Poetry Submissions

What We Are Looking For

We’re drawn to poems and prose that trust concrete images over abstraction — a name, a gesture, an object doing the work a sentence about “feeling” would otherwise do. We publish across forms, so our most important issues are voice, craft and image control. Endings that land on something specific and physical interest us more than ones that resolve into reflection or moral. We see a lot of work about loss, and we welcome it, but it should arrive through a scene or an object, not as raw statement. We’re not opposed to the occasional risk, but risk should earn its place through control, not indulgence. Humor is welcome when it’s dry and plainspoken rather than broad. Above all: we’re a generous, big-tent magazine that welcomes all voices.

Here are some guiding principles you can use to decide if you’re right for us:

  • Does the work trust concrete images to carry the feeling, rather than naming the feeling directly?
  • Does the ending land on something specific and physical, rather than summarizing or moralizing?
  • If the subject is loss or grief, is it mediated through a scene or object rather than stated as spoken sentiment?
  • If the piece takes a formal or tonal risk, is it controlled — does it earn the risk — rather than indulge?
  • Is the form doing something, or just being followed for its own sake?

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable. Please be a good poetry citizen and inform us through a note in Submittable if some of your work is accepted elsewhere. We usually respond to submissions within a month of receipt.

How to Submit:

Submit no more than three poems in a single .doc or .docx file through our Submittable portal. Use the link below.

Your file should contain no identifying information, as all submissions are read blindly by our editors. A cover letter or biography is not necessary but we enjoy reading them. We welcome simultaneous submissions, but please be a good poetry citizen by informing us promptly if your work is accepted elsewhere. Be sure to find and like us on Facebook. Something of yours could be featured someday and you wouldn’t want to miss it.


Publication Rights:

By submitting work to Third Wednesday, the author grants us First Right to publish the work in print and electronically (on our blog site).  Work that is accepted will be published in one print issue of Third Wednesday. All copyrights revert to the author upon publication.

Use of AI:

Use of AI for editing and feedback is acceptable, but if the words on the page weren’t drafted by you, we can’t consider it.

Payment: We are a token paying market, usually $3 for each accepted piece. There is an “opt out” option for payments that most people choose because who wants to go to a bank to cash a $3 check?

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