Light (journal)
Light is an online journal that bills itself as "North America's longest-running journal of light verse."
History and profile
Light was founded as a print journal in 1992 by a retired postal worker John Mella. Mella personally published the journal until 2008, when he founded the non-profit Foundation for Light Verse with a gift from poet Joyce La Mers. The Foundation, headed by Mella, took over the publication of the journal. After Mella died in 2012, the magazine was relaunched as an online-only, semiannual publication, edited by his handpicked successor, poet Melissa Balmain. The all-volunteer staff includes poets Kevin Durkin, Coleman Glenn, Allison Joseph, Julie Kane, Barbara Loots, and Gail White.Since 2017, Light has also published Poems of the Week on Mondays, inspired by current events.
Each biannual issue begins with a feature on a writer of light verse and includes reviews of light poetry collections. Sections in between have varied from issue to issue, including "Spectrum" roundups on types of light verse and an occasional column, "Historical and Hysterical," by A. M. Juster. The magazine has published the verses of Wendy Cope, Thomas M. Disch, X. J. Kennedy, John Updike, and Richard Wilbur, among many others.