Networked in these linked pages are our publishing projects (books etc.) of, and biographies of, numerous connected poets and artists, primarily focused around the magazine Poets' Espressso Review.

 What is Poets' Espresso Review?

Poets' Espresso Review is a San Joaquin Delta College Writers’ Guild partnered newsletter or zine of poetry that includes submissions from across the globe, edited by Patricia Mayorga! Founded originally as Poet's Espresso (as in Espresso-type excitement for a poet) in June 2005 by Donald R. Anderson, shortly after joined by Nikki Quismondo (now Anderson) as co-editor and co-publishers equal. She took on most of the eye for aesthetics and he took on most of the computer use to get it the way she described. The newsletter was born in Stockton, California area, where poets and artists wanted to share their creative works as a zine (4 to 8 double-sided sheets folded in half and stapled) achieving their dream in being featured as local creative artists. Poets' Espresso Review now comes out tri-anually and is subscription based, of necessity after we grew beyond local distribution. Poets' Espresso Review, as the longer name made its debut in 2010 under the interim editor Stephen M. Wilson and then Patricia Mayorga, current editor.

How much does it cost?
Each issue is $4.75 that includes the cost of shipping and mailing within the United States, and $6.00 per issue for out of country including the cost of shipping and mailing.
Subscription fee is $15.00 per year within the United States and $20 per year outside of the United States; three issues are published annually. 
Donations are also welcome since we are self supporting and pay out-of-pocket for the publication.
For those who would like to subscribe, contact Patricia Mayorga on the contact us page.

Why Read Poets' Espresso Review?

Poets' Espresso Review is a great read! If you love the arts, the pages are filled with poetry, art, and photography work. Poets' Espresso Review is also entertaining, with some fun fabulous facts, inspirational quotes, and more. Look at the bio pages! See the poets, get to know them, read their biographies and contact them if you would like to know more about their work.

(Take note that Rainflowers.org website is no longer in use.)

What You can Submit...

By all means, send us an email or send it through post mail. We need poetry/prose 40 lines per page or less including stanza breaks. For photography and artwork, email them in .jpg, .gif, .png, .tif, or bitmap forms only (or by exception an occasional .pdf or .eps) at PoetsEspressoReview@gmail.com, or mail a copy to Patricia Mayorga, with a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope if you wish your hard copies or photography returned. Most importantly we will need your Contact Information! Include with your submissions your name, phone number, address, a 2 to 4 line bio of yourself written in third person. A photograph of yourself is optional for the bio section. Once we receive your work, we will send it under review to see if it is appropriate for the theme of the current issue. If your work is chosen, we will send out an email, call you or send you a letter in the mail. Let us know which is preferred.

Submission Guidelines To Poets' Espresso Review?

We look for poems that are beautiful, thought-provoking, or humorous. If your poem meets one of these areas without strong prejudice, hate, eroticism, or profanity, then you have likely written a poem that will either be published right away or put on hold to be published at a later date. Some of the poetry in each issue will relate to the season, politics of the time, or holidays; however, poetry is not exclusive to mentioned themes.

To Submit to Poets' Espresso Review Contact Patricia Mayorga.

A Word From the Editor.

Poets' Espresso Review copyright remains with respective authors attributed in its text, printing and web rights granted by submission to Patricia A. Mayorga. See biographies in the issues for full list of copyright owners and information about them in the back of the issue. Thank you to all the contributors of Poets' Espresso Review! We continue because of you!

Thank you to all contributing writers and artists for sharing your poetry with Poets' Espresso Review and a warm welcome to our new writers and artists.

Please consider submitting artwork for possible publication in Poets' Espresso Review. Artwork can include photography, drawings, and paintings. Please email them to PoetsEspressoReview@gmail.com.

The link to Poets' Espresso Review in the upper right goes straight to past issues of Poets' Espresso Review. Thank you to Donald for the web management, whose continued dedication to our poetry journal that is available here thanks to his technical knowledge and support, and Patricia for the editorial expertise, and to the contributors for their artistic vision.

What is a zine?

To quote The Factsheet 5 Reader: The Best Writing from the Underground World of Zines, by R. Seth Friedman:

“...I've become even more fascinated by the strange world of zines and zine makers. It's a world inhabited by the wildest assortment of unusual characters and unique stories.

“Zines (short for fanzines) contain writing that's unlike anything else in the mainstream: more opinionated than newspaper editorials, more personal than magazine articles, more topical than books. ...

“Although zines can be anything from darkly photocopied, handwritten poetry to slickly printed, full-color music magazines, what unites all zine publishers is their passion for communication. Zine makers are driven to publish their ideas purely for the sake of communicating, generally with complete disregard for money, let alone profit.”

-R. Seth Friedman

What do reviewers think of Poets' Espresso Review?

Poet's Espresso (Sept.2008): This poetry zine also reads like a newsletter for poets in San Joaquin Delta College, which is what the editor acknowledges in his letter to readers. The poetry varies widely in subject but is consistently good, and my favorite was "Should Be Doing" by Allen Field Wietzel. The zine also includes recipes, art, and local poetry-related announcements. -katie, review in Zine World #27. (Note from editor: the streamlined current Poets' Espresso Review no longer includes recipes or events).

(Old reviews of the original newsletter continued.)
“I typically don't like poetry zines. The poetry in a lot of them seems too forced, like the writers themselves are trying to immediately equal a Tennyson or Williams. However, Poet's Espresso is a poetry magazine that I can actually appreciate. This is due to the fact that none of the poets seem to be putting on airs with their poems here. Also, unlike many poetry magazines, there are pieces that do not immediately link themselves to poetry, as well as pictures in this issue. The pictures, all taken from the public domain unless cited in a caption, were taken from the public domain and provide reader's eyes with a break. Of particular note during this issue has to be Taylor Graham's “The Poem is Called Before the Gate Committee”, bringing legal imagery into description of the poem as art form, and James Lee Jobe's “105 Degrees Today”, which shows the goodness of humanity in providing for lesser members of the animal kingdom. There are different types of spacing and line breaks throughout this issue of poetry, which further breaks up any tedium that the issue may be accumulating. Perhaps the best non-poetry pieces have to be the Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips recipe as well as the listing of events taking place after the months covered by this issue. Even if individuals do not typically like poetry magazines, there is enough in the way of material here that individuals can sink their teeth into. I sincerely hope this project continues and is able to increase its' size through the next few years.”--James McQuiston, Former Editor, NeuFutur (print magazine)