The Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review seeks submissions of original poetry and poetry in translation year round. Our chief criterion is quality. While we have published the work of many well-known and well-published authors, we are as open to the new writer as to the established one. We are most certainly open to verse in both traditional meters and form, as well as to poems written in free-verse. Such poems, however, we hope will not forget that they are written, indeed, in verse. As has become common in the world of literary journals, we charge a small fee ($3.00), which is roughly equivalent to the cost of a returned postal submission in time and materials. Submitters may also buy a single issue or a two-year subscription in lieu of the reading fee. Current subscribers may submit to the journal for free.
We aim for a 3-4 month response time for submissions, but ours is a small staff, and we may sometimes take a bit longer. Please do not query until 5 months have passed. We will accept simultaneous submissions but appreciate being informed as soon as possible should a poem or poems become unavailable. Please upload your poems in a single document. We look forward to reading your work.
The Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review seeks submissions of original poetry and poetry in translation year round. Our chief criterion is quality. While we have published the work of many well-known and well-published authors, we are as open to the new writer as to the established one. We are most certainly open to verse in both traditional meters and form, as well as to poems written in free-verse. Such poems, however, we hope will not forget that they are written, indeed, in verse. As has become common in the world of literary journals, we charge a small fee ($3.00), which is roughly equivalent to the cost of a returned postal submission in time and materials. Submitters may also buy a single issue or a two-year subscription in lieu of the reading fee. Current subscribers may submit to the journal for free.
We aim for a 3-4 month response time for submissions, but ours is a small staff, and we may sometimes take a bit longer. Please do not query until 5 months have passed. We will accept simultaneous submissions but appreciate being informed as soon as possible should a poem or poems become unavailable. Please upload your poems in a single document.
This year we are publishing another sonnet-only issue of the journal! This issue, as in 2016, will include sonnets written specifically for the journal, on one of five themes, and drafted in two hours or less (you can spend extra time revising). The 2016 issue was done in the spirit of Keats and Leigh Hunt's many sonnet "contests," and was, we hope, a reminder that part of the power of poetry is simply the pleasure of writing it. Please join us for this second issue! The 'rules' are below:
Write a sonnet on one of these five themes:
Moth
Deer
Hands
Mirror
Honey
The themes this year are central images from important sonnets (in order, "Design" by Frost, "Whoso list to hunt..." by Wyatt, "Those Winter Sundays" by Hayden, "Sonnet" by Bishop, an "Gay Chaps at the Bar" (third poem), by Brooks). Please just choose one and let us know which one you are writing on (in case it isn't obvious). Please try to take no more than two hours in the initial drafting -- you can revise, certainly, after that. You may interpret the form or the idea of a 'sonnet' as you wish, we hope there will be a formal variety in the final issue.
That's it! We'll read these until the issue is full, but aim to publish in early 2026, for Issue 51 of HSPR
The Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review seeks submissions of original poetry and poetry in translation year round. Our chief criterion is quality. While we have published the work of many well-known and well-published authors, we are as open to the new writer as to the established one. We are most certainly open to verse in both traditional meters and form, as well as to poems written in free-verse. Such poems, however, we hope will not forget that they are written, indeed, in verse. As has become common in the world of literary journals, we charge a small fee ($3.00), which is roughly equivalent to the cost of a returned postal submission in time and materials. Submitters may also buy a single issue or a two-year subscription in lieu of the reading fee. Current subscribers may submit to the journal for free.
We aim for a 3-4 month response time for submissions, but ours is a small staff, and we may sometimes take a bit longer. Please do not query until 5 months have passed. We will accept simultaneous submissions but appreciate being informed as soon as possible should a poem or poems become unavailable. Please upload your poems in a single document.