Submissions for poems written in response to prompts posted here are open until July 1, 2026.
Submit poems to zingarapoet(at)gmail.com (replace “at” with @)
REMEMBER to include the NAME OF THE PROMPT in the subject line of your email.
Paste your poem submission(s) into THE BODY OF YOUR EMAIL.
Include a few sentences about your writing process (how you got from prompt to final draft) in your email.
It’s not necessary to explain what your poem is about, rather why you made the choices that you made.
For instance:
- What about the prompt compelled you to write?
- Why did you chose the form you chose?
- How did you come to include musicality into your poem?
- How did you discover the imagery or metaphors used in your poem?
- How many revisions did you make?
There are a number of great example of poets writing about process like this one on Marsh Hawk Press in which Ellen Bass explicates some of her work.
Yours does not have to be anywhere as involved or detailed as this example, but Bass’ essay does exemplify a beautiful approach.
Poems may be overtly related to the prompt of choice or have only a thread of connection.
If you wrote a poem in response to a prompt and threw out all but one line during revision, that counts.
Surprising is preferred to the predictable.
Be sure to also mention if you happened to also use any of the revision prompts posted during May or June in the process.
Please include a brief professional biography of 50 words or fewer, also in the body of your email.
Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let ZPR know immediately if submitted work is accepted elsewhere.
All poetry prompts from the 2025 challenge can be found under that tab 2025 POETRY PROMPTS or by clicking here: 2025 Poem-a-Day Challenge
Feel free to email or comment with questions. I look forward to reading your work!
The Zingara Project 