Poetry Magazines - The best collection of poetry magazines online - Simon Armitage

We must thank our subscribers and readers for their patience during the period of hand-over for the magazine: it seems to have taken a long time to get all the paperwork and bureaucracy sorted out, and this issue to press, so we hope that the wait will have been worthwhile. Many thanks are due to Ann Atkinson and Chris Jones for their support during the transition, and hopefully no further questions about obscure forms for Companies House or bank statements and accounting formats will now be cluttering their email inboxes.

   With all that out of the way, and this double issue now in print, the schedule of three issues a year is back on track. The next issue, in the autumn, will focus on writing and storytelling of all kinds in Staple’s new home city of Nottingham and the surrounding East Midlands, so any writers from the region wishing to submit poems, stories, articles or opinions - contributing in the broadest sense or reflecting on the literary identity of the region - are very welcome, and we look forward to discovering a few surprises and new names along the way.

   For Spring 2008 we will also be looking to produce an issue examining some of the many questions facing writers and readers in the UK, from workshops and agents to retail, prizes and book groups, in a publishing industry special issue. We are delighted that Rebecca Swift and Caroline McCarthy of The Literary Consultancy in London - who some of you may know from their regional Free Reads scheme aimed at giving professional feedback to promising new writers - have agreed to act as guest editors on this challenging issue.

   2008 will also mark the opening of Nottingham’s CCAN gallery of contemporary art and to mark the occasion we are planning an issue on the long and productive connections between writing, performance and visual art. Proposals, ideas and submissions for all of these issues will be much appreciated, and work will be selected on a rolling basis, with no need to wait until nearer the time of publication to submit. We will, of course, continue to publish the best of the poems and stories that drop through the letterbox in these future issues.

   Due to the increased reviews coverage, we are also seeking contributors for short reviews in future issues, if only to prevent them carrying quite so many from the pen of the editor as this one. If anyone is interested in joining our list of regulars please choose a recent publication you’ve enjoyed or feel strongly about and tell us what you think in no more than 800 words. Publishers and editors should continue to forward books, pamphlets and magazines for review to C.J. Allen at the usual address.

   Finally, we now have a website where news of events and future issues will be posted.
Please go to www.staplemagazine.wordpress.com for details.