Poetry Bulletin: March 2024
Online reading tonight! + Over 20 resources and deadlines for your poetry
Hey poets — Summer Farah’s new chapbook launches this month, and tonight (March 12!) Summer and some of my other press mates at Game Over Books are coming together for Poets for Gaza, an online reading to raise funds for the Gaza Poets Society.
It would be great to see you there and listen to poetry together:
Still grateful for the poets in solidarity,
Emily
“Roll call: Where are our US poets who are still waiting to speak toward Palestine? And who are they still calling it poetry if it doesn't have the courage to speak out to stop a genocide? And who still valorizes ‘environmental’ or ‘love’ when the poems or their poets cannot speak out against the destruction of an entire land and water and people? Who then is poetry for when it has more craft in silence than in imagination of Palestinian life? Who then does poetry feed when its poets are afraid to speak out against the starvation of children? Who writes poetry today that is not also for the poets of Palestine?” —Natalie Diaz
Making the Manuscript
“Each thing gives us something else.” — Naomi Shihab Nye on revision:
“Yet, amidst this exchange of love and appreciation, there exists a deeper understanding I need to address—an understanding concerning how admiration for an artist should manifest in tangible support. Especially when said artist belongs to a marginalized community.” —
on releasing his fifth book, the reality of pre-sales, and the need for digital affirmation that becomes actionDebutiful is hosting a free session on publishing with indie and university presses. I’d like to share more resources about university presses in the bulletin—do you know of any? Do you have experience you could share? Let me know.
Submission Fee Support
This month marks 🎉 three years 🎉 since the start of the submission fee support fund. Over $8,000 has been given to almost 150 poets so far.
The spring deadline season is usually a busy time for requests, and this year has been especially busy. This February alone, almost 20 poets received support to cover submission fees.
I respond as quickly as can to your requests and appreciate your patience as I try to keep up!
When funds are low, I aim to cover one submission per poet (instead of the usual three), to share the resources with as many different poets as possible. When I’m able, I pitch in more beyond the poetry bulletin subscriber revenue to try and cover gaps. Funds ebb and flow a lot, so if you reached out once and funds weren’t available, please try me again when you’re submitting your book.
This fund is focused on fees for poetry chapbooks and full-length poetry collections. It covers up to three submissions per poet, as funds are available. If you need support, you can find the (simple!) steps here.
Creative Support: Funding, Resources & More
The Offing has created REFUSAL, for writers who “had their work accepted somewhere but find the outlet to no longer be a responsible partner for their work.”
This comes in the wake of many writers resigning and pulling work from Guernica. I don’t want to inadvertently talk over anyone to explain what happened, especially because their resignation letters and posts are full of clarity and conviction… honestly, their messages have helped me find more language and more clarity, so I thought I’d share some here:
Madhuri Sastry resigns as co-publisher: “The publication of ‘From the Edges of a Broken World’ exemplifies that Guernica is no longer the institution we say we are. It fails the only metric we have agreed to abide by: it attempts to soften the violence of colonialism and genocide.”
April Zhu resigns as a senior editor: “To wrestle with universal humanity across the gap of apartheid—which, by definition, distributes humanity unequally—without calling for its obliteration is to violate the precious ‘shared interiority’ that set Guernica apart.”
Cindy Juyoung Ok and fellow poetry editors resign: “This essay and its publishing follows a long and intensive history of Zionist propaganda in the US that claims to view Palestinians and Palestine with empathy, but actually dehumanizes, patronizes, and uses.”
Autumn Watts and fellow fiction editors and readers resign: “Simply put, we refuse to stand behind an essay that minimizes the genocide of Palestinians.”
Other resources, venues, and support available this month:
March 15 — The Poetry Lab is open for applications to the Markus D. Manley Award for BIPOC poets. This is a virtual opportunity with a stipend and other support.
March 21 — Tin House is open for applications to their Fall 2024 residencies, with spots open for writers bringing their family with them.
March 22 — Undocupoets Fellowship with the Fine Arts Work Center
March 25 — The League of Canadian Poets is seeking an events organizer for a virtual series. (h/t
)April 30 — Emerging Writer Fellowships from the Miami Book Fair. Twelve months of support with a $50,000 stipend… and no application fee!
May 15 — The Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize “recognizes the most outstanding book of poetry published in the United States in the previous year.”
Upcoming Manuscript Deadlines
Searching for chapbook reading periods rather than full-length possibilities? Check out this spreadsheet created by Anna Lena Phillips Bell and Ryan Bloom.
March 15—Hub City Press BIPOC Poetry Series
March 15—Lexi Rudnitsky Editor’s Choice Award at Persea Books
March 15—National Poetry Series
March 15—Prairie Schooner Book Prize
March 15—Word Works - Washington Prize
March 15—Trio House Press - Book Awards
March 31—Able Muse Book Award
March 31—Milk and Cake Press (fee waivers available)
March 31—Switchback Books - Gatewood Prize
March 31—Nervous Ghost Press
March 31—Four Way Books - Levis Prize
April 1—Green Bottle Press
April 1—Orison Books Poetry Prize
There are more ongoing opportunities on the big list of publishers (as in, presses reading throughout the year).
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.
So incredible that “over $8,000 has been given to almost 150 poets so far” - amazing community support! What a beautiful thing.