Editor Interview: Harbor Review

Poems talking with art.

Tinderbox, Rust + Moth, YesYes, Diode, Glass, the museum of americana, THRUSH, the minnesota review, Nimrod, The Adroit Journal, Alice James, Porkbelly

We publish writing and art. We like anyone who surprises us. We want to be shocked, inspired, angered, brought to tears.

We only publish two issues a year. Each issue includes ten poets and ten artists. We place poems in conversation with visual art. We want poems and art that have something to say to our readers and to the rest of the work in the issue.

Please read an issue. Follow our guidelines. Our summer issue always has a theme. It will help if work relates to the theme in some way.

The ideal submission will follow our submission guidelines and excite all of the editors. We don't know what we are looking for until we see it. The ideal submission is so exciting we swear out loud.

Submitters often send poems they have written in response to a piece of art and want us to publish the poem with that particular piece of art. This isn't how the process works. We are the curators of the conversation. However, we will publish ekphrastic poems. Artists often send art that isn't the right resolution.

We don't care much about cover letters or previous publication credits. We do care about your short bio. We want to know who you are.

We read every piece all the way through before making the decision to reject. If we like a poem, it will be read by multiple editors.

Poems that are accepted are read by several editors, the Managing Editor, and the Editor-in-Chief. Poems are also read by our Art Editor. All art that is accepted is evaluated by the Art Editor, the Managing Editor, and the Editor-in-Chief. All accepted pieces are discussed in depth by the entire team.

I read and sort a lot of email. I also send a lot of email. All of the editors participate in regular discussions online. When we get close to publication, much of my day is spent proofing, doing layout, and communicating with contributors.

We provide basic proofing and authors are allowed to proof the issue before it publishes. We don't accept work that requires substantive editing.

We nominate for the Best of the Net and the Pushcart prize.