Poetry Bulletin: February 2023

With 14+ deadlines, ideas and questions to revise your poems, and more

This bulletin was prepped to send before the events at Michigan State last night, so I want to append a note and send love to my fellow Spartans… the shooter was in a part of campus that’s home to many Arts & Letters students and professors, so there’s a chance some of you were very directly affected by it. I don’t really have words… I just keep thinking about a student having to hide in the same room in Snyder-Phillips where I once felt safer than anywhere else. I keep thinking my oldest friend, who I met in that hall and who now teaches at MSU. I keep thinking about how special that community is, and how many communities like it have been violated, again and again, by gun violence. Please love on your people today, and please, let’s do something beyond thoughts and prayers this time. ❤️

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

Hello, poets! Thanks for the shares and replies on last month’s issue, which covered the 2023 update of poetry book publishers. And welcome to the new readers!

A funny thing also happened with the January issue: pledges of financial support (as in, paid subscriptions) started coming in. Honestly, I panicked at first—where did these pledges come from, and what should I do with them? I did not know this was a new feature of Substack, and I had no idea it was turned on without me opting in.

Then I read the messages some of you wrote with your pledges, and I was very touched by how kind they were. I want you to know: I feel the love! Thank you for caring so much about this project.

And then that made me panic a little more, because this is a labor of love that’s so far been fed by resources/privileges I’ve had. Aside from coordinating the submission fee support circle, I’ve tried to keep money out of it.

But five years into doing this work, there are possibilities I’m dreaming of that go beyond what I can do with my own time, energy, and know-how. For instance, I’d like to improve the spreadsheet’s accessibility for blind and visually-impaired poets, which would involve paying for consultation. I’d also like to make the data (e.g., fee waivers, compensation) more complete, ideally offering a stipend to a fellow poet who could help with that research.

So, after lots of reflection, I’m going to gratefully accept the pledges for the project and turn on the option of paid subscriptions. Half will go to the submission fee support circle to make that more sustainable, and the other half will go to care of Poetry Bulletin resources, like I described above.

And to be clear: the Poetry Bulletin resources will remain free as they ever were. Paid subscriptions are optional. This is just a matter of accepting a little support to care for them, while trying to do that as ethically and transparently as I can.

If you pledged financial support (as in, a paid subscription to the Poetry Bulletin), thank you. I’ve really taken that to heart… and for everyone, just to say it again: this is a collective resource, and I’m trying to steward it that way. I’m always learning, and I welcome questions and feedback.

Here’s to being so kind we make each other panic a little—

Emily Stoddard

(p.s. After a 10-year journey, I can finally say my debut book is out this month! 🥳)

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Making the Manuscript

• “One morning, about three years in, I woke with the head of a smart stranger. I laid out the manuscript, and what happened next felt like the best mix of expertise and instinct, discernment and intuition.” —

  Maya C. Popa
  on the process of submitting her first book
  

• What happens when poetry doesn’t happen? Caroline Bird asked about “that terrifying feeling when poetry leaves you for awhile… but also how it miraculously comes back.” The stories in the replies gave me hope for staying with the ebbs and flows of poetry-making.
  

• Ama Codjoe shares some of the questions she asks while revising a poem: “What am I leaving out? Am I hiding? What is the heart of the matter? Are my verbs working their hardest? Is there an ending beyond this ending? Does the ending feel well-earned or like a flourish?”
  

• I was sad to hear of the passing of Kelly Boyker, founding editor of Menacing Hedge. She was such a supportive, kind editor—generous to so many, based on the stories that have been shared. Like many of you, I’m grateful I got the chance to have some work in Menacing Hedge and will miss Kelly and the magazine. You can read the final issue here.
  

兔兒神 @chenchenwrites

i used to think self-promotion was a really icky concept & practice, until i realized that the actual self-centered thing is to believe that people will just flock to your work (based on talent/"merit") without you having to say anything about it/support readers in finding it

Not going to AWP?

The AWP conference is March 8-11 in Seattle. I’d like to put together a list of virtual events, meet-ups, readings, etc. for folks who are not attending AWP but would like some community during that time—especially those of us who are unable to attend AWP because of health risks with the ongoing pandemic. Leave a comment on this post if you know of virtual events, or drop me a note! If there’s interest, I’ll gather the info into a list for all of us.

Creative Support: Fellowships, Residencies & More

• Feb 15 — Zoeglossia Fellowship for disabled poets

• Feb 27 — Ox-Bow Summer Residency

• Mar 1 — Kimmel Harding Center for the Arts Residency

• Mar 1 — Blue Stoop is accepting proposals to lead summer workshops.

• Mar 11 — LitFest Fellowship for Emerging Writers who haven’t yet published book-length work and can’t otherwise afford to attend

• Want more residency and fellowship opportunities? BOMB Magazine gathers a list every quarter—here’s their latest.

Joseph Fasano @Joseph_Fasano_

I keep watching this clip of Anne Sexton responding to criticism of her poems

Upcoming Manuscript Deadlines

• Feb 15 — Autumn House CAAPP Book Prize (for first or second book by a writer of African descent)

• Feb 15 — New American Press Poetry Prize

• Feb 15 — Sarabande Books Kathryn A. Morton Prize

• Feb 28 — AWP Donald Hall Prize

• Feb 28 — Terrapin Books Open Reading Period

• Mar 1 — Steel Toe Books Open Reading Period

• Mar 7 — Persea Books Lexi Rudnitsky Editor’s Choice Award (second books only)

• Mar 15 — Airlie Press Airlie Prize

• Mar 15 — National Poetry Series

• Mar 15 — Prairie Schooner Raz-Shumaker Book Prize

• Mar 15 — The Word Works Washington Prize

• There are about 12 ongoing opportunities on the big list of publishers (as in, presses reading throughout the year).

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The bulletin is made by Emily Stoddard. If you have ideas, updates to a publisher’s listing, or want to share a resource, say hello by replying to this note.