''Mezzo Cammin'' is a semiannual online
literary journal
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters ...
devoted to
formalist poetry by contemporary women as well as to bring attention back to work that was more famous in previous eras. The journal's title comes from
Judith Moffett
Judith Moffett (born 1942) is an American author and academic. She has published poetry, nonfiction, science fiction, and translations of Swedish literature. She has been awarded grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and ...
's poem "Mezzo Cammin", which in turn takes its title from the opening line of the famous Italian poet
Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
's
Inferno
Inferno may refer to:
* Hell, an afterlife place of suffering
* Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire
Film
* ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film
* Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker
* Inferno (1973 fi ...
. The journal was associated for a long time with the
West Chester University Poetry Conference
The West Chester University Poetry Conference is an international poetry Convention (meeting), conference that has been held annually since 1995 at West Chester University, Pennsylvania, United States. It hosts various panel discussions and poetr ...
.
[Bridgford, Kim.]
Anniversary Statement
" ''Mezzo Cammin: Fifth-Anniversary Issue.'' January 2011. The founding
editor in chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
was
Kim Bridgford
Kim Suzanne Bridgford (August 8, 1959 – June 28, 2020) was an American poet, writer, critic, and academic. In her poetry, she wrote primarily in traditional forms, particularly sonnets. She was the director of Poetry by the Sea: A Global Confe ...
. Its advisory board consists of well-known poets such as
Annie Finch
Annie Finch (born October 31, 1956) is an American poet, critic, editor, translator, playwright, and performer and the editor of the first major anthology of literature about abortion. Her poetry is known for its often incantatory use of rhythm, ...
,
Allison Joseph
Allison Joseph (born 1967) is an American poet, editor and professor. She is author of eight full-length poetry collections, most recently, ''Confessions of a Bare-Faced Woman'' (Red Hen Press, 2018).
Biography
Born in London, England, to parents ...
,
Marilyn Nelson
Marilyn Nelson (born April 26, 1946) is an American poet, translator, and children's book author. She is a professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, and the former poet laureate of Connecticut, She is a winner of the Ruth Lilly Poetry ...
, and
Molly Peacock
Molly Peacock (born Buffalo, New York 1947) is an American-Canadian poet, essayist, biographer and speaker, whose multi-genre literary life also includes memoir, short fiction, and a one-woman show.
Career
Peacock's latest book is Flower Diary ...
. Since Kim Bridgford's death in June 2020, the journal has been edited by Anna M. Evans.
History
The first issue of the journal came out in the summer of 2006. It was created in response to "the tendency that still persists in academia of choosing the work of male poets to define a given era or literary style".
''Mezzo Cammin'' emerged from community of women poets at the West Chester University Poetry Conference.
The magazine was also affiliated with
Fairfield University
Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...
early on.
In 2010, Kim Bridgford, ''Mezzo Cammins editor in chief, became the director of the WCU Poetry Center in 2010. The magazine affirmed its link with West Chester in its ''Fifth Anniversary Issue''.
Women Poets Timeline Project
Launched on March 27 at the
National Museum of Women in the Arts
The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openin ...
in
Washington, DC
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...
,
the ''Mezzo Cammin'' Women Poets Timeline Project
is expected to become the world's largest database of
women poets
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...
.
[ ] The date of the launch was symbolically chosen to be at the end of Women's History Month, just before National Poetry Month.
The database started out with information about 15 women poets, which will be expanded over time.
[ The project will include biographical article of the poets, including photographs and reprints of their work when possible. One of the early challenges of the project has been the obtaining of ]copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
permission for the republishing of works online.
See also
*New Formalism
New Formalism is a late 20th- and early 21st-century movement in American poetry that has promoted a return to metrical, rhymed verse and narrative poetry on the grounds that all three are necessary if American poetry is to compete with novels an ...
, the movement to revive formalism in poetry
*New Formalist
''The New Formalist'' was a United States-based literary periodical published (since 2001) monthly in electronic form and once a year in print form. Distributed by ''The New Formalist Press'' and edited by Leo Yankevich, it published many of th ...
, a literary journal devoted to all formalist poetry
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.mezzocammin.com/
American literature websites
Biannual magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 2006
Magazines published in Pennsylvania
Online literary magazines published in the United States
Poetry magazines published in the United States