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Editor Interview: The Meadow

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

A: Voice. Strong voice.

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

A: Happy to see december magazine revived. Love what Willow Springs is doing. Jealous of the growth of Pank in such a short time. Rattle has always been a long time favorite of mine. Happy to see a magazine like Naugatuck River Review championing narrative poetry. Honorable mention: The South Dakota Review, Fugue, & The Portland Review.

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

A: Larry Levis, Lynda Hull, Raymond Carver, Kim Barnes, Philip Levine, Dorianne Laux, Kim Addonizio, Erin Belieu, Robert Wrigley, Paisley Rekdal,

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

A: We are a 100% free journal, a true community art project distributed all over the Great Basin area for free. We also provide both a print journal and a complete online journal as well, so you always get published in both mediums with us. Not many magazines can say that because they don't want their entire print journal online for free.

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

A: Honestly, it's simple: work on your craft, work on your pieces, read, read, read, polish, polish, polish. There are no tricks. Write well, and you'll get published.

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: Beyond following our submission guidelines, I love a strong, strong voice. Hard to pin that down specifically, but I know it when I read it.

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

A: They do not remove their names from their submissions or include the title(s) of their piece(s) in their email. We read all submissions blind, and we expect adult, professional submissions, which means being able to read our submission guidelines and submit accordingly.

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

A: I try not to read cover letters until after I've read the submissions. I don't like bias (unconscious or otherwise). That said, I hate when writers submit without a cover letter.

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

A: Sometimes one stanza. Sometimes I read the entire piece several times (even over the course of several days). There's no hard rule here. Some have a great voice to start and veer off and are not able to sustain the original momentum. Some start off as a limerick, and I have no desire to complete it.

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

A: There's nothing besides the writing in front of me. I don't care where you've published when I'm reading your submission. I don't care who you studied under. I just want some sort of reaction, surprise (whatever you want to call it) when I'm reading the submission. Some sort of gut response to a voice that I would follow anywhere.

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

A: Generally it's filled with my 5/5 teaching load and other responsibilities. Composition students coming into office hours. Creative writing students coming into my office hours. Faculty meetings and committees. I have to catalog and read submissions within the crazy work load of a tenured community college professor. Coffee. Bad food from the cafeteria. It's as glamorous as I make it sound.

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

A: I see these things as a benefit not a problem. I love not dealing with paper submissions. We have received great submissions due to things like Facebook. I love that we can have our entire print journal up on our webpage in a flip-book format. We're exploring Kindle options. These things are all great in my mind, but in the end it all boils down to one thing: the writing. There's nothing more important than good content.