This resource contains online reviews of poetry pamphlets. The reviews that appeared in the Sphinx magazine itself are not available here, but back issues of Sphinx are available through the HappenStance online shop (accessible from the HappenStance home page). Some extracts from the magazine are also available in the shop as free downloads.

To find the review you want, search on all or part of the poet, chapbook or reviewer’s name. Alternatively, if you know which issue of Sphinx the review accompanied, you can use the buttons left of the page to see a list of reviews for that issue.

Reviews published from issue 11 onwards follow a new format comprising three reviews for each publication, from three different reviewers. Each reviewer has also been asked to rate the publication (for full details, see issue 10 or relevant HappenStance blog entry) and their ratings have been amalgamated to arrive at a Sphinx stripe award between one (low) and ten (high). Remarks from 'the Common Reader' and/or 'Young Reader' are also included in some cases.

The rating is based on four categories: production values/ design, quality of writing, coherence of collection, and finally warmth of recommendation. The final award is displayed in a Sphinx graphic at the top of the review (count the stripes on the body of the Sphinx). This does not pretend to be a final verdict on the publication but it is based on three different readers, none of whom has a personal connection with the author.  

Note for authors and publishers: if submitting publications for review, please check requirements to ensure your publication is eligible (email  This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it  if in doubt). We make every effort to include online contact details for each publication. If yours are either absent or incorrect, please contact us and this will be amended.

If you particularly wish a comment from the Common Reader or Young Reader, please include four, not three, copies. Publications not reviewed in the new system but sent for consideration may be listed with brief editorial comment in a periodic round-up. Only poetry pamphlets are reviewed by Sphinx, not (at present) short stories.