11 Lit Mags that Published Kaveh Akbar Before He Was Famous
With all the info you need to submit to them yourself!
If you’re into poetry, chances are you’ve heard of Kaveh Akbar. And now, since his novel Martyr (Knopf) came out earlier this year and skyrocketed to the New York Times bestseller list along with placing on many celebrity book club lists (Hello Natalie Portman!) – Akbar is fast on his way to becoming a household name. But Kaveh Akbar has been doing this for a long time. And he’s damn good at it. And when I say “this”, I don’t just mean writing. I mean, engaging with the literary community, reaching across popularity spheres and connecting with people from all walks of life (not just the intellectuals, for example). I have a lovely personal anecdote with Kaveh Akbar. When Karan and I first started talking, we were reading Kaveh’s debut poetry collection, Calling a Wolf a Wolf, together. Kaveh had already become the kind of poet whose name you see everywhere. He was also one of Karan’s most favorite poets.
So, for Karan’s upcoming birthday, as a surprise, I decided to book a manuscript consultation with Kaveh Akbar. I had no idea how to do this, but somehow, I found an agency that does this with prominent poets, and to great luck, Kaveh offered consultations through them. And they were way, way beyond my budget. A bit disappointed but still hopeful, I emailed the agent about our situation and also Karan’s story about finding Kaveh’s books in an old Delhi library and photocopying them so he could mark them up and make notes for weeks on end. You can imagine my surprise when the agent messaged back, saying that she had spoken to Kaveh and he himself would be reaching out to Karan. I had no idea when or if that would even happen, but it did, and was more than we could have hoped for! Karan got to have a wonderful call with Kaveh, and they discussed his poems, MFAs, and the literary world at large.
Today, Kaveh is busy promoting his smashing debut novel and, as if he hasn’t already won all the awards, in a few years, he will probably have scooped up even more accolades. So, we thought it would be fun to look over the lit mags where Kaveh submitted and published his work much earlier in his career when he was still working on his first collection.
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