Why "The Long Level"
On a canal, a "long level" is the stretch of water between two locks where the water sits at a single, unbroken depth. There is no rising, no falling, and no machinery in view. When a boat is on a long level, it simply moves at a steady pace, quietly carried by the water. We think that description holds something true about what poetry is, too.
Beyond that, there's a long history of people referring to various stretches of the Erie Canal as "The Long Level." We're drawn to the poetics of place and time. Because of that history, and our own connection to the lands along much of the Erie Canal, we landed on this as the name for our journal.
What We Publish
The Long Level is, first and mostly, a home for poetry. We're open to formal and free verse, sequences, prose poems, and work that tests the edges of the form. We also have room, from time to time, for other short work that shares the same sensibility, but poetry is the heart of it.
We read for precision, surprise, and a sense that the writer has earned the poem's ending. We don't subscribe to any particular school or aesthetic, but we're very interested in a sense of place and time, and, more than anything, in poems that stand on their own.
Who We're Looking to Publish
We want The Long Level to be a place where new voices are taken seriously. We're especially glad to read work from poets who are early in their publishing careers, alongside submissions from more established writers. What matters is the poem, not the résumé attached to it.
Timeline
The Long Level is brand new. Our first reading period runs January 1 – April 30, 2027, and our inaugural issue will publish in June 2027. In the meantime, we're sharing updates, previews, and calls for submissions on Substack and Instagram. Follow along if you'd like to be there from the beginning.
The Masthead
The Long Level is edited by its founders, Mark and Tracy Bowers, who are currently building the journal's first issue from the ground up. A fuller masthead will appear here as the editorial team grows.