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Cara L McKee's Poetry (updated March 2024)

My poems that have been published, or are going to be, are detailed below.

I've got poems coming out in the Spring 2024 edition of Flights, coming out April 2024.

A poem from Little Gods, Escaping Pheasants, was published on Fragmented Voices on 25th February 2024.

Two poems came out in Obsessed with Pipework #105 (they have an admirable disregard for updating their webpage). Sunflowers was in Obsessed with Pipework 96.

I've got a Haiku in Coin Operated Press' Haiku zine, out in December 2023. My poem Macbeth is in Coin Operated Press' Bonnie Wee Zine, out September 2023. Three poems: curled round each otherPurple Promise, and Hope as a Weighted Quilt were published in the Found Family Zine from Coin Operated Press in March 2023. Two blackout poems, 'Oh' I said, and Time is Moaning, were published in the Coin Operated Press zine, Whatever's Left in December 2022. Glameow is in the Cats Zine from Coin Operated Press (August 2022). Your Noun Makes Me So Adjective is in the Sex Positive Zine from Coin Operated Press - March 2022. Buy their zines here.

Five of my poems are being published across a series of five chapbooks from the Scottish Writers' Centre. Three are already out. The fourth, Moutain and Glen, launched in December 2023, and the call for submissions for the final chapbook opened in December too! The first of these beauties came out before covid turned the world upside down, and I've not got the last one, so it's been quite the process!

My poem, When you slow a bit you can see the way came out in Butcher's Dog 19, Autumn 2023. When you slow... is also in Little Gods.

Culture Matters published The Libraries in their Bread & Roses Poetry Award Anthology 2023: The Fruits of Starmer's Labour. They also published two of my poems (Thorns, and Mary, Queen of Scots) in A Kist of Thistles, an anthology of radical contemporary Scottish poetry.

My second poetry chapbook came out in Autumn 2023 with Roswell Publishing and is available to buy on Amazon, or contact me at caralmckee (at) gmail (dot) com for a signed copy in the post. Here's the beautiful cover, with artwork from Hansuan Fabregas.

Verbeia was on Idle Ink in July 2023

Olive & Bough Bones were in the TypeWronger in-house zine in March 2023.

Lassoing was in the #StolenMoments poetry project of The Broken Spine in February 2023. Find it here!

Bending to Nightbreak was in Issue 27 of Gutter Magazine, and My room was in the top of a tall house was in Issue 20.

God was Here was in Under the Radar #30 in Spring 2023. 

The Bones of a Rose was in Smoke Magazine in March 2023.

Kevin was in Contemporary Verse 2 in January 2023.

The Heron was in Literary Mama Nov/Dec 2022

The Island, Your Noun Makes me so Adjective, Creating the Mother, Blue Plastic Dinosaur, & Thorns were all published in issue 70/71 of the Erbacce Journal in Autumn 2022, after I was shortlisted for the Erbacce Prize 2022.

Whitby was in The Bitchin' Kitsch in Autumn 2022. You know what it is is in April 2019's Bitchin' Kitsch and Smaller was in the Bitchin' Kitsch for March 2018. It was their Weekly Feature for the 8th March. Find that here.

I co-edited At the Edge of All Storms with Jack Caradoc. It's a poetry anthology published by Dreich in July 2022. It includes, among other marvels, my poem, Take some of your own earth. You can buy the book here.

It doesn't have to be big to be terrifying was in issue 13 of Feral magazine: The Hunger Issue (discusses disordered eating), June 2022.

Sometimes I Radiate was on Ink, Sweat and Tears, May 2022. Our Stories Have Been Told To Us was published on Ink Sweat and Tears in July 2020. Before the Weighing is on Ink Sweat & Tears, 22/4/18.

Libraries are Essential - an acrostic poem for CILIPS (a Scottish organisation for library professionals) was published as part of CILIPS campaign of the same name in May 2022. 

Delighted to have joined the Hysteria Collective. Published so far: We can use our art in January, Silverweed in February, and Lilies in April 2022.

Our Ending Days was published on the Extinction Rebellion Creative Hub in March 2022.

Hold it in your mouth was published in Presence #72 in March 2022.

Early, The Sea Eats Secrets, Lines of Trust, & What we learn and what we know were all published in Dreich S5 N3 in 2022, previously Wild Idea, Choosing Scotland, Clyde Muirsheil, & Boys were in Dreich 4 in 2020.

The Last Christmas was on Dodging the Rain on December 25th 2021.

The Nature of Secrets and Perhaps were in the Autumn 2021 edition of The Journal (#64 (#74)). The Bride was in Issue #52 of The Journal which you can buy here.

Unlocking was in issue #102 of Poetry Scotland, out October 2021.

The Bird came out on the Bind collective website, September 2021

Where I Belong was out on Bandit Fiction in August 2021.

Your Thread will be in Issue 2 of Tether's End. Out June 2021.

Seagulls is in Green Ink Poetry's anthology, Discovery. Out June 2021, you'll find it here.

Today is was on the Poetry and Covid website April 2021.

Magnus the Mighty was added to the StAnza Poetry Map of Scotland, February 2021.

My poem, Unspooling Stars was published in zine format with the Mum Poem Press - available through their 2021 Valentine's Zine swap.

My version of Snow White was read by Kirsten, February 2021:

My poems Red, The same as we've always been, and Donna are out in the Jan 2021 edition of Sideways Magazine. Available for free online here.

I'm a Spotlight Poet (#11) on the Poets Directory website, where they share my poem, The Island (August 2020).

Valuable was published on the John Byrne Award website in July 2020.

The Egg Experiment was published in Brittle Star Magazine #46, in June 2020 and will be on their new podcast.

Rainbow 
is in Queer Quaranzine from The Queer Dot, and will soon be available from this Etsy page. I performed it at the online Dundee Pride 2020, which is available on Twitch in glorious glitchy technicolour about an hour in, here.

My poem Afternoon Light was a Postcard from Malthusia (on the New Boots and Pantisocracies website) on Thursday 28th May, 2020.

My poetry chapbook came out on 22nd May 2020 with Maytree Press! Here's the cover, with amazing artwork from Annie Ovenden. You can buy the book now - get a signed copy from me here. I did a live launch on Insta, and you'll find that on IGTV here.  
    She Does is in Issue 6 of Lucent Dreaming, which came out early 2020.

    After Stroke is in Issue 5 (Jan 2020) of Eye Flash Poetry You can buy it here.

    Seventeen was in From the Ashes from Animal Heart Press in November 2019. You can buy it here. Cover to the left.

    Poem for my red dress was in Dodging the Rain on 5th September 2019. Fashion fact fans - the red dress is not the one the pretty young model is wearing, but is from Isolde Roth.

    Nick was in issue 7 of Severine magazine, published August 2019.

    If there's a difference is in Issue #16 of Picaroon Poetry, May 2019. Your Poetry was in the September 2018 issue.

    He Follows His Own Course is in The Speculative Book 2019, available here.

    The things that don't happen is in First Literary Review East, September 2018, keep scrolling - it's the penultimate one!

    Vitruvian Girl was in Anima Magazine #5, August 2018 - buy it here.

    I seek symmetry, was in the May edition of Peeking Cat magazine.

    Shining appeared in poster form on train platforms along the Largs to Glasgow route, March 2018.

    It is up to us is in the Dove Tales (Scottish Artists for Peace) anthology, Some Kind of Stupidity. You can buy it on their webpage.

    With my stretching was in The Dawntreader, January 2018

    The Pelicans and Penguins was in Reach Poetry in January 2018. 

    Watching Him is in the Federation of Writers Scotland's anthology, Landfall, which came out in November 2017, and can be bought here. I read it, and a couple of other poems at a FWS event in Glasgow in February 2018. 

    Bountiful, appeared on She Might Be magazine 25 Oct 2017. They've previously published What I Should Wear on 30 May 2017, and My Daughter Loves My Belly on 22 January, also 2017.

    Part of my poem, Be, was included in the Patchwork Poem put together by the Federation of Writers Scotland's Makar, Andy Jackson for National Poetry Day 2017, and performed at GOMA on Thursday 28th September. You'll find the whole of the Patchwork Poem here


    Two of my poems about the death of our lovely cat, Katsuma, are in an anthology of work from South West Writers entitled Pet Memories: Coming to Katsuma (this version), and Hope (which hasn't changed since this post).

    My fairytale poem, Courage's Lament was in Enchanted Conversation, 28th June 2017. They also published The Diamond Princess, 30th April 2017.

    My villanelle, In the Beginning the Red, was in Issue #65 of The Interpreter's House, which you can buy here. I would recommend it, it's rather splendid (see pic below)


    A post shared by Cara McKee (@caralmckee) on
    A new version of Up Here, and a brand new poem called Time Passing (written while I was in Ilkley in October 2016) appeared in Issue 2 of The Ham magazine, May 2017. You can buy it here

    Three poems, Youth, Katrina (in memoriam), and Poem were all published in issue 239 of Snakeskin Magazine (they used to be here but they've disappeared), 1st April 2017. 

    The Sheets and Shining appeared in Product Magazine in March 2017. 

    On the ledge and Wanted were in Peacock Journal on 22 January 2017. 

    Sonnet 404 was published in the first issue of 404 Ink, which came out December 2016 and can be bought here
    Barcelona was published in the December 2016 issue of Allegro Poetry. 

    The Edge of Doom won a Writer's Umbrella competition and was published in their Member's Newsletter, and you can see it here

    Clematis Dance is in the Forward Poetry anthology, Whispering Words, and was shortlisted in the 2016 Great British Write Off competition. Gone was published in the Forward Poetry anthology, Inspirational Idols, Nov 2016. 

    Chocolate was published on the Scottish Book Trust website in Summer of 2016, alongside a cute pic of my youngest. 

    I am not yours was published on The Fat Damsel in August 2015. 

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