Deadlines: August & September 2024
Every middle of the month: new deadlines, new contests, and new opportunities for your work to find its audience. Here is a roundup of ten submission opportunities with deadlines in August or September, including Harvard Review, Rattle, Chaotic Merge Magazine, and more.
DEADLINE: 8/18
Lucky Jefferson is excited to announce its second Poetry and Prose Summer contest!
Why are we doing this? We believe writers deserve opportunities like this (and so much more) and one core part of our mission includes being the difference. Many contests charge fees to enter or make writers and artists jump through hoops with no real return. We want to change that.
- For starters, it’s free to enter or submit.
- You’ll have 2 months to submit any original and unpublished poetry and prose you want.
- 20 finalists will receive publication in Lucky Jefferson‘s digital 365 Collection.
- Two finalists from that group (one poetry and one prose) will each receive $100, publication, and a swag box.
Lisa Low is the judge for this contest. Learn more about her and our contest here.
Reading Fee: none
DEADLINE: 8/21
Our annual poetry contest is now taking submissions. Submit up to three poems per submission in a single file (.doc or .docx). The deadline for entering is August 21, 2024.
The poetry contest fee is $5.00.
The winner will receive $500 plus publication in an upcoming issue of Blue Earth Review.
We may offer publication to additional finalists.
Reading Fee: $5
DEADLINE: 8/23
Rail Switch Poetry is a new journal for poetry videos. Accepted submissions will be published online, to the publication website and possibly to a publication YouTube or Vimeo channel.
It is not necessary that you read the following, but it may give you some idea of what we are looking for:
A poetry video is, as we imagine it, a poem set to video or vice versa but really it can be anything that fits the title. Light hearted, heartfelt and/or innovative takes on poetry and film are encouraged, but work with qualities that we are not thinking of, that take us by surprise may be better still. The artistic goal of this project is to present work that is moving and thought provoking. The material goal is to create a platform for serious art that can be created by anyone. A poetry video need not be long (though it can be) and it need not be shot on expensive equipment (though it can be). If you are reading this and thinking that you only have a phone to film with, we would love to see your work. If you are an experienced filmmaker with access to sophisticated equipment and would like to try something different, we would love to see your work. If you have made many poetry videos before, we will be surprised but we would love to see your work.
Rules:
You may interpret the concept of “poetry videos” as you wish. All submission lengths are accepted and all submissions are free. Multiple submissions are allowed. Simultaneous submissions (to other publications) are allowed. The end date for the submission period is tentative. Event dates, including the notification date, are subject to change. You must either own the rights to all elements of the video (poem, audio, imagery), or have permission to use all elements or the elements used must be in the public domain. We cannot promise any financial compensation at this time. We hope you will submit anyway.
Reading Fee: none
DEADLINE: 8/25
Like the water rushing down a cascade, poetry can help express an outpour of emotions.
We share our feelings and express our emotions through the spoken and written word. However, barriers may exist to prevent sharing of thoughts and feelings leading to isolation and depression. It has been studied that poetry is an artform that allows people to express themselves in ways traditional communication cannot.
There is evidence showing the therapeutic benefits of poetry, even across various vulnerable groups such as those dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, seniors, including those with dementia, and troubled adolescents. Poetry acts as a non-medical intervention to promote public health and wellbeing, with significant potential in enhancing quality of life. Let us come together and freely share our thoughts and feelings—a cascade of emotions.
In our fifth issue, Cascade, we invite you to share your stories, feelings, wishes, fears, and maybe even a hint of your soul with others.
Reading fee: none
DEADLINE: 8/30
Chaotic Merge Magazine: Issue 8 Print Issue Submissions
*Note: We don’t have themes for Issues. We believe all art forms and genres can beautifully collide into a Chaotic Merge.
Chaotic Merge is looking for submissions from all different forms of artists. We seek work that is adventurous and test the border of art and structure. Don’t be afraid to mess with everything you have ever learned. We encourage the voices of people of color and members of the LGBTQIA+ community to submit their work.
POETRY
- We accept 2 unpublished poems per person. Please submit them in one file not exceeding ten pages.
- All submissions must be 12pt Times New Roman or Garamond, and submitted on one file not exceeding 10 pages. Please title each individual poem in bold. We do not accept artwork accompanied with a poetry submission. Works that do not abide by this will be rejected.
Famous Poets Who We Feel Are Very Chaotic Merge:
Louise Glück, Richard Siken, Sharon Olds, and Cynthia Cruz
Chaotic Merge Poetry Contributors We Admire:
Renee Keele, Allen Means, Loren Walker, and Emily Murman
We will now be offering a small $3-$5 payment for each work(s) accepted. Currently, that is the best we can do for our writers, and we are working on improving this amount in the future. Also, all works will be considered and nominated for The Pushcart Prize.
Reading Fee: none
DEADLINE: 8/31
Manuscripts must be paginated and clearly labeled with the author’s name on every page. Please limit your submission to no more than 5 poems. Simultaneous submissions are encouraged, but we ask that you notify us if the work is accepted elsewhere.
Reading Fee: $3
DEADLINE: 9/1
There’s a long tradition of poetry responding to art (and vice versa), and we thought it would be fun to post these challenges. Every month we will post an image on our Ekphrastic Challenge page. Poets will then have one month to write a poem in response to that specific image.
After the deadline (the last day of each month), Rattle‘s editor and the artist who provided the image will each select their favorite poem, which will be published online the next month. Submissions to this category will only be considered as responses to the single image posted for the current month. If your poem isn’t written in response to that image, please use the General Poems category instead.
Reading fee: none
DEADLINE: 9/15
Stoneboat Literary Journal: Poetry
Please submit 3-5 unpublished poems as a single file.
Our poetry team looks for poems with fresh and unexpected use of language, surprising line breaks and visual elements, and innovative form. While we appreciate a range of poetic approaches, we love emotionally intense poems with themes ranging from human connection to nature, place, and community–and we appreciate the occasional pop culture reference, too. We invite you to check out our recent issues to get a sense of Stoneboat’s aesthetic, and we look forward to your submissions!
Reading Fee: none
DEADLINE: 9/30
Entry to this round of the Prize is free.
We believe in poetry, in literature, and in the importance and magic of new writing. Poetry is one of the most ancient and revered forms of creative expression, stretching back to the dawn of literature. Poetry competitions represent a wonderful opportunity for writers to showcase new work, gain the recognition they deserve, advance their writing careers, and reach a wide audience.
To gain the best understanding of the work we are seeking we encourage all entrants to consider subscribing to The Letter Review where they can familiarize themselves with our wonderful previous winning entries, and read our extensive professional writing advice section, along with our interviews with professional writers. Additionally, we offer The Literary Award which is a special category of our Prize available exclusively to subscribers.
The literary mission of The Letter Review includes fostering accessibility to the professional writing industry, and supporting writers at all stages in their efforts to be published, performed, and produced. Pursuant to this our Prize offers:
- The top 2-4 winning entries of the Prize for Poetry are declared the Winners, and share equally in the Prize pool of $1000 USD.
- To recognize the abilities of the writers who do not place as a Winner, 10-20 entries are Shortlisted.
- All entries are considered for publication.
- Winning entries are published by The Letter Review online, and in our Winners Anthology.
- Winning entries are also frequently submitted to further prestigious anthologies such as the Pushcart Prize.
- Winners and Shortlisted entries are celebrated on our mailing list, social media channels (FB 34,000 members), at our website (50,000 monthly visitors), and our Subreddit (11K).
- Winners may request a professional recommendation / endorsement of their work in the form of a letter from our Judges which they may submit to agents, publishers etc.
- Winners may also participate in our interview series, further raising their professional profile.
Reading fee: free to enter once, and $5 to enter each additional poem
DEADLINE: 9/30
Stonecoast Review: WINTER 2025 – ISSUE #22
Theme: Safety
What do you think of when you hear the word “safety”? What does it mean to feel safe? What does it mean to be safe?
The word connotes different definitions and bears different weights for each of us. It manifests itself in unexpected ways and settings, and remains absent or silenced in so many others. For all its idiosyncrasies, a universal acknowledgement exists within this concept. Or does it?
We want to read literature and take in media that explore, provoke, challenge, reconsider, evoke, or explode that concept for you.
Submissions open for the Winter 2025 Issue (#22) on August 1. Final deadline is 11:59 p.m. on September 30 2024.
We support the Stonecoast community’s goal to promote inclusivity, equity, and social justice through writing.
Reading fee: none