[Golias]

Allen, in response to Michael Cantor's question which you quoted, I did not receive a standard rejection slip. I received a personal letter of explanation signed by Don Share, the associate editor of Poetry. The lead poem I sent them was "Caravel" the sonnet which had been most favorably critiqued by Richard Wilbur in last year's sonnet bakeoff, and which was subsequently published in First Things.. The other poems had been workshopped also, either here or, in one case, at the Gazebo -- but all were declined and included in Don Share's explanation. It was a nice enough letter and I do understand the rationale of their policy. This will be my last online mention of Poetry or any other particular journal in the context of this discussion.

As long as we continue to PUBLISH workshopped poems here we must, I think, expect the better journals (some, not all) to consider it prior publication. Taking the workshop boards, and perhaps the bake-offs private, as has been suggested, sounds like the best and maybe the only solution that will allow poets who like to workshop but also aspire to publication in major print journals to continue workshopping any of their more promising work here. I understand some of the arguments against such a move, and they have weight. If it doesn't happen we must each make our own decisions and take or decline to take our own risks in the matter.


G/W