Deadline: September 15th, 2022
Payment: US 4¢/word rounded up to nearest dollar; minimum US $4, maximum $25
Theme: poems inspired by works of art that exist only in your own imagination (or that of others), from any period in time or space.

Eye to the Telescope 46, Quest, will be edited by Wendy Van Camp.

The hero’s journey is one of the oldest forms of storytelling.  It has many components that can go in a thousand directions with a thousand faces.  Your quest, should you care to accept, is to use one part of the hero’s journey as the focus of your quest poem.  It could be a call to adventure or the refusal of that call.  Meeting of a new mentor and its consequences, or facing an ordeal that creates inner change.  Perhaps it is the moment of return when the hero brings new understanding to her people.  Let the twelve steps of the Hero’s Journey be your inspiration.  Your poem could be fantasy, science fiction or horror based.  Let your imagination be your guide.

We are eager to read what you send!

Submission Guidelines

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

• Use the form at bit.ly/SFPAettt46 to submit.
• Please submit 1–3 unpublished poems in English (ideally, attached as .docx or .txt) and include a short bio.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: September 15. The issue will appear on October 15, 2022.

Payment and rights

• Accepted poems will be paid for at the following rate: US 4¢/word rounded up to nearest dollar; minimum US $4, 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 Therefore, First Electronic Rights (for original unpublished poems) are being sought.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.