Tar River Poetry

"A nationally ranked magazine of verse (the Dictionary of Literary Biography listed it as one of the top ten poetry magazines in the country), TRP publishes interviews, reviews, and poetry by emerging writers as well as Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners. "

Prose rejections

Standard

Text of Standard Rejection

Higher Tier

Text of Higher Tier Rejection

2025

Thank you, so much, for all your support of Tar River Poetry. These are difficult times for literary journals and we are truly grateful.

And thank you for sending us your work. We read your submission very carefully, but nothing quite grabbed us. We're very sorry to disappoint you, and we wish you best of luck with these poems elsewhere. We hope you'll consider submitting to TRP again in the next reading cycle. You may continue to submit, free of charge, for the duration of your subscription.

Stay tuned to the new website for information about upcoming issues and events.

Warmly, The Editors, Tar River Poetry www.tarriverpoetry.com

2017

Dear [Submitter],

Thank you for sending us your poems. We read them carefully, but nothing in this batch felt quite right for us. Sorry to disappoint you, and best of luck with these elsewhere.

—The Editors Tar River Poetry http://tarriverpoetry.com

PS. Three things you might like to know about our editorial process: (1) We take just as much care with, and spend just as much time on, an Expedited Decision as we do a regular submission. In other words, though we decide quickly, we do not decide hastily. (2) If we decline your work, it is not in any way a reflection of the quality of your work. We do not decide whether a poem is bad or good—that’s not our job. Our job is to decide whether a poem is right for TRP. That’s all we do, and after you’ve read an issue or two, you may have more of a sense of what we publish. (3) We are currently reading hundreds of poems a week. Literally. During our most recent submission period (February 2017), we received 1,947 poems. We had space to accept only 42 -- a 2.1% acceptance rate. Since the competition here is so fierce, we encourage you to send your very best poems. . . . All this is just to say that we are glad to have had the chance to read your work and sorry that it wasn’t right for us at this time, and to shed a little light on our editorial process.

Higher Tier

Dear First Last,

Thank you for your nice words about Tar River Poetry, and thanks for supporting the journal by renewing your subscription. We are grateful for your support.

Thank you also for sending us your poems. We read them carefully, but sorry to say, nothing quite grabbed us in this batch ("A Really Great Poem" came closest). Sorry to disappoint you. If you care to submit again, please use the "Current Subscriber" category on our submissions manager, and mention in your cover letter that you subscribe, and we'll once again expedite our decision. And in the meantime, we wish you best of luck with these poems elsewhere.

Sincerely, Luke Whisnant, Editor Tar River Poetry http://tarriverpoetry.com

PS. Three things you might like to know about our editorial process: (1) We take just as much care with, and spend just as much time on, an Expedited Decision as we do a regular submission. In other words, though we decide quickly, we do not decide hastily. (2) If we decline your work, it is not in any way a reflection of the quality of your work. We do not decide whether a poem is bad or good—that’s not our job. Our job is to decide whether a poem is right for TRP. That’s all we do, and after you’ve read an issue or two, you may have more of a sense of what we publish. (3) We are currently reading hundreds of poems a week. Literally. For example, during our Spring 2017 reading period (Feb 1 - Feb 28), we received 1,947 poems. We had space to accept only 42 -- a 2.1% acceptance rate. Since the competition here is so fierce, we encourage you to send your very best poems. . . . All this is just to say that we are glad to have had the chance to read your work and sorry that it wasn’t right for us at this time, and to shed a little light on our editorial process