Deadline:
Reading Event:
Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for our Remembering Louis McKee anthology.
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 moonstoneartscenter110@gmail.com
Freedom
The struggle for freedom and independence is worldwide, but what does freedom mean if it looks different to all?
This topic expands beyond the political to artistic, and realistic. We hope the following quotes can act as inspiration for the exploration of what freedom can be.
"Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind." - Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." - Janis Joplin
"You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down." - Toni Morrison
"Better to die fighting for freedom than be a prisoner all the days of your life." - Bob Marley
"Freedom in capitalism society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners." - Vladimir Lenin
"Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involved responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility." Sigmund Freud, Civilization and its Discontents
"He who has overcome his fears will truly be free." - Aristotle
"Those who do not move, do not notice their chains." - Rosa Luxemburg
"Freedom is not something that anybody can be given. Freedom is something people take, and people are as free as they want to be." - James Baldwin
"Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide." - Napoleon Bonaparte
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? But as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" - Patrick Henry
Write a poem exploring the question, and complications, of freedom.
Deadline: Sunday, July 7th
Reading Event: Sunday, July 14th
Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for our Freedom anthology.
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.org
Fatal Force: Poetic Justice
Elegies for Victims of Police Violence
As of December 4, 2023, 1085 people have been killed by police in the United States (mappingpoliceviolence.org).
Police officer, Mark Dial shot and killed Eddie Irizarry on August 14, 2023, just after Eddie had peaceably parked at the side of the road. Later that same day, Philadelphia police told the media that the incident began when officers pulled over a car that was "driving erratically" and that "officers approached" the car, that Irizarry "stepped out" of the car "with a knife" and that the "officers gave multiple commands for him to drop the knife, and that Irizarry "lunged at the officers", prompting the shooting. On August 15th, Philadelphia police changed their story, stating that Irizarry was actually in the car when he was shot six times. Retracting the cover up, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw stated that officers' body-worn camera footage "made it very clear that what we initially reported was not actually what happened."
Martín Espada recently wrote a poem entitled, “Officer Mark Dial, Who Shot Eddie Irizarry, Will Be Fired for Insubordination” to elegize the innocent young man whose murder this past August is an outrage.
An anthology, Fatal Force : Poetic Justice featuring Martín Espada’s poem will be printed, and an online forum for contributors publicly to read their work will happen on February 17thto honor poet/activist, Julia de Burgos’ birthday. On the anniversary of Eddie Irizarry’s death, a live event will celebrate the book’s publication.
Submit by February 11th to be included in our reading honoring Julia de Burgos. To be included in the anthology publication, submit by July 14th for the reading event on August 15th.
Anthology Deadline: July 14th, 2024
Live Reading Event: August 14th at Taller Puertorriqueno (2600 N 5th St., Philadelphia, PA)
Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for our Fatal Force anthology.
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.org
28th Annual Poetry Ink
We want you all: published poets, unpublished poets, academic poets, street poets, poets who write Sonnet, Villanelle, Haiku, Ekphrastic Poems, Concrete Poems, Epitaph, Elegy, Epigram, Limerick, Ballad, Ode, Free Verse. Join us for our 28th year of presenting 100 poets reading in alphabetical order.
Submit to our 28th Poetry Ink anthology and to read.
Deadline: September 1st, 2024
LIVE Event: September 29th at The Rotunda (4014 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19104)
Virtual Reading: TBD
Anthology Submissions: Please submit one poem for our 28th Annual Poetry Ink Anthology.
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 due to printing constraints
Biography Submission Guidelines:
Please include a biography between 50 to 100 words that focuses on your writing career and poetry itself.
Banned Books Week 2024
“This is a dangerous time for readers and the public servants who provide access to reading materials. Readers, particularly students, are losing access to critical information, and librarians and teachers are under attack for doing their jobs.”
- Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom
Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to read and spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools. In a time of intense political polarization, library staff in every state are facing an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom ALA documented 1,269 demands to censor library books and resources in 2022, the highest number of attempted book bans for more than 20 years ago. The unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022 nearly doubles the 729 book challenges reported in 2021. Of the record 2,571 unique titles targeted for censorship, most were by or about LGBTQIA+ persons and Black, Indigenous, and people of color.
Deadline: Monday, September 2nd
Reading Event: Tuesday, September 15th
Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for our Banned Books anthology.
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.org
Tribute to Sonia Sanchez (Happy 90th Birthday)
Sonia Sanchez—poet, activist, scholar—was the Laura Carnell Professor of English and Women's Studies at Temple University. She is the recipient of both the Robert Frost Medal for distinguished lifetime service to American poetry and the Langston Hughes Poetry Award. One of the most important writers of the Black Arts Movement, Sanchez is the author of sixteen books. This year celebrates her 90th birthday.
Let me wear the day
Well so when it reaches you
You will enjoy it.
- Sonia Sanchez
Deadline: August 4th
Reading: TBD
Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for our Tribute to Sonia Sanchez anthology.
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.org
Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a unique holiday in that it does not highlight a single culture or event, but rather celebrates the diversity of many original inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere and beyond.? Indigenous Peoples’ Day is celebrated annually on the second Monday in October. More than 130 cities also celebrate the holiday, which continues to grow in popularity and may yet one day become an official federal holiday.
Today, Indigenous Peoples’ Day has spread worldwide and is celebrated in many different countries that are coming to recognize their own native diversity and the unique qualities and cultures of various tribes, clans, and peoples. Depending on how different cultures are classified, there are 5,000 or more groups of indigenous peoples around the globe. These groups may be recognized by a national Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Native Day, or similar celebration in a single country, or honored on International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, which is recognized globally each year on August 9
Deadline: Sunday, August 4th
Reading: Sunday, August 11th
Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for our Indigenous Peoples' Day anthology.
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.org
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.
If you have a problem contact Larry Robin @ larry@moonstoneartscenter.org or 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.org or 215-735-9600