Thank you!

(Monthly Challenges are Below)

Register for the challenge by clicking here!

For the Poetry Without Borders Challenge (Shorties) I will send you an email once a month with two to three short forms, and examples. If you want, write a poem using one, or more, of the short forms and then email it to me. This is all in hopes of publishing a vol. that explores short poetry forms from around the world, with an anthology section included.

Some important things to note:

1.) I do not yet know if my agent can sell my idea for a manuscript that is centered on international short forms. She does like it a lot, and is willing to submit it to editors. (1st step–YAY!)

2.) I cannot guarantee that any poem submitted will be published. And there will certainly be poems that won’t make it into the anthology section, even if the book gets published. This may be for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is how many I get of one kind of form (I want a wide range.), or the appropriateness for young readers, etc.

3.) If the book does sell there will a contract to sign giving me permission to use your work. And for any poet under 18 I will need a parent/guardian’s permission. At this point there will be no payment for inclusion in the anthology section.

4.) Due to #’s 1 – 3 during this process you are free to send the poems you write out to others for publication. Just let me know if it gets picked up elsewhere so we can give credit if we can later use reprints. (Unknown at this point.)

5.) All poems MUST BE no longer than 9 lines. They’re “shorties.” The 9 lines are lines of text. Do not count blank lines between stanzas, or the title. And all poems must have titles even if, traditionally, the form does not call for one. (This is simply so they can be indexed.)

6.) What happens if the book is never picked up by a publisher? Well, I will cross that bridge when I come to it. It may be that I will need to return all poems. So—make sure I have a correct email address. And let me know if it changes.

7.) I will be developing this project as we go along, and will keep you up-to-date should anything happen.That’s about it for the moment. If you have any questions please ask. In the meantime, enjoy the challenges and I will enjoy reading your poems. (It’s a win-win!)

8.) And we’d love it if you have some young writers who would like to participate!!! Because of this, please be sensitive of content. We’ll have young readers, and–hopefully–the book will be used in classrooms.

9.) And it would be great to get some poems in the language of the region of the form. If a poem is submitted in another language please include an English language translation.

10.) Please use an easy to read font in at least 12 pt.

Basic Stuff:

a. Have fun and stretch yourself.

b. No more than 9 lines in the body of the poem. (Don’t count blank lines or title.)

c. Must have a title.

d. Use an easy to read font in at least 12 pt.

e. No deadlines for sending to me.

f. Jointly authored poems are fine. (Do them with grandchildren!)

g. No off-color language or subject matter. Family friendly.

h. If Shorties book gets picked up, I’ll send a contract.

i. Of course, no A.I. created poems.

5.—The most important item? (See “a” above.)