Most poets have heard of Poetry magazine, and who doesn’t dream of publishing a poem in the New Yorker (yes, the magazine does still take submissions). But even for the most seasoned poets, these venues often prove to be inaccessible, not only because of their vanishingly small acceptance rates, but also because of long response times and a preponderance of solicited submissions. The good news is that these prestigious markets are far from the only places to publish your poetry—and they might not even be the best publication outlets for you as a poet.
There are hundreds of established literary magazines out there whose priorities might meet yours head-on. Whether you’re invested in seeing your poems presented uniquely on the page, connecting with a specific community of fellow poets, or making your writing accessible to a wide online audience, there are plenty of literary magazines inviting submissions—and, to their credit, offering meaningful payment for your poems.
Take Ninth Letter for a start, a literary magazine run out of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. The product of a collaboration between the School of Art + Design and the creative writing program, Ninth Letter produces a gorgeous, design-forward literary magazine twice each year. Every issue of Ninth Letter looks different, but you can guarantee that your poems will be eye-catching on the page and that dedicated attention will be paid to format and presentation. Ninth Letter pays $25 per poem.
If you’re interested in visual art, the online journal Harbor Review offers the unique opportunity for your poems to be paired with original artwork, which appears alongside each poem in its twice-yearly issues. Harbor Review also asks poets for an audio recording of their poem, making for a unique combination of sound, art, and text for each published poem. As a feminist journal, the publication seeks to address gender equity in publishing, featuring a diverse array of voices in its thoughtfully curated issues. Poets and visual artists are both paid $10 per feature.
Journals published digitally are especially appealing for poets who want their poems to be accessible to the widest possible audience. Split Lip Magazine, an online journal founded in 2012, publishes one piece in each genre (poetry, fiction, memoir, and flash) every month. The journal’s voice-driven, inclusive aesthetic makes for a welcoming online space for writing that’s straight from the heart. Submissions are free five months out of the year, and you can pay a $5 fee for an expedited response, meaning editors will get back to you within two weeks.
Another journal that has a strong web presence—in addition to a handsome, book-length print journal—is Bennington Review, which publishes two print issues yearly and hosts an active website where all but a few of each issue’s pieces can be read. Using as its tagline a Dean Young quote (from his book The Art of Recklessness) that poets ought to make “birds, not birdcages,” Bennington Review publishes poems that break the mold rather than fit neatly into it. Pay is $25 per page of poetry.
Many poets also pursue publication as a means of connection with fellow poets in our own communities. One established journal for LGBTQIA+ writers is Foglifter, a print magazine run out of the San Francisco Bay Area. Welcoming transgressive, risky subject matter as well as a variety of styles, Foglifter also hosts readings around the Bay Area and the annual Start a Riot! Chapbook Prize for local poets. Bonus for those who want to get a sense of the journal before submitting: You can check out free PDFs of sold-out back issues online.
For Arab and SWANA (South West Asian/North African) poets, an essential outlet is Mizna, the literary magazine arm of the larger, eponymous organization that also focuses on art and film and curates events like the Twin Cities Arab Film Festival as well as literary readings. The magazine’s decolonial and intersectional lens leads to an expansive view of what Arab and SWANA writing can look like, and Mizna’s previous call for submissions offered a $200 honorarium for each accepted piece.
A relatively new home for Black writers is Ebony Tomatoes Collective, which has published twenty-four issues since its establishment in 2022. Run by a collective of Black creators from marginalized genders, Ebony Tomatoes comprises both a regularly updated online section and regular print issues. Each issue is themed, with recent focuses including “Against the Tide: Community Care in the Collapse of Empire” and “Beyond the Margin,” an exploration of Black lesbian identity. Personal, vulnerable poems are welcome, as are poems that challenge the status quo, and payment is four cents per word for print publication.
If your poems have an ecological or a place-based focus, Terrain.org is a long-standing online home for writers that recognize the intertwinedness of our collective lives with the natural world. Paying $50 per published submission, Terrain.org also offers features like Letters to America, a thoughtful series that accepts poems. Keep an eye out for the once-yearly poetry submission window, right at the beginning of the year.
Themed issues are another opportunity to explore how your poetry overlaps with the venues where you’ll submit and to be in conversation with fellow writers about the topics that resonate with you. The Arkansas International, for example, publishes one themed issue and one non-themed issue per year, sharing a call for submissions for the themed issue in the months preceding its publication. As its name suggests, the Arkansas International embraces a view of creative writing that transcends national borders (as well as borders of language and style). Poems from the journal’s print issues are also featured in their entirety online. A newly independent nonprofit, the journal now requires a $4 reading fee, but it does provide fee waivers for BIPOC writers and those in need of financial assistance.
Finally, many poets would jump at the opportunity to hear back soon about the poems they’ve submitted. 32 Poems has the rare distinction of responding relatively quickly to poetry submissions, often within a few weeks, and even encouraging poets to follow up if they have not heard back in three months. The magazine is also notable for its minimalist mission, printing thirty-two poems of (usually) thirty-two lines or fewer in each biannual issue. While the outlet requires a $3 reading fee, 32 Poems pays $25 per published poem.
These literary magazines are just a few of the many spaces where editors are committed to bringing resonant poems into the world. But when it comes to seeking a place to publish, it’s important to remember that you don’t have to wait for acceptance to become a part of the conversation: You can get involved now. Consider expanding your participation in the literary magazine landscape beyond research for the purpose of publication. How does your writing practice grow when you choose three new literary magazines to subscribe to each year? What happens when you volunteer your labor (as a submission reader, for example) to one of your favorite poetry venues? Actively engaging with the literary magazine community—as a reader, a subscriber, or a volunteer—can deepen your relationship to the literary world and grow your writing in surprising, expansive ways. Plus, the more you invest yourself in the literary magazine community, the more it will mean to you when your submission finally lands.
Dennis James Sweeney is the author of How to Submit: Getting Your Writing Published With Literary Magazines and Small Presses (New World Library, 2025). Their books also include the novella The Rolodex Happenings (Stillhouse Press, 2024), the lyric nonfiction collection You’re the Woods Too (Essay Press, 2023), and In the Antarctic Circle (Autumn House Press, 2021), which won the Autumn House Rising Writer Prize for Poetry. They live in Amherst, Massachusetts.
Author photo: Melanie Zacek Photography