Valparaiso Poetry Review is completing its tenth year of publication with the release of the spring/summer edition, featuring poet Ingrid Wendt.

Three poems by Wendt—who received the 2004 Editions Prize for her book, Surgeonfish, and the Oregon Book Award in Poetry for Singing the Mozart Requiem—are published in the new issue. The issue also includes her essay, "Turning to Poems," and an interview with the poet.

According to Edward Byrne, professor of English and editor of VPR, during the past decade the online magazine has given the University greater prominence among literary scholars and students, and it has supported the recent addition of a creative writing major and minor in Valparaiso University's Department of English. He noted that Valpo has gained a higher profile in the national writing community over the past decade, which has helped offer greater recognition to the University and the English Department, attracting more well-known authors as contributors to the journal and writers wishing to visit the campus.

"I am grateful for all the ongoing support Valparaiso Poetry Review has received from contributors and readers during the past decade of publication," Dr. Byrne said. "I look forward to much more fine poetry and critical commentary in future issues that I believe readers will find entertaining, engaging, and enlightening."

The works of about thirty additional poets also appear in the current issue, including poems by the following: Christopher Cessac, whose book of poetry, Republic Sublime, won the Kenyon Review Prize in Poetry; Barbara Crooker, whose 10 collections of poetry include the national prize-winning Ordinary Life and Impressionism; Penny Harter, recipient of the Mary Carolyn Davies Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America and the William O. Douglas Nature Writing Award; Norbert Krapf, Indiana's Poet Laureate, whose recent work includes Bloodroot: Indiana Poems and a memoir, The Ripest Moments: A Southern Indiana Childhood; Joannie Stangeland, winner of the Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Award for A Steady Longing for Flight; and Alison Townsend, whose forthcoming collection, Persephone in America, won the 2008 Crab Orchard Press Open Poetry Competition.

The current edition of Valparaiso Poetry Review also features reviews of new books of poetry, including Susan Settlemyre Williams's Ashes in Midair, Philip Metres' To See the Earth, Gwen Hart's Lost and Found, and Norbert Krapf's Bloodroot: Indiana Poems. An essay by Dr. Byrne on the fiftieth anniversary of publication of Robert Lowell's Life Studies also appears

Gregg Hertzlieb, director of Valparaiso University's Brauer Museum of Art, reviews American artist Abraham Rattner's painting, Still Life Composition No. 3 (pictured above), the journal's cover art and a popular work from the museum's permanent collection.

Complementing the journal is "One Poet's Notes," an editor's blog by Dr. Byrne. The blog features regular postings about contemporary poetics or notable recent books of poetry, as well as various other issues relating to poetry or the literary arts.

Valparaiso Poetry Review includes an extensive list of recently received and recommended books of poetry, as well as guidelines for submissions. All past issues of the journal and an archive of poems, essays, interviews, reviews, and commentaries on art are available on the Web.