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

This issue of The Coffee House marks our seventh appearance in print. As usual, the magazine contains an international mixture of poetry and prose from Divya Mathur’s elegantly crafted words, to a poem on the Dublin street performer ‘The Diceman’ by Liam O’Meara and pieces by voices local to Charnwood such as Mary Cooper and Robert Coles. Artwork this time comes from myself, Charnwood Arts’ own Kevin Ryan and Simon Davies.

Also, the issue sees a tribute to American contributor Anthony Piccione, who died in November 2001. As with all such memorials this wasn’t something I foresaw including. As Tony’s work formed such a big part of previous issues and also occasioned some of the most interesting reader responses to the magazine, I felt that a short article introducing British readers to the wider scope of his work would be appropriate. If the inclusion of this article means that anyone’s work has been moved into the next issue, I apologise and hope contributors will bear with me. Issue Seven is dedicated to Anthony Piccione, one of the magazine’s greatest supporters and a superbly lyrical American poet.

Just as I was always encouraged to receive work from Tony, I’ve been really heartened recently by the number of previous contributors who’ve sent me more pieces. Indeed, over the last few months, The Coffee House’s postbag has greatly expanded. This has made me even more aware of how many diverse forms contemporary poets are using, including everything from sonnets to mixed form. I think that one of the best things that a little magazine can do is to reflect this diversity. Likewise, as far as submissions of short fiction go, it’s really interesting to see how many authors are expanding the form, experimenting with punctuation, spacing and language use to create authentic and modern voices.

I hope you enjoy this issue and would like to thank all our subscribers and contributors for their continued support. Thanks for all poems received that reminded me not just that poetry sings but of the diversity of its song. In a wonderful poem called ‘The Two Lakes’ (in Dermot Healy’s 1992 collection The Ballyconnell Colours, from the Gallery Press) there is a description of a birdless landscape at Lough Conn. After telling you that no birds inhabit Lough Conn, the poet goes on to ask ‘so where / Does the singing / Come From?’. This question seems a good one to ask of poetry itself and was recalled to me when choosing from the wealth of poems offered for this issue.