32 Poems Magazine is a literary magazine, founded in the American states of Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 and Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 in 2003, that has published poems from writers around the world.

Beginning

This independent magazine made its debut at the 2003 Associated Writing Programs

Association of Writers & Writing Programs

The Association of Writers & Writing Programs is a literary organization whose mission is "to foster literary talent and achievement, to advance the art of writing as essential to a good education, and to serve the makers, teachers, students, and readers of contemporary writing."-Members:AWP...

 Conference in Baltimore, Maryland and publishes a winter issue in November and a spring issue in April.

Since the beginning, 32 Poems has published only poetry. Each issue contains 32 poems for a total of 64 poems published per year.

Board members include: C. Dale Young

C. Dale Young

C. Dale Young is an American poet and writer, physician, editor and educator.-Life:Young writes and publishes poetry and short stories, practices medicine full-time, edits poetry for New England Review, and teaches in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers...

, B.H. Fairchild, and Grace Schulman

Grace Schulman

-Life:She studied at Bard College, and graduated from American University in 1955, and from New York University with a Ph.D.She is Distinguished Professor of English at Baruch College, CUNY...

.

Editors are: Deborah Ager

Deborah Ager

-Life:Ager founded the poetry magazine known as 32 poems or 32 Poems Magazine in 2003 with the poet John Poch. She was educated at the University of Maryland and the University of Florida ....

 and John Poch.

Contributors

Contributors have included: Billy Collins

Billy Collins

Billy Collins is an American poet, appointed as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. He is a Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York and is the Senior Distinguished Fellow of the Winter Park Institute, Florida...

, Brigit Pegeen Kelly

Brigit Pegeen Kelly

Brigit Pegeen Kelly is an award-winning American poet.-Life:She is married to , a poet and fiction writer.She taught at the University of California at Irvine, Purdue University, and Warren Wilson College....

, Lydia Davis

Lydia Davis

Lydia Davis is a contemporary American writer noted for her short stories. Davis is also a French translator, and has produced several new translations of French literary classics, including Proust's Swann’s Way and Flaubert's Madame Bovary....

, Ricardo Pau-Llosa

Ricardo Pau-Llosa

Ricardo Pau-Llosa is a Cuban-American poet, art critic of Latin American art in the US and Europe, and author of short fiction.-Life:...

, A.E. Stallings, William Logan

William Logan (poet)

William Logan is an American poet, critic and scholar.-Life:Logan was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to W. Donald Logan, Jr. and Nancy Damon Logan. He lives in Gainesville, Florida and Cambridge, England with his wife, the poet and artist, Debora Greger...

, G.C. Waldrep

G.C. Waldrep

George Calvin Waldrep is an American poet and historian. -Biography:Waldrep earned undergraduate and doctoral degrees in History at Harvard University and Duke University, respectively, before receiving an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Iowa.He was visiting professor at Kenyon...

, Rosemary Winslow

Rosemary Winslow

-Life:Rosemary Winslow lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband John, a visual artist. She teaches at The Catholic University of America.Her work has appeared in 32 poems, Poet Lore, The Southern Review, Crux...

, Jeannine Hall Gailey

Jeannine Hall Gailey

Jeannine Hall Gailey is an American poet.She has written two notable books of poetry: Becoming the Villainess and She Returns to the Floating World...

, Chad Davidson

Chad Davidson

-Biography:Chad Davidson holds a BA, MA, and PhD in English from Cal State San Bernardino, the University of North Texas, and Binghamton University, respectively. He is currently Associate Professor of English at the University of West Georgia...

, Paul Guest

Paul Guest

Paul Guest is an American poet and memoirist.When he was twelve, Paul broke the third and fourth vertebrae in his neck in a bicycle accident, bruising his spinal cord and paralyzing him from the neck down. He is a quadriplegic. He graduated from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and from...

, Bob Hicok

Bob Hicok

-Life:Hicok is an associate professor of creative writing at Virginia Tech. He is from Michigan and before teaching owned and ran a successful automotive die design business...

, H. L. Hix

H. L. Hix

Harvey Lee Hix , who signs his work H. L. Hix, is an American poet and academic.Hix is the author of books of poetry, criticism and essays and has been awarded a fellowship from the NEA. He has also won the KCAI Teaching Excellence Award and the T. S...

, James Hoch

James Hoch (poet)

-Life and Education:He graduated from University of Maryland, with an MFA.Hoch grew up in Collingswood, New Jersey, and now resides Nyack, NY, with his wife and sons.Hoch earned an MFA at University of Maryland...

, Lia Purpura

Lia Purpura

Lia Purpura is an American poet, writer and educator. She is the author of three collections of poems , two collections of essays and one collection of translations...

, Daniel Nester

Daniel Nester

Daniel Murlin Nester , known as Daniel Nester, is a writer, editor, and poet.-Biography:...

, Dan O'Brien

Dan O'Brien (playwright)

Dan O’Brien is an American playwright whose plays include The Body of an American, The Three Christs of Ypsilanti, The Cherry Sisters Revisited, The Voyage of the Carcass, The Dear Boy, The House in Hydesville, Moving Picture, Key West, "Will You Please Shut Up?", and The Disappearance of Daniel Hand...

, Robin Beth Schaer

Robin Beth Schaer

-Life:She graduated from Colgate University and Columbia University, and has taught at Columbia University and Cooper Union and worked at the Academy of American Poets....

, Amit Majmudar

Amit Majmudar

-Life:He is a diagnostic radiologist specializing in Nuclear Medicine practicing full-time in Columbus, Ohio, where he lives with his wife Ami and his twin sons, Shiv and Savya....

, Lisa Russ Spaar

Lisa Russ Spaar

-Life:She graduated from University of Virginia , with a B.A. and M.F.A.She teaches at the University of Virginia.Her work has appeaered in The Kenyon Review, Poetry, Slate, Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, The Yale Review, Denver Quarterly, Shenandoah, Indiana Review, The Paris Review,...

, Bernadette Geyer

Bernadette Geyer

Bernadette K. Geyer is a poet, writer, and editor in Washington, D.C..-Life:She graduated from Allegheny College. She worked for the US Fuel Cell Council, and was deputy director of Fuel Cells 2000; she served as editor-in-chief of The Word Works, and works as a freelance writer/editor in Vienna,...

, J.E. Pitts

J.E. Pitts

J. E. Pitts was an American poet, songwriter, musician, photographer, artist, designer, and editor.-Life:J. E. Pitts was born in and grew up in Corinth, Mississippi....

, Stephen Graham Jones

Stephen Graham Jones

Stephen Graham Jones is a Blackfeet Native American author of experimental fiction, horror fiction, crime fiction, and science fiction. He shares a fan base with fellow authors Will Christopher Baer and Craig Clevenger known as . November 16, 2010 Stephen will have a collection of short stories...

, Lydia Davis

Lydia Davis

Lydia Davis is a contemporary American writer noted for her short stories. Davis is also a French translator, and has produced several new translations of French literary classics, including Proust's Swann’s Way and Flaubert's Madame Bovary....

, Katie Umans, Averill Curdy

Averill Curdy

-Life:She received her MFA from the University of Houston and her PhD from the University of Missouri.Curdy worked as an arts administrator and as a marketing manager and technical editor....

, Steven D. Schroeder

Steven D. Schroeder

-Life:He was born in San Francisco and grew up in California, Germany, and Colorado. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a creative writing degree...

, Christopher Cessac, Katie Chaple, Emily Walter, Kelli Russell Agodon

Kelli Russell Agodon

-Life:She was raised in Seattle, and graduated from the University of Washington, and Pacific Lutheran University with an MFA. She lives in the Kingston, Washington. She is the co-editor of the Crab Creek Review...

, Amanda Auchter

Amanda Auchter

Amanda Auchter is an American writer, professor, and editor. She is an editor and author of poetry, nonfiction essays, and book reviews.-Personal life:Amanda Auchter was born in Baytown, Texas on February 6, 1977...

, Andrea Hollander Budy

Andrea Hollander Budy

Andrea Hollander Budy is an American poet. Her most recent poetry collection is Woman in the Painting . Her work appeared in Poetry, The Georgia Review, The Gettysburg Review, New Letters, FIELD, Five Points, Shenandoah, and Creative Nonfiction...

, Jacqueline Kolosov

Jacqueline Kolosov

Jacqueline Kolosov is an American poet, children's book author, and professor. Her most recent collection of poetry is Modigliani's Muse , and her most recent young adult novel is A Sweet Disorder...

, Sebastian Matthews

Sebastian Matthews

-Life:He graduated from the University of Michigan with an MFA. He teaches at Warren Wilson College and edits Rivendell.His poems have appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Greensboro Review, New England Review, Post Road, Seneca Review, and Tin House.His father is William Matthews...

, Daniele Pantano

Daniele Pantano

Daniele Pantano is a poet, translator, editor, and scholar. He was born in Langenthal, Switzerland, of Sicilian and German parentage. Pantano holds degrees in philosophy, literature, and creative writing...

.

Reviews

32 Poems is a new literary journal built on the model provided by One Story magazine – every issue contains, simply, 32 poems – no reviews, no letter from the editor, no fiction. It has generated a lot of buzz in the literary community, and for once, the buzz was deserved; this modest little 5 ½ by 8 ½ saddle-stapled journal contained a dazzling array of poetry.

32 Poems once again impressed me, in its inimitable way, with the contrast between its modest appearance and superb content. The 32 poems (yes, hence the name of the magazine) in this issue lean heavily towards the lyric, and most have a playful sense of language that extends, at times, to their subjects.

32 Poems could have taken a more minimalist approach to poetry, as its design and layout would suggest, but instead it touches on every fundamental poetic theme—life, sex, change, death—with the varied imagination of the finest journals around.

In case you were wondering, yes, 32 Poems is just that—a journal of thirty-two poems, one to a page. This issue's works, chosen by guest editor Carrie Jerrell, are mostly of a straightforward, narrative style, with a couple of wryly amusing “list” poems kicking things off.