He got up and sat on the edge of the bedstead with his back to the window. “It’s better not to sleep at all,” he decided. There was a cold damp draught from the window, however; without getting up he drew the blanket over him and wrapped himself in it. He was not thinking of anything and did not want to think. But one image rose after another, incoherent scraps of thought without beginning or end passed through his mind. He sank into drowsiness. Perhaps the cold, or the dampness, or the dark, or the wind that howled under the window and tossed the trees roused a sort of persistent craving for the fantastic. He kept dwelling on images of flowers, he fancied a charming flower garden, a bright, warm, almost hot day, a holiday—Trinity day. A fine, sumptuous country cottage in the English taste overgrown with fragrant flowers, with flower beds going round the house; the porch, wreathed in climbers, was surrounded with beds of roses. A light, cool staircase, carpeted with rich rugs, was decorated with rare plants in china pots. He noticed particularly in the windows nosegays of tender, white, heavily fragrant narcissus bending over their bright, green, thick long stalks. He was reluctant to move away from them, but he went up the stairs and came into a large, high drawing-room and again everywhere—at the windows, the doors on to the balcony, and on the balcony itself—were flowers. The floors were strewn with freshly-cut fragrant hay, the windows were open, a fresh, cool, light air came into the room. The birds were chirruping under the window, and in the middle of the room, on a table covered with a white satin shroud, stood a coffin. The coffin was covered with white silk and edged with a thick white frill; wreaths of flowers surrounded it on all sides. Among the flowers lay a girl in a white muslin dress, with her arms crossed and pressed on her bosom, as though carved out of marble. But her loose fair hair was wet; there was a wreath of roses on her head. The stern and already rigid profile of her face looked as though chiselled of marble too, and the smile on her pale lips was full of an immense unchildish misery and sorrowful appeal. Svidrigaïlov knew that girl; there was no holy image, no burning candle beside the coffin; no sound of prayers: the girl had drowned herself. She was only fourteen, but her heart was broken. And she had destroyed herself, crushed by an insult that had appalled and amazed that childish soul, had smirched that angel purity with unmerited disgrace and torn from her a last scream of despair, unheeded and brutally disregarded, on a dark night in the cold and wet while the wind howled

100+ Best Places to Submit Poetry: A Ranking of Literary Magazines

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One of the hardest things about literary magazines is dealing with the overwhelming number of them. You can’t keep up-to-date on all of them, so how do you decide which are really worth your time?

Of course, everyone knows about Poetry Magazine, and I’d like to hear of a writer who isn’t on the New Yorker email list, but there are so many wonderful, small publications out there, just waiting for you to dive into their websites to scan their archives, read some poetry, or submit poetry.

To find out what lit mags are favored by editors, I picked through the past seven years of the anthology The Best American Poetry. This gave me an enlightening look at which publications are on their watch list. I went through the 2012 – 2018 indexes to see where the poems included in each anthology were originally published and where the editors presumably stumbled across them. I hope this will help you select good markets for your poetry submissions.

I’m sure it’s no surprise that out of the 377 (147 not including repeats) publications mentioned, the one with the most poems included in the anthologies is The New Yorker. (Of course, not far behind that is Poetry Magazine, because what else.)

Please don’t take this as a comprehensive list of every poetry magazine you should be reading. Some lit mags are so young, they can’t be on the Best American Poetry radar yet, and some of them just don’t get recognized for a while. That’s okay.

Sometimes all it takes to start keeping up with literary journals without getting a million email updates a day is to take a couple hours to browse some and decide which style you like, whether or not you want it to be a mixed genre magazine, if you care about graphic design, etc. Hopefully, this list can act as your jumping-off point for poetry submissions.

Best Literary Magazines for Poetry

(as ranked by The Best American Poetry)

  1. The New Yorker, 28
  2. Poetry Magazine, 23
  3. The American Poetry Review, 17
    Ploughshares, 17
  4. The Southern Review, 16
  5. The New England Review, 13
  6. The Cincinnati Review, 11
    Harvard Review, 11
  7. Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day Series, 10
    The Kenyon Review, 10
    Prairie Schooner, 10
  8. New Ohio Review, 9
    The Paris Review, 9
  9.  Southwest Review, 8
    The Virginia Quarterly Review, 8
    The Threepenny Review, 8
  10. The Nation, 7
    The Georgia Review, 7
  11. The Literary Review, 6
    AGNI, 6
    Salmagundi, 6
    The American Scholar, 6
  12. The Believer, 5
    Court Green, 5
    The Iowa Review, 5
    Poetry Daily, 5
    Boston Review, 5
    The Common, 5
    Green Mountains Review, 5
    Harper’s, 5
    Gulf Coast, 5
    jubilat, 5
  13. The Awl, 4 (CLOSED)
    Conduit    , 4
    FIELD, 4
    Denver Quarterly, 4
    London Review of Books, 4
    River Styx, 4
    Subtropics, 4
    Tin House, 4
    The Yale Review, 4
    Raritan 4
  14. The Atlantic Monthly, 3
    Barrow Street, 3
    Beloit Poetry Journal, 3
    Columbia Poetry Review    , 3
    Granta, 3
    Hanging Loose, 3
    New American Writing, 3
    Plume, 3
    A Public Space, 3
    Rattle, 3
    Alaska Quarterly Review, 3
    The Antioch Review, 3
    Cave Wall, 3
    Fifth Wednesday Journal, 3
    The Gettysburg Review, 3
    New Letters, 3
    The Sun 3
    New York Times Magazine 3
  15. 32 Poems, 2
    Able Muse    , 2
    Black Warrior Review, 2
    Blackbird, 2
    The Carolina Quarterly, 2
    Colorado Review, 2
    DMQ Review, 2
    Fence, 2
    Waxwing 2
    Five Points, 2
    LIT, 2
    MAKE Literature Magazine, 2
    MiPOesias, 2
    The Missouri Review, 2
    The New Criterion, 2
    Painted Bride Quarterly, 2
    Pleiades, 2
    Poet Lore, 2
    Post Road, 2
    Image Magazine 2
    The Southampton Review, 2
    Terminus Magazine, 2
    The Hopkins Review, 2
    upstreet, 2
    Verse Daily, 2
    Birmingham Poetry Review, 2
    The Sewanee Review, 2
    The Sycamore Review    , 2
    Cherry Tree 2
    Massachusetts Review 2
  16. ABZ, 1
    The Baffler, 1
    Beltway Poetry Quarterly, 1
    Birdfest, 1
    Boulevard, 1
    Brilliant Corners, 1
    Burrow Press Review, 1
    Carbon Copy Magazine, 1
    Crazyhorse, 1
    Cream City Review, 1
    Early Music America, 1
    Ecotone, 1
    Fruita Pulp, 1
    Gris-Gris, 1
    Gulfshore Life, 1
    Harpur Palate, 1
    The Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, 1
    Hayden’s Ferry Review, 1
    House Organ, 1
    The Hudson Review, 1
    Iron Horse Literary Review, 1
    The Journal, 1
    Kinfolks Quarterly, 1
    Lambda Literary Review, 1
    Lemon Hound, 1
    Little Patuxent Review, 1
    The Los Angeles Review, 1
    Maggy, 1
    The Manhattan Review, 1
    McSweeny’s, 1
    Mead: The Magazine of Literature and Libations, 1
    Memorious, 1
    Michigan Quarterly Review, 1
    Mid-American Review, 1
    Muzzle, 1
    Naugatuck River Review, 1
    New South, 1
    New York Quarterly, 1
    Ninth Letter, 1
    The Normal School, 1
    PANK, 1
    PEN America, 1
    PMS: poemmemoirstory, 1
    Poetry London, 1
    Poetry Northwest, 1
    Poets.org, 1
    Powder Keg, 1
    Redivider, 1
    The Rumpus, 1
    Seneca Review, 1
    Sentence, 1
    Slate, 1
    Southern Indiana Review, 1
    Spillway, 1
    Terrain.org, 1
    Tongue, 1
    Tupelo Quarterly, 1
    Unsplendid, 1
    Vinyl Poetry, 1
    Vitrine: a printed museum, 1
    The Volta, 1
    West Branch, 1
    Willow Springs, 1
    Zoland Poetry, 1
    storySouth 1
    Buzzfeed 1
    Mississippi Review 1
    Callaloo 1
    The Collagist 1
    Tahoma Literary Review 1
    Paperbag 1
    Los Angeles Review of Books 1
    Crab Orchard Review 1
    Copper Nickel 1
    Ragazine 1
    Greensboro Review 1
    Parnassus 1
    Brilliant Corners 1
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80 comments

  1. Hi there! Thanks for this. Is it customary for Lit periodicals to charge submission fees for a submission (not a contest)?

    Reply

    1. Unfortunately, it has become customary. But there are lit journals that still refuse to charge reading fees.

      Reply

      1. Good day
        I would like to publish and sell my poetry, wheredo you suggest the best option is for me please
        I live on South Africa, and do not have a credit card,
        But only use a Debit card, I do not have any funds at the moment to pay entry fees,y writing comes from the heart, it is a hobby, but I would like to make money from it, if possible, so that I can buy a computer, seeing that everything I write is on paper

        thank you for your time
        many greetings
        Thalia

    2. Yes, but often it’s only $2 or $3 to cover the cost of submitting electronically through a site like Submittable.

      Reply

  3. Thank you.
    Very helpful.
    Though I haven’t started yet trying to submit.
    But my poems are very good and very unique.
    My original goal was fiction and before that screenwriting.
    I am an actor.
    But I love to write and think the world will be entertained and moved by the work.
    Thank you.
    Please keep online.

    Reply

    2. Wow! What an extensive list! Thank you.
      My question is this: have you heard of the Cambridge Halls jounal of poetry? I am trying to find out if they are legitimate and if so are they well circulated? Thank you

      Reply

      1. Coindidentally, that’s how I found this article–on a Facebook post eleven months later, 8/18/18.

      2. Hi John,
        Do these journals consider publishing poetries from Indian authors? Also you haven’t mentioned any Indian literary journal in the list?

      3. I focus on American literary magazines. But yes, these journals would consider poetry from any international writers.

    1. Hi
      I would like to submit poetry based on the topics required. I have published poetry but mostly kept it to myself and now would like to use poetry as am income earner as it is a passion and ability that I would like to explore.
      Pls consider sending me the information to upstart a possible career in poetry. I voulfnt imagine that was ever possible so put the pen down but now am excited snout the upward trend. I am very capable of writing add comical or whatever caption, slogan or other formats may be needed but that is am area I have no experience in but would respond with excellent content given the content and emotions of the content or the pick up line if that’s even a thing.
      Thanks
      Regards G.

      Reply

  11. Dear John,

    Thanks for providing such an excellent resource. I’ve submitted work to many of the publications on your list. Here are some notes your readers might find useful. Most publications are generous in allowing simultaneous submissions on condition the writer informs them in the event of the work be placed elsewhere.

    As far as I know only 2 publications on your least either dissuade or refuse simultaneous subs. They are

    The Sun
    Able Muse

    As you mentioned earlier, many magazines now charge a small reading fee. Some, like the Gettsyburg Review charge for subs. made online but not for mailed subs. For writers this makes little difference since the cost of mailing is about the same as the fee for submitting work online.

    To the best of my knowledge, here are the publications on your list that only accept hard copy snail mail submissions:

    Paris Review
    Harper’s
    Yale Review
    Raritan
    Hanging Loose
    New American Writing
    Antioch Review
    Cave Wall
    Alaska Quarterly Review
    New Letters
    The New Criterion
    Painted Bride Quarterly
    Poetry London

    While the reading fee most magazines charge is small it soon adds up. Like many writers, I try to balance the cost by dividing submissions between publications that don’t charge and those that do. I use a ratio of about 3:1

    On your list, purely based on my own research, the following publications DO NOT charge a submissions fee:

    Field Magazine
    Manhattan Review
    New Yorker
    The Believer
    Rattle
    Beloit Poetry Journal
    Poetry Magazine
    The Cincinnati Review
    AGNI
    London Review of Books
    Plume
    The Sun
    Blackbird
    DMQ Review
    LIT
    Poet Lore
    The Kenyon Review
    Cherry Tree
    The Baffler
    Cream City Review
    Harpur Palate
    Little Patuxent Review
    Mid-American Review
    Muzzle
    Ninth Letter
    West Branch
    Copper Nickel
    Able Muse
    Tin House

    While the following publications do charge a submission fee:

    Ploughshares
    The Southern Review
    New England Review
    South West Review
    The Georgia Review
    Iowa Review
    The Common
    Green Mountains Review
    Gulf Coast
    Conduit
    River Styx
    Barrow Street
    Columbia Poetry Review
    Gettysburg Review
    Black Warrior Review
    32 Poems
    Carolina Quarterly
    Colorado Review
    Fence
    Los Angeles Review
    Missouri Review
    The Southampton Review
    Birmingham Poetry Review
    Sewanee Review
    Sycamore Review
    New Ohio Review
    Subtropics
    Crazyhorse
    Gris Gris
    Hampden-Sydney Review
    Iron Horse Literary Review
    Los Angeles Review
    Michigan Quarterly Review
    Newsouth
    The Normal School
    Poetry Northwest
    Southern Indiana Review
    Willow Springs
    Tahoma Literary Review
    The Greensboro Review

    The changing face of publishing means it isn’t uncommon for journals to publish online only such as the following magazines from your list:

    Paperbag
    Collagist
    Powder Keg
    Redivider
    Terrain.org
    Tongue.
    Unsplendid
    The Volta
    Ragazine

    Writers should, of course, know the magazine or publication they submit work to since not knowing can be a waste of everyone’s time. Here are some miscellaneous notes I made while subbing to publications from your list.

    Callaloo is a journal of African Diaspora Arts and Letters
    Nelle publishes work exclusively by women.
    PANK for experimental prose and poetry.
    MAKE is a themed magazine so check before submitting.
    Tin House has themes and general subs policies.
    Image is faith based.
    Beltway Poetry Quarterly only publishes authors with strong ties to the Washington, DC region, and the surrounding Mid-Atlantic states of Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Delaware.
    Brilliant Corners – for jazz-related literature.
    Burrow Press – fiction only and mainly from Floridians.
    Ecotone – accept work with a strong sense of place or pieces that re-imagine place.
    Hayden’s Ferry Review – themed, for example, current issue is Magic related.
    LAMBDA Review is LGBTQ supporting.
    McSweeney’s publish fiction and nonfiction not poetry.
    Naugatuk River Review – wants narrative poetry.

    I hope this adds some useful information to the debate. I can’t vouch that is 100% accurate but the information is based on my notes made while submitting work to various publications.

    Martin Jago

    Reply

  12. This list and follow-up comments are super helpful. I appreciate the info you’ve provided here, John.
    And I have a question for you or for others who might be more experienced in this area than I: Some journals and magazines adamantly say NO simultaneous submissions (i.e. Tin House). But… how would they know whether I did send something to multiple presses?

    Reply

    1. Never pay attention to bans on simultaneous submissions. There is no way they’ll find out. It’s ridiculous that they’re asking for it in the first place — it can take a year or two to find a home for your poem and that’s if you submit to 10 – 20 journals at a time.

      Reply

      2. I can’t believe you are advising poets to ignore bans on simultaneous submissions. They can find out when they offer to publish a poem that another journal you simultaneously submitted to has already published it and you have to fess up to it. Most journals only accept unpublished poems. Are suggesting we lie about that too?

      3. I would never recommend to publish the same poem in two journals. Once a poem or story has been accepted, simply withdraw it from consideration everywhere else.

  13. I love this. John, I am literally a buddy poet. I have been shell shocked and was scared of publishing after academia felt like the harshest critics of my work. I appreciate this post and the feedback from others. I started posting my work on Medium this year. But, I have not gained any monetary compensation from the online platform. The reason for this is that Medium does not support my country as a member subscription. I am a South African. And, I found very few publishers in South Africa interested in publishing poems. I tend to wrote more about taboo and social awkward terms as a millenial. So, I am migrating from spoken word and writing for family and friends to publications. If there are authors who have made the same journey…feel free to let me know the highs and lows. I am here to learn and find a home for my poems.

    Reply
  14. Pingback: How To Submit Poetry to a Literary Magazine – The Writing Cooperative - ArtsnCrafts.TK

  16. Searching for a poetry book publisher to my title, WALKING ON THE MOON. 50 years in evolution. July 21, 1969, 3 dumb dudes hit the Moon and met 3 shmoes. There was dialogue, then shmoes dematerialized. Government paniced and went wild. It was worse than a UFO on the White House lawn. Contents: 14 shorter poems, classical English verse forms & tuff stuff. Preface, versification of Aquarian Gospel in 24 cantoes, a short accessible version of Edward Young’s Night Thoughts, 1742, original format with 9 sections. Appendix with Jesus text from Pistis Sophia, the science of celestialology that I evolved, 2 poems of Rupert Brooke, one for a gag, one serious. I rate this with best in the history of poetry. No vanity here. Samuel Johnson on Alexander Pope: “He knew that the mind is always enamoured of its own productions.” Am putting it all on email for circulation. It is a life mission. Where can I go with it?–David Edward, lifecelestial@optimum.net, 973 427 6529

    Reply

  17. John, Thank you for creating this site for those of us passionate about writing poetry but thwarted by accomplishing how to get our work published.
    Martin Jago, Thank you for taking the time to help fellow authors.
    I appreciate both of you,
    Kay
    Kay McLane

    Reply

    1. Hello Kay

      are you familiar with the Laurel Canyon scene? i just composed a new poem on that particular movement. Anyhow, i think poetry is an oft-neglected medium of expression. it is our responsibility for us to be the caretakers and storytellers. good luck with your own ideas + concepts.

      Always,

      Jt

      Reply

  21. Thanks for putting this list together. I’ve been working my way through, though with nothing to report yet. I’m jus sure if anyone else has commented on any of these; if so, I apologize for the redundancy. The American Scholar doesn’t appear to accept poetry (I couldn’t find any way to submit). The same goes for Harper’s and for The London Review of Books. The Awl has closed up shop, as has Field (as of its 100th issue, Spring 2019). The correct link for The Georgia Review is https://www.thegeorgiareview.com. It’s broken on the 100+ Best Places list. Thanks again for publishing the list.

    Reply

  23. Hi, my father was an internationally recognized scientist, who wrote poetry on the side. He died 9 years ago. He typed out 40 poems, but had over 80 additional handwritten poems, some with multiple versions. His handwritten versions were often juicier.
    These poems really shed light on the man behind the science. I am his eldest child, and only one of two who can read his handwriting (well, not every word). Could you please advise me on how to proceed? Thanks so much. (He also had some other writings, stories, but it’s the poetry that really stands out. He did publish a couple poems in his lifetime.)

    Reply

      1. All information here have been really helpful.
        I’m an aspiring poet and this has really inspired to keep on writing and looking towards my poem being published.
        Thanks

  25. i am in the process of constructing a chapbook of poetic ideas. i have been intrigued with literary journals + magazines. once or twice i was published. my ego isn’t exactly elevated though. if anything, fear has deterred me from spreading out my love for Poetica. thanks for this list. i am wary of spending money on reading or service fees. i work PT. good luck on all endeavours. we need to be bold and give whatever wisdom or Truth that exists.

    Reply

    2. As the original author wrote, the ranking is based on the number of poems from each publication that have been published in a volume of Best American Poetry: “I went through the 2012 – 2018 indexes to see where the poems included in each anthology were originally published and where the editors presumably stumbled across them.“

      Reply

    1. You can only publish a poem in one journal. They would both contact you, and you would decide which one to publish it in.

      Reply

  28. Thanks a million for the list. I have a question regarding the submission of the poems. Most of the websites you have shared here have closed their submissions for the time being. When is the best time of the year for submissions? I mean the time of year when most literary journals accept submissions?
    Greatly appreciate all the efforts you make to help us.
    Best regards,
    Ali

    Reply

  29. Thank you for this excellent information. Are you or any of your readers familiar with the site
    Prometheus Dreaming?

    Reply

  34. Thank you for this list! I’d like to mention another amateur resource – The Skrews Syndication. There are no submission fees and the entity is considered a collective. Up to 5 poems (short stories) can be submitted at once. As for the theme, works with darker themes are considered…
    https://skre.ws

    Reply

  35. I have a couple of poems based on religion which I have written. I also live in the UK. My questions are will I have to pay to submit? will my poems from UK be accepted? and Do you accept religious poems?

    Reply

  36. How disappointing; everything is swallowed up as “American”. It seems, as with many topics, events and people.. there is a bigger world out there, that other one most of us live in. Surely you people should be interested in a more open and diverse world of poetry? Think outside the square, read, consider and evaluate and you will find great literature that hasn’t been inflicted with narrow, culture-less inhibitions.

    Reply

    1. James, I’m a former Yank now living in the EU. I agree about the undue US influence in so many areas. I’m finding more EU resources, groups, journals, etc. every day. I have to almost write in two languages for submissions as the English varies so much on either side of the ocean.

      Reply

  37. Is there somewhere a good list of journals that review poetry books?
    I mean properly-published ones, *not* self-published ones.
    Thanks!

    Reply

  38. Hello. Hope my message finds you well. I have just had my first collection of poems The Leaves that Die by Ricky G published by United PC. It is available to buy from my publishers website and from Barnes and Noble. If you search online you will find it. I am based in the UK but my book is available to buy in the USA and Australia. I am trying to promote my book and get it stocked by bookshops, libraries and schools everywhere and to get it reviewed in magazines. Please help

    Reply

  39. I have seem this list for past five or so years – and feeling masochistic – I thought I’d attempt to submit once again. You would imagine with such a large list there would many opportunities. I did not find one. The utter arrogance of of many publishers – who provide no opportunities to submit was unsurprising – because such is the appalling treatment most prospective submitters can expect from many American publishers.

    Reply

  41. Finally! 2022… Starting to submit my poems. Is this list current or can someone advise me on a current national list? I hear Entropy is now closed, sadly.
    Thanks. Arlene

    Reply

  42. Many do not accept British writers as it costs them too much money. The problem with this is people may not always get a response. I have had to ask directly if they accept submissions from Britain. Those that ignore you, don’t. This is unfair as the majority of poetry magazines are based in the states.

    Reply

  44. Very good idea. Very useful.

    Any thoughts on how to decide which poems to send to what journals. Assuming you don’t have time to read and analyze every issue of every journal. Much as you would like to.

    Reply

  45. I did not see “Comstock Review” or “National Poetry Review” in your listings. Both appear excellent; Comstock appears credible and I was impressed with NPR’s publication. Are they simply inferior to the hundred or what?

    ‘

    Reply

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Every writer NEEDS this book.

It’s a guide to writing the pivotal moments of your novel.

Whether writing your book or revising it, this will be the most helpful book you’ll ever buy.

Learn More