Editor Interview: Ancient Paths Christian Literary Magazine

Subtle, spiritual works

The Lyric, for its willingness to publish traditional forms. Time of Singing Literary Magazine because, like Ancient Paths, it is one of the few literary magazines that considers quality, Christian-themed verse.

Favorite poets: John Donne, Alfred Tennyson, George Herbert, Rumi, Yeats, Matthew Arnold, Billy Collins, Stephen Crane
Favorite Short Story Writers: Hawthorne, Jhumpa Lahiri, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Checkhov, O. Henry, Flannery O'Connor

Many Christian magazine publish didactic work or sing-songy verse, whereas many secular literary publications eschew traditional religious themes. But Ancient Paths publishes high quality, literary poetry on Christian and broad spiritual themes. It is just as open to free verse as to formal verse, and you will find a mix of both in each issue, whereas most publication favor one or the other. Though a Christian magazine, it is very open to non-Christian writers, provided the poems contain universal spiritual themes to which Christian readers could relate.

Order and read through a past print issue. Although Ancient Paths is now an online publication, two past print issues are still available for purchase, and proceeds from sales support token payments to artists and writers. Read lots of poety, both contemporary and classic. Read my article on "The Top 10 Pet Peeves of Literary Magazine Editors," which is available on the Ancient Paths blog on the website.

A poem of 30-40 lines that is accessible on the first reading but contains many levels of deeper meaning; a poem that affects the reader emotionally, but is also stylistically beautiful and that communicates its spiritual or moral message in a subtle, non-didactic way. A poem that invites repeat readings.

Some most common mistakes are (1) submitting work with no spiritual or religious theme whatsoever (2) submitting works with a religious theme that is too overbearing, didactic, or obvious (3) submitting devotions or nonfiction when I only publish poetry and fiction (4) not reading and following the guidelines.

A cover letter is not required. If you submit a cover letter, however, I really only want to know the following things: (1) Your name as you would like it to appear in your byline if you are published. (2) Your email address for contact purposes. (3) Has any of the work you are submitting been previously published and, if so, where and when? (4) Where/how did you first learn about Ancient Paths? (5) Have you ever bought and/or read a copy of the magazine? (6) Have you visited the website? I don't much care about previous publication credits, unless you have had a book published by a traditional publisher, whether small or large press (i.e. not self-published). That does tend to catch my eye. But I don't need a list of all the literary magazines in which you have been published. I'd rather go on the merits of the poem or story itself, and I've published many "first timers."

I probably reject 10% of submissions outright after reading the first page (or after reading the first poem). Another 25% I reject beyond the first page but before I'm all the way through. About 50% I reject after reading all the way to the end. But the remaining 15% I will typically have to read 2, 3, or even 4 times before deciding whether to accept or reject the piece, and this is why I have a "hold" pile. Thus, within 4 weeks of submission, I typically tell poets/writers either that their work has been declined or that it is in the "hold" pile for further consideration.

I take my "hold" pile and read through it repeatedly, weeding out a poem or story here and there.

Go through my email inbox and respond, holding some works for further consideration (and sending out a hold letter), and rejecting others, sometimes commenting on why they just weren't right for my market, and occasionally even suggesting other markets I think would be a better match.

I make only minor editors for grammatical reasons (punctuation, capitalization, syntax, etc.)

In its 20+ years of publication, Ancient Paths has nominated over 60 works for the Puschart Prize.