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Editor Interview: The James Dickey Review

This interview is provided for archival purposes. The listing is not currently active.

Q: Describe what you publish in 25 characters or less.

A: eco-creative & criticism

Q: What other current publications (or publishers) do you admire most?

A: Sewanee Review
ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and the Environment
Hollins Critic
Shenandoah
Blackbird

Q: If you publish writing, who are your favorite writers? If you publish art, who are your favorite artists?

A: Currently we do not publish fiction.
We are open to all styles and schools of poetry so long as they address one or more of the thematic subjects of James Dickey (nature, animals, myth, gender, war, the South, Appalachia, etc.). Submissions need not seek to emulate Dickey's aesthetic.

Q: What sets your publication apart from others that publish similar material?

A: This journal is a curious combination of poetry, nonfiction, reviews, and critical articles which relate in some way to the themes of James Dickey but are not limited by them. Moreover its concerns possess a strong ecological dynamic and a palpable regional bent (the South & Appalachia) without being parochial.

Q: What is the best advice you can give people who are considering submitting work to your publication?

A: The cliche of subscribing and reading the journal is the best advice here, especially since it is very cheap ($12 for an annual subscription).

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: An ideal submission speaks in some way to the philosophy of the journal and is suitably impressive in form and content to the diverse editorial staff.

Q: What do submitters most often get wrong about your submissions process?

A: They haven't read the journal and/or submit to us in an impersonal form style.

Q: How much do you want to know about the person submitting to you?

A: Not much. The focus is on the work.

Q: If you publish writing, how much of a piece do you read before making the decision to reject it?

A: Though we sometimes issue form rejections due to staffing and time constraints rest assured we read everything.

Q: What additional evaluations, if any, does a piece go through before it is accepted?

A: If the staff is on the fence about a piece it does have the option of consulting the journal's advising editors which include such writers as Fred Chappell, Pat Conroy, and Ron Rash.

Q: What is a day in the life of an editor like for you?

A: It is a fairly typical one, I'd say, though I also run two academic programs, edit the literature section of ENCYCLOPEDIA VIRGINIA, and submit my own scribblings to various magazines.

Q: How important do you feel it is for publishers to embrace modern technologies?

A: There is a huge body of writing on this topic for people to peruse. We continue to work in a print format largely because we are able to and it continues to be the preference of the journal's founders and advisors. However, we have a Facebook page and a website and will gladly make the change to online publishing if we must. We have nothing against technology so long as it remains a slave to us and not the other way around.