Remembering Ernesto Cardenal

Ernesto Cardenal’s poetry (20 January 1925 – 1 March 2020) is so deeply engaged with the historical, political, and spiritual landscape of his life that biography and bibliography seem almost arbitrary distinctions. Priest, social activist, and the former Minister of Culture in Sandinista Nicaragua, Cardenal is the most urgent and eloquent voice in a country of poets and revolutionaries, a cultural icon whose life and writings have altered history.

From his years of contemplation at Thomas Merton’s Trappist monastery in Kentucky, to his support for the overthrow of the corrupt Somoza regime in Nicaragua, to his foundation of the liberationist Christian commune Solentiname and the highly successful literacy workshops of the Sandinista years, Cardenal has tied his poetry to his life and brought poetry to the lives of many.

Over the length of his career, Cardenal has produced a kind of poetic history of his homeland, narrating the rise and destruction of successive waves of indigenous and colonial cultures in Latin America and recounting the events of the Sandinista revolution, including a fierce yet astonishingly generous critique of U.S. foreign policy. Allen Ginsberg has said of his epic poem The Cosmic Canticle, Cardenal “interweaves brilliant political-economic chronicle with panoramic spiritual information, updating post-Poundian verse for [a] late 20th century narration of the Americas’ last half-millennium.” Myth mixes with pop culture, an unceasing belief in the Divine with a profound concern for the material world to form a “textural collage” – in Neruda’s terms, “an impure poetry” that is as often unsettling as it is beautiful, and is made with the common materials of everyday experience. Poetry, politics and prayer join in Cardenal’s work; it speaks a truth that he himself embodies, rendering its voice and its message inseparable.

Deadline 9/7/2025

Live event: 9/23/25

Virtual event: Sunday 9/21/2025
 

Submission Guideliens: Write a poem on Ernesto Cardenal 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
 

Banned Books Week 2025

Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. Typically (but not always) held during the last week of September, the annual event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas. Send us a poem about censorship or in praise of your favorite banned book.

Deadline: September 7

Virtual Event: Sunday October 5, 2025

Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for our World Press 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.com

Poesía sin Fronteras

¿Escribes poesía en español y te gustaría publicar uno de tus poemas? ¡Este llamado es para ti! ¡Esperamos tu voz!

La convocatoria a la primera edición de Poesía sin Fronteras (2025-2026) busca nuevas voces para promover la paz, la concordia y la armonía a través de la poesía.

Da rienda suelta a tu imaginación y sé parte de esta celebración de la poesía y el espíritu creativo. ¡Anímate a participar y cuéntales a otros!

Requisitos

Pueden participar escritores de todas las edades.

Debes enviar un poema inédito de máximo 70 líneas de extensión, en español.  Al determinar la longitud total de cada poema, incluye espacios entre las estrofas (por ejemplo, un poema de 5 pareados equivaldría a 14 líneas). Los números o saltos de sección también deben incluirse como líneas al calcular la longitud total de la línea. Cuenta un epígrafe como 3 líneas adicionales. Una línea que tenga más de 60 caracteres (incluidos los espacios y la puntuación) debe contarse como dos líneas. Si los versos están escalonados como un poema de Ferlinghetti, calcula el ancho del verso. 

El libro final se imprimirá en fuente Garamond de 11 puntos en páginas de 4 pulgadas de ancho. Los poemas con líneas de más de 4.5 pulgadas pueden ser cambiados o rechazados debido a restricciones de impresión.

Fecha de Entrega

La convocatoria estará abierta hasta el domingo 7 de septiembre, 2025.

Los poemas que cumplan los requisitos serán publicados en el libro Poesía sin Fronteras - Primera edición (2025-2026) que se presentará el 4 de octubre durante la Feria Latinoamericana del Libro 2025 en Filadelfia.

La lectura virtual se realizará el domingo 5 de octubre via Zoom.

Para preguntas o consultas, envíe un correo electrónico a feeppeemphilly@outlook.com

Presentado por:

XI Festival Internacional de Poesía en Filadelfia Una Voz por la Paz,
la Concordia y la Armonía
y
festival internacional de poesía en todas partes

Poetry Without Borders

Do you write poetry in Spanish and would like to publish one of your poems? This call is for you! We look forward to hear your voice!

The call for the first edition of Poetry without Borders (2025-2026) seeks new voices to promote peace, concord and harmony through poetry.

Unleash your imagination and be part of this celebration of poetry and the creative spirit. Go ahead, get involved and tell others!

Requirements

Writers of all ages are eligible.

You must send an unpublished poem of 70 lines maximum, written in Spanish.

Keep this poem limited to 70 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 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints.

Deadline and Events

The submissions will be open until Sunday, September 7th. There is a $5 reading cost to participate. Scholarships are available if you can't pay.

Poems that meet the requirements will be published in the book Poetry Without Borders - First Edition (2025-2026) that will be presented at the Latin American Book Fair in Philadelphia on October 4th, 2025. The virtual reading will be on Zoom on October 5th.

Presented by:

XI International Poetry Festival in Philadelphia, A Voice for Peace, Concord and Harmony, and

XIX International Poetry Festival Everywhere

For questions or inquiries, please email FipPeemPhilly@outlook.com

The International Poetry Festival Everywhere is a solidarity proposal that allows simultaneous readings in various parts of the world during the month of May. Today the "Word in the World" Festival is presented as a proposal of SUR International Cultural Project, Isla Negra Magazine and Havana International Poetry Festival and had more than 2500 events in 2025.

Indigenous Peoples Day 

In 2025, Indigenous Peoples Day will be celebrated on Monday, October 13th. The date falls on the same day as Columbus Day, giving us a chance to shift the focus toward honoring Indigenous cultures and reflecting on colonialism’s impact. Indigenous Peoples Day shines a light on the histories, cultures, and contributions of Native American communities. It’s a reminder of the strength and resilience Indigenous peoples continue to show today, particularly to highlight the importance of acknowledging the historical injustices faced by Native Americans. It’s a chance to listen to Indigenous voices and recognize their efforts in keeping their land, language, and culture alive. Poems honoring indigenous cultures or reflecting colonialism. 

Deadline: Sunday, September 14

Virtual Event: Sunday, October 12

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 or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com

World Food Day

World Food Day is an international day celebrated every year worldwide on October 16th to commemorate the date of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 1945. The day is celebrated widely by many other organizations concerned with hunger and food security, including the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. WFP received the Nobel Prize in Peace for 2020 for their efforts to combat hunger, contribute to peace in conflict areas, and for playing a leading role in stopping the use of hunger in the form of a weapon for war and conflict. Poems on food and hunger.

Deadline: September 19

Virtual Event: October 16

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 or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com

Remembering Wallace Stevens

(October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955)

Wallace Stevens is one of America’s most respected 20th century poets. He was a master stylist, employing an extraordinary vocabulary and a rigorous precision in crafting his poems. But he was also a philosopher of aesthetics, vigorously exploring the notion of poetry as the supreme fusion of the creative imagination and objective reality. Because of the extreme technical and thematic complexity of his work, Stevens was sometimes considered a difficult poet. But he was also acknowledged as an eminent abstractionist and a provocative thinker, and that reputation has continued since his death. In 1975, for instance, noted literary critic Harold Bloom, whose writings on Stevens include the imposing Wallace Stevens: The Poems of Our Climate, called him “the best and most representative American poet of our time.” 

Deadline: September 28th, 2025

Virtual Event: Sunday October 5th, 2025

Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for the 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
 

Moonstone Chapbook Contest 2025

Submissions open June 29, 2025 to September 30, 2025

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

* additional copies will be available for purchase

For any questions, please reach out to Larry 

Remembering Ezra Pound 

Ezra Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a collaborator in Fascist Italy during World War II. His works include Ripostes (1912), Hugh Selwyn Mauberley (1920), and his 800-page epic poem The Cantos (c. 1917–1962).

Pound's contribution to poetry began in the early 20th century with his role in developing Imagism, a movement stressing precision and economy of language. Working in London as foreign editor of several American literary magazines, he helped discover and shape the work of contemporaries such as H. D., Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, and James Joyce. Hemingway wrote in 1932 that, for poets born in the late 19th or early 20th century, not to be influenced by Pound would be "like passing through a great blizzard and not feeling its cold".

Angered by the carnage of World War I, Pound blamed the war on finance capitalism, he moved to Italy in 1924 embraced Benito Mussolini's fascism, and expressed support for Adolf Hitler. Ruled mentally unfit to stand trial, Pound was incarcerated for over 12 years at St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital in Washington, D.C., whose doctors viewed Pound as a narcissist and a psychopath, but otherwise completely sane.

While in custody in Italy, Pound began work on sections of The Cantos, which were published as The Pisan Cantos (1948), for which he was awarded the Bollingen Prize for Poetry in 1949 by the Library of Congress, causing enormous controversy. Reflections on Ezra Pound.

Deadline: October 5

Virtual Event: November 2

Submission Guidelines: Please submit one poem for our World Press 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.com

Remembering June Jordan (1936 – 2002)

Inspired by the publication of This Unruly Witness: June Jordan’s Legacy by Durell M. Callier, Dominique C. Hill, Lauren Muller and Becky Thompson ($24.95- Haymarket Books)

June Jordan was born in New York, New York, on July 9, 1936, and attended Barnard College. She was an activist, poet, writer, and teacher, as well as a prominent figure in the civil rights, feminist, antiwar, and LGBTQ movements of the twentieth century. 

Of Jordan’s career, Toni Morrison writes, “I am talking about a span of forty years of tireless activism coupled with and fueled by flawless art.”

Jordan’s numerous books of poetry include The Essential June Jordan; We’re On: A June Jordan Reader; Directed by Desire: The Collected Poems; Kissing God Goodbye: Poems, 1991–1997; Naming Our Destiny: New and Selected Poems; Living Room: New Poems; Passion: New Poems, 1977–1980; and Things That I Do in the Dark: Selected Poetry.

Jordan also authored children’s books, plays, the memoir Soldier: A Poet’s Childhood, and the novel His Own Where, which was nominated for the National Book Award. Her collections of political essays include Affirmative Acts: Political Essays and On Call: Political Essays.

Jordan received a Rockefeller Foundation grant, the National Association of Black Journalists Award, and fellowships from the Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York Foundation for the Arts.

Jordan taught at the University of California, Berkeley, where she cofounded, with Janice Mirikitani, the community-based organization Poetry for the People.

Write us a poem in memory of June Jordan or about the power of poetry as a political act. 

Deadline: October 12, 2025

Submission Guidelines

Write a poem on June Jordan or inspired by her.

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 Joe Hill

Born: October 7, 1879 – Died: November 19, 1915 (aged 36) 

"The labor troubadour Joe Hill was executed by the state of Utah on November 19, 1915, accused of murdering two shopkeepers. Five years earlier, while working on the docks in California, Hill met members of the IWW and became an active Wobbly. Soon his humorous and biting political songs, like "The Preacher and the Slave," were being sung on picket lines across the country. From his jail cell in Utah, Hill wrote to "Big Bill" Haywood in a telegram, "Don't waste time mourning. Organize!"—a line that became a slogan of the U.S. labor movement. On the eve of his execution, Hill penned these words.” - From Voices of A People's History, edited by Zinn and Arnove

 The Preacher and the Slave by Joe Hill
 
[Verse 1]-
Long-haired preachers come out every night
Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right
But when asked about something to eat
They will answer with voices so sweet:
[Chorus]
You will eat (You will eat) bye and bye (Bye and bye)
In that glorious land above the sky (Way up high)
Work and pray (Work and pray), live on hay (Live on hay)
You'll get pie in the sky when you die (That's a lie!)
 
 
Last Will by Joe Hill
 
My Will is easy to decide,
For there is nothing To divide
My kin don't need to fuss and moan—
"Moss does not cling to a rolling stone
My body?—Oh!—If I could choose
I would want to ashes it reduce,
And let The merry breezes blow
My dust to where some flowers grow
 
Perhaps some fading flower then
Would come to life and bloom again
 
This is my Last and Final Will.—
Good Luck to All of you,
 
Submit poetry on labor, on Joe Hill or something inspired by him  

Deadline: October 19

Virtual Event: November 16
 

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 or inquiries, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com

New Voices Anthology - Fall 2025

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: October 19th, 2025

Live Reading Event: November 20th at the Free Library

Virtual Reading Event: November 23rd

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.

Human Rights Day 2025

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on December 10, 1948, is a milestone document that proclaimed the inalienable rights which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the most translated document in the world, available in more than 500 languages.

Article 1 Right to Equality

Article 2 Freedom from Discrimination

Article 3 Right to Life, Liberty, Personal Security

Article 4 Freedom from Slavery

Article 5 Freedom from Torture and Degrading Treatment

Article 6 Right to Recognition as a Person before the Law

Article 7 Right to Equality before the Law

Article 8 Right to Remedy by Competent Tribunal

Article 9 Freedom from Arbitrary Arrest and Exile

Article 10 Right to Fair Public Hearing

Article 11 Right to be Considered Innocent until Proven Guilty

Article 12 Freedom from Interference with Privacy, Family, Home and Correspondence

Article 13 Right to Free Movement in and out of the Country

Article 14 Right to Asylum in other Countries from Persecution

Article 15 Right to a Nationality and the Freedom to Change It

Article 16 Right to Marriage and Family

Article 17 Right to Own Property

Article 18 Freedom of Belief and Religion

Article 19 Freedom of Opinion and Information

Article 20 Right of Peaceful Assembly and Association

Article 21 Right to Participate in Government and in Free Elections

Article 22 Right to Social Security

Article 23 Right to Desirable Work and to Join Trade Unions

Article 24 Right to Rest and Leisure

Article 25 Right to Adequate Living Standard

Article 26 Right to Education

Article 27 Right to Participate in the Cultural Life of Community

Article 28 Right to a Social Order that Articulates this Document

Article 29 Community Duties Essential to Free and Full Development

Article 30 Freedom from State or Personal Interference in the above Rights

Reflect on The State of Human Rights in the United States or around the world. 

Deadline October 26, 2025

Virtual Event December 9, 2025

Submission Guideliens: Write one poem on Human Rights or the lack thereof.

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
 

Bill of Rights Day 2025

The United States' Bill of Rights was ratified on December 15, 1791, meant to guarantee civil rights and liberties. Below is a reminder of the rights included in the ratification. 

• First Amendment: Freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition 

• Second Amendment: Right to bear arms 

• Third Amendment: Protection of personal privacy by preventing the quartering of soldiers in private homes without the owner's consent 

• Fourth Amendment: Protection from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government 

• Fifth Amendment: Right to a fair legal process, protection from self-incrimination, and protection from being tried twice for the same offense 

• Sixth Amendment: Right to a fair trial - In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed

• Seventh Amendment: Rights in civil cases - the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law

• Amendment VIII: Bail, fines, punishment - Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

• Amendment IX; Rights retained by the People - The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

• Amendment X: States' rights - The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Our last anthology of the year – What happened to our rights?

Deadline: November 16, 2025

Virtual Event: December 14, 2025

Submission Guideliens: Write one poem on the Bill of Rights and their role in today's society. 

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

S/He Speaks 4: Voices of Women, Trans & Nonbinary Folx

If you are a cis woman, trans woman or trans man, or nonbinary writer, we invite you to submit a poem or short essay to our fourth annual anthology. We are interested in writings that relate to themes you find meaningful, whether about gender and transition issues, health and life experience, relationships — anything personal. It seems to us more important than ever that the voices of women, trans and nonbinary people not only be heard but also be inspired to speak more often — more loudly, more visibly, on any subject that carries personal meaning and purpose.  

The main reason we think writings by women, trans and nonbinary “folx” is so important concerns the ongoing “Cold War” in the United States targeting the rights of women and trans persons. As we predicted when we launched this anthology series in 2023, that conflict not only rages on but has greatly worsened in strength and scope. The fourth edition of S/He Speaks will come as the path to full and fair acceptance and equality feels far steeper than it did three years ago. In our view, that makes the expressions of selfhood contained in these writings all the more important and inspiring.

Because so much negative policy change has occurred on these issues in recent months, we are especially interested this year in poems and essays that pertain to writers’ personal response to current gender politics. Below is some information about these policy changes that you may not be fully aware of, which might inspire or affect your writing in some way of significance. (Please note, however: This is not a requirement, but rather an invitation to write about your reactions to current political issues.)

S/He Speaks 4 will be published by Moonstone Press of Philadelphia, and its release will come in conjunction with a live reading event at The Rotunda on the University of Pennsylvania campus, on Saturday, June 6, 2026. At this event, writers who can attend will read from their work, including but not limited to the poem or essay featured in the anthology.

Deadline: January 5th, 2026

Live Reading: June 6th, 2026

Submission Guidelines

Essays and stories must be no longer than 1,000 words.  For poetry, submission guidelines are as follows:  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 4.5 inches wide. Poems with lines longer than 4.5 inches may be changed or denied due to printing constraints. The publisher retains the right to reject submissions based on length and adherence to these guidelines. 

Contributors must also include a short biography, no longer than 45 words. 

If you have any questions, please email Larry Robin at larry@moonstoneartscenter.com.

More about the S/He Speaks Series

The anthology and the June live reading event are the brainchild of Cassendre Xavier, founder of Philadelphia’s annual Black Women’s Arts Festival, which last month marked its 18th year.

“Last year’s S/He Speaks was very well-received,” she said, “so we’re looking forward to seeing what kinds of writings trans and women writers offer for this third edition.  Writings could be about any personal topic,” Xavier explained, “such as family of origin or choice issues; self-actualization, including transition issues; education and career, health, love and romance – you name it, so long as the writing connects to personal life experience.”

Cassendre Xavier (she/her) is a Philadelphia-based Leeway Transformation Award-winning community cultural multi-media artist and event organizer.  Her multi-genre writing has been published nationally in various anthologies and periodicals.

Background on Recent Gender Policy Changes

Extracted from commentary by Amanda Marcotte, senior politics writer for Salon.com:

His lies also depend on people not reading his various anti-trans executive orders. It's not just that these orders have nothing to do with "protecting" women. The text of the orders is an all-out attack on all women, both cis and trans. Trump is exploiting an anti-trans panic, which far too many centrists and liberals have enabled over the years, as cover for the long-standing conservative goal of trying to reverse decades of women's progress in education, the military, and science. 

In response to an executive order titled "Defending Women From Gender Ideology Radicalism," the U.S. military has halted sexual assault prevention programs. Part of the problem is the order uses vague language such as, "Federal funds shall not be used to promote gender ideology." "Gender ideology" is a nonsense term, meant to obscure meaning and frighten people. It's invoked by the right any time the concepts of gender and equality come together. Some conservatives use it primarily to mean "respecting trans people." But others take a more expansive view, using the term to demonize anyone who acknowledges that oppression and violence are sometimes about gender. Simply put, it's impossible to talk about the causes and impacts of sexual assault and harassment without acknowledging gender, which could get someone accused of "gender ideology." No wonder military leaders are "pausing" these programs. 

This is being reported as a side effect, but it's likely the goal. Despite a handful of feminists falling down the anti-trans rabbit hole because they once saw the phrase "pregnant people," the vast majority of transphobia is coming from people who hold cis women in contempt as well. The reason conservatives are obsessed with, to quote Trump's order, defining sex as an "immutable biological classification as either male or female" is so they know which group of people to deem inferior. Trans people are uncomfortable reminder that men and women's bodies are not so different, and that the assumption that men are biologically superior is not grounded in fact. 

That much was made evident by Trump's anti-trans speech, in which he falsely declared "a male boxer stole the female gold" in the Paris Olympics. He's referring to Imane Khelif, a cis woman from Algeria who has become the subject of a vicious international smear campaign by the right. Khelif is not a man, nor is she trans. But she's relatively tall at 5'10", muscular, and dark-skinned. Because she doesn't fit what the right believes women "should" look like — small, light-skinned, frail — she's being called a "man." Despite claiming to believe gender is "immutable," conservatives are eager to strip gender identity away from even cis women who don't fit their narrow view of what "women" should be. This attitude also reveals that, far from "protecting" women's sports, most conservatives hold female athletes in contempt.  If what makes you a "woman" is to cultivate physical fragility so men feel stronger in comparison, no female athlete is safe from being called a "man." 

How Trump's anti-trans executive order "implicates" fetal personhood

Unsurprisingly, then, the Trump administration is using the trans panic to take a hammer to the very program that allowed women's athletics to flourish in the first place: Title IX, a 1972 law that bans sex discrimination in education. President Joe Biden's administration updated the program to make it stronger and more inclusive, strengthening rules to prevent sexual assault and harassment on campus, and expanding protections for pregnant students. The updated rules also expanded protections for LGBTQ students, with some allowance for trans athletes, though it fell far short of what many advocates asked for. Using this trans clause as a pretext, Trump and an allied federal judge have rescinded all of these new regulations. As Kylie Cheung of Jezebel explained, the main impact of this order will be to "make it even easier for students to get away with sexual misconduct." To "protect" cis women from imaginary threats from trans women, Trump has raised the already-high threat of sexual violence, most at the hands of cis men, on campus. Schools are already being forced to respond by taking away resources from victims of sexual violence and ending programs meant to help keep pregnant students in school 

That the anti-trans panic is a stalking horse to strip rights and protections away from all women is most bluntly seen in the world of medical research. Trump's executive orders banning "gender ideology" may be sold to the public as an anti-trans initiative, but, as the Washington Post reported, the White House enforcement appears to be taking a broader view that any reference to gender is a threat. The National Science Foundation was told to comb through thousands of active research projects and defund any deemed too "woke." That's a big project, so they've been given a list of keywords deemed red flags for "wokeness." Among those words: "female," "women," and even "trauma." One poster on Bluesky noted that we'll soon have "a Ministry of Double Speak" and "Also - 'women' is a banned word."

It's easy to dismiss this as stupidity, but I'd argue it was deliberate. This was never meant to be limited to trans women but to expand the right-wing's assault on all women. If conservatives were solely motivated by the view that there are two genders who are vastly different from each other biologically, they couldn't possibly object to research that focuses on women's bodies. If the goal is reinstating a social order where men are the only people who matter, this order makes more sense. This is the same party that keeps passing draconian abortion bans that kill women. Of course, they don't care if they end medical research that could save women's lives. 

All this certainly exposes the lie that Trump or the MAGA movement cares about "protecting women." What they actually care about is protecting gender hierarchy. But it's politically unpopular for Republicans to simply state that they long for a world where rape is unprosecutable and women are pushed out of school, sports and occupations like science and military service. Unlike cis women, who are about half the population, trans people are a small and vulnerable minority, making it far easier to demonize them, especially to credulous centrists. But MAGA was never going to stop at harassing trans people. Creating the scare term "gender ideology" was inevitably going to create space to attack anyone who doesn't conform to a rigid, misogynist worldview, including cis women who want to go to college or join the military. 

The new administration’s anti-LGBTQ hostility doesn’t stop at the transgender community. On his second day in office, Trump rescinded a nearly 60-year-old order prohibiting discrimination by federal contractors. His appointees at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have halted that agency’s investigations of anti-LGBTQ discrimination. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security said it will now allow its agents to conduct surveillance based solely on a target’s gender identity or sexual orientation. And OPM opened a tipline for federal workers to report colleagues who have worked on DEI—a callback to an earlier era when employees were encouraged to report and out their gay coworkers.

New Yorker:

The executive order titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” which the President signed at the end of January, declares that the United States will no longer “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another.” When it was issued, hospital systems that receive federal funds immediately began to call off care, even though the order goes against the guidance of long-established medical authorities on the treatment protocols for trans kids. In New York, which is supposed to be a safe-haven state, N.Y.U. Langone Health and Mount Sinai cancelled surgeries. Lawsuits have been filed, and Letitia James, the New York attorney general, has said that withholding care violates state law—but many medical appointments have not been reinstated. “The fear of losing federal funds seems to be having its intended effect,” Emily Witt writes. One mother was told by Langone that her child could continue with puberty-blocker shots “for now.” As she tells Witt, “That ‘for now’ sent chills down my spine.”