Electronic magazines get poetry out there in the world with ease and at very low cost. Ezines vary from relaxed to elegant, from the curious to the essential. They are also a growing and important market for poetry. Language poetry, visual poetry, and hypertext poetry live in these places. Here are a few.

Canadian ezines

Experimental poetry

International E-zines

Print Magazines with a Web Presence

New Formalist Magazines

Some individual Ezines can be found at the following sites:

• First Stop: The Porcupine's Quill Can Lit Links page will guide you to many Canadian Literary magazines which have a presence on the web.
• It's Still Winter is a magazine from the University of Northern British Columbia. This is one of those sites which sometimes goes to sleep. If you don't get it, it's worth a second try.
• Germination, in its original life, was a small quarterly journal of poetry in the 1970s, which now offers poetry and fiction online, hosted by Assets Dot Net Inc., a new Canadian corporation interested in Canadian Literature and dedicated to development of e-commerce, including the development and operation of "theme sites".
• Taddle Creek is a Canadian literary magazine publishing fiction and poetry by writers from across Toronto.
• Nthposition has an intriguing name and a mix of politics, opinion, poetry, fiction and other genres. Poetry editor is Todd Swift -- contact him before submitting anything.
• Based in Ottawa, but wide-ranging in scope (and completely on-line), Poetics.ca "will work to explore the astonishing diversity of approaches to poetic text, with a focus on writing by Canadian authors. The site is designed to evolve with each new issue, with the help of its contributors and audience. The first issue, now on-line, includes ideas about poetry from David McGimpsey and Nathalie Stephens (statements on poetics), Colin Morton (on American poets Rachel Loden and Wendy Battin) and Andy Weaver ("That Bastard Ghazal"), and a conversation/interview between Stephanie Bolster and rob mclennan."
• Toronto's The Danforth Review is a lively literary e-zine.
• Or there's always Another Toronto Quarterly!
• Phu Online is a literary journal based in Calgary.
• Wr-eye-tings Scratchpad. Designed to complement the Wr-eye-tings Concrete Poetry Discussion List hosted by Carl Peters of Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., this site provides a forum for display of visual poetry and a bulletin board for comments upon it. A world-class site.
• Exit is a French poetry magazine from Quebec.
• Broken Pencil is a guide to alternative culture in Canada. Broken pencil reviews alternative alternative publications, books, CDs, tapes, and vinyl published in Canada. All the listings in broken pencil are organized alphabetically and by province/region. Canadian zines are a priority, and there are lots of them, with a strong emphasis on poetry. They also provide excerpts of many zines. A fine site.
• New Canadian online poetry journal here: http://www.barbitos.com/

  [Return to Top]

Experimental poetry. It's not to everyone's taste, but it can be very exhilarating. Form tends to be content.

• First Stop: CybpherAnthology. This site contains a wealth of links to this kind of poetry, sorted by author and journal, but without annotation.
• First Stop, too. The Electronic Literature Directory provides an important internet node for a vital new poetry growing day by day on the web. There are links to a 1001 wonders here. Categories include short poetry, long poetry, poetry collections, the same for fiction, non-fiction, and drama, Technique/Genre, Hypertext/Other Interaction, Recorded Reading/Performance, Animated Text, Other Multimedia, Generated Text, and Reader Collaboration.
• League member David Dowker edits The Alterran Poetry Assemblage.
• The Electronic Poetry Center at the State University of New York (Buffalo) is the world centre for experimental poetry, and hosts the following magazines (and more):
  • Rif/t , an Electronic Space for Poetry, Prose, and Poetics
  • Juxta/Electronic
  • Experioddi(cyber)cist An Experioddicist is a participant in Experioddica, coined by Bob Grumman in the late 1990s and defined by him as a term originally used for experimental odd periodicals devoted to exotica, but whose meaning seems to have spread to cover all forms of underground art, science & other forms of culture (including, obviously, cyberculture).
  • inter\face The first issue of inter\face magazine was published in 1992. WordPerfect, a laser printer, and computers in the Humanities computer lab provided the perfect opportunity to collect, publish, and distribute works of the large community of writers at and around SUNY Albany. inter\face was considered a "forum" for writers to share their works with others. Writers were asked to "contribute" their work rather than "submit" to the power of the publisher. Since the editors -- Katie Yates, Nancy Dunlop, and Benjamin Henry -- were writers themselves, editorial decisions were based on a writing workshop model.
  • Passages
  • Angel Exhaust Archives only -- last issue is 1996.
• Readme is an online journal of poetics featuring interviews, essays and reviews germane to contemporary poetry. Poetry published only in tandem with author interviews and/or critical prose, except in cases of poem-as-reading/critique.
• Beehive, is a hypertext, multimedia journal. Very intelligent.

   [Return to Top]

International E-zines. Some of the finest electronic magazines from around the world.

• The Prose Poem contains prose poems. No kidding. Really. They win my award for the best-named journal on the web.
• Trout is a literary journal from New Zealand. Check it out: trout on the main page, a fly on the links. Caught ya?
• The Muse ApprenticeGuild says it's is the largest international literary quarterly on the Internet with 30 co-editors around the world and over two million readers every year. To view its pages, use use internet explorer 5.5 or higher or netscape 6.0 and a resolution of 1024x768. uses pieces of any length, including extended poetic works novellas and novels.
• Philadelphia produces CrossConnect.
• Overland is "Australia's leading radical cultural and literary magazine". There's a lot of competition for that honour.
• Cordite also hails from Australia. It is strictly a poetry magazine.
• Retort is another Oz product -- a lively bimonthly covering poetry and the arts and with a great slogan: "think forward -- answer back".
• The newest issue of The Transcendental Friend is jam-packed with translations of poetry. Always a treat.
• Zyzzyva calls itself the Last Word: West Coast Artists and Writers. They just might be right. Worth a look. They have poetry, creative non-fiction, and prose.
• The New Delta Review The New Delta Review, a journal of the LSU Graduate Creative Writing Program, has published many acclaimed writers, such as Anne Carson, U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, U.K. Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, Paul Muldoon, winner of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature and the Irish Times Literature Prize for Poetry; the former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky; National Magazine Award winner Tim Gautreaux. The New Delta Review also features artwork and literature in translation by international, national and regional artists.
• Arts and Letters Daily: For an update on international arts news, and a great series of links, try the Arts and Letters Daily an e-journal devoted to "Philosophy, aesthetics, literature, language, ideas, criticism, culture ...". You get the idea.
• Sara McAuley's students do an eye-catching job on this zine from California. TATTOO HIGHWAY: Indelible Marks is officially online.
• The East Village Poetry Web is an elegant English-language literary magazine from Japan. A recent issue (still online) was devoted to Canadian poetry. The previous issue contains online videos of poetry readings. All issues are archived, including a LA/NY special.
• Jacket. A truly essential and always challenging literary magazine from Australia. This is one of the best of all ezines on the web.
• Light & Dust
Links to Light & Dust anthology, mostly of concrete and visual poetry.
• non. If all this experimental stuff leaves you cold, do at least try "non". This magazine deals with the issue of nothingness, splendidly, with an ease of surface often missing from the other magazines. Archives only -- last issue is 1998.
• Ubuweb: visual, concrete, & sound poetry. This is the best of all visual poetry sites. Found poetry, too.
• Octavo is a magazine featuring some League members, and is part of the award-winning non-profit literary site The Alsop Review.
• It's not only poems that rhyme, it seems, but countries. Gangway is a new magazine for contemporary literature from Australia & Austria: Short stories, poetry, essays & experimental prose.
• The Blue Moon Review has featured work by some League members.
• Prairie Poetry from the North American plains is showcased and published on this online journal.
• Meanjin offers fine writing and provocative ideas from the University of Melbourne.
• Milk. With a strong Beat influence, but also touches of the Paris Review in its glory days and the Surrealists with romaine lettuce in taxis, not to mention a really elegant title which justifies a clean, colourless background, Milk is a darn fine magazine stemming directly from the creation of milk magazine in its print incarnation by Larry Sawyer. Excellent.
• Quarterly West is a literary journal hailing from Utah.
• The LitRag is a new ezine from Seattle.
• New American Writing is a beautiful literary journal.
• For a guide to new experimental ezines, Duration is your place.
• The Poetry Kit maintains a list of links to magazines which publish poetry, both on and (for the most part) offline. What makes it so useful, is that there are links to magazines in all of the following countries: Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, UK, USA, as well as On-line and in Newsletters.
• Lit Line, a resource site for independent literature (what we'd call small press publishing here in Canada), maintains links to literary journals with an online presence, from Agni to ZYZZYVA. They pride themselves on having the most extensive and refined collection of such links on the web, including links to online literary journals with content only to be found on the web, including hypertext, radical prose, experimental poetry, and good old narrative.
• Poetry Publishers Online lists nearly 200 publishers of poetry, mostly ezines, and whether they are or are not willing to accept emailed submissions.

  [Return to Top]

• Although these aren't exactly e-zines, they often provide a substantial glimpse into the print magazine, including samples. Definitely worth a look.
• One of Canada's best-loved and longest-running little mags is The Fiddlehead. Visit its website here.
• Arc: Canada's National Poetry Magazine now has a home on the Web, with information about submission guidelines, current and past issues, awards and contests, subscription and advertising rates, and a selection of writing from contributors and contest winners.
• Room of One's Own is Canada's long-standing women's-only writing magazine.
• The New England Review maintains a list of links to traditional poetry magazines. In a web of experiment and hypertext, this is invaluable. Thanks, folks.
• Graffito is a bi-monthly poetry poster with a website of its own, from Ottawa.
• Vallum is a new and beautifully-designed poetry mag from Montreal. Interested in work that is "original and previously unpublished and fresh and edgy, something that reflects contemporary experience and is also well-crafted. Open to most styles - experimental and traditional. (Usually, issues are put together with an underlying theme in mind, so not all poetry can be accepted, even if it is genius!)" No simultaneous submissions. Also takes books for review consideration. Send by regular mail (no e-mail submissions) to Vallum, P.O. Box 48003, Montreal, Quebec H2V 4S8, from September 15th to April 15th only (except for the Japan theme issue).
• If writing poetry makes you want to rip your clothes off, we may have the mag for you. No, I'm not making this up. Stark is a new annual journal of poetry and photography that's looking for submissions of three to four poems. If your poems are accepted, you agree to pose for nude photos with a professional photographer, and one or more of the images will accompany your work! Payment is one copy of the journal. You may preview the photographer's craft (but not Stark, yet) here. Ms. considered from July 1 to October 31 (postmark dates). No e-mail, multiple or computer-file submissions. Mail submissions to: Stark, Hanover Press, P. O. Box 596, Newtown, CT 06470-0596.
• The Canadian Magazine Publishers Association showcases the literary magazines of Canada.
• The premier African and African-American literary journal Callaloo has posted an introduction to the print edition. They will send you a free sample copy.
• Fence magazine offers samples of its print magazine, as well as a contest.
• Sun & Moon Press offers the finest international poetry and prose, impeccably translated, elegantly presented.
• The last three issues of Promoteo are online, with interrnational anthologies of poetry, in Spanish, and a bilingual French/Spanish edition, worth checking out.
• Prairie Fire, from Winnipeg, is as good as it gets.

[Return to Top]

• The Southern Review
• The Hudson Review
• The Paris Review
• The Yale Review of Books
• Able Muse Review
• The Edge City Review
• POETRY Magazine Check in to see what the mag's doing with its multimillion-dollar bequest.
• The New Criterion
• Partisan Review
• Notre Dame Review offers a free issue, too.
• The Kenyon Review
• The Georgia Review
• Beloit Poetry Journal is in its 53rd year.

[Return to Top]