After days of sunshine, the gray has returned, and what better weather for reading submissions? It’s been a delight to receive haiku and senryu from poets both new and familiar names, from near and far. Each time I open an email with “Submission” in the subject line, I get a little thrill of anticipation, wondering what could be inside.
It takes bravery to submit your poems to an editor for judgement. No two haiku journals are alike because every editor has their own preferences and aesthetics. While it’s impossible to predict whether an editor will select any of your haiku for their journal, you can increase your chances by becoming familiar with the haiku that the journal publishes. In the case of online journals, this is easy. Many print journals offer sample poems from their issues on their websites (I hope to have sample poems from Kingfisher on the website before the August submission period opens). Or you can order a copy of the journal, sometimes at a discounted rate for back issues. I’ve got copies of issues 4, 5, and 6 available for $5 (US), and copies of the current issue available for $14 (US). https://kingfisherjournal.com/shop/ It goes without saying that reading each journal’s specific submission guidelines (and following them) will also increase your chances of publication.
If you find that you enjoy a print journal, I encourage you to subscribe to it if you can afford to do so. Will this increase your chance of having your work accepted by that journal editor? No. But it will help support the journal, and in supporting haiku journals, you are supporting the haiku community and its myriad of different voices. For a list of haiku, senryu, and haibun journals (and much more), please visit the Resources page. https://kingfisherjournal.com/resources/ The list is incomplete and constantly evolving, but it’ll give you a good place to start if you’re serious about submitting your work to journals, or you simply want to read contemporary haiku.
Submissions for Kingfisher #11 are open through February 28. For full submission guidelines, please visit https://kingfisherjournal.com/submissions/. I look forward to reading your poems!
P.S. The fish in the photo is outside the Happy Valley library. I don’t know who the artist is, but it brings me joy every time I visit.