Editor Interview: ONE ART: a journal of poetry

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

A: free verse, mostly

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

A: Southern Poetry Review
Ecotone
Valparaiso Poetry Review
Waxwing
Pleiades
32 Poems
Salt Hill
Virginia Quarterly Review
Sixth Finch
diode
The Baltimore Review
Plume
Gargoyle
Copper Nickel
Bennington Review
Beloit Poetry Journal
The Boiler
Rust + Moth
Grey Sparrow Journal
The Healing Muse
DIAGRAM
The Offing
Boulevard
The Georgia Review
Birmingham Poetry Review
The Sun
Lunch Ticket
Birdfeast
The Cincinatti Review
Guesthouse
Ploughshares
Schuylkill Valley Journal
Philadelphia Stories
Apiary
Right Hand Pointing
Shot Glass Journal
THRUSH
Foundry
Palette Poetry
Alaska Quarterly Review
Guernica
Mobius: The Journal of Social Change
The Rumpus

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

A: Ada Limón, Mary Ann Samyn, Jane Kenyon, Faith Shearin, Naomi Shihab Nye, Wislawa Szymborska, John Murillo, Dorothea Lasky, Marie Howe, Danez Smith, Jacob Saenz, Laura Kasischke, Brenda Hillman, Marge Piercy, H.D., Kay Ryan, Dorianne Laux, W.S. Merwin, Eavan Boland, Alden Nowlan, Leila Chatti, Natalie Diaz, Sue Ellen Thompson, Kathleen Sheeder Bonanno, Adam Zagajewski, Maggie Smith, Tess Gallagher, C.D. Wright, Cornelius Eady, Ari Banias, Keetje Kiupers, Nate Marshall, Leila Chatti, Mary Karr, Amit Majmudar, Nickole Brown, Richard Siken, Erin Belieu, John Murillo, Tarfia Faizullah, David Kirby, Jean Valentine, Aracelis Girmay, Kim Addonizio, Jericho Brown, Sandra Simonds, Philip B. Williams, Aaron Smith, Wanda Coleman, Heather McHugh, Wendy Xu, Jennifer L. Knox, Cynthia Huntington, Matthea Harvey, Terrence Hayes, E. Ethelbert Miller, Jim Daniels, D. Nurkse, Etheridge Knight, Natalie Shapero, Lucille Clifton, Major Jackson, David Bottoms, Thomas Lux, Maxine Kumin, Larry Levis, Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, Nicole Caruso Garcia, Allison Joseph, Hayden Saunier, Ernest Hilbert, Luke Stromberg, Chad Frame, David P. Kozinski, Daisy Fried, John Wall Barger, Lynn Levin, Ross Gay, JC Todd, Barbara Crooker, Amy Small-McKinney, Vasiliki Katsarou, Fereshteh Sholevar, Dan Simpson, Ona Gritz, Natalie Homer, Grant Clauser, Amy Barone, Cathy Shea, Alicia Hoffman, Marjorie Maddox, Vijay Seshadri, Sean Webb, Malachi Black, Gerry LaFemina, Marc Harshman, James Harms, Nausheen Eusuf, Le Hinton, Jeff Rath, Anton Yakovlev, Afaa M. Weaver, Darius Simpson, Jean Valentine, Bianca Stone, Shane McCrae, Cameron Conaway, Jamaal May, Jenn Givhan, Nancy Scott, Michael Dylan Welch, Mary Jo Bang, John Amen, Sophie Cabot Black, Margaret Ross, Rena Priest, Carmen Giménez Smith, Erin Elizabeth Smith, Rio Cortez, Rex Wilder, Donte Collins, Aaron Smith, Jesse Graves, Rasheed Copeland, Scott Edward Anderson, Mai Der Vang, Richard Jones, Michael Mark, Natasha Trethewey, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Wendy Cope, Murial Rukeyser, Mark Halliday, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Dorianne Laux, Dorothy Parker, Kim Addonizio, Jeff Gundy, Lyn Hejinian, Aracelis Girmay, Margaret Atwood, Louisa Schnaithmann, Joyce Carol Oates, C.X. Hua, Victoria Redel, Jennifer Soong, Jeffrey Harrison, Umit Singh Dhuga, Chessy Normille, Robin Becker, Maya C. Popa, Rimas Uzgiris, Parneshia Jones, Louise Bogan, Adrienne Rich, Chloe Honum, Nick Flynn, Chen Chen, Craig Morgan Teicher, Gary Whitehead, Alberto Rios, Amy Alvarez, Hayden Carruth, Chelsea Dingman, Hanif Abdurraqib, Philip Larkin, Terri Kirby Erickson, Joy Harjo, Frank Bidart, Mark Sanders, Patrick Rosal, Samiya Bashir, Hazel Hall, Mary Ruefle, Carl Phillips, Czeslaw Milosz, Richard Hugo, Elizabeth Leo, Wesley McNair, Robert Pinsky, Sherman Alexie, Blas Manuel de Luna, Jill McDonough, Lois Parker Edstrom, Richard Blanco, Natalie Eilbert, Tracy K. Smith, Jennifer Moxley, Hart Crane, Kwame Dawes, Safiya Sinclair, Ishion Hutchinson, Amy Lowell, William Stafford, Max Ritvo, Susan Hutton, Charles Simic, Denise Duhamel, Suzanne Simmons, Sally Bliumis-Dunn, BJ Ward, Robin Coste Lewis, Frank X Walker, Miriam Bird Greenberg, Vona Groarke, Yehuda Amicahi, Mark Vinz, Prageeta Sharma, Mark Doty, Elisabeth Eybers, Kate Colby, Anna Akhmatova, Lia Purpura, Barbara Ras, Nicole Kocot, Carlyn Pagel, Anne Bradshaw, Jeffrey McRae, Eloise Klein Healy, Jennifer Franklin, Eileen Moeller, Christian Wiman, Emily Hunt, Ladan Osman, Rachel Sherwood, Gwendolyn Brooks, Mark Strand, Heather McHugh, Gary Snyder, Ron Padgett, Kathleen Jamie, Idra Novey, Megan Fernandes, Ryan Black, Donald Justice, James Wright, Sherwin Bitsui, Francesca Bell, A.R. Ammons, Nicholas Christopher, Anna Newman, Chase Twichell, Joyce Sutphen, Cynthia Huntington, Charles Wright, George Bilgere, Mark Irwin, Elizabeth Jennings, Michael Hofmann, Claudia Emerson, Louis Jenkins, Eileen Myles, Katy Lederer, Robert Francis, Sina Queyras, Kim Dower, Judy Ireland, G.C. Waldrep, Justin Marks, Tony Hoagland, Dean Young, Michael Burkard, W.S. Di Piero, Michael Brokos, David Ignatow, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Meg Day, James Galvin, Marvin Bell, Gary Jackson, James Richardson, Todd Davis, Russell Edson, Carl Dennis, Tom Wayman, Tamara Oakman, Donna Masini, Barbara DeCesare, Dana Gioia, Deborah Garrison, Vera Pavlova, Kimiko Hahn, Philip Levine, Jorge Luis Borges, Gregory Corso, Linda Pastan, William Carlos Williams, Wendell Berry, May Sarton, Wendell Keys, Julia Harwig, Linda Gregg.

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

A: ONE ART aims to amplify the voices we believe are urgent for others to hear. We live in urgent times. Bearing this in mind, we aim to limit the time between acceptance and publication.

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

A: Well, the usual answer is read work published in the journal. Yes, that, obviously. Also, consider looking at the work we've nominated for prizes.

Q: Describe the ideal submission.

A: I want the submission process to be as writer-friendly as possible. You can send your work in the body of an email, as a Word doc attached to an email.
Please note that I don’t publish much work that uses a great deal of ‘white space’.

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

A: Please remember to include a 3rd person bio. Poets sometimes do not send a bio or send them in the 1st person. This adds an unnecessary extra step to the process.
Occasionally, someone seems to think it’s standard procedure to submit new poems as soon as a rejection is received. I assure you this is not the case. Only do so if an editor has asked you to send more work right away. For ONE ART, since the journal has rolling submissions, I request folks wait at least one month before sending along additional work if I have not encouraged you to submit sooner.

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

A: Anything you feel like sharing; although, I’d prefer you keep the correspondence reasonably professional.
I do not need a long introduction about how the poems you're submitting came into existence. If some context is useful feel free to share.

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

A: I've always disliked this question. I read enough to know if the work has sold me. I generally know what I like, what I'm going to accept, very quickly. Other times, I will re-read poems many times before deciding one way or another. One small tragedy is that it can be difficult to delicately explain the particulars in this blood sport...we use words like "submission" and "rejection" and "acceptance"...so a poet will often receive a form rejection or a rather vague one line personal rejection in which I say something like "I hope you will submit more work down the road." That one line means a lot more than it may seem.

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

A: ONE ART's Consulting Editor, Louisa Schnaithmann, is often asked to weigh in on poems, especially if I'm on the fence or need another perspective.

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

A: I incorporate the process into my day. We all have a great deal on our plates. I fit in reading submissions when I can and, usually, as soon as I can. I give ONE ART high priority on my To Do list.

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

A: Emerson says, "new arts replace the old"...but, really, what we get is a blend. I want to help spread the word about work by ONE ART poets and technology plays an invaluable role in doing so.

Q: How much do you edit an accepted piece prior to publication?

A: It depends. Revisions are most often minimal. I primarily accept work that is publication ready. There are instances when I'll suggest a few minor edits to improve the work. I do not request poem overhauls with the assumption of future publication.

Q: Do you nominate work you've published for any national or international awards?

A: ONE ART nominates for The Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.