Editorial The latest research in the field of verbal art focuses on different issues related to content and ideology, while the technical aspects gain less attention. At the same time the latter have not lost their relevance and we can even notice some growth of interest in their study. This concerns both fresh ideas and methods as well as introduction of novel material. The newly launched journal intends to focus on these aspects of verbal art (in the widest sense, including both lit- erature and folklore) which are related to different angles of techné, primarily to its linguistic dimension. Included in this are all spheres of poetics and all studies in versification, but also areas such as narratology and rhetorics which are not directly involved in extrapoetical issues such as ideological or cultural implications, and so on. This will not exclude psychological issues nor different problems of reception, although these will not be the main topics of the journal. We are interested in the diversity of both material and methods. The main thematic areas of the new journal are comparative-historical problematics and typological studies, while one of the aims of the editors is to introduce various aspects of Fenno-Ugric verse tradition, as well as other non-European and non-Indo-European traditions to international discussion. Yet the thematic range of the journal will not only include narrow language families nor certain schools. As for the methods, Studia Metrica et Poetica is not related to a particu- lar school or methodology. The only restriction is that the papers have to meet the requirements of scholarly research, that is, the results must be verifiable. Furthermore, the studies of single poems are also not favoured, although we do not completely exclude these when we are dealing either with an important question or a significant text. We do not insist on the terminological coherence (already the terms ‘metre’ and ‘rhythm’ are used in very different meanings, compare as well the usage of such problematic terms as ‘ictus’, and so on). We do, however, expect from our authors methodological and terminological clarity. If we are dealing with a specific approach or terminological innovation, these have to be clearly defined. The journal will continue the tradition of Tartu University Press publishing important works in the sphere of poetics. Here, for example, Walter Anderson’s classical study of the Estonian regiverse (1935), and Jaak Põldmäe’s mono- graph on classical verse and stanzaic forms (1974) deserve to be mentioned, as well as Põldmäe’s papers in the series by Tartu University Press Problems in Studia Metrica et Poetica 1.1, 2014, 7–8 doi: dx.doi.org/10.12697/smp.2013.1.1.01 http://dx.doi.org/10.12697/smp.2013.1.1.01 8 Mihhail Lotman, Igor Pilshchikov, Maria-Kristiina Lotman Modeling Language (for instance, 1975), and Yuri Lotman’s monograph Lectures on Structural Poetics (1964). Already in the Soviet period it was understood that versification studies require a separate series and thus in 1976 the first volume of Studia Metrica et Poetica was published, edited by Jaak Põldmäe (1942-1979). The series continued to be issued also after the death of the editor-in-chief and existed until 1990 (see Põldmäe 1976, 1977, Mints 1987, Talvet 1982, 1985, 1990). The launched journal will carry forward this academic tradition as a peer reviewed English language journal, with distinguished scholars serving as members of its editorial board. Mihhail Lotman, Igor Pilshchikov, Maria-Kristiina Lotman References Anderson, Walter 1935. Studien zur Wortsilbenstatistik der älteren estnischen Volkslieder. Acta et Commentationes Universitatis Tartuensis B XXXIV. Tartu: K. Mattiesen. Lotman, Jurij 1964. Lekcii po struktural’noj poetike. Tartu: [Tartu Riiklik Ülikool]. Mints, Zara (ed.) 1987. Studia metrica et poetica. Poeetiliste süsteemide dünaamika = Trudy po metrike i poetike. Dinamika poeticheskikh sistem. Tartu: [Tartu Riiklik Ülikool]. Põldmäe, Jaak 1974. Klassikalisi luuletus- ja stroofivorme. Tartu: Tartu Riiklik Ülikool. Põldmäe, Jaak 1975. Eesti silbilis-rõhulise värsisüsteemi uurimise meetod ja Betti Alveri poeemide nelikjambi rütm. In: Rätsep. Huno (ed.) Keele modelleerimise probleeme 5. Tartu Riikliku Ülikooli Toimetised 363, 163-233. Põldmäe, Jaak (ed.) 1976. Studia metrica et poetica I. Tartu: [Tartu Riiklik Ülikool]. Põldmäe, Jaak (ed.) 1977. Studia metrica et poetica II. Tartu: [Tartu Riiklik Ülikool]. Talvet, Jüri (ed.) 1982. Studia metrica et poetica. Värsiõpetuse aktuaalseid probleeme ja soome-ugri värsitehnika küsimusi = Aktual’nye problemy stikhovedenija i voprosy finno-ugorskogo stikhoslozhenija. Tartu: [Tartu Riiklik Ülikool]. Talvet, Jüri (ed.) 1985. Studia metrica et poetica. Poeetilise teksti tüpoloogia, tõlke ja retseptsiooni probleeme = Trudy po metrike i poetike. Problemy tipologii, perevoda i recepcii poeticheskogo teksta. Tartu: [Tartu Riiklik Ülikool]. Talvet, Jüri (ed.) 1990. Studia metrica et poetica. Žanri ja kujundi poeetika = Trudy po metrike i poetike. Poetika zhanra i obraza. Tartu: [Tartu Riiklik Ülikool].