Submission Guidelines: Poetry

Poetry Editors: Libby Maxey & Amanda Roth

Please submit your work using this form.

We are looking for unpublished poems extraordinary in vision, craft, integrity, and originality. Poems of any length and form are welcome, although very long poems are rarely accepted. Only two poems per submission, please. If more than two poems are submitted, only the first two poems will be read. Please send only one submission at a time; wait to hear from us before submitting again. Please note that we do not accept submissions of AI-generated work and we do not use AI to evaluate submissions. 

Upload your submission as one file under “Content” on the submission form linked above. Select “Poetry” from the “Department” dropdown menu. Every poetry submission is initially reviewed by our Poetry editors. Selected poems are submitted for final approval by our Senior Editors. We aim to respond to all submissions within three months. If you have not heard from us after three months, please feel free to query about the status of your submission. Typically, approved poems will be published within one year of acceptance.

Questions we consider about each submitted poem:

1. Does the poem fit within Literary Mama’s mission? Read poems in our current issue and in our archives to get a sense of the types of poetry we publish (but feel free to submit something different and amazing).
2. Is the poem well-crafted? Is it technically skillful? Whether free verse or formal, does it pay attention to poetic concerns such as metaphor, imagery, meter, lineation, and word choice?
3. Does the poem jump off the page? Is there something unique about it, whether perspective, theme, language, or something else? Does it look at the familiar in an unusual way or lead the reader to consider something new?

We accept simultaneous submissions; please let us know if your poem is accepted elsewhere as soon as possible. We receive many excellent submissions, and we often turn away high-quality work because of limited space. We encourage poets to keep writing, polishing, and submitting their work to us.

For inquiries, contact us at: lmpoetry (at) literarymama (dot) com. Note that submissions are only accepted via the form linked above.

Review our General Submission Guidelines and find more helpful advice in this interview with the Poetry Department editors.