[John Riley]

This may be old news. I just read that First Things has a new poetry contest judged by Amit Majmudar. I assume metrical poetry will have an advantage considering the journal and the judge.

I haven’t seen this mentioned here. The deadline is the end of June. If you’re interested you should bounce over to First Things.

[Carl Copeland]

I’ve never submitted to a journal and don’t think one with a strong political agenda—anywhere on the spectrum—is where I’d choose to start. I’ll be the first to congratulate a Spherean who wins, though. Thanks for the notice, John.

[Julie Steiner]

Thanks for sharing this opportunity, John.

Before submitting work to any venue, it is always a good idea to take a look at recent issues, or at least at the titles of recent articles, to make sure you will be comfortable with any implied endorsement you might be giving to the point of view generally presented there, when your name and work appear alongside those.

That is particularly good advice in the case of First Things, which calls itself “a journal of religion in public life.” I.e., in politics.

The poetry is generally apolitical, but the articles and advertisements are definitely not shy about promoting a social agenda that you may (or may not) find at odds with your own. There have been several discussion threads at Eratosphere over the years regarding eyebrow-raising articles and editorials there.

I encourage everyone to judge for themselves before deciding whether to submit.

[John Riley]

Julie, I wasn’t aware of how programmed First Things is. I knew it was conservative. Although I am far from conservative I do read thoughtful conservative writers, although that’s a dying or dead breed. I didn’t realize it is essentially a dangerous journal or I wouldn’t have posted this.. I recognized the judge as being a met poet and thought that may appeal to some poets here.

My bad.