Light (journal)
 Light № 70–71, Winter 2010–2011 | |
| Editor | Melissa Balmain (2013–present) |
|---|---|
| Former editors | John Mella (1992–2012) |
| Categories | Light verse |
| Frequency | Quarterly |
| Publisher | Foundation for Light Verse |
| Paid circulation | 750–850 |
| First issue | 1992 |
| Country | USA |
| Website | http://lightpoetrymagazine.com/ |
| ISSN | 1064-8186 |
Light (formerly Light: A Quarterly of Light Verse) is a Chicago-based journal which bills itself as "the only magazine available in [the U.S.] devoted exclusively to light verse."
Light was founded in 1992 by retired postal worker John Mella. Mella personally published the journal until 2008, when he founded the non-profit Foundation for Light Verse with a $500,000 gift from poet Joyce La Mers. The Foundation, headed by Mella, took over publication of the journal.[1] After Mella's death in 2012, the magazine was relaunched as an online-only, semiannual publication.
The verse in each issue begins with a several-page feature on a writer of light verse, and ends with a reprint of a poem by a past master. Sections in between vary from issue to issue and each gathers poems that share something thematic, such as children's verse, political poems, or poems on marriage. The magazine has included the verse of Wendy Cope, Tom Disch, X.J. Kennedy, John Updike, and Richard Wilbur, among many others.
Contributors
Notable contributors include the following:
- Maureen Cannon
- William Rossa Cole
- Wendy Cope
- Alma Denny
- Tom Disch
- Willard R. Espy
- Gavin Ewart
- David Galef
- Charles Ghigna
- Dana Gioia
- Albert Goldbarth
- R.S. Gwynn
- Donald Hall
- A. M. Juster
- X. J. Kennedy
- James Kirkup
- Richard Kostelanetz
- Joyce La Mers
- Felicia Lamport
- James Laughlin
- J. Patrick Lewis
- Bob McKenty
- William Matthews
- John Frederick Nims
- Jack Prelutsky
- Maurice Sagoff
- Jim Siergey
- William Jay Smith
- W. D. Snodgrass
- William Stafford
- John Updike
- Gail White
- Richard Wilbur
References
- ↑ Miner, Michael (March 18, 2010). "A Windfall for Light Verse". Chicago Reader. Retrieved December 26, 2013.