It seems wise to me to allow for a certain "Voodoo Factor" when it comes to the choosing of particular manuscripts. For example, my poem "Blue-Crested Cry" that Christian took for last December's issue had previously been rejected by The Hudson Review. Tenacity is the better part of art, and I am always reminded of an old seventies song I loved as a kid:

"There ain't no good guy,
there ain't no bad guy.
There's only you and me
and we just disagree."

For us as artists, especially, dealing in such a subjective pursuit, I think bearing this in mind will cut down on a lot of cell-destroying bitterness.

J

Just want to add, in response to Jack, that fear of competition is not the only reason someone might not submit to Poetry. I've certainly read poems I thought were excellent that I'm sure would never have been published by Poetry - not because the editors of Poetry are wrong, but simply because it's not their type of thing.


[This message has been edited by Rose Kelleher (edited August 08, 2006).]

Hey, yo:

Atlanta Review on Verse Daily

Well, Poetry just rejected me again, and "similar venues" continue to reject me, so I guess I have no talent.

Either that, or it's possible for someone to have talent and not be printed in Poetry and similar venues.

Guess which one I pick.


[This message has been edited by Rose Kelleher (edited September 03, 2006).]

The second, Rose, the second.

OH MY GOD. You mean you got a rejection slip? Again?

You'll never believe it, Rose, but I got one too. Just this past week. So, I guess you're right. Let's keep our poems in the hands of our own kind, where they belong.

Or maybe I just need to write better, less-rejectable poems, because if they're truly worth reading... nah. Couldn't be that. Not in a million years.

Yes, it is frustrating Rose.

The worst of it is that I bet you have at least 4 or 5 poems that Poetry would take if only they saw them - but which ones?

And it could take decades to find out.

I sometimes wish it were possible to say to mags - “look, here are the 30 odd poems I have ready for publication, are there any here you fancy?”

I bet they would take some of yours if you could get them to do this, Rose.

I recall that Joyce sent his Dubliners out 13 times before it found a publisher. So I went looking for other tales of rejection, and found this:

Concerning the Humor issue: I thougth it was funny--not that I rolled on the floor with every verse included therein (only the ones by X. J. Kennedy). But I thought it was a good issue.

Poetry is like any other journal. It can be full of garbage in which are embedded a few gems, full of garbage in which no gems shine, and on occasions it glitters so much you hardly notice the garbage. I like it because it puts me outside the usual perimeters of poetry and makes me look at new things.

Concerning the Humor issue: I thougth it was funny--not that I rolled on the floor with every verse included therein (only the ones by X. J. Kennedy). But I thought it was a good issue.

Poetry is like any other journal. It can be full of garbage in which are embedded a few gems, full of garbage in which no gems shine, and on occasions it glitters so much you hardly notice the garbage. I like it because it puts me outside the usual perimeters of poetry and makes me look at new things.

Sure, Jack. Editors of big, famous poetry magazines are infallible. If they reject a poem, it couldn't possibly be worth reading. We must not question their judgment or deviate from the norms they set down for us. Why, that would be...thinking for ourselves! Can't have that. They are superior beings, and we must lick their boots in craven obedience.