Summary
Internship with Press53 begins with reading and contributing comments on poem submissions to find potential finalists. I have been given advice by the Poetry Editor on how to breakdown poem series to help me do so. Taking a course in Poetry at GSU has been beneficial for this internship.
I have been assigned multiple poetry submissions for “2025 Press 53 Award for Poetry.”
I was instructed by Tom Lombardo on how to navigate through Submittable’s platform. I’m included in a team which is currently responsible for 30+ submissions. I am expected to read as much as possible and contribute comments.
Tom has recommended a method where if you are “10 poems in”, reading it backwards could be beneficial. Perhaps to avoid preconceptions of a narrative. Tom also taught me four principles which focus on Mood, Story, Language, and Line.
Mood focuses on how the poems make you feel. Story is determining what narrative or underlying message, if any or if it is more abstract. Language is the types of figurative speech used and how effective they were. Line is about the structure of the poem. It was made clear that Press53 does not accept religious poetry and inappropriate content such as explicit sexual content. I am expected to report any if such themes appear.
As a Creative Writing major, who’s focus is on Fiction. Taking a poetry class has been a great help for this internship as many of my questions about poetry are being answered. And being able to create my own poems helps me understand the perspective of the poets I am reading for Press53. I can see that there is a big difference between fiction’s straightforward narrative and poetry’s multiple meaning, abstract type of writing.
At the moment, I have contributed to the process of a submission, so far the first submission seems fun, having great imagery and a fantasy/mythological theme. It seems Press53’s submissions has a wide and broad range. I am reviewing more to help Press53 find finalists for their poetry selections.
