Mission

Kate Bernadette Benedict, ed.

Invariably the poems I love best provide an intense focus. They zero in. It is as if a single aspect of human experience steps forward into a cone of light and speaks its soliloquy. Nothing extraneous interferes. One could speak of this focus in many terms, as distillation or alchemy or integrity; as a process of economizing, particularizing or even husbandry.

My pet term is the “umbrella idea.” I envision a protected zone where a poem’s premise moves forward unimpeded.

Does the term seem strange? The root of the word “umbrella” is “umbra,” Latin for shadow, and this would seem to oppose that other compelling concept, the cone of light. Yet it is vital for a poet to occupy the darker places, the mysterium of the unconscious, the mythic, undertow-like forces that inform our everyday lives. In the shelter of the umbrella idea, a poet may explore these shadowy areas, give them their due, and shine a different kind of light.

Like a parasol or “sunbrella,” the umbrella idea also provides a cone of cooling shade, where no matter how intensely heated the subject matter, one may write from a position of objectivity. One sees clearly, without blinding glare. “Strong emotion recollected in tranquility” is how Wordsworth described the process of writing poetry. The umbrella idea contains that tranquility.

Sometimes, too, the umbrella idea is like a child’s bumbershoot, useful when skipping through puddles. It is not always necessary to be capital S Serious, and it is seldom desirable to write in deadly earnest.

To sum up, Umbrella wishes to publish news of the underworld, with its passions, confusions and frights; it also welcomes irony, humor, wryness, outrageousness, crookedness, and unalloyed joy. Its core equation: Idea + Imagination x Craft = Lasting Poetry.

Do you write under the umbrella? Then I hope to publish your work.

Even if you do get published, it is still common to sell your work through a website, which will require some sort of merchant services business to handle the transactions for you. Something like Paypal or Flagship merchant services would work as they can handle credit card transactions for your purchases. This provides yet another way readers can feel like they are in direct contact with you!!

What is an Umbrella poem also like?

It’s probably short, no more than a page or two.
It probably isn’t a prose poem (i.e., a poem written in paragraphs), though there have been exceptions.
No matter what the overt subject matter, its real subject is the human condition.
It has momentum.
It has a distinguishing style which radiates freshness and deep imagination.
If written in form, the form fits the subject matter; no one would call the poet’s choice of form arbitrary.
If written in free verse, it is disciplined, with its own sonics and structure; no one would call it “prosy.”
It employs Standard English punctuation, orthography and sentence structure. In general we are unmoved by punctuational oddity. We expect to see periods, commas and capital letters at the start of sentences. (Initial caps at the beginning of lines are not particularly loved but certainly acceptable.)
It has an umbrella idea!

What is an Umbrella poem not like?

Previously this section was very detailed; on reflection, your editor concluded that it sounded fussy. Very complicated formatting is usually not feasible here for technical reasons. The main bugaboos are pathetic fallacy (the attribution of human emotions to nature or things) and a common syntactical oddity in which conjunctions and participles are jettisoned in favor of clipped phrases separated by a comma (more at syntactical arrest). Poets are beginning to sound like tabloid headline writers, alas. We feel this is a radical stand and we are proud of it; poems exhibiting even one line of syntactical arrest (a term coined by your ed. and meant to elicit chuckles of recognition) have no chance of acceptance unless the author agrees to an edit. Otherwise, we are pretty much open to any technique or turn of phrase that fits the poem and its umbrella idea.

Prose is also a key element of Umbrella’s mission. Enthusiasms, experiences, viewpoints, misgivings, reverence, irreverence are welcome under the umbrella too. Please see the Guidelines for more information about the particular columns for which we seek submissions.

Umbrella isn’t intended to further academic careers; its mission is to bring a readership to fine poetry from all quarters. Therefore Umbrella is especially open to literary poetry written by poets who do not have MFA’s and/or who work outside of academia. If you are an academic who supports this philosophy, then you too are warmly invited to submit.