[Paul Lake]

You'd think I'd know this after years of publishing poems in journals and editing poetry for a monthly magazine, but I don't. Here's my question:

How do national magazines like The Atlantic or The New Yorker feel about publishing poems that have been published in another country, such as the U. K. or Australia? Do they care only about having first North American serial rights, or would they be miffed if a poem they published had previously been published in another country? Would they turn it down if they knew beforehand that it had already appeared in, say, PN Review?

[Maryann Corbett]

If I were at home, Paul, I'd pull Poet's Market or the Dustbooks Directory off the shelf and see what they say.

But I also wonder whether PN Review isn't a special case rather than a typical one. Many of the poems in their archives can now be read online free of charge, and that might affect how a major North American mag would feel about paying for a poem. Does the UK mag have electronic rights?

[Maryann Corbett]

Home, with my books:

The Atlantic, according to the 2011 Poet's Market, acquires first North American serial rights only.

The New Yorker's PM entry is silent on the question of rights, and it has no Directory of Poetry Publishers entry.

Sorry I can't do better, Paul. I'll look up other specific mags if you want.

[Paul Lake]

Thanks, Maryanne,

I suspect what's true for the Atlantic is true for the New Yorker and other similar journals. Thanks for the help.

[T.S. Kerrigan]

I depends, of course, but I think since they are only buying North American rights, they have no cause to complain.

[Roger Slater]

I didn't take Paul's question as one about legal rights, but whether they "care" about other prior publications. The New Yorker may well have the legal right to publish your poem that first appeared all over Europe, but that doesn't mean they would be happy to do so. I don't know how the particular magazines feel, so I can't answer Paul's question either, but I do think that his question and some of the answers have been at cross purposes.

I know, for example, that publishers of children's poetry books are reluctant to accept collections in which various poems were published in magazines, even if the rights to the poems remain with the poet. They want only fresh, unpublished material, and it's not a question of legal rights. Editorial preferences may be stricter than the law.