Clifford Garstang's Blog, page 48
October 28, 2015
2016 Pushcart Prize Literary Magazine Rankings — Poetry
Below is the 2016 Literary Magazine Rankings for Poetry. For an explanation of the methodology, go here.
If you find these rankings useful, please consider making a donation or purchasing one of my books.
2016
Magazine
2015
2016 Score
1
Kenyon Review
1
77
2
Poetry
2
75
3
American Poetry Review
4
67
4
Ploughshares
3
58
5
Threepenny Review
5
55
6
New England Review
6
46
7
Georgia Review
7
41
8
Field
8
33
8
Gettysburg Review
9
33
8
Southern Review
16
33
11
Five Points
15
30
12
Poetry Review
12
27
12
Virginia Quarterly Review
9
27
14
BOA Editions
11
23
14
Cincinnati Review
16
23
14
Paris Review
32
23
17
Tin House
14
22
18
Spillway
26
21
19
Agni
16
20
19
New Ohio Review
21
20
19
Sugar House Review
21
20
19
Yale Review
19
20
23
Rattle
24
17
23
Sun
56
17
25
Poetry Northwest
28
16
25
Smartish Pace
26
16
27
The Journal
28
15
27
Water-Stone Review
28
15
29
Copper Canyon Press
31
14
29
Michigan Quarterly Review
23
14
31
Blackbird
24
13
31
Hudson Review
32
13
31
Image
51
13
34
Four Way Books
56
12
34
Runes ©
34
12
36
Alice James Books
19
11
36
American Scholar
35
11
36
Canary
35
11
36
Lake Effect
35
11
36
New American Writing
35
11
36
Sixth Finch
62
11
36
Tupelo Press
35
11
43
Alaska Quarterly Review
40
10
43
Cue Editions
40
10
43
Ecotone
40
10
43
Great River Review
40
10
43
Green Mountains Review
40
10
43
Notre Dame Review
40
10
43
Orion
40
10
43
River Styx
40
10
43
Vallum: Contemporary Poetry
86
10
43
West Branch
40
10
53
TriQuarterly
12
9
54
Crazyhorse
52
8
54
Massachusetts Review
52
8
54
Ninth Letter
52
8
54
Shenandoah
40
8
58
Cimarron Review
62
7
58
Epoch
62
7
58
Hotel Amerika
62
7
58
Little Patuxent Review
62
7
58
New Letters
56
7
58
Salamander
56
7
58
Wave Books
56
7
58
Willow Springs
62
7
66
5 a.m.
56
6
66
Barrow Street
62
6
66
Codex
169
6
66
Crowd © (?)
62
6
66
Denver Quarterly
86
6
66
Gulf Coast
62
6
66
Indiana Review
62
6
66
Iowa Review
52
6
66
jubilat
62
6
66
Lana Turner
62
6
66
Little Star
62
6
66
Missouri Review
62
6
66
New Criterion
62
6
66
North American Review
62
6
66
Paterson Literary Review
62
6
66
Poetry International
62
6
66
Quarterly West (?)
169
6
66
Subtropics
62
6
66
World Literature Today
86
6
66
ZYZZYVA
62
6
66
Prelude
6
87
Account
86
5
87
Anhinga Press
86
5
87
Arroyo Literary Review
86
5
87
Assaracus
86
5
87
Atlanta Review
62
5
87
Awl
86
5
87
Blueline
86
5
87
Boston Review
86
5
87
Briar Cliff Review
86
5
87
Brick
86
5
87
Café Review
86
5
87
Chattahoochee Review
86
5
87
Collagist
86
5
87
Colorado Review
86
5
87
Court Green ©
86
5
87
Crab Orchard Review
5
87
Curbstone Press
86
5
87
Cypher Books
86
5
87
Dunes Review
86
5
87
Eastern Wash. Univ. Press ©
86
5
87
Eleven Eleven
86
5
87
Epiphany
86
5
87
Fifth Wednesday
86
5
87
Five Fingers Review (?)
86
5
87
Forklift Ohio
86
5
87
Granta
86
5
87
Graywolf Press
86
5
87
Harbour Publishing
86
5
87
Harvard Review
86
5
87
Hollyridge Press
86
5
87
Hunger Mountain
86
5
87
Ibbetson Street (?)
86
5
87
Laurel Poetry Collective ©
86
5
87
Literary Imagination
40
5
87
Lyric (?)
86
5
87
Malahat Review
86
5
87
Manhattan Review
86
5
87
Margie ©
86
5
87
Meridian
86
5
87
Muzzle Magazine
86
5
87
Nebraska Poets Calendar
86
5
87
New Issues Poetry and Prose
86
5
87
New South Books
86
5
87
New Verse News
86
5
87
OCHO
86
5
87
Parnassus: Poetry in Review
86
5
87
Pebble Lake Review
86
5
87
Pilot Light
86
5
87
Pleasure Boat Studio
86
5
87
Poems & Plays
86
5
87
Poetry Atlanta Press
86
5
87
Prism
5
87
Quiddity
86
5
87
Snake Nation Review
86
5
87
Southern Indiana Review
86
5
87
Southern Poetry Review
86
5
87
Spork
86
5
87
Think Journal
86
5
87
Third Coast
86
5
87
Tikkun
86
5
87
Toadlily Press
86
5
87
Treelight Books
86
5
87
Utah State University Press
86
5
87
Verse Wisconsin ©
86
5
87
YesYes Books
86
5
87
Zone 3
86
5
87
Cave Wall
5
87
TAB
5
87
Tiger Bark Press
5
87
Butcher’s Dog
5
87
LSU Press
5
87
Thrush
5
87
Tar River
5
87
Summerset Review
5
161
Beloit Poetry Journal
155
4
161
Southwest Review
155
4
161
University of Pittsburgh Press
155
4
164
Raritan
158
3
165
Birdfeast
159
2
165
Greensboro Review
159
2
165
Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review
169
2
165
Healing Muse
159
2
165
New South
159
2
165
Pinch
159
2
165
Pleiades
159
2
172
A Public Space
169
1
172
Able Muse
169
1
172
Airlie Press
169
1
172
Autumn House
159
1
172
Barefoot Muse
169
1
172
Bat City
169
1
172
Believer
169
1
172
Bellevue Literary Review
169
1
172
Black Warrior Review
169
1
172
Bloom
62
1
172
Blue Earth Review
169
1
172
Boulevard
159
1
172
Callaloo
169
1
172
Calyx
169
1
172
Cardinal Points
169
1
172
Chautauqua
62
1
172
Clockhouse
169
1
172
Columbia Poetry Review
169
1
172
Connecticut Review (?)
159
1
172
Construction
169
1
172
Crab Creek Review
169
1
172
Drunken Boat
169
1
172
Eleventh Muse ©
169
1
172
Evansville Review
169
1
172
Examined Life
169
1
172
Fort Hemlock Press ©
169
1
172
Free Lunch ©
169
1
172
Frostproof Review ©
169
1
172
Hanging Loose
169
1
172
Harpur Palate
169
1
172
Haven Chronicles (?)
169
1
172
Hayden’s Ferry
169
1
172
Hollins Critic
169
1
172
Hopkins Review
169
1
172
InDigest
169
1
172
Iron Horse Literary Review
169
1
172
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth
169
1
172
Leaping Dog Press
169
1
172
Live Mag!
169
1
172
Long Island Quarterly
169
1
172
Lost Hills Books (?)
169
1
172
Main Street Rag
169
1
172
Make
169
1
172
McSweeney’s
169
1
172
Natural Bridge
169
1
172
New Delta Review
169
1
172
New Haven Review
169
1
172
New Madrid
169
1
172
Nimrod
169
1
172
Normal School
169
1
172
November 3rd Club
169
1
172
Omnidawn Publishing
169
1
172
Paper Street © (?)
169
1
172
Paris American
169
1
172
Pearl
169
1
172
Persea Books
169
1
172
Perugia Press
62
1
172
Phoebe
169
1
172
PMS
169
1
172
Poem-a-Day
169
1
172
Poet Lore
169
1
172
Poetry 180
169
1
172
Poetry Flash
169
1
172
Prairie Schooner
159
1
172
Rhino
169
1
172
Salmagundi
169
1
172
Sentence ©
169
1
172
Silk Road
169
1
172
Sink Review
169
1
172
Solstice
169
1
172
Specs
169
1
172
Spoon River Review
169
1
172
Upstreet
169
1
172
Valparaiso Poetry Review
169
1
172
Verse Magazine
169
1
172
Wordcraft of Oregon
169
1
172
Zephyr Press
169
1
172
Pluck
1
172
Southeast Review
1
172
Saranac Review
1
172
Chiron Review
1
172
Radius
1
172
Jai-Alai
1
172
Upstairs at Duroc
1
172
Enizagam
1
172
Exit 7
1
172
Tupelo Quarterly
1
October 27, 2015
Updated Litmag Rankings on the Way!
I received my copy of the 2016 Pushcart Prize anthology, so today I’m working on the updated rankings. They will post as soon as possible. Fiction today, Poetry and Nonfiction tomorrow.
October 25, 2015
Recent Blog Silence
It’s not that I haven’t had anything to say, but I’ve been busy!
First, there was the brief trip to Charlotte NC, where I gave a reading and sat on a publishing panel at the bi-annual Queens University MFA Program Alumni Weekend.
Then I flew to Indianapolis for the Indiana Authors Award, where I was thrilled to receive the Emerging Author award (and also meet some amazing writers).
I was back home for a couple of days and then drove to Richmond to catch a flight to Chicago for my Northwestern University Class Reunion. I’ve never been to a reunion before, but I was on the planning committee this year and felt obligated. Lots of fun!
Then it was back to Richmond for the annual Library of Virginia Awards. Again, it was great to get together with lots of other writers.
Then I had to get the new issue of Prime Number Magazine done and posted, and I also had lots of election related duties–I’m on my county’s Electoral Board and the election is coming up on November 3.
And in between all those things I was trying to finish a new story. (Which I did–comments from a beta reader expected soon.)
Plus, I’m teaching a 4-hour seminar today, and I needed to do some preparation for that. Oh, and someone asked me to do a guest blog post for a magazine and I’m nearly done with that.
Next up? I should be getting the new Pushcart Prize volume tomorrow, so it will be time to update my rankings of literary magazines. The election is the following week. And then I leave for a nice long stay at VCCA, hoping to work on a new novel.
October 12, 2015
Emerging!
Apparently, I’m an Emerging Writer, at least based on two recent awards I’ve received.
Two weeks ago I learned that I had won the Emerging Writer Fellowship from The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD. I’m very pleased about the fellowship, which involves both an honorarium and an appearance at a special event at The Writer’s Center. Having been a student there in the late ’90s (before and after I started working at the World Bank), this is a great honor, and I’m grateful to The Writer’s Center.
And this weekend I learned that I had won the Emerging Author Award at the Indiana Authors Award Ceremony in Indianapolis. This one is big, especially because I was also a finalist for the award last year. The Indianapolis Public Library Foundation, with the support of the Glick Fund, give several awards each year. This year, Mari Evans was honored with a lifetime achievement award, Marianne Boruch won the National Author award, Adrian Matejka won the Regional Author Award, and I won the Emerging Author Award. (The other finalists for that award were Laura Bates and Skila Brown.)
After spending the day giving interviews and signing books, we all convened at the awards dinner, which is a fundraiser for the Foundation. Members of my family were there as well as some people I met at the same event last year. Press 53, publisher of both of my books, had purchased a table at the event. Although the National and Regional winners had been announced in advance, they use the Emerging Author Award for suspense. Introductory remarks were given, dinner was served, and then the speeches began. Evans was recognized, then both Matejka and Boruch accepted their awards. Finally it was time the Emerging Authors.
We had each recorded short readings, so those were played. Our bios were read. And then the winner was announced. I won! Our table was right in the center, so I made my way to the stage to receive my trophy.
In accepting the award, one of the things I said was that I was a little embarrassed at my age to be recognized as an emerging writer, but that it was an acknowledgment that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams. I spoke for a couple of minutes, but it flew by–I was so thrilled!
I’m very grateful to the Glick Fund and the Indianapolis Public Library Foundation for this great honor!
September 20, 2015
Technical Difficulties — Resolved
Thanks to Joe, my web developer, the problem I’ve been experiencing with WordPress has been resolved, or at least disarmed. Thanks for your patience. The literary magazine rankings are available once again.
September 15, 2015
Technical Difficulties
Please accept my apologies, but I’m having technical difficulties on the blog. Suddenly, all of my posts have turned into “excerpts” and the “Read More” link doesn’t do anything. I hope to have the problem resolved soon. Check back in a day or two!
August 4, 2015
Tips for Writers: Using the Possessive with a Gerund
I’m currently working on revisions to my novel manuscript. I’ve been over the draft numerous times, so I’m not finding a lot of typos or grammar errors. My focus this time through, rather, is on style and continuity.
But I am spotting the occasional error, and I want to bring one of those to your attention.
I had written, “. . . hitting the road without him catching on.” In doing so, I had made an error that I frequently catch in the writing of others: failure to use the possessive noun or pronoun with a gerund. The sentence should read, “. . . hitting the road without his catching on.” In my defense, I think I was thrown by the preposition, which normally would take an objective pronoun, as in, ” . . . hitting the road without him.” But the real object of the preposition is “catching on,” so the modifier must be possessive.
I’m glad I caught the mistake. For a full discussion of the issue, check this out: Using the Possessive Case with Gerunds.
August 3, 2015
Virginia Writers’ Club Symposium 2015
On Saturday, August 1, I had the pleasure of being a presenter at the annual symposium of the Virginia Writers’ Club. This is the third time I’ve presented at this event, and I must give the organizers credit for putting together a lively and helpful conference. I believe that all the participants benefited from being there, listening to panels, engaging in workshops, and meeting other writers.
One of the highlights was the keynote address by Sharyn McCrumb, one of the best-selling authors in Virginia. McCrumb, a lively speaker, talked about the vagaries of the publishing business (speaking truth, but maybe not what aspiring writers want to hear), and also compared being a writer to being a NASCAR driver.
For my part, I gave a talk on Writing the Other/Cultural Appropriation, in which I discussed the challenges of writing cross-cultural fiction, including the potential for criticism when it’s not done sensitively.
I also ran a workshop on organizing short story collections, a subject with many questions and few certain answers. But we looked at examples of some collections to see how they were organized, and my conclusion, at least, is that your organizing principle depends entirely on what sort of book you’ve written. There is no one solution that fits every set of short stories.
Because I was leading sessions, I didn’t get to attend many of them, but from the agenda it looked like there was something for everyone.
I know that VWC is already thinking about next year’s symposium, so you might want to set aside the first Saturday in August 2016 and plan to come.
July 23, 2015
Heifetz International Music Institute
I live in Staunton, Virginia, which was already a pretty great place before the Heifetz International Music Institute landed here (in large part because of the American Shakespeare Center), but now it seems downright awesome. The Institute is a summer program for about 80 gifted young musicians from all over the world. They come here for six weeks to study with world-class faculty, also from all over.
Which is great for them, but for the community what makes it special is that they all–students and faculty–give concerts for the full six weeks. Seven days a week, a concert every day.
Last year, because of travel, I managed to get to only one concert. But this summer I bought a season pass, and although I haven’t been able to attend every concert, I’ve been to about four each week. The music is incredible. Some familiar composers and pieces, some things I’ve never hear of. I’m not terribly knowledgeable about classical music, so I am learning a lot. It’s fantastic.
And a side benefit: I’ve met a lot of the other season pass holders, people I hadn’t ever run into around town until now. It’s been great!
Check out the website to watch videos from many of the concerts.
July 22, 2015
2 New Book Reviews
I recently read and reviewed two very different memoirs, both excellent.
The first is Barefoot to Avalon by David Payne. Novelist Payne’s brother was killed in an auto accident in 2000. Their relationship was complicated, and his brother’s death only added strain to the pressure Payne was already feeling. I describe the memoir as “breathless,” which is how I felt while I was reading it.
The second is Communion by Curtis Smith. I’ve read a number of books by Smith. This one is a wonderful follow-up to his last collection of essays. Both books are meditations on fatherhood, but in the new book Smith’s son is older and the challenges Smith and his wife face are different.
Check out the reviews if you have a chance. I can highly recommend both books.
