What Allegro Looks For
Knowing what an editor is looking for in submisisons can also help readers understand what they will encounter on the pages (print or electronic) of a literary publication.
UK-based Allegro Poetry Magazine publishes online by founding editor and British poet, Sally Long, who explains to writers what she is looking for in submissions. “I aim to publish the best poetry in Allegro and so I have no preference for any particular form of poetry.” That said, she did offer some qualities she looks for in a good “fit” for Allegro: poems that evoke place or time; strong characterizations of people-focused works; striking images; well-used language; well-crafted formal poetry – which Long notes she sees too little of and would welcome more; and poems that skillfully use rhyme and half-rhyme – also a form she would welcome more of.
Allegro publishes two themed issues per year, the latest from September is themed “Japanese,” while the remainder of the issues during the year are open to general submissions.
