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

closed to submissions

#70 will be the last issue until such times as I get my finances on a more even keel or until such time as The Royal Mail reduces their charges. Meanwhile #70 The Journal has poetry by these estimable folk - Ken Anderson / Annemarie Austin / Christopher Barnes / Robin Brumby / Claire Booker / Marc Carver / Agamenón Castrillón / Laura Chalar / Julian Colton / Belinda Cooke / Gareth Culshaw / Richard Dinges / Philip Dunkerley / Matthew Friday / Dan Grote / Alice Harrison / Michael Lee Johnson / Siobhan Logan / Phil Knight / Emma Lee / Ian Mullins / Andy Murray / James B. Nicola / Gordon Scapens / Andrew Taylor / Wendy Webb / Merryn Williams / Rodney Wood / Eve Margaret Young

Meanwhile The Journal's team of reviewers – Emma Lee, Steve Spence, Andrew Taylor and myself – have reveiewed in #70 collections by these folk - Tim Allen, Jasmina Bolfek-Radovani, Clive Gresswell, Dan R. Grote, Gram Joel Davies, Laura Cesargo Eglin, Kenny Knight, David Miller, Alan Morrison, Vic Pickup, Alan Price, Paul Sutton, Antoni Sachez-Day, Jocelyn Simms, Emma Storr, Cherrie Taylor, Wendy Ann Webb, Merryn Williams & Geoffrey Winch. I also reviewed the Madness anthology. Collections that didn't get selected for review in #70, or arrived too late, I will try to get reviewed online over the next few months.

Time to take out/renew the subscription?

to subscribe to The Journal an annual subscription (3 issues, UK only) is £16.00 Payment can be made by going directly to the PayPal website and making payment to The Journal via asamsmith@hotmail.com . If you do this please also email me your name and address so that I can send you copies.

Failing that you can send me a cheque, made payable to 'Sam Smith' at The Journal, 38 Pwllcarn Terrace, Blaengarw, Bridgend, CF32 8AS

Single copies of The Journal cost (UK only) £6.00 Payment can still be made by going directly to the PayPal website and making payment to The Journal via asamsmith@hotmail.com . If you do this please also email me your name and address so I can send you your copy.

Failing that you can send me a cheque, made payable to 'Sam Smith' at The Journal, 38 Pwllcarn Terrace, Blaengarw, Bridgend, CF32 8AS

________________________________________________

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

38 Pwllcarn Terrace

Blaengarw

Bridgend

South Wales

CF32 8AS

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}

closed to submissions

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....'

To save The Journal becoming another safe poetry corner we will allow 2 issues to pass before using any poet's work again. Which means that you can submit at any time but, if accepted, your work will not appear until 2 issues after your last appearance in The Journal.

* poems in English please, or translations into English (about 6 at a time) either within the email - asamsmith@hotmail.com - or in a Word Doc file.

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

* if, within UK, a reply is desired, enclose SAE.

* payment will be one complimentary copy to each author

* copyright will remain with author

* from outside UK enclose 2xIRCs, or submit by email .

Subsequent to my blog of 28th March 2023 - https://thesamsmith.webs.com/beginnings2023.htm - The Journal will also now consider poems that have been previously posted on social media feeds.

* 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.

email - asamsmith@hotmail.com

#70's front cover poem is by Annemarie Austin (England)

Pirate Jenny

She turned away from us

and into the solitude of

her own big final concern

that lived in the air just

in front of her nose where

she sat square on the floor

waiting for it to come closer.

Sometime in the night it came

and left her with open mouth

and back legs trailing as though

downed on the way to somewhere.

There it had been. Expected but

not expected quite like that.

You left your coat by the door,

thrown down, and went away,

a little alien even more

now you're undressed.