To Edit A Poet’s Voice

This is the type of email you receive from an “Editor” who is unfamiliar with poetry” Smh. I had to share this because I would never want another poet to think- He or She needs to edit their voice. When an “editor begins to change your words- they have in fact stolen your VOICE! After I confronted this “editor” about changing my words in a poem submission-without my permission…this is the response I received:


XXXXX  asked me to contact you regarding changing a few words in your poems.

As an editor, it is important to me that everything be grammatically correct in anything I have my name on. In your poems, you had one grammar issue in each one, which I corrected.

I apologize if this has upset you, but any time an editor looks over work for a publisher, it is their job to make this sort of change. There were a few words that you made up that I also could have changed, but in my opinion poetic license gives you the right to create words. I would never make a change to a poem that created new meaning in the work, I only made the changes to correct grammar.

Thanks, I hope this clarifies the changes I made.

XXXX 

NOTE: Like, who does that!!! Are you that egotistical that you would really take liberities over someones creativity?  I guess, Nikk Giovanni better watch out!  #I can’t