~EDWARD BYRNE~
TENTH
ANNIVERSARY OF VALPARAISO POETRY
REVIEW: A NOTE OF APPRECIATION
Ten years ago, in October of 1999, the
initial issue of Valparaiso Poetry
Review premiered as an online journal designed to introduce new,
emerging, and established poets to the larger audience available on the
Internet. Much has changed since that publication of Valparaiso Poetry Review’s first
issue. At the time, the concept of an online literary journal was still
a fairly novel idea and relatively untested. Reputations of existing
electronic
literary magazines, among authors and readers, were spotty at best. As
Sandra Beasley stated in a recent article for Poets & Writers: “Online
journals were a pale imitation of print, marred by amateurish fonts,
garish backgrounds, and the lack of editorial accountability.”
Consequently, one could not blame any writers who wondered about the
wisdom of publishing material in such venues, where even the
environment
might diminish readers’ responses to the work.
Indeed, in the early issues of Valparaiso
Poetry Review I was particularly grateful to those poets and
critics who contributed to the journal based solely upon a
confidence that their good works would appear among other fine pieces
and be placed in an atmosphere reflecting literary integrity. I
appreciated their faith that I would exercise editorial judgment in a
manner that would benefit all the contributions included in every
volume of VPR. Over the opening decade of the journal’s existence, I
have always attempted to honor the privilege bestowed upon me by those
writers who entrusted Valparaiso
Poetry Review with their poetry, reviews, and essays.
Additionally, I felt a responsibility to produce an
online literary
journal that would attain a certain amount of respect and would
contribute to the overall stature of electronic magazines, whose
standing was already beginning to become more elevated
due largely to the
exemplary efforts by a number of other
editors at similar sites. These individuals also were working toward
building a community of Internet publications that would complement the
numerous
excellent titles in the world of print journals. I believe most readers
of contemporary literature have been amazed in the past decade by the
growth
in popularity and the increased sophistication level of various online
literary journals. I know I admire
the wonderful work witnessed in many electronic publications nowadays,
and I regularly applaud the activities of their editors. Moreover, as I
have suggested in my writing elsewhere, I believe we have finally
reached a point
where readers may safely say they are observing a coming of age for the
online literary journal.
I have been pleased to notice, as further evidence
of
an increased respect
for online magazines, the “table of contents” pages of some electronic
literary
journals now
display a wide range of well-known poets and fiction writers whose
presence was limited to print journals not too long ago, and whose
contributions bring greater attention to those emerging authors
publishing exciting work alongside them. Moreover, when I glance at the
“acknowledgments” pages of new books of poetry or volumes
of
literary
commentary, I find myself noting how many titles of online journals,
including Valparaiso Poetry Review,
are represented side by side with those titles of traditional print
periodicals, all of which seem to have adopted at least some degree of
online presence as well in recent years. In fact, various print
journals
have evolved into “hybrids,” also offering their
content online, and during the
past few years, readers have seen esteemed literary magazines start to
migrate fully from a print format to an
online-only status.
I value all the poems and depend on each author
in Valparaiso Poetry Review;
therefore, I wish to take this special opportunity to express again my
appreciation to everyone whose splendid work has appeared in Valparaiso Poetry Review during the
past ten years of the journal’s publication. The number of people to
whom I am grateful for contributing their writing rises every year, as
VPR currently includes about 500 poems and more than 100 works of prose
commentary in
its twenty-one issues.
Likewise, the readership for Valparaiso Poetry Review has soared
far beyond my expectations over the years, and I am pleased to report I
am confident VPR’s
readers
can look forward to more exceptional work in the future with poems,
essays, interviews, reviews, and commentary that visitors to Valparaiso Poetry Review will find
equally as entertaining, engaging, and enlightening.
Additionally, I appreciate very much all the ongoing
support and
positive feedback Valparaiso Poetry
Review has received in e-mails or through readers’ comments at
“One Poet’s Notes,” the VPR editor’s blog, as well as in messages sent
by means of the VPR Facebook page. I also look forward to any responses
readers might have to this special tenth anniversary issue of Valparaiso Poetry Review, which
celebrates the occasion by presenting significantly more poems than
previous issues of VPR.
Once again, thank you to all, writers and
readers, for the numerous outstanding contributions and many kind words
of encouragement concerning Valparaiso
Poetry Review during the past decade.
With gratitude,
Edward Byrne
Editor, Valparaiso Poetry Review
|
