When you’ve read too many incredible books and you need to write about it or talk about it and no one else has read that book yet or wants to chat at the pitch you think it deserves, there is this thing called the book review that you can try (see Julija Sukys’ how-to).
However, it is the case that some journals do not accept unsolicited book reviews. There is not enough life left in the hourglass to be sad about this. Instead, you can submit your unsolicited reviews to the journals that welcome them. I cribbed some links from the great list at Entropy but I also found a few places to add and a few journals that no longer seem to be operating or accepting reviews. Poets & Writers also has a list of book review outlets, but most of them are for authors or publishers seeking to have a book reviewed rather than for writers trying to publish a book review. I wanted to focus on places to submit book reviews. So: I did.
General notes etc.
I hope this saves you time and makes it easier to celebrate the work of fellow writers. What follows is a brief methodology that explains what was included in this list—and a few general caveats.
Many academic journals don’t accept summer submissions.
Most journals are looking for reviews of books published by indie or small presses in the last year, though a few journals make exceptions for time and self-publication. I tried to note these exceptions where I found them.
The interview has become an alternate form of book review, a collaborative conversation in which the book’s themes are discussed with the author. This is especially wonderful in you choose to review books outside your lived experience. For example, VIDA notes that reviews by white, heteronormative authors continue to predominate. That is a gauntlet that many of us need to address in our reviews. We need to review BIPoC poets even if we are worried that we can’t do their words justice. The interview or conversation is an excellent way to highlight the works of writers that we don’t feel qualified to “review” given our inherent structural biases. As a result, many lit mags are looking for interviews. I’ve added those where I found them.
Some journals have a running list of books they would like to see reviewed. Generally, the journal or press will send you a comp version for review. For the most part, journals don’t limit themselves to the reviews on that list. But… some do.
Many journals especially value reviews of books by under-represented or marginalized persons. See the comment about interviews above.
If the journal compensates, I tried to add this, whether money or in journal copy. Look for a $ sign if you’re looking for dollar signs.
Journals often have different submission methods for book reviews. I tried to include the means of submission, whether by snail mail, email, Submittable, or an online system specific to the journal itself.
I included word limits where I found them, though book reviews can run between 800 and 3000 words, depending on the journal. Micro-reviews between 300 and 500 words are also increasingly popular.
I also distinguished by journals that want to be queried and journals that accept the review as a submission without prior querying.
Unless the journal specifically addressed simultaneous submissions, I assume SS were fine and didn’t mention them.
Places to Submit Book Reviews (esp. poetry)
4squarereview: Online. Publishes poetry reviews quarterly. Send 1,000-word reviews of contemporary books of poetry to 4squarereview@gmail.com. Focus on books published by small and independent presses.
3: AM Magazine: Online. Publishes poetry reviews & general criticism. Submit by email directly to nonfiction/criticism editor, Joseph Schreiber at jmesch78@gmail.com. Special attention given to literature in translation; experimental, postmodern and innovative literature; unconventional approaches to LGBTQ themes.
32 Poems: Print & online. Submittable. Prefer reviews over 1,000 words for sustained exploration. “Avoid passive voice. (Don’t tell us what the poems are, but rather consider how they act on a reader.)”
Adroit Journal: Online. Submittable. Accepts both reviews and interviews, though currently preferring interviews. Includes a list of books the editors want reviewed. Short application for reviews and interviews here (don’t worry, it’s not a resume…just a list of questions about what you want to review as well as the request for work sample).
AGNI: Online & print. 1,500-to-3,000-word review essays “that lift us to your singular inquiry-driven vantage: show us what your chosen book reveals to you that only you can show”. Query Reviews Editor Rachel Mennies or submit review directly online through portal.
American Book Review: Online. Query by email.
American Microreviews & Interviews: Online. Query by email. 7-10 sentence reviews.
American Poetry Review: Print & online. Accepts reviews and interviews of poetry books. Submittable.
Another Chicago Magazine: Online. Accepts review of all genres. Also interested in innovative review forms. Submittable.
Apofenie: Online. Opening its book review section soon. Query or email submissions to apofeniemagazine@gmail.com. Specify genre and include a three-sentence biographical statement.
Asian Review of Books: Online. Query by email to editor@asianreviewofbooks.com with details of your experience, interests and links to writing samples.
Aster(ix) Journal: Online & print. Focus on amplifying the voices of women of color. Query editor by email on WOC-authored books.
Asymptote: Online. Query by email. Focus on recently published/ forthcoming titles translated into English.
Barcelona Review: Online. Under 3000 words. Email submissions and queries to editor Jill Addams at editor@barcelonareview.com. Be sure to follow email instructions on the website. “Material should be related in some way to the world of books and writing; creative non-fiction (e.g., personal essays) that fits with the review is welcome. Literary criticism and academic pieces are not what we're after.”
Bending Genres: Online. Accepts “microviews”, or short reviews, of poetry and hybrid chapbooks or collections. Submittable. Contact Reviews Editor Emily Bertholf for details.
Berfrois: Online. Email editor Russell Bennetts directly to submit or query.
Big Other: Online. Accepts a variety of book reviews including poetry. Submittable. 6,000 words max. Also accepts interviews under 6,000 words via Submittable.
Borderlands Texas Poetry Review: Print & online. Accepts poetry reviews. Editors partial to reviews that include more than one book. 1500 max for general review, though this can be longer for multi-book reviews. Submittable.
BOXCAR Poetry Review: Print & online. Accepts reviews of first poetry collections, no chapbooks, and interviews between poets. Submittable. Reviews should engage the text (ie. close reading) and may either be academic or personal in their nature. Between 500-1500 words. Submit reviews here. For interviews, focus is on poets who have recently published first book. Editors prefer conversations between poets who already have some familiarity with each other. Query by email at interviews@boxcarpoetry.com and indicate "interview" in the header.
Boston Review: Print & online. Accepts variety of book reviews, including poetry. No chapbooks. Submittable. 5,000 words max.
Calyx: Print & online. Focus is on reviews of books written by women. Also accepts chapbook reviews. 500-1000 words for collections and 50-100 words for chapbooks. Use online submission system.
Chattahoochee Review: Print & online. Publishes poetry reviews and pays $150 per review. Submittable for final reviews or, alternately, you can query at tcr@gsu.edu about the possibility of a particular review or review essay.
Clarion Magazine: Online. Submittable. Email the editors at clarion@bu.edu for more information.
Cleaver Magazine: Online. Open to all kinds of reviews. Contact editors directly. For fiction and nonfiction reviews and interviews contact Michelle Fost at mfost@me.com. For poetry, email Claire Oleson at olesonc@kenyon.edu.
Cleveland Review of Books: Online. Microreviews not paid, but longer reviews receive modest compensation. Query by email. Includes a guide for pitching as well as list of possible books. Focus is on books related to Midwest or authored by Midwestern authors.
Colorado Review: Print & online. Submittable. 750-1,000 words.
Compulsive Reader: Online. Accepts reviews in all genres. Submit reviews to editor Maggie Ball by email to maggieball@compulsivereader.com.
DIAGRAM: Online. Open to short (400-600 words) and long (2,000-4,000 words) review forms. “We like reviews that play with the genre, transcend the genre, do something unusual or fun, or just plain rock. We are particularly interested in reviews using unusual or unique forms.” Submit to reviews@thediagram.com.
Diode: Online. Accepts poetry reviews and interviews year round. Submit by email to submit@diodepoetry.com. Send in .doc format.
Dublin Review of Books: Online. Send by email to info@drb.ie. Between 900 and 1500 words.
EcoTheo Review: Online. Accepts reviews of all genres. Prefers 1300-1800 words. Query and submit by email to Reviews Editor Hannah VanDerHart at hannah@ecotheo.org.
Empty Mirror: Online. Accepts a variety of book reviews and interviews, though focus is on poetry and literary fiction.. Submittable. Reviews anywhere between 300 and 3,000 words. Interviews up to 10,000 words.
Entropy: Online. Submit by email. 600-2,000 words.
Event: Print & online. Contact Reviews Editor Susan Wasserman by sending an email to event@douglascollege.ca and mentioning reviews. Have a pitch or sample ready and read the reviews on their blog to get a sense of what editors want in length and style.
Fanzine: Online. Submit review by email to submissions@thefanzine.com.
FIVE: 2: ONE: Online & print. Submittable. Under 1000 words. Submit under Nonfiction category.
Fjords Review: Online & print. Accepts reviews of multiple genres as well as interviews. Submittable.
FORMA: Online & print. Accepts poetry reviews. Put review and subject in the subject line of email and submit to FORMAmag@circeinstitute.com.
Full Stop: Online. Focuses on debuts, works in translation, and books published by small presses. Submit by email to reviews editors.
Gasher Journal: Online. Focus on book reviews for small press works only. 1,000-2,000 words. Submittable.
Gettysburg Review: Print. Only accept essay-reviews comparing multiple books.
Georgia Review: Print & online. No SS. Standard reviews which focus on one book (typically 3–5 double-spaced pages) and essay-reviews which compare multiple books on a theme (typically 10-20 double-spaced pages).
Gigantic Sequins: Print. Submittable. Pays in copy of journal.
Glass Poetry Journal: Online. Accepts reviews of poetry chapbooks, anthologies, and collections. Submit using online submissions manager and clicking “reviews” as genre.
Gravel: Online. Accepts poetry book reviews. Open during academic year for submissions. Submittable.
Green Mountains Review: Print & online. Accepts poetry and fiction book reviews. Submittable. For unsolicited reviews, make sure to include a cover letter.
Grist: Online & print. Accepts reviews of all genres published by indie or academic presses. Around 700 words. Also have lists of books they’d like reviewed. f you have an interest in reviewing for Grist, email Reviews Editor Sarah Yancy at schatela@vols.utk.edu.
Guernica: Online. Submittable. Accepts book reviews & interviews. Less than 2,500 words. Submit in Shortform Nonfiction category.
Harvard Review: Doesn’t generally accept unsolicited reviews but if you are interested in reviewing please write to reviews@harvardreview.org describing the kind of books you would be interested in reviewing and enclosing one or more recent clips.
Headcannon Magazine: Online. Email submissions.
Heavy Feather Review: Online & print. Accepts poetry reviews. Maintains list of books currently available for review. Email about any reviews or interviews.
Hoot: Online, or on the back of a postcard when possible. Less than 150 words. Must be of a recently published book (within the last year) published by an indie or small press.
Hudson Review: Print. No SS.
Identity Theory: Online. Submit by email to editor, Matt Borondy.
Iowa Review: Print & online. Submittable. Accepts unsolicited reviews during fall semester only.
KGB Bar Online Review: Online. If you would like to review a book, send a pitch to kgbbarmag@gmail.com. We encourage you to write to us before beginning to draft the review-essay. There is no strict word limit to critical reviews; depending on the title, they can range from under 1,000 words to much longer.
Kenyon Review: Online. 1,000 to 1,200 words. Written for a general-interest literary audience. $50 compensation for online publication. Submittable.
La Piccioletta Barca: Accepts interviews under 8,000 words.
Lantern Review: Print & online. Accepts reviews of recent poetry collections. Under 3,000 words. Submit via online system.
Latin American Literature Today: Print & online. Focus on reviews of contemporary Latin American literature, including poetry. 500 to 1,200 words. See book review style guide. Email reviews to Arturo Gutiérrez Plaza, Book Reviews Editor, at book.reviews.editor.lalt@ou.edu.
Little Stone Journal: Mostly poetry reviews. Under 2,000 words. Send as many as 3 by email.
Los Angeles Review: Print & online. Accepts fiction, CNF, and poetry reviews. 800 to 1,400 words.Prefers not to publish titles that have received significant media exposure. Include the book’s title, author’s name, name of the press, publication date, and ISBN in upper left corner before review. Include short 3rd person bio of reviewer at bottom of the review. Engage the book in reflection, social commentary, and/or thoughtful critique. No summarizing or book-bashing reviews. Email reviews to reviewassist@losangelesreview.org.
Marlboro Review: Print. Snail-mail submission. Doesn’t read subs during the summer.
Michigan Quarterly Review: Online. Under 3,000 words. Submittable.
Necessary Fiction: Online. Focus is fiction. Maintains a running list of fiction books for writers to review. Contact by email with requests at reviews@necessaryfiction.com.
Nervous Breakdown: Temporarily closed for book review submissions “but check back soon.”
New Delta Review: Print & online. Accepts book reviews and interviews. Submittable.
New England Review of Books: Online. Accepts all genre reviews. Pitch or query your review directly to editors@nerobooks.org,
New Orleans Review: Online. Accepts reviews of all genres. Also interested in reviews of books that have been largely neglected (often publications from small/independent presses) in the past 5, 10, 15, or even 20 years. 500 - 1500 words. Submittable.
New Southern Fugitives: Online. Pays $50 per book review. Under 2,000 words. Submittable.
On the Seawall: Online. Accepts poetry reviews. Submit or query by email (with work attached as a Word doc) to Ron Slate at seawallsubmissions[at]gmail[dot]com.
PANK: Online. Accepts reviews of books of all genres and author interviews. Submittable.
Periodicities: Online. Open to submissions of previously unpublished poetry-related reviews, interviews and essays. Submit as .doc with author biography to periodicityjournal@gmail.com.
Pleiades: Print & online. 800-1200 words. Accepts submissions between Dec. 1 and January 1 every year. Submit using online submission system and mark genre as “book reviews for Pleiades”. Favorable to experimental reviews—reviews that borrow from creative nonfiction, adopt a unique form, compare something new to something old, etc.—as well as “retro-reviews,” or reviews that considered books published at an earlier time through a new lens, perhaps in context with newer books. Query Reviews Editor Taneum Bambrick you are interested in doing a three-minute review for online publication only. For a sample three-minute review, click here.
Poet’s Quarterly: Online. Accepts poetry reviews and interviews. 500-2,000 words. Email reviews to reviews@poetsquarterly.com.Email interviews to interviews@poetsquarterly.com.
Poetry: Print & online. Poetry review essays. “We strongly prefer pieces that are not single-book reviews, but rather review essays that discuss two or three books in light of larger matters.” 1,200 - 1,500 words. Submittable.
Poetry Cafe: Online. Focus is on poetry chapbooks. Query editor by email for submission guidelines at risa@thepoetrycafe.online.
Poetry Flash: Online. Snail mail. Query first.
Poetry Northwest: Print & online. Accepts reviews for poetry collections, including longford. Query editors Aaron Barrell & Erin Malone at editors(at)poetrynw.org.
Porter House Review: Online. Voice-driven reviews. Under 2,000 words.
Portland Review: Online. Between 1,200-2500 words. Submittable.
Prairie Schooner: Print & online. 1,000 words max. Submittable.
Prospectus: Online & print. Reviews of chapbooks, full-length collections of poetry, short-story collections, first novels, and art books. The piece reviewed must have been published no longer than one year before submission of the review. 250-300 words and include the publisher’s name and cost of the book. Reviews may also appear on the Prospectus website. Email to Celia Alvarez at editor@hambysterpublishing.com.
Rain Taxi: Online. Submit reviews by email. Around 500 words.
Rhythm & Bone Press: Online. Plans to start accepting book reviews. Query editor by email.
Sabotage Reviews: Online. Accepts reviews for poetry chapbooks as well as anthologies and collections. 500-1,000 words. Read submission guidelines and submit by email to appropriate editor.
Salamander: Print & online. Accepts poetry book reviews. Online submission manager and limited reading period. Query reviews editor Valerie Duff-Strautm.
Sewanee Review: Online & print. Word count: 10,000. Submittable.
Sonora Review: Online & print. 3,000 words max. Submittable or pitch by email. Also accepts interviews under 4,000 words.
Southeast Review. Print & online. Accepts reviews from all genres of books by small presses all year. Prefer single book reviews. 800- 1,200 words. Submit book reviews by email to Reviews Editor at serbookreview@gmail.com. For interview submissions, use Submittable.
Southern Humanities Review: Online. Submittable.
Southern Review of Books: Online. Accepts reviews & interviews in all genres of books related to American South. Email at editors@southernreviewofbooks.com with a link to your writing (no attachments, please). Covers new books the same month they’re published, and avoid conflicts of interest when assigning review coverage (i.e., no personal connections between critics and authors).
Split Lip Magazine: Online. Looking for smart, compelling book reviews and author interviews (or interviews of people in the publishing industry). Reviews should be roughly 800 words and are published online within a month or so of the book publication date. Interviews from 1,000 to 1,500 words. Use online query/submission form.
Stirring: Online. Accepts poetry reviews. Up to 700 words. Submit by e-mail to Katie Culligan at
stirring.reviews@gmail.com.
Tarpaulin Sky: Online & print. Email review to reviews@tarpaulinsky.com. If you have never reviewed for them before, send a brief cover letter with review history and links.
Temz Review: Print & online. Query at thetemzreview@gmail.com. Interested in reviews of Canadian small press titles and works in translation.
The Bind: Online. A review site devoted to books by women and nonbinary authors. Preference for creative review forms. Pitches, queries, or completed reviews (creative or traditional) can be emailed to the.bind.reviews [at] gmail [dot] com.
The Cafe Review: Print & online. Reviews of poetry books. Payment is two copies of journal. Prefer brief reviews under 600 words. Submit by email to mgrumbling@thecafereview.com.
The Chapbook Review: Online. Reviews chapbooks in various genres. Contact using online form to query editors.
The Festival Review: Print & online.
The Nonconformist: Online. Submit reviews by email.
The Point: Online & print. 1,500-3,000 words. Compensation for print issue.
The Puritan: Online. Submittable. Focus on Canadian literature. Submit book reviews under “Essays”. Pays $100 per review.
The Rumpus: Online. Accepts fiction/other reviews & poetry reviews. 1,200–2,500 words. Submittable. For interviews, email Monet Patrice Thomas at monet@therumpus.net.
The Rupture: Online. Direct queries to rupture.reviews@gmail.com.
The Sun: Print & online. Accepts interview pitches. Submittable. Pays $1000-$2000 for piece.
Tinderbox Poetry: Online. Accepts reviews for poetry collections and chapbooks. Submittable. 500-800 words for a chapbook/micro/nontraditional review. 750-1000 words for a full length collection review. Reviews editor Sarah Ann Winn.
Tint Journal: Online. Reviews & interviews related to ESL writers. Between 700 and 3,000 words. Email submissions.
Triangle House: Online. Seeking book reviews and interviews for our their new quarantine blog, Housebound. Pitch by email at becca@triangle.house.
Triquarterly: Print & online. Only interviews. Pays $ honoraria.
Under a Warm Green Linden: Online. Submittable. Accepts interviews and reviews of poetry books. Over 800 words. SS discouraged but journal responds in less than 3 weeks.
Vagabond City Lit: Online. Accepts poetry reviews with special interest in chapbooks. 400-800 words. Submit by email to Bob at vagabondcityliterary@gmail.com
Valparaiso Poetry Review: Print & online. Submit review by email to editor Edward Byrne at VPR@valpo.edu.
Vitni Review: Online. Submit reviews by email.
Virginia Quarterly Review: Print & online. Between 2,000-2,400 words. Pays $500.
Washington Independent Review of Books: Online. Accepts pitches for interviews, pieces about books, authors, reading, and writing formatted as essays, commentary, lists, book news, event coverage, interviews, etc. We pay $25 per accepted submission; there are no kill fees. Email pitches to: editor@washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com. No unsolicited book reviews.
Whale Road Review: Online. Accepts poetry reviews of all lengths. 300-500 words. “We want to publish reviews of poetry and short prose in whatever forms you find them: full-length books, chapbooks, anthologies, albums, other literary journals, reading series, performances, unconventional literary events, etc. We prefer to publish reviews that were written because the reviewer fell in love with the work and needed to tell others about it. Please send reviews as an attachment (.doc, .docx, or .rtf) to whaleroadreview@gmail.com with REVIEW as the subject line.”
West Branch: Online & print. Query with a sample by email to westbranch@bucknell.edu. Reviews are compensated with money.
World Literature Today: Online & print. Send book review to book reviews editor Rob Vollmar at robvollmar@ou.edu.
A few outlets that focus on reviewing fiction
Fiction Southeast: Online. Accepts reviews of short story collections (preferably collections of flash or micro shorts). Also likes interviews with authors of short story collections. Submittable.
“It seems to me that the goal of the poetry critic is to bring certain books into the public arena, to serve as a conscientious curator to contemporary poetry.”
A few excellent ways into the poetry review
I can’t say enough about Rachel Blau DuPlessis’ list of “Poetry Questions” as a resource for reviewing books as well as individual poems. It is magic I keep close. Matthew Zapruder’s “Show Your Work” engages the specific act of “talking about” poetry on the page—and how this looks, sounds, and feels. On more immediate questions, I love Rae Armantrout’s “Poetic Silence” and Mary Ruefle’s “Notes On Tone” and Kazim Ali’s “Genre-Queer: Notes Against Binaries” and pretty much anything you find about reviewing that is available for free in the 2013 issue of This Evening Will Come devoted to reviews and reviewing.
A few inspiring & innovative ways to review or engage books
Aisha Sabatini Sloan, “Review of Renee Gladman’s Calamities” (Tsky)
Angie Sijun Lou, “Chen Chen’s Dreams: A Review of When I Grow Up I Want To Be A List of Further Possibilities” (American Poetry Review)
Anjali Enjeti, “Now You See Me: Three Asian-American Poets on Visibility” (Georgia Review)
Ander Monson, “The Skeptical Gaze” (Los Angeles Review of Books)
Ander Monson, “Review of Manuel Lima, The Book of Trees: Visualizing Branches of Knowledge” (DIAGRAM)
Austen Leah Rose, “Touching Time: The Poetry and Performance of Charles Simic” (Poetry Northwest)
Carrie Chappell, “Did Not Shave My Legs For This: A Conversation With Kristin Sanders’ Cuntry in Three Line Dances” (Fanzine)
Dana Levin, “I am Happiest, Here, Now!”: Arthur Sze’s Poetry of Witness: The Ginkgo Light” (AGNI)
Dorothy Chan, “Review of A Nail the Evening Hangs On” (Split Lip Magazine)
Francis Cannon, “Review of Taneum Baumbrick’s Vantage” (Green Mountains Review)*
Gabrielle Bates, “Review of Fanny Choi’s Soft Science” (RHINO)
Hannah VanDerHart, “Choosing Love As Asylum” (AGNI)
Jamison Crabtree, “Review of Carleen Tibbetts, DATACLYSM.jpg” (DIAGRAM)
Jane Huffman, “Dorah Malech’s Flourish” (Iowa Review)
Julia Bouwsma, “My Body Is A Holler: (Dis)embodiment and Landscape in Taneum Bambrick’s Vantage, Savannah Sipple’s WWJD and Other Poems, and Rosalie Moffett’s Nervous System” (Poetry Northwest)
Julie Marie Wade, “An Atlas of Unmappables: Jennifer S. Cheng’s Moon: Letters, Maps, Poems” (The Rumpus)
Laura Maher, “The Fragmented Quest: A Review of L.I. Henley’s Starshine Road (The Bind)
Madeline Wattenberg, “Mapping the Body in Jena Osman’s Motion Studies” (The Bind)
Marcos Santiago Gonsales, “Staging An Epidemic: What is AIDS to you?” (The New Inquiry)
Maria C. Goodson, “Poetry My Dad Would Like, And Why That’s a Good Thing” (Atticus Review)
Marlin M. Jenkins, “Equilibrium: Review Ending in a Found Q & A” (The Bind)
Oana Sanziana Marian, “In the Time that Remains: Reflections on the Poetry of Derek Mahon” (The Yale Review)
Sarah McCarry, “The Taiga Syndrome: Or, A Haunting” (TOR)
Sejal A. Shah, “Ritual as Resolution: Amarnath Ravva’s American Canyon” (Kenyon Review)
Stacey Balkun, “Fusion & Fissures in Conjoining by Heidi Czerwiec” (The Bind)
Robert Wrigley, “The Gift: On Sylvia Plath” (Fogged Clarity)
A few angles into reviewing poetry books (i.e. questions worth asking the mind that has become a tree stump when staring at the page)
Theme. What is the book about? What does the poet want to do with this book? Keep this in mind while reviewing—a review isn’t about what you want from the book but about what the book wants to give. The question is how the poet accomplishes this.
Title. How does the title shape or relate to the poems? Is there a conceptual relationship the poet wants to establish or challenge? Are there any algorithms or equations being set up or displaced by or in the poems? How are the individual poem titles used to advance the theme or tone of the book? Are titles used to subvert naming conventions? If so, how and why?
Dialogue. Is the poet in dialogue with or conversant with other poets and poems? If so, which ones? Why? What other art forms or media does the poet introduce? How do these alternate forms of media inform the poems or thematic matter?
Address. Are the poems addressed to a visible "you" or an invisible one? How does the direct address shape the texture of time in the poems?
Repetitions. Make a list of words or images that are repeated. How does the poet use or rely on these images? What does the poet ask them to carry? What connotations are carried forward and which (if any) are carefully peeled off? Why? In what context?
Current events. Do the poems engage any current events? If so, how? Examine the context. Then examine it again.
Syntax is defined as the arrangement of words by which their connection and relation in a sentence is shown. How does the poet use syntax? How are conjunctions used? How is punctuation used, and is it performative?
Is any particular type of expertise being depicted or challenged in these poems? Are there any discursive considerations? If so, do the challenges occur at the formal level or at the level of grammar and syntax? Why? How?
Who is the I? How big or restrictive is it? Are any objects or places asked to stand in for an I or a We? How so?
Setting. Where are the poems set--does it vary or revolve around a single place that is fleshed out? How important is setting to these poems--is there a pastoral theme, an eco-poetic involvement, a regionalism? Why?
Lists. What, if anything, is being inventoried or listed?
Time. What is absolute and what is contingent in these poems? What is capable of changing? How does this relate to tone, if at all? How is time treated, whether by tense or chronology or cracks in both?
Organization. If the book is divided into sections, make a brief map of each section and where it goes. Stare at the titles and epigraphs and treat them as rivulets leading into the river of the text. How do they interact with the poems?
Overarching threads. Have you included at least three good quotes from the poems themselves? How have you tied those quotes to your general observations about the book?
If you are reviewing a minority poet, try to engage the text at the level of formal concerns. This is a conversation I keep hearing.
Formalist close reading. Consider reviewing from a structuralist or linguistic or semiotic lens if you are comfortable playing tennis on that court. But don’t force the game. Don’t force a formalist lens on a text if you can’t actually see through it.
Aim for nuance rather than generality. Save the meta for the sermons. We are flooded by so many generalities and trends that sometimes it feels impossible to see the details.