
An email enquiry that I received about formal-only poetry magazines makes me think I should update my resources list with that focus.
Able Muse – US magazine and press; website is not always completely current
Asses of Parnassus – Canada: short, witty, formal poems, snarky is fine, hosted on Tumblr.
Blue Unicorn – US: print only; prefers formal but will take other work
Chained Muse – US: prefers classical themes. Dodgy political bias
Crab Orchard Review – US
Extreme Formal series of anthologies from Rhizome Press. US.
Grand Little Things – US: “Returning versification to verse”
Light – US: large biannual issue, also the home of weekly topical light verse
Lighten Up Online (LUPO) – UK: light formal verse, quarterly
Lyric – US: “Founded in 1921, The Lyric is the oldest magazine in North America in continuous publication devoted to traditional poetry.” Lyrical, positive… flowers and countryside.
New Verse Review – US
Poetry Porch – US: lyrical
Pulsebeat Poetry Journal – US
Road Not Taken: The Journal of Formal Poetry – US: hard to find online because of its name, but a good small publication for formal and semi-formal verse.
Snakeskin – UK: probably the longest-established poetry zine in the world; no longer 100% formal, but still a great favourite.
Sonnet Scroll – US: a sonnet-specialized alcove on the Poetry Porch
Sonneteer – US: substack emails
The HyperTexts (THT) – US: an enormous assemblage of verse from all times and places; the editor’s personal preference for formal and leftist verse doesn’t rule out selections by Walt Whitman or Ronald Reagan! The works are mostly republications, but if you have a body of strong work the editor may be interested in creating a page for you.
Think – US: formalist, conservative, Christian
Verse-Virtual – US: a monthly publication for a caring community of poets
and finally:
Wergle-Flomp Humor Poetry Contest, No Fee – US: $3,750 in prize money
“Lyme Park, Cheshire – Formal garden” by reds on tour is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Thank you so much. AI has not yet mastered the complexities of formal verse, so quite possibly the worm has turned and the pendulum swung.
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