newWitch Poet's Pointers
September 20, 2006, Kenaz Filan, Managing Editor

POET'S POINTERS
Last Updated September 20, 2006
Kenaz Filan, Managing Editor
We only have room for a few poems each issue, so the competition is fierce. Here are some tips which may help bring your work to the top of our submissions pile.

READ LOTS OF POETRY
Get a few poetry anthologies. Note the poems that speak to you, then seek out other works by those poets. Examine your favorites thoroughly: see what effects the poet created and how they did it. Explore how critics responded (positively or negatively) to your favorite poems and poets. This will help you to ...

MASTER THE TOOLS OF POETRY
Learn the meaning of terms like "heroic couplet," "Shakespearean sonnet" and "iambic pentameter." Even if you don't use these devices, you should know what they are and how they work. Be on the lookout for delightful, provocative, or powerful words and turns of phrase. Read your poems aloud so that you become conscious of their internal rhythms. Attending poetry slams is great for this, which leads us to ....

NETWORK WITH OTHER POETS
There are many forums out there for writers and poets. Join them and participate. Expect to receive frank critiques of your work -- and to give frank critiques in return. Go to slams and readings. Talking shop can help you be a better poet. But, of course, it's useless unless you...

WRITE A LOT OF POETRY
Writing is like any other craft: you improve with practice. Don't be afraid to experiment -- and don't be afraid to write some poetry that fails in a spectacular fashion. Often we learn from our mistakes. After we've figured out what's wrong with a few hundred of our bad poems, we're likely to come up with a few halfway decent ones. Then send out your best, but be sure you...

KNOW YOUR MARKETS
Read an issue or two of your target magazine. See the types of poetry they run. Learn their favored tone, styles, and subject matter. Then, if you like their poetry, send them some samples of your best work – or write a poem which fits their needs.

From the general to the specific: the main thing I'm looking for in newWitch is intense devotional poetry. Here are a few buzzwords, just to give you some idea of my artistic vision and prejudices.
Milton. Blake. Yeats. Sufi love poems. T.S. Eliot. Child ballads. Hans Christian Andersen. Baudelaire. Rimbaud. The Seventh Seal. Florid Catholic mysticism. Flannery O'Connor. Kierkegaard. Anglo-Saxon poetry. Gerard Manley Hopkins. Symbolism. Stuff that grabs you by the throat or the heart and lingers after you finish.

Please submit no more than 4-5 poems at one time, and please wait for a response before sending another batch. We'll try to get back to you as quickly as we can: we're writers too and we know what it's like to have manuscripts orphaned in slush piles. Submit in the body of an e-mail or as a Microsoft Word or RTF file to meditor@newwitch.com. While e-mailed submissions are greatly preferred, you can also send hard copies with an SASE to

newWitch
P.O. Box 687
Forest Grove, OR 97116
USA

Thank you for your interest in newWitch and best of luck to you.

Kenaz Filan
Managing Editor, newWitch magazine