Friday, September 3, 2021
Editing and teaching can involve reading an incredible amount of mediocre writing, and often editors are not even paid for it if the task involves poetry! One way for an editor of a poetry magazine to avoid the onslaught of truly pathetic attempts to write poetry is simply to run it on a solicitation basis. Sure, you’ll still get submissions from people who obviously haven’t read your magazine, but I agree with Ron Silliman: a poetry magazine is more likely to have a cultural impact if it is edited as a vehicle meant to call attention to a specific set of poets. It’s the editor who should establish the tone of the magazine, not the slush pile’s contingencies.
Alexis Rhone Fancher is that rare editor who somehow manages to filter the slush pile so that the publication now called CULTURAL DAILY has a distinctive “vibe.” Her latest find is Gustavo Hernandez, who has four poems featured at the following link:
It’s not too often that I read a poem by a poet I’ve never read before and then want to read the next one. And I mean that word want. At a time when poets have seem to have grown lackadaisical about their line-breaks, Hernandez knows exactly what he’s doing. Perhaps he has already been asked to give a reading at Beyond Baroque, but if not, he should be given one as soon as possible. It’s a long drive from Long Beach to Venice, especially at night, but I would make the trip to hear him read.
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