Arc Poetry Magazine

12/19/2025

Join us in extending a warm welcome to Dr. Jenna Butler, Arc’s new Poetry Editor! Jenna is an experienced poet, essayist, professor and ecological writer bringing a new and exciting voice to Arc's pages. We're so excited to have her on the team!

Jenna Butler's first issue as Poetry Editor is our Spring 2026 issue, taking over the reigns from Jennifer Baker, who has been the lead curator of the poetry in Arc since Fall 2023. We extend our thanks again to Jennifer for her steadfast leadership over the past six issues!

Subscribe to Arc today at https://arcpoetry.ca/ to see how Jenna Butler will be shaping the magazine for the foreseeable future!

12/18/2025

Please join us in welcoming Margaryta Golovchenko as our new Associate Reviews Editor! A poet, critic, and scholar, Margaryta has been a longstanding contributor of reviews to Arc. Author of three chapbooks and currently pursuing her PhD in Art History, Margaryta brings a vibrant voice across poetry and academia. We’re so excited to have her with us!

12/17/2025

Please join us in welcoming Arc's new Translations Editor to the team! KB Thors's work explores diverse language and storytelling across cultures. In doing this work, KB has published a collection of their own poetry and two collections of translations of the Icelandic poet Kristín Svava Tómasdóttir. There couldn't be an editor more suited for the Translations Editor role, and we couldn’t be more excited for the vision KB brings to Arc!

Arc features a sample of work in translation in each of our print issues, including 6-8 pages of poetry and a brief introduction by the translator. The feature was introduced in Arc #77 by then Managing Editor Monty Reid, and we're pleased to have been able to continue the feature for over a decade now. Subscribe to Arc Poetry Magazine today to see how KB Thors curates this feature going forward!

12/16/2025

Making a move from her role as Associate Reviews Editor, Dessa Bayrock is stepping in as Arc Poetry Magazine's new Prose Editor. In this capacity, Dessa will be curating the essays, interviews, and How Poems Work articles for Arc, and we are thrilled to have her literary voice guide Arc’s pages.

Welcome to this new role, Dessa!

12/15/2025

Arc Poetry Magazine's Fall 2026 issue is the last with one of our long-standing lead editors. So, we wish to extend a heartfelt thank you to Nancy Jo Cullen, Arc’s Prose Editor since Issue #91 (Spring 2020)! Her talent and dedication shaped Arc’s pages and defined our prose for the past five years. Her incredible work will be felt in our issues for years to come. We are so grateful, Nancy, for everything you have brought to Arc!

12/12/2025

“Where the Persephone … /goddess of fertile trees, blue bead lily, chokecherry, cloudberry? Gods / or totems, the maiden //taken // is not just in our imagination.” In Death of Persephone: A Murder, Yvonne Blomer reframes the myth of Persephone as a detective murder mystery set in a modern city. This verse novel traces the origin of our tragedies veering from violence, fear, and survival. Reviewed by Kate Rogers, discover the gripping mystery here: https://buff.ly/QiIXpeJ

12/09/2025

We are saddened to hear of the passing of Tom Henighan, one of Arc's founding editors. Continuing as a successful poet and publisher after his time with our magazine, Tom recounted the founding of Arc alongside Christopher Levenson and Michael Gnarowski in this editorial available to read on our website: https://buff.ly/phTJ6MX

Our condolences to all of Tom's friends and family. Rest in peace.

Founding Canada’s poetry magazine A heritage moment revealed by Arc co-founder Tom Henighan   In the winter of 1977 I got a call from Michael Gnarowski, a colleague in the English Department at Carleton University. I was invited to a meeting in Gnarowski’s office with Chris Levenson, a “secre...

12/03/2025

GivingTuesday was yesterday, but there's still time to join the world's largest generosity movement! With a charitable donation to Arc you'll get a tax receipt and help us continue to publish and share the finest Canadian poetry with you. Consider Arc for your end-of-year giving so we can ensure that your favourite poetry magazine will remain a vital space for poets and readers for years to come. Don't wait to make a lasting contribution here: https://buff.ly/hm21E7r

12/03/2025

Submissions to Arc's Poem of the Year Contest are open, and all poets are welcome to submit an extra poem before the Early Bird Deadline on December 31, 2025. That means three poems for $40 or four poems for $45 or five poems for $50, and all entry fees include a 1-year subscription to Arc Poetry Magazine! Don't sleep on this opportunity to win the $5000 grand prize!

More details on there contest and how to submit can be found on our website: https://buff.ly/ofdnZTd

Arc’s annual poetry contest is among the richest in the country, offering $5,000 for the winning poem, a $500 award for the poem selected as Honourable Mention, and a $250 prize for the Readers’ Choice selection.

12/02/2025

GivingTuesday, the world’s largest generosity movement is here! Join other Arc supporters today with a one-time gift or starting a new monthly donation of as little as $5. Any amount you can give makes it possible for us to continue to publish and share the finest new Canadian poetry with you. Together, we can ensure Arc remains a vital space for poets and readers for years to come. For more details, visit our website: https://buff.ly/hm21E7r

12/01/2025

“Nature is intertwined with family lore and love, and with myth, ancient magic and feminism to summon mystery.” Reviewer Frances Boyle notes how the natural world in Melanie Marttila’s The Art of Floating illuminates the interior of the heart’s own tide. The moon is the central theme of this debut collection evoking divinity and healing under lunar focused rituals. Read the full review here: https://buff.ly/sez4A94

11/26/2025

“A song is a poem with music. The one determining factor for me is the purity of the words coming at the same time the melody comes.” Music is language in Joseph Maviglia’s In a Cage of Sunlight, and each poem moves like music turning everyday moments into melody. Reviewer Emily-Jane Hills Orford compares Maviglia’s style to Leonard Cohen’s, where poetry blurs the line between life and imagination. Read the full review here: https://buff.ly/yiy79U0