Rhysling Award

rdsp‘s poem ‘The Marvels of Horror’ has been nominated for a Rhysling Award. Every year the members of the Science Fiction Poets Association nominate their favorite short and long poems of the past year. All the entries are collected in the Rhysling Anthology which members use to decide on which poems to vote for.

‘Marvels of Horror’ was written on the plane ride to a con where John was scheduled to do a reading. He wanted something brand new to read. It’s a series of verses about various Marvel characters. My favorite is the first section:

The Human Torch
It seemed like a bright idea
at the time—the Olympics were
in a ratings slump, Death Row was
overcrowded, and all it took
was kerosene and a match to turn
the running of the torch into good TV

It was orignally published in The Troublesome Amputee and is also included in the special hardcover version of the book that was just released.