Kaveh Akbar is The Nation’s new poetry editor.
Happy first day of work to poet Kaveh Akbar, who is the new poetry editor of The Nation as of… today!
The magazine announced in a press release that Akbar, who teaches at Purdue University, is taking over the position from former co-editors Stephanie Burt and Carmen Giménez Smith. He said in a statement that he wanted to expand the magazine’s poetry offerings to include writers from all corners of the poetry world:
The poet M. NourbeSe Philip talks about poets “decontaminating” language, “managing the brutal history that casts a long and deep shadow around the language.” I can’t improve upon that. I’m excited to introduce Nation readers (and myself) to new voices at the vanguard of such decontamination, voices challenging received notions of what poetry can do and be. I’m especially eager to hear from voices marginalized by traditional channels of American publishing, including international poets, incarcerated poets, undocumented poets, Black, indigenous, and POC poets, trans and queer poets, and disabled poets. Above all, I believe in poetry’s power to substantively contribute to The Nation’s mission of “raising up the promise of a radical tomorrow while agitating for meaningful change today.”
