July 9, 2009 - PRESS RELEASE    For Immediate Release

Publication of Five Poetry Journals by MET Press Comes to an End

Baltimore, Maryland – July 9, 2009 – MET Press (Modern English Tanka Press) will stop publishing five poetry journals this year. Modern English Tanka, Atlas Poetica: A Journal of Poetry of Place in Modern English Tanka, and the TSA’s Ribbons will continue to be produced by other publishers. Ambrosia: Journal of Fine Haiku and Modern Haiga will close entirely. MET Press’ production capacity stretched to the breaking point this summer and made these changes necessary. Modern English Tanka, Atlas Poetica, and the TSA’s Ribbons are very successful journals so it became necessary to move them to other publishers.

Modern English Tanka ownership and editorship have been transferred to Michael McClintock, who has been the Contributing Editor of MET since its debut in 2006. There will be a hiatus in publication during the rest of 2009. Mr. McClintock will announce editorial policies, etc., in 2010. Subscribers to Volume 4 of MET will be refunded their subscription payments by MET Press. Submissions are not being accepted by MET Press.

Atlas Poetica: A Journal of Poetry of Place in Modern English Tanka ownership has been transferred to the current and future Editor of Atlas Poetica, M. Kei. The current issue, # 4, will be published shortly by MET Press. Subsequently, M. Kei will assume the publication of Atlas Poetica.

All current subscribers will receive their final issue, #4.

The Tanka Society of America will begin publishing their journal, Ribbons, edited by Dave Bacharach, beginning with the Autumn 2009 issue. MET Press has been providing TSA with technical support for Ribbons publication for several issues, but TSA has developed in-house expertise that makes this unnecessary now.

Modern Haiga is an annual, letter-size, journal of graphic art. The debut issue for 2008 won commendation from The Montserrat Review as "Best Graphic Poetry Book - Best Books for Spring 2009." Nevertheless, the journal has not been supported by sales. The current issue for 2009 will be published in paperback at the end of this year; it will be the final issue of Modern Haiga. Artist-poets are encouraged to submit soon to Modern Haiga at submissions@modernhaiga.com for an opportunity to be included in this ground-breaking graphic art journal. Chief Editor Liam Wilkinson and the whole Board of Editors of Modern Haiga have done wonderful work with this issue.

Ambrosia: Journal of Fine Haiku is a quarterly pocket paperback journal. We have been very pleased by the positive response of critics and readers to this little haiku journal. Regrettably, it has not been supported by sales. MET Press does publish some titles pro bono, as a labor of love, but the capacity for such projects is limited. Issue 4 will be published later this month and will be the final issue of Ambrosia. The single subscriber beyond issue 4 will be given a refund. We are happy that Ambrosia pleased its readers; we fully understand that haiku journals are a glut on the market.

Current plans are to continue publishing MET Press’ remaining journals: Prune Juice: Journal of Senryu and Kyoka, Modern Haibun & Tanka Prose, and Concise Delight Magazine of Short Poetry. For the present, however, MET Press is not offering subscriptions to any of its journals.

Back issues of all the affected journals, except Ribbons, will continue to be for sale on the MET Press’ own website bookstore and its Lulu.com bookstore. Ribbons back issues are expected to go out of print by MET Press later this year. Information on Ribbons should be followed on the TSA website, http://www.tankasocietyofamerica.com/ .

Contact: Denis M. Garrison, owner, MET Press / Modern English Tanka Press 443-802-1249
Email to dmg@themetpress.com www.themetpress.com ###