April is National Poetry Month. To celebrate, here is a list of 25 poetry markets that accept poetry submissions in April 2019. They do not charge a fee to publish, or they have fee-free options (like free mailed submissions, or free online submissions during certain periods), and many of them pay writers. Several magazines and websites publish other genres also, like fiction, nonfiction, reviews, and scripts. Here they are, in no particular order.
Grain Magazine
This Canadian literary magazine accepts individual poems, sequences, or suites up to a maximum of six pages. They also publish literary nonfiction and fiction, and accept queries for submissions of work in other forms (short plays, comics, etc.). Submissions of visual art are by invitation but artists are welcome to query. Pay is CAD50/page up to CAD250, and the deadline is 31 May 2019.
Details here.
The Georgia Review
This award-winning literary magazine publishes poetry, and they accept up to five poems. They also publish fiction, nonfiction, and reviews (including book briefs and essay-reviews). There is no fee for mailed submissions. Pay is $4/line of poetry, and $50/page for prose. The deadline for submissions is 15 May 2019. Details here.
The Frogmore Papers
This UK-based literary magazine accepts poetry. Their guidelines say, “Very long poems and very short poems have more to do than poems of an average length (say, 20-80 lines)”. Also, “Poems where the form drives the meaning are unlikely to find favour”, and “Poems written by people who clearly haven’t read any poetry since Wordsworth will not find favour.” Send 4-6 poems. They also publish short stories and they are reading for their September issue until 30 April 2019. Details here.
Alaska Quarterly Review
This award-winning magazine publishes poetry. They publish work in traditional and experimental styles, but not light verse. Send up to 20 pages of poetry. They also accept fiction, short plays, and literary non-fiction. They welcome work by new and emerging writers alongside established and award-winning ones. They accept only hard copy submissions. Their deadline is 15 May 2019. Details here.
Epoch Magazine
This literary magazine considers poetry in all forms, including the long poem; send up to five poems. They also publish fiction, essays, cartoons, screenplays, graphic art, and graphic fiction. The magazine is edited by faculty at Cornell University. They only accept mailed submissions. They pay a minimum of $50 per poem, and $150 per short story (more for longer stories). The deadline is 15 April 2019. Details here.
New Reader Magazine
They publish poetry of all genres and types, and especially welcome experimental poetry and work that defies genre conventions. They accept videos of spoken word poetry if the video has not been previously published. They ask for a minimum of three poems per submission. The magazine publishes “stories about humans and about being human.” Apart from poetry, they also publish investigative stories, memoirs and profiles, interviews, etc. of people who are doing interesting things and changing perspectives in big cities or small, secret towns, fiction, lyrical essays, and comics, as well as illustrations and photography. They pay $5 per poem, $10-20 for prose, and accept work year-round. Details here.
Gertrude Press
This is a queer literary and arts journal accepting submissions from new and established LGBTQIA writers and artists. They accept submissions of up to five poems on any subject, not necessarily LGBTQIA-specific. Poems of fewer than 40 lines are preferable. They also accept fiction, creative nonfiction, and art. The deadline for poetry submissions is 2 March, 2020. Details here.
Lighten Up Online
This is a quarterly light verse webzine. Their website says, “We believe that light verse is very far from being the poor relation of “proper” poetry.” Send up to three poems. They also accept reprints. Details here.
P N Review
This prestigious UK-based poetry magazine accepts poems, including translations. Send up to four poems/five pages of poetry, or up to 15 pages of poetry-related prose. They publish no short stories, children’s prose/poetry, and very little non-poetry related work. Non-subscribers must post their submissions, and subscribers can email them. Details here.
Able Muse
The predominantly publish metrical poetry and poetry translation complemented by art and photography, fiction and nonfiction including essays, book reviews and interviews with a focus on metrical and formal poetry. They want “well-crafted poems of any length or subject that employ skillful and imaginative use of meter and rhyme, executed in a contemporary idiom, that reads as naturally as your free verse poems.” All forms of formal poetry are welcome. They also publish, occasionally, exceptional free verse poetry. They also accept humorous or light poetry. Send 1-5 poems. They publish established as well as new voices, and accept submissions through the year. Details here.
Valparaiso Poetry Review
They welcome submissions of unpublished poems, book reviews, author interviews, and essays about poetry or poetics for which the rights belong to the author. They do not publish translations. Very rarely and only in special circumstances, previously published material will be accepted if it is unavailable anywhere else online. They publish new, emerging and well-known poets. Works published in this magazine have received honours or been chosen for inclusion in award anthologies. Submit up to five poems. Details here.
Vallum Magazine: Fear
This Canadian poetry magazine is reading for its ‘Fear’ themed issue. Their guidelines say, “It has been said by writers like William Golding that fear is the most destructive of human emotions. It may be a fear of the known or of the unknown, a fear that seems overwhelming and unbeatable. Franklin D. Roosevelt said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” How is fear represented in poetry, specifically in your poetry? What are we afraid of?” Send 4-7 poems (by mail only). They also accept essays, interviews, reviews, and audio and video poems. They pay their contributors. They are reading for this theme until 15 May 2019. Details here.
Baltimore Review
This literary magazine publishes poetry; send up to three poems. They nominate work for prizes. They also publish fiction, creative nonfiction, videos (including poetry), and cross-genre work. Pay is a $40 Amazon gift certificate or $40 via Paypal, if preferred. The deadline is 31 May 2019. Details here.
Modern Poetry in Translation
They publish only translations of poetry, and they are currently reading for their general issue (no theme). They welcome work from any age, but they have a preference for contemporary work. Send up to six poems. They pay a fee to their contributors. They are reading for their unthemed issue until 31 December 2019. Details here.
I am not a silent poet
This online magazine welcomes poetry of protest against any form of abuse: colour, gender, disability, the dismantlement of the care services, the privatisation of health services, the rape culture, to name a few. Details here.
The Dawntreader
This UK-based quarterly print publication. They welcome poetry, prose, articles, and local legends specializing in myth, legend, landscape, nature, spirituality and love, the mystic, the environment. Its sister publications are Reach Poetry and Sarasvati, both of which also accept poetry. Details here.
Euonia Review
This is a Singapore-based online journal and they publish two new pieces of writing on their website daily. Submit up to 10 poems. They also accept fiction and creative nonfiction on a rolling basis. Details here.
Boulevard
They accept poems of up to 200 lines and they do not publish light verse; send up to five poems. They also publish fiction and nonfiction. They are interested in publishing less experienced or unpublished writers with exceptional promise, along with those who have a publishing history. There is no fee for mailed submissions. They pay $25-250 for poetry, and $100-300 for prose. The deadline is 1 May 2019. Details here.
The Massachusetts Review
Their guidelines say, “We seek a balance between established writers and promising new ones. We’re interested in material of variety and vitality relevant to the intellectual and aesthetic questions of our time.” They accept up to six poems. There are no restrictions for length, but generally their poems are less than 100 lines. They also publish fiction and essays. There is no fee for mailed submissions. They pay $50 for work published in a single issue, and the deadline is 30 April 2019. Translations, including of poetry, are accepted year-round. Details here.
First Things
This magazine is published by the Institute on Religion and Public Life, an interreligious, nonpartisan research and educational organization. Apart from poetry, they also publish opinion pieces and features for their magazine, articles for the web, and reviews. Contributors are paid an honorarium. Details here.
Highlights Magazine
This is a magazine for children ages 6-12. They are currently looking for short verse (up to 10 lines), especially non-rhyming and/or humorous poetry. They are not accepting poems with nature or seasonal themes or poems about dogs currently. They also publish short stories (see guidelines for current themes), puzzles, articles, activities, and cartoons. Pay is $40 and up for poems, crafts, and puzzles, and $175 and up for fiction and nonfiction. Details here.
Room Magazine
This is Canada’s oldest feminist literary journal and they accept work by women (cisgender and transgender), transgender men, Two-Spirit and nonbinary people. They specifically encourage writers with overlapping under-represented identities to submit their work. Send up to five poems. They also accept fiction, creative non-fiction, and art submissions, and are currently reading for their open issue. They pay CAD50-150, and the deadline for this issue is 30 April 2019. Details here.
The Sunlight Press
This online magazine, published twice weekly, wants to “hear the ways people turn toward light and hope, whether it is through the arts, culture, spirituality, or humor, and also how they respond to the darkness and navigate unknown spaces.” They accept poetry (up to five poems), as well as personal essays (check out their free essay contest), fiction, reviews, and Artists on Crafts series. They publish both new and established writers, and they pay. Details here.
Star*Line
This is the official newsletter and network instrument of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association. They publish speculative (including science fiction, fantasy, and horror) poetry, and interviews, articles, and reviews. It is printed quarterly. Submit up to five poems, or short articles on topics related to science fiction, fantasy, and horror speculative poetry. Payment is $0.03/word for poetry, rounded to the nearest dollar. They accept work year-round.
Details here.
CommuterLit
This ezine posts a new short story, novel excerpt or poem each day from Monday to Friday, specially formatted to read on a mobile device (smart phones, iPads, Blackberries). Their focus is on works of fiction or poetry that can be enjoyed during a 20- to 30-minute public-transit commute to work. They publish not only literary work, but also sci fi, fantasy, horror, mystery, thriller, romance and experimental combinations thereof. They are looking for poetry (one poem or a series of poems), short stories, memoir, and novel in any genre, with a word count of 500 to 4,000. Details here
