WE WANT TO READ YOUR BEST, WEIRD AND WILD!
We are always open for submissions. Free submissions for Poet of the Week open the first three days of the month. Free submissions for Poem of the Month (different theme each time) open the first two weeks of each month. We’re always open for pitches for essays, interviews, & book reviews. We also accept Reader Responses. All of these categories are free to submit to & we pay everyone we publish. In addition to this, we offer fast responses as well as editorial feedback for a fee.
Submission Guidelines
Poet of the Week
We publish poets (as opposed to poems). We would like to spend time with your voice and see your range.
We welcome poets from all over the world.
We love prose poems, traditional forms (ghazals, villanelles, sestinas), love poems, sex poems, speculative poems, and all sorts of experimentations, but we are not married to a style or genre. Send us your most exciting work. We want poems that make us go: “God, I wish I had written this!”
Some poets we love are Kaveh Akbar, Agha Shahid Ali, Jorge Luis Borges, Anne Carson, Victoria Chang, Heather Christle, Tracy Fuad, Bob Hicok, Kim Hyesoon, Ilya Kaminsky, Luke Kennard, Li-Young Lee, Fran Lock, Bert Meyers, Kei Miller, Octavio Paz, Fernando Pessoa, Alejandra Pizarnik, Mary Ruefle, Tim Seibles, Tanya Shirley, Ocean Vuong, Jenny Xie, Yanyi, Jane Yeh…
Send us up to 10 pages of poetry.
We only accept previously uncurated work. This means that yes — you can submit poems that have previously appeared across social media, blog posts, Discord channels, scribbled on your foggy bathroom mirror, etc. But if a poem has been published in a magazine or anthology edited by someone who’s not your mom, then no.
We love cover letters and would prefer knowing whose work we are reading. You are welcome to share your publication history, if any, though that would not influence our decision. Though please make sure that the document of your poems is stripped of any biographical information—use the cover note field for this.
We encourage simultaneous submissions. Feel free to submit your work to all the wonderful places you think will be a good home for your poems. Do not withdraw your poems if they get accepted elsewhere — if we like your work, we’ll find a way to work with you.
We generally respond within 9 weeks.
We offer $55 to all our poets. This is per contribution and not per piece. We are committed to putting poets first, so increasing this fee is of utmost importance to us! If you want to help us in our efforts, please consider signing up for a membership!
We nominate for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, & Best New Poets.
NOVEMBER: HAIKU
Every month, we hold a free themed contest. The winner is our Poem of the Month, accompanied by both a contributor’s and an editor’s note, as well as a custom piece of artwork created by Derek Mueller.
Submission Period: First 7 days of every month
Beyond creating more exciting ways for poetry to shine through in the world, we wish to make the editorial process more transparent.
Why do some poems stand out?
Each month has a new form or theme.
The winner will be offered $22 for this contribution.
You may submit only one poem.
While the submissions for the Poem of the Month category are free, there are also tip-jar option and paid feedback options. These help us sustain the magazine.
We will respond to all submissions within three weeks.
BOOK REVIEWS
Please submit one complete book review (no longer than 1000 words).
The book can be published at any time.
We like reviews for well-known works but love seeing forgotten or hidden gems re-excavated.
As a poetry magazine, we, of course, want reviews of poetry collections, but feel free to send us reviews of works that are hybrid in nature, that cannot easily be classified as poetry or any other particular genre.
We pay $22 for selected book reviews.
IMPORTANT (Re: AI)
Our reviews category has been bombarded by bots and androids. No, seriously, it's freakin' frustrating. Please note that it's quite easy to figure out if a review's been spewed out by ChatGPT. If you send us AI slop in the form of book reviews, we will reject it and any further submissions from you. Sorry, not sorry.