Editor Interview: Ghudsavar Literary Magazine

Poetry only

One of the publications I like is "Rattle," as it publishes a large output of poetry, including some very good poems, has both themed and un-themed sections in its issues, and also pays generously to its writers. Rattle is well known, though. I also like quite a few lesser-known publications, such as the UK-based webzine "The Lake": an ordinary site visually, but excellent work.

Well, many of my favourite poets are from a bygone era. The Tang dynasty poet Wang Wei and the Welsh poet R.S. Thomas are my utter favourites. American poet Robert Frost and English poet Walter de la Mare are also whom I enjoy reading a lot. They all bring a certain illumination and sensitivity to their writing, understanding human nature and compunctions deeply and also bring out the organic whole of a human being in his or her circumstances and nature.

I try to publish poems in Ghudsavar that are heard less in today's instant gratification-loving world. I find that a lot of poetic work today is narcissistic, is springing from a fascination with one's ego, unable to look out of oneself. In my opinion, when a human being only finds one's own self as his or her inspiration, it is a very poor world: it is like trying to draw blood from stones. I try to publish poems that draw from a more wholesome inspiration. In addition, I also encourage poets who are non-native speakers of English to submit. I do not lower the standards of merit for them, but I do not fuss about a different syntax or grammar, which might be the case with some other editors who may be rigid about such matters. A poem should give you instant access to an insight: if it has done this work, it is a worthy poem. Ghudsavar is also a bilingual magazine, with poetry published in English and Hindi, so that is something that is also quite unique about Ghudsavar. (The word Ghudsavar, a Hindi word, means a horserider.)

Be sincere to what you want to say. Do not put on a show of words if they are not needed. Use words when necessary, not to show that you know these words. And just breaking sentences midway does not make it a poem: it is still a paragraph of prose.

An ideal submission is one which respects all the guidelines and is familiar with the kind of work that the magazine publishes. All issues of Ghudsavar are archived on its website and available to read for free, so a submitter should make some effort to read some of the published work to give them an idea if their work is something that Ghudsavar may be looking for.

Not respecting the guidelines. Even though they clearly state that poems should be within the email body and not in an attachment, I get submissions now and then with attachments.

I do read cover letters and bios, but the only thing that matters to me is the merit of the work and how much it appeals to me. Someone may be a poet with stellar publishing credentials, but I still would have to deny them if the work they have submitted to Ghudsavar does not appeal to me.

I mostly read till the end, but sometimes a poem is already so much unappealing to me within the first few lines that I stop there itself and take the decision to reject it.

If there's a typo, I will fix it, but even that I would confirm with the poet before doing so. I do not make any bigger edits than that, though sometimes I do give a conditional acceptance offer, suggesting to the poet to make changes at particular places or rewrite some line or make another choice of word or phrase, and then it is up to the poet to do these changes and resubmit.

Yes, I nominate English poetry published in Ghudsavar for Best of the Net anthology. (A separate award exists for the Hindi poetry published in Ghudsavar.)