THE RIALTO MIDWINTER NEWSLETTER: PART 1
Points to note:
- R103 is currently being printed
- R103 will be mailed out first week of January
- R104 Discussion of delays and plans for the future
- Subscriptions
- R104 due spring 2026, R105 due September 2026
- Submittable
- Nature and Place Competition
- New Pamphlets 2026
- New Pamphlet competition 2026
- What’s in R103
The Rialto 103 is currently being printed. It will be delivered to the packers on December 19th., but, due to the pressure of pre-booked Christmas work (and the need for holidays) it cannot be mailed out until the first week of January.
We (I, me) apologise for the long unaccountable delay between issues. As editor I’m a bit appalled at myself for not getting a grip sooner (not opening Submittable until May was one of the year’s big mistakes). Thank you so much for your incredible patience. The goodwill of poets towards the magazine is deeply appreciated.
At a recent meeting our Advisory Board came to the decision that we should, going forward (as they say) produce two issues in 2026. One in Spring and one early Autumn. We will be consistent and keep to the timetable. This means that there will be two issues next year.
Subscriptions will continue to be for three issues. We send out reminders with the final issue of a subscription. We hope this helps avoid, for subscribers, the anxiety of knowing if their subscription is still current.
Please note, for those of you, who might have been expecting to have to renew during 2025, that current subscriptions taken out for three issues will still be for three issues.
We will re-open Submittable for the magazine in January once we have sent out the contributors and subscribers copies of R103. Please note that Submittable for the magazine closes itself when our monthly quota has been reached. This can happen quickly, a great many poets are looking to be published. Delaying your submission had no advantages.
In common with other print magazines we are looking into charging a small reading fee for submissions. This will contribute to the cost of belonging to Submittable and to other management costs, including postage. Subscribers and people on a low income will be able to submit without charge. We’ll let you know more about this soon.
Submissions by post are still welcome. Send to The Editor, The Rialto, ℅ 74 Britannia Road, Norwich, NR1 4HS, UK. Please include an email address for response. If you want your poems returned you will need to include a stamped self addressed envelope. Please make sure that the prepaid postage is enough. International Reply Coupons are no longer available so if you live elsewhere than the UK I can only suggest you make a Donation via our website for the appropriate postage. In any event, in case of mishap, please make copies of poems before sending them out.
Submittable is currently open for entries for the Nature and Place Poetry Competition. This competition pre-dates both the Ginkgo and the Laurel Environmental Poetry Prizes and is still very much alive and still very much kicking. As humans we won’t have a recognisable planet to live on in if we don’t take action on the Environment.
Please help lift awareness of environmental concern by entering the competition. By the way last year’s Winning poems are in R103, as are several from the Highly Commended Poets: and we also have the long poem by last year’s judge Helen Mort ‘In Qeqertarsuaq’, which she read at the Rialto event at CCI in celebration of this year’s competition. I’m really pleased to have it in the magazine. Helen writes about the background to this poem in the Editorial.
Full details, including the rules, of the competition, and information about this year’s judge, Mona Arshi, can be found on our website. As can the link that allows you to enter the competition. For those who prefer to enter paper copy there’s an entry form that you can download and print out. There are a limited number of free entries for poets on benefits or low incomes.
We are planning to publish two new pamphlets in the New Year. One will be the original version of In Qeqertarsuaq. Helen originally conceived this as a pamphlet, so the stanzas that you read several to a page in the magazine version appear page by page in the original. This changes the reading experience, giving the reader (and the poet) more space to breathe and consider.
The other pamphlet will be Rachael Davey’s The Naming of Hunger. Rachael’s short poem ‘Cae Ysbyty’ was Highly Commended in the Nature and Place competition judged by Gillian Clarke, and subsequently appeared in the magazine. It’s a lovely poem: I had the same ‘here is a true poet’ experience when I first read it that I had when reading Andrew Waterhouse’s ‘Looking for the Comet’.
Comment on What’s in R103 and Details of the New Pamphlet Competition will be in Part 2 of the Newsletter. Coming Soon.
M.M.
