The big new way

We've made some changes. I think it's important to make a little bit of a hubbub about them.

First, I'd like to direct possible contributors to the submission guidelines ( http://www.portlandreview.pdx.edu/PRsubmit.html ) in case they've been missed en route to our blog. Please make note of the changes, because we've learned that our new system of carefully logging submissions and distributing copies for our volunteer readers (without whom, we would surely crumble) requires we do not take the extra time to consider submissions that have not followed our guidelines.

Here's a few things that have come along more than once that need addressing (hopefully, this will save everyone time and/or postage):

1) Name and contact information on every page of the submission. We need this. We will not write the information on each page for you.

2) Word count (prose). One word over the limit is over the limit.

3) Pasting submissions into emails rather than attaching them. We print these. The page count goes up exponentially when you paste your work into the email. Also, we specifically ask for attachments.

More information can be found at the link above. Our guidelines have been developed to save valuable time while still giving each submission the attention it deserves. If you're a writer planning a submission, please be careful to follow them because we will not consider anything that doesn't.

yrs,

Chris Cottrell
Editor

The Book is in the mail

It's been a bit of a tumultuous production cycle, but the book is now heading out to contributors and subscribers alike. Over the next week, we'll be distributing to Portland-area stores.

Thanks for your patience.

yrs,

Chris

Online Submissions

Portland Review will be kicking off the next reading period by accepting online submissions. As per the submission guidelines (which will be changing soon), the submissions will not be accepted before September 1, 2009. However, you can save submit.pdxreview (at) gmail in your address books for future use.

Some tips on what we'll be looking for:

Visual art by Portland artists. This season we're closing submissions of art to artists working outside the Portland metro area. Why? A visit to any of the galleries, cafés or bars in the city will be more than enough explanation. Apologies to artists living and working outside Portland.

Reviews of 300-1,500 words of small press releases and emergent authors of poetry or fiction.

Well-written poetry and prose by writers new or established.

When sending online submissions, the genre (poetry, fiction, non-fiction, review) should be in the subject line.

REMEMBER: we aren't accepting submissions until September 1. Anything sent earlier will get an automated message and be deleted, unread.

56#1 Still Waiting...

To those of you who have been asking after the issue, it may or may not be in a truck right now. The carrier couldn't find the paperwork. If it's been delivered, then it may have been dropped at the wrong university building.

We shall see.

yrs,

Chris

Holding Pattern

Unfortunately--due to some technical difficulties involving the barcode--the new issue is releasing later than expected. We now have a ship date of July 10.

yrs,

Editor

New Magazine & Poetry Month

The new issue is hitting stores now and is filled to overflowing with strong words by great writers and striking art scattered throughout.

In other news: in celebration of National Poetry Month, subscriptions to Portland Review are half-price. $27 for two years of The Review? Clearly the editor has stopped taking money seriously. Write "Poetry Month" on your subscription order to redeem the discount.

The Season & Last issue

Dear everyone,

The new issue is, in fact, out and currently only available at Powell's City of Books ( http://powells.com/biblio/1-9781161391350-0 ). The reason for this slow distribution has much to do with what appears to be a giant plague ripping through the city of Portland, along with the tendency for everything to shut down at the hint of inclement weather. The books are in the PR office, the office is in a university building, and the university building is locked because the campus is closed.

On issues with the issue:

I am not entirely thrilled to discover, after the fact, a few major errors. An errata statement will be published in the upcoming issue, but in the meantime here's what we've got so far:

The cover is by Charlie Alan Kraft: http://www.charliealankraft.com/ His name is right on the cover, but we managed to use a previous version of the frontmatter with contact information for the previous issue's artist.

We have Rachel Bennett mistakenly credited as "Rachael Bennet" for her poems: "Fast" and "Williamsburg"

Nicholas Karavatos credited as "Nicholas Kravatos" for his poems: "The Music is played like it has somewhere to go" and the "al-Masjid Code."

Alan Izen's bio is not separated from Brian Hart's Bio correctly (luckily, the information is correct) adn neither is Jessica Smith's bio separated from Kevin Sampsell's.

In a humiliating, possibly ironic moment, one of our volunteer copy editors (who only worked on some of the prose and had nothing to do with the above names or this particular front-matter error) is listed as "Corrrina," instead of Corrina Karch.

I apologize deeply for these errors (and any I have yet to discover). In way of explanation, we were about a month behind schedule the entire production cycle of this, my first issue as editor, and all mistakes are a direct result of the sense that we needed to rush production. It started as a failure, on my part, to set up deadlines for specific work to be finished. Instead, I merely asked that parts of production be started with the expectation that they would be finished in time. Learning to assign deadlines, rather than begininnings, has unfortunately come at the expense of the artists and volunteer listed above, an event I cannot possibly regret enough.

yrs,

Chris Cottrell
Editor