FEATURE | APRIL 6, 2021
The key to becoming a successful poet? Turns out it’s not ideas, vocabulary, or some kind of magical transcendence. It’s persistence, plain and simple – persistence and tough skin. In fact, two kinds of persistence are crucial in the publication process: a creative version that compels the writer to continually revise and polish the poem; and a grittier version that motivates the writer to submit over and over again until the poem catches an editor’s eye.
Madison Rahner ’18, MAW ’20, demonstrated persistence in spades as she crafted a cohesive work comprised of more than two dozen sonnets for her Master of Arts in Writing (MAW) thesis and then pivoted to focus on sharing her work with the world, submitting more than 300 poems to a variety of journals over the course of a year. Eventually, the world sat up and took notice: Rahner currently has eight poems published or forthcoming in some of the most prestigious literary magazines in the country.
Threepenny Review. The Normal School. The Fiddlehead. Seasoned poets covet placement in these highly-regarded publications, where Rahner’s work appears alongside that of Louise Gluck, who won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature.
“It’s been kind of a hectic year, but I’m feeling great about it,” said Rahner.
One unique trait of Rahner’s work, which often displays an undercurrent of water imagery and feminist underpinnings, is that she is a formalist.
“I learned not to take rejection so personally,” said Rahner. “It’s hard not to have your feelings hurt when one magazine after another doesn’t want your work. But having the Waccamaw experience, I know that it’s incredibly competitive. There were plenty of poems I loved, but other readers didn’t, and so we passed on them.”
“I work in fixed forms mostly, specifically sonnets,” said Rahner. “It’s really important to me that they be formally perfect: 10 syllables per line, 14 lines, specific rhyme scheme. Pretty much everything I created for my thesis and in recent years has followed that mold. My [poem published by Threepenny Review] was a sestina, a really complicated French form. I think a lot of poets in my generation gravitate more toward free verse, so to be putting out really strict formal work that tackles modern themes, and is done in modern and interesting ways, sets me apart.” So does Rahner’s talent and commitment, said Dan Albergotti, professor in the Department of English and Rahner’s thesis adviser.
“[Rahner’s] poems are really amazing,” said Albergotti. “I preach in my classes that poetry is not about finding some magic inspiration and nailing a poem. It’s about constantly working and always perceiving that your next poem is the best poem. Madison has always had a really good attitude about commitment, understanding that working on the art is essential. She’s always been very refreshing that way.”
“It’s really hard to be the anonymous person in the slush pile, sending your work somewhere unsolicited and just hoping they pay attention to you.”
The world of poetry publishing involves unwritten codes that can extinguish the spirit of energetic young writers. One: rejection is real, frequent, and disheartening. Two: The number of submissions to any literary magazine is exponentially higher (like, odds of 100:1) than the number of published works. Three: Literary magazine editors might read 500-800 poems per week during the submission process, which means poems are rarely received with a fresh perspective.
However, Rahner entered the process with eyes wide open, thanks to an experience working on CCU’s Waccamaw literary journal, which receives more than 800 submissions for each biannual issue.
“It’s really hard to be the anonymous person in the slush pile, sending your work somewhere unsolicited and just hoping they pay attention to you,” said Rahner “It was a privilege to work for Waccamaw, and I know how hard it is to read 500 poems a week. It’s hard to give every one the care and attention it deserves.”
That experience on the receiving side of submissions served Rahner well when she shifted to the corresponding half of the process.
“I learned not to take rejection so personally,” said Rahner. “It’s hard not to have your feelings hurt when one magazine after another doesn’t want your work. But having the Waccamaw experience, I know that it’s incredibly competitive. There were plenty of poems I loved, but other readers didn’t, and so we passed on them.”
At the same time, Rahner said, that experience made the acceptances even sweeter.
“Having that knowledge made it more thrilling, because I remember the feeling of finding a piece in the slush pile that I loved, and talking to my colleagues about it and getting so excited about it and getting to publish it and promote that author’s work,” said Rahner. “I remember how passionately I felt about other people’s poems in that way, and so to be on the other end makes me grateful that people are choosing to be an advocate for me.”
Rahner credits the training and guidance she received through the MAW program for her success.
“The MAW was an incubator period where I was inundated with all of these things to read, writers to meet, and all these really great people who believe in their students and want to see them succeed.”
“The MAW was an incubator period where I was inundated with all of these things to read, writers to meet, and all these really great people who believe in their students and want to see them succeed,” said Rahner. “I can’t tell you how much time I was given outside of class by my professors and how instrumental that was to my success.” The words of Jess Richardson, professor in the Department of English, frequently came to Rahner’s mind when she was prone to take rejection to heart.
“[Richardson] used to say, ‘The purpose of your art is to go out into the world and make more art, and when you stop making it all about yourself, it’s easier to do almost every aspect of it; it liberates your creativity from your ego’” said Rahner. “I carry those words with me a lot.”
Her advice to aspiring poets?
“Perseverance and grit is the number one key,” said Rahner. “That is the only defining line between eventually reaching success and not. You can’t reap what you don’t sow.”
Rahner’s work in Threepenny Review: “Sestina for the Matriarch”
Rahner’s work in The Normal School: “I Realize I Want You,” “Paint Me a Leda”
Rahner’s work in Popshot Quarterly: “Aubade” (pages 8-9)
Learn more about the MAW program from Rahner
Learn more about the Waccamaw journal
Learn about Rahner’s business, Memoirs by Madison
“Perseverance and grit is the number one key,” said Rahner. “That is the only defining line between eventually reaching success and not. You can’t reap what you don’t sow.”
