Submit to Poetics
Submit your work to the living archive of Black, queer womxn that we are creating through Poetics Magazine!
Current Theme: New Beginnings
Expected issue release date: June 2026
Work must be submitted by: Friday May 1, 2026
Poetics is releasing our first issue in June of 2026! The theme for our first issue is “New Beginnings.” We are always open to a variety of interpretations of our theme, and we look forward to seeing how each artist honors new beginnings!
Before you Submit…
Thank you for your interest in submitting your literary or visual art to Poetics Magazine, a Bay-Area based grassroots magazine that centers the art, stories, and lived experiences of Black, queer womxn! Poetics is dedicated to uplifting Black, queer womxn artists and engaging with their work in community.
As a Black, queer woman led magazine, we deeply value the work and art made by our community. Although we are a grassroots volunteer-run publication that cannot offer monetary compensation for submissions at this time, we are striving to expand our payment structure through a combination of crowdfunding, revenue sharing, and flat fee rates.
Because we are unable to offer monetary compensation at this time, we ask for first-time non-exclusive rights to all work submitted to Poetics. This means Poetics has the right to publish the literary or visual art work submitted, but every contributor retains ownership of their work and can either sell or publish their work to other outlets simultaneously or after publication of Poetics.
If you are a Black, queer womxn who would like to submit your work to be published in Poetics, please read all of the information and fill out the submission form below!
Submission Guidelines/FAQs
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In order to submit either literary or visual work, please fill out our submission form below. Please read all information before submitting.
Upon accepted submissions, our team of editors will get in contact with contributors to produce edits or minor revisions if needed.
After finalizing submission and release of Poetics issue, our team will send a free copy of the magazine, and will stay in contact about future monetary compensation.
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We are looking for a range of original literary works which include:
Personal perspectives/reviews
Political commentary/news
Poetry
Letters/journal entries/humor
Interviews
Advertisements/announcements***
***All ads/announcements must be for topics/events/businesses related to Blackness and queerness
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We are looking for a range of visual artworks which include:
Photography
Digital illustrations
Paintings
Mixed-media
Collage
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We will not accept any work that reinforces or uplifts themes of white supremacy, patriarchy, homophobia, racism, transphobia, capitalism, or misogynoir.
We will also not accept:
Work with themes of violence, hatred, or otherwise offensive material
AI-generated work
AI-generated work
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All work submitted must be written or created by someone who identifies as a Black, queer womxn. The label “womxn” is gender expansive and inclusive of gender non-confirming and transgender folks.
All contributors must be over 18.
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All work submitted must be original. This means the rights to submissions cannot be owned by another owner, publication, or collective.
Original work also means work that is not AI-generated or plagiarized.
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To ensure submitted work is accepted, contributors must submit work that centers the theme of the current issue in which they are submitting. The theme of the current issue cycle will always be listed on the page above.
Contributors are encouraged to be creative with the theme and we are always open to a wide variety of interpretations of the listed theme!
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Although we cannot offer monetary compensation at this time, we are working on a payment structure based on flat fee rates along with revenue sharing from issue sales.
Contributors will also receive a free copy of the issue in which they are published along with free tickets to promotional materials.