Head to Succeed Founding Editor of Prestigious Atlanta Review

Posted February 25, 2016

Georgia Tech’s Karen Head has been named editor of the world renowned poetry journal, Atlanta Review. Head inherits the mantle for the 22-year old publication from founding editor, Dan Veach. Georgia Tech’s J.C. Reilly will serve as associate editor.

One of the world’s best-selling poetry journals, Atlanta Review has published the works of many Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners. The publication is independent  and self-supporting.

“Since I began working on literary journals as long ago as high school, I have dreamed of someday being the editor of a publication like the Atlanta Review,” said Head, who is an assistant professor in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts School of Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC). “Here is a publication that demonstrates the power of poetry — the power of art.”

Head is an award-winning poet who has written three books of poetry — Sassing, My Paris Year, and Shadow Boxes — and co-authored the anthology, On Occasion: Four Poets, One Year. Her poem Three Moments was the winner of the 2011 Oxford International Women’s Festival Poetry Prize. Her scholarship in contemporary American poetry explores the connections between traditional text-based poetry and digitally-enhanced poetry. Her own digital poetry exhibits have been highly acclaimed. These include Poetic Rub which was featured at the E-Poetry 2007 festival in Paris, and her 2009 collaborative digital poem Monumental written with 12 other poets via Twitter and directed by Head from atop the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square. The project was showcased in an online mini-documentary by TIME.

“I especially look forward to bringing traditional poetry together with digital poetry in ways that are not possible in a print journal by connecting our readers to a robust and interactive online partner site,” said Head.

Reilly, who is associate director of undergraduate studies in LMC, is also a poet. She served as an editorial assistant for the Prairie Schooner while in grad school at the University of Nebraska and as associate editor of the Plains Song Review.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to reading new writing from across the world, and finding those luminous pieces that we can share in the Atlanta Review,” said Reilly. 

Head and Reilly’s leadership of the Atlanta Review reinforces Georgia Tech’s influence in poetry and arts. Two of just 24 endowed poetry chairs in American higher education reside within the Poetry@Tech program in the Ivan Allen College School of Literature, Media, and Communication. Poetry@Tech is the premier showcase for poetry in the southeast and brings to campus each year celebrated poets from around the world. Contiguous with Head’s role as editor of Atlanta Review, Georgia Tech has committed to archive the journal and to make available online the work of the stellar poets who have appeared in the journal.

Head and Reilly will transition to their new roles this summer. Both will continue their current positions at Georgia Tech including Head’s role as director of the Writing and Communication Program’s Institute-wide multidisciplinary Communication Center.