older posts
Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

 * Subscribe Subscribed
    * Jessica Cho
      
      Sign me up
    * Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.

 * Privacy
 *  * Jessica Cho
    * Customize
    * Subscribe Subscribed
    * Sign up
    * Log in
    * Report this content
    * View site in Reader
    * Manage subscriptions
    * Collapse this bar

 

Loading Comments...

 

Write a Comment...
Email (Required) Name (Required) Website