Power to Poetry: Latin American Voices

In collaboration with the Latin American Book Fair, Casa de Duende, and Taller Puertorriqueño

Share your poetry and writing about the many ways that words help us transform the world. Share the Love in your own language: English, Spanish, or any other tongues that speak our deeper truths. We will display selected submissions at the Moonstone exhibit in the 6th Feria Latinoamericana del Libro on October 12th at Taller Puertorriqueño in Philadelphia.

Open to poets of all backgrounds and levels of experience.

Language: Spanish, Kreyol, English or other languages

Deadline: Sunday, September 29th

Event: Saturday, October 12th

Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for consideration for Power to Poetry anthology and exhibition. 

Keep this poem limited to 30 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

Moonstone Chapbook Contest 2024

Submissions open September 2, 2024 to November 10, 2024

Winner will receive

• $500 cash prize
• Publication and 25 copies of the book*
• Promotion on our website 
• Reading at one of our venues in Philadelphia (or virtual reading, if preferred)

Please submit about thirty-five pages of poetry. 

• Individual poems may have been previously published, but the work as a whole must be new. Simultaneous submissions to other publishers or contests are permitted so long as you promptly notify Moonstone Press if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
• Include only one poem per page.
• If a poem continues to a second page, indicate whether there is a stanza break. Thirty-five lines equal one page. Divider pages or section titles should be included in the total page count. When determining total line length for each poem, include spaces between stanzas (example: a poem of 5 couplets would equal 14 lines). Numbers or section breaks should also be included as lines when calculating total line length. Count an epigraph as three 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. Keep in mind that the final chapbook will be printed with saddle-stitched binding on pages that are 4 1/2 inches wide.

Include the following in a separate document:

• a biography (this can be included in the Submittable form), a cover page with contact information, table of contents, dedication, acknowledgments for any previous publications, and an inside title page (with no name). These pages should not be included in the manuscript’s total page count. The cover page should include the manuscript title and all contact information (mailing address, email address, home phone, and cell phone if available).
• Your name should not appear anywhere on the manuscript itself. 

Other Details

• Submit via Submittable
• There is a $15 non-refundable readers fee for participating in the contest
• The contest will be judged by the Editorial Committee at Moonstone Press and our final judge, Lynn Levin

* additional copies will be available for purchase

For any questions, please reach out to Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com.

New Voices Anthology - Fall 2024

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: November 10th, 2024

Live Reading Event: November 17th, 2024

Anthology Submissions: Please submit one poem for our Fall 2024 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.

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: October 6th

Virtual Reading: October 13

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.com

Remembering Arthur Rimbaud

Unknown beyond the avant-garde at the time of his death, Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) has been one of the most destructive and liberating influences on twentieth-century culture. During his lifetime he was a bourgeois-baiting visionary, and the list of his known crimes is longer than the list of his published poems. But his posthumous career is even more astonishing: saint to symbolists and surrealists; poster child for anarchy and drug use; gay pioneer; a major influence on artists from Picasso to Bob Dylan. Rimbaud was a libertine and a restless soul, having engaged in a hectic, sometimes violent romantic relationship with fellow poet Paul Verlaine, which lasted nearly two years. As a poet, Rimbaud is well known for his contributions to symbolism and, among other works, for A Season in Hell, a precursor to modernist literature.

Deadline: October 13th

Reading: October 20th
 

Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for our Remembering Arthur Rimbaud 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.com

Tribute to Dylan Thomas

Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" Under Milk Wood. He also wrote stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child's Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog. He became widely popular in his lifetime and remained so after his death at the age of 39 in New York City. By then, he had acquired a reputation, which he had encouraged, as a "roistering, drunken and doomed poet".
 

Deadline: October 13th

Reading: October 27th

Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for our Remembering Dylan Thomas 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.com

Our State of the Union - Get Out The Vote

Moonstone has been doing anthologies on freedom and the vote for years. THIS ELECTION IS IMPORTANT

We're calling on poets to share your voice about OUR state of the union. 

Things you can do to increase participation: • Remind them to vote and invite them to voter education events like debates.  • Ask them to visit www.VOTE411.org to find their polling place and learn what will be on their ballot.  • Ask about their voting plan for Election Day. Research shows that by asking voters whether they have an Election Day plan (how will they get to the polls? At what time?), you will increase their chances of participating. • Keep it brief and friendly!  • Be helpful. Have election dates, polling locations, and other information at your fingertips so that you can help address any questions. • Be responsive. If you list a phone number or email address in your communications to voters, make sure someone is checking messages in the lead-up to Election Day!

Deadline October 27

Virtual Event November 3

Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for our 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 about this anthology or the publication, please reach out to larry@moonstoneartscenter.com 

Deadline: Sunday November 17th

Reading Event: Sunday November 24th

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

Remembering Dennis Brutus

Born in Zimbabwe, poet and human rights activist Dennis Brutus grew up in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and was educated at Fort Hare University College. He taught high school for 14 years until he was dismissed for antiapartheid activism. After studying law at the University of the Witwatersrand and becoming increasingly active in movements opposing racial discrimination in sports, Brutus was shot and then sentenced to 18 months of hard labor on Robben Island, alongside Nelson Mandela. Forbidden to write or publish after his release, Brutus left South Africa in 1966 for England and then the United States.

Brutus taught at the University of Denver, Northwestern University, and the University of Pittsburgh. His poetry collections include Salutes and Censures (1985), Stubborn Hope (1978), and Letter to Martha and Other Poems from a South African Prison (1969). Poetry and Protest: A Dennis Brutus Reader (2006) was edited by Aisha Karim and Lee Sustar, and The Dennis Brutus Tapes: Essays at Autobiography (2011) was edited by Bernth Lindfors.

Deadline: November 24th

Reading: December 1st

Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for our Remembering Dennis Brutus 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 Lamont Steptoe

Lamont B. Steptoe is a poet / photographer / publisher born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is author of eight books of poetry including In the Kitchens of the Master, Mad Minute, Uncle's South Sea China Blue Nightmare, Cat Fish and Neckbone Jazz, Dusty Road, Common Salt and Trinkets and Beads. Steptoe is a father, Vietnam veteran, and founder of Whirlwind Press In 2005, he was awarded an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for A Long Movie of Shadows.

Deadline: 2025

Reading: TBD

Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for our Tribute to Lamont Steptoe 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.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.