The poetry magazine with a different editor every issue
Welcome to our Submittable page. Please read our submission rules carefully.
Thank you for submitting to Magma, we look forward to reading your work.
Welcome to the Magma Open Poetry Pamphlet Competition 2024, judged by Niall Campbell.
Deadine: 1 July 2024
- First Prize: publication of the winning pamphlet + launch reading
- Poets on the shortlist of 10 will each get a paragraph of feedback from the judge
- The winner and 3 others will have a poem published in Magma
- All shortlisted poets will have a poem published on our website
- Niall Campbell will read 50 entries selected by Magma editors.
NB Please make sure you have read all competition details and rules on the Magma website before entering. We advise entering in good time to avoid any last minute technical problems.
Niall and the Magma team look forward to reading your pamphlet, which should have 18-20 pages of poems. Remember that entries must be anonymous - please don’t put your name or contact details on any of the pages.
Please fill in the form below and put the title of your pamphlet (but not your name) in the title box. In the contact details box list your name, address, email and phone number.
Upload your pamphlet where it says "choose files". Your file may be in pdf, doc, docx, rtf, or odt formats. You will be given the option to pay by credit or debit card or PayPal. Payment must be in pounds sterling. Entry costs £22, or £16 if you are a Magma subscriber. Non-subscribers may pay the subscribers’ rate if they take out a subscription when they enter.
Concessions: We are offering a limited number of free entries for those for whom the entry fee would be unaffordable. Please see the website for details.
COMPETITION RULES
- Please send us 18-20 pages of poems
- Poems should be typed in single spacing and in 12 font
- Start each poem on a new page. Maximum 40 lines per page. If you include a poem sequence in which the poems are 14 lines long or less, then you may put two on a page
- All poems must be your original work. They may have been published in magazines (paper or online) and anthologies but not in a pamphlet or collection
- Poems must be in the English language or any of its dialects. They must be for adults and must not be translations of someone else’s work
- Your pamphlet must have a title which should appear on each page. Please make a title page at the front of the document with the pamphlet title and list of contents
- Entries must be anonymous: no name or contact details on any page
- The winner will be expected to take part in a launch for the pamphlet
- Anyone may enter unless they advise or work for Magma
- Simultaneous submissions are allowed but please let us know straight away if your pamphlet has been accepted elsewhere. The fee is not refundable
- No changes can be made once you have submitted the pamphlet
- In case of unforeseen circumstances Magma reserves the right to change the judge
- Deadline: Midnight UK time on Monday 1 July
Call for submission – Magma 90, Grassroots
Editors: Lisa Kelly and Patrizia Longhitano
Closing date: 31 March, 2024.
Submissions for ‘Grassroots’ is open from 1 March 2024.
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GRASSROOTS
What does Grassroots mean to you? Community? Activism? Environmentalism? Or something else?
At a time of unprecedented global turmoil where our political elites struggle to deal with the pressing issues of the day – climate change, ongoing wars, and social inequalities – where are your grassroots?
Within the poetry world, grassroots organisations, online and in-person, have supported poets to promote diversity, provide mentorship, nurture and develop talent and creativity. Cave Canem, The Obsidian Foundation, Invisible Presence, Zoeglossia, and The Complete Works are just a few examples.
Where do you feel supported, and what does thriving, or just surviving, look like to you at the grassroots level?
Magma Poetry sprung from a grassroots ethos. A group of poets got together to set up a magazine to publish the sort of poetry they would like to read. This year, a grassroots poetry magazine is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and its established, international reputation. Things have changed a lot along the way.
Another challenge to explore – how do you stay true to your grassroots? When things grow from seeds – responsibilities, roles and identities change. However much you’ve changed, what connects you to your roots – be they heritage, personal, community or class-based? When you look back – or forward – what really matters?
We are facing swathing cuts to grants for the arts, and many grassroots organisations, community venues, and magazines have folded or are under threat with rising costs of production, rent and the effort involved to keep everything going. Can a grassroots attitude work indefinitely with bills to pay and your time and energy at stake?
We are interested in poems that explore grassroots issues in a variety of forms and approaches. You do not need to be actively involved in a grassroots organisation to submit, but you might write on the visible results or impacts felt by grassroots organisations.
We are rooting for you and look forward to reading your poems!
LISA KELLY and PATRIZIA LONGHITANO
Editors Magma 90: Grassroots
HOW TO SUBMIT
- The submissions window for ‘Grassroots' is open 1st – 31st March 2024
- We welcome poems that have not been previously published, either in print or online.
- We accept simultaneous submissions, but please withdraw your submission or contact us if it is accepted for publication somewhere else first.
- You may submit up to 4 previously unpublished poems: ONLINE via Submittable in a single Word or PDF document, OR BY POST to Magma 90 Submissions, 23 Pine Walk, Carshalton, SM5 4ES. Postal submissions are accepted from the UK and Ireland only. Postal submissions are not acknowledged until a decision is made.
THE EDITORS
Lisa Kelly's second collection, The House of the Interpreter (Carcanet), is a Poetry Book Society Summer 2023 Recommendation. Her first collection, A Map Towards Fluency (Carcanet), was shortlisted for the Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize 2021. She has single-sided deafness and co-edited What Meets the Eye? The Deaf Perspective (Arachne Press). She is a regular host of poetry evenings at grassroots venue, The Torriano Meeting House, Kentish Town, London.
Patrizia Longhitano (she/her) is a pansexual Latinx immigrant poet and visual artist who lives in London. Some of her poems have appeared in Wet Grain, Painted Spoken, Harana Poetry Magazine, Un Nuevo Sol anthology and the album We Will Keep On. Her poetry videos are available on the Poetry Translation Centre website and on her personal YouTube channel. Some of her performances, workshops and multimedia poetry installations have appeared at the Southbank, TEXTUS exhibition, Whitstable Biennale and Cheltenham Literature Festival. Since summer 2023, she has been the host of Venn Diagrams, a poetry event at the Torriano Meeting House. Currently one of the organisers of BI+ Online Poets and BI+ London Poets groups.