Deadline: June 15th, 2022
Payment: US 3¢/word rounded up to nearest dollar; minimum US $3, maximum $25
Theme: Veterans of Alien Wars

Eye to the Telescope 45, Veterans of Alien Wars, will be edited by Deborah L. Davitt.

Conflict’s unlikely to vanish, even in the most utopian of futures. How will veterans of future wars have to adapt and adjust to civilian life once their cybernetics have been stripped from their bodies and they have no more access to their power armor? What memories will haunt them as they learn to live in a reality in which the aliens they fought are no longer their enemies?

I have a special fondness for form poetry done well—rhymes that don’t jingle, sestinas that aren’t forced—but will absolutely consider free-verse as well. Special consideration will be given to writers who have served in the armed forces, and we hope that this provides them with an artistic outlet that they may not have pursued in the past.

We are eager to read what you send!

Submission Guidelines

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

• Use the form at bit.ly/SFPAettt45 to submit.
• Please submit 1–3 poems in English (ideally, attached as .docx or .txt) and include a short bio. Translations from other languages are acceptable with the permission of the original poet (unless public domain).
• Inquiries only to [email protected] with “ETTT” in the subject line.
• Deadline: June 15. The issue will appear on July 15, 2022.

Payment and rights

• Accepted poems will be paid for at the following rate: US 3¢/word rounded up to nearest dollar; minimum US $3, maximum $25. Payment is on publication.
• The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association normally uses PayPal to pay poets, but can also send checks.
• Eye to the Telescope is an online publication. Therefore, First Electronic Rights (for original unpublished poems) are being sought.

Who can submit?

Anyone writing speculative poetry.

What is Speculative Poetry?

Speculative poetry is poetry which falls within the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and supernatural horror, plus some related genres such as magic realism, metafiction, and fabulation. It is not easy to give precise definitions, partly because many of these genres are framed in term of fiction rather than poetry.

A good starting point is “About Science Fiction Poetry” by Suzette Haden Elgin, the founder of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Despite its title, this article is applicable to all forms of speculative poetry.

Tim Jones, editor of Issue 2, had a go at defining science fiction poetry on his blog, in two parts (These blog posts date from 2009, and the Voyagers anthology has since been published. These posts do refer specifically to science fiction poetry, rather than the broader field of speculative poetry.):

timjonesbooks.co.nz/2009/02/08/what-is-science-fiction-poetry-part-1-definition/

.timjonesbooks.co.nz/2009/02/15/what-is-science-fiction-poetry-part-2-history/

What Is the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA)?

As the SFPA says on its website at sfpoetry.com, “The Science Fiction Poetry Association was founded in 1978 to bring together poets and readers interested in science fiction poetry. What is sf poetry? You know what they say about definitions—everybody has one. To be sure, it is poetry (we’ll leave that definition to you), but it’s poetry with some element of speculation—usually science fiction, fantasy, or horror. Some folks include surrealism, some straight science.”

See the SFPA site for lots more information—and please consider joining.

Via: Eye to the Telescope Magazine.