Poetry Midwest

An October Update: Links Will Be Broken

2011-10-25T06:00:00.020-05:00

The journal is still on permanent hiatus. However, I do have a small update to the site to announce.

In the coming weeks, links to many of the issues, chapbooks, and other materials I've linked to on Poetry Midwest will be broken. I am migrating all the files to a different server, and I will eventually update the links to point to the new locations. Most of the PDF files will be affected and will be offline until this is completed.

I have been using my faculty web space to host these files, and the campus server is being retired in favor of a different web hosting platform. I've decided to move all material associated with this blog to Dropbox or Box.net for easier management.

Notice

2010-10-27T09:42:00.000-05:00

Poetry Midwest is closed to submissions until further notice. I am suspending publication of the journal until I figure out what the heck I want to do with it.

After reading Merlin Mann's post back in 2008, I have had the nagging feeling that I could be doing better with Poetry Midwest. And now I realize that I should do better, and that I must do better. So, I need to take an extended break to rethink, renew, and re-tool. In the meantime, I'll be posting random things over at Poetry Midwest+.

This space will be quiet for a while. And I am okay with that. I hope you are, too.

Why I Love Cookie Monster

2009-11-11T10:13:00.000-06:00

An Explanation, Part 2

2009-10-12T15:18:00.002-05:00

I have a myriad number of excuses on hand for why I've let Poetry Midwest linger unattended. A lightning strike near my house caused a power surge, killing my computer's logic board and frying the circuit boards on both my primary hard drive and my back up drive. I overextended myself at work by taking on an extra class and other committee responsibilities, so that little of my spare time is left for the journal. I have four kids, a wife, a mortgage, a life. You know the drill. But, in the end, these are still excuses.

I think my neglect of Poetry Midwest indicates a shift in my interests in poetry. After over twenty years of reading and writing and following the poetry world, I find myself drifting away. I follow fewer poetry blogs now than I did a few years ago, I'm involving myself in fewer poetry debates and discussions, I'm reading less contemporary poetry, even though I was coordinating reviews for The Great American Pinup before Google deleted it from the ether. I haven't written a poetry review in awhile because I find myself not liking what I've been reading, and rather than write a scathing review, I find it better to hold my tongue--not for fear of backlash (I've dealt with those before) but because words fail me as I'm reading.

More often than not, I cannot finish a book of contemporary verse because the poems aren't connecting with me on a physical level. I want a poem to take my breath away, to give me pause, to provoke a physical reaction akin to goosebumps, a panic attack, or a reeling sense of awareness of the sublime. A few do this--Annie Finch's re-issued Calendars, which I was sent for review before TGAP went belly-up, stunned me into silence, which is a lot better than choosing to be silent. But for the most part, what I have been reading recently seems less like finished poems than rough drafts. Yes, I am speaking in rough generalities, and yes, this is a slipshod way of discussing my malaise, but so be it.

Most of what I'm reading nowadays is egocentric navel gazing built on the "cult of me," pure confession without the tone of the confessional. (And yes, before my critics turn to Google to pillory me I will admit that I am guilty of writing stuff like this, too, and perhaps that is part of my problem). I'm reading more work that is "shock and awe" or "aw shucks" than it is a careful consideration of what language, rightly applied, can do. And by rightly applied, I mean language applied as an artistic endeavor attempting to achieve a communicative end. It's Coleridge's idea of poetry being "the best words in the best order" that I'm attached to, and I wish more writers were, too.

I am, for all intents and purposes, becoming disaffected with the poetry scene in its current state. Maybe I am reading the wrong things. Maybe I am too caught up with and emotionally attached to the poets who emerged from the 1950s to the 1980s; poets whose politics are embedded in their work but are not the focus of their work. In this age of distraction, I find myself turning to those poets whose intensity of focus propelled their words beyond the self. And while I revel in their words, I envy their hard-won talents, too.

And still I write, despite my disaffection. But I haven't submitted a poem for publication in over two years--a lifetime in the poetry world--because nothing I've written feels ready. I decided to withdraw two completed manuscripts from circulation, as what is fashionable in poetry now is not what was fashionable when the poems that comprise the books were written. Essentially, I grew tired of rejection and seeing my bank account drain $20 at a time. After slogging away for so long without a book to show, I begin to wonder if what I am doing is worth doing anymore. The reward of poetry is internal, emotional. Perhaps I've grown cold, and need a trial separation to see if the flame can be rekindled.

Am I suffering from ennui? Perhaps. Suffice to say that I'm evaluating my commitment to poetry, and thus, in turn, to Poetry Midwest. I've been reading a lot of short stories and science fiction and fabulist works, gorging myself on brief creative non-fiction, reading a lot of RPG blogs and chasing after memories of chasing make-believe dragons in the dungeons of my youth. Is this my mid-life crisis? Or am I just finding it time to move on to other forms? I had a colleague at another college where I taught tell me that it took him about ten years to shake off his MFA. Is this what's happening—am I finally embracing those resentments and that aesthetic that has long simmered beneath the surface?

An Explanation, Part 1

2009-10-12T09:18:00.010-05:00

Yes, I've been ignoring Poetry Midwest for the past couple of weeks. My household was with a round of colds (not the flu, thank goodness) and one of my kids developed a fairly nasty case of pneumonia that she is still recovering from. I'm behind in teaching my classes (I'm about a week behind my syllabi in all but my Creative Writing course) and I only barely crawled out from beneath the piles of essays needing grading before I picked up another round of essays this week. Poetry Midwest has suffered in the meantime.

As you might have noticed, the End of Summer issue was never released. In fact, I never got around to finishing the second round of acceptances, and some submissions have lingered in my inbox for several months. To those who are still waiting to hear from me, I'm sorry for the delay and the silence. I'll be sending out the remainder of the acceptances and rejections this week, in an effort to clear out the inbox by this Wednesday.

I'm going to combine the End of Summer and the Fall 2009 issues, just like last year. I hate doing this, but there is no way around it at this point. I'm aiming for a November release of this combined issue.

I realize that, as an editor, I have taken a large credibility hit over this last year, as I have been unable to meet self-imposed deadlines, respond to submissions, get acceptances out, etc. The journal's reputation has suffered as a result, and for this I am truly regretful.

Files temporarily offline

2009-09-22T15:53:00.003-05:00

Most of the links to issues of the magazine and to my personal/professional web pages are currently offline due to a server failure at my campus. Hopefully things will be repaired later this evening.

Waffles Waffles Waffles

2009-08-25T12:25:00.005-05:00

--via Coudal Partners

Updated Template

2009-08-24T16:13:00.003-05:00

I think the post title speaks for itself. What do you think of the new look and feel? Please let me know by posting a comment (comment moderation is enabled). I'll take no comments as a good sign, just to make me feel better.

Why the silence?

2009-08-21T14:47:00.003-05:00

I've been a bit crazy putting things together for my classes this past month. I'm teaching an overload and learning how to use ANGEL, a learning management suite, to host online content for those classes. It's been keeping me fairly busy and confused, but I finally got the hang of things. Since classes started this past Monday, life has quieted down a bit and I am turning my attention again to finishing up the next issue.

I'm sending out the last round of acceptances for the End of Summer 2009 issue next week, and trying to work on cleaning up the blog here in anticipation of finally updating to the new Blogger templates.

The Great American Pinup - RIP?

2009-08-17T16:04:00.008-05:00

Google deleted The Great American Pinup today, the poetry book review blog that I helped run, with no notice to me or the other bloggers who review books on the site. Apparently, the blog was flagged by Google and Blogger as containing malware, and the Google help resources are of little help in resolving the issue. After four years, it looks like literally hundreds of posts and dozens of thoughtful reviews and discussions about contemporary poetry have disappeared into the ether.

I apologize to both poets with reviews pending and to our readers. We're trying to get the blog back online, but I don't know if it will happen. I'll try to keep everyone posted.

Needless to say, the first thing I did after realizing this had happened was back up this blog and turned on comment moderation. Still, it is a bit disheartening that Google, whose motto is "Do No Evil," has done some big time evil here.

update: link to TGAP removed, as it now points to a spam site in Russia (2011-02-21)

W.S.Merwin on Bill Moyer's Journal

2009-06-29T12:36:00.003-05:00

W.S. Merwin appeared on Bill Moyer's Journal on June 26th. Go watch this.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06262009/watch.html

Merwin is perhaps our greatest American living poet, having devoted his life to writing and translating.

Please help save Salt Publishing

2009-06-23T14:00:00.003-05:00

I'm not one to jump on bandwagons, as I usually arrive long after the wagons have moved on and there's nothing but piles of horseshit that need cleaning up. But in this case, I'm making an exception. The call went out in late May to help save Salt Publishing, an independent UK-based press that produces some of the best literary writing on both sides of the pond, by buying just one book. One book. I just heard about this, so, feeling guilty, I bought two.

I think we all can pass up a week worth of Double Shot Low Fat Soy Mocha Lattes to help save a publishing house, don't you? After all, we Americans are now the proud majority owners of a car company, and banks and insurance companies owe us tons of cash; let's throw some future profits at an other industry in trouble--except this time, we get something in return: the pleasure of reading damn fine literature.

Salt Publishing's Just One Book Campaign

Yikes! Almost a month with no posts!

2009-06-04T08:39:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the silence here, folks. After the end of the current semester, I took a few weeks off from the Internet because of an ill-timed death of a computer at home due to an electrical surge caused by a near-by lightning strike. Then the following week my DSL modem died (yes, I'm still on DSL at home), just one month out of warranty. Also, sometimes it's just good to unplug, so I spent the last two weeks of May getting stuff done around the house and planning my summer courses.

And now that June is officially underway, I am in submission reading mode again for Poetry Midwest. I'll be sending out the first round of acceptances for the Spring/Summer 2009 issue later this week, and will continue to read until the end of June. Please note, though, that to be considered for this issue, work has to be submitted by June 15 or so; after that, it gets considered for the Fall 2009 issue.

Well, there's the update. I hope all is well with you.

Go Read This

2009-05-08T10:58:00.002-05:00

Now. Go. Read it. Yes, yes, yes, amen, yes.

Issue 23 Released!

2009-05-01T13:02:00.006-05:00

After a considerable delay (see previous post) I've released Issue 23 into the wild this afternoon.

This issue includes work by:

Rusty Barnes
J. Bradley
Louis Daniel Brodsky
Tyler Cobb
Jennifer Columbus
Mike Dockins
Philip Estes
Louis Gallo
Nicole Caruso Garcia
Carol Lynn Grellas
Jessica Harman
Adam Houle
Brad Johnson
David Lawrence
Ken Meisel
Joseph Radke
A.K. Scipioni
Eric Steineger
Anne Timberlake

Although there are only nineteen contributors, this issue weighs in at 67 pages, and every page is worth its weight. There's good stuff here, a lot of work with heat, including a run of epistolary poetry and multi-sectioned long poems.

Even though this issue is two weeks overdue (I was hoping to have it out before April 15, but, alas) I'm sure a typo or two slipped by me (they always do). But then, if perfection was achieved in print, we'd know paradise was upon us. So let's just say I'm doing my part to delay the Rapture.

Enjoy!

poetic advice

2009-05-01T10:02:00.001-05:00

24. No one says 'ere anymore. Neither should you.

poetic advice

2009-05-01T10:01:00.002-05:00

68. Stop formatting your poems using Microsoft Comic Sans. Seriously. Stop.

poetic advice

2009-05-01T10:00:00.001-05:00

12. Nothing says overwrought poetry like a one word title based on mental/emotional states, the weather, or nature.

Reason for the Delay

2009-04-09T13:09:00.005-05:00

Sorry for the delay in getting the End of Winter 2009 issue out the door and posted online. At the last minute, I discovered that two of the poems I had accepted had been previously published online elsewhere. This is a violation of the permissions release that I have all contributors agree to before publishing an issue.

Needless to say, out of respect to the writers and other journals, I'm not going to name names. However, this discovery necessitated a flurry of polite emails between me and the two poets involved, and resulted in the removal of the poems in question from the issue under production. Thus, I had to rethink the ebb and flow of the order of works, and ended up rearranging a significant portion of the journal.

I'll be doing a last proofreading of the issue over the weekend, and hope to have it online before the end of next week.

That said, I want to explain why I took this course of action, rather than just go ahead with posting the issue.

The only way to establish the rights of both the author and publisher is to state what the publisher gets and what the author gets out of the publishing relationship. The permissions release I use specifically grants Poetry Midwest first North American Serial Rights and First Electronic Rights, along with Archival Rights to keep the issues online in perpetuity. This essentially means I ask that the work appear in a finalized published format for the first time in print or online within the pages of the journal. The other rights I request are the right to keep the journal archived online for future access, and the right to reprint the work in a future print version of the original issue or in an anthology of work from the journal. Asking for these reprint rights at the outset saves me the headache of trying to track down someone who has moved or switched email addresses, and also makes it easier for me to reproduce issues of the journal in a new format--for example, one day turning the PDF issue into a Flash formatted presentation on issuu.com.

Asking for these rights in exchange for publication is common practice for online journals, and yes, it is asking a lot for no financial remuneration. So, what does the author gain from relinquishing these rights? A publisher who gives a damn about protecting the integrity of the journal and wants to protect the author's trust in the journal as a reputable publication that takes its mission seriously. Thus my vigilance regarding what appears in the journal, how the journal is internally organized, and the entire "literary experience" of reading the journal. Yes, that is not much. But all I can offer is a symbiotic relationship wherein the author enhances Poetry Midwest's reputation, and Poetry Midwest enhance the author's reputation. It's a relationship that thus far has worked, as various poems which originally appeared in the journal have later appeared in books and have been selected to teach in university and college courses.

Given all this, I feel that I have to maintain a high level of professional standards to protect the reputation of the journal. The reason I prefer to publish new work is because it is highly difficult to arrange for and clear republishing rights unless I can be certain that the author has control of these rights--and all I can do in most of those cases is trust writers who say they own those rights. So, to skirt this issue in its entirety, I only look for exciting and engaging new work.

I have been burnt twice before--in the first year of the journal I published two poems by an author that I later found out had been published elsewhere online months before. After that discovery, I made an internal decision to never accept work from that writer again, as he presented himself as untrustworthy by agreeing to publication when the rights I was asking for were not his to grant, seeing as how the work was being republished in Poetry Midwest without my knowledge of previous publication.

Since that early editorial misstep, I attempt to thoroughly vet material before acceptance. In the early days of the journal, I mailed out permission letters via snail mail, and required a signature on a permissions agreement before publishing, which meant I had to plan out issues far in advance and account for the turnaround time for permissions to be returned. In the years since the DMCA, and owing to increased mailing costs, I've moved to using emailed permissions to serve as digital signatures, which has significantly sped up my production process, as I can accept a poem at the last minute and get permissions taken care of in less than two or three hours. Of course, this instantaneous decision making can lead to me getting a bet lazy in getting issues completed on schedule (ahem).

And so now thanks to these two writers, I am wondering if I need to revert to the slower and pricey snail mail process so that shit like this latest delay no longer occurs. And that pisses me off, because it makes the entire publisher/author relationship a bit more dysfunctional than it already is.

Minor Update

2009-03-19T14:55:00.004-05:00

The End of Winter 2009 issue will be posted by ~~April 1~~ April 15. That is all.

To This I Say

2009-03-04T13:15:00.001-06:00

Amen. Amen, Amen, Amen.

More Blog Maintenance

2009-02-24T13:50:00.003-06:00

The merging of 7evens and Dead Verses into Poetry Midwest is complete. Thank you, Blogger, for allowing the export and import of blog archives.

Now that the merger is complete, I will finally investigate migrating to the new Blogger. I've held out as long as I could, but some of the features that I want to enable are only available on the new Blogger. Things might look weird for a bit, and you might not be able to quickly find what you are looking for, but rest assured that I am working on it.

Additionally, I have finally given up my old LiveJournal account. I am trying to consolidate all my blogging activities here. I used my LiveJournal for drafting poems in progress, but as it turns out, I'm doing most of that with a pen and paper again, so I decided to just delete my account and move on. I've been making clean breaks all over the place recently, deleting newsletter and listserv subscriptions, consolidating various email accounts into Gmail, folding blogs into one another, streamlining RSS feeds to which I subscribe, etc. After being online since 1994, it's time I start trying to clean up all the detrius I've scattered over the web.

Friggin' Blogger

2009-02-23T16:30:00.000-06:00

Can anyone tell me how to get the "newer posts" and "older posts" links at the bottom of pages in the classic Blogger templates?

kthanxbye

Handouts from AWP 2009 Session on Multi-Genre Creative Writing Pedagogy

2009-02-20T12:00:00.000-06:00

If you attended the session on Multi-Genre Creative Writing Pedagogy, please read this and tell me if you got the same impression of the session and my performance therein.

Here are the handouts:

Get the paper that served as the basis of my blatherings here (RTF format).

Get my exercise handout from the session here (RTF format).

Blog Maintenance

2009-02-19T09:00:00.006-06:00

In an effort to streamline my blogging activities, I'll be merging one of my other blogs, 7evens, into this one in the coming days. I'll be cross-posting some older items, and then stop posting over at 7evens ~~and letting the blog linger as an archive~~.

I'll also be removing the link to 7evens at the header of this page, and doing some other fiddling.

As I never really gave 7evens the attention it deserved, I'm just going to feature my lists of seven here, folding it in as an occasional feature, much like Words About and Poetic Advice.

NOTE TO ABOVE STRIKETHRU: It appears Blogger now lets you export and import the blog data. As such, I have added all the posts from 7evens here, which you can access by clicking on the tag list over on the sidebar. Thus, I have deleted the original 7evens blog account.

All of the merged entries have been tagged with "7evens". Enjoy.

Also, I've merged the Dead Verses blog into this one. Again, choose the "deadverses" tag to read those older posts.