On a number of past occasions I've ranted against poetry publications which do not seem to treat their contributors with a sufficient degree of respect and consideration. Well, this month finally, (and I have been tempted in the past) I feel a strong need to speak out against certain contributors for their apparent lack of similar virtues.

Time and again it seems I am coming across poems published elsewhere on the web which previously appeared at 3rd Muse, without any mention of their appearance here. Now, this bothers me for two reasons: first, I've always felt that it should go without saying that for any published work which has previously appeared elsewhere, an acknowledgement should be made towards all or any previous publications. I see no need to even put this into the submission guidelines, as it appears to me to be a simple matter of common courtesy.

My other concern is over poems submitted to 3rd Muse as "previously unpublished". (3rd Muse is predominantly interested in publishing previously unpublished poems, and this is in the guidelines.) Naturally it makes me wonder whether the poems really were published here for the first time, or whether the author(s) in question omitted any previous publication history as they apparently have done in the following case(s). Now, obviously any submitted work has to be taken on trust. There's really no simple or fullproof way of checking whether a poem has been previously published, nor do I have any desire of undertaking this laborius task. I really don't feel I should have to.

To the less conscientious authors I would like to say the following however: if any poem published at 3rd Muse is at a later date discovered to have been published elsewhere previously, (without certain possible exceptions where I was made aware of this case beforehand, and where the previous publication(s) are credited at 3rd Muse) the poem(s) in question will be promptly removed from 3rd Muse archives. Furthermore, barring any special circumstances, no future work from the author(s) in question will be considered. In the case of a poem "first published" at 3rd Muse being later discovered to be published elsewhere without acknowledgement, any submissions of future work from the author(s) in question will be viewed with caution.

Truly, it pains me to feel the need to spell all of this out, but after witnessing a number of "violations" I really feel something needs to be said.

On to this month's issue, the contents of which I feel rather excited about. It's nice to finally be seeing more work from local (Australian) writers. I've been known to wonder at times (mostly during my bitterer moments) whether Australia truly is a kind of cultural wasteland. Eagerly, I embrace any sign disproving this being the case. I am in fact, very happy with this month's issue as a whole. My sincere thanks to everyone involved, and to readers - please enjoy the issue.

Mark Melton
Editor,
3rd Muse Poetry Journal