[Julie Steiner]

Two upcoming tribute issues of Rattle may interest some folks here:

Deadline October 15--Submissions by poets who are (or who have worked for a significant time as) "civil servants" in a governmental agency, either U.S, foreign, or international.

Deadline January 15--Submissions by poets who have lived with mental illness. (I assume that that means firsthand, not as a family member/caretaker.)

As always with Rattle, the poems submitted by these poets can be on any topic. If you meet the criteria, you simply provide a note in your bio describing how your experience in the tribute group affects your work in general, even if that experience doesn't obviously relate to the specific poem or poems you've submitted.

See more info on these tribute calls here.

(If you don't meet the tribute criteria, no worries--simply submit your work to the open section of these issues.)

Editor Tim Green has told me that he'd like to print more work in form, but doesn't receive many submissions in form. (Although he's certainly rejected a lot of mine over the years, before he finally accepted one. Heh.)

I would characterize him as simultaneously form-friendly and very, very, VERY picky. I hope lots of Sphereans will answer the challenge.

[Matt Q]

Thanks Julie,

"Poets with mental illness" is the main title, which I reckon makes it clear. The qualifier "poets who have themselves lived with mental illness" is perhaps a little poorly worded.

best,

Matt

[Julie Steiner]

Yes, I should have left it at "poets with mental illness"! Thanks for clarifying, Matt.

[Brian Allgar]

Hmmm . . . Well, I was a civil servant in England for nine years from 1968 to 1977. The only way that I can think of in which it affected my work was that it left me plenty of time to write New Statesman and Spectator competition entries.

[Michael Juster]

I'm interviewed in the "civil servant" issue.