We seek only unpublished poems or translations of poems not already available in English. The magazine is copyrighted, with rights reverting to the poet on publication.

We are open to a wide range of forms and styles in contemporary poetry. We are always watching for new poets, quickened language, and poems that offer a new purchase on the political or social landscape. The Chad Walsh Poetry Prize ($3500 in 2009) is awarded to the author of the poem or group of poems that the editorial board judges to be outstanding among those we published in the previous year.

The editors read every poem that comes in over the transom. Those we know aren't for us we return within days of their arrival. The rest we circulate among the editorial board members and continue to winnow. At quarterly meetings, we read the surviving poems aloud and put together an issue of what calls to us most strongly.

We read year-round, do not charge reading fees of any kind, and are conscientious about responding to manuscripts promptly. In return, we ask that you honor our policy of not considering simultaneous submissions.

We accept submissions online via SUBMISSION MANAGER and by postal mail to

Beloit Poetry Journal
P.O. Box 151
Farmington, ME 04938

Submissions Guidelines

Please familiarize yourself with the BPJ before you send us work by buying a sample issue or browsing our website archive.

Limit your submission to five pages unless you are submitting a long poem (yes, we publish them). It’s helpful for us to see more than a single short poem, so that we get a fuller sense of your work.

Please send no more than two manuscripts within a six-month period.

Put no more than one poem on a page, single-spaced. Include your name and address (postal and email) on every sheet.

No cover note is necessary, unless you have something to say to us. We use no contributors' notes. Our emphasis is on the poem.

If you send poems by postal mail, be sure to enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope with adequate postage to return them, or tell us if you don’t want them returned with our decision. Manuscripts that arrive without SASEs or sufficient postage will be read but not returned.

If you don’t hear from us within a few weeks, that’s because your manuscript has been screened and is under active consideration. We clear the decks every quarter; please wait to query us until four months have passed.