Friday, August 10, 2007

The Saranac Review (une autre fois)


Is Saranac Review ever good! Last night I got up in the wee hours (insomnia) and read about half the poems in the current issue, #3. Just lapped them up. All of them are interesting, engaging, or excellent; and so far there is one lengthy poem, Alphabet of Bones by Alexis Lathem, that is a true tour de force. Quality like this in reviews is so rare, as Jordan Davis so eloquently pointed out in a blog post about a year ago. (Kinda makes yrs. truly feel good to be included.) Almost all the poets get one or two selections, and yet the poems blend harmoniously and reflect off each other. The magazine as a whole has a sense of flow and completion. It's well- and purposefully edited, in other words.

This review, by the way, allows simultaneous submissions on the condition that poets notify them of acceptance elsewhere. Clearly, this gives the lie to editors who forbid "sim subs" on the grounds that it makes a coherent selection next to impossible.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Brian,

Thanks for the good word on SR. We're very proud of our efforts. And please let fellow Canadian writers know that we're hungry for their work.

JL Torres
Co-Editor & Managing Editor
Saranac Review

Anonymous said...

Brian,

I am so pleased that you like the Saranac Review and find "Alphabet of Bones"by Alexis Lathem as strong a piece of work as we do. We were thrilled to have your work in our journal. Please continue to spread the word to other Canadian writers.

Michael Carrino
Co-editor & Poetry Editor
Saranac Review

Brian Campbell said...

Thanks, both of you. I'd say you should contact both the Quebec Writer's Federation and the Canadian League of Poets (links to both on my sidebar) and ask them to put your call for submissions on their newsletter, which goes to all members. Other provinces have their writer's organizations too.

You've reminded me that I should get my own submission ready for the upcoming issue. Will do so -- toute suite.