Light (journal)

Light

Light № 70–71, photo: Lisa Krone
Editor	Melissa Balmain (2013–present)
Former editors	John Mella (1992–2012)
Categories	Light verse
Frequency	semiannual issues, plus topical Poems of the Week
Publisher	Foundation for Light Verse
Founded	1992
First issue	2013 (online)
Final issue	2012 (print)
Country	USA
Based in	Chicago
Website	https://lightpoetrymagazine.com/
ISSN	1064-8186

Light (formerly Light: A Quarterly of Light Verse) is an online journal which bills itself as "America's oldest and best-known journal of light verse."

History and profile[edit]

Light was founded as a print journal in 1992 by retired postal worker John Mella. Mella personally published the journal until 2008, when he founded the non-profit Foundation for Light Verse with a $500,000 gift from poet Joyce La Mers. The Foundation, headed by Mella, took over publication of the journal.^[1] After Mella's death in 2012, the magazine was relaunched as an online-only, semiannual publication, edited by his handpicked successor, poet Melissa Balmain. The all-volunteer staff includes poets Kevin Durkin, Allison Joseph, Julie Kane, and Gail White.

The verse in each issue begins with a feature on a writer of light verse. Sections in between vary from issue to issue, and have included "Spectrum" roundups on types of light verse (Little Willies, "impossible rhymes," etc.); book reviews by Barbara Egel; and an occasional column, "Historical and Hysterical," by A. M. Juster. The magazine has published the verse of Wendy Cope, Thomas M. Disch, X. J. Kennedy, John Updike, and Richard Wilbur, among many others.

Contributors[edit]

Notable contributors include the following:

References[edit]

2. Nicol, Alfred (August 2, 2013), "A New Morning for Light" A New Morning for Light.

External links[edit]

• Light