The Prose Poem: Ekphrastic Prose Poetry for artist/writers Free Tip Jar Option

This call is for artist/writers submitting artwork paired with a prose poem, both created by the same person.

Submission Call

• After our first successful ekphrastic prose poetry call, we plan to regularly devote March to the publication of ekphrastic work. We are currently reading for our series to be published in March 2027.
• Both the poem and artwork must be created by the same person and be previously unpublished.
• Please send a high-resolution scan, photograph or digital image with your submission.
  
• The artwork can be any medium, but it must be created by a human. Please do not send us AI-generated art.
• We do not publish photographs involving people who have not explicitly given their permission to be photographed and have their image appear in this context.
• The prose poem can be up to 500 words and must respond with the image in some way. It does not have to directly address the image, but it should pair with the image in some way.
• We welcome micropoetry and other very short forms, as well as hybrid forms and ‘hermit crab’ poems that adopt the structure of other forms of writing (such as lists, forms, recipes, etc.).
• We only publish prose poetry. We appreciate that there is a lot of crossover between the prose poem and forms such as narrative poetry, free verse, microfiction, flash fiction, etc. Anything that looks like formal poetry or poetry consciously formatted in lines and stanzas is less likely to be a good fit for us.
  
• This submission call will be open until at least 31 October, and will remain open after that until we have filled the slots reserved for our ekphrastic issues.

Submission Guidelines

• You may submit multiple poems and images.
• We prefer .doc, .docx, .odt, .rtf, and .txt documents. If your piece relies heavily on formatting, please send us a pdf. (We may request another format if the poem is accepted for publication.)
• We prefer that you send your image(s) in separate files. If you include them in the same document as your poem, please note that we will need to you provide an image file if the poem is accepted.
• Please do not include your name or personal details in the title or text of your document.
• We publish on our website which is designed to be readable on many sizes of screens and which may not support unusual formatting decisions. Please keep this in mind when submitting. In some cases, we may have to publish poems as an image, or work with an author to find alternative formatting or digital publishing options.
  
• We welcome simultaneous submissions but we only accept unpublished work. Please withdraw your piece by emailing us asap if it is picked up elsewhere. No refunds can be given.
• We define previously published work as work that has appeared in other journals or on personal websites or social media that are freely available. You are welcome to submit work that has appeared in private, password-protected writers’ forums and crtitique groups. If you have any questions, feel free to email us.
• Submissions are free.
• Donations are much appreciated and will go toward paying our expenses, including Duosuma fees, web hosting, and the occasional small honorariums for guest readers. Submissions will be at no advantage or disadvantage based on donations.
  
• Please include a print-ready third-persion bio and your name as you wish it to appear in print with your submission. You are welcome to include an artist's statement as well, if you like.
  

Terms of publication

• We request first publication rights and a period of exclusivity for six months after publication. Copyright remains with the author at all times.
• We are not in a position to be able to offer payment outside of our competition awards. (We expect to lose money on this project.)
  
• We nominate for awards such as the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. In some cases, we are required to provide nominee's email address with a nomination so that they can be contacted should their work be chosen for an award. If you are not happy with us passing on your name and email address as part of an award nomination, please let us know when you submit your work. (This will in no way affect the decision to publish your work.)
• Authors will be given a chance to review our publication terms before accepting publication.