Poetica # 8: an Inner Circle Writers' Group Poetry Anthology

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....
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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.

For an individual poet, this potentially provides an ongoing marketplace for poetry. The benefits for a poet of appearing in a Poetica anthology include

* the credibility that comes from being independently published, as opposed to self-published

* the higher production standards associated with independent publishing

* a wider reading audience

* the building of a 'track record' as a published poet to help with future submissions elsewhere

* the boosting of personal confidence and strength of voice which comes from being recognised as a publishable poet.

Each Poetica anthology, in addition to including accepted poems, contains several classic, publicly available poems by world famous poets, along with some essays about these. So a poet accepted into a Poetica anthology is 'rubbing shoulders' with the greats. Great poetry can be engendered in the company of great poets -- or that's the idea, anyway.

The plan is to publish one anthology every two months or so. This may pick up speed depending on how well the anthologies are received.

Poetica # 8 features the work of (in order of appearance): Warren Alexander, Michal Reiben, Kerri Jesmer, the Birch Twins, Jacek Wilkos, Alexander Perez, John Drudge, Mark Pearce, Ed Ahern, Linda Sparks, Elizabeth Brown, Mike Turner, Justin Jones, Trish Bailey, Sultana Raza, guy howard klopp, Linda M. Crate, Carmen Baca, Shiloh Osheen, Catherine A. MacKenzie, Dr Chanchal Sarin, Dawn DeBraal, Gabriela Docan, Raphael Merriman, Aminath Neena, Ger White, Jim Bates, Poetry by Christina, Craig Richard Tickner, Michelle Chermaine Ramos, María J. Estrada, and Tony Fyler, with bonus features on the poem Gawain and the Green Knight and George Herbert's 'Prayer 1'.

--Grant P. Hudson, Editor