Open Calls = In Season
A new poetry open call, plus an invitation to apply to our next editing cohort.
Dear Readers,
In the spirit of spring, we are excited to announce that Poets Reading the News general submissions are officially open through Monday, May 20th. As part of our move toward sustainable publishing while staying true to our journalistic roots, we're embracing seasonal submission windows, with special topical poetry open calls in between. We cannot wait to read your poetry and share what we find.
We are just as thrilled for this headline: our next Associate Editor Cohort at Poets Reading the News is now accepting applications! This is an invitation for emergent editors who love poetry and journalism to step into our dynamic newsroom, read lots of poetry, and sharpen skills alongside an experienced editorial team. Apply here.
Poets Reading the News came to life in 2016, a year that asked us to redefine what resilience means in each of our lives. It’s a powerful origin story that has never ceased informing our work. Perhaps that’s why poems conjuring that resilience are among our most unforgettable. Below, find words of wisdom selected from our archives by Joy Harjo and Yvonne Daley, and a new poem by Catherine Strayhall, part of her debut collection Dress Me Like a Prizefighter, on what poetry does when our health gives way in a world that won’t quit swinging.
In poetry,
Elle Newton
Editor-in-Chief, Poets Reading the News
P.S. Next month, keep your neural networks humming for a special poetry open call on all things uncanny valley.
A Special Message for our Community
In the past year, so many folks have written us to share their appreciation for Poets Reading the News as a space for writing that feels beyond what is known, glad it is returning to its work. This outpouring has been completely beautiful to witness.
However, overhead costs have definitely gone up this past year - everything from web hosting to tech support. We’re short the necessary acorns, and community is needed.
Help us make this journal possible with a tax-deductible contribution. If you can, please make a monthly or larger one-time contribution:
When the World as We Knew It Ended
Joy Harjo
“We were dreaming on an occupied island at the farthest edge / of a trembling nation when it went down…”
Circles in the Wilderness
Yvonne Daley
“Darkness is nothing new on this planet / We lurch from sweet times to bitter / The world reveals our struggle and our strength / Tomorrow and tomorrow as long as we are here…”
Ballad of Lightning
Catherine Strayhall
“alone on a / still, blank hospital floor, I realized this is loving past open windows: to /
stitch your life together even as the thread is ripped away, to cry your / agonies without reservation beneath a thousand different skies…”