This is a list of 25 poetry journals/magazines open for submissions now, during the National Poetry Month. Most of these accept other genres too, like fiction and nonfiction, and many pay writers. None charge a reading fee, or they have some fee-free option; they’re listed in no particular order. There are also a few upcoming, fee-free contests and awards/fellowships for poets at the end. And see this list of poetry markets published earlier – some deadlines are approaching.
Also see Emily Harstone’s massive list of poetry publishers who don’t charge a fee.
Bennington Review
This literary magazine aims to carve out a “distinctive space for innovative, intelligent, and moving fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, film writing and cross-genre work.” They are particularly taken with writing that is simultaneously graceful and reckless. Send 3-5 poems; pay is $20/poem. They have a shortened submission period for this cycle, and the deadline is 8 May 2020. Details here.
Wend Poetry
This is a poetry and visual arts magazine; send up to 5 poems. Their guidelines say, “Themed and unthemed content is accepted. We have no specific aesthetic but welcome the adventurous and new.” Details here.
Atlanta Review
This magazine publishes “all kinds of great poetry; we do not subscribe to any particular “school.” We read and admire lyric, narrative, experimental, form, free verse, prose poems, and any other kind of poetry”, according to their guidelines. Send up to 5 poems. The deadline for submissions via the online system is 1 June, and these are charged; mailed submissions, which can be sent any time, are free. Details here.
They also run the Dan Veach Prize for Younger Poets for college-age students (no entry fee, deadline 1 June 2020, pays $100).
The Fiddlehead
This Canadian magazine is open to writing and translations into English from all over the world and in a variety of styles, including experimental genres. They publish poetry (send up to 6 poems), short fiction, and creative nonfiction. The deadline of 30 April 2020 is for Submittable submissions only – mailed submissions are accepted all year round. Pay is $60/page (Canadian). Details here.
Harbor Review: Portraiture
This is a magazine of poetry (send up to 3 poems) and visual art. They are accepting work for their summer issue, and the theme is ‘Portraiture’. They are also open for reviews of poetry chapbooks, full length books of poetry, poetry and art hybrid books, and art books – “Send us something different. Make a video. Write something unusual. Incorporate an interview. Interpretive dance? Yes!” according to their guidelines. The deadline for this theme is 30 April 2020. Details here.
Cricket Media: New themes
They have announced several special themes for their children’s literary magazines: Beep-Beep, Vroom-Vroom! and Breezy Summer (for BabyBug); Making Make Believe and My Family (for LadyBug); Wordplay and Get a Move On! (for Spider) and Best Friends Forever? and Tales of the Sea (for Cricket). Non-themed submissions are open too. Apart from poetry, they publish fiction, nonfiction, crafts, recipes, and puzzles. Length guidelines vary for each magazine, and deadline for most themes is mid-June; for the Sea theme, it is mid-July. Pay is $3/line of poetry, with $25 minimum. Details here.
Feminist Studies
This journal publishes creative writing, including poetry and short fiction in all forms, apart from papers, research and criticism, art and visual culture features, review essays, and other forms of writing. Their guidelines say, “We are interested in work that addresses questions of interest to the Feminist Studies audience, particularly work that pushes past the boundaries of what has been done before. We look for creative work that is intellectually challenging and aesthetically adventurous, that is in complicated dialogue with feminist ideas and concepts, and that shifts our readers into new perspectives on women/gender.” Details here.
The Massachusetts Review
They publish poetry (send up to 6 poems), fiction, essays, hybrid submissions, and translations. Translations are accepted year-round. There is no fee for mailed submissions. The deadline is 30 April 2020, and they pay $100. Details here.
Fly on the Wall Press: Food
This is a UK-based press and magazine and their tagline says, ‘A publisher with a conscience’. They are accepting poetry (up to 3 poems), flash fiction, short stories, book reviews, and artwork on the Food theme. Their editor says, “I’m looking for personal connections with food. Cooking can be a delicate art. Sitting down at a family meal can be painful, explosive, a treasured moment; a special kind of chaotic seasonal holiday! What foods do we worship with in places of worship? What foods do we love with; give as gifts, bake with care? Taste memory can be extremely evocative. What kind of foods define us? What if a lack of food defines us?” They pay royalties. The deadline is 1 June 2020 for the Food theme. Details here.
The Bare Life Review: The Climate Issue
The magazine publishes work by immigrant and refugee authors – from foreign-born authors living in the US, and writers living abroad who currently hold refugee and/or asylum-seeker status. And for the next issue only, they have amended the eligibility rules to include non-immigrant writers who have experienced displacement as a result of climate disaster. They are now reading work on the Climate theme. They accept poetry (send 3-5 poems), fiction, and nonfiction – the work may, but need not, deal explicitly with issues of immigration, exile, or refuge. They welcome translations. American-born translators may submit work by eligible writers, but in such cases payment must be issued to the author. Pay is $300 for poems, and the deadline is 1 June 2020 for the print issue. Details here.
Doubleback Review
They publish pieces of any genre that were published by a journal that subsequently became defunct. They only publish previously-published work from journals that no longer exist. Send up to 5 poems. They accept submissions on a rolling basis. They are associated with Sundress Publications, which publishes ‘The Best of the Net Anthology’. Details here.
The Copperfield Review
This is a historical fiction and poetry magazine. They accept submissions of history-based poetry (send 1 poem). They also publish short stories, nonfiction, reviews, and interviews. Pay is $15 for poetry. Details here.
Modern Haiku
Please send 5–15 haiku/senryu and/or up to 3 haibun per submission, and see guidelines for details of verse forms they do, and do not, accept. Most essays, book reviews, haiga, and cover artwork are specifically commissioned by the editors, so please query before submitting. They pay $5.00 per printed page or part thereof for essays and longer reviews, and $10 for each haiga. They read year-round (see guidelines). Details here.
Boulevard
While they frequently publish writers with previous credits, they are very interested in less experienced or unpublished writers with exceptional promise. Send up to 5 poems. They do not accept light verse. There is no fee for mailed submissions. The deadline is 1 May 2020, and they pay $25-250 for poetry. Details here.
Memoir Mixtape: Vol. 12 – Just My Imagination
They accept poetry (one poem), creative nonfiction, and for this issue, they’re also open to fiction submissions. Their guidelines say, “Music will still be a driving force behind the stories and poems we ultimately select for Vol.12, but other than that, the rules are pretty lax. We’re happy to read flash, poems, and longer short stories, but our typical guidelines still apply (3,500 words maximum).” Also, pieces must be inspired by existing/published songs rather than fictional songs/musicians. They are accepting work on this theme until 30 April 2020. Details here.
We The Women: Wake and Rebirth
This is a call by a performing arts collective for women’s voices – the call is for female-identifying artists and writers. They are commissioning a series of multimedia responses inspired by We The Women’s Wake and Rebirth concepts, which focus on the cycle of loss and the re-emergence of life. They will accept poetry, personal essays, writing/sketch, song, or movement which the writers can perform themselves, if they like. The Wake eulogizes anything that has been left behind or lost, while Rebirth focuses on what we are gaining or growing from. Their guidelines say, “What are you mourning at this time, what has been left behind with the “new normal” we are living in? (Wake)” and “What is developing, growing, and coming to life for you, at this time? (Rebirth).” The pay is $150, and the deadline is 17 April 2020. Details here (Instagram page; includes call), here (call guidelines shared on Twitter) and here (journal contacts page).
Songs of Eretz Poetry Review: Love
They publish themed poetry (submit up to 3 poems) and visual art (all art must contain a seagull). Poetry can be of any length and genre congruent with their themes, including traditional poems, form poems, prose poems, and narrative poems. For this issue, they will donate what they normally pay contributors to a charity to help feed the hungry during the Covid-19 outbreak. The deadline for their Love themed issue is 1 May 2020. Details here.
blood orange
This is an online project and they publish poetry, asemic writing, and concrete/visual poetry. The only formatting requirement is that your piece should be able to fit on a tarot card, which is traditionally 2.75” x 4.75” or about 25 lines long — “that said, if you are passionate about a longer poem and think it would be a good fit, we can sometimes make adjustments or arrangements for that, too. We love submissions in languages other than English, but as our editor only knows English and French, please include a translation of your piece if it is not in either of those languages.” They’re currently reviewing and accepting submissions for upright cards, and also welcome submissions of reversed cards. “If you are unsure about what cards are still available, check out the card index or get in touch with our editor. Right now, the plan is to publish a full tarot deck of upright and reversed cards; if we get lots of community support for the project, we could potentially publish more editions. Our dream is to eventually publish a print edition of blood orange.” Pay is $15 (Canadian) per Tarot card. Details here.
Kaleidoscope
They publish poetry (send up to 5 poems), short fiction, creative nonfiction, articles, and book reviews on disability, and artwork. They want poems that have strong imagery, and evocative language. They publish work from writers with and without disabilities. They accept previously published work. Pay is $10-100. Details here.
Fearsome Critters: The Quaranzine – Poetry in the Time of COVID-19
They want poems that directly deal with life under quarantine during the COVID-19 outbreak. Their guidelines say, “During uncertain and devastating times such as these, poetry can be especially powerful in connecting us through a universal human experience. With so many cities, states/provinces, and countries hunkering down during this unprecedented modern pandemic, we figure that many (if not all) writers will be trying to record and work through this strange new normal. We here at Fearsome Critters are such people!
With that in mind, we are opening submissions for our first ever online zine! Submissions will be free for the first 250 submitters each month.” This call is open to everyone. Send up to 3 poems. The deadline is 23 May 2020. Details here.
Northern New England Review: Front/Lines – The Poetry of Nursing & Voices of Nurse-Poets
They want poetry from nurse-poets and caretakers. They’re also looking for poems about nursing. Their guidelines say, “Send us your poetic lines about caring, healing, suffering, the language of the body, time, nursing school, rituals, balms, and the danger and magic of touch.
As a literary journal dedicated to the creative voices of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, we are eager to publish pertinent works by nurse-poets and writers from the region, but this call is open to everyone.” (They’re also reading work from New England poets for their 40th anniversary issue, themed Almanac). Details here.
Eastern Iowa Review: Hope in Renewal
They are accepting essays, poetry (prose or standard, though they much prefer prose poetry), or fiction up to 1,000 words (no line limit for poetry), and art on the theme, ‘Hope in Renewal’. Send up to 3 in one genre with a maximum word count of 3,000 words. Their guidelines say, “Some tie-in to the theme, though the connection may be understated or oblique. We welcome many interpretations of “hope,” and realize not everything hopeful will be bright and shiny. If you’re bringing us something darker, please make sure it ends with hope, with something that lifts our spirits. We need that at this time in history.” Work must be smart, preferably lyrical, and geared towards a wide audience. There is one Editor’s Choice Award of $50. The deadline is 30 April 2020. Details here.
Bracken
This is a literary magazine born of the love of the woods and its shadows. They are reading fiction pitches and poetry for their next issue. Their guidelines say, “We consider any style of poetry, although we confess our bias toward the lyrical. We look for natural-world, and especially arboreal, elements in the poems we receive.” They are also reading work, including poetry, on an ongoing basis for Corona Hopelings, though they cannot pay for these. For regular submissions, send up to 4 poems. Pay is $15/poem, and the deadline is 19 April 2020. Details here.
LIVE
This is a take-home story paper distributed weekly in adult Sunday School classes. They publish poems, fiction, true stories, nonfiction, how-to articles, first-person anecdotes, and short humor. They pay $35-60 for poetry. Details here (scroll down).
The Offing
This online magazine publishes creative writing in all genres and art in all media. They want work that “challenges, experiments, provokes – work that pushes literary and artistic forms and conventions.” They publish poetry (send up to 5 poems), fiction, Micro, translations, and several other columns. There’s no reading fee in 2020. They pay contributors $25-100. Details here.
POETRY PRIZES OPEN NOW
Here are some forthcoming contests/awards open for poets. Many have geographic restrictions. None charge an entry fee.
Holland Park Press: Is Royalty Relevant? A Poetry Competition
This is an international poetry contest on the theme, ‘Is Royalty Relevant?’ Their guidelines say, “We invite you to write a poem about a member or members of royal families from countries around the world.
This is the theme but first and foremost we are looking for outstanding poems, literary and subject wise, we don’t need to agree with your views, but we want to feel your poem comes from the heart and adds something new to our poetic legacy.
You can write about any aspect of royalty: their role, actions, dress sense, sense of duty, scandals, economic relevance, artistic or sporting interests, their dogs and other pets or even their handbag (what’s in it?). You can be a royalist or staunch republican, that’s all fine, as long as, we are moved, excited, amused, annoyed or inspired by your poem.” Poems must not exceed 50 lines.
Value: £200
Deadline: 27 April 2020
Open for: All poets
Details here.
Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships
These fellowships are for young poets who are US residents or citizens. Application includes up to 10 pages of poetry.
Deadline: 30 April 2020
Value: Fellowships of $25,800 each
Open for: US poets aged 21-31 years
Details here.
(These are run by The Poetry Foundation, whose magazine, Poetry, pays well for poetry and related writing.)
2020 ALTA Travel Fellowship
Each year, 4 to 6 fellowships are awarded to emerging (unpublished or minimally published) translators to help them pay for hotel and travel expenses to the annual American Literary Translators Association conference (in Tucson, AZ). Among the fellowships is the Peter K. Jansen Memorial Travel Fellowship, which is preferentially awarded to an emerging translator of color or a translator working from an underrepresented Diaspora or stateless language. Also see their other awards for published works, some of which do not charge a submission fee.
Value: $1,000 each
Deadline: 4 May 2020 (extended)
Open for: Unspecified
Details here and here.
James Laughlin Award
This is for a second full-length poetry manuscript by a US poet, contracted by a publisher. Manuscripts have to be 48-100 pages long. Translations and new editions of previously published books are not eligible.
Value: $5,000, residency
Deadline: 15 May 2020
Open for: US poets (see guidelines)
Details here.
Bacopa Literary Review Writing Contest
They have prizes in fiction, nonfiction, poetry (up to 3 poems), and humor.
Value: $300 first prize, $100 second prize in each
Deadline: 31 May 2020
Open for: All writers
Details here
Atlanta Review: Dan Veach Prize for Younger Poets
The Dan Veach Prize for Younger Poets solicits poems from college-age students, aged 18-23, on any subject or style. Poems with an international focus are especially welcomed, but all poems must be written in English. Students may submit up to two poems (40 lines or fewer for each poem). A letter of recommendation (up to 500 words) from a teacher or other person well-acquainted with the student’s writing must accompany the poem(s). The recommendation letter should affirm that these poems are the student’s original work.
Value: $100
Deadline: 1 June 2020
Open for: College-age poets (18-23 years)
Details here.
The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture: Hiett Prize in the Humanities
This prize is aimed at identifying candidates in the early stages of their careers devoted to the humanities and whose work shows extraordinary promise to have a significant impact on contemporary culture. Applications include a Narrative Profile of Accomplishments and Published Work, and a plan for Future Scholarship and/or Project in the Humanities. Applicants must be active and continuing in their work. Age and length of experience are not necessarily limiting factors. Past winners have included writers of columns, nonfiction, poetry and memoir, and journalists.
Value: $50,000
Deadline: 1 June 2020 (extended)
Open for: Those resident in the US
Details here.
Words Without Borders Poems in Translation Contest
This is a poetry translation contest. It is open to contemporary international poetry translated from other languages into English. Apart from the cash prize, four winning translated poems will be co-published on Words Without Borders, the digital magazine for international literature, and in Poem-a-Day, the popular daily poetry series produced by the Academy of American Poets, throughout September, which is National Translation Month.
Value: $150 each for winning poets and translators
Deadline: 1 June 2020
Open for: All poet-translators
Details here.
Author Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She is the author of 182 Short Fiction Publishers. She can be reached here.
