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Calendar Update – January 17,2026
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My friend Scott Owens asks this question: What is it that poets want?
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The answer: To Write! To write and write until fire fills the room and our words burn themselves into the page. Or at least to come back to what we wrote yesterday and say, well, that’s not so bad.
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Some poets, not all but some, also want to be read. Some of us would like our poems to be read by someone other than our mother, our friend, our teacher. So we send our poems to editors.
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I share this Submission Calendar in hopes it will make the process a little easier. It will not convince you that your poem is okay or hold your hand when rejection arrives, it probably won’t ease the process of saying goodbye as your poem speeds into the ether, but it will help you put your poems in editor’s hands.
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❀ ❀ ❀ Poetry Submissions Table – PDF file ❀ ❀ ❀
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Here’s how I use the CALENDAR:
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It’s arranged by month – look down the column to see what journals and sources are open for submissions right now!
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Each row includes the web address – be sure to check before you submit, because requirements and schedules are always changing!
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The row also includes other information such as:
Is this an online publication only?
Should your submission include all poems in a single document?
What file formats do they accept?
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There are more instructions on the table itself. Feel free to print it out. The table currently (17 Jan 2026) contains 353 listings, including journals on hold or defunct (to save you from wild goose chases). At the end are some random references I’ve collected, a table of winners and losers on promptness of reply, and a few journals accepting art & photography.
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I would really appreciate it if you notify me of any errors or suggested changes! If you have journals you’d like me to add to the table please do send me the particulars! I will try to post an updated table once or twice a year and whenever I have made significant additions and corrections to the table.
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A sad postscript: as I checked listings for this update, I encountered many lit mags, both online and print, whose doors are shuttered. Some have no residual online presence at all. I can only imagine the stress that small publishers feel in our current culture, where art and truth are under full-throated attack. If you are able to make a donation, large or small, to your favorite publisher, you are keeping literature strong. You are worthy of praise.
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May your own poems leap out and insist upon their acceptance to the friendly neighborhood editor who is reading them. And even if they don’t, well, that was at least one reader!
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If you find this useful, if you can suggest more journals to include, or if you discover errors please send me a comment, correction or suggestions at:
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comments@griffinpoetry.com
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BILL GRIFFIN / ELKIN, NORTH CAROLINA / USA
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Oh, and here’s the origin story: In 2015 I posted the prototype of this table as I was developing a tool to keep track of when and where to submit poems for publication. As the second of a two-part muse on why oh why we place ourselves at the mercy of all powerful editors, here’s the original post with description, but make sure you’re using the link at the top of this page for the most up-to-date version:
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V E R S E and I M A G E 
Thanks for the connection, Gina. Yours and Maeve's poems really stood out for me among all the wonderful Kakalak poets.…