Poetry Magazine

"Founded in Chicago by Harriet Monroe in 1912, Poetry is the oldest monthly devoted to verse in the English-speaking world. Harriet Monroe's "Open Door" policy, set forth in Volume I of the magazine, remains the most succinct statement of Poetry's mission: to print the best poetry written today, in whatever style, genre, or approach. The magazine established its reputation early by publishing the first important poems of T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, H. D., William Carlos Williams, Carl Sandburg, and other now-classic authors. In succeeding decades it has presented—often for the first time—works by virtually every significant poet of the 20th century.

Poetry has always been independent, unaffiliated with any institution or university—or with any single poetic or critical movement or aesthetic school. It continues to print the major English-speaking poets, while presenting emerging talents, in all their variety. In recent years, more than a third of the authors published in the magazine have been young writers appearing for the first time. On average, the magazine receives over 90,000 submissions per year, from around the world."

Poetry rejections

Standard

2010

We're not going to be able to keep anything from this submission, we're sorry to say. Thank you, though, for letting us have a chance with your work.

2011-12 seems to be a variation on the above.

Dear ---:

We'll have to pass on this submission, sorry to say. Thank you very much, though, for letting us have a chance with your work. Sincerely,

The Editors

2015 seems to be another variation

Unfortunately, we won't be able to accept your submission. Thank you very much, though, for sending work our way.

2016

Dear —,

Unfortunately, your submission isn't quite right for us. Thank you very much, though, for sending work our way - and thank you for your interest in POETRY magazine.

Sincerely,

The Editors POETRY

2018

Dear —,

Although we won't be able to keep anything from your submission, we are grateful that you sent work our way.

Thank you very much for your interest in POETRY magazine.

Sincerely,

The Editors POETRY

2020

Dear [name],

Thank you for sending your work to POETRY magazine - and thank you, too, for your patience.

Although we won't be able to keep anything from your submission for our pages, we are most grateful for the opportunity to read and think about it.

Sincerely,

The Editors POETRY

2021

Dear [name],

Thank you for sending your work to POETRY magazine—and thank you, too, for your patience as you waited for our response.

We are very grateful that you gave us the opportunity to read and think about your work. We’re sorry to let you know that we won’t be publishing anything from your submission, but we wish you the best of luck in publishing it elsewhere.

We hope you are as safe and well as can be.

Sincerely,

[Editor Names]

Editors, POETRY

Higher Tier

We'll have to pass on this submission, sorry to say - but we enjoyed reading it. Thank you for letting us have a chance with your work.

Warmly,

2016

Dear [Poet Name],

Thanks so much for letting us have a chance with your work. Although we won't be able to keep anything this time, we wanted you to know that we enjoyed reading your submission.

With all best,

[Editor Name] Editor POETRY

Highest Tier

2021

Dear [Name],

Thank you so much for letting us have a chance with your work—and for your patience as you waited for our response. We are grateful to have spent time with your submission.

Unfortunately, we won’t be publishing anything from this submission, but we really enjoyed reading it and hope you will send new work in the future.

We hope you're as safe and well as can be. Thank you again for sharing your work with us.

Warmly, and gratefully,

Suzi F. Garcia

Guest editor, POETRY

2022

Dear [Name],

Thank you so much for letting us have a chance with your work—and for your patience as you waited for our response. We understand that to share your work is a vulnerable thing so we are grateful you trusted us.

Unfortunately, we won’t be publishing anything from this submission, but we really enjoyed reading it. Please know our decision is not a reflection on your writing. Selecting submissions is a very subjective process, even a mystery to us sometimes. We never know what we’ll choose, or what we’ll let get away.

In any case, we hope you submit more work in the future. Thank you again for sharing your work with us and for your support of the magazine.

Warmly, and gratefully,

The Editors, POETRY