Welcome to my new page here. Let me introduce myself a bit. I am Joshua Mansfield, a poet. I have been writing for nearly half of my life, and had my first piece published when I was 18 by the International Library of Poetry. They have published several of piece's including the Editor's Choice Award winning poem "Claire-ified" in 1997. Around the same time I had a poem published in the now defunct magazine huH.
When I began writing I wasn't familiar with anyone's work other than what had been assigned to me in various English assignments throughout my education. I just wrote what felt right to me as an individual. I didn't share my works too frequently, but in my junior year of high school my English teacher, Mrs. Peck, read several of my pieces and encouraged me to seek out Allen Ginsberg as she had seen a similarity in our styles and context. That began my love affair with the Beat Generation and their works.Though my writings today do not reflect much of the Beat style, they had a profound affect upon how I would write, what I would write and my exploration of world outside of my box leading me to the person I am today.
In 2004 after much coaxing and encouragement from several close friends, I began compiling what is now known as the book Idol Hands, Bleeding Heart. It is a small collection of poems that I've written over the years predominantly focusing on works written during 2004 and the early part of 2005, though there are pieces that date back to my late teens.
The title of the book and subsequently my screenname here, came to me in a dream while in the editing phase of the book. The cover of the book also came from this same dream though the grotesque nature of the vision in my dream was cut back drastically. The cover art work was provided to me by my close personal friend and phenomenal artist Raul Hernandez, while the jacket photo was taken by my father. The poem "Skeletons in the Closet" was co-written with my friend and accomplished writer Realena (Jewell) Trippier.
Idol Hands, Bleeding Heart was self published, through iUniverse. Through their partnership with industry leaders such as Barnes and Nobles and Amazon.com I have acheived national distribution. On July 21, 2005 the book was released to the public.
Idol Hands, Bleeding Heart is available thru the fine retailers listed above as well as many other online retailers. A search on Google will aid you in finding it if you choose. Also, the book is available in two formats, Paperback and as an ebook for you hip kids.
Thank you for visiting my page and thank you for checking out my book. I do hope that you find something within it that touches you.
Joshua Mansfield
Online Now!
