Here We Are

Su Cho will guest edit the September, October, and November issues of Poetry. Check back here for more posts from Su, and visit our Submittable page for guidelines on how to submit.
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I loved to watch raindrops move against windows as a child. I supposedly welcomed them to our window because I thought it was an honor to have these raindrops pick this window here to rest for a moment until they were ready to continue their journey to wherever they went. I like to think of the pages of any literary magazine, especially this one here, as a rest stop for your work. I don’t see the pages of Poetry as the final destination but a space where work can breathe and take space before taking you to continue your journey elsewhere, going wherever you desire. 

So here we are in this virtual space, in this blog post, in this multifaceted and mellifluous world of poetry. “Here” is one of my favorite words, as uneventful as this word may seem. I love here for its sound, the way it makes my throat stay open for a breath more at the end of the final e, the way it declares space and time. Here we are! Wherever this is, wherever you are reading this, still in the midst of a year brimming with uncertainty. But here, I hope, you and I can find solace or, at the least, a moment of rest. 

Editorial work is people work, and while that might not be the most poetic statement, it certainly embodies a poetic sensibility and duty to our relationships. I am excited to collaborate with a team of tenderhearted readers who are just as excited as I am to usher in a new process at Poetry and to bring in the care and respect poems deserve. These are easy, beautiful words to say, but significant enough that they need to be said. Let’s put these words to work and see where they can take us. I’m excited to embody this commitment with a special call for collaborative poetry and prose. This is a moment to reimagine and break open what it means to center community and collaboration. I invite you and your creative partners to submit work that showcases the brilliant minds that help us create the art we are accustomed to experiencing in polished form on the page and screen.    

As editors, writers, and readers, I believe that we are only just beginning, and that gives us the freedom to create, to evolve, and to reimagine. How boundless, how exciting is that? Let’s find out, together.