Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Better late than never.... (Journal Reviews)



The first journal I decided to check out was “Tin House.” The first thing I noticed was the layout of the site. Overall, it is very user friendly and approachable, which is a nice touch. The site is also very easy to navigate and seems to be well thought out. I was also fond of the cover of the current issue. It appears to have a very dramatic picture of a rhino surrounded by crows. I’m honestly not sure why this appeals to me, but I certainly find it interesting. Unfortunately, the site offers very little to read from the current issue. I believe only one poem is accessible via the website. Though I do understand that places like this want to encourage you to buy their journal, I feel like they could at least post more than one poem. Also, I was not a fan of the poem that is posted (“I Declare War” by Evie Shockley.) I think the poem itself is an interesting concept, but the format is annoying. Though, I do understand her reasons for choosing this layout.

The next journal I looked at was “Shampoo.” The website for “Shampoo” was very visually pleasing and also extremely easy to navigate. Once I got into the current issue (issue 40), I was surprised to find that I could actually view all of the poetry.  This definitely makes the journal easier to review, and allows the reader to actually have an idea of what the journal is all about without having to pay. I was very fond of the first two poems by Jim Behrle. Behrle provided some nice opening humor, as well as good writing. I also loved the hand written poem by Paolo Javier and Del Ray Cross. This was wonderful, visually pleasing, and actually a great poem. I was also fond of Charles D. Tarlton’s submission (his leaping around was fantastic), and also Chrissy Wright’s work. Overall, “Shampoo” was a much better journal for me. The site was easier to navigate, the poetry was available for anyone to see, and the poems themselves were great.

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