Poetry is a living thing. It beats. It breathes. It circulates. And like any vasculature, the literary arts are more vital when oxygenated by freshness and innovation.
Founded by Kentucky-based poet Robert Campbell in 2020, Red Tree Review celebrates poems that surprise, harrow, and awe. RTR regularly publishes emerging writers alongside celebrated voices in a sharp, contemporary format.
RTR does not subscribe to any particular trend or school of poetry, but instead focuses on work that exhibits innovation, gravity, and simply gorgeous craft. RTR believes that surprise arises from defied expectations, that poems harrow the reader via importance, relevance, or genuine stakes. Emily Dickinson defined awe best: “If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”
The journal’s mission (“surprise, harrow, and awe”) is, of course, intentionally quixotic. But these ideas are useful guides for editorial decision-making. They distill into three words what Red Tree Review believes good poetry can do.
To learn more about how to submit, click here.
For other questions:
contact[at]redtreereview[dot]com
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