Skanky Possum is a twice-a-year poetry journal and small book-publishing imprint in Austin, Texas. Edited by Hoa Nguyen and her husband, Dale Smith, it has published some of the best cutting-edge poetry in America, featuring both well known names and up-and-coming poets. Discussing small poetry journals, Linh Dinh observes, "Although most of these are ephemeral, appearing for only a few issues, with tiny circulations, their existence invigorates American literature." Skanky Possum is among the best and oldest.
In recent years, this staple-bound magazine has published several poems selected for The Best American Poetry series.[1], including four of the 75 poems in the 2002 edition, selected by Robert Creeley. "In poetry circles, their magazine is highly regarded," Crispin Jessa writes in Bookslut, "Skanky Possum has printed the works of Amiri Baraka and Tom Clark." .[2] Poems by Clayton Eshleman, Robert Kelly, Linh Dinh, Eileen Myles, Kenward Elmslie, Rachel Loden, Alice Notley, Anselm Hollo and Diane di Prima have also appeared.[3]
The magazine's first issue ran in the fall of 1998. The annual circulation of the magazine is roughly 300 copies. Smith and Nguyen also publish a few poetry books a year under the name Skanky Possum[2]
Thurston Moore of the band Sonic Youth sent the magazine a fan letter.[2]