The Cafe Review

Call for Submissions: Special Tribute Issue on
Kashmiri poet Agha Shahid Ali

We, at The Café Review, are planning a Festschrift to the late poet Agha Shahid Ali (1949-2001) for the Spring. Poets interested in contributing a poem or poems (up to five) written for Shahid, about him, or with him in mind are asked to send their work to The Café Review, c/o Yes Books, 589 Congress Street, Portland, Maine 04101, to the attention of Stacey Chase, associate editor. Please include a short biography of 50 words or less with your poems and a S.A.S.E. (We are waiving the $1 reading fee for these submissions only.) E-mail submissions will not be accepted. The deadline for this special issue is March 17, 2010. Anyone with questions, or information to share, may contact Stacey at storychaser@thecafereview.com.

Cover of the Cafe Review's Winter 2010 issue

Jack Elliot Myers
November 29, 1941 – November 23, 2009

Trying to capture a life and a spirit on a page is daunting, especially when that life belonged to a friend, mentor, and poet of incisive humorand stunning sensitivity.

It was our hope that the many voices in this issue of Jack’s friends, colleagues, former students, and fellow seekers would help those who never knew him to understand how deeply we have been touched by his passing.

To learn about Jack’s life and his extensive contributions to the literary world, please go to
www.thewritersgarret.org.

Perhaps the best way to honor a poet is to read his or her work. We hope these poems serve to remind us who Jack was and how he remains with us.

Click here for a couple excerpts
Click here for a list of poets in the issue

Subscribe to the Cafe Review today!

Beginning next year, domestic subscriptions will increase from $28 a year to $32. That is the price of many individual books of poetry, so it’s still a fabulous value! It’s like getting four fabulous books of poetry for the price of one! What a great value considering the current economy! Still, if you want it all for the fabulously low, low price of $28 a year, renew or be a new subscriber today! It’s an offer that won’t last long…

Just a reminder, The Café Review has never sought, nor received any grant or foundation money. We have never had any affiliation with an academic institution. This journal came from and maintains its grass roots beginnings. Our support comes from one source– kind, educated people with a genuine interest in some of the world’s best poetry – people who look to keep the idea of quality small press poetry from extinction. 

Basically, we are a group of volunteers who get together because we love poetry, and the only way we can do this is because of the kind generosity of our friends and subscribers who buy subscriptions. Thank you!!!! You truly are what makes this possible!!!

Cover of our Fall 09 Issue

Our fall 09 Issue is out on sale now. It features artwork by Andrew Abbott, Kimberly Convery, Norman Lundin and Wayne Atherton and poetry by a variety of various poets.

Click here to subscribe and receive new, regular issues of our quarterly journal.
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Watch the October version of the poet's cafe

Our very own Steve Luttrell has started a show called Poet’s Cafe. You can check out the October episode here.

This episode features Maine State Poet Laureate Betsy Sholl and musical guest Marie Moreshead.
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DARK TIMES / FILLED WITH LIGHT

The summer 2009 issue of The Café Review, guest edited by poet Paul Pines, is a tribute to the Argentinean poet Juan Gelman. Here is an excerpt from the forward written by Ilan Stavans. get a copy of this amazing issue today by becoming one of our subscribers. To view a couple of Juan Gelman’s poems that atre contained in this issue, check out excerpts under our current issue section.

” (Juan Gelman)…fits into the tradition of Latin American poetry by the relentless courage he displays to speak truth to power.  Where did the Argentine experiment go wrong?  How could it reach such levels of human depravity after it was generally seen as the most advanced, cosmopolitan country in the Southern Hemisphere? Time and again Gelman has pondered these questions, but he refuses to answer them.  The most a poet can do is describe what he sees.  In a 1980 poem about the prisoners’ loneliness, he described the protagonists as “dreaming they’re dreamed / quieted / they’ll never see other faces growing / leaning out / continued / in this sun / someday in the sun of justice.”  And in his remarkable piece, “The Art of Poetry,” dated 1961, he affirms: “I’ve never been the owner of my ashes, my poems, / obscure faces write them like firing bullets at death.”

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

The Café Review is pleased to announce that Publishing Editor Steve Luttrell was recently named Poet Laureate of Portland, Maine, for a two-year term. The inaugural celebration and reading was held at Portland’s St. Lawrence Arts and Community Center on June 9.

Associate Editor of The Café Review, Michael Macklin, introduces Steve.

Publishing Editor Steve Luttrell reading at the event.

Publishing Editor Steve Luttrell reading at the event.

May/June 2009 Issue of Poets and Writers

The Cafe Review was recently featured in the May/June issue of Poets and Writers with a wonderful article by Joshua Bodwell.

Sadly, the actual article is only available in printed form (back issues can be ordered here), but there is a great multimedia presentation and photo slide show that can be viewed here and we got a fabulous mention in the editors letter which can be seen here .
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Cover for our Editor's Issue of the Cafe Review

You will notice that this Editor’s Issue is different. We have asked 14 editors of poetry journals from across the United States two complex question: Why do some poems stand out from others? And what is he state of poetry in America today?

Their answers will surprise you.

We hope this issue will give poets a better sense of what editors look for in poems. You will get the inside scoop about why different journals accept different types of poems.

For teachers, this issue will answer questions students have about the dos and don’ts in submitting poems as well as the perennial question of why poetry matter.

The Café Review has just released a special Editors’ Issue  offering insights on what makes a poem publishable and examining the general health of American poetry today. The issue is part of a series of events in celebration of our 20th anniversary in 2009. The Editors’ Issue features essays from the editors of at least a dozen, well-respected poetry journals from across the country in which they tell readers what strikes them about a poem and of both the formal and informal criteria they use to judge submissions. In addition, the Editors’ Issue will discuss the state of American poetry. Is it still useful? Does it still have the power to move a person or change the course of public affairs? In short: Does poetry matter in the world right now? It’s an issue you definitely do not want to miss, so get your issue today!