Call for submissions:

We are now accepting submissions for the second 2019 series chapbook for poets who identify anywhere on the LGBTQI2S spectrum. In celebration of contemporary writing in Canada, the chapbook will amplify queer voices that continue to enrich, question, and propel literature in Canada. We specifically encourage writers with intersecting marginalized identities to submit.

Self-identified LGBTQI2S poets may submit 1-3 poems for consideration. Guest editor Ali Blythe will select 1-2 poems by 10 poets. The poems do not need to be about attraction or gender identities, though these are welcomed; this project aims to create space for LGBTQI2S poets to express the complexities of being, perception, experience and relationship. Poems by those who are questioning, unsure, transitioning and becoming are quite welcomed by the editor.

The chapbook will be designed and hand-sewn by Nicole Brewer, the League’s Administrative Director and one half of the words(on)pages team. Contributors will receive payment of $25 per published poem plus 3 copies of the chapbook. There is no submission fee.

The submission deadline is February 15, 2019. EXTENDED DEADLINE: February 17, 2019. The chapbook will be published in April 2019 during National Poetry Month.

Submission guidelines:

• • Poetry submissions may consist of one to three previously unpublished (print or online) poems in any style (including prose poems).
  • Length is flexible, though poems longer than 2 pages will be considered only if they are of exceptional quality and no longer than 4 pages.
  • All submissions should be in doc, docx, or PDF format.
  • Include a cover letter with your name, email address, and a short (100 words or under) bio. If you would like to identify yourself as belonging to an equity-seeking group, please mention it in your cover letter.
  • All submissions must be sent to info@poets.ca.
  • We accept simultaneous submissions. If your piece is accepted elsewhere, please notify us immediately.

Submissions are open to members of the League of Canadian Poets. With this project, the League aims to create space and facilitate representation for marginalized poets and we recognize that folks holding marginalized identities may face barriers to access in gaining membership to the League. We are committed to working with those folks facing barriers, specifically financial barriers, who have an interest in participating in this project. Please email info@poets.ca if the cost of membership is a barrier to your participation in the League.

About the editor:

Ali Blythe‘s second book, Hymnswitch, is forthcoming March 2019. He is the winner of the Vallum Award for Poetry, finalist for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize for his first book Twoism and recipient of an honour of distinction from the Writers Trust of Canada for emerging LGBTQ writers. His poems are published in literary journals and anthologies in Canada, England, Germany and Slovenia.