VORTEXT: MAIL-ORDER POETRY MAGAZINE | Erin Honeycutt, Katharina Ludwig & GUEST POETS

VORTEXT is a mail subscription magazine for poetry, poetics, and other short forms of writing. This is our first radio listening session in which we will introduce and hear readings from the guest contributors of our first three issues.

It’s founded in the spirit of practices of self-publishing, circulation, and distribution of new writing, tracing the footsteps and tracks of subscription magazine traditions, such as Diane Di Prima’s and Amiri Baraka’s The Floating Bear – A newsletter. As most of the correspondences that reach us through the letterbox are usually bills, advertisement, invoices, and other unpleasant communication, VORTEXT aims to contribute a more enjoyable form of mail correspondence.

This radio show is to celebrate the first three issues and offer another form of experiencing the work of our contributors.

Issue #1 (December 2024). Cover poem: Diane Di Prima (1934-2020), ‘Revolutionary Letter #12’ with contributions from emet ezell, Erin Honeycutt, Sharon Kivland, Sara Larsen, Katharina Ludwig, Dalia Neis, Nat Raha. Vicky Sparrow. Lotta Thießen

Issue #2 (March 2025). Cover poem: Nikki Giovanni (1943-2024), ‘For Saundra’ with contributions from J. Mae Barizo, David Buuck, Derrais Carter, Jackqueline Frost, Monilola Olayemi Ilupeju, Sacha Kahir, D.S. Marriott, Mira Mattar, Savanna Morgan, Ghazal Mosadeq, Wendy Trevino

Issue #3 (August 2025). Cover poem: Miyó Vestrini (1938-1991), ‚SCHEDULE‘ (‚HORARIO‘) [translated from the Spanish by Anne Boyer and Cassandra Gilling] with contributions from Yanara Friedland, Tracy Fuad, Dimitra Ioannou, Adelaide Ivanova, Lotte L.S., a.Monti, Rosie Stockton, Cassandra Troyan

Writing is afterlife: VORTEXT always carries one poem on its cover. We choose poems in honour of the lives and work of poets who have written before our own time, for poems that are lesser known, un- or recovered, newly translated, etc. The cover poem sets the tone for the respective issue of the magazine for which ten poets are invited to submit a response. By response we do not mean necessarily direct responses – or not even poems at all, we are open to drawings and/or other forms of text, too – rather we are looking for works that can and want to sit together with the cover poem, start dialogues, share ideas and sentiments, open conversations and/or enter into a polyvocal chorus with the poem across time and space. The only requirement is that the text/work has to fit on one A4 page.

VORTEXT is distributed through a mailing list only. It cannot be bought at book fairs or shops. Postage will be covered by the subscribers. We send internationally. We aim for two issue per year.

VORTEXT is edited by Erin Honeycutt and Katharina Ludwig and printed by Cutt Press.

Subscribe at www.vortextmagazine.com