About/FAQ
Who are you?
We’re L.M. and Coral, friends who met in college back in the early aughts. We quickly realized that a love of poetry was among our countless common interests, and a close, enduring friendship was born.
Currently, Coral works in the arts and L.M. proofreads for a global firm.
Why the title Impostor?
While majoring in creative writing in college, L.M. became disillusioned with the environment, its lack of diversity, and its rigid approach to what poetry “should” be. As a double major in literature alongside Coral, that disillusionment extended to the literary canon and creative arts academia at large. It was difficult to “be someone” in the poetry world without connections, experience in publishing, or an MFA. When we graduated in the early aughts, literary magazines were few, prestigious, and only accessible in print. The contradictory cycle of “you need to have experience to gain experience” was real, and ultimately discouraging. In short: it was easy to feel like impostors—just not good enough to be involved in what we loved.
We often feel like impostors while running Impostor. But we did it as a labor of love and out of our desire to contribute to the incredible world of independent creative platforms. And we decided to call it Impostor as a representation of our history, our experience, and the way in which we hope to be relatable to others.
What do you like?
We like poetry that makes us feel something—and we know this is subjective, so it’s honestly hard to say—but whatever it is you’ve written, we want to read it!
Our individual tastes don’t always align, but we always find common ground in what we choose to publish. You can read our past issues to get a feel for the work we’ve enjoyed.
What makes you reject submissions?
We hate sending rejections. We know very well what it feels like to receive them (we receive them frequently ourselves!), and we know that even if said rejection is kind, it can nonetheless sting and feel discouraging. The editing process is subjective, and our decision to decline work in no way means that we think the work is “bad” or that the author isn’t a good writer—it just wasn’t right for us. We don’t take our submissions lightly—we know what it feels like to put personal, raw work out there, and we handle every submission with respect and careful consideration.
Why don’t you pay?
We’d love to pay contributors, but we don’t have the funds to do so. We make zero profit off of Impostor, and we pay all associated monthly costs out of pocket. Our submissions will always be free (and we totally understand if you’d rather submit to a paying publication).
Are you looking to expand?
We're extremely flattered by inquiries we've received about this, but we don’t have immediate plans to expand. We thank everyone who has supported us so far, whether by being a reader, contributor, or even commenter!
How do you feel about collaborating with other lit mags or event organizers?
Thrilled! Just email us.