Home - The Journal

'...plenty of different styles of poetry in each issue. The result is that, whilst The Journal will never have that sense of comforting familiarity that some 'zine have developed, it will always stretch your boundaries.' The Supplement #73

'...an international magazine in the tradition of Poesie Europe, Ecuatorial, and Labrys. It publishes poems in English, in particular by English-language poets in exile, translations into English alongside the originals, interviews with poets, and appraisals of current poetry scenes...' Wolfgang Görtschacher

'A plainly elegant layout, making the most of its size to incorporate sequences and longer poems, articles and plenty of reviews .... The contents are global ... all saying what has to be said, in ways and words you wish you'd imagined. Shining intelligence, to brighten and inspire serious poetry lovers.' Orbis

'Few publications deliver consistently good issues — The Journal is among them. Filled with well-written poems from some of the best contemporary poets I've ever read, The Journal is the definitive showpiece of the small press. Each issue also contains thorough book and journal reviews composed by writers whose love of literature is evident.' Hyacinthe L. Raven Via Dolorosa Press (USA)

'...interesting and experimental while avoiding the obscure and unnecessarily difficult. Add to the excellent selection of poetry, some interesting and insightful reviews and The Journal is a must for anyone who loves poetry and is not afraid of a bit of experimentation and the new insights that this can bring.' Juliet Wilson

current issue (Going in the post from 20th June 2018 onwards....)

While Neil Leadbeater interviewed Ben Banyard in The Journal #55, and Matt Duggan told of his US poetry jaunt, Andrew, Andy, Emma and I got on with reviewing collections by these folk - Peter Challis, Kay Cotton, Matt Duggan, Brett Evans, Gareth Farmer, John Foggin, Malka al-Haddad, Amy Kinsman, Julia Rose Lewis, Melinda Lovell, Holly Magill, Mark Mansfield, Lee McLaughlin, Andrea Moorhead, Maurice O'Connor, D.E. Oprava, Colin Campbell Robinson, Anna Saunders, Paul Surman., Eileen R Tabois, Michael Thomas, Lydia Unsworth, Robert Walton and Gareth Writer-Davies.


Poetry being the The Journal’s raison d’être #55 contains work from this bumper crew - Chrissy Banks / Michael Baron / Jim Bennett / Zöe Broome / Robin Brumby / David Callin / Laura Chalar / Kitty Coles / Brian Daldorph / John Daniel / Kelly Davis / Holly Day / Gregg Dotoli / James Fountain / Christina Hemsley / Wendy Holborow / John-Christopher Johnson / Khalid Khan / Mark Lee / Frederico García Lorca / Andrew Lumborg / Robert Nisbet / Simon Perchik / Laura Potts / Alyson Rees / Juan Manuel Roca / Gordon Scapens / Barry Smith / Ewan Smith / Maria Stadnicka / James Turner / John Vickers / Michelle Wareham / Merryn Williams / Robin Lindsay Wilson / Martin Zarrop


Time to take out/renew the subscription?

to subscribe to The Journal an annual subscription (3 issues) is £13.00


and within the UK a single copy, current issue, is £4.50

If by snailmail all cheques in UK currency please and made payable to 'Sam Smith'.

38 Pwllcarn Terrace

Blaengarw

Bridgend

South Wales

CF32 8AS

UK

The Journal receives no public funds, depends entirely on sales and subscriptions.

{To check out previous issues of The Journal go to the Poetry Library http://www.poetrymagazines.org.uk/magazine/index.asp?id=90 Or to receive a free sample copy of The Journal (a previous issue) please send a self-addressed A4 envelope along with sufficient stamps to cover postage up to 250grams. UK only}


to submit

editorial policy is '...to try to publish those poems — from wheresoever they may come — written with thought to what the poem is saying and to how it is being said. Also welcomed are poems that can travel, that can cross boundaries, that do not assume in their readers a shared knowledge nor a shared set of beliefs. And it will be a rare day when I take a poem about being a poet or about the writing of poems. Also, because my aim is to keep The Journal secular, any poem containing religious terminology will not be considered for publication....'

* poems in English please, or translations into English (about 6 at a time)

* also welcome are interviews with poets, reviews, appreciations or appraisals of current poetry scenes

* if, within UK, a reply is desired, enclose SAE (email submissions only as part of email text, not as an attached file.)

* payment will be one complimentary copy to each author

* copyright will remain with author

* from outside UK enclose 2xIRCs, or submit by email (email submissions only as part of email text, not as an attached file.)

* But before submitting work from outside the UK please be aware of the following - In 2012 the Royal Mail failed to deliver #36 The Journal to overseas subscribers and contributors for more than two months after posting, and this despite my having had Post Office counter staff weigh and price every envelope containing a copy of #36. This failure caused not only disappointment, but also some bad feeling. The Journal is a labour of love, and I don't need to even feel accused of bad faith. So from #38 on I will no longer send contributor's copies abroad via the Royal Mail, nor accept any subscriptions from outside the UK. I will, however, send to those who still wish to contribute from outside the UK a pdf file of the relevant issue as an email attachment. And I will of course endeavour to meet all outstanding obligations, but please don't blame me if the Royal Mail fails again to deliver.

original plus, having found a good short run printer in Imprint Digital, is once again able to consider the publication of perfect bound full collections as well as poetry chapbooks. Consideration of either usually follows from publication in The Journal.

email - asamsmith@hotmail.com

John Vickers' front cover poem for #55


Voluntary Admittance


My mind is a tiny cushion full of pins,

It blows up into a sea of Mars, underground,

From where it can’t relax beneath a scar,

The body is endlessly walking into a volcano.

I am grateful now for the slowness,

Counting backwards as if a maths test

Into a heavenly slumber

Where my eyes are restored

Into focus, the sight of waterfalls and gazelle.

Paranoia can’t cease believing a road crash

Is my responsibility, I didn’t hit the brakes.

An atom spelling fate, a foot-long millipede,

A strange rendition of spectacular piano music

Too loud to be permitted, drops of acid rain

Felt in the kitchen, a Chinese takeaway

Allowed to fester in a corridor.

The miracle drug makes me thirsty

With an embarrassing tremor

In soft, white tablets.