Editor Interview: Atlanta Review

Poems with energy & soul

I like a lot of the South's journals--Greensboro Review, Chattahoochee Review, New South Review, Xavier Review, etc., because they appreciate Southern writing and Southern writers, but like all good journals, are not just bound by "place." I also heart Post Road and Permafrost because they are unfailingly nice at AWP, and their journals are lovely. And of course Prairie Schooner, because both Karen Head (the Atlanta Review Editor) and I read for it "back in the day."

Do you have about four years? I might be able to list all of them by then.

Our tastes are eclectic; we're just as likely to run a funny, narrative poem that surprises you as publish formal, metered verse. When we read our submissions, we're looking to find some kind of human connection, even if it's a subject that one wouldn't necessarily think was "poetic." Mainly, we want to read poetry that knows what it's doing and takes us along for the ride. And then we share it with our readers.

Don't just read Atlanta Review (although that helps). Read widely--read lots of journals, print and online. Make poetry a significant part of your life.
And also, follow guidelines and learn how to format your work. We still get handwritten submissions sometimes, if you can believe it. It's one thing if the submission comes from a prisoner--he might not have access to computers--but sometimes I think people just don't know the conventions of manuscript format. Because we read a huge volume of work, we don't want to get slowed down by submissions that appear like they're not serious about the process. Give your work its best chance--follow guidelines and manuscript conventions.

The ideal submission is five poems, preferably one page each. We like to see a range of work, maybe a few from the same sequence you're working on, but a couple of "outliers" too. While we do read blind (especially if someone submits via Submittable), when we do read the cover letters, I love it if the submitter mentions a couple of poems from a previous issue that affected them, or what about the journal interested them enough to submit. I also like when people list the names of the poems they're submitting in the cover letter. And I am desperate to read bios that aren't preposterous--i.e., ones that list every last journal you ever published in and every last prize you won since you were six years old. (Some people have sent bios that are a page long!) Please be selective! Name a few journals you've published in, or mention your latest book. But tell us something real, something personable. The bio and cover letter don't influence us--if we like your work, we like your work--but we also like to think you're a nice person. A bloated bio is boring.

What they get wrong: when they submit via Submittable, and they put their contact info in the file, or title their submission/ file name, "Four Poems by Jane Smith." Please help us to avoid "brand recognition"--i.e., keep your name out of the file, and out of the title. For the file name, maybe try something like "Submission to AR--June 2017." For the title, just list the names of the five poems you're sending.
When they submit via snail mail and put their contact info on each page--save that for the cover letter (which should also list the poem titles). And remember, if you're submitting via post, send a SASE with enough postage to mail your poems back (if you want them back). If you want your manuscript to be recycled, please write "Reply Only" on your SASE too.
Finally, please direct snail mail to our new address (686 Cherry Street, Suite 333, Atlanta, GA 30332-0165), not our old P.O. box, and remember that our Editor is Karen Head. (Dan Veach retired last year.)

I like cover letters, especially when they seem human. And I'm interested in a FEW places people have published at--I don't want their entire publishing history though. And again, we do our best to read without being influenced by the author's name and background, which is why we read cover letters long after we read submissions. But as a rule, I give a "thumbs up" to cover letters.

I read every general submission poem we get, all the way through. (We have a few additional "first" readers for the annual competition--but I still read all submissions our readers have looked at.) Sometimes, I can tell within a few lines that the poem doesn't seem promising--but poets are infinitely surprising, and sometimes the poem might be a little weak to start and get great and you're knocked out when you get to the last line. So it's worth it to me to read every poem to the end. And the beauty of poetry is, it's only a page, so if you get to the end and it's not a successful poem, you've only invested a little bit of time. And if it's fantastic, it's the best minute of your life.

Pieces get read multiple times, but when Editor says yes, it's a yes, and I fire off an acceptance in Submittable (and e-mail the snail mail folks just to make sure a piece is still available). And sometimes we have some strong maybes that we keep around till the end, because as we go to press, we find we might have a couple of extra pages available, and we'll go to our maybe pile and re-read them, and make a decision.

If there are new snail mail submissions, I read those first (I have to admit, I love the materiality of actual paper), and then I try to read a few submissions every day or almost every day on Submittable. I send out acceptances and rejections, answer correspondence, process subscriptions, talk with the Editor about any issues we might have regarding the current issue, make endless spreadsheets (or so it seems).
But mostly, I just try to be in the moment with a submission--I'm always looking to be impressed, and so I approach each submission as an opportunity to connect with another writer and to see into her world. I don't have music or other distractions going when I read the poems because poetry deserves my attention. I assume the writer has sent work that she has spent a lot of time on and is proud of, and so I honor the work by only focusing on it and nothing else.
And I don't read too much at once. I try to read in small batches so that I am fresh and open to what I read. I want to be the best reader I can because the writer deserves that. As soon as I start feeling remotely cranky or distracted or whatever, I put the work aside because I don't want my mood to color how I perceive a submission. Then I come back to it later with fresh eyes and attitude, excited to find that great, life-changing poem.

We very rarely make changes. If there's an typo that changes a meaning (if an author writes "fir" when she meant "fur"), we'll follow up with the author just to make sure. And I'll fix dashes (which no one does right anyway), but mostly what is on the page is what's going to print.

Absolutely. We live for it.