Taking Submissions: Under Her Eye, a Black Spot Books Women-in-Horror Poetry Showcase

Deadline: September 1st, 2022
Payment: $5 and physical contributor’s copy for those in the United States
Theme: Domestic Horror poetry from those who identify as women

Black Spot Books will publish its second Women in Horror Poetry Collection in November 2023 in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. This collection is open to all poets who identify as women (cis and trans) and non-binary femmes. Submissions open July 2022 and will close August 31, 2022, with decisions made on a rolling basis. All submissions will receive a response.

The theme of the second collection is domestic horror. This is a broad spectrum and poets are welcome to interpret the prompt in their own vision, so long as poems support the theme of domestic horror — the fear that we might not be safe in our own homes. We have partnered with The Pixel Project, a global, volunteer-run non-profit for this showcase, and will be donating a portion of proceeds to support ending violence against women. More information on The Pixel Project can be found at: https://www.thepixelproject.net/

The showcase will feature a cover with hand-drawn illustration by respected horror artist Lynne Hansen and will be traditionally and globally distributed in both trade print and ebook. Featured poets include Bram Stoker Award®-winning poet Stephanie M. Wytovich and nominee Jessica McHugh, as well as Science Fiction & Fantasy (SF&F) Poetry Association Grand Master and recipient of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) Lifetime Achievement Award winner Marge Simon.

Poems must be previously unpublished, though published poets are, of course, welcome. We accept submissions of poems up to fifty lines. Free verse preferred (please, no forced rhyme or clichés). Please, no simultaneous submissions.

We accept one poem per poet, but up to three poems are allowed for submission. Submissions should be submitted along with a brief bio.

Each poem chosen for publication will be paid $5 and each poet will receive a copy of the collection upon publication–US-based authors will receive print and digital, and non-US based authors will receive digital copies*. Poets will retain rights to any accepted poem, with first right of publication by Black Spot Books.

*international shipping pending

Showcase Judges:
For the 2023 collection the judges will be Black Spot Books president and award-winning author/editor, Lindy Ryan, and Bram Stoker Award®-winning author/poet, Lee Murray.

Lindy Ryan is the president and publisher of Black Spot Books. She is an award-winning and bestselling author, editor, and short-film director. Lindy is the co-chair of the HWA Publishers Council and was recognized as one of Publishers Weekly‘s Star Watch Honorees in 2020. Her debut horror novel, BLESS YOUR HEART, will release from Minotaur books in Fall 2023.

Lee Murray is an author, editor, screenwriter, and poet from Aotearoa-New Zealand. A USA Today bestselling author, multiple Bram Stoker® and Shirley Jackson Award winner, Lee is the curator-editor of eighteen volumes of dark fiction, among them Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women (with Geneve Flynn). Lee’s first poetry collection, Tortured Willows, a collaboration with Angela Yuriko Smith, Christina Sng, and Geneve Flynn was released in October 2021.

Via: Black Spot Books.