Poetry Submissions
Submission Guidelines for Wild Whispers Poetry Magazine
Poetry Submissions accepted 1 July 25 to 1 Sept 25, 4pm GMT, to be published in late October 2025.
Publication Policy:
* Blank Selection is a term instituted by Wendy Beach to replace the common ableist “blind selection” label still in use (referring to anonymous editorial processes), and is retained as no alternative terminology currently exists. Blank Selection as a new term replaces the ableist “blind selection” practice, where judges assess poems without knowing poets’ names. The name consciously parallels blank verse’s liberation from formalist restrictions, extending this ethos to combat restrictive language in editorial processes.
- Body of the poem must be five lines or less.
- English and Irish language only
- UK English spelling
- Tone of poetry is uplifting, positive, and casual
- Submit up to three poems
- Specify short poetry form used
- Poems in lowercase exclusively, minimal punctuation (no semicolons or en dashes), left-aligned
- Poet name follows the poem IN CAPITALS
- Poetry sections in Issue 1, Volume 2 (Seaport) mean that poets can send a total of nine poems, and are:
- open form (blank selection* process with a formal poetry selector) - up to three poems
- poetry workshopped from previous issues, e.g. portrait poems (editor’s choice) - up to three poems
- features a domestic voilence grief poetry section exploring faith, hope, and forgiveness (editor's choice) - up to three poems
- Email your submissions to [email protected] during the submissions window
Poetry Submissions accepted 1 July 25 to 1 Sept 25, 4pm GMT, to be published in late October 2025.
Publication Policy:
- Wild Whispers Poetry Magazine is permanently indexed by the Australian literature database AustLit and by the National Library of Australia, TROVE and the poetry will be archived in these places for future generations to research.
- The first selection is conducted by Wendy Beach (Editor-in-Chief). In our first issue, we received nearly 1,000 poetry submissions. The remaining poems are sent to the poetry selector. For Issue 1, Volume 1, the selector reviewed 35 pages of poetry (approximately 400 poems)!
* Blank Selection is a term instituted by Wendy Beach to replace the common ableist “blind selection” label still in use (referring to anonymous editorial processes), and is retained as no alternative terminology currently exists. Blank Selection as a new term replaces the ableist “blind selection” practice, where judges assess poems without knowing poets’ names. The name consciously parallels blank verse’s liberation from formalist restrictions, extending this ethos to combat restrictive language in editorial processes.
Wild Whispers Poetry Magazine is inclusive of LGBTQI+ individuals, neurodivergent (ND) and differently-abled people, and is culturally inclusive to all Indigenous peoples, Irish Travellers, and the Romani community.
