P-QUEUE 7

P-QUEUE is one of Buffalo's best kept secrets, printed by one of my favorite people in the world: Andrew Rippeon. As expected, the newest issue is really spectacular: super careful editing, fewer authors showcasing a more comprehensive body of work, statements of poetics addressing the material included, thematic issues with regular regional import, editorial statements(!). The mag was inaugurated by Sarah Campbell in 2004, the year after I moved to Buffalo, and it has consistently been one of the few magazines I regularly read from cover to cover. The format is perfect, and after all these years, the design elements from the first few issues continue to satisfy: pocket-size format, letterpress cover (I printed at least one of them, if I remember correctly), inserts, printed vellum, a penchant for visual poetry, etc. etc. etc.

Issue 7 is dedicated to the polemic, and sports a killer editorial by Rippeon followed by a shitload of heavy-hitters: Rich Owens (19 pages!), Craig Dworkin, Julia Bloch (22 pages!), Janet Neigh, Jimbo Blachly & Lytle Shaw, Duriel E. Harris, Dawn Lundy Martin, Ronaldo V. Wilson, Steve Zultanski, Bhanu Kapil, Robert Fitterman, Patrick Durgin, Alessandro Porco, Craig Santos Perez, Vanessa Place, and Sarah Dowling.

This mag along with, say, Damn the Caesers, Try!, and very few others continue to renew my faith in the magazine as a critical ecology showcasing a very particular conversation between very specific poets, rather than the more generic model of featuring a stand-alone one night stand by hundreds of poets. Young, aspiring editors take note...A must for folks interested in small press culture.

Don't sleep. Check it out here.