Editorial Guidelines

Before investing your energy in writing reviews for Poetry Flash, please query us first. Someone else may already be reviewing the book you have in mind. Reviews of new poetry collections and anthologies, reviews of literary events, reviews of literary criticism, literary history, and literary biography, literary essays, and writings on the creative process are welcomed.

We are always interested in submissions of poems of literary merit. Please send up to five unpublished poems with a cover letter and a brief literary bio. Published poems from a highlighted work may be published by special arrangement.

Please send an SASE (stamped self-addressed envelope) with your postal mail submissions. US mail submissions are preferred at this time, but we do accept email submissions with poems sent as Word attachments.

We have no set reporting time—but the average is three to four months. Simultaneous submissions are fine for poems. Please notify us immediately of simultaneous submissions for reviews, essays, interviews or other editorial works beside poems. We would prefer it if you did not simultaneously submit editorial reviews, essays, or interviews.

Poetry Flash has flexibility in regard to length and word count, as poetryflash.org and Poetry Flash Literary Review in print publish a variety of styles and editorial features. The usual minimum review is four double-spaced pages, maximum length is six to twelve double-spaced pages. Poetry Flash also often publishes longer reviews and essays. Presenting quotes from reviewed works in support of editorial arguments is encouraged. Essays and interviews usually run longer than reviews of individual books. We can transcribe interviews if needed.

All rights to poems, interviews, and articles revert to the author upon publication, whether online or in print, though we reserve the right for a possible additional one-time use in a best of Poetry Flash anthology to appear in book form.

We use many photos of poets and writers, especially for upcoming readings or event coverage. Please email jpgs. For our print magazine, send high resolution jpgs, at least 200 dpi. for higher resolution and reproduction quality.

We can't critique your work; we can only offer a response on publishing it in Poetry Flash. For editorial comments on your writing, please check out a local workshop or an individual editorial consultation service such as that offered by Poetry Flash Associate Editor Richard Silberg, whose rates are very reasonable. You can find such listings under Workshops & Classes in the Poetry Flash Calendar.

Please direct your editorial questions to:

Poetry Flash
1450 Fourth Street, #4
Berkeley, CA 94710
Attention: Joyce Jenkins, Editor/Publisher

editor @ poetryflash.org