What should you send me?
I want to see very short (no more than about 25 syllables) poems that only you could have written. I’m also very interested in English translations of such poems from other languages.
Qualities that attract me in very short poetry: concrete imagery, disjunction, surprise, innovation, juxtaposition of unlike images, surrealism, concrete and visual poetry. Things that don’t usually appeal to me: philosophical reflections, advice and truisms, jokes in the form of one-liners (as opposed to subtle humor), sentimentality, abstractions and vagueness.
As always when submitting literary work, you’re advised to read this journal to get an idea of what would fit in.
Examples of other online journals (some of them late and lamented) that publish (or published) shorter, innovative poetry that I appreciate include NOON, is/let, Bones, Heliosparrow, and Roadrunner.
And more specifically…
Send 5-10 poems of any format, but no more than about 25 syllables each, to veryshortpoetryATgmail.com
If sending translations, please include both the original and the translation and include the names of both poet and translator (if the translator is someone other than the poet).
Note that in general, short poems (especially at the shorter end of the range) do not require titles. It’s fine to include one if you feel that it enhances your poem, but don’t include one just because you think that all poems should have titles.
Please send work both in the body of the email and as an attachment (.doc, .docx, or .pdf), showing how you want the work to be formatted. Please DON’T format this document with only one poem to a page. Separate poems with either a few returns, lines, or symbols to visually demarcate them.
In the email: Include your name as you want it to appear with the work and your city/state/country of residence. You don’t need to include any other information.
Okay, and when?
Send work at any time. I will try to respond within 2-4 weeks.
Issues will be published on the following dates each year, with deadlines for work to be considered for each issue corresponding to about a month before each publication date:
January 30 (deadline: December 31)
May 30 (deadline: April 30)
September 30 (deadline: August 31)
Caveats
You can submit work that has been published on social media or on a personal blog, but not work that has been selected by another editor at any point. Please don’t submit work that’s under consideration elsewhere (and if you do that by accident, let me know right away if someone else accepts it).
password. very short poetry. 