Editor Interview: HALSEY Literary Reader

words and pictures

Raleigh Review, CALYX, Gertrude Press, Susan, The Timberline Review, and VoiceCatcher

Annie Lighthart, Carol Bialock, Moudi Sbeity, Claudia Rankine, Mai Der Vang, Khaty Xiong, Khadija Ceesay, Stephan Antoine Viau, Yossef Rapoport, Nasser Rabah, Sara Ahmed, Harsha Walia, Mariame Kaba, CJ Chilvers

Wisdom comes from a collective, iterative process. HALSEY brings readers, viewers, writers, and photographers together. And each issue is organized to prompt insights, ideas, and resolution about what it means to be human, modes of understanding that none of us could reach alone. Because we need each other.

We are seeking out work that is timely and timeless; that offers some surprise, taking us somewhere other than what we expected; that is touched by humor; that can be read over and over and over again without losing its power. We are looking for poetry, photography, short essays on craft, and reviews of small-press poetry collections. We consider every submission in order to ensure that new/emerging voices are included alongside nationally recognized, award-winning authors.

The ideal submission includes three poems in a single .doc or .docx file OR a gallery of three images. We love to receive things in threes!

Submitters sometimes send a single poem or email us directly about our submissions guidelines instead of reading what we have listed on our website. Some submitters email to ask our permission to submit, something that is never necessary, as we personally read every single submission.

No cover letter or previous publication credits are necessary. But we do want to see a short bio. And it doesn't hurt to include previous publication credits if you have them.

We know our audience, and a poem with formulaic, insensitive, or careless language can give itself away as not a fit in the first stanza or two. If we like a piece (or think we do), we read it two or three times and share it around to check our initial judgment.

Light sensitivity check and a comparison to other work that's already been accepted to make sure it feels like a fit with the journal issue we're currently building.

I read submissions once a week and try to send out acceptance or decline letters within twenty-four hours of reading.

Most of the pieces we accept are already or almost already print ready. We may offer suggestions or request a single round of changes. And the author always gets to approve edits. Nothing goes to print without their final approval.

We have nominated for Pushcart and Best of the Net and are open to doing more.

Halsey Literary Reader is currently funded by individual donors, a small budget from our parent press, Rockwood, and subscriptions.

Social media, word of mouth, three conferences a year, our website, and two newsletters with a combined subscriber base of nearly 10,000 readers.