The mail-out of Issue 28, delayed due to disruption and mismanagement of UK postal services, along with local floods destroying bridges, will begin - barring any mishaps (blizzards?) - in January 2010. My apologies to subscribers and contributors for the delay.
'...an international magazine in the tradition of Poesie Europe, Ecuatorial, and Labrys. It publishes poems in English, in particular by English-language poets in exile, translations into English alongside the originals, interviews with poets, and appraisals of current poetry scenes...' Wolfgang Görtschacher
'A plainly elegant layout, making the most of its size to incorporate sequences and longer poems, articles and plenty of reviews .... The contents are global ... all saying what has to be said, in ways and words you wish you'd imagined. Shining intelligence, to brighten and inspire serious poetry lovers.' Orbis
to subscribe to submit current issue front cover poem
'Few publications deliver consistently good issues — The Journal is among them. Filled with well-written poems from some of the best contemporary poets I've ever read, The Journal is the definitive showpiece of the small press. Each issue also contains thorough book and journal reviews composed by writers whose love of literature is evident.' Hyacinthe L. Raven Via Dolorosa Press (USA)
'...interesting and experimental while avoiding the obscure and unnecessarily difficult. Add to the excellent selection of poetry, some interesting and insightful reviews and The Journal is a must for anyone who loves poetry and is not afraid of a bit of experimentation and the new insights that this can bring.' Juliet Wilson
..within UK - current issue £4.00, annual subscription (3 issues) £11.00
...outside UK - current issue £5.00, annual subscription (3 issues) £13.00 (all cheques in UK currency please and made payable to 'Sam Smith'.) Or through PayPal.....
The Journal receives no public funds, depends entirely on sales and subscriptions.
Sam Smith The Journal & original plus
17 High Street
Maryport,
Cumbria CA15 6BQ
UK
{To check out previous issues of The Journal go to the Poetry Library Or to receive a free sample copy of The Journal (a previous issue) please send a self-addressed A4 envelope along with sufficient stamps to cover postage up to 250grams. UK only}
to submit current issue front cover poem return to top?
#27 The Journal
has an 'interview' with the blind deaf poet John Lee Clark, whose first name, for some reason best known to the left side of my brain, got changed to 'David' in the index. Martin Holroyd mourns the passing of his friend Aeronwy Thomas, Laura Chalar translates Líber Falco, and there are reviews by Emma Lee, Sam Smith, Andrew Taylor and Frances Thompson.
It being The Journal's raison d'être there are of course also poems in #27
- by Jim Bennett, Jim Brearton, Robin Brumby, Laura Chalar, Martin Cook, Brian Daldorph, James Edwards, Líber Falco, Kerry Featherstone, David H W Grubb, Joseph Hart, Martin Holroyd, Gisela Hoyle, Jeffrey Kahrs, Chris Major, Fatima AL Matar, Gill McEvoy, Philip Miller, Mary Ocher, Michael Pedersen, Erica Rösi, Brandon S. Roy, Gordon Scapens, K V Skene, Mende Smith, George Such, Dan Tuohy, Philip A. Waterhouse, Robin Lindsay Wilson & Grahaeme Barrasford Young.
Enjoy!
to subscribe to submit front cover poem return to top?
The Bee-orchid Collector
Velvet bees have climbed its stem,
settled on its wind-vane petals .
She spreads her hand —
five shadows loop like snakes —
and snap! She plucks it. It is hers!
Tomorrow she'll place the orchid
in her teacher's eager hand.
From the pocket where his fingers
fumble during class
he'll draw his Judas coin,
ruffle her hair, call her "Pet", and gloat.
All the class will cut her dead.
The coin clutched in her fist
will burn into her palm.
* poems in English please, or translations into English (about 6 at a time)
* also welcome are interviews with poets, reviews, appreciations or appraisals of current poetry scenes
* if, within UK, a reply is desired, enclose SAE (email submissions only as part of email text, not as an attached file.)
* from outside UK enclose 2xIRCs, or submit by email (email submissions only as part of email text, not as an attached file.)
* payment will be one complimentary copy to each author
* copyright will remain with author
editorial policy is '...to try to publish those poems — from wheresoever they may come — written with thought to what the poem is saying and to how it is being said. Also welcomed are poems that can travel, that can cross boundaries, that do not assume in their readers a shared knowledge nor a shared set of beliefs. And it will be a rare day when I take a poem about being a poet or about the writing of poems. Also, because my aim is to keep The Journal secular, any poem containing religious terminology will not be considered for publication....'
email - smithsssj@aol.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------to subscribe to submit current issue front cover poem return to top?
