A Note from Wild Goose Editor, Scott Owens:

Time and Technology have finally passed me by.

The format I have used for Wild Goose Poetry Review has become obsolete. While my more technologically-astute assistants were at my disposal the previous couple of years, they were able to keep it all relatively up-to-date. Now that they have each gone on to bigger and better things, however, I find I lack the time to reeducate myself on the novelties necessary to keep Wild Goose current and looking good.

Thus, it is with regret that I announce that I am discontinuing the publication of Wild Goose Poetry Review.

I am very proud of what we have accomplished over the past 12 years. I still consider some of the work we selected to be among the best in the country, and I thank every poet who allowed us to publish their work as well as every one who allowed us to consider theirs. I also feel the reviews we have published make a meaningful contribution to the discussion, understanding, and direction of contemporary poetry. For these reasons I hope to maintain the website in its current state for as long as I can. I hope that new readers will continue to find valuable work here and will connect with the words of our wonderful poets and reviewers.

Wherever you are, keep writing, keep reading, and keep living. And if you’re ever in Hickory, NC, look me up.

Best regards,

Scott Owens, (Former) Editor

Wild Goose Poetry Review was an online journal of poetry and poetry reviews. Since its creation in 2006 until 2014, the magazine was edited only by its founder, Scott Owens. After that, Wild Goose went on hiatus until August 2016, when Scott was able to bring in students from Lenoir-Rhyne University to relaunch the magazine and help it grow. Issues of the magazine came out four times annually (mostly), normally in February, April, September, and November. To facilitate further conversation about the poetry in each issue, we posted commentary by the poets and invited readers to leave their comments, too.

We took our name from the Mary Oliver poem “Wild Geese,” in which the speaker says that “Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, / the world offers itself to your imagination, / calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting – / over and over announcing your place / in the family of things.” Thus, in the spirit of Mary Oliver, we welcome you to Wild Goose Poetry Review. Pull up a chair, get cozy, and make yourself at home – there’s poetry to be read.

Masthead

Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Scott Owens

Assistant Editors
Katelyn Vause
Jordan Makant
Kati Waldrop

About Us

Scott Owens (Founder & Editor-in-Chief)
Scott was born in Greenwood, SC, and holds a BA in English from Ohio University, a MA in English from UNC Charlotte, and an MFA in Creative Writing from UNC Greensboro. He is the author of 14 collections of poetry, including Down to Sleep (Main Street Rag, 2016), Thinking About the Next Big Bang in the Galaxy at the Edge of Town (Main Street Rag, 2015), To (Main Street Rag, 2014), Eye of the Beholder (Main Street Rag, 2013), Shadows Trail Them Home (2012, Clemson University Press), For One Who Knows How to Own Land (2012, Future Cycle Press), Something Knows the Moment (Main Street Rag, 2011), The Nature of Attraction (Main Street Rag, 2010), Paternity (Main Street Rag, 2010), and The Fractured World (Main Street Rag, 2008). His poetry has received awards from the Academy of American Poets, the North Carolina Writers’ Network, the North Carolina Poetry Society, the Poetry Council of North Carolina, the Pushcart Prize Anthology, and the Poetry Society of South Carolina. He has published more than 1200 poems in a wide range of journals including Georgia Review, North American Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Poetry East, Tar River Poetry, Chattahoochee Review, and others.

Scott is the founder of both Poetry Hickory and The Art of Poetry at the Hickory Museum of Art, coordinator of the NC Poetry Society’s Poetry Day, former Associate Editor of Southern Poetry Review, and former  Vice President of the Poetry Council of North Carolina and the NC Poetry Society. He has taught creative writing classes and workshops for more than 20 years, given more than 200 public readings of his work, and frequently serves as a judge for poetry and poetry book contests. His work has been featured on Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac, Wordplay, The Joe Milford Show, NPR, and in Poet’s Market.

He can be reached at asowens1(at)yahoo.com.

Jordan Makant (Assistant Editor & Internet Person)
Jordan graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne University in December 2017. He is a freelance copywriter, stage technician, and actor. Some of his on-stage credits include The Hobbit (Bilbo Baggins), The Princess Bride (Wesley), and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (Adam Long). Jordan is one of three co-founders of the Hickory Playground, a non-profit dedicated to raising awareness and financial support for the arts throughout the greater Hickory, North Carolina community. Jordan’s poetry has been in Rat’s Ass Review, The Ekphrastic Review, The Main Street Rag, Poetry in Plain Sight, and Kakalak 2017, and his debut chapbook, Impossible Angles, was published by Main Street Rag on September 5th, 2017. He can be reached on Twitter @JordanMakant or by email at makantjordan(at)gmail(dot)com.

Primarily a fantasy writer (though she dabbles in other flavors) and general nerd (which may as well be officially written on her English degree), Kati currently resides in North Carolina. She spent several years at Lenoir-Rhyne University, editing the literary magazine Cantos, helping edit Wild Goose Poetry Review, and picking up campus awards for her writing. May or may not be an actual vampire. When she’s not writing, she enjoys video games and starlit walks. Too much in love with the moon to be a morning person. Currently, her work can be found in publications by Frith Books and Spirit’s Tincture.

Please note: the header image is owned by Liz West, and is used under the guidelines of CC BY 2.0.