The Houston Poetry Review is literally dedicated to its motto "Let us speak good words." The Review is also dedicated to being what a review of poetry ought to be: a reviewer of poetry; viz., not content to simply collect and publish good and great poems, but to reflect upon and analyze them--if not always in detail, at least to simply acknowledge what is good in them.

To this end, the Houston Poetry Review is produced by dedicated people from all walks of life all over the world: the academic and the student, the busy professional and the busy homemaker, the athlete and the bound. Most of these labor without credit, without pay, but with great fulfillment at participating in a publication that seeks "to speak good words."

Any interested party may request to review poems scheduled for upcoming issues by emailing editor@houstonpoetryreview.net and so requesting. The reviewer will be assigned a poem or poems, given a space limit, and a deadline (usually two months). Although most reviewers prefer to review anonymously, any reviewer may receive byline credit at her or his option. All copyrights belong to the Houston Poetry Review, but any reviewer is granted automatic lifetime reprint rights for his or her review thus published, without further request for permission, as long as the Houston Poetry Review is credited therein. Potential reviewers should carefully study the tone and tenor of previous issues' reviews. Persons searching for a place to park their excess vitriol, unresolved familial issues, or to practice snobbery should well consider the close study of Latinic phrasing instead.

With the exception of planned-theme issues, the Houston Poetry Review solicits poems from Houston area poets, poets who write about Houston but do not live near, or poets who have lived in Greater Houston. Our staff and friends "keep their ears open" at various venues and times for quality poetry, whether from poets known or poets just beginning to hone their craft. To live the life of a poet is oftimes a lonely walk--the Houston Poetry Review seeks to lighten this load by creating a network-like forum for the gathering and dissemination of poetry information and to learn about one other.

Poems solicited by the Houston Poetry Review should be sent via email when and where requested, the poem(s) in a late version of Microsoft Word (virus scanned and noted therein), with a two paragraph biography, 13 point type, font Times New Roman, 25 lines or less, and literary quality (i.e., no pornography, gratuitous violence, hate mongering, men-bashing, women-bashing, homophobic, heterophobic, etc., ad nauseum).