So, back when this all began, this labor of love called A Poetry Congeries, I happened to speak to a well-known poet from whom I’d hoped to get some poems. After learning of my intention to not publish the same poet twice, he said something like, “How are you going to keep that up? There aren’t that many poets worth a damn.” If you know me at all., you know I am a persistent person. So, I got on with it. We hit the ground running in September of 2009, and here we are, still at it. No poet has appeared more than once (though several translators have) in the Congeries. This is not so remarkable in terms of available poets; there are many more poets on my list who’ve not yet received or answered my call. Many. They’re all worth a damn, too.
Still, it has gotten harder. Many of the hip young poets don’t even respond to queries or otherwise keep themselves inaccessible. Maybe they really are so overwhelmed with queries they need to shut themselves away and make it impossible to find a way to reach them. I don’t know. Must be nice. Anyway, soon it will become necessary to begin the process of revisiting poets who’ve previously published their work in this space. That’ll be okay. Have a look at the folks who have published here, and you’ll see why. I remain grateful to the hundreds of poets and other writers who’ve trusted me with their work these past decades.
In any case, I dare anyone to find a literary venue with a more eclectic publishing history, and I know few are as sensitive as APC to presenting work by women and folks of color. I’ve been doing this editing thing for 22 years, and I’ve done it well. I’ve learned a lot along the way. I’ve still a piece to go, so stick with me and see what happens.
With love, because love is what we need most of all,
John