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
#66 The Journal not only has mention of cinematic celebrities and tells of the Russian compulsion to make lists, but an article by Rob Morgan; and these fine folk – Daniel Bennett, Emma Lee, Melissa Todd and myself – reviewing publications by these equally driven people - Jean Atkin, Graham Buchan, Prathiba Castle, Elena Croitoru, Martin Figura, Mélisande Fitzsimons, Charlie Hill, Adam Horovitz, Mehmet Izbudak, David Lawrence, Rosie Jackson, Dominic James, Jenny Johnson, Paul McGrane, Alan Price, Estill Pollock, L.S. Schneider, Ron Scowcroft, Douglas Thompson and Aileen la Tourette.
It being The Journal's raison d'être there are of course poems in #66 by Ken Anderson / Christopher Barnes / Daniel Bennett / Carmelita Sanchez Borges / David Callin / Laura Chalar / Stephen Claughton / Brian Daldorph / Ingid Diaz / Mélisande Fitzsimons / Alexandra Fössinger / Matthew Friday / Jeff Gallagher / Francisco Garamona / Dan Grote / Kenny Knight / Andrew Lumborg / Gill McEvoy / Mike McNamara / Robert Nisbet / Donna Pucciani / Partha Sarkar / Steve Spence / Georgina Titmus / Patricia Welles / Geoff William / Rodney Wood / Gareth Writer-Davies and Mantz Yorke.
Time to take out/renew the subscription?
to subscribe to The Journal an annual subscription (3 issues, UK only) is £14.00 The PayPal button below often refusing to work payment can still be made by going directly to the PayPal website and making payment to The Journal via smithsssj@aol.com or 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) £5.00 Again, should the PayPal button refuse to work payment can still be made by going directly to the PayPal website and making payment to The Journal via smithsssj@aol.com or 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
________________________________________________
From #63 onwards due to a spate of increased postal costs here in the UK I have had to raise the cost of a single issue to £5.00 the annual subscription (3 issues) to £14.00
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.
* payment will be one complimentary copy to each author
* copyright will remain with author
* from outside UK enclose 2xIRCs, or submit by email .
* 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
#66 front cover poem by Patricia Welles
Lunch with Brando
He rented the restaurant. No one was present
except me, my twin sister and playful, Carlo Fiori,
his procurer stand-in.
The waiters stood at attention,
plastered against the plastered walls
which displayed faded paintings of attic Greece,
the Parthenon - Socrates' naked boyfriend
wearing a transparent thong.
Trans-cultural Brando had pale hair, blank blue eyes,
nothing mysterious, no dark presence.
He mumbled lines about Indians,
the kind Christopher Columbus discovered
when he believed he had arrived in India.
Brando stared through the gauze of unreality,
a character in Plato's cave,
watching the real flicker on the walls.
He tongued the Souvlaki, unaware that this day
the Hopi player Prince would have
no me too Pocahontases,
no tepee, no hash pipe. No dessert.
