David Fewster's new year resolutions

New Year's Resolutions by David Fewster

The 38th Parallel ------ A reminder

This is an untold military history of North and South Korea

UN Police Action Gone Awry

Koon Woon Counting the Mad

Koon Woon counting the mad courtesy of Donald Justice, Theodore Roethke, Alan Ginsburg, and Cesar Vallejo and North Beach, San Francisco...

New Poems by Scarlett Phelan

Poetry by Scarlett Phelan

New poems by Simon Perchik

Poetry by Simon Perchik.

Andrena Zawinski ----- Three Haibun

Mary Lou Nielsen ----- poem sequence

Poem sequence from the late 1960s by Mary Lou Nielsen

Three new poems by Sigrun Susan Lane

Three timely topical poems by Sigrun Susan Lane.

New Poetry by Maura Gage Cavell

New Poetry by Maura Gage Cavell

Short Story by Sondra Kelly-Green

Catch this superb magical-realism short story in this issue under the
Fiction Category by

Sondra Kelly-Green!

Koon Woon reading his poem "A Smoke Break at the Nuclear Command"

Five Willows Literary Society is a nonprofit charitable organization

Five Willows Literary Society is a nonprofit charitable organization and a part of the Chrysanthemum Literary Society whose mission is to promote literature, education, and world peace.

Therefore, it is appropriate to host our friends and assist them in our commons goals for a better and more enlightened world.

Make requests to    fivewlr@gmail.com   for a free notice of your organization and your goals, so that we can work together for the betterment of all people of all persuasions.

Summer of No Regrets

Please Visit this Site for a Great Read (click here)

A sobering situation

We post this even though it is not literary...

A song by the late Richard Farina

Recommended: Books by Jan Haag

Jan Haag is a writer, poet, world-traveler and artist. She reworks Greek myths and writes original, distinctive poetry.

Click here to order books through Amazon

Literary Fraud Detector

Literary Fraud Detector

Koon Woon

for sale: Literary Fraud Detector (LFD)

Easy to install, guaranteed to spot copyright infringements, plagiarisms, impersonations, and bad diction. Ideal for non-native speakers. Now at a special discount rate of 70%, an additional 10% for students and seniors. Get yours today. All major credit cards accepted. $0.99 or best offer.    You Bet Cha Sweet Pippy Inc.

Ravenous Bliss --- book of love poems from James Bertolino

ISBN 978-1-936657-13-1
Order from Moon Path Press

Former Winner of the American Book Award 2006 Matt Briggs

We are proud to host some delectable short fiction pieces by the talented winner of the American Book Award 2006 and finalist of the Washington State Book Award --- Matt Briggs. 

Forthcoming reading in Bellingham, WA. --- Koon Woon & Keith Holyoak

Koon Woon & Keith Holyoak reading poetry at the Village Books in Bellingham, WA

Your Editor Koon Woon wins an 2014 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation

http://www.beforecolumbusfoundation.com/foundation-news/2014-american-book-awards/

SHAKE UP AT THE TOP

THERE IS A SHAKE-UP AT THE TOP
OF FIVE WILLOWS LITERARY REVIEW

SOME OF THE EDITORS HAVE RETIRED OR BEEN RETIRED

WE HOPE THAT YOU WOULD SEND NEW WORK TO REDEFINE WHAT WE ARE ALL ABOUT

THANK YOU

A review of Out of the Dust, a book of poems by Klaus Merz, as translated by Marc Vincenz and reviewed by Koon Woon

This volume of poetry expands to fill up your imagination and wisdom and stretches them.Click on this link

Will Poetry Become Extinct before People Will?

It seems like that every generation has its own language by sabotaging, revamping, and creating a new set of vocabulary and signs and referents. Be that as it may, this is how language changes or evolves or devolves.

And we shouldn't lament this.

Introducing Ellen Reimschussel, assistant poetry editor:

Ellen lives in Seattle and is a creative writing graduate of State University of Utah.

Poetry and Peace

Five New Poems by Koon Woon 
on Poetry Pacific

Five new poems by Koon Woon on Poetry Pacific

An incident as literary editor

Almost three decades ago as an editor of my own rag mag, I began to receive submissions from someone in a Southern prison. The submissions did not indicate that the writer, though graphic and powerful a writer as he was in that kind of setting, could think beyond his present situation or the circumstances that brought him to his predicament. At first, the stories about prison life opened a window for this editor. But then, the stories were all more or less the same, with the upshot that the writer had no insight into the cosmic scheme of things and was happy to not think about it. But mind you, the stories were scary. Luckily I had a lawyer friend who I lunched with and I asked him if that writer in question would put a "hit" on me if I refused to publish him. My lawyer friend took a short puff on his cigar and said tersely, "All con men ought to be locked up." We then had a delightful lunch at Tai Tung Restaurant in Seattle as we did every Sunday. To resolve the issue of the prisoner writer, I wrote to him that there are literally 3,000 markets clamoring for his work in Len Fulton's directory of magazines and presses, and unfortunately, our magazine failed to see the merits of his work.

George Held reviews Koon Woon's book, Water Chasing Water

We normally don't self-promote, but this is a wider concern than just the reviewer and the author. Please see George Held's review of Koon Woon's most recent book of poems Water Chasing Water
from Kaya Press, 2013 http://www.alscw.org/publications/literary-matters/ in the Spring 2014 issue.

SUBMISSIONS TO Five Willows Literary Review

Your submission, if not accepted, will be the least painful. We guarantee that no cyberspace lobotomy will be performed. We are not Procrustean either. You can come in any size or shape if you enjoy good literary health. Chances of being accepted are good, because we have a provisional mechanism for your tenure on the site. If your work tends toward the enduring end, we will host you longer; otherwise, you are here for a brief visit.

IN ANY CASE, WE ARE GLAD YOU ARE READING THIS AND PERHAPS THINK ABOUT TRYING YOUR WORK HERE. 

Your support is also needed to make this a first-rate site. 

WHO IS MR. FIVE WILLOWS?

Who is Mr. Five Willows? He likes wine and when he is half-filled, he is happy, and when he is thus happy, he talks in verse, and when he so speaks, he is neither disparaging of high or low, rich or poor, crafty or dull; he is merely a drinker of wine and a good fellow. For this reason, he is often invited to the houses of the lords and officials.

He tells them that life is full or empty, happy or sad, prosperous or needy, but if they but see that his own house is surrounded by five willow trees, in the destitute sector of town, and that for their company, he is content to be shielded from the striving of otherwise lesser men. For this he is thankful, and even as poor as he himself is, he gives half of his coins to the itinerary men. 

We are not important, but we will try to be good and responsive

The fire power of a conceited man is limited to his imagination only. We will not try to be "important" but we will try to be responsive to your needs and preferences in literary works. 

Only you can make this site good or better.

You can be a member. You don't have to. But it will help us to defray expenses and to plan for better things to bring you such as an annual print anthology.

This is trite to say --- but help us to serve you!

Need financial help!

Membership Drive: 
http://httpbloggerkoonwoon.blogspot.com/

We are in the red!
We paid license fees,and still need to catch up on Internet bills.

All our labors are labor of love;
all our time and expertise are volunteer work.

For your support we can send you an official Chrysanthemum Literary
Society T-shirt, which will be the envy of the block:




We have other gifts for your donation: A collection of short fiction by Joe Musso, a poetry chapbook by Koon Woon, and a Chrysanthemum anthology:













Please make out check to Koon Woon, c/o Chrysanthemum Literary Society, 2012 18th Ave. South,
Seattle, WA 98144, for any amount you can comfortably donate. We are a nonprofit, charitable corporation registered with the Evergreen State of Washington.
Membership Drive

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We are eclectic

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Spanish guitar

Chinese Operatic Music


                        ENJOY!