Acceptance in Thieves Jargon

http://www.thievesjargon.com/


Okay, this is a VERY wonderful acceptance for me. Thieves Jargon is a veteran journal, currently on issue #194. Yes, that’s right: #194. It has been publishing monthly, or even half monthly, since 2004. And the content isn’t crap. Editor Dan Scannell only takes about 10% of submitters, according to duotrope.com

However, duotrope is notoriously generous. Poets & Writers gives TJ a 1-5% acceptance rate on submissions. (http://www.pw.org/content/thieves_jargon).

All this adds up to one well-deserved word: Legendary.

The Publisher and Founder of Thieves Jargon is Matt DiGangi, who must be a true outlier in terms of dedication, insane enthusiam and gritty prowess. He is the dark horse Hercules in the world of poetry publication.

Chief Editor Scannell also seems, from my very brief contact, to possess the immersed mind of a fiendish talent--one that sorts through a turbid stream of darkling submissions with the fervor of a gold prospector.

Getting into Thieves Jargon is the kind of event that helps me ward off depression. I can bask in the afterglow even during my gloomiest days. Based on previous experience, this effect lasts up to a year.

(Yes, I’ve been writing poems full-time for eight years now, so I’ve had other memorable moments of joy--but, you know, most of it is a lonely slog, full of mistakes, failures and delusional hopes).

So, I salute Dan Scannell and the godly Matt DiGangi. Or is that a cutpurse’s secret hand signal I'm flashing them? Whatever it is, it’s full of admiration for a very hard working team.

Thank them profusely, if you dare to send in your very best poems for consideration.



Poems accepted: “Unipolar,” “On the Street,” “Ghost In the Machine”