Note: the 2021 Rankings are available here.
Below is the 2020 Perpetual Folly Literary Magazine Ranking for Poetry. Go here to read about the methodology.
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2020 Literary Magazine Ranking–Poetry
New Madrid Review (#236) ceased publication in 2018.
Like a candidate who “suspends” his campaign, New Madrid has left the door open to return by announcing that they’ve been forced to “suspend publication.” Call me an optimist, but I’m hopeful they can make a comeback. But thank you for the headsup. I appreciate all info like this and I’ll keep an eye on it.
Thank you very much for compiling these lists year after year.
Forgive me if others have already noted the following:
*both Field and Tin House announced that their end-of-2019 issue is their final issue
*Arroyo Literary Review announced a hiatus in 2018 and maintains that announcement on their website to date
Thanks for the information. Regarding Tin House, until an announcement this month, TH was going to continue posting original content online, which meant in my mind that it was still, basically, operating a magazine. But as of Feb. 5, they are no longer going to do that. I’ll keep an eye on Field, but I don’t see this announcement on their website. And it looks like Arroyo’s hiatus might not be permanent, so again I’ll keep an eye on that. Once again, thank you very much for passing these developments along!
Thank you for doing this work.
The FIELD website says, “The final issue of FIELD [Issue #100, Spring 2019] is a celebratory collection of the present and the past.” http://www2.oberlin.edu/ocpress/field.html
The hard copy of Issue #99 discusses the decision to cease publication more fully.
And there was no Fall 2019 issue. They seem shuttered for good. They will be sorely missed.
Thank you.
Amazing Work Cliff! Thank you so much for compiling this list. From my tracking dossier sheet made from your rankings, here are some updates/notes on journals in the rank list:
Defunct / on hiatus / possibly defunct / Haven’t accepted submissions for a while
– Tin House
– Field
– Arroyo Literary Review
– Awl
– Codex
– Volta
– 5 a.m.
– Assaracus
– Fifth Wednesday (possibly closed)
– Forklift Ohio
– Nebraska Poets Calendar
– Pilot Light
– Poems & Plays
– Verse Wisconsin
– Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review
– Bloom
– Cossack Review
– Exit 7
– Heart
– Jai-Alai
– OmniVerse
– One Throne
– Pluck
– Rove
– Upstairs at Duroc (?)
– Yarn
– Barefoot Muse
– Connecticut Review
– InDigest (?)
– New Madrid
– Sink Review
– Specs
– Verse Magazine
No unsolicited submissions:
– Poem-a-Day (Academy of American Poets)
– American Scholar
– Brick
– Bettering American Poetry (Anthology – unsure if they have open submission calls)
– Upstreet
– Verse Daily
– World Literature Today
Restrictions on content or contributors:
– Image (Christian Art)
– Nepantla (only seek contributions from Queer POC poets)
– Butcher’s Dog (only UK/ROI poets)
– Crab Orchard Review (Only US Citizens/PR/DACA/TPS for prizes. Not sure if the same applies for general submissions)
– River Teeth Journal (not sure about this, but it seems to not have a poetry section – I might be wrong though)
– Kweli Journal (Highlights POC writers)
– Shade Journal (Queer POC contributors)
– Bloom (LGBT+ contributors)
– Chinquapin Literary Magazine (possibly only open to USC students??)
– MIZNA – Focused on Arab-American issues
– Calyx – Women contributors only
– Long Island Quarterly – People with strong ties to Long Island
– New Haven Review – Same, just with New Haven
Other Notes
– Word Temple Press – The website isn’t great on details
– TAB – Has moved to ‘Anastamos’
– Margie – is this now the American Journal of Poetry? There is some lack of clarity here – There was a separate listing for both in your previous ranking lists
Thank you. Most of the closed journals on your list were already so marked in the rankings with a (c) (such as Tin House, Field, etc.), and several where there are questions were marked with (?). But I have noted several of the other journals you’ve raised questions about, including a few that will be added to my “closed” list. There are a number of journals “on hiatus” and I don’t generally note that, as they may revive.
Donating. Such a great resource for emerging writers, and a great indication of where to subscribe!
It’s nice to see Beloit is moving back up. (Also, Birmingham Poetry Review climbed a long ways.) Since I don’t currently have access to a copy of the Pushcart comp., do you know if the sudden, big changes for these couple of pubs. was mostly b/c of 1-2 noted contributors–or the work of several?
In both cases, the jump was because of winning 2 prizes in the 2020 volume, a rare feat.