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Editor Interview: Allegro Poetry Magazine

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

A: all forms of poetry

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

A: Ink, Sweat and Tears, PN Review, Agenda, Poetry Salzburg Review

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

A: John Donne, Dylan Thomas, R.S. Thomas, Denise Levertov, Owen Sheers, Michael Schmidt

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

A: It looks for an eclectic mix of styles and is responsive to the views of contributors, consulting them about changes to the magazine.

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

A: Read past issues, and the submissions guidelines carefully. Make sure your language is contemporary. Avoid cliches and explicit material.

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: Poems that evoke place, people or time. Striking images. Language that is used well - not received phrases - but anything too unusual has to convince me that it is exactly right and no other word would do the same job. Well crafted formal poetry. Poems that use rhyme and half-rhyme skilfully

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

A: Attaching files rather than submitting in the body of an email for the general issues.

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

A: I like brief biographies. Previous publications don't sway the selection process but I like to see them. As a reader of poetry I often buy books if that I see mentioned in biographies and submit to the same magazines as poets whose work I like.

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

A: I always read to the end although with most rejected work I can tell fairly quickly whether it is a good fit for Allegro.

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

A: When I consider accepting a poem I read it several times at different times to see if I like it as much at a second or subsequent reading.

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

A: Editing usually happens at a week end. I like to be able to give time to the process of reading. I have standard wording for acceptance and rejection as this gives more time to careful consideration of poetry.

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

A: I think electronic submissions and publishing are very important. It keeps costs down for publishers and poets alike and enables more good poetry to be read and appreciated.