World Poetry Day 2026
World Poetry Day is celebrated on March 21st every year, and was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1999, "with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard". Its purpose is to promote the reading, writing, publishing, and teaching of poetry throughout the world and, as the original UNESCO declaration says, to "give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional, and international poetry movements".
Deadline: February 22, 2026
EXTENDED Virtual Reading: March 15, 2026
Submission Guidelines: Write one poem for our World Poetry Day anthology for 2026.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com
Every year, Moonstone honors International Haiku Day on April 17th. While this is the international recognition of Haiku, every day is Haiku day for us. Richard Wright wrote over 1000 haiku and Sonia Sanchez starts each day writing a Haiku. Send us yours for our annual celebration.
Deadline: March 15, 2026
Reading: April 19, 2026
Haiku Anthology Submission Guidelines: Submit up to 5 haiku. A haibun is also encouraged.
Keep the submission limited to 35 lines total. Though we are open to experimentation with the traditional form of haiku, please note that our printing space is limited. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line. The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com
Biography Submission Guidelines: Please include a biography between 50 to 100 words that focuses on your writing career and poetry itself.
Remembering Hal Sirowitz
(March 6, 1949 to October 17, 2025)
Hal was an American poet, who first began to attract attention at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe where he was a frequent competitor in their Friday Night Poetry Slam. He eventually made the 1993 Nuyorican Poetry Slam team and competed in the 1993 National Poetry Slam along with his Nuyorican teammates Maggie Estep, Tracie Morris, and Regie Cabico.
He would later perform his poetry on stages across the country, and on television programs such as MTV's Spoken Word: Unplugged and PBS's The Unites States of Poetry. He wrote eleven books of poetry, including volumes Mother Said, My Therapist Said, and Father Said. He was the best-selling translated poet in Norway, where Mother Said has been adapted for the stage and turned into a series of animated cartoons.
Sirowitz was a 1994 recipient of an NEA Fellowship in Poetry and was the Poet Laureate of Queens. He worked as a special education teacher in the New York public school system for 23 years and was married to writer Mary Minter Krotzer.
On October 17th, 2025, Sirowitz died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was 76.
Send us a poem about Hal or inspired by him.
Deadline: April 5th, 2026
Reading Event: May 3rd, 2026
Submission Guidelines: Write a poem on Hal Sirowitz or inspired by him.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com
New Voices Anthology - Spring 2026
A series for emerging poets between the ages of 10 and 25. A monthly reading series and a bi-annual publication which strives to bring together younger poets from various communities.
We tend to gather in our own communities. There is nothing wrong with that except we begin to sound alike, look alike, think alike. New Voices is our attempt to expand everyone’s experience, to introduce other ways of everything and to give a platform to the young writers of this generation.
Deadline: April 19th, 2026
Live Reading Event: May 16th, 2pm @ Central Free Library
Anthology Submissions: Please submit one poem for our Spring 2025 New Voices Anthology. This anthology is open to poets between the ages of 10 to 25.
Please limit your submission to one poem.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanzas (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines of your total line count. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4 1/2 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4 1/2 inches may be rejected or changed due to printing constraints.
For any questions, please reach out to us at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com.
Tribute to Joy Harjo
Born: May 9, 1951 – 2026 - 75th birthday
She is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022, the first Native American to hold that honor. She was also only the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to have served three terms (after Robert Pinsky). Harjo is a seventh-generation Monahwee daughter (also known as "Menawa"). Additionally, Harjo is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation (Este Mvskokvlke) and belongs to Oce Vpofv (Hickory Ground). She is an important figure in the second wave of the literary Native American Renaissance of the late 20th century. She studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts, completed her undergraduate degree at University of New Mexico in 1976, and earned an MFA degree at the University of Iowa in its creative writing program.
Deadline: April 26
Virtual Event: May 10
Submission Guidelines: Write one poem for our World Poetry Day anthology for 2026.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
Juneteenth
Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. The holiday's name, first used in the 1890s, is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth, referring to June 19, 1865, the day when Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the American Civil War.
Deadline: May 24
Virtual Event: June 21
Submission Guidelines: Write one poem for our Juneteenth anthology for 2026.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com
Freedom in the United States
The United States is a federal republic whose people benefit from a vibrant political system, a strong rule-of-law tradition, robust freedoms of expression and religious belief, and a wide array of other civil liberties. However, in recent years its democratic institutions have suffered erosion, as reflected in rising political polarization and extremism, partisan pressure on the electoral process, mistreatment and dysfunction in the criminal justice and immigration systems, and growing disparities in wealth, economic opportunity, and political influence. Write us a poem expressing your view of the current situation.
Deadline June 7
Virtual Event July 5
Submission Guidelines: Write one poem for our Freedom in the United States anthology for 2026.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com
Remembering June Jordan
June Millicent Jordan (July 9, 1936 – June 14, 2002) was an American poet, essayist, teacher, and activist. In her writing she explored issues of gender, race, immigration, and representation. Jordan was passionate about using Black English in her writing and poetry, teaching others to treat it as its own language and an important outlet for expressing Black culture.Jordan was inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument in 2019.
Deadline: June 14
Virtual Event: July 12
Submission Guidelines: Write one poem for our Remembering June Jordan anthology for 2026.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com
Remembering Dorothy Parker
(August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967)
She was an American poet, literary critic and writer of fiction. Based in New York, she was known for her caustic wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. Parker rose to acclaim, both for her literary works published in magazines, such as The New Yorker, and for her role as a founding member of the Algonquin Round Table. In the early 1930s, Parker traveled to Hollywood to pursue screenwriting. Her successes there, including two Academy Award nominations, were curtailed when her involvement in left-wing politics resulted in her being placed on the Hollywood blacklist. Dismissive of her own talents, she deplored her reputation as a "wisecracker". Nevertheless, both her literary output and reputation for sharp wit have endured. Some of her works have been set to music.
Deadline July 26
Virtual Event August 23
Submission Guidelines: Write one poem for our Remembering Dorothy Parker anthology for 2026.
Keep this poem limited to 35 lines total. When determining the total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanza (ex: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating the total line length. Count an epigraph as 3 extra lines. A line that has more than 60 characters (including spaces and punctuation) should be counted as two lines. If lines are staggered like a Ferlinghetti poem, estimate the width of the line.
The final book will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on pages that are 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.
For questions or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com
Submission Requirements:
While Moonstone Arts Center and Moonstone Press started out as a Philadelphia based organization, the pandemic and zoom has made us international. We are open to submissions from everyone.
Please submit about thirty-five pages of material. Poems may have been previously published, but the work as a whole must be new.
Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but you must promptly notify Moonstone Press if a manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
When determining total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanzas and number/section breaks. Divider pages or section titles should be included in the total page count.
The final, saddle-stitched chapbook will be printed in 11 point Garamond font on paper that is 4 ½ inches wide.
Include a separate cover letter with a biography statement and contact information (mailing address, email address, and phone numbers).
A $15.00, nonrefundable reading fee is required for us to accept and review your work.
All submissions must be sent through Submittable. Mailed, hard-copy manuscripts will no longer be accepted.
Moonstone is nonprofit organization largely run with the help of volunteers. The current review timeline for open submissions is about 6 months. This timeline is not reflective of your work; we are dedicated to giving each submission consideration with the resources we have.
If you have a problem or questions, contact Larry Robin @ 215-735-9600.
Submission Requirements:
While Moonstone Arts Center and Moonstone Press started out as a Philadelphia based organization, the pandemic and zoom has made us international. We are open to submissions from everyone.
Please ready-to-publish material for a full-length poetry book (at least 80 pages). Poems may have been previously published, but the work as a whole must be new. Simultaneous submissions to other publishers are permitted, but you must promptly notify Moonstone Press if a manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
When determining total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanzas and number/section breaks. Divider pages or section titles should be included in the total page count.
Include a separate cover letter with a biography statement and contact information (mailing address, email address, and phone numbers).
If your submission is under 50 pages, please submit to our Open Chapbook Submissions form: https://moonstoneartscenter.submittable.com/submit/91032/open-chapbook-submissions
A $15.00, nonrefundable reading fee is required for us to accept and review your work.
All submissions must be sent through Submittable. Mailed, hardcopy manuscripts will no longer be accepted.
If you have a problem contact Larry Robin @ larry@moonstoneartscenter.com or 215-735-9600