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The Washington Poets Association Newsletter

Word!

The Washington Poets Association publishes a quarterly newsletter containing articles of general interest to the world of poetry, events listings, and letters to the editor.

The newsletter is published as part of the WPA web site. WPA members who do not have internet access will receive a printed copy in the mail.

Call for Submissions

news

Submissions are now being considered by the editor of the WPA newsletter, WORD! for the Fall 2008 issue that will be published in September. Queries about articles of general interest to poets are welcome by the editor.

Prompts to jump start possible submissions are listed below as themes. Of course, articles of general interest in the world of poetry, events listings, and letters to the editor will be considered. Please note that we are not considering poetry at this time for the newsletter. However, you may submit poetry for possible publication through online whispers & [Shouts].

Please check the Submission Guidelines below. The deadline for submissions is September 19, 2008 for the September issue. This is a one-time-only short submission period. Questions? Please email the WPA news editor.

How to Submit

Please send all submissions via email. Hard copy submissions will not be accepted. In the body of the email, please include the following: your name as you want it to appear in the byline, as well as a sentence or two about who you are (e.g., John Doe is a mad scientist who writes poetry instead of taking Prozac.) Attach your submission as a Word document. Email submissions to the WPA news editor.

Submission Guidelines

General Guidelines

Submissions are considered on an ongoing basis for publication in one of the quarterly issues.

  • Months of publication are March, June, September and December of each calendar year.
  • The due dates for submissions for each issue will be listed here as each publication cycle is concluded.
  • Suggested themes for the Fall issue are:
    • What sustains a poetry group through several years' work?
    • Is an MFA essential for “success” in the poetry world?
    • How do you deal with writer's block?
  • Suggested themes will be changed every quarter.
  • Please credit any of your previously published material.
  • If a particular web site was of value to your writing, please identify it and provide its URL. If you do mention a website, please check, before you cite it, to be certain that the site is still active.

Letters to the editor

  • Priority will be given to letters of 200 words or fewer.
  • Please keep the topic relevant to something appearing in the newsletter or to the poetry world at large.

Notice of events

  • Please include the following details:
    • Name of event
    • Date(s)
    • Location
    • Sponsoring organization/person
    • Brief description of no more than 36 words
    • Point of contact with name, email address and/or phone number that will be published
  • Requests by outside groups and organizations to use the WPA newsletter and website for event notices will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The WPA is a non-profit service organization devoted to the interests of poetry and the poetry community. Please read our mission statement. For-profit events for private gain will not be considered for the newsletter.
  • The editor will not respond to any queries about the listed events themselves.

General Information

Priority will be given to time-sensitive material, to submissions from the membership (especially those persons designated for their area's news), and to articles solicited expressly by the editor for a particular issue.

General interest articles will be considered on an on-going basis and priority consideration for publication will be given those articles which relate to any of the themes, or are otherwise particularly timely or do not exceed 500 words.

Again, a reminder that poetry is not being considered for publication in the newsletter but yoy may submit poetry for possible publication through online whispers & [Shouts].

Meeting the submission deadline may not assure publication in the forthcoming issue.

If a forthcoming issue does not have room for a submission, the editor will hold it over for the next issue as a priority item unless the author forbids that at the time of submission or unless it contains dated material. The editor will work with the author if she/he chooses to reduce the size of the article to fit the forthcoming issue.

The editor reserves the right to edit all submitted material.

Please direct any questions or concerns to the WPA news editor.

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