Poetry is ‘the highest form of literature, literature at its most refined, the ultimate mastery of language, and therefore unattainable for mere mortals like me!’
On this, the first Friday of National Poetry Month in the USA, I’m pleased to introduce readers to Brecht De Poortere, a Belgian writer who spent his childhood in Africa and currently resides in Paris, France. An economist by profession, Brecht pursues writing as a passion, often drawing from his experiences growing up abroad. His work, which includes short stories and nonfiction, has been published in various literary magazines such as The Baltimore Review, Consequence, Grain, and X-R-A-Y, earning nominations for Best Small Fictions and Best Microfiction.
You might wonder what any of this has to do with poetry. I wanted to include Brecht this month for his work curating an extensive list of literary magazines based on the poetry they publish (see his Google Sheet listing the 400 top litmags here). This is a new list project for Brecht; he’s better known for his ranking of over 1,000 English-language journals (also available as a Google Sheet here). Initially inspired by a desire to navigate the submission process as a new writer, he began ranking magazines by their Twitter followers in 2021, later expanding this into a comprehensive database that he updates periodically. I see both lists as a public service to the writing community because, in addition to the rankings, they provide a trove of information useful to writers.
Read on for Brecht’s takes on writing, listmaking, his ranking methodology, and poetry.
Continue reading “Friday Five: Q&A with Brecht De Poortere, writer and litmag listmaker”
Andrew Careaga 