We are currently reading for April & May 2023!
Sparks of Calliope is now accepting poetry submissions for publication. Poetry can be traditional or free verse, unpublished or previously published. We discourage poems with special formatting at this time. If you want further insight into what we’re looking for, read our editor interview with Duotrope.
We publish about 10 talented poets per month (one every three days). You should receive a response within 60 days unless we are running behind.
If poems are previously published, the author must retain the copyright, and acknowledgment should be given to the first publication. Please acknowledge Sparks of Calliope if work first published here is later reprinted elsewhere. No payment is given for accepted poems, and authors retain their copyright. By submitting your poetry to Sparks of Calliope, you are giving us permission to publish your poetry on the website and include it in the archives indefinitely.
Submit no more than five (5) poems per month in the body of an email or as a Word attachment to sparksofcalliope@gmail.com. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable as long as you promptly notify us when a submission has been accepted elsewhere. Notifications of withdraw are easiest to find when sent as a reply to the original submission. Submissions are read in the order they are received as they are being reviewed, so we apologize we cannot promptly acknowledge receipt. Please do not submit again until: 1.) you have received a response to your previous submission; 2.) your poems have been published if accepted.
We’d prefer you not use a pseudonym, although we’ve been known to make the occasional exception for those with an established nom de plume. We absolutely will not publish your work without the editor knowing your real name. A bio of 100 words or less will be expected for inclusion with accepted poems.
If you have a Twitter or Facebook account, share your handle with us for mentions, tags, etc. Feel free to remind me if I forget to tag/friend/follow/etc. on social media. Follow us by clicking the follow button at the top right. Links to poems are automatically posted to Facebook and Twitter when published.
* If you are one of our regulars who has been published several times with us, evaluation of your submission might be delayed in order to give other worthy poets the chance to appear in our publication. It doesn’t mean we don’t love you! We do strongly encourage simultaneous submissions in these cases.
Sparks of Calliope 