We share the reading burden, though Margot Schilpp, the poetry editor, reads the most. Then we meet, discuss, and decide. Quarterly West M.L. Williams No. The briefer the better. We have too much to read already, and I ve never read a bio that saved a poem.
All editors read and select possible keepers.
They send these to me to make the final decision. I often consult with an editor when the poems do not immediately impress me. I read these poems, put them aside, then read again. On non-referrals, I read and make three piles keepers, maybes, rejects. Then I read the keepers and maybes again.