Six Questions for Dr. Vivekanand Jha, Chief Editor, VerbalArt

VerbalArt welcomes unsolicited submissions of poems and anything about poets and poetry. We also publish critical/research articles, translation, book reviews, interviews, biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, essays, travelogues and creative writings pertaining to poems, poets and poetry. We consider both unpublished and previously published works. Read the compete guidelines here.

SQF: Why did you start this magazine?

Dr. Vivekanand Jha: We felt the  need for quality print journal of poetry in India as we were running short of such journals of international status in view of such a large number of people from this country devoted to poetry writings. The significance of this journal is furthered bolstered as it is being printed, published and distributed by New Delhi based publisher Authorspress, one of the leading publishers of India. The main goal of the journal is to provide a literary stage for both established and budding poets to showcase their creative aptitude and propagate their works worldwide. We publish anything associated with poetry in this journal.


SQF: What are the top three things you look for in a submission and why?

DVJ: We look for the following three simple things:

1. We prefer small pieces of poems.
2. Poems lucid in style, easily conceivable to readers and free from obscurities.
3. Submissions made after proper following of the guidelines.

SQF: What most often turns you off to a submission?

DVJ: We like the poems composed on common, contemporary and general themes. We avoid pieces focusing more on local and highly mythical issues as we have to respect sentiments of our worldwide readers as well. Like other editors of the journals we too get irritated if pieces are submitted without observing the guidelines available on the journal’s website. We avoid accepting submissions that may be radical, racial, and vulgar in nature and, may also be inviting other kinds of controversies.


SQF: Is there a particular style of poem you’d like to see more of in your submissions?

DVJ: I like all styles of poems provided they are small in pieces, universal in themes and lucid in sense and sensibility.


SQF: Who are a few of your favorite poets?

DVJ: Some of my favorite poets are William Shakespeare, John Milton, John Donne, George Herbert, William Wordsworth, John Keats, T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, H. W. Longfellow and etceteras.


SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it?

DVJ: Yes, you should have asked me about the circulation and version of our journal. Our journal is circulated worldwide. Though it is primarily a print journal but its e-version is also uploaded on our website which is made open access for readers all over the world. Thus the work of every author gets wide exposure, not restricted to few readers that generally happen in the case of purely print journal. Moreover we post bio of every author with recent photograph on our website along with the link of an issue in which his or her works feature. We really provide the authors their due that they really deserve.

Thank you, Vivekanand. We all appreciate you taking time from your busy schedule to participate in this project.