We have some very exciting news here at Albany Poets. Keith Spencer and the lovely Jill Crammond have announced Up The River, a new journal for poetry, art, and photography. Submissions opened on November 1 and will continue until January 31, 2013. We are expecting to launch the first issue in April 2013 to coincide with the Albany Word Fest.
This is the newest venture from Albany Poets to showcase original poetry, art and photography from around the world. A biannual print publication, Up the River is a perfect compliment to Albany Poets support of the arts community. We are continually awed and inspired by the work we see on the stages, blogs, websites and galleries in our community and beyond.
We love the arts and wish to share the best of it with you from right here on the banks of the Hudson River. All Aboard!
Please check out our Submission Guidelines and consider sending us your work for our inaugural issue to be released in April 2013.
I recently sat down with one of the Up The River editors, Keith Spencer about why they decided to start a new literary journal and what their plans are for the publication and it’s digital properties.
Thom Francis: Why did you want to begin a new literary journal?
Keith Spencer: We felt a need to add to the cultural diversity to the albany arts scene by not only helping to promote our local culture, but to share what the world has to offer and showcase here in the capital district
TF: Are you looking for submissions from just the Albany / Upstate area or are you casting a wider net?
KS: Up the River is casting a much wider net. We’ll be accepting Poetry, Art and Photography (hopefully) from around the world. Just today I went to check on submissions and have seen some from Connecticut and even as far as California. It’s quite exciting, being that it’s our first day, to see such a variety of submissions from different places.
TF: That is exciting that you have so many submissions on the first day. How many pages are you thinking that the journal will be?
KS: Well it will be our inaugural issue. I’d like to see a really nice sized journal. Maybe 80-100 pages. But really, I guess that really all depends on the editing process and how many submissions we actually receive and decide to print. It is only the first day, but the response we’ve been getting from the site, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ account has been really great.
TF: In this age of print publications falling away, how do you feel that Up The River will fare in that climate? Any plans for a digital / e-book version?
KS: I think we’ll do well. Between Jill and I, we have a fantastic group of friends in the poetry, and arts communities not only locally but nation wide and abroad. Teaming up with Albany Poets was a no-brainer. Nobody works harder than you guys to promote, well, everything and anything in the northeast, as far as the arts go. There are plans for doing an e-pub of the book. Guess we’ll now better as we get closer to layout.
TF: That’s great! And thank you for the kind words.
KS: Well, it’s the truth.
TF: Speaking of all things digital, what are you guys doing with your brand new website? I heard something about poetry prompts to get the creative juices flowing.
KS: Hopefully later today Jill will be posting a Prompt a day for November in honor of National Novel Writing Month.
TF: Where did the name Up The River come from?
KS: From Jill “We were reading about Henry Hudson and his exploration and journey up the river to this area and it just made sense.”
TF: Where can we find Up The River on the web other than on the great new website?
KS: We are on Facebook and Twitter.
Be sure to head over to the website and check out the submission guidelines and send in your work.
I thought “Up the River” meant going to prison.