32 Poems: Reviews
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32 Poems seeks reviews of recent poetry collections for online Prose Features. For us, poetry is a collaboration between poets and readers, and reviews showcase that dialogue. We believe that reviews shouldn’t simply be about good writing; they should be good writing. With that in mind, we aim to introduce our readers to the diverse talents of reviewees and reviewers as well as offer a space for important discussions about craft. While we prefer reviews that eschew ascerbic zingers and aesthetically dogmatic whistle-blowing, we enjoy thoughtful criticism that accounts for a collection’s weaknesses and the various challenges facing contemporary poets.
Potential reviewers should consider the following guidelines and suggestions:
- We prefer longer reviews of 1,000+ words as we believe that this length allows for sustained exploration and questioning, whereas shorter forms more often contain only evaluation.
- Avoid passive voice. (Don’t tell us what the poems are, but rather consider how they work.)
- Consider how this collection relates to others stylistically and thematically.
- Consider how the collection operates as a project as well as in individual poems.