Literary Magazine Review

The literary magazine which I chose to review for this assignment is "Tar River Poetry". To offer some factual information about it, this particular edition was Volume 48, Number 1, Fall 2008, 30th Anniversary Issue (yeah I know, it winded me too). There is only one editor for the magazine and his name is Peter Makuck (there is a wonderful little FAQ with Peter at this edition's end, and it's worth checking out!). The magazine's publisher is East Carolina University, which is located in Greenville, NC. Each year there are two publications of "Tar River Poetry" and the costs are $12/yr and $20/2yr.

That being said, the journal is comprised solely of poems, the aforementioned FAQ, and a "contributors" section. Each of the numerous poems included somehow relate to rustic, simplistic living. Each author, in my opinion, does well to capture the essence of such lifestyles, and offers a realistic, non-exaggerated view of what it is to live in the tedious elements of the boonies (as I personally can vouche for). That being said, I ought to mention my favorite poem in the magazine. It is called "Making Fields" and was written by AR Ammons. While I can't say I'm too aquainted with his writing, the name is annoyingly familiar. Anyhow, the poem is about, well, making fields. The piece is in freeverse and contains no particular meter or form. Each line and each stanza is of different lengths. Thematically, the poem concentrates on the difficulty and familial pride that comes from being a farmer's grandson and son. As Ammons remarks "My father said the meat came off the insides of his father's hands" (5). This gorey yet honest line is perfect for opening the poem and paints a strong picture of the challenges faced by the narrator's family while living in a rural setting. In all, I highly recommend it.

In terms of the journal's aesthetics, there really aren't any. Like the common theme of rurality, the journal appears simple and quite to the point. Colorwise it is completely off-white with a bit of manila speckled here or there. The cover is quasi-cool with a picture of a road sign surrounded by trees. The picture looks, quite frankly, as though it was taken in Canton. Each poem is printed with simple black ink and without complementary illustrations. If you are a person of frills and aesthetic thrills, don't botherrrrr (joking, of course).

Lastly I would like to mention that there is a very nice contributors section at the end of the magazine. It lists all the authors and gives a sneak peek at their biographical info. For example, it mentions that AR Ammons grew up on a tobacco farm in North Carolina. We can, then, see why he might write a poem called "Making Fields". Honestly, most of the biographies indicate some sort of rural living on the part of the author, meaning these people probably know what they're writing about. Furthermore, most of the contributors have lengthy publication records and/or have degrees in English and/or teach at universities. In all, I highly recommend this to anyone who really wants to taste a bit of rustic life in poetry. I truly enjoyed it.