Editor Interview: Tar River Poetry

Verse good of its kind.

Alaska Quarterly, North American Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Rattle, AGNI, Arc Poetry Magazine, The Walrus, Zyzzyva.

Carol Ann Duffy, Stephen Dunn, Marianne Boruch, Simon Armitage, Sharon Olds, Patricia Lockwood, Tommy Pico, and Morgan Parker

Our interest in all aspects of the human and its relationship to the environment, and the way in which our poems sit with each other—the ecosystem of each issue. The Editors themselves read every submission, and we offer free expedited decisions for new and current subscribers.

Send work that you find energizing and necessary when you’re writing it. Subscribe! Read the most recent issues of the journal.

A group of poems that says something compelling, and leaves us surprised, moved, or having learned something new.

We build each issue by considering individual poems, and also the ways we see them interacting with others. If you've submitted work simultaneously, please let us know if it's been accepted elsewhere so that we can dream up new possibilities for the inner workings of the issue.

We like intimacy, cool detachment, and everything in between. Sometimes you can get a sense of the person behind the poem by what they pay attention to; sometimes you only get a sense of the poem as its own sort of entity. We ask for a short bio listing previous publications and awards, if any, but also welcome work by new writers.

We read every submission, and more than once before making a decision.

We read voraciously, and carve time out of our days to spend with the poems we receive. Because we co-edit, we discuss the work with each other, too.

We tend to accept work that is ready to publish, but we do sometimes offer suggestions and work with new writers. Our issues are copy edited, and authors have the chance to approve their proofs.

We nominate work for the Pushcart Prize, and this year, we're running a new poetry contest.