Poetica # 16

There is a common assumption among poets and readers generally that ‘There is no market for poetry.’ I hear this regularly. This idea arises because, in the big world of publishing, poetry is seen to be a private, highly subjective affair which correspondingly does not sell well. Personal tastes, obscurity of form, and lack of poetic craft all add up to poetry being ‘shoved into the corner’ and usually only self-published or produced as a vanity piece. This is a shame. There are a great many good poets out there: thousands of voices whose passionate visions of reality are not finding a proper outlet. Without channels to transmit these visions to readers, they can eventually fall silent. The effort of this series of Poetica anthologies is to contribute to the creation of a market for poetry throughout the calendar year. The idea is that, by providing a regular, published venue for poetry from all over the world, poems as media for the communication of important and heartfelt ideas and reflections will gain in respect and become more widely acknowledged. Voices will be heard; channels will be opened. Featuring the work of (in order of appearance): Ed Ahern, Linda M. Crate, Michal Reiben, Catherine A. MacKenzie, Giuseppina Marino Leyland, Sultana Raza, Kelli J Gavin, Elizabeth Brown, Suranjit Gain, Jim Bates, Craig Tickner, Jonah Jones, Engilbert Egill Stefánsson, Anne Marie Lake, the Birch Twins, Gareth Macready, Justin Wiggins, Mike Turner, Annie Nardone, Duane Vorhees, DJ Elton, Afshan Aqil, Jacek Wilkos, Linda Sparks, Marlene Fabian Stiles, David Painter, Richard Rose, Gabriella Balcom, Petrouchka Alexieva, Dawn DeBraal, Fhen M., Trish Bailey, Kerri Jesmer, Dr. Elizabeth V. Koshy, Peter Kenny, Tony Fyler, Aminath Neena, Vanessa Caraveo, Thomas R Bates, Sharon Frame Gay, Tim Law, Nnamdi Chinkere Anyahara, Lisa H. Owens and Jill Kiesow.