[New-Poetry] RECONFIGURATIONS: A Journal for Poetics &Poetry/Literature & Culture

[Skip Fox]

I can think of one valid reason to bemoan the amount and quality of what is
considered poetry. I was an editor of a magazine in the 1990's and our
magazine (Die Young, co-edited with Jesse Glass) was once listed in Poets &
Writers as the best of the best ten places to break in. (We really weren't
but that's how they listed us.)

I received 1,500 entries in one summer. But hell, it was summer, so I wrote
a hand written rejection to each author but one, mentioning poets who they
might like based on their work. 

That was before I started teaching creative writing, but I think it probably
helped me a lot, learning to take these (usually) young writers seriously,
and frankly, learning how to read work which was not accomplished, and
learning how to consider it.

But I admit that the editor's job is very hard due to the relatively under
considered and/or unexperienced work of so many submissions, including I'm
sure, some of mine.