Poetry Bulletin: May 2025
Nine deadlines for poetry books, creative resources on zines and more, submission fee support
Hi poets — Thanks for the generous responses to last month’s call for care package ideas! I’ve filled the spots that were available, so please stay tuned for a couple new care packages (and if time/energy/money allow, more openings for your ideas and pitches).
There’s a little money in the submission fee support fund right now, and I’d like to get it on its way to poets who could use the boost. Here’s how to get support—please note the update for 2025.
emily
Creative Resources & Possibilities
Tala Khanmalek is leading a flash prose workshop with Workshops4Gaza on May 25. I thought folks here might be interested, since prose poetry and flash prose are good friends. Workshops4Gaza is also still accepting proposals for new workshops and reading groups.
More on zines! This time: Abby Schleifer on using them in undergrad teaching. Pair with SG Huerta’s care package on zines, or any of the recent posts by India Johnson over at papereaters. For more zine how-to inspiration and zine reviews, two personal favorites are brattyxbre and cat moth crow. I’m also open to trades on my new zine, There is No A.I. in Dreams.
For poets in Australia, check out Uplift Poetry and their regular posts on upcoming events—the May edition has 170+ events, sorted by different locations and including some virtual options.
If you’re looking for secure alternatives to Google / Gmail / Google Workspace: I recently switched to Proton, mostly for their mail features, but they also have a calendar feature that’s been seamless to switch to, plus a Drive feature that’s (kind of) like Google Drive. The process was a little involved, but they have an “easy import” tool that helps simplify things. If folks are interested in more sharing on this or if you have other tools you like, drop a comment.
Upcoming Deadlines for Poetry Manuscripts
Between now and the end of June, there are nine reading periods with presses that do not exclude poets based on their ability to pay. They either charge no submission fee, or if they charge a fee, they offer fee waivers or support of some kind.1
Last I checked, three of these have committed to PACBI: Game Over Books, Broken Sleep Books, and River River Books.
May 31 — Game Over Books — no reading fee, committed to PACBI (FYI: This is my publisher and I had a great experience releasing my debut with them.)
May 31 — Broken Sleep Books — no reading fee, committed to PACBI
June 1 — Green Writer Press Open Reading Period — no reading fee
June 30 — Barrow Street Book Contest — fee discounts available upon request (FYI: Barrow Street charges $28 and their website doesn’t say what the fee discount is, so it’s unclear how accessible this reading period is for poets who can’t afford fees.)
June 30 — Autumn House Poetry Contest — already reached their cap on fee waivers, but I still wanted to include this for anyone who can afford fees and is prioritizing publishers who practice fee accessibility
June 30 — Four Way Books Open Reading Period — fee waivers available
June 30 — Unicorn Press Open Reading Period — no reading fee
June 30 — River River Books — committed to PACBI and pay what you can, including fee-free ($10 is their suggested fee if you’re able to pay)
June 30 — Trio House Press Open Reading Period — fee waived for writers with income less than $50,000 annually
Why PACBI?
If you’re submitting and writing in solidarity with those facing genocide, PACBI is one clear way to find publishers who are in the work too. Publishers for Palestine and Writers Against the War on Gaza have lists of presses committed to PACBI. We know boycotting and protesting works—check out the recent example of the Giller Prize. Don’t be afraid to ask a potential publisher where they stand before you trust them with your work.
The bulletin is made by Emily Stoddard, and the big list of poetry publishers came together as she found a publisher (Game Over Books) for her poetry debut, Divination with a Human Heart Attached. If you have updates to a publisher’s listing or want to share a resource, leave a comment. Comments are preferred to email replies when possible, as they get the information out to everyone more freely and quickly.
Publisher eligibility for inclusion/waive-to-play: Starting in 2025, there’s no more free advertising in these posts for publishers excluding poets who can’t pay to play.
The bulletin reaches over 5,000 subscribers and consistently sends traffic to presses and submission opportunities. In the spirit of presses who say they depend on exclusionary submission practices to survive, it’s time to adjust the cost of admission to the Poetry Bulletin.
If a press wants to be read by this audience, they can offer zero-fee reading periods, fee waivers for poets who need them, early bird fee-free windows, or other creative options, as shared in this newsletter many times over the years.
Thank you for the shout out!