​​American Poetry Journal (APJ) was founded in 2004 by Editor Emeritus J.P. Dancing Bear and as of April 21, 2025, will be run by Theresa Senato Edwards, owner, publisher, and editor in chief. 

 

Lane Falcon, poetry editor

​Kyla Sterling, poetry editor

Han Raschka, poetry reader

Michelle Whittaker, poetry editor, returns June 2026

Robin Rosen Chang, poetry editor, returns June 2026

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Publishing schedule: Open submissions, June 1-June 30, for consideration in APJ's October online issue. December 1-December 31, for consideration in APJ's April online issue. September 1-30 and March 1-31, for consideration in APJ's Micro E-Chapbook Series.

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​​Mission Statement: APJ seeks to publish a diverse range of creative voices in poetry, hybrid work, audio work, and cover art that will connect all creatives and their readers from around the globe. APJ also strives to publish emerging, established, and marginalized voices, taking diversity and inclusivity in publishing into the utmost consideration when choosing work for an issue and/or creative project. APJ looks for emotionally adept, risk-taking work that hones its craft skillfully, honestly, and imaginatively, always keeping not only APJ’s readers in mind but also the journal’s commitment of transparency to the literary community. Overall, we contribute to each project with sincerity, joy, poetic insight, and compassion.

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Creative Aesthetic: APJ strives to publish poems we cannot shake off because they’re unique; they’re intestinal; they’re honest; they progress, leave us deep rooted and committed. We look for distinctiveness, want bold metaphors, sonics like we’ve never heard before, a shared purpose in the unfolding of the poem. We want poems that question humanity and engage us in contemporary as well as age-old concepts, but we’d love a dreamscape with imagery that leaves us questioning ourselves. Challenge us without pretentiousness and show us craft woven/broken/spun/sifted through glass—the unimaginable, the courageous, the sublime. 

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APJ has published work from diverse backgrounds and orientations, from new and established voices that include Dorianne Laux, Terrance Hayes, Wendy Xu, Jeffrey Levine, Faylita Hicks, Philip Metres, Chelsea Dingman, Jessica Cuello, Jill Alexander Essbaum, Kelli Russell Agodon, Martha Silano, Joseph Fasano, and many others.

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