GUIDELINES

Would you like to contribute to Poems of the Fantastic and Macabre? Consider editing the poems of one of your favorite poets. Here is how you can get started.
          First, choose a poet. Once you have chosen the poet whose poems you would like to edit, contact me at theodora@theodoragoss.com to confirm that the poet you have chosen is available. At that point, I will also ask you to confirm that the poems you would like to edit are in the public domain under the copyright laws of the United States. Poems are in the public domain under United States copyright law if they were originally published before January 1, 1923. If the poems you would like to edit are not in the public domain, I cannot include them in Poems of the Fantastic and Macabre unless you secure permission from the copyright holder. If you are interested in trying to obtain permission to publish poems that are under copyright, I would be happy to discuss the process with you, but it can be difficult and time-consuming. Poems of the Fantastic and Macabre cannot pay for permission to reprint poems under copyright. Of course, most of the poets who have ever lived published their poems before January 1, 1923, so this still give you an enormous number of poets to choose from.
          Once the poet has been assigned to you, begin the editing process.

I.     EDIT THE POEMS

Read through the poems of the poet you have chosen and select up to twelve poems to include on the poet's page. Poems should be "fantastical" or "macabre," or both. What makes a poem fantastical or macabre? Well, it depends. A poem can be fantastical because it contains obvious fantasy elements, such as a witch or a goblin. It can also be fantastical because it contains elements of fairy tale or myth. A poem can be macabre because it refers to death or contains skeletons. However, some poems just feel fantastical or macabre. (Chidiock Tichborne's "My prime of youth is but a frost of cares" is a good example.) You will have to make a judgement call.
          Editing involves making sure that you have a good copy of each poem, accurate and free of errors. There are two ways to accomplish this. The best way is to find the original published version of the poem or a version published before January 1, 1923. Compare that version to two later versions of the poem. If the versions contain discrepancies, you must decide whether there is a mistake in the earlier version, and how to correct that mistake. Look for possible mistakes in the words of the poem, the punctuation, and the spacing.
          However, it is often difficult to find the original published version of a poem or a version published before January 1, 1923. In that case, find three later versions of the poem. Compare them to one another. If the versions contain discrepancies, you must decide which discrepancies are mistakes and create a version of your own that you believe to be accurate and free of errors. Once again, look for possible mistakes in the words of the poem, the punctuation, and the spacing. Please use only print versions of the poem, since online versions are generally not reliable.
          Editing is a serious and important task. Some poets will be difficult to edit, because their poems are not widely available. If you have difficulty finding three versions of the poems you would like to include, we can discuss alternative ways to complete the editing process.

II.     WRITE AN INTRODUCTION

After the poems are edited, write a brief introduction about the poet you have chosen. Your introduction should include biographical information on the poet and a discussion of the poems you have edited. To see what sort of information you should include in an introduction, look at any of the introductions included in this anthology. (The introduction on Mary Coleridge is a good example.)

III.     CREATE A BIBLIOGRAPHY

Put together a bibliographical entry that includes all the sources you used in your research. The bibliographical entry will go in the Bibliography section of the anthology. And that's it!

Poems of the Fantastic and Macabre cannot pay contributors, but all contributors will be listed on the Editors page of the anthology, with a short bibliographical entry and a link to their homepages.

Poets you might consider editing:

William Blake
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Robert Browning
Robert Burns
Lord Byron
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Walter de la Mare
Felicia Hemans
A.E. Houseman
Jean Ingelow
John Keats
Rudyard Kipling
William Morris
Lizette Woodworth Reese
Edwin Arlington Robinson
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Sir Walter Scott
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Dora Sigerson Shorter
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Rosamund Marriott Watson
William Butler Yeats