This is a landmark issue in several ways. Firstly it means I have now been doing this for three years–a year longer than the MFA. When I compare this issue with the first one I feel a real sense of accomplishment. In the first issue I was forced to publish my own poems (which I don’t believe editors should do) because of insufficient high quality submissions. These days I have the luxury of accepting less than 3% of the poems I receive, and it shows in the caliber of the work. Furthermore, these days I am able to solicit poems from highly regarded formal poets such as Annie Finch and XJ Kennedy, both of whom have commented favorably on the appearance and standard of the journal. In fact XJ Kennedy called us “One of the more valuable webzines.”
Would you believe I already have 17 submissions for the next issue? If you are one of them, however, don’t hold your breath waiting for a response. I probably won’t look at them until after the January residency.
Future plans include a print anthology, and I’m still looking into running a poetry contest sometime next year.
Thanks to all my contributors, both in this issue and in the previous five. It is always an honor to be able to publish your work.
