Editor Interview: Eunoia Review

Beautiful thinking

Generally, anything that appears on our site's Links page. Specifically (and completely off the top of my head), McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, Narrative Magazine, Pomegranate, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Six Sentences, The Believer, The Cadaverine.

Fiction: Tony Ballantyne, Clive Barker, Julian Barnes, Donald Barthelme, Jorge Luis Borges, A. S. Byatt, Italo Calvino, Stephen Clarke, Mark Z. Danielewski, Ted Dekker, David Louis Edelman, William Gibson, Thomas Hardy, Russel Hoban, Kazuo Ishiguro, A. L. Kennedy, Daniil Kharms, Milan Kundera, Tom McCarthy, China Miéville, Haruki Murakami, Orhan Pamuk, Nick Sagan, Rachel Seiffert, Ashley Stokes, Donna Tartt, J. R. R. Tolkien.
Poetry: Alfian Sa'at, Caroline Bird, Elizabeth Bishop, E. E. Cummings, Mark Doty, T. S. Eliot, Thom Gunn, Geoffrey Hill, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Ted Hughes, Michael Hulse, John Keats, Luke Kennard, Philip Larkin, Adam O'Riordan, Sharon Olds, Christina Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Toh Hsien Min, Cyril Wong.

Eclectic editorial tastes and a commitment to very swift responses.

Read the submission guidelines and proofread your own work before you click 'Send'. Being polite in your e-mail is optional, but would be very much appreciated.

Anything that displays a clear attention to craftsmanship. I think we need that these days, more than ever.

Not bothering with any sort of cover letter whatsoever. I know it's electronic submission, but a bit of effort goes a long way. Or giving me a biographical note that's several times longer than the submission itself. That's just...bizarre.

Like I said, a cover letter, however short, makes my efforts feel appreciated. Previous publication credits are fine, but not absolutely essential. Tell me something interesting about yourself in the biographical note instead! Better yet, provide a link where your readers can find out more about you and your work.

I always read every word of a submission. If I have a gut feeling within a few lines or sentences that a piece isn't right for the journal, I make sure all the more that I read it at least twice, so that when I turn it down, I'm doing it knowing I've given the writer a fair chance.

Once I've accepted a piece, it's immediately scheduled for publication on the site. Minor grammatical or spelling mistakes are silently corrected. If I think there's room for ambiguity, I always consult the contributor first before going ahead with changes.

When I finally make it out of bed, I switch my laptop on and check for submissions. Depending on whether there's time before I have to attend classes, I read and reply immediately. If not, I usually get around to doing so within the same day. Not a terribly glamorous life, I'm afraid.