Submissions - English poetry
The magazine issues are only open to poetry at this stage. (Book reviews and travel stories are a part of the website, not the issues: refer to their respective pages for more details.) The guidelines for submitting poetry can be found below.
Please note that I always respond to every submission, whether I am accepting or not. In case you have not received a reply to your submission within 3 weeks of your submission, please feel free to query me (without sending the work again). However, please note that you must not expect a response if you fail to follow the submission guidelines below.
Before reading these guidelines, you should also be acquainted with what I am looking for, which will become evident in the course of time as more and more issues get published. But please avoid narcissism: while much of contemporary poetry in English reflects too much of self-infatuation, in keeping with modern Insta times, I do not believe it is good poetry in itself. Art is art when it transforms, rather than merely records. Do note that I am not a fan of much of so-called prose poetry, but if you're sure it is excellent and it is poetry, you can submit it.
The thrust of this magazine is those voices in English that are considered non-native, but I will accept and publish poems from all over the world as long as the poems have that ineffable quality I am looking for. There is no submission fee if your poems are based on prompts given for each issue, but for poetry that is not based on prompts, there is a fee of USD3, which you can pay with PayPal. You will find prompts for each issue on the Prompts page.
I believe that a work of art should always be recompensed, even if it is a token amount for lack of funds. Hence, I will be paying USD10 for each selected poem in an issue, provided you can pass me on your PayPal registered email ID to which I should send the payment. I will also be nominating select English-language poems for the Best of the Net anthology.
Submission guidelines for English-language poetry:
1. Please send 1 to 2 poems. Each poem can have a maximum of 80 lines. Submissions are on a rolling basis and open always, unless stated otherwise on this Submissions page.
2. Send your poem(s) to this email: submissions@ghudsavar.com
If your poem is based on prompts for the issue, then submission is free, and please write "English poetry submission - your name - Prompt prompt name" in the email's subject field (e.g., "English poetry submission - Ankur - Prompt blue curd").
If your poem is not based on prompts, then please write "English poetry submission - your name - Paid submission" in the email's subject field (e.g., "English poetry submission - Ankur - Paid submission") and also pay USD3 through PayPal.
3. Poems should be in the email body, not as an attachment.
Please also give other necessary information in the email: your full name (and the name you want to be published under, if it is different), your contact information (phone and email), social media links (so we can publicise your work better) and, if you wish, a short bio (of up to 100 words).
4. Submission of English-language poems that are not based on prompts for the issue is with payment of USD3 (for up to 2 poems) through PayPal.
When you send those poems to me in the email, you may also quote the payment transaction reference. Please do not send any attachments as proof of payment, unless I request you to do so.
No refunds will be issued for payments. If you have a doubt about your poem reaching me through email, please contact me through email on info@ghudsavar.com or via Twitter DM.
In case you are unable to pay through PayPal for some reason, or you come from a financially weak background and require a waiver, do let me know on this email ID: info@ghudsavar.com
5. You can send English poems published before if publication has happened at least 3 years before the date of your submission. A complete credit to the original publication and date of publication must be mentioned in this case. If your poem has only been published before on your social media, you can send it even if less than 3 years have expired since the time of publication.
6. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but do let me know immediately if accepted elsewhere before my response. Multiple entries in one submission period are not allowed. Submission periods are, roughly, January-April, May-August, and September-December.
In case your poems gets published in two consecutive issues, then please wait for one more issue to be published before submitting again. That is, three consecutive issues cannot have the same writer's poems.
7. The poems should be your own work. Plagiarised work won't be tolerated: please notify us if you discover any plagiarisation or copyright violation. The magazine works on the principle of good faith in its submitters and won't be held responsible for any copyright violations.
Please do not submit anything that has been written with the aid of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. If this is suspected, your name could be blacklisted for the future.
8. If your poem is selected for publication, we will be acquiring only worldwide rights of initial publication for the poem in question. Your poem will always remain your own copyright. All we ask for is if the poem is published elsewhere later, please credit Ghudsavar Literary Journal as the place where it was first published.
Do note that your published poem(s) will remain indefinitely on Ghudsavar's website and could also be used in publicity on social media links by the magazine.
9. My effort will be to answer within 15 days of your submission. However, if I have not answered for 3 weeks, you may send me a query. Please consider entering your submission statistics here:
10. The selection of the poems reflects in part my taste, so you should not doubt yourself or your work in case I have not selected your poem. Please do not write to me regarding this, and please keep your behaviour decent.
