Submissions
Poetry London is a leading international magazine, where new names share pages with acclaimed contemporary poets. We also publish a wide range of poetry in translation.
About submissions
The magazine is published in March, June and October. We receive a vast amount of submissions, so reading can take up to three months, and if your work is shortlisted, maybe even longer. You might find it helpful to read the magazine first, to see if your work is suitable.
Subscriptions
We appreciate subscriptions, as we depend on these to survive, though if you don’t subscribe it won’t affect your chances!
Costs & Fees
Please ensure that you pay the correct postage when submitting poems and books for review. As a small charitable organisation, we don’t have the resources to pay for any additional costs incurred and won’t be able to collect any post where incorrect postage has been paid. Thank you!
We pay poets £30 per poem, though appropriate adjustments may be made for very long poems. Review and interview fees are agreed in advance with the Reviews Editor and benchmarked at £50 per 1,000 words.
Submitting poems
Poetry London aims to publish the best, most exciting poetry being written now, and we are always interested in work by unpublished poets, as well as celebrated ones.
Submissions are read by Niall Campbell, Poetry Editor.
Both electronic and postal submissions are welcome and all are carefully read.
Electronic submissions
For online submissions, please click the button below and follow the instructions.
Postal submissions
Please send a maximum of six poems to:
Niall Campbell
Poetry London
Goldsmiths, University of London
New Cross
London
SE14 6NW
UK
Always include a stamped addressed envelope for our reply.
We will reply by email if you are sending your work from abroad. In these circumstances you may submit your poems by post and request an email response in your cover letter. Unfortunately we cannot return manuscripts from outside the UK.
Simultaneous submissions
Simultaneous submissions are acceptable if you are submitting online through Submittable. Please withdraw your poems if they are accepted elsewhere.
Terms & Conditions
- We do not print previously published work except in exceptional circumstances. If we do, then approval will be sought from the poetry editor. Poetry London undertakes not to change republished work in any way, including layout and punctuation, without prior consent from the author, and the author has the right to see a proof of the poem in question before publication
- The author will be sent proofs of their work for approval. Proofs must be returned within 10 days. Poetry London undertakes not to change work in any way, including layout and punctuation, without prior consent from the author.
- The author will always be credited for their work. Please let us know the preferred form of name for the credit. When asked to approve a proof, authors will also have the opportunity to ensure their name is spelled correctly.
- The author will receive one complimentary copy of the issue in which their work is featured.
- We take the first non-exclusive right to publish the author’s contribution in the next issue of Poetry London in print form and verbatim digital form, in the English language.
- We retain the non-exclusive right for the full term of copyright to publish or make available as part of that issue of Poetry London as part of an archive. We will not allow third party downloading, copying or any other use without your permission.
- We may wish to use the author’s work later for anniversary editions or anthologies, in which case we will seek the author’s permission and agree a fee.
- Following publication, we encourage contributors and/or third parties to republish, syndicate or blog their work. We will never ask for permissions fees and only ask that the author/third part publisher indicates that the contribution ‘originally appeared in Poetry London’.
- If we receive requests from publishers or others for re-use of your contribution, we will forward them to the author and facilitate contact between the publisher and said author.
- Payment for the author’s work will be made within 30 days following publication of the print issue in which their work appears.
- Payment will only be made upon receipt of an invoice. Your invoice should contain the title of your poem, the issue in which it appeared and either your bank account details, or another accepted method of payment, including, for example, PayPal. We will pay VAT on receipt of a valid VAT invoice.
Submitting books for review
Poetry London publishes reviews of around seventy or eighty titles a year. We concentrate on single author collections of poetry in English or translated into English, including some pamphlets and chapbooks. In addition, there are occasional reviews of significant anthologies or relevant critical writing.
We will review collections in English from anywhere in the world, but predominantly the books reviewed are from publishers (large or small) in the UK or Ireland. We cannot accept self-published books for review or return books which are not selected for review.
All reviews are commissioned in advance by the editor.
Postal submissions
Please send all books for review to:
Isabelle Baafi
Poetry London
Goldsmiths, University of London
New Cross
London
SE14 6NW
UK