Monday, February 12, 2007
13 E-Zines I Enjoy Greatly
Entry on this list is based on good poetry, eye-catching (not eye-hurting) appearance and layout, and fresh ideas for presenting poems. The e-zines I like both for reading and submitting are generally a little more oriented toward cutting-edge poetry than the print journals I listed. There are also, sadly, too many good online journals for this list to do justice, so this should be taken as a quick survey, not an actual ranking of any sort.
1. DIAGRAM. Great combination of eclectic work, nice appearance, and features like a cumulative index of authors, plus the print hybrid side.
2. Octopus. One of the few journals to currently have multiple samples on my Recommended Reading page. Sure, that's at least partly statistical blip, but it's indicative of the quality of work.
3. No Tell Motel. Highly distinctive visual design, and I like the idea of running poems by the author each day of the week, even when I don't like them all.
4. MiPOesias. Tons of interesting work and multimedia features. The navigation can be a little confusing, and I don't like that the audio on many pages autoplays, but those are minor negatives.
5. Blackbird. A little more conventional, but lots of heavy hitters and good poems. I kind of wish they'd stop publishing work ("new" or old) by the long-deceased (pet peeve of mine is all).
6. H_NGM_N. I love the eclectic batch of sections (poetry, fiction, "EP" poetry, sections on specific poets, essays, art, comics) and find plenty of poetry to like.
7. Unpleasant Event Schedule. Singular, enjoyable taste in poems (one of the places I sent work where I had the best idea of what might do well) and spotlights each author nicely for a whole week or more.
8. Dusie. Really won me over with that giant DIY chapbook issue, but they publish a lot of exciting work each time out.
9. Poetry Southeast. Relatively young, but they showcase a sharp look-and-feel and good poems. Surprising number of Names too.
10. Typo. Seems like an apt title insofar as the font is blocky and the look is bare-bones, which is fine when the poetry is strong as often as it is here.
11. three candles. One thing three candles does nicely to take advantage of the online venue is rolling addition of work rather than regular issues. I'd just like to see it updated more frequently.
12. storySouth. I'm a sucker for Southern literature and for Jake York's writing when it shows up there.
13. 42opus. Afraid I have to mark down for the new bloggy look (the reason no Blogspot journals made it on here, even the ones with good content), but it does use blog features to some good effect.
Well, one thing I learned is that 13 is too few to cover all the online journals I wanted to. So what are some you like that I didn't get on here?
Edited in for our Blackbird friend: I'm not against archiving work of deceased poets like Levis or Plath (that would be a bit odd), but I am uncomfortable seeing said work mainstreamed into the first-run poetry of a journal, especially obviously substandard poems like Plath's. Special Levis archive section, great. Plath juvenilia in the author list with whoever actually sent work for this issue, pretty weird for me. And I said right up front it was a pet peeve, not some universal standard.
1. DIAGRAM. Great combination of eclectic work, nice appearance, and features like a cumulative index of authors, plus the print hybrid side.
2. Octopus. One of the few journals to currently have multiple samples on my Recommended Reading page. Sure, that's at least partly statistical blip, but it's indicative of the quality of work.
3. No Tell Motel. Highly distinctive visual design, and I like the idea of running poems by the author each day of the week, even when I don't like them all.
4. MiPOesias. Tons of interesting work and multimedia features. The navigation can be a little confusing, and I don't like that the audio on many pages autoplays, but those are minor negatives.
5. Blackbird. A little more conventional, but lots of heavy hitters and good poems. I kind of wish they'd stop publishing work ("new" or old) by the long-deceased (pet peeve of mine is all).
6. H_NGM_N. I love the eclectic batch of sections (poetry, fiction, "EP" poetry, sections on specific poets, essays, art, comics) and find plenty of poetry to like.
7. Unpleasant Event Schedule. Singular, enjoyable taste in poems (one of the places I sent work where I had the best idea of what might do well) and spotlights each author nicely for a whole week or more.
8. Dusie. Really won me over with that giant DIY chapbook issue, but they publish a lot of exciting work each time out.
9. Poetry Southeast. Relatively young, but they showcase a sharp look-and-feel and good poems. Surprising number of Names too.
10. Typo. Seems like an apt title insofar as the font is blocky and the look is bare-bones, which is fine when the poetry is strong as often as it is here.
11. three candles. One thing three candles does nicely to take advantage of the online venue is rolling addition of work rather than regular issues. I'd just like to see it updated more frequently.
12. storySouth. I'm a sucker for Southern literature and for Jake York's writing when it shows up there.
13. 42opus. Afraid I have to mark down for the new bloggy look (the reason no Blogspot journals made it on here, even the ones with good content), but it does use blog features to some good effect.
Well, one thing I learned is that 13 is too few to cover all the online journals I wanted to. So what are some you like that I didn't get on here?
Edited in for our Blackbird friend: I'm not against archiving work of deceased poets like Levis or Plath (that would be a bit odd), but I am uncomfortable seeing said work mainstreamed into the first-run poetry of a journal, especially obviously substandard poems like Plath's. Special Levis archive section, great. Plath juvenilia in the author list with whoever actually sent work for this issue, pretty weird for me. And I said right up front it was a pet peeve, not some universal standard.
Comments:
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Blackbird's presentation and archiving of works by Larry Levis is both commendable and necessary. Shame on you for suggesting otherwise! What are some of your other pet peeves? Reading poetry?
# posted by 
: February 13, 2007 11:55 AM
: February 13, 2007 11:55 AM
I was actually referring first and foremost to the recent publication of mediocre juvenilia by Sylvia Plath. The Levis archiving is better, though I still question the wisdom of having it listed among the new work as if it's, well, new work.
By the way, since the stat tracker notes your host as VCU, I assume you're affiliated with Blackbird (or are close to someone who is). It might behoove you to note such affiliations instead of posting anonymously to maintain the perception that you're objective.
As for your rhetorical questions, perhaps you should look at the list again and realize I'm complimenting all these journals. I like Blackbird.
By the way, since the stat tracker notes your host as VCU, I assume you're affiliated with Blackbird (or are close to someone who is). It might behoove you to note such affiliations instead of posting anonymously to maintain the perception that you're objective.
As for your rhetorical questions, perhaps you should look at the list again and realize I'm complimenting all these journals. I like Blackbird.
How dare you imply you don't like every single author on No Tell Motel! Every poem selected is fabulous, every poet brilliant -- those NTM editors have some superb taste -- if you don't agree with every single choice, well, shame on you, put a bag over your head, stick a zuchinni in your arse, make a homemade tee shirt that says "I'm a Poetry Wanker" and wear it everywhere! You people!
Signed,
Anon
Signed,
Anon
What, no Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments, the one at http://www.terrain.org (I'm trying to be more blatant but that's as blatant as I can be, I think; wait, this will help: I edit Terrain.org)?! Alas, there are a lot of good ones out there, for sure. Born Magazine is one I adore.
And now for something completely off-topic: You coming to AWP?
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And now for something completely off-topic: You coming to AWP?
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