We are open to original poetry submissions of three to five poems for our Fall 2025 issue and later from now until September 15. Full details can be found below.
Original Poetry
Original Poetry: Submission period ended.
We’re looking for serious poetry that has something important to say. This can mean poems about topics important to you, poems telling us about who you are or what you think, or an unusual or clever creative style. Poems don’t need to deal with weighty subjects, but should be meaningful.
We prefer thought-provoking free verse. Exceptions can be made, but common forms of metered verse, end-rhyme, haiku/tanka, and other well-worn forms should be avoided entirely. We also like to feature a poet rather than a poem, so submissions must include at least three poems. Each submission is judged as a whole.
A small honorarium ($10) will be paid for first serial and archival rights for accepted submissions and all contributors get a Meet Our Contributor post. All original poetry will be considered for Best of the Net and Pushcart nominations at the end of the year.
While simultaneous submissions are permitted, we try to send first-round decisions–which account for over 80% of responses–within 1-2 weeks. If you can give us this time, we greatly appreciate it.
There is no fee to submit, but please read and follow the guidelines below:
- We have transitioned to submissions via Google Forms rather than email. Please complete this submission form (closed). If you have difficulty with the form, please email info {@} phillychapbookreview.org.
- Our focus is the North American Book Trade, so we only accept original poetry submissions from residents of North America. (By this, we mean only that you live your day-to-day life somewhere in North America. Citizenship isn’t a consideration.)
- Only literary poetry, please. This doesn’t mean that poems can’t fall into a genre, but if they do, they should be meaningful to serious poetry readers.
- Any entries that denigrate another person on the basis of gender, age, ethnicity, sexual preference, or disability will be discarded. We are a small publication run by a disabled person who loves the great variety of voices in poetry.
- Poems may not be previously published in a periodical. (We define periodicals as magazines, websites, blogs, or social media feeds with more than 500 followers.)
- To allow others a chance, if we’ve published your work before, please wait two full issue periods after the one in which you appear before submitting again.
Contents
Chapbook Poem: The Blessed Knot by Li-Young Lee
“A well-made poem is a knot, but not a tangle. The well-made knot of a poem can disentangle readers from illusion, to free them from confusion. Poetry is a form of disillusionment.” Read the July Chapbook Poem by Li-Young Lee along with words from the poet.
“This work is an archive of my attempts to become more familiar with who I am, and why I am here, to immerse myself in these ancient spiritual questions…” Check out five poems and five images by Laynie Browne along with a few words from the poet.
Book Excerpt: Creating Space by Lisa Sewell
“Yoga, the walks, and the writing became a daily exercise in paying attention—to the world, to the bodies in the world around me and to my own body…” Read the Excerpt Poem of the Month for July 2025 by Lisa Sewell along with words from the poet.
“My poetry tries to examine … the difference between the lives we live inside ourselves and the lives we expose to other people.” Read five poems by William Doreski along with a few words from the poet.
July ’25: Poetry Readers Wanted
Read a note from editor Aiden Hunt about PCR’s Summer poetry and new poetry reader opportunities brought by our growing original poetry submissions.
Four Poems by allison whittenberg
“I grew up as a film buff and I loved reading Hollywood Babylon. Over the years, I have learned to separate the truth from the myths.” Read four poems by allison whittenberg along with a few words from the poet.
Chapbook Poem: August Peaches by Winshen Liu
“I wanted to sit with a particular end-of-summer indulgence, where a host has saved specialty foods to welcome visiting friends and family–fancy chocolate, favorite sodas, a certain snack.” Read a poem from Winshen Liu’s chapbook Paper Money along with words from the poet.
Book Excerpt: Cheesecake Factory by Max McDonough
“This poem lives in the weirdness of the suburban mall spaces a lot of us grew up visiting (or loitering in!), places that feel like they could be anywhere and nowhere at once.” Read a poem from Max McDonough’s chapbook along with words from the poet.
Three Poems by Alexandra Meyer
“Love had made me stronger in a lot of ways, but also showed me the weakest parts of myself that were left crystallized for him to see. This was much like wood morphing into rock during the petrification process.” Read three poems by Alexandra Meyer along with words from the poet.
Three Poems by Kristiane Weeks-Rogers
“Anchored by sensory detail, the poem journeys between childhood safety and adult experience in a canyon town shaped by rivers and monsoons. … This poem is a meditation on time, tastes, and tenderness of memory.” Read three poems by Kristiane Weeks-Rogers along with words from the poet.
Chapbook Poem: The Seventh Age of Shakespeare’s Father by Scott LaMascus
“This poem hit me hard last winter, sitting a moment near my late father, as our family was trying to absorb the meaning of his ALS diagnosis … I wondered, if ‘all the world’s a stage,’ what role had I just been assigned?” Read the featured Chapbook Poem of the Month for September 2025 along with words from the poet.
Book Excerpt: Landscape with footprints in ash by Selma Asotić
“When I want to sound smart, I say things like: a poet is one who leaves. When I accept that I’m not very smart, mostly just perplexed and a little scared, I write poems about ghosts and circle farms.” Read a poem from Asotić’s new book, Say Fire, along with words from the poet.
“All of my encounters with the U.S. healthcare system follow the protocols of the ridiculous. This poem, couched in the conventions of the contemporary sonnet, explores my latest, decisive encounter with a doctor’s office.” Read three poems by Robin Arble along with words from the poet.
September ’25: Best of the Net Nominations
Editor Aiden Hunt announces Philly Chapbook Review’s Best of the Net 2026 anthology nominations in this editor’s note and provides links to the nominated poems.
Verses of Mourning: in the aftermath by Jessica Nirvana Ram
“[Ram] presents a revealing and heartbreaking collection that asks the reader to think about what they remember the most about those they have lost.” Read Alex Carrigan’s full review.
“This poem reckons with our capitalist, product-driven society to ask people why disabled stories are only relevant if they portray the ‘other’ overcoming trauma to become abled people’s inspiration porn.” Read three poems by Makena Metz along with words from the poet.