Move over, Good Housekeeping and GQ: here come the little magazines! Full of surprising and challenging poetry, short fiction, interviews, and reviews, literary journals are at the forefront of contemporary poetry. They provide a home for young writers, experimental writing, translations, marginalized voices, and new work from established poets. Literary magazines assume a wide range of shapes and sizes, from perfect-bound books to side-stapled tabloids on newsprint. Most come out with some regularity, often quarterly or semiannually.

Almost every well-known poet in the 20th and 21st centuries began their career in the pages of a literary magazine, so you can be sure you're looking at the future of American poetry in their pages today. In the words of CLMP (the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses), "no other outlet exists which makes available so much literary work with such frequency and at a fairly modest cost." To learn more about independent literary publishing, visit the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses.