Editor Interview: Acropolis Journal

Dark & emotional pieces

Crow & Cross Keys
Green Ink Poetry
Nymphs
Epoch Press
Fly on the Wall
streetcake magazine
Selcouth Station
Full House Lit
Beir Bua
Cabinet of Heed
Hecate Magazine
Versification
Coffin Bell
Crow of Minerva
Not Deer Magazine

I love to read widely both modern and old books and it's always a joy to discover a new poet or artist. My favourite writer is Sylvia Plath and my favourite artist is Salvador Dali - I love surrealism in all mediums.

Acropolis is home for temples, ruins, darkness and myth. We hope this setting provides inspiration and aim to create a safe space for writers and artists to share deeply personal work. We look for that raw, visceral connection with the human experience, a unique perspective or striking imagery that conveys a place or feeling.

Read our issues and send your darkest pieces! We love to inspire a piece but encourage writers and artists to nurture their own unique style. I always appreciate reading submissions but tend to publish pieces delving into the complexity of hope rather than happy endings. I really love random poetry that surprises me.

I love pieces that feel intimate - dark imagery with a touch of confessional - I tend to fall in love with submissions quickly and always look for an emotional connection for our readers; several submissions have made me cry. I love reading pieces inspired by myths of a writer's own creation or that explore archetypes.

Sometimes there's the odd mistake or not quite following the guidelines, we are quite forgiving and try to be flexible but sometimes time is a factor for us and we can't always ask to re-send. We do get some very beautiful, hopeful pieces that we enjoy reading but aren't in fitting with what we publish at Acropolis.

We get some lovely personal cover notes that are so kind, which is always appreciated but a quick cover note is absolutely fine. Including any social media or personal website links is great, bios are optional and we don't mind if you have any previous publications or where you've been published before, we encourage emerging and under-represented writers to submit.

I always read each submission a few times. Some pieces I love straight away but there are others I find myself wanting to return to and read over and over, often these are accepted too.

Often it's how the pieces fit together as an issue - are any pieces too similar, contradictory, can they work together to tell a story or bring a theme to life. Occasionally I'll suggest a tiny edit or think about how the piece will be presented on our site - if it has any specific formatting I'll also add a PDF.

When submissions open, we tend to get a lot in the first few days, then again at the end. This time is really exciting, I may read a few or have a quick glimpse. Then I'll probably read them in chunks and juggle this with e-mails, promoting on social media, and my own writing commitments. Often I read a few at night and it's always lovely to wake up to submissions waiting in the inbox.

We like to accept pieces as they come but occasionally suggest very small edits or slight edits to punctuation - these are always checked with the author and we send out proofs for each issue. We find pieces that break rules or experiment with form can often be refreshing so don't mind reading anything that varies from tradition.

We are looking into nominating previous and future pieces for several awards.