About

The Poeming Pigeon is a literary journal of poetry, featuring works from poets all over the globe, including emerging poets alongside award-winning writers, such as Jane Yolen, Paulann Petersen, Annie Lighthart, Connie Post, Andrea Hollander, Jeff Knorr, Tricia Knoll, Amy Miller, Christopher Luna, and more. The first issue was released in 2015 with “Poems about Birds” and continued with 1-2 issues per year on a variety of themes including food, cannabis, music, gardening, love poems, sports, headline news, the cosmos, pop culture, and the pandemic/protest issue. We believe poetry has the power to engage, entertain, and enlighten. In 2022, The Poeming Pigeon is getting a new look and will become a full-color annual journal of both poetry and artwork, to be released each Fall. Our open calls for submissions to the journal (some themed and some not) will run from Sept 15 thru Oct 31 each year.

We invite all voices, and especially those that have been historically marginalized or under-heard to submit and partner with us. We welcome work from both established and emerging writers alike. Every submission starts out in the same pile and is judged merely on its own merit, not the reputation of the writer. We enjoy poems of all styles: formal, free-verse, metered, non-rhyming, experimental, nostalgic, political, erotic, abstract, lyrical, etc. We don’t censor or shy away from ‘tough topics’, however we do draw the line at poetry that discriminates against our fellow humans.

As always, we pledge to our readers to publish a journal teeming with poems to stir your senses, reveal new truths, make you laugh, cry and perhaps tilt your head in that curious puppy dog way. And to the accepted poets who share and entrust us with their words, we promise to represent your work in the highest aesthetic possible, in a book you will be proud to share.

Cindy Domaskyloyal reader
LOVING MY COPY OF THE POEMING PIGEON – FROM PANDEMIC TO PROTEST. DISCLAIMER: I AM BIASED – MY FAVORITES ARE JAN HAAG AND LINDA JACKSON COLLINS FROM SAC, CA – LOVE TO HEAR THE POETS READ THEIR POEMS. THANKS FOR THAT. ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING THE POETS IN EACH POEMING PIGEON JOURNAL. THANKS SHAWN. ENJOYING THIS ONE AND LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT ONE. CINDY
Ellaraine Locke
Shawn—I love the new collection on music—so many facets of it represented, and I’m not even finished reading it yet! Congrats on such a beautiful Issue. I’m really pleased to have work in it.
Helen Kerner
How I loved the latest Poeming Pigeon on the topic of music. Thank you so very much for your talented efforts to put this together and to assemble the poems in such a magical order. I’m always fascinated by how collections are presented and this one is perfect. I’m now in Mexico, and I saved the book until I got here, read it page by page from beginning to end savoring every poem. I look forward to your next issue with enthusiasm.
Jack Maze
The recent issue of The Poeming Pigeon: Poems About Music stimulated me to write you. I’m working my way through the issue and have found many of the poems to be both profound and interesting, and in some cases so moving I have to stop.
Bill Cushing
The Poeming Pigeon has landed. . .and it's a grand piece of work. Thanks for a good looking publication. Also, while I haven't been through it all yet, I wanted to comment on my favorite so far: Christopher Luna's "King of What? King of Who?" Oh yeah, reading some of these also inspired me to start tow new musically-oriented pieces.
Judith Kelly Quaempts
I can't tell you how impressed I am by the design and the content—I spent the afternoon reading the wonderful poems and wondering how in heck I got so lucky as to have one of mine included.”
Margaret Van Every
My copy of the sports issue arrived Monday and I want to congratulate you. I just love it. What a great variety of subjects and approaches. Good poets and poetry.
Joseph Ridgway
I just wanted to thank you for a terrific all-around effort on The Poeming Pigeon (sports issue). I recently received my copies and read the journal cover to cover. Your ideas, publishing and keeping your word in every aspect was impressive and greatly appreciated. I was astounded at the credits of your contributors, as well as the quality of their work. I was grandly encouraged and motivated regarding my own future work and thankful to be included in the journal. At 71 years old I am a little too close for comfort to meeting the Cosmos in person to submit on admittedly a great theme; but will be looking forward to the “Pigeon’s” future stops.

We are very happy to announce that Annie Bloom’s Books—a charming brick-n-mortar bookshop in Multnomah Village (7834 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland,Oregon) is now carrying back issues of The Poeming Pigeon. So if you’re in the area, please stop by, and tell them The Poetry Box sent you.

Submission Calls & Updates

Theme: ANYTHING GOES (Our first non-themed issue)

For our 12th issue of The Poeming Pigeon, we are not going to specify a theme. We simply want your best, original poems. (No previously published poems). In addition to poetry, we invite visual artists of all kinds to submit artwork, which will be considered for inclusion within the journal and perhaps for the cover art. Please see guidelines below for specific details.

Submissions Open: Sept 15 – Oct 31, 2021

This issue scheduled for release in Fall 2022.

Submission Guidelines

For All Submissions

Simultaneous submissions are okay. (Please let us know if you need to withdraw a piece if accepted elsewhere first.)
Individuals can submit for both categories (poetry and art) as separate submissions.
We will not respond to submissions until AFTER the deadline of Oct 31 has passed, to make sure we give everyone a fair shot. If you haven’t heard from us by March 1st, feel free to drop us a line to inquire the status of your submission.
We promise to read every submission and respond via submittable messaging/email.
All contributors (poets & artists) will receive a free copy of the book and the chance to pre-order additional copies of the journal at a discount before we go to print.
All poets will be considered for nomination to the Pushcart Prize.
Acceptance grants The Poetry Box^® (publisher of The Poeming Pigeon) global serial, electronic and archival publishing rights. Copyright always remains with the author/artist. If a poem published first in The Poeming Pigeon is later published elsewhere, we respectfully ask that you credit us as the original publisher.
Fee to submit is $3 (for grouping of 1-3 poems OR up to 5 pieces of artwork). Every submitter will receive a 25% coupon to use in our bookstore on any title.

Poetry

One poetry submission (maximum 3 poems) per author.
Please put all poems in a one single file attachment.
All submissions must be typed…not handwritten. Single-spaced (double-space between stanzas).
All poems should have a title.
If submitting more than one poem, please start each poem on a new page.
Include your name (as it should appear in your byline) and email address at the bottom of each page, with page numbers. (We’re not selecting work based on “who”; this is just to help us stay organized.)
For the “anything goes” non-themed issue, we will not consider previously published work. (Note: We do not consider self-publishing to blogs, message boards, or social media, etc., as publication with respect to this rule.)
Please present your poems in the format you’d like them to appear. If some of the lines are wider than our margins, we will consult you regarding any necessary line breaks or indentations needed for formatting. Our page size is 6 x 9 inches with approximately 1 inch margins.
Please use a standard readable font in 12pt. Do not embed your poems in graphics or imagery.
On the submittable form, include your BIO (50 words or less) written in THIRD PERSON, in the field provided on Submittable. Please limit your publishing credits to no more than three. Include notable accomplishments and something fun & personal to keep it engaging for our readers.
We only accept submissions via SUBMITTABLE. Click on the button below to submit your poems:

Artwork

- One artwork submission (maximum 5 pieces) per artist.
- File types accepted: jpeg, png, tiff
- Please use filenames that start with your last name and include the title of the work. (ie. DaVinci_MonaLisa)
- The journal will be printed in color, therefore both color and b&w images are accepted.
- Size & Resolution:. Images should be a minimum of 5 inches wide and submitted as low-res (72 dpi). If selected, we will contact you to send us the high-res version (300 dpi) needed for quality printing.
- Artwork will be considered for the interior and possibly for the cover.
- Please list the title of each artwork and medium in the DESCRIPTION box on Submittable.
- Please include your artist statement and your bio (50 words or less) where indicated on the Submittable form.
- We only accept submissions via SUBMITTABLE. Click on the button below to submit your artwork: