September Pause, October Return

[To read the latest updates, please visit the FAQ at the bottom of this page.]

Dear Reader,

We’d like to share some updates on the next issues of Poetry magazine. 

This September, Poetry is breaking from its legacy of continuous publication and will not print a monthly issue for the first time since its founding by Harriet Monroe in 1912.

Magazine staff made this decision to put people before production. We are acting in part out of necessity, and in majority out of respect to our community, poets, and staff. The manifold violence of our world demands more from us. The Poetry Foundation and Poetry magazine must be agents of antiracism to build a more loving, supportive, and inclusive community.

We cannot escape Poetry’s history, which we have exalted and continue to profit from. We are committed to understanding that history better in order to dismantle its structures and reparate the magazine’s debt to Black people, Indigenous people, other people of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, disabled people, and other marginalized groups of people who have been exploited, sidelined, and tokenized in support of white dominant culture. This pause is a necessary part of Poetry magazine’s reckoning with the deep-seated white supremacy of our organization. 

We know one missed issue is a small gesture symbolizing our desire to do better.  We are taking time to assess, diagnose, and reimagine everything—this requires both immediate and long-term work in coordination with the goals outlined in the Poetry Foundation and Poetry magazine’s Open Letter of Commitment. To start, Poetry will resume publishing issues beginning in October 2020, this time through a shared editorship until new editors can be hired. Many poems have been accepted by Don Share and not yet been published, and interim editors Holly Amos, Lindsay Garbutt, and Fred Sasaki will be in touch with the authors of these poems about their wishes for publication, to honor our existing commitments to our contributors and the excellence of the work therein.  

We will use this interim period to:

• Interrogate and reconfigure the magazine’s editorial processes, power structures, and hiring practices, in coordination with staff, consultants, and community input
• Examine and rework submission guidelines and reading processes
• Work with an independent HR consultant that specializes in diversity, equity, and inclusion for all job listings
• Extend all subscriptions by one issue to make up for the missed September issue

We acknowledge that Poetry magazine and the Poetry Foundation are a public trust, and we are indebted to our readers, contributors, subscribers—our poetry community—for demanding change in our world. 

With love,

Fred, Holly, and Lindsay

We will communicate our progress as we proceed. We have answered some initial questions below. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Updated October 16, 2020

What will happen until a new editor is hired?

Magazine editorial staff members Holly Amos, Lindsay Garbutt, and Fred Sasaki will work together as interim editors until a new editor or editors can be hired. 

How will the search for the next editor be conducted?

The Poetry Foundation is working with consultants that specialize in diversity, equity, and inclusion to create public job postings and reimagine our search process to be transparent and equitable. Most immediately, the magazine team will partner with a series of guest editors as we continue to interrogate and reconfigure the magazine’s editorial processes. We opened the guest editor search and published the job posting earlier this month (October). 

Are there any other forthcoming changes to staff?

Job postings for guest editors and an editorial assistant opened in October. 

How was the October issue compiled?

The October issue includes many works selected earlier this year by Don Share, as well as some new work selected by the interim editors.

What will happen with poems and prose Don Share already accepted, but which have not yet been published?

The interim editors have been reaching out to the authors of these pieces, and will follow through on our commitment to publishing previously accepted work; all authors continue to have the option to pause, pull, or move forward. Work already accepted by Don Share will continue to appear in forthcoming issues through January 2021, along with newly accepted work.

What other changes are in progress?

We are evaluating and reimagining the magazine’s editorial processes, structures, and staffing in consultation with our colleagues and an independent equity audit to ensure a path forward of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Poetry Magazine Podcast has resumed on a biweekly schedule with the October 2020 issue. Revised submission guidelines will appear on our Submittable page when submissions reopen later this year. 

I submitted work to Poetry earlier this year. What will happen with my submission?

We are reading through all submissions we have already received. Our response time remains around eight months. We are extremely hopeful this response time will shorten once our new hiring is completed.

How will the September pause affect my subscription?

All print and digital subscriptions will automatically be extended by one issue (e.g. if your subscription was set to expire with the September issue, it will now expire with the October issue).

Will I be refunded for the missing September issue?

We extended your subscription to make up for the missing issue, so you will receive the full number of issues you paid for.  

When is the next issue of Poetry going to be published?

Publishing resumed with the October 2020 issue. Our monthly publication and delivery schedule will continue as usual.

How will the pause of the September issue impact the poets who contribute to the magazine and rely on that income?

We plan to run larger issues through the rest of the year so that we pay the same annual number of contributors.

Which issue will be Don Share’s last as editor of Poetry?

Don Share, editor of Poetry magazine, announced his retirement, effective August 31. His last issue as editor was the July/August 2020 issue. You can read his outgoing “Editor’s Note” here. 

How can I write to the editors or provide input on future changes?

We welcome feedback about the work we’re doing and how we’re doing it. If you’d like to write a letter to the editors, please email [email protected].