Print Journals That Accept Online Submissions

Here is an updated list of print journals that accept online submissions. Note that some guidelines specify that the journal does not accept email submissions, but does accept via their online submission manager.

Ten journals have been added to this update. Each addition is indicated by a double asterisk. I have removed The Paris Review, which apparently no longer accepts online submissions, and VQR, which has suspended publication for the time being.

Note that the number of issues per year appears after the journal's name. The reading period for each journal appears at the end of each entry.

Unless noted otherwise, the journal accepts simultaneous submissions.

As always, please let me know if you find any errors here. And good luck.

Agni—2x
Sept 1 - May 31

The American Poetry Journal—2x
September 1 - April 30

Baltimore Review —2x
all year

Barn Owl Review—1x
June 1 - November 1

Barrelhouse—2x
at this time closed for submissions--check before submitting
all year

Bat City Review—1x
June 1 - November 15

Bateau—2x
all year

Bellevue Literary Review—2x
all year

Boston Review—6x
Sept 15 - May 15

Caesura—2x
August 5 - Oct. 5

Caketrain—1x
all year

Cider Press Review—1x
April 1 - Aug. 31

Columbia—2x
September 1 - May 1

Copper Nickel–2x
all year

Crazyhorse—2x
all year

Feast—4x
print and online journal
all year

Fifth Wednesday—2x
no Jan, Feb, June, or July

Gargoyle—1x
next reading period will begin June 1, 2011

Greatcoat—1 or 2x
all year

Harvard Review—2x
Sept 1 - May 31

Hawk and Handsaw—2x
Aug 1-Oct 1

Hayden's Ferry—2x
All year
pays

The Hollins Critic—5x
Sept 1 - Dec. 15

**Hunger Mountain—1x
all year

Jubilat—2x
September 1 - May 1

Kenyon Review—4x
September 15 - January 15
no sim

The Literary Review—4x
Reading period begins September 15

The Los Angeles Review—1x
Submit to Poetry Editor: lareview.poetry@gmail.com
Sept 1 - Dec 1

The Lumberyard—2x
all year
open submissions begin August 2010

Lumina—1x
Sept 1 - Nov 15

The MacGuffin—3x
all year

The Massachusetts Review—4x
October 1 - May 1

Meridian—2x ($2 fee)
all year

Mid-American Review—2x
all year

**The Minnesota Review—2x
all year

The Missouri Review–4x
all year

Naugatuck River Review—2x
for the Summer issue January 1 through March 1
for the Winter issue July 1 through September 1 (contest only)

**New England Review—4x
no sim
Sept 1-May 31

New Madrid—2x
August 15 - November 1

**New Ohio Review—2x
Sept-May (summer okay for subscribers)

New Orleans Review—2x
Aug 15 - May 1

The New Yorker
weekly magazine
all year

New York Quarterly—3x
All year

Ninth Letter—2x
September 1 - April 30

**Parthenon West Review—1x
Jan 1- May 1

Ploughshares—3x
June 1 - Jan. 15

Poetry—11x
year round
no sim

Post Road Magazine—2x
check website for submission dates

**Potomac Review—2x
Sept 1-May 1

Puerto del Sol—2x
September 15-March 31

The Raintown Review—2x
all year
considers previously published

**The Raleigh Review—1x
All year

Rattle—2x
year round

Redactions—1x
year round

Redivider—2x
all year

Red Rock Review—2x
No June, July, August, or December
no sim

**Rhino—1x
April 1-Oct 1

**roger—1x
Aug 1-Jan 1

**Rosebud—3x
All year

Sakura Review—2x
Check submission periods

San Pedro River Review—2x
Jan 1 - Feb 1 / July 1-Aug 1

Slab—4x
currently open for submissions

Slice Magazine—2x
Feb. 1 - April 1

Smartish Pace—2x
All year

**Sonora Review—2x
All year

The Southeast Review—2x
All year

Southwest Review—4x
No June, July, August
$2 fee

Sou’wester—2x
August 15 - May 15

Spinning Jenny—1x
Sept 15 - May 15
No Sim

Sugar House Review—2x
All year

Tampa Review—2x
Sept 1 - Dec. 31
no sim

Tar River Poetry—2x
via email
Sept 15 - Nov. 1
no sim

Third Coast Review—2x
August 2 - April 30

Tiferet—2x
Sept 1 - June 30

Tinhouse Magazine—2x
September 1 - May 31

Upstreet—1x
Sept 1 - March 1

Versal—1x
Sept 15 - Jan 15

**Verse Wisconsin—4x
All year

Weave Magazine—2x
April 15 — July 31

West Branch—2x
Aug 15 - April 15

Willow Springs—2x
all year

Share |

---

Poetry and Art

Matisse's The Open Window

I was recently invited by poetry editor, Kathleen Kirk, to submit some poems to Escape into Life. This was a double pleasure: first, because it's always nice to know that someone wants my work, and two, because this was my introduction to a lovely online journal. This journal combines visual art and poetry, a combination I like a lot. The journal includes several different categories of art: drawing, photography, painting, collage. It also includes art videos, film shorts, and movie trailers as well as music and music videos. You will also find art reviews, essays about art history, some fiction, and some interviews.

And then, of course, there's poetry. Each poetry feature is enhanced by a painting. My four poems are "Temptation by Water," "You Offer Lychee to Your American Friends," "The Fruitful Woman," and "The Summer He Left." Since "Temptation by Water," the title poem of my new book, is based on Matisse's painting, "The Open Window," the art editor selected that piece to go with my poems. I'm very happy with that pairing. Please pay my poems a visit.

Then drop by the Poetry Library where I'm joined by such poets as Leslie McGrath, Nin Andrews, Nicelle Davis, George Looney, and Peter Davis. Be sure to also check out the other categories. You'll find much to delight you.

Additions to the journal appear to be made on a rolling basis, and there does not seem to be a submission process.

Grace Cavalieri recently steered me towards another gorgeous online journal that combines poetry and art, Poets and Artists. This is a downloadable pdf format, which I'm not crazy about for plain old poetry journals, but the format ideally suits this journal because of the visual element. As I turned the pages, the word "exquisite" kept coming to mind.

The journal is published by Didi Menendez who says, "Publishing to us is an art form and the process of publishing your work means as much to us as your art and poetry mean to you." That lofty intention is fully met. The journal is published 8-12 times per year. Each issue can be enjoyed online for free. If you want a hard copy, there's a fee for that. Several issues feature a poet on the cover. That poet is then interviewed by Grace Cavalieri, and the audio interview becomes part of the issue.

Submission guidelines for poets and artists are at the journal site.

As you visit each of these journals, I'm sure you'll want to bookmark them and return often for the poetry and the art. You might even get some new poems stimulated by the art.

Share |

---

The Art of Description

Click for Amazon

I  completely enjoyed Mark Doty's The Art of Description: World into Words. It's lucid, has great in-depth but comprehensible essays, and offers outstanding examples throughout. Many pearls of wisdom scattered throughout. Bring a pen as you'll want to underline and mark up this book.

I am not sure that beginning poets will find the book immediately helpful, but they should get it anyhow and hold onto it for when they're ready for it. It's a wonderful book for any poet who has ever been told to spruce up her diction or any poet who has been told, "Make me see it. Put me there." Or worse, for any poet who has written that poem that fell flat on its face, that crumbled under its own boredom, its lusterless diction. And who among us hasn't written that poem? Doty helps us make it new and make it interesting and make it come alive.

If you thought there was nothing left to be said about Elizabeth Bishop's poem, "The Fish," think again. Doty offers this wonderful insight into the lyric elements of the poem: "Such a state of mind is 'lyric' not because it is musical (though the representation of these states of mind usually is) but because we are seized by a moment that suddenly seems edgeless, unbounded." And this insight into the artistic process: "Self-forgetful concentration is precisely what happens in the artistic process—an absorption in the moment, a pouring of the self into the now. We are, as Dickinson says, 'without the date, like Consciousness or Immortality.' That is what artistic work and child's play have in common; both, at their fullest, are experiences of being lost in the present, entirely occupied."

There's also an outstanding discussion of four different sunflower poems—one by Blake, one by Alan Shapiro, one by Allen Ginsberg, and one by Tracy Jo Barnwell.  My favorite chapter is the last one, "Description's Alphabet," which offers good advice on the use of colors in poetry. This chapter alone is worth the cost of the book! But there's so much more. So get your hands on this book. You will feel yourself enrolled in a seminar with just you and Doty. Your understanding of poetry will be enriched—and, hopefully, your poems will be too.

Share |

---

Chapbook Spotlight: No Blues This Raucous Song

Click Cover for Amazon

It is no surprise that Lynn Wagner's No Blues This Raucous Song won the 2009 Slapering Hol chapbook competition. The collection has the unity we hope to find in a chapbook as well as consistently outstanding poems, each full of its own treasures. Slapering Hol always produces exquisite chapbooks, but this one goes beyond exquisite. It is a thing of beauty and the perfect model of the art of book-making. Each chapbook in this limited edition is hand-sewn and hand-numbered. The title's gold lettering is elegantly displayed against a burgundy cover which looks and feels like suede. The sheer gold end papers have the delicacy of the dried petals of a money plant while the fourteen poems shimmer on silver-hued paper.

The collection achieves its unity from the recurring idea of music—jazz and blues and the bone-deep sorrow of such music. The poems come alive with songs, horns and thin reeds, whispers and hums. In "Can I Get An Amen?" we hear a chorus of "hallelujahs," "the sound- / box of a soul," and a body that “goes choirlike, then rumbles / from a low engine . . .” The speaker claims that "the blues / is a cathedral too . . ." and asserts that the "song burns real." In "Rough Song" we have a "jazz of quilts" and a woman who will "sew another song tinged in fresh rhythm . . ." Wagner captures the rhythms of jazz and blues in poems that beg to be read aloud, to have their music released. She also captures the passion. There is, for example, something essentially sexy about the "flutter-tongue" of the musician when “he blow that ten-hole” in "What the Blues Harpy Said” and in the "piano fingered / soft . . . playing // around the woman's thigh / or lips" in "So What."

In "Can I Get An Amen?" the speaker claims, "Believe me, / ain't no such thing // as speaking in tongues," yet speaking in voices is one of Wagner’s poetic virtues. In "What the Angel Wants to Tell Me," a stone angel converses with the speaker and imparts life lessons. The angel says, “Go down / to God’s Little Acre . . . / and dig your own homey ditch. / Lie down in its damp outline / and breathe in. Then look to the sky / and tell me your name.”  By the end of the poem, the speaker hears, “Get up,”  and tells us, “it’s then I want to kiss her / full on her concrete lips, forgetting / some future day when strangers will come / cover me in the red-checkered blankets / of Sunday picnics.” In "About the Only Thing That Will Save Us," the collection’s closing poem, Wagner convincingly assumes the voice of another angel, Angel Wallenda, a deceased member of the Flying Wallendas. In spite of having lost a leg to cancer, Wallenda, from the grave, tells us, in lines that jolt us with their irony, “What is essential, my father always told me, / is to place each foot firmly on the wire. / No matter how high.”

Other characters are resurrected, either to speak or be spoken to. In "Neruda" the poet is addressed as that "marvelous maker of music," that “wooer of wonder,” for whom "a cache of love is kept in common things." And then there's "Fishing with Elizabeth Bishop." Here the speaker and the poet share a few drinks while Bishop gives fishing instructions which sound suspiciously like instructions for something more significant: "But you, you must / believe, then give it all to the fish." In “My ex-lover comes back into my life” the speaker’s inadequate former lover slinks back, now metaphorically transformed into a dog. Here Wagner skillfully balances contrary emotions, making us laugh while simultaneously breaking our hearts. The speaker lets him in and pities him but ultimately takes him on a car ride, opens the door, and, once again, releases him, acknowledging, “I wasn’t savior enough.” 

No Blues This Raucous Song is a wonderful chapbook. It has everything a chapbook ought to have—attractive design, unity, and terrific poems. Let’s hope that Lynn Wagner won’t keep us waiting too long for her first full-length collection.


Unjust Spring

The skunk cabbage have already upstaged the winter woods—
their hungry innards create a solitary heat, enough
to burn a hole in this season's dolor while

my green desire remains underground, the earth so compacted
it seems the bulbs will never breathe. The irises
in the flower man's white plastic bucket

shrivel and frill. They miss Costa Rica and are all bruised tongue.
Even the daffodils disappoint—their deep trumpets
soundless, fingery stigma and anthers

pining for honeybees. There is never enough. And though I buy
a clutch of tulips, it hardly consoles. They remind me
of my loneliness. I strip off

their broad, imploring leaves and cram them
into a vase so tall they knock heads
and dare not open.


Share |

---

The Benefits of Publishing Online

Now that I've posted about what I like in an online journal and which online journals I admire, I want to consider the benefits of publishing your work in an online journal.

When online journals started competing for our attention and our poems, I sort of looked down my nose at them. They seemed tentative, not sufficiently official. I suspected that they were easier to get into. I wondered if anyone actually read them. I wondered if a publication in an online journal was considered a respectable credit.

I stuck with print journals. Then as time went on, I began noticing that a number of poets I considered major poets were publishing in online journals. I noticed that the journals were becoming more attractive, many with lovely designs. I read some articles about online journals. Then somebody somewhere said something to the effect that if you didn't have any work online you were missing the boat.

So with some trepidation I sent out several submissions to online journals. Some of them had the nerve to reject my work! Thereby disproving my suspicion that they let anybody in. But a few accepted my work. Suddenly, I was receiving fan email! I was on the boat.

Now I believe that it's a good idea to have both print and online publications.

So what are the advantages to publishing some of your work online?

1. Widespread availability of the work. You know those relatives of yours in Greece? Now they can read your work online.

2. The ability to get your work to a wider audience. If a print journal has a subscriber base of 500, then your poem is going to 500 people. An online journal could potentially reach thousands of readers.

3. The ability to widen the circle with links. You, your friends, relatives, and fans, can post links to your online publications, drawing even more readers. Have a website and / or a blog? Post the link there. Post the link on Facebook. Twitter. Any number of social networks. Email the link to your pals.

4. An assist in getting bookings. People potentially interested in booking you for a reading, a festival, or a workshop can view your work online. They might google you or ask you for links. If you send out queries for readings, you can embed a handful of links.

5. Long-term availability of the work online. Most online journals retain all previous issues in an Archive.

6. Another source for book reviews when your book comes out. As with print journals, an online journal that has published your work will most likely be receptive to publishing a review of your book.

7. Audio component with your poem. Many journals now ask poets to record their poems. I enjoy listening to poets read their poems online, and I like thinking that someone on the other side of the country or the world might be listening to me read my poems, someone who can't make it to a reading.

8. The monetary savings. It costs nothing to submit to an online journal. No more stamps, paper, envelopes. There are a few online journals that charge a small fee for a submission, but it comes to no more than what you'd spend on the paper products.

9. Faster response time. It seems to me that the turn-around time for online journals is faster than for print ones. Usually.

10. Fan mail. I don't think I've ever received a note from someone who'd seen a poem of mine in print, but I've received quite a few from people who'd seen my work online. It's easy to look up the poet's name via Google, visit the poet's website, then send an email. Some journals provide a link to the poet's website.

What else? If you have any additional thoughts, please leave them in the Comments Section.


Share |

---

Online Journals I Admire Redux

The following is a list of online journals culled from the multitude now available. The ones I've listed here all have many of the features I admire and look for. They might not be your favorites, but they'll give you a good idea of what's out there. Undoubtedly, I've omitted some that you would have included.

**indicates new to the list

Blood Orange Review
Poetry, fiction, non-fiction, book reviews, gorgeous art; a bit difficult to navigate--have to keep going back in order to go forward.

**Cerise
Lovely journal, poetry, interviews, reviews, essays.

**Conte: A Journal of Narrative Writing
Not my favorite color scheme (dark background, white type) but a solid journal of poetry and fiction. Will consider essays.

Cortland Review
Each poem accompanied by audio. Some reviews.

Del Sol Review
Strong work. Generous Contributors' Notes. Could be prettier.

Diagram
Could be easier to navigate, red font is annoyingly hard to read, use of brackets is unattractive, but good poetry.

diode
Could use a darker font but excellent content.

Innisfree Poetry Journal
Strong poetry, one well-known poet featured with generous sample of poems. Now also available as a pdf or print version (fee for print).

In Posse Review
Lots of good poetry here. Odd picture menu which takes you to a previous issue.

**The Medulla Review
Caters to surreal and experimental, themed issues, teaser excerpts lead to full entry (a feature I dislike), and have to hit back arrow to return to menu (another feature I dislike).

**Melusine: or Woman in the 21st Century
Men also welcome to submit. Poetry, reviews, lovely art.

Memorious
Very nice. Poetry, prose, interview.

The Pedestal Magazine
Poetry, fiction, reviews, audio; excellent material. A bit busy-looking.

Perihelion Review
Poetry and reviews. Attractive journal. Have to go back to author link to get to next poem.

**Pirene’s Fountain
I love this journal. Poetry is abundant, art is beautiful. Also has interviews and now accepts reviews. Occasionally considers previously published.

**Poemeleon
Each issue devoted to a specific kind of poetry. Poetry, essays, interviews, reviews.

**Prime Number
A new literary magazine featuring distinctive fiction (flash and short stories), poetry, and non-fiction, as well as book reviews, craft essays, and interviews. Supplements in between regular issues. Wish it had back and forward buttons.

Redheaded Stepchild
In order to get in here, your poem has to have been rejected somewhere else first. I hope the editor will reconsider the lime green font in menus and table of contents. I know redheads look good in green, but it's hard on the eyes.

Salt River Review
Plain, gets the job done in spite of a somewhat confusing navigational system.

Studio
Poetry, critical articles, pedagogical articles, reviews, art, translation. Very readable.

Sweet: A Literary Confection
New journal, has done some redesigning and is much easier to read now. Poetry and creative non-fiction. Plus they like chocolate.

Tattoo Highway
Odd Table of Contents and weird categories, but good selection of poets and poems. Lovely art.

Umbrella
A good assortment of poems in two sections, one themed and one unthemed. Also reviews, essays, interviews.

Valparaiso Poetry Review
This one's been a favorite for a long time; everything is here.

**Verse Wisconsin
Online companion to print issue, themed issues, poems, audio, reviews, articles.

Waccamaw Journal
Excellent. Fiction, poetry, non-fiction.

**Wicked Alice
Woman-centered but men are welcome. Guidelines say they accept reviews and criticism, but I didn’t see any. Problems with their menu taking me to a menu for dresses or to some other strange page.


Formal Poetry Journals:

The Barefoot Muse: A Journal of Formal and Metrical Verse
Poetry, essays, reviews, audio with many of the poems. Has had a nice facelift.

14 by 14
14 sonnets by 14 different poets. Less happy with the redesign of this journal. It now has a rather bloggy feel. Front page has excerpts with links to full poem.

Mezzo Cammin: A Journal of Formal Poetry by Women
Poetry, reviews and critical articles, beautiful art by one featured artist.

ShatterColors Literary Review
Lots of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, numerous interviews. Wish the navigation didn't require me to keep going back to the Table of Contents.

Unsplendid: An Online Journal of Poetry in Received and Nonce Forms
Nice improvement in font and readability, and I like the audio element.


Innovative Journals:

Anti-
A single poet is featured along with a poetic statement. Single poet issues alternate with full issues. Strong work.

Linebreak
A single poem featured each week with audio by someone other than the poet. Available online or by email. I've loved each of the poems.

**Poem of the Week
Subscribe to the email and receive one poem per week. The website includes an interview with the featured poet and bio, sometimes an essay. Archive of all featured poets.

qarrtsiluni
Described as "an experiment in online literary and artistic collaboration." Demonstrates that it is possible to have a blog format and excellence at the same time. Each issue is themed and  has different editors. Poems, artwork, audio. You have to scroll down, but it's worth the effort. Can get specific url by clicking on poet's name. Visitors may leave comments. Puts out a call for submissions for each issue.



Share |

---